Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

I'm a High School Boy and a Bestselling Light Novel author, strangled by my female classmate who is my junior and a voice actress

2018-08-20T19:22:57Z

Dagger: As per the talk page: merge the two sides into a single list to avoid reading order accidents

{{Status|Active}}

[[Image:This_title_is_too_long!_v1_Cover.png|250px|thumb|right|frameless|Cover artwork for volume 1]]

'''I'm a High School Boy and a Bestselling Light Novel author, strangled by my female classmate who is my junior and a voice actress (男子高校生で売れっ子ライトノベル作家をしているけれど、年下のクラスメイトで声優の女の子に首を絞められている。 Danshi Koukousei de Urekko Light Novel Sakka wo Shiteiru keredo, Toshishita no Classmate de Seiyuu no Onnanoko ni Kubi wo Shimerareteiru.)'''is a Japanese light novel series written by Keiichi Sigsawa, with illustrations by Kōhaku Kuroboshi. Currently, the story has 3 volumes.

==Series Information==

Genre: School life 
Japanese Title: 男子高校生で売れっ子ライトノベル作家をしているけれど、年下のクラスメイトで声優の女の子に首を絞められている。 
Author: 時雨沢恵一 (Keiichi Sigsawa) 
Illustrator: 黒星紅白 (Kōhaku Kuroboshi) 
Volumes: 3 
Status: Ongoing

== Translation ==

According to Section B of the [[Baka-Tsuki:Copyrights|Baka-Tsuki TLG Translation Common Agreement]], Under no circumstances would you(b2)...

'''submit translated works(a) copied directly from an unauthorized source such as, but not limited to, online, written sources etc. . If you(b2) submit works(a) that have been authorized by their rights holder, permission, in the form of written/electronic/printed must be available upon request.'''

=== [[This_title_is_too_long!:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

Those who wish to contribute are asked to first notify a supervisor beforehand.

===Story Synopsis as per volume 1===

I'm a high school student who became an author after debuting at Dengeki Bunko. After taking a year of hiatus from school to write my work, I transferred out to another high school to study, and met a girl called Eri Nitadori in school, a rookie voice actress cast as a character in the anime adaptation of my work.

In school, we treat our professions as a secret. However, Nitadori's very popular in class, and I'm a loner...the only chance we get to talk to each other is when we take the Limited Express train together every Thursday, seated side by side as we head off for an anime After Recording.

To improve her skills, she asked me questions regarding the profession. While I was answering the questions regarding the process--how did it end up like this.

This is what I last remembered before I lost consciousness, and the story of my near-death experience.

==The ''I'm a High School Boy and a Bestselling Light Novel author, strangled by my female classmate who is my junior and a voice actress'' series by Keiichi Sigsawa==

===[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1|Volume 1 - Time to Play - First Half]] ([http://www.mediafire.com/file/li3dqcugu06jwez/I%27m_a_High_School_Boy..._Volume_1_Time_to_Play_First_Half_Dark_Theme.pdf PDF])===

:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1_Prologue|Prologue: Memories]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1_Chapter1|Chapter 1 - April 10, I met her]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2 - April 17, She asked me]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3 - April 24, I told her]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4 - May 1, I taught her]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume1_Afterword|Afterword]]

===[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume2|Volume 2 - Time to Play - Second Half]] ([http://www.mediafire.com/file/o2pjjaeo31wl5fd/I%27m_a_High_School_Boy..._Volume_2_Time_to_Play_Second_Half_Dark_Theme.pdf PDF])===

:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume2_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume2_Chapter5|Chapter 5 - May 8, I was touched by her]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume2_Chapter6|Chapter 6 - May 15, I was strangled by her]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume2_Chapter7|Chapter 7 - Time to Play]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume2_Final Chapter|Final Chapter - May 22, I touched her]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume2_Afterword|Afterword]]

===[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3|Volume 3 - Time to Pray]] ([http://www.mediafire.com/file/rm4njmtc2bmsovx/I%2527m_a_High_School_Boy..._Volume_3_Time_to_Pray_Dark_Theme.pdf PDF]) ===

:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Prologue|Prologue]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter1_1|Chapter 1-1 - May 22, I touched her II]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter1_2|Chapter 1-2 - May 22, I slept on him]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter2_1|Chapter 2-1 - May 29, I had questions]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter2_2|Chapter 2-2 - May 29, I obtained his contact number]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter3_1|Chapter 3-1 - June 5, I talked to Nitadori at school]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter3_2|Chapter 3-2 - June 5, I became his girlfriend]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter3_3|Chapter 3-3 - June 5, I ate potato chips]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter3_4|Chapter 3-4 - June 5, I slept in the train]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter4_1|Chapter 4-1 - June 12, I didn't take the train]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter4_2|Chapter 4-2 - June 12, I took the green train, after not doing so for a while]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter5_1|Chapter 5-1 - June 19, I invited her to my house]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter5_2|Chapter 5-2 - June 19, I went to his house]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter5_3|Chapter 5-3 - June 19, I forgot]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter5_4|Chapter 5-4 - June 19, I remembered]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter6_1|Chapter 6-1 - June 19, I was strangled by her II]] '''(Protagonist's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter6_2|Chapter 6-2 - June 19, I strangled him]] '''(Eri's side)'''
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Chapter7|Chapter 7 - June 20, Time to Pray]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_QA|Light Novel Q&A - Please feel free to ask us any LightNovel's questions!]]
:*[[This_title_is_too_long!:Volume3_Afterword|Afterword - Special edition. Preview Specials]]

[[Category:Light novel (English)]]
[[Category:Completed Project]]

Rune Troopers

2018-08-11T19:00:43Z

Dagger: /* Story Synopsis */ it's != its

{{Teaser|English}}

[[File: Rune_Troopers_Vol1_wraparound_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Wraparound Cover]]

The light novel series Rune Troopers (ルーントルーパーズ) is written by Kasuga Hamamatsu and published by Alphapolis. It has 3 volumes currently out (as of March 2014). The same publisher published Gate - Thus the JDSF Fought There.

== Story Synopsis ==
Hiroyaki Kuze, part of the Ground JDSF, was assigned to the fleet of JDSF ships being sent as reinforcements to a UN mission. The flagship of the fleet is the Aegis class Destroyer Ibuki. However on their way a girl with wings transported their fleet to another world. A fantasy world of Swords and Magic. Kuze's platoon was sent out scouting to see where they were. His platoon found and landed in the capital of the United Kingdom. Kuze's platoon attempted to withdraw when there was an attack by the Firuborugu(Fir Bolg?) Empire on the capital. However when children were in danger they protected them. The Empire regards them as reinforcements for the Kingdom!

On land and sea the power of the JDSF in the arena of warfare explodes! The alternate world JDSF fantasy that was popular on the net has made its long awaited novel debut!

== Updates ==
June 13, 2014 - Prologue completed
June 12, 2014 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==
=== [[Rune_Troopers Registration Page|Registration Page]] ===

'''Translators are asked to [[Rune_Troopers Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on.'''

=== Format Standards ===
'''Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.'''

* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
* [[Rune_Troopers Specific Guidelines|Rune Troopers Specific Translating/Editing Guidelines]]

=== Changes to Main Page ===

== The Rune Trooper series by Kasuga Hamamatsu ==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10489 Feedback Thread]?

<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Prologue|Prologue: Yorimashi]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Expeditionary Fleet Sails 8/21]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Argentavis]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Shooting]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: In the War]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Eyes of the Meteor]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Chapter 6|Chapter 6: Hymm to the living]]
:* [[Rune_Troopers: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue:]]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Rune_Troopers_Vol1_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
</div>
 

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator:
* Project Manager:

=== Translators ===
==== Retired ====
:* [[User:Talinnilat|Talinnilat]]

=== Editors ===

== Series Overview ==

# Rune Troopers Volume 1 ルーントルーパーズ (May 31, 2013) ISBN 978-4-434-17966-2
# Rune Troopers Volume 2 ルーントルーパーズ (October 31, 2013) ISBN 978-4-434-18363-8
# Rune Troopers Volume 3 ルーントルーパーズ (March 31, 2014) ISBN 978-4-434-19062-9
# Rune Troopers Volume 4 ルーントルーパーズ (September 30, 2014) ISBN 978-4-434-19758-1
# Rune Troopers Volume 5 ルーントルーパーズ (April 30, 2014) ISBN 978-4-434-20600-9
# Rune Troopers Volume 6 ルーントルーパーズ (September 30, 2014) ISBN 978-4-434-21119-5

[[Category:Kasuga Hamamatsu]]

Talk:I'm a High School Boy and a Bestselling Light Novel author, strangled by my female classmate who is my junior and a voice actress

2018-08-11T18:28:08Z

Dagger: /* Regarding volume 3's chapter layout */

== Permission to do some minor editing==

I'm currently reading this and noticed some minor grammar errors and typos as I read through the book. Since there's no project manager and supervisor I'll just ask permission to edit them here. Of course I won't edit them right away unless someone approves of it. --[[User:SanderLy|SanderLy]] ([[User talk:SanderLy|talk]]) 13:11, 17 September 2015 (UTC)

I'm not involved with this project at all, but in general, you don't need permission and probably shouldn't wait for it when it's just obvious typos and minor grammar errors. For more major edits, then contacting the translator is appropriate. So if you do feel it's necessary, then it might be best to try to contract the translator at [[Teh_Ping_Talk:Miscellaneous|his talk page (link)]]. --[[User:Cthaeh|Cthaeh]] ([[User talk:Cthaeh|talk]]) 19:04, 19 September 2015 (UTC)

== Regarding volume 3's chapter layout ==

In regards to how the the chapters for volume 3 have been arranged on the project page, I thought I should mention that this could lead to misunderstandings about the intended reading order. Based on the table of contents, the reader ought to alternate between the two perspectives after each chapter. The order listed though could lead to some readers doing all the protagonist chapters before starting on Eri's. This problem is even more prevalent if one is using the Bakareader app. On the app, all the chapters are displayed vertically, with all Eri's being after the last of the protagonist's. As such, I would recommend listing the chapters in order rather than in separate columns. You could always indent the chapters to distinguish between the two perspectives, but know that such formating details won't show up on the app. --[[User:JeruTz|JeruTz]] ([[User talk:JeruTz|talk]]) 16:43, 21 March 2018 (CET)

: Somewhat belated, but I concur. Here is how it renders for me: https://i.imgur.com/m3LMp92.png. It seems almost custom designed to maximize the chance that I'll read it in the wrong order.

: I'll change it to a single merged list if nobody has any better ideas (and they've had 5 months to give them if they do...). -- [[User:Dagger|Dagger]] ([[User talk:Dagger|talk]]) 20:28, 11 August 2018 (CEST)

Talk:Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance

2014-12-17T22:48:59Z

Dagger: Reverting

==Title translation==
精霊使い=Elementaler? Wouldn't something like Spirit user be a more literal translation? If you have to use elemental I believe word would be Elementalist(s).

That's a good question, but that's not a translation of the title. I copied that terrible use of English from the author/or somewhere from mf bunko. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 05:38, 30 July 2013 (CDT)

I wish other writers have English as half as good as Nasu.

==Term updating==
A little request since I'm too lazy =/

I'll like all the "miltary-use" spirit to be just "military" --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 17:32, 10 February 2013 (CST)

==Volume 4==
Mizuho, are you using Chinese translation? Just that sometimes it looks like there is missing line, or that it is shortened (wellI am judging it only from the memory of reading through part of this with my horrible japanese) --[[User:Zuruumi|Zuruumi]] ([[User talk:Zuruumi|talk]]) 19:46, 14 February 2013 (CST)

There're some simplification done to sentences, and he said:
I know I left out some things or changed some things to suit English for comprehension,
but I don't think they were consequential.
--[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 19:11, 16 February 2013 (CST)

==Questions==

Please ADD the Epilogue of 'Volume 10 - The Awakening of the Demon King'

There is no epilogue—that's why the last chapter concludes with "—END." Unless you want fan fiction. [[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 09:38, 18 April 2013 (CDT)

Just look at the pattern of me translating lol, if there was 1, I'd have ninja-done it already =/ --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 10:03, 18 April 2013 (CDT)

Could some one direct me to the page that explains why spirit was changed to elemental.
I could find no discussion about the change on the terminology talk page.
Just want to know why this change was made. --[[Special:Contributions/24.130.47.211|24.130.47.211]] 01:16, 16 February 2013 (CST)

I decided it to put consistency with several other naming convention like Elemental Lord, and Elemental Waffe. And, zzhk did the final push for me to do it, http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=4633&start=435#p174468 To add on, I've been looking for a term to replace 'spirit contractor' since forever --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 01:19, 16 February 2013 (CST)

Just a note that "military elemental" would sound awkward, since it would be hard to link "military" to the elements, unlike others like "sword", though I am aware that we can treat the two words as separate and it does not affect reading. Thanks. [[User:Zakashi|Zakashi]] ([[User talk:Zakashi|talk]]) 03:02, 17 February 2013 (CST)

Well, it's okay comparative to "military personal". Elementals are spirits anyway. Or, would militarized elementals work better? --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 06:09, 17 February 2013 (CST)

Just my 2 cents: I think militarized sounds better than simply military. [[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 07:44, 17 February 2013 (CST)

Militarized means something that has been turned/converted into an object/group belonging to a military. -Anon

If it is guns or other weapons, I think a somewhat common term to use would be "military-grade weapon". So how about something like "tactical class military-grade elementals"? A bit of a mouthful, but to me that capture the meaning well. -Another Anon

They aren't graded in any sense. It's just a simple association to military. Like military aviation, military facilities, military network and etc. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 19:27, 23 February 2013 (CST)

So will all instances of "spirit" will be changed to "elemental"? which ones are applicable? In chapter seven "It was a small lizard with its tail on fire.
A low level flame spirit." At least in some places, I think Spirit is more appropriate than elemental. [[User:SonodaYuki|SonodaYuki]] ([[User talk:SonodaYuki|talk]]) 04:20, 23 February 2013 (CST)

All instances of spirit will be reverted back to spirit. I'm going with what zzhk proposed for now, keeping elementalist. All changes should be corrected in due time. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 04:26, 23 February 2013 (CST)

Hi, just a quick question to do with consistency sake. In volume 1 and 2, I noticed that knee socks nude was used, however in volume 3 naked knee-socks was used instead. I personally prefer the latter, but I would like to know which one would be the more generally preferred one before I make any changes. Thanks for the awesome translations by the way! -- [[User:Royaloyalz|Royaloyalz]] ([[User talk:Royaloyalz|talk]]) 09:15, 27 February 2013 (CST)

Well I don't want to complain since this translation is quite good, but in my opinion changing spirit to elemental is a mistake. Primo: no matter how you look at it seirei is definitely translated as (holy) spirit/ghost, if author would mean elemental he would use yousono or gensono (of course im no expert but thats what my dictionary says;) ). And another matter is that in most rpg systems elemental magic consist only of fire, water, air and earth, but here we have holy/light and darkness too and they're considered different system from 4 elements (or 5 if you prefer Chinese ones).

Your dictionary is using the wrong form of "elemental". 精霊 can easily mean "elemental", as in the fantasy creature. All an elemental is is a spirit of something in the first place, usually nature related but that depends on how the fantasy work in question defines it. So having light, darkness, and swords be part of the scheme, while unusual, is up to the author. The Japanese MTG translations translate "Elemental" to ~の精霊 and the Japanese Wikipedia also lists "Spirit" and "Elemental" as English examples of the word. --[[User:EnigmaticRepose|EnigmaticRepose]] ([[User talk:EnigmaticRepose|talk]]) 14:17, 24 July 2013 (CDT)

== Elemental Waffe ==

I´m sorry but i´m new so i dont know if this is the right place for this but the term "Elemental Waffe" seems odd to me since it is a combination of two languages. Is this intentional because of the originals or just something from the Translator? Wouldn´t it be better to make it completely German (Elementare Waffe) or completely English (Elemental Weapon)? --[[User:DerDigge|DerDigge]] ([[User talk:DerDigge|talk]]) 13:36, 1 March 2013 (CST)

Mixed language terms are considered cool by the majority. And that coolness is common across many cultures --Anon

Well, I'm only certain about the waffe part. I don't know how Elementare is pronounced but the author also uses Elemental Lord, which is English. So, I can only assume Elemental is intended to be English. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 17:47, 1 March 2013 (CST)

Ok than it seems it is only my preference but i do think that german and english dont mix well. Even if it seems prejudiced because im German--[[User:DerDigge|DerDigge]] ([[User talk:DerDigge|talk]]) 18:12, 1 March 2013 (CST)

== Volume 11 ==

Is it going to be published on May 25th or is there not yet any official release date?--[[User:Kemm|Kemm]] ([[User talk:Kemm|talk]]) 18:00, 1 May 2013 (CDT)
:Forget it. It's exactly a month later.--[[User:Kemm|Kemm]] ([[User talk:Kemm|talk]]) 12:33, 8 May 2013 (CDT)

guessing you tryed the same thing i did, guessing the pattern lol. oh well can't wait till the volume comes out. -Trigger91

I am higly suspecting the date on main page of being wrong. Firstly, it isn´t 25th of Juy yet, but part of Prologue is already translated. Secondly you also claim the correct date to be 25th of June.--[[User:Zuruumi|Zuruumi]] ([[User talk:Zuruumi|talk]]) 16:06, 23 July 2013 (CDT)
:Ever heard of pre-releases? It's not rare for authors/publishers to release parts of their work before a release date to stimulate interest. Just be happy about it without nitpicking at every small detail (which FYI is correct). [[User:SXIII|SXIII]] ([[User talk:SXIII|talk]]) 16:16, 23 July 2013 (CDT)
::Yeah, I kinda suspected it might be so, but as this kind of thing rarely ends up being translated I thought it is not so likely. Well it turned out that it was the case. Anyway, although I admit that I made a mistake and I humbly apologize if I have offended anyone of you I don´t see any reason for the agressive tone of your reply. I would certainly be glad to recieve a explanation of where did I make the mistake in phrasing my previous comment, so that I would never do similar mistake again. PS: It just came to me, but if I sounded as if I was complaining about the translation still not being out it was not meant so. It was just literally what I wrote.--[[User:Zuruumi|Zuruumi]] ([[User talk:Zuruumi|talk]]) 15:16, 24 July 2013 (CDT)
If it's June, zzhk would have already finished it. --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 18:26, 23 July 2013 (CDT)

It is July 25 due to the author getting sick so the released date became a month later. So we just got to wait for translations that will come soon.

Thanks for the explanation. Anyway, I am not in any hurry for the translation. The summer hollidays are long and there is always something to do, so once it is out I will rejoice, but to that time, I will certainly find some other (meaningfull?) activity. Like reading (or rather deciphering) other novels in japanese.--[[User:Zuruumi|Zuruumi]] ([[User talk:Zuruumi|talk]]) 15:20, 24 July 2013 (CDT)

== Volume 12 release? ==

Can't wait for volume 12 especially on an ending for volume 11. Please tell me when next release will happen--[[User:Dman21|Dman21]] ([[User talk:Dman21|talk]]) 13:52, 18 August 2013 (CDT)
:Nobody knows until the publisher decides on one and then tell the public.--[[User:Kemm|Kemm]] ([[User talk:Kemm|talk]]) 15:13, 18 August 2013 (CDT)

:If we looks at the previous release schedule (Feb, May, Aug, Nov) and considering vol 11 out on July I think we can assume vol 12 will be October or November (might be delayed till December or early 2014 though)[[User:Shyevsa|Shyevsa]] ([[User talk:Shyevsa|talk]]) 16:56, 18 August 2013 (CDT)

Alright thanks can't wait I hope it comes out on October is just my wishful thinking though --[[User:Dman21|Dman21]] ([[User talk:Dman21|talk]]) 01:46, 28 August 2013 (CDT)

== Raven/Crow Class? ==

Why in volume one, is Claire and Rinslet's class 'Raven Class', whereas come Volume 12 it's 'Crow Class'?

==Volume 13 ==

i read but , i thought this still alike unfinished ??
i cant read Jp word uuuuu... '' [[User:Toojiro|Toojiro]] '' [12/30/2013] 18:30

It's me again!!!! and like always does anyone know if the Author or publisher has given the date on the release for Volume 13 yet? Or have they not given it yet?[[User:ZAIZEAH|ZAIZEAH]]

'' [[User:Toojiro|Toojiro]] ''
idk ~..........

Normally, releases are announced roughly two months in advance.

It's not listed under MF Bunko J's releases for February 2014, so Volume 13 will probably come in March or April barring unexpected delays. By the way, you can sign your posts by typing <nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki> (4 tilde signs). --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] ([[User talk:Zzhk|talk]]) 08:02, 30 December 2013 (CST)

'' [[User:Toojiro|Toojiro]] ''
''thnx a lot !! for the info ''
12/30/2013 21:17

Thanks a lot!! and yeah I know how to sign but I was kinda in a hurry so, yeah. The waiting games begin again. [[User:ZAIZEAH|ZAIZEAH]] ([[User talk:ZAIZEAH|talk]]) 02:59, 31 December 2013 (CST)

== Info ==

Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance still not being anime ?? [[User:Toojiro|Toojiro]] ([[User_Talk:Toojiro|talk]])--dik 05:25, 1 January 2014 (CST)

http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Seirei_Tsukai_no_Blade_Dance First Paragraph --[[User:KuroiHikari|KuroiHikari]] ([[User_talk:KuroiHikari|Talk]] | ) 06:43, 1 January 2014 (CST)

== Est's curse ==

*spoiler if you haven't read up to ch 9 of vol 5*
Do you guys know if when he releases ppl/ "kill" the elemental lords from the otherworldly darkness will est's curse apply to kamito? Or does the curse only apply to seal armaments and killing spirits/demons? Also who knows about the curse?--[[User:Dman21|Dman21]] ([[User talk:Dman21|talk]]) 06:33, 31 July 2014 (CDT)

--Light Spoiler-- :P
Est did say that her curse would one day end Kamito; the same way it ended her original contractor, thus the reason why she was scared of herself. Kamito still accepted the fact though. The curse is mostly demon spirits, possibly armaments. I believe Est said something about absorbing the taint anyway, thus afflicting the contractor. [[User:All Nighter94|All Night]] ([[User talk:All Nighter94|talk]]) 06:57, 31 July 2014 (CDT)

== Kamito's past ==
*Spoilerish*
Can someone tell me when the girls find out about Kamito being a part of the instructional school?
Never mind found it volume 4 ch. 9-10

Why did you even bother asking a question if you already knew the answer lol. -[[User:Eirvenxkie19|Eirven]] ([[User talk:Eirvenxkie19|talk]])

I found the answer about 15 minutes after I posted it.Turns out I was looking in the wrong chapter. Felt lazy to delete the topic so I just decided to answer it myself

== Delayed? ==

Anyone know why ch 17 was delayed? --[[User:Dman21|Dman21]] ([[User talk:Dman21|talk]]) 23:23, 18 September 2014 (CDT)

== Volume 14 delay ==

Any news about the volume 14? Not just about it´s release date, but even the reason for it's delaying would be appreciated.--[[User:Zuruumi|Zuruumi]] ([[User talk:Zuruumi|talk]]) 14:04, 13 December 2014 (CST)

Silver Cross and Draculea:Registration Page

2014-11-04T17:04:39Z

Dagger: Undo revision 398566 by Yukarin (talk): Vandalism based on Yukarin's other edits

To re-iterate the registration procedure:

*You are required to register which chapters you wish to work on. One portion of text per translator, please.

*Registration is on a "First Come, First Served" basis. Please register your intended chapters on the project's registration page.

*Maximum number of translators per volume is two, unless the volume is a collection of smaller stories. Another way to interpret this is no more than two translators should be working on the same "story arc".

*Translators may only register for portions of one volume at a time within each project. This is to prevent "biting off more than you can chew".

*The Registration page is not a binding contract, and translators can negotiate between themselves and the supervisor (if applicable) on the subject of which chapters they want to work on.

*Anonymous Translated Contributions are required to inform [[User:Thelastguardian|thelastguardian]] and the designated Project Supervisor of the intend Chapters as shown on the corresponding Registration page before any major contribution.

*Portions that are not updated for a significant time may be taken over by another translator after getting permission from the Project Supervisor. The new translator is encouraged to start over to maintain consistency, but the old translation will not be deleted at least until the new translation is finished (and probably not for some time after that). More information is available [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1433 here].

==The ''Silver Cross and Draculea'' Series==

=== Volume 1 ===

::*Prologue - [[User:ArchmageXin|ArchmageXin]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 1 - [[User:ArchmageXin|ArchmageXin]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 2 - [[User:ArchmageXin|ArchmageXin]] - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 3 - [[User:ArchmageXin|ArchmageXin]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 4 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 5 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 6 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Epilogue - [[User:ArchmageXin|ArchmageXin]] - '''complete'''
::*Afterword - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''

=== Volume 2 ===

::*Prologue - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 1 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 2 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 3 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 4 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 5 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 6 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Epilogue - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Afterword - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''

=== Volume 3 ===

::*Prologue - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 1 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 2 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 3 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 4 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 5 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 6 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Epilogue - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Afterword - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''

=== Volume 4 ===

::*Prologue - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 1 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 2 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 3 - [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 4 - [[User:Kouen no Ten|Kouen no Ten]] - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 5 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 6 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Epilogue - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Afterword - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''

=== Volume 5 ===

::*Prologue - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 1 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 2 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 3 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 4 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 5 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Chapter 6 - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Final Chapter - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
::*Afterword - [[User:MageSlayer|MageSlayer]] - '''complete'''
<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Return to [[Silver_Cross_and_Draculea|Main Page]]
|-
|}

[[Category:Registration Page]]

NouCome: Volume 1 Afterword

2014-11-04T17:03:05Z

Dagger: Undo vandalism

The title of this novel’s pretty long. It seems to be all the craze these days.

Since I won’t get the chance to do this often, I might as well play around a little with its abbreviations.

《俺の脳内选択肢が、学园ラブコメを全力で邪魔してい》

↓

「俺の脳」 (My brain) Seems like something Miyamoto-sensei would write.

「俺がコメを邪魔している」 (I’m destroying paddy fields) Farmers would get angry.

「俺は脳をしている」 (I am brain) T...this one is deep. Seems like a title to some book on philosophy.

「俺の学力」 (My learning capabilities) I was 159th in my grade...let’s not talk about that.

「俺ラブ」 (I love) Narcissistic.

「俺でしている」 (I am me) ...What?

「俺の脳内学園」 (My imaginary school) It’s filled with girls that love me.

「俺の園」 (My garden) Whoa!

「俺の園でしている」 (Doing it in my garden) Whoa -!

「俺が邪魔」 (I get in the way) All sorts of main characters exist.

「俺学」 (I am learn) The name of the main character is Kanade.

「俺がガンダムだ」 (I am a Gundam) I just put this one in for fun.

「が’学園」 (G-Gakuen, i.e. S-school) I stuttered.

「のがをで」 (The am while it) This title makes no sense.

「ラメ」 (Don’t~) The fact that there’s no「エ」in this sentence is causing me great regret. (TL note: That’s the character ‘E’ in Japanese, and this line doesn’t seem to make sense.)

「ラブコメ力」 (Romantic comedy power) I want that too.

「学園ラブ」 (Schoolyard love) Please don’t promote prohibited relationships.

「選園全魔」 (All the selection fields) It’s a finishing move I thought up.

「全力でしている」 (I’ll give it my all) This seems like a nice name for an autobiography, what do you guys think?

「魔」 (Demon) If you paste this on your back you can become one of the Piccolos. (TL note: The author is referring to the character Piccolo from Dragon Ball who has this character on the back of his shirt.)

「でている」 (It came out) ...What?

「脳がでている」 (The brain leaked out) That’s a gory scene.

「脳が邪魔」 (The brain gets in the way) Just die then.

「脳が学園を全力でしている」 (Brain is school with all it can) Please speak proper Japanese

「脳内’全力で邪」 (The inside of my brain is evil) AKA middle school students

Long time no see, or should I say nice to meet you. Hello everyone, my name is Takeru Kusukabe.

Since I don’t have much more space left for this afterword as I spent so much of it messing around, I’ll just get to the point and say what I have to.

Firstly I want to apologize to editor Miss Y. Since I had too many dirty punchlines in my book, she had to utter a lot of words that tested the limits of her dignity while we were discussing the plot of the book over the phone, in fact it was almost like humiliation play...could we please do that a few more times?

Also, to Yukiwo-sensei who’s been helping out with the illustrations for this book, your drafts never fail to remind me how amazing of a job being a light novel writer is. In my mind, Chocolat on the main cover isn’t wearing anything. Don’t try to convince me otherwise, she isn’t wearing anything. Got it?

Next up are all the unsung heroes who have poured in their blood, sweat and tears to ensure this book makes it safely from the production stages over to the shelves, I simply can’t thank you all enough.

Lastly, I want to dedicate my most sincere gratitude to every single one of you readers who have taken the time to purchase my work.

So, see you all once again in the second volume.

December 2011 - Takeru Kusukabe

And now we have a preview for the next volume brought to you by none other than Yukihira Furano’s sharp tongue!

A preview? I don’t think we need to do something like that for a novel that may not even receive a continuation, right?

(It’ll definitely come out next spring, so Yukihira-san, please use that signature sharp tongue of yours to briefly make an introduction.)

So you bunch of low, dirty pigs really want me to give you the low-down on the next volume? Oh well, I guess as the Queen of Pigs I’ll have to make an exception just this once, let’s go-oink~

(I have a feeling this is going to get weird...anyway there’s gonna be a lot of new female characters next volume, could you also say a few words regarding them as well?)

It seems that all these new characters are girls even smaller than I am.

(Sadly, none of these characters have more low-profiled chests than Yukihira-san.)

...It appears that all these new characters are all homosexuals after Amakusa-san’s butt.

(Now who would buy a book like that...one of them will claim to be Amakusa Kanade’s sister.)

It seems that the next volume will be mainly about how Amakusa-san forces a young, elementary school-aged girl into pretending to be his sister and doing a lot of XXX things together.

(...That’s enough...anyway just mention the title of the book again and end this whole thing already.)

《俺の脳内选択肢が、学园ラブコメを全力で邪魔してい》, also known as 《のうコメ》’s next volume will be arriving soon, so until then, I hope you pigs can oink and crawl about while waiting.

(We definitely got the wrong person to do this.)

User:Dagger/Recent Series

2014-07-15T06:00:27Z

Dagger: DPL queries to show the most recently tagged 15 main and teaser projects

Last 15 pages added to [[:Category:Light novel (English)|Light novel (English)]]:
<DynamicPageList>
category = Light novel (English)
count = 15
</DynamicPageList>

Last 15 pages added to [[:Category:Teaser (English)|Teaser (English)]]:
<DynamicPageList>
category = Teaser (English)
count = 15
</DynamicPageList>

Talk:Date A Live

2012-07-19T06:28:37Z

Dagger: /* Tohka vs Touka */

I added the tag so it can't be updated as a full project, unless you object. [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 19:53, 27 December 2011 (CST)

I don't really mind, but I don't think it's ready to be a full project yet.. --[[User:Jonathanasdf|jonathanasdf]] 20:05, 27 December 2011 (CST)

Technically, it's enough, I think. Onizuka-GTO will check that. [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 20:11, 27 December 2011 (CST)

"Illustrations by Tsunako(つなこ)" I was seriously doubting my eyes thinking the illustrations resembled Neptunia, until I saw that quote. Fuuuuuuuuu
Yea, after visiting [her?] blog(http://tyamo.wa-syo-ku.com/) I can see its there. Haaa

== More major editing ==

I'm planning on doing some major editing... for example, rewriting sentences to sound more natural in English and consolidating them into paragraphs so that it's more easily readable. [[User:CarVac|CarVac]] 20:50, 10 June 2012 (CDT)

So... are you asking for permission, or just posting your plan? Either way, go right ahead!-[[User:Jonathanasdf|jonathanasdf]] 22:10, 11 June 2012 (CDT)

== Tohka vs Touka ==

Hey all. I've been thinking of picking up the translation for this since there aren't any active translators. Would anyone be opposed to me using Touka instead of Tohka? It just looks more natural/correct that way. --[[User:Shini|Shini]] 18:31, 17 July 2012 (CDT)

I'm not opposed. I originally was planning to do that, but the official English romanization had it as Tohka so I chose to follow what the author decided.--[[User:Jonathanasdf|jonathanasdf]] 23:12, 17 July 2012 (CDT)

isn't it Tohka? 十香。。。。。now that i read about it it sounds more like Tooka oh Btw im working on Vol 2 chpt 1 just to avoid clashing--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] 23:26, 17 July 2012 (CDT)

The official romanization also has Sido instead of Shidou and Sprit instead of Spirit. Official romanization is usually just there for design, not to sound natural or even be correct. The kanji suggests that it should be Tooka, but the JDIC name dictionary has the reading as とうか (Touka). According to my IME, both are valid, so I'm just going to go with Touka. -- [[User:Shini|Shini]] 11:04, 18 July 2012 (CDT)

well i guess you can put that but someway or another we have to agree on one names--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] 11:12, 18 July 2012 (CDT)

Ah never mind, I saw the furigana in the original text and it says Tooka. I guess we should use that, then. -- [[User:Shini|Shini]] 18:14, 18 July 2012 (CDT)

Eh... personally, I've always hated that way of writing it (e.g. Toosaka, instead of Tousaka or Tohsaka? Bleh.) For what it's worth, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-4mtQ8VwUkk#! the anime PV] uses Tohka: http://imgur.com/a/tasbw. (But at the end of the day I'd be happy to get more translations regardless of the name used. If it really bugs me I'll toss together a Greasemonkey script to fix it locally...) -- [[User:Dagger|Dagger]] 20:04, 18 July 2012 (CDT)

They use Sido? Are you serious? Ok then whatever... lol. If anyone wants feel free to change Tohka to Touka in the previous few chapters. I'm against Tooka though, seems unnatural.--[[User:Jonathanasdf|jonathanasdf]] 23:17, 18 July 2012 (CDT)

???しど<---shido....right??? im confused lol.....but oh well what chapters are you gonna be doing? Its best if you register to tell others you are working on that chapter/vol--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] 00:16, 19 July 2012 (CDT)

し is pronounced "shi", but it's romanized to "si" in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunrei-shiki_romanization Kunrei-shiki] romanization, for reasons that are fairly obvious if you look at the tables on that link. Needless to say I think we should avoid that, since no English speaker is going to read it correctly unless they're familiar with Kunrei-shiki or kana... and even then it's hard to mentally read "Sido" off the page as "Shido". (This is the main reason I dislike Tooka -- even though I know how it's supposed to be pronounced, I inevitably read the "too" as [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/too /tuː/]) -- [[User:Dagger|Dagger]] 00:59, 19 July 2012 (CDT)

.....Look at the exceptions table at the bottom dude....--[[User:RikiNutcase|RikiNutcase]] 01:14, 19 July 2012 (CDT)

What about it? Just because it's permissible to use alternate spellings in some situations doesn't mean the non-alternate spelling ceases to exist... -- [[User:Dagger|Dagger]] 01:28, 19 July 2012 (CDT)

Talk:Date A Live

2012-07-19T05:59:35Z

Dagger: /* Tohka vs Touka */ Comment + remove the line break in my previous comment

Talk:Date A Live

2012-07-19T01:04:00Z

Dagger: /* Tohka vs Touka */

Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume3 Chapter3

2012-07-17T20:43:40Z

Dagger: Remove some commas

==Chapter 3: Claire's Birthday==

===Part 1===

—And just like that, Kamito went towards the fundamental subject classroom to take the supplementary class.

Since Est disliked sitting down and listening to the lecture, she seemed to be playing with Scarlet outside.

When he opened the door of the classroom, he spotted an appearance he recognized from behind among the scattered students.

That blue pony-tail was... without a doubt, the leader of the Knights, Ellis.

"She's also in the supplementary class?"

It was a little surprising that that serious knight girl had failed the lecture.

Kamito approached from behind to try to call out to her.

For the time being, he had to explain about this morning's incident.

Ellis opened her thick book, which was written in spirit language, and was softly muttering it out.

In her engrossment in studying, she seemed to have completely not noticed Kamito drawing closer.

''By any chance, is she simply trying to memorize the contents of the book word for word?''

He thought that it couldn't be so, but the person herself was seriously trying to memorize it.

''...I see, she's the type that's overly serious and poor at studying.''

It was the same headlong type as her battle style. Types like this would make progress as long as they did not make a mistake in the way of putting in effort, however, they would stumble many times from time to time.


"Yo, Ellis."

"Hyan!"

The moment Kamito called out, a cutting-flash occurred.

As Ellis turned around, she swung her sword downwards.

"..."

The sword stuck in the desk and it bent.

Kamito had dodged the slash with a paper-thin difference.

"A-Are... you trying to kill me?!"

"Ka-Kazehaya Kamito... don't suddenly stand behind me!"

Despite that he was almost killed, she ended up being angry. ...How absurd.

"That was a very cute scream, Knights leader."

"Do you want to be made into chicken pilaf?"

Ellis' eyes dangerously hung up.

...It was very good that the variation of her cooking seemed to be spreading out nicely.

"I'm sorry for surprising you. Ellis, are you also taking supplementary class?"

"Yeah, that's right. I had failed the fundamental subject."

"It's a painful thing for both of us. Since, we're in the same supplementary class after all, let us get along nicely."

"Don't group me together with you, I was busy with the Knights work and failed to earn the credit!"


As he made a bitter smile at an enraged Ellis, Kamito sat beside her.

As expected, she wasn't wearing the Knights armor when she took the supplementary class.

Ellis in a normal uniform was somewhat refreshing.

She always had that gallant impression, but now she felt somewhat lovely.

''...By the way, Ellis' breasts are surprisingly big.''

Kamito was tentatively also a boy in puberty. It couldn't be helped that his eyes unconsciously went over there.

''With that size, isn't it considerably tight in the Knights breastplate?''

He was thinking about such things, when—

"Err... Kazehaya Kamito."

Suddenly, Ellis coughed.

"Uh?"

"It's regarding this morning, but I'm sorry."

"Eh?"

"I heard the circumstances from Claire and the others after that. It appears that I had misunderstood. I'm sorry... I want you to forgive me."

Ellis shook her ponytail and bowed her head down.

"Ah, don't worry about it. Instead, if Ellis didn't come at that time, how should I put it, I feel that that would have turned into various terrible things."


Kamito made a bitter smile as he waved his hand, and Ellis breathed a sigh of relief.

"They were making chocolates for the «Valentia Holy Festival», right?"

"...Ya, that seemed like it. Ellis, would you happen to be making it too?"

"M-Me!?"

At that moment, Ellis turned bright red.

"I-I don't have an interest in that kind of insolent event!"

She suddenly flared up for some reason.

"To make merry in such an event is outrageous, it's like neglecting one's duty as an academy student."

Ellis coughed, and fixed her sights on her spirit subject textbook again.

To cool her flushed face, she began to mutter and memorize again.

Being unable to just watch, Kamito advised her.

"Ellis, even without memorizing everything, isn't it alright to memorize just the important parts?"

"B-But, in that case, I would not be studying it precisely."

"It's much more futile to blindly memorize without understanding the contents. Look."

"Fuaa, Wh-Wha-What are you doing?!"

"Since, you have seriously taken down your notes, I'll teach you just the important parts."

Kamito looked at the book from the side, and Ellis was flustered.

"Hn, what's the matter?"


"Y-Your arm is touching my breast... Err..."

"Hn?"

She seemed to have said something, but her voice was too soft that he couldn't hear it.

Kamito drew his face even closer, and Ellis' face turned bright red.

Without caring, Kamito was placing marks one after another with the pencil onto the textbook.

"This is like this, right? And, this is—"

"U-Um, I see... Your teaching method is good."

"Is that so?"

Well, certainly if compared to Claire's teaching method, it might be better. There was the time he got Claire to explain the contents of the lecture before, but... honestly, he completely did not understand what she was saying.

A genius type like Claire often seemed poor at teaching others.

"T-The next time, teach me various things again. Your explanations are very easy to understand."

"Ahh, no problem."

Kamito friendlily assured her, and then, he set his sights towards the platform in a fluster.

Before he knew it, his lecturer-in-charge Freya was standing on the platform.

If he had turned to the front a few seconds later, it was certain that a chalk would come flying at the speed of sound.

===Part 2===

Teacher Freya's supplementary class began.

Ellis nodded seriously as usual as she was listening attentively to the lecture.

"—In other words, depending on the situation, it appears that there are also cases that result in the annihilation of contracted spirits. Of course, I believe that there isn't a fool that would reach her hand out to Spell Armament Seals."

What Teacher Freya was talking about was regarding the deciphering of the spirit seal and the «Spell Armament Seal».

Spell Armament Seal, so to speak, was about the matter of being granted a spirit seal through artificial means.

It was still used during the Ranbal war, but its use has been currently prohibited by the cross-national treaty. Although, it was an open secret that some countries and organizations were still advancing its research.

''Because even the «Instructional School» I was at was also researching the Spell Armament Seals...''

An orphan of the «Instructional School», Jio Inzagi, they fought the other day.

The part where that boy had sealed seventy-two spirits was also a type of Spell Armament Seal that was engraved on his body.

Besides sealing spirits, Spell Armament Seals had various effects like forcefully drawing out a contracted spirit's power and granting new attributes. Just hearing this much, they seemed handy, but— for it to be prohibited by the cross-national treaty, of course, there was a proper reason.

Among the people implanted with the Spell Armament Seal, there were endless cases of fatal side effect occurring.

"During the Ranbal war, many spirit contractors were rounded up, and among them there were also people forcefully implanted with the Spell Armament Seal by the military. What became of most of them?— Ellis, try answering."

"Okay, the power of their contracted spirits was driven into a rampage, and there were even fatal cases, I've heard."

Ellis, who was pointed out from the platform, clearly answered.

"That's right. It is said that the number of people, whose body are compatible with the spell armament seal, is only less than ten percent even among the spirit contractors. However, in spirit that that risk was evident, even now, the fact that illegal researches are continuing means that there are that many people, who seek for easy power."

Teacher Freya informed in a strict voice, and swung her cane.

Suddenly, Kamito, who thought the teacher's attitude was suspicious, whispered to Ellis in a soft voice.

"She's sincerely emphasizing about the Spell Armament Seal. This isn't the content of the fundamental subject, right?"

"...Yes. As a matter of fact, there was a notification for the Sylphid Knights this morning."

Ellis slightly nodded.

"Somehow recently, there seemed to be a group illegally selling Spell Armament Seals in Academy Town. As it's the period just before the Blade Dance, she's probably accosting a warning even during the lecture."

The sale of Spell Armament Seals was naturally prohibited within the Ordesia Empire.

The princess maidens attending the academy should also perfectly understand that riskiness.

However, even amongst them, there were those kinds of people, who would reach out for easy power.

Especially, for a team whose results were sluggish just before the Blade Dance, it wouldn't be strange for some people to take the plunge and have an implantation, aware of the danger.


The implantation of the Spell Armament Seal cost a large sum of money, but the princess maidens attending the academy were mostly great nobles possessing territory.

As far as the illegal organization is concerned, it was business that also had far lower risk than poaching in the spirit forest and selling sealed spirits on the black market, and could also raise enormous profits.

"Having a hand in the Spell Armament Seals is the weakness of the heart. However, the number one evil is, of course, the people illegally handling the Spell Armament Seals. As a knight, I'll never forgive those people who ruin the academy."

Ellis tightly clenched her fist, and muttered with determination.

The weakness of the heart that sought dangerous power— He couldn't condemn that.

Anyone would also have the likelihood of falling into that temptation.

Even that proud Claire Rouge was like that.

Despairing in her own weakness, she accepted the frenzy spirit Restia presented.

To want to obtain strong power no matter what one had to do— That was something hard to understand for Kamito, who had once held the title of strongest.

Being able to exchange feelings with spirits in spite of being a boy! —There was also a time that he thought of even cursing that power, which was the same as that person, who was called the history's worst Demon King.

''—However, I can imagine it.''

Kamito cast his eyes onto his left hand covered by a leather glove.

If he couldn't take {{Furigana|her|Restia|margin=12}} back with his current power—

It might be possible that he would end up reaching out for that prohibited power.


"How many such people has the Sylphid Knights arrested?"

"Err, of course, to expose this type of illegal organization, the Knights are also concentrating all their strengths, but— since that assault the other day, our present condition is that we are being afflicted by a serious short-handedness."

"Is that so?..."

The incident the other day— That was about the incident that Jio Inzagi battled the Sylphid Knights, and stole highly classified materials of the «strategic-class military-use spirit» from the sealed library in the Academy.

There were five knights, who were injured that time. Furthermore, Rakka and Reishia, who were also Ellis' teammates, were injured during the quest in Mine Town.

The total number of people in the Sylphid Knights was twenty at best.

So, that meant that a third of the organization was not functioning in their present condition.

"Are your two teammates already alright?"

"Ahh, they seemed to have recovered to the point of being able to somehow move their body. They have not yet recovered to the point that they can come back to the academy. If you had not come to help at that time, the girls and I would surely be unable to return to the academy. ...I have to express my gratitude to you again."

"We were at that place because of our quest. It's natural to protect comrades of the academy, so Ellis, it isn't something you have to feel indebted for. We also received a reward and a thank-you-letter from the Knights."

Kamito reflexively made a bitter smile at the ever-serious Ellis.

"That's something awarded to Team Scarlet. What I am saying is, err, that '''I have to express a more personal gratitude''' to you, or perhaps I should say that I want to do so..."

"Uh?"

Ellis bashfully mumbled. It was unusual for her, who was always frigid.

"What? Say it in a louder voice."

"...I-I mean—"

Ellis came closer to his body.

Smelling the faint yet nice smell of soap, Kamito was spontaneously startled.

"Err, do you have some plans after the supplementary class?"

"Plans? Ahh, we're having a victory celebration party with Claire and the others, but... Ellis, are you also coming?"

"..."

When Kamito answered, Ellis placed her hand at her chin like she was a little perplexed—

"No, I'll have to decline. I seem to be disliked by Claire Rouge."

She calmly shook her head.

"Then, are you free in the evening?"

"Yes, as long as it's not too late..."

Kamito tilted his head—

"However, why?"

"Uh, ah... I mean, err, I-I want you to help teach me with my studies!"


"Studies?"

"That's right! D-Didn't you promise that you'll teach me just now?!"

Ellis' face turned bright red.

"Err, I certainly said that, but... it's rather sudden."

"...W-Will you teach me or will you not, which is it?!"

"I-I got it... Let's see, well then, five o'clock in front of the middle auditorium, is that alright?"

"U-Um, I got it. After all, I also have to prepare various things."

"Prepare?"

"I-It's nothing... J-Just look forward to it!"

After telling it one-sidedly, Ellis quickly hid her face beneath her textbook.

''...What on earth was that?''

===Part 3===

After the supplementary class ended and bidding farewell to Ellis, Kamito hurriedly ran to the front of the main gate of the academy.

"You're late, Kamito!"

<nowiki>*</nowiki>Pishi!* *Pishi!* Claire was making sounds with her whip. ...She seemed pretty angry.

"Good grief, a man keeping a lady waiting is the worst."


"If I was the queen, I'd behead you."

Rinslet and Fianna were also angry.

"Sorry..." Kamito docilely apologized.

"Kamito, I want to eat parfait soon."

Est was motionlessly and expressionlessly staring at Kamito.

"Yeah, I keep on relying on Est every time. So, ask for anything today."

"I'm happy, Kamito."

Saying that, Est grasped tightly onto Kamito's hand.

"Wh—"

Claire and the others, the three of them, became stiff like they were frozen.

"Hn, what's the matter?"

As Kamito's hands were kept joined with Est's, he turned around—

The three of them kept glaring at Kamito, as they groaned "Gununu...".

"Fufu, everyone, his other hand is still free, you know?"

Carol placed her hand near her mouth, and gently smiled.

"I-It's not like that!" "Holding hands and such..." "I-I'm not a kid, you know!"

The three ojou-sama blushed, and quickly turned away.

"Ah, is that so? Well then, by the order of arrival, I'll do it."


Carol was tightly grasping onto Kamito's hand.
[[Image:STnBD V03 067.jpg|thumb]]

"...!"

"This is a little embarrassing. ...Hn, what's the matter, everyone?"

"I-It's nothing, Let's quickly get going, idiot!"

Suddenly, Claire walked off like she was angry.

"A man who toys with a girl's feelings deserves death."

"Haa, Kamito-kun is really the demon king of the night..."

Rinslet and Fianna also started walking.

"...What was that?"

With his hands kept joined with the two of theirs, Est's and Carol's, Kamito tilted his head.

===Part 4===

If Areishia Spirit Academy was a castle, then Academy Town at the bottom would be its castle town.

Its outer edge was encircled by the spirit forest and ramparts, and the town was divided into five areas associated with the five grand spirits.

The part that academy students used as a breather after examinations was primarily the «Water» area. Rivaling the imperial capital, entertainment facilities, such as jewelry shops, restaurants and large public baths, were gathered here.

On the other hand, the «Wind» area, which Kamito and the others were heading to, was an area that ordinary townspeople lived in.



A vivid embroidered horizontal banner was hung out on the road, and small wooden frames that were for deifying the spirits of the land were being made everywhere. It seemed to be preparations for tomorrow's «Valentia Holy Festival».

"It's awfully busy. It still has a different ambiance compared to the austere Imperial Empire's grand spirit festival."

Being brought up in the imperial capital, Fianna said her thoughts.

"That's because the Valentia Holy Festival is a festival by ordinary townspeople. Its nuance is a little different from the ritual that princess maidens dedicate to spirits in."

"Either way, it's close to the opening day of the Blade Dance."

As Kamito gazed at the townscape full of liveliness, he muttered.

"... Ahh, that might be the case."

Claire nodded as she walked.

Although it's called the Blade Dance, it didn't mean dedicating blade dances all day and night.

After all, it's a grand festival that gathered nobles of many kingdoms. Participants would be invited to the sponsoring nation's reception hall, and a dance party would be held throughout the dance, and countless numbers of fireworks would be launched at night. Near the grounds of Astral Zero, a famous town furnished with entertainment facilities was made.

Rather than calling it a solemn ritual, it was closer to call it a large-scale revelry that spanned over several days.

By the way, three years ago— Kamito, who was in female clothing, was invited to a dance, and nobles came proposing one after another. ...Even as he recalled that now, it gave him goose bumps.

"Ah, Kamito-san, have you seen the Blade Dance?"


"N-No, I just heard stories like that!"

Kamito shook his head in a fluster at Rinslet, who tilted her head.

"Fufu, there's no way Kamito-kun knows it, right?"

Being the only one among them who knew Kamito's true identity, Fianna giggled.

"O-Oi, Fianna!?"

Kamito raised his voice in a fluster.

He was probably not suspected by Claire, and when he turned behind.

"Hn?"

Claire was—

Standing still at the roadside, and staring motionlessly at a display window of a shop.

It seemed to be a store that was selling jewels and accessories.

"...What's the matter, Claire?"

"I-It's nothing!"

When Kamito approached, Claire jumped up.

"?"

Feeling suspicious, Kamito peered into the display window—

A small cat shaped pendant was placed on the shelf.

''...Hmm, as I thought, she's also a girl.''

He ended up thinking that the face profile of Claire, whose face turned bright red, was unusually cute.

"Do you want this?"

"I-I said it's nothing, right! I'm completely not interested in this sort of things!"

"I see. I thought it specially suits you."

"... A-Ar-Aren't you being an idiot! Le-Let's get going, I'm hungry!"

Claire turned bright red like a lobster, and started briskly walking off.

"...What, she isn't being honest as usual."

Kamito shrugged his shoulders in disappointment.

"The day of the Valentia Holy Festival is also that girl's birthday."

"Eh?"

Rinslet, who was behind him before he noticed, calmly informed him.

"Tomorrow's her birthday?"

"Yes, although, she is brushing it off like it is nothing."

''...Ahh, I see.''

Kamito gazed at Claire's back, who was briskly walking off.

Four years ago, because the Calamity Queen — Rubia Elstein, had rebelled against the fire Elemental Lord, the married couple of the Elstein duke family had their noble status divested.

Since the day that incident occurred, Claire's life had completely changed.


He was sure that she currently did not have the leeway or something to look forward to her birthday.

"..."

Kamito returned his sights to the store's display window.

There was the cat pendant with ruby-like spirit ore inlaid in its pupils.

It seemed to be something pretty expensive.

Kamito sighed, and gently moved away from the display window.

"Rinslet, thank you for telling me. You're a good person."

"Wh-What are you saying, I do not understand what you mean!"

Rinslet's face turned bright red, and she turned her face away.

''...Twenty gold coins, huh? Well, what do I do?''

===Part 5===

The diner, called Japanese Bluefish Pavilion and recommended by Carol, was a very stylish building of red bricks.

He sat on an inner table that sits six people and promptly opened the menu.

There was a soup that completely used one chicken, a meat dish full of spices, a fried bean curd bread covered in honey, and a freshwater fish pie. The dishes drawn in the menu were all full of things that stimulated his appetite.

However, what he was a little troubled by was— the reaction of the waitress girls.


They were pointing at Kamito and whispering.

"Hey, by any chance, isn't he the male spirit contractor in the rumors?" "You mean the one that defeated the rampaging military-use spirit in that town?" "He's making five girls wait upon him. It's as if he has a king's pretension." "Even such a small girl, his poison fangs..." "A licentious beast... No, perhaps I should call him the licentious king." "The licentious king..."

...What was licentious king? He wished that they stopped making so many new terms.

"A commoner's restaurant is also not bad once in a while."

"This is the first time I came to a place like this. Is there some sort of special etiquette?"

Rinslet and Fianna were looking around the store's interior un-composed.

Claire and Est had been looking together at the dessert menu.

"I'm lost. The European pear tart also looks delicious, also the peach mousse."

"Kamito, is it alright if I request for all these?"

"No, all is definitely not possible, you know?"

Kamito waved his hand in a fluster—

"Kamito promised. I could request any I like today."

"Gu..."

"You promised."

Est's innocent pupils were staring at Kamito.

She had that never-changing empty expression as usual... However, there was a somewhat strange impact.


Finally, Kamito ran out of patience, and hung his head down.

"...I got it. I promised after all."

"Kamito, I'm happy to be contracted to Kamito."

Est tightly embraced Kamito's arm.

"Haha, Est, you're exaggerating."

Kamito, who made a bitter smile, was—

"..."

Being glared at by Claire and the others.

After Kamito consolidated the order, the dishes were carried out immediately. The dishes, which were fully lined up on the table, were all delicious, and the three ojou-sama, who had refined palates, also seemed completely satisfied.

"Claire, don't casually move the mushroom onto my plate."

"What, despite that I went through the trouble to give it."

"You're no good with mushrooms, right? I pretty much got used to your likes and dislikes."

"...Um, why do you know that I'm no good with mushrooms?"

"I've generally grasped your taste."

"Eh? Th-That's..."

Claire's face turned red.

"Kamito-san, here's my fish."


"Kamito-kun, I'll also give you my shellfish."

"You all..."

Having had ingredients thrown in without reservation from these fussy ojou-sama, Kamito's pasta had somewhat become something that he didn't really know.

It was dessert after the meal. There were the multifarious parfait, the tart placed with plentiful of seasonal fruits, the fluffy freshly-baked sponge cake, the mousse entwined with a bittersweet sauce and so on. They were lined up on the table almost like a jewel box.

"It's very cute!" "How pretty." "...Wh-What should I have?"

Gazing at the desserts lined up before them, the three of them placed their hands on their cheeks, seeming in bliss.

Even noble ojou-sama seemed to turn into normal girls in front of sweet desserts.

"You girls, are you really going to eat all of these?"

"Of course. When girls eat sweet things, their stomachs are connected to Astral Zero."

Claire said something he didn't really understand with a tense expression.

Yup! Yup! Fianna and Rinslet nodded.

"Fianna, I'll take a mouthful of cake."

"It can't be helped, I'll exchange it with your pudding."

"Claire, I will give you my peach. Be grateful."

"Eh? Is that fine, Rinslet?"


"Yes, I'm no good with peaches... I'll exchange it for your slave."

"...Um, that's a tough choice."

"Don't arbitrarily trade a person... Eh, I'm equal to a peach?"

"Claire, that's my cherry."

"Carol, look, it's your favorite European pear."

"Ah, well then, I'll return Milady's beloved peach back."

"Eh, Rinslet, you—"

"Carol, wh-wha-what are you saying?!"

Rinslet hit Carol.

''Nevertheless...''

As he glanced towards Claire beside him— Kamito muttered within his heart.

He felt like Claire changed a little.

The time he just met her, how should he put it, she had a more brooding impression, and she had that atmosphere, like a wild cat not letting anyone near her.

...Something probably changed within her with the assembling of the team and comrades.

"...? Kamito, what are you looking at?"

"Hn? You have cream on your cheek. Come on, I'll get it off."

"Id-Idiot, I'll get it off myself!"


Claire's face turned bright red, and she turned away, at that moment.

"Thank you for waiting. Here's this store's famous dish, Special Big Parfait♪"

"Eh?"

Together with the cheerful voice—

The waitress with her glamorous tall figure came to Kamito's table.

She was a bewitchingly beautiful girl, and her wavy jade green hair was grown long.

When he looked carefully, the tips of her ears were sharply pointed.

''...The Elfim race?''

They were subhumans that were reported to have crossed over from Astral Zero during the distant mythic age.

It seemed that the pure Elfim race did not exist anymore now, but— their physical trait of having long ears was famous. They were often seen in the urban areas of the empire, there are also Elfim race academy students in the academy, but one working as a waitress in a diner was rare.

What she had carried over was— a gigantic chocolate parfait.

That was enshrined right in the middle of the table and had a size almost like a nightmare.

"...Eh, who ordered this?!"

"It wasn't me."

Claire shook her head. Fianna and Rinslet also shook theirs.

"..."


The line of sight from everyone naturally gathered on one girl.

"...Est?"

"Kamito promised that I could request for anything."

"Err, that's..."

"You promised."

Est gazed at Kamito with her innocent pupils.

"By the way, if you leave stuff behind, there'll be a fine♪"

The beautiful waitress pleasantly smiled.

"Wh-What do we do?"

"It appears that there's no choice but for everyone to cooperate and eat it."

"...It can't be helped."

Kamito sighed in disappointment—

''...Hn?''

Suddenly, he discovered the figure of a girl he recognized on the other side of the window.

She had a stunning blue haired pony-tail, and was in her Knights armor.

She was Ellis, who he just bid farewell to at the academy a while ago.

"What's the matter, Kamito?"


"I just saw Ellis pass by over there. Does she have a Knights quest?"

"Ellis? Hmm..."

Claire glared at Kamito, seemingly displeased.

"...You're really concerned about Ellis."

"Hn, what do you mean... Mogu, mogugugu!?"

Suddenly, a spoon full of parfait was pushed into Kamito's mouth.

"Wh-What, despite being Kamito, to begin with, Ellis is of a rival team!"

"Mogu, mogugugugu..."

"Besides, you're a slave spirit only for me!"

As she forcefully stuffed the spoon into Kamito's mouth, Claire flared up.

''How unreasonable...''

===Part 6===

''...Fufu, what interesting-looking girls♪''

The tall beautiful girl, who returned to the kitchen, stuck out her tongue and licked her wet red lips.

She was the one, who carried over the gigantic parfait to Kamito's table, the Elfim race waitress.

From the kitchen, she viewed a hole as if she was evaluating or something—


Finally, she made a short sigh.

''Well, should I stop here today? Though they're the long-awaited prey.''

The risk of those girls as someone to trade with was a little high.

Those, who reached out for her goods— were always princess maidens who lost their confidence and were obsessed in strong delusions and sense of duty.

''...Although, that red haired girl seemed to be of a little hope.''

Vivian Melosa— She was a trader of {{Furigana|Bone Federations|Murders|margin=12}}, who specially handled Spell Armament Seals.

She once taught in the Imperial Capital's Academy, and was the leading person in Spell Armament Seal research. However, due to the reason that the research of Spell Armament Seals was prohibited after the Ranbal war, the academy was banished. After that, she moved around from organization to organization, doing nothing but research on Spell Armament Seals.

The academy, which assembled superior princess maidens from all around the country, was a suitable experiment site to her.

So far, she had infiltrated the academy several times, and performed the implantation of Spell Armament Seals into girls desiring power.

''...Although, there was only one that succeeded.''

Brushing her wavy jade green hair, she giggled.

"—Well, shall I patiently search? For my favorite kitten-chan?"

<noinclude>{{SeireiDance Nav|prev=Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume3 Chapter2|next=Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume3 Chapter4}}</noinclude>

Talk:Campione!

2012-07-12T03:00:21Z

Dagger: /* miko's vs mikos vs miko */

Campione! is great, please do your best with it...
{YoshikuniKAITO;13/agust/2011}

There's several missing " in dialogues. Is it intentional?[[User:Castor212|Castor212]] 09:39, 19 August 2011 (CDT)

Shouldn't be. Correct them in these cases. Though, be sure that you aren't mistaking it for the monologue. -[[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 21:27, 25 August 2011 (CDT)

...wow, the story looks interesting. I can't help but wait for the next chapter :D - [[User:RasteShelphyd|RasteShelphyd]] 21:46, 24 January 2012 (CST)

when Chapter5 will be completed? --[[User:TheRenegade94|TheRenegade94]] 15:21, 17 March 2012 (CDT)

Once the translator, alex, is back. When ''that'' will be... I don't know.--[[User:Kadi|Kadi]] 21:12, 27 March 2012 (CDT)

Aorii u know i really love u???? --[[User:TheRenegade94|TheRenegade94]] 21:50, 9 April 2012 (CDT)

Don't suddenly say something stupid! (ノ゜△゜)ノ~ (;｡▽｡)ヽ save that for the ppl you mean it to -- [[User:Aorii|Aorii]] 05:39, 10 April 2012 (CDT)

When will be v2c7 done ? i simple cant wait for more chapters of this great novel ^^

Translator's working on it. Don't be so impatient...and help us with edits. XD [[User:Kira0802|Kira]] ([[User_talk:Kira0802|Talk]]) 16:20, 7 May 2012 (CDT)

Translation for v2 is already going very fast so it wont be a very long wait. Prob around the weekend? Lol @ ^[[User:Fallen3dge|Fallen3dge]] 18:56, 7 May 2012 (CDT)

So glad that this novel will have an anime adaptation this coming july! another LN to be animated besides <<SAO>> ~ [[User:Ghost|Ghost]] 22:31, 18 May 2012 (UTC + 8)

There seems to be some problem with the navigation, after volume 2 afterword, i jump straight to volume 3 chapter 1, skipping novel illustrations and prologue?

Its fixed now. you can jump to vol 3 prologue. --[[User:Chancs|Chancs]] 00:01, 2 June 2012 (CDT)

Old Style:
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/images/f/f1/Campione_v2_139.jpg

New Style:
http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/images/f/fe/Campione_v12_149.jpg

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

hello i wanted to know if someone is doing the volume 3??

^ You do know there is a registration page that lists who is going to do what? --[[User:Lighthalzen|Lighthalzen]] 15:40, 27 June 2012 (CDT)

So quick! Volume 5 is going to be finished in no time!? Man, [[User:zzhk|zzhk]] is quite something..... - [[User:SATRIA|SATRIA]]

I hope vol. 3 and 4 be translated soon... --[[User:zerocrack|zerocrack]]

== miko's vs mikos vs miko ==

* 16:20, 1 July 2012 Dagger (Talk | contribs) m (42,621 bytes) (Fix "miko's"/"your's")
* 00:50, 2 July 2012 Zakashi (Talk | contribs) m (42,622 bytes) (The translator has reverted changes from "miko's" to "mikos" before, please clarify with him for the details on the use of "miko's" if you are intending to change them)

([[Campione!:Volume 2 Chapter4]])

Can we get a decision on which to use? Pluralizing with apostrophes is wrong, so "miko's" ought to be out; the choice should be between "mikos" and "miko".

I couldn't find a Baka-Tsuki guideline for this, but [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Japan-related_articles#Pluralization the Wikipedia one] says that normally "miko" would be used. That's my preference too, and I'd be happy to go through and change it everywhere. -- [[User:Dagger|Dagger]] 21:16, 7 July 2012 (CDT)

This is actually under discussion in the forum [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=4702&sid=c7035c5526973f1f4af6dbb3502c9d3f Terminology thread]. So far, the only one who has weighed in on the issue is Project Supervisor Kadi, who has advocated the unaltered form, i.e. "miko" whether plural or singular. I have no objections to that. In the future, please bring up style issues in the forum thread.

I would appreciate a bit of research before stating something flatly as wrong. Apparently, the use of "apostrophe s" to pluralize foreign words was common before the 19th century, so I guess I'm just old-fashioned and obsolete in that regard :P --[[User:Zzhk|Zzhk]] 03:47, 8 July 2012 (CDT)

Ah, sorry, didn't realize there was a forum thread. I don't think I've even ventured onto the forums before... I did scan the Apostrophe Wikipedia page beforehand, but I mostly figured that the rules for pluralization were well-known -- but then I have to concede that I was unaware of that particular usage. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VHO1kSJK1JcC&pg=PT50#v=onepage&q&f=false Eats, Shoots and Leaves] is pretty unequivocal in discouraging its use nowadays though. -- [[User:Dagger|Dagger]] 22:00, 11 July 2012 (CDT)

Talk:Campione!

2012-07-08T02:16:11Z

Dagger: /* miko's vs mikos vs miko */ new section

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume7 School Festival Activity meeting

2012-06-24T00:11:06Z

Dagger: Minor grammar edits

A few minutes later, Kobato entered the room with a nervous look on her face.

She was wearing her usual Gothic clothes, with a cross around her neck too.

I told her to thank everyone again. Even though her face was flushed bright red, she still managed a "T-T-Thank You..." as she bowed her head low.

This was followed by a "Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Kobato-chan's such an angel~~!!!! Come let Onee-chan have a lick!!", as Sena leaped towards Kobato with a gleam in her eye. Yozora's flyswatter quickly cut her short, though, as the topic of conversation shifted back to the School Festival once again.

Six people sat around the table.

I was sitting right at the center, with Yozora to my right and Kobato to my left.

Directly across from me was Rika. To her right was Yukimura and to her left, Sena.

This was to ensure maximum distance between Sena and Kobato.

"Well then, anyone have any good ideas?"

Yozora asked us, the club members.

"Thinking back about it, the only activities we managed to come up with before this were a Maid Cafe, a Tarot Booth and... I think that's all."

The Tarot Booth was the spark that eventually led to us celebrating Kobato's birthday party.

"By the way, what kind of activities are considered 'normal' for a School Festival?"

"A Maid Cafe!"

Sena answered Rika's question almost instantly.

"Didn't we already do that!" Yozora shouted back hesitantly.

"In the Galgames I've played, the main character's class always opens a maid cafe for the school festival! There are other cafes too like Butler Cafes, Cosplay Cafes, Animal Cafes and the like!"

"I can imagine a Butler Cafe and a Cosplay Cafe but... What's an animal cafe?"

I curiously asked.

"A cafe where the waitresses cosplay as animals!"

"Isn't that just a type of cosplay cafe? For a moment there I thought there would be animals in the cafe."

"...... Kodaka, having animals in a cafe is unhygienic."

Yozora coolly said next to me.

"T-that's true I guess..."

At this moment, Rika butted in.

"Then again Yozora-senpai, Rika's heard of cafes where one pats cats or dogs while sipping tea. They seem to be called Kitty or Doggy cafes."

"Ah, I've heard of those too. There are indeed cats and dogs in the cafe, are we allowed to touch them?"

"S-such things exist...!?"

Yozora asked in shock. It seems that she had never heard of them before.

".... I see... So such a paradise exists after all in this rotten world..."

Yozora mumbled to herself in a low tone, her face full of wonder.

"Yozora?"

"!? N-Nothing's wrong! I-I'll consider a Kitty cafe in the future."

"You still need to consider it?"

"S-shut up Kodaka!! A-Anyone else have any suggestions?"

"May I?"

Yukimura asked energetically. That's Yukimura for you.

"Yukimura?"

Yozora ushered Yukimura on.

"I would like to open a Sengoku<ref>Sengoku refers to the warring states era in Feudal Japan</ref> Cafe!"

"S-sengoku cafe!? Do they even exist?"

Yozora asked in shock. Yukimura tilted his head in surprise.

"... They don't?"

"How would I know!"

"They do~"

Rika answered coolly.

"Just as its name suggests, the waitresses dress like armored warriors. They usually greet their customers with 'Denka'"

"To think... They actually exist..."

Yukimura revealed the same expression as Yozora previously did.

"There are also similarly themed 'Princess Cafes', 'Little Sister Cafes', 'Tsundere Cafes', 'BL Cafes', 'Otoko no ko<ref>The kanji 男の娘 literally means 'A male girl'; it is a play on the phrase 男の子 which means 'little boy'. Both are pronounced the same, hence the pun. A general term would be 'Crossdressing Cafe' I suppose</ref> Cafes', 'Nun cafes', 'Reptilian Cafes', 'Gamudan Cafes', 'EXA Cafes' and so on. A lot of concept cafes exist in this world."

"Huh... How should I put it, these people are capable of thinking of anything..."

I said half impressed, half dejectedly.

"Since everyone seems to be doing Cafes, I think taste will determine the winner."

"Of course taste is important, but if we can't attract customers in the first place, we won't even get the chance to compete on that stage. 'As long as the content is fine, the packaging doesn't really matter', those are the futile words of an unrealistic dreamer. Of course, even if the packaging is superb, if the inside is horrible it'll all go to waste too."

"......We're talking about a cafe right?"

The conversation seemed to have taken a foreign turn for a moment there.

"If we want to focus on the concept, then the Neighbor's Club should put up a 'Friend's Cafe', don't you think?"

Yozora made a mysterious suggestion.

"F-friend cafe?"

I asked Yozora, unable to imagine what a friend cafe would look like. Yozora explained with unexpected confidence:

"Yes, a friend cafe. I just thought of it a moment ago. As its name suggests, we should serve the customers like friends. Anyone without friends would be able to experience the feeling of having friends here!"

"Hmm... A waiter who seems just like a friend..."

I tried to imagine how that would be like.

Waiter A: "Oh, if it isn't Kodaka-kun! What would you like to order, huh? Huh?"

Me: "Ummm... Ahh... I would like... erm... Coffee..."

Waiter B: "Seriously?? Coffee? Why don't you read the atmosphere!"

Waiter A: "Kodaka-kun, you're so hilarious!! (laughs)"

Me: "Er... Ahahaha..."

......

"... I don't think this will work."

"Although Rika's never heard of a 'Friend Cafe', in a nutshell it's a cafe where the waiters are closer to you right? Such cafes exist too - cafes where the waiters talk to you casually."

"To be honest, anyone who went to such a cafe would just get pissed off even more."

Me, Rika and Sena admitted.

"Hmm... Friends are really precious, not something a cheap cafe could easily replicate huh..."

Yozora nodded, as if she abruptly understood something.

"Aside from a cafe, how does a haunted house sound?"

Sena said.

"A haunted house huh, that might work..."

"Meat actually said something logical. The world's going to end tomorrow..."

"To think that Sena-senpai said something logical, aliens are going to invade the Earth tomorrow..."

"Sena-anego said something logical! Is this a sign foretelling a world-shifting disaster..."

Yozora, Rika and Yukimura's voices were tinted with a hint of real fear.

"I've always been logical all along! Listen up, a haunted house is a school festival staple! Going together with a girl into a haunted house, walking through a dark and creepy corridor! Suddenly a ghost jumps out in the middle of the road, scaring my partner so bad she comes running to me and embracing me tightly, causing my relationship with her to rapidly advance!! Kobato-chan, come with me to a haunted house would you!?"

"NO!!"

Kobato instantly turned down Sena's request with a hint of disgust.

"Meat is still revolting as always..."

Yozora facepalmed.

"...Even though it might work, the Neighbor's Club can't set up a haunted house." I said.

"Why not, Kodaka?"

"We don't have a venue."

Even though Meeting Room 4 was quite spacious, it wasn't big enough to be modified into a haunted house.

"Places like the dojo which are spacious enough to hold a haunted house are likely taken by other clubs already. Plus, we don't have enough... manpower."

"Ah..."

It seemed that Sena realized as well.

Including our advisor Maria, the Neighbor's Club only had 7 people.

"We'll need someone by the entrance right? So that leaves us with 6 people. I don't think 6 ghosts are enough."

Just then, Yukimura said:

"Aniki, as long as you stand in a dark corner, you'll be able to let everyone feel the horror of a hundred vengeful spirits."

"That's not the kind of horror you would expect from a haunted house would you? Speaking of which that was really disrespectful Yukimura!"

"I am deeply sorry."

Yukimura bowed down and apologized, with a faint smile on his cheek.

... It couldn't be that Yukimura was trying to make fun of me, could it?

It was such a rare occurrence I couldn't help but be surprised.

"Hmm, if its the venue I might be able to think of something..." Sena said.

"Huh, really?"

Sena's eyes narrowed, as an evil smile appeared on her face.

"Heh heh heh... Kodaka, you know what wealth and power are right?"

... The daughter of the school chairman was terrifying indeed.

"Rika should be able to make animatronic models of ghosts too. In fact, they might even be scarier than normal human actors!"

Rika said enthusiastically.

"...It seems a haunted house might actually be plausible after all. Lets take a vote."

Yozora said as she wrote "Cafe", "Tarot Booth" and "Haunted House" on the whiteboard.

"Alright, any other suggestions?"

☺

An hour later.

All suggestions for the School Festival were listed on the whiteboard.

* Shrine Games (shooting gallery, ring toss, goldfish scooping etc)

* IQ Challenge

* Drama / Play

* Eating contest (Wanko Soba<ref>From Wikipedia, Wanko Soba (わんこそば?) is a style of Japanese soba noodles originating from Iwate Prefecture in Japan, particularly Morioka and Hanamaki. It consists of a small serving of soba noodles in a small bowl.</ref>, Buns, Huge Gyozo, Ramen, Meat)

* Endurance Test (Endure Hot, Endure Cold, Endure Scolding)

* Exhibition

* Band performance (Counter-point: No one knows how to play any instruments)

* Dancing

* Flea Market

* Doujinshi sales (Adult-rated BL Doujinshi preferred)

* Club book sales (Plus point: It's easier to sell to friends <-- Counter point: If we knew how to make friends we wouldn't be here would we?)

* Planetarium

* Comedy talk show

* Magic performances

Other suggestions included building a huge maze and underwater kibasen tournaments, but those were deemed too difficult to manage by the club alone.

A beauty contest was also suggested, but it was fiercely opposed by Yozora who soon veto-ed it.

"Hmm... I don't want to do an exhibition here too."

Sena said unsatisfactorily.

Speaking of which, Sena's class was doing an exhibition titled 'History of Tooyo City'"

It's said that Sena absolutely dominated the School Festival, so in order to prevent that from happening again the female students had banded together.

"The only reason I wrote it down is because it's actually quite doable. To be honest I don't like exhibitions either, they lack a sense of fulfilment present in real life." Yozora said.

"It's expected for an exhibition to be boring on the day itself, but everyone working towards a single goal preparing for the exhibition, isn't that an amazing thing?"

Hearing my explanation, Sena told me in frustration.

"Those kind of things only happen when everyone's motivated! The ones in my class are helpless."

To think that "Not letting Sena have her way" could produce such motivation...

"It depends on the context too no? If only they could get hyped up over NETA..."

"That's what I thought too, so I suggested the exhibition be themed 'The omnipotent omniscient goddess Kashiwazaki Sena-sama's photo collection'!! In the end all the female students were against it! Hnnnnnngh... Just thinking about it makes me angry, those idiotic group of female stand-ins...!!"

"You're the idiot."

Yozora spat out coldly.

"Maa, ignoring that idiot Meat, I don't think the exhibition will be any fun on the day itself, so lets cancel that."

Since the other members weren't too keen on an exhibition either, nobody opposed.

Yozora erased "Exhibition" from the whiteboard.

Looking at the whiteboard,

"Hmm, we can try these other backup plans here one by one. We need to visit the flea market and the planetarium once first before we make a decision."

"Ack, we're going to try all of them?"

I asked in surprised, as Yozora nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course. Since we don't know what we should be doing at the School Festival, its best if we expand our perimeters and try everything out."

"Even so this is a bit too much no? We only have a month left, by the time we finish experimenting a month will be over. It'll be best if we slash off a few others too..."

"Oh...That makes sense..."

Yozora once again looked at the whiteboard after listening to me.

"Heh."

She erased "Comedy talk show" without a second thought.

"Wait, why did you erase that first? Isn't that the most suitable backup?"

I protested in surprise.

By the way, I was the one who proposed the "Comedy Talk Show".

Doing a comedy talk show in front of everyone and expressing my humorous side, everyone would then understand I was a pretty funny guy, and dispel my image of being a delinquent. This would then pave the road for me to make new friends, it was absolutely the best plan ever!

""Hmm, it's definitely the best backup plan, erasing that..."

"...Was the right decision Yozora senpai."
"...I think it's a wise choice, Yozora-anego."
"...Kuh kuh kuh... It's the right choice..."

None of the members outside Yozora had any qualms about it.

"Heh, you guys seem uninterested in humour... Heh heh heh. I wonder if you'll be able to stay that way after listening to my latest joke 『The man in the red fridge』? Heh heh heh. It was when I was alone on the road..."

"If you continue I'll dismember you and stuff you in the fridge Kodaka."

.........

All the other members shot me cold stares, hence I had no choice but to give up.

Yozora continued

"Hmm... Ahh right. Let's remove all duplicates of anything our classes are doing too."

"We already removed 'Exhibition' right?" Sena asked.

"My class and Kodaka's isn't doing anything spectacular. What about Rika and Yukimura?"

"Who knows? Rika's never stepped into class once, so she wouldn't know."

"Our class is doing a choir."

"Namaste...?<ref>The original kanji used, 合唱 and 合掌, are both pronounced Gasshou. The former means Choir, while the later refers to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namaste Namaste], a salutation originating from the Indian subcontinent.</ref>"

A gesture to appease the souls of the dead, why would something like that be held in a school festival--- Ohh, Choir.

"A plan unrelated to the Neighbor's Club huh..."

The only one left was --- Suddenly I realized!

"Say Kobato, aren't there any problems with the School Festival over there in Junior High?"

Of course, St. Chronica Junior High would have a School Festival too, a week before Senior High in fact.

"Kuh kuh kuh... No problem at all..."

Kobato gave her usual laugh and replied.

"What are you doing for the Junior High School Festival then, Kobato-chan?"

Sena asked excited. Kobato went "Kuh kuh kuh" as she looked away.

... From the looks of it, it seems that she was doing "nothing".

"Kuh kuh kuh... My Kindred... You have no right to know... "

A cold sweat trickled down her forehead, as she avoided making eye contact with me.

Suspicious...

There was something off about the way she spoke. Thinking back about it, this was exactly how she acted when I asked her about her summer homework ("Kuh kuh kuh... No problem...") which she never did.

... To avoid it happening again in the future, its best I come straight with her now.

"If you don't tell me I won't cook Pork Ramen for you ever again."

"H-Hnngh... To think a low rank demon like you would dare threaten the Exalted Queen of the Night Leysis Vi Felicity Sumeragi... Foolishness..."

"There's still some leftover meat from yesterday in the fridge. I'll eat all of it."

"Hnngh... T-that's not fair..."

"Tell us straight then, what's your class planning to do?"

Faced with my questioning, Kobato made regretful "Uuu..." and lowered her head in shame.

"...M-movie..."

It was so soft it was barely audible.

"A MOVIE!?"

She managed to shock us alright.

Thinking back about it, as long as its not too complicated, a simple camcorder should be enough to shoot a movie.

"Heh... That sounds interesting."

"Hmm... A movie..."

Yozora and Rika seemed interested.

"So your class is doing a movie. What are you in charge of then, Kobato?"

"Kuh kuh kuh... That does not concern you..."

Kobato said as she tried to close the topic.

"If you don't tell us, I'm forbidding you to play video games any more starting from today."

"What...!? T-that means I won't be able to complete my training before I enter the second Great war between Angels and Demons with the horrible Gods...!"

"Be honest with us then."

"Uuuu..."

Kobato covered her head in shame.

"...ine"

She muttered something softly.

"Huh? What?"

"...ine"

"What's an ine?"

Was it the name of a character? To think they already distributed the roles, that was surprising.

Kobato lifted her head, looked straight at me and shouted.

"I SAID!! HEROINE!! I COULD ONLY PLAY THE HEROINE!!"

"Heroine!?"

Sena and I yelled at the same time. Yozora and Rika wore equally shocked looks on their faces too.

"Heroine... You? You're the heroine of your class' movie?"

I asked again to make sure. Kobato nodded with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Kuh kuh kuh... Despicable primates... Why is it such that a noble like me must entertain these ignorant children of the day?"

"Being a heroine is great! That's a great improvement!"

I said ignoring Kobato's previous comment.

I was always worried that Kobato wasn't welcome in class... Could it be that she was secretly popular...?

Thinking about it, as we travelled around Japan, I never heard of cases where Kobato was bullied.

"I wanna watch! A movie where Kobato-chan's the heroine must be great! Lets all go watch!!"

Seeing Sena all fired up, Kobato sobbed "Uuu~~ I hate her..."

More importantly.

"Hey Kobato! Since you're the heroine, is it alright for you to be over here in a senior club?"

"......"

Upon hearing my question, Kobato looked away as a sweat trickled down her forehead.

This girl, she ditched her own class project to join us...

I let out a sigh.

"Kobato, since you were chosen as the heroine you should give it all you've got."

Kobato let out a "Muu..." unhappily. Looks like I need to start training her seriously.

"...In this world, there are plenty of others who don't get any roles at all in their class..."

"Uuu..."

Kobato let out a small whimper, and then looked at Yozora, Sena and me.

Yozora gave her a look that said 'well he's not talking about me' before looking away, while Sena let out a faint smile.

"...Right? This is a rare opportunity, make sure you work hard Kobato. A lot of people are counting on you right? That alone is something really amazing. You should only come help out here occasionally when you're free."

I said softly. Kobato stared at me silently for a while, before finally nodding her head with an "...Uhm".

I patted Kobato's head.

"That's good, now that's behaviour befitting the Exalted Queen of the Night Leysis Vi Felicity Sumeragi!!"

"An--An-chan!! Ummm... Kuh kuh kuh... Pat my head more, my loyal kindred... Ufufufu..."

As her face flushed bright red, Kobato said so, a comfortable look on her face.

<references />

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_7_Things_that_were_already_noticed|Things that were already noticed]]
| Return to [[Boku_wa_tomodachi_ga_sukunai|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai:_Volume_7_Movie|Movie]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 7 In the Rika room

2012-06-22T03:52:07Z

Dagger: its != it's

~_~ The next day, filming for the Neighbor’s Club movie began based on Sena’s script.

The script was, to say the least, terrible.

Yozora's plagiarized script aside, this second, supposedly ‘perfect edition’ script (which pointlessly added a protagonist’s brother) wasn’t much different than the first. It still came off as being extremely disorganized.

We totally forgot one thing regarding Sena’s script. Song and dance scenes, magic, ESP, cloaking, fighting in the park, love scenes between males, the transfer student being extremely popular - after throwing all of them together, the chances of the script resembling anything normal was close to zero.

Even though I admire Sena for taking everyone’s discussions into consideration, the script she worked so hard on was confusing at best.

However, since we had no other scripts to use, we had no choice but to film according to Sena’s.

“No turning back. That is the Man’s True Path”

Yukimura half sang as he danced.

With a katana slung by his waist, he looked positively satisfied by his performance.

... Calling this a “song and dance scene” is kinda pushing it, don’t you think?

“Heh, that was a good blow...”

“Same goes for you.”

The black mage Yozora and the samurai protagonist Yukimura threw away their weapons and brawled with their fists in the park, which eventually grew into friendship.

“YES!! That’s it!! Push him down right now!! Climax, CLIMAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

While they were supposed to be a black mage and a samurai, the both of them were still in their school uniforms. As Yukimura embraced Yozora and went “What a beautiful duel”, Rika exploded in ecstasy.

How would their climax be like anyway; would a scene between two girls crossdressing as guys be considered Yaoi or Yuri? These meaningless thoughts drifted across my mind.

“Kodaka! Be sure to capture my magnificent acting!!”

“We need explosions here! Yozora explode!! Huh? I told you to explode so at least self-destruct!! ……… I guess it can’t be helped, I’ll just have you explode during editing.”

“Wait Yozora! You need to look more dumbstruck here!”

“Okay Cut!! We got some really good scenes today!!”

......Taking over Yozora’s position of Director, Sena seemed genuinely enthusiastic.

No, enthusiastic would be understating it. A frenzy would be more fitting.

Even Yozora, who was initially acting begrudgingly according to Sena’s direction (“Would this script actually work?”), seemed to be enjoy herself more as filming went on.

Yukimura and Maria had no problems with the script from the start.

Rika, who smiled bitterly after reading the script, also agreed to assist Sena.

“Let our friendship pierce the heavens! I offer my heartfelt thanks to the almighty omniscient goddess Kashiwazaki Sena!”

Yozora said as she sat eating a hamburger on a bench, all the while profusely praying and offering her thanks.

“That’s it, this is love!! Ahahaha, how delicious! Hamburger!! How awesome for a hamburger to be acknowledged as a hamburger!”

“What do you mean love! This is a god’s love! Speaking of which, the hamburger’s made out of earthworms.”

“Urghurgh (vomit sounds), huh?! Is this really earthworm? This taste must come from the power of friendship bolstered by the love of god! How incredible! Is earthworm even edible?”

“Oh my, how noble right? Praise our Goddess! Oh I forgot to mention, cat meat was minced together with the earthworm, so sing her your prayers now!”

“Gasp! Cats are so cute, they’re adorable! For such adorable beings to be so tasty, it’s incredible! I should try it the next time.”

“Wait, stop. That thing about cats was a joke.”

Sitting next to Yozora and also munching a hamburger was Maria, who was speaking her lines in tandem with Yozora (the whole thing about cats and hamburgers was ad lib by the way, just like Yozora and Maria’s daily conversations).

... I felt this way throughout the entire filming.

To be honest, I’m not too sure what the entire film’s about.

I think it would be more fitting to say that no one aside from Sena would ever understand it.

However, even though it was rather disappointing in terms of plot, at least that was the only disappointment.

“An amateur student film’s not too bad after all” – that’s how I felt throughout the filming.

☺

The fourth day after filming based on the new script commenced.

After today’s filming ended, I walked towards the Rika room together with Rika.

I was carrying the camcorder, reflector and microphone. Rika was carrying the computer.

Even though the recording material were usually stored in the club room, today we decided to bring it to the Rika room for inspection, as they were starting to malfunction.

It was already dark outside.

Even though it was already late, the school was still buzzing with activity, since there wasn’t much time left till the School Festival.

The both of us were currently in the special room block. Since the rooms here were larger than classrooms, many students chose to use them as haunted houses and cafes. The change of scenery certainly added towards the mood.

A pleasant aroma drifted from the home economics room and the chemistry lab.

Speaking of which, this was the first time I was walking together with Rika in a corridor like this.

Even though I would occasionally pass by Yozora or Sena while making my way to the club room after school, I had no chance of encountering Rika, whose Rika room was all the way in the special room block.

“Heh heh, it's the first time Rika’s walked together with Senpai in a corridor like this~”

Rika who had the same thoughts as me said shyly.

“Is that so?”

I feigned ignorance.

“It is.”

“Hmm.”

“Hmm what? (′･ω･`)”

Rika pouted at my reply.

Without realizing it, we had already reached the Rika room on the second floor.

“Welcome.”

Rika pushed the door open single-handedly.

This is the second time I’ve been in this room after meeting Rika.

Back then I heard a loud explosion from the Rika room. Charging through the door, I found a girl wearing a lab coat lying on the floor, whom I brought to the infirmary.”

“It’s been a while since then eh…”

I let out an involuntary sigh.

“Yeah, it’s been 122 days.”

Rika suddenly said.

“...? What do you mean?”

Seeing my confused expression, Rika smiled.

“It’s been 122 days since Rika first met with Senpai~”

“You just calculated didn’t you.”

“Nope, Rika remembers. To be exact, it’s been 122 days 8 hours and 37 minutes.”

This time, Rika smiled bitterly.

... “Calculate” and “Remember”

I didn’t understand the difference back then.

I aimlessly wandered around the Rika room.

Even though it was structure was similar to the chemistry and biology labs, it was only roughly half in size. There were no chemical flasks or preserved specimens on the shelves either, giving the room a rather vacant feel.

“There’s nothing much here.”

The moment I finished, Rika mentioned:

“Come over here.”

“What’s over there?”

Rika moved towards the far side of the room.

There was a single door, with the words “Science preparation room” on the signboard crossed off, replaced with a marker pen scribble of “Sect Σ”.

“Please don’t mind.”

Noticing my gaze, Rika said in a slightly embarrassed voice.

Rika took out a key card from her pocket, and slided it across the terminal by the door. With a click, the door swung open automatically. Even though it sounds like no big deal, it was the first time I saw one at school.

“... Incredible.”

Rika smiled bitterly in reply.

“This was originally supposed to be my secret base to protect all my research. I even had voice recognition and biometric scans once, but I discarded them after they got too troublesome. Not like anyone would ever come here anyway.”

“... Incredible.”

I said in awe once again.

“Please step in.”

☺

“... Incredible”

It was my third “incredible” in the past minute. I should really start expanding my vocabulary.

In contrast with the empty room outside, the science preparation room (or “Sect Σ” as Rika calls it) was filled with a variety of astonishing objects.

The room which was roughly three tatamis wide has what looked like a medicine cupboard housing a variety of beakers, a bookshelf crammed full with books (likely BL doujinshi), over ten surveillance cameras, three super huge workstations, a table with several unknown electronic components on it, a wardrobe, a refrigerator, a sleeping bag, what looked to be a really expensive office chair, and all sorts of other objects.

“Oh, you can leave the equipment there.”

“Oh.”

I left the camcorder on the table.

“Hehe, you’re the first person to enter this room, Senpai~”

Rika said bashfully as she sat on the office chair and spun around.

“Heh.”

“What do you mean by ‘Heh’? At least show some enthusiasm, this is the first time this girl’s brought an outsider into her room…”

“... Calling this ‘A girl’s room’ is rather pushing it…”

As I said so with a stern face, I suddenly realized something.

The sense of nostalgia I felt ever since entering the room was due to my father’s study being similar.

Of course, there weren’t as many cameras or workstations, but the general vibe of ‘a researcher’s room’ was there.

“... Isn’t it strange for you to be wearing a straight face now Senpai? Shouldn’t Senpai be blushing or going ‘what an untidy room’?”

“Those are rather polarized options of what to think of this room…”

I said as I smiled.

“Oh well, good luck with the maintenance.”

“Please wait Senpai.”

Rika called to me as I was about to leave.

“I just finished adding special effects to the movie, would you like to have a look?”

Rika said as she booted up her workstation.

“Sure, go ahead.”

Since none of us were familiar with editing and special effects, we left everything to Rika.

Even though Sena’s script was filled with notes like “Add grand explosions here!”, “Fire a blinding laser from her arm!”, “The heavens split as holy light parts the clouds above and shines on the ground”, Rika simply replied “no problem” to each of Sena’s requests.

Rika pushed some buttons on her keyboard, and the largest projector in the room started playing footage of our movie.

Upon seeing the footage… I could not help but exclaim.

“... INCREDIBLE!!”

The first scene was Yozora and Yukimura’s duel.

The black mage Yozora summoned a huge black dragon which proceeded to attack Yukimura.

Yukimura countered by unsheathing his blade, as a flash of lightning cut through the black dragon.

As the black dragon’s scales flew through the air, they turned into malevolent black flames and sped towards Yukimura. Upon colliding with a rainbow shield surrounding Yukimura, they disappeared in a flash of light.

... While shooting this scene, Yozora was blankly waving her hand in a corner, while Yukimura was chanting and dancing some strange dance.

I even remember laughing to myself, thinking how normal the scene would look on film.

With the aid of special effects, that normal scene had effectively transformed into an exhilarating battle between a black mage and a samurai.

Incredible, was all I could say.

Other battle scenes were equally impressive. Even the backgrounds were spectacular – a church with a statue of Sena the goddess, the school being set on fire – this was way beyond any high school student’s scope of expertise.

“You’re incredible…”

At the end of the film, I looked directly at Rika and honestly praised her. Blushing, Rika said:

“Oh Senpai, don’t be so direct~”

“No, it’s too incredible… Isn’t it?”

Since I knew nothing about computers, I couldn’t imagine how much effort would it take to complete such special effects. However, I could tell that it was no easy feat.

Even for the girl genius Shiguma Rika.

“Mmm well, Rika supposes it was rather challenging.”

Rika smiled as she admitted.

Something ‘challenging’ for Rika would definitely be bordering impossible for others.

“I see, if only I could have been of help…”

I who only knew how to use the computer for Internet browsing could never be of any use here.

“Ahaha, it’s fine. Rika has no lessons anyway, so Rika has plenty of free time.”

“How do I put it… I’m sorry you had to shoulder this burden all alone.”

“Not at all,” Rika said as she shook her head.

“Even if it was rather challenging, it was never once a burden.”

“Huh?”

“Even though Rika’s done plenty of video game and movie projects with adults, it’s the first time Rika’s done something like this with people her age. Rika had lots of fun doing this with everyone.”

Rika smiled gently as she said that.

Upon seeing her smile, I could not help but look away.

My gaze fell upon her book shelf, which contained volumes of BL doujinshi, games and hobby and model magazines. I suddenly realized there was a folder titled “Photo data – The Neighbor Club”.

“Photos…?”

“Oh, Senpai means this?”

Rika retrieved the file and opened it.

“T-this is…”

There were a huge amount of my photographs in the folder.

The photos were taken in the clubroom, from various angles. It was obvious they were candid shots.

“What did you…!?”

“Rika apologizes, these were all taken secretly.”

“You p-pervert!”

“Please don’t misunderstand.”

Rika said softly as she turned to the next page.

“Huh, this is…”

In addition to my photos, there were photos of Yozora, Sena, Yukimura and Maria, all taken from different angles too.

Yozora still had her head of long hair, and Yukimura was in a maid outfit.

“Do you remember the time everyone played ‘Romancing Saga’?”

“Yeah, we played it once.”

I recalled Rika saying something about her helping to develop an RPG. Using a visor, it would provide the gamer a virtual world experience.

Such equipment wasn’t new, but the game contents sadly left much to be desired.

“These were materials taken to help create the CG models for everyone in the game.”

... Thinking back about it, our avatars were surprisingly accurate in that game.

Even though she had simply brushed it off as “Oh for this time Rika already made character models based on everyone’s profile” back then, no matter how you think of it, those were high quality models, and not something one could easily pass off as ‘oh for this time’.

... In order for everyone to enjoy the game, she went through such meticulous planning.

“Ahaha, Rika’s been exposed. It’s embarrassing~”

“You...”

I suddenly recalled Rika’s expression after everyone finished ‘Romancing Saga’.

“How should I put this… I guess we shouldn’t have played that game together after all.”

I smiled bitterly at Rika, as she replied.

“Really? Rika had lots of fun though~”

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol7_Img08.jpg|thumb]]

“Even though it’s the first time Rika’s played games with everyone, Rika had lots of fun.”

The gentle smiled she showed me back then really dazzled me.

The same smile she had when she said “Rika had lots of fun doing this with everyone”.

Shiguma Rika.

She might be the one who wishes to make friends the most in the Neighbor's Club.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 7 Yusa Aoi

2012-06-22T03:15:27Z

Dagger: Lower-case "boyfriend" and "riajuu"

Two days after the Neighbor's Club decided to film a movie for the School Festival.

I was in the corridor heading towards the club room.

I suddenly noticed a girl started glaring fiercely at the notice board.

Even though I felt as if I've seen her before, I didn't recognize her.

On the notice board was our final results which had passed no long ago. The names, class and results of everyone in this school were displayed there, starting from high to low.

My name was somewhere above the middle; above average.

The top ten students had their names printed in larger font, and on the very top - that is to say, the top in our school - was a name I was familiar with.

Year 2-3, Kashiwazaki Sena.

Her total score was 895 out of a possible 900, an intimidatingly high score. How did she manage it...

By the way, Mikazuki Yozora was ranked #7, with 837 marks in total. She was the highest in our class, 2-5.

And the name this girl was staring at, was none other than the top ranking Kashiwazaki Sena.

Since she was very short, she had to tilt her head and look upward.

For some reason, I felt compelled to walk over. "Ugugu..." She revealed a fang as she let out a low moan.

Her appearance reminded me of a wolf cub. Even though I've never seen a wolf cub in real-life, she seemed to resemble one more than a puppy.

Could it be that she, despise Sena...?

As I was thinking, the young girl suddenly turned over and faced me.

"W-what do you think you're doing?"

She yelled loudly at me with her eyes opened wide. She seemed a little tongue tied too.

She wore her hair in a wolf-cut, and I'm unsure if she dyed it or if she had mixed heritage, but her hair was deep crimson in color.

She had a small stature and an immature face, giving me little kid -more accurate, little boy vibes.

"Ahh... Err, I was..."

Before I could answer.

"AHH!! It's you!!"

The girl suddenly yelled in surprise.

It seems that she knows me, that doesn't really come as a surprise though.

Even though I never wished for it, my name and appearance were already wide spread throughout the school (mostly negative).

This girl would probably mistake me as a delinquent, just like everyone else... However,

"You're Kashiwazaki Sena's boyfriend!!!"

"Huh!?"

Upon hearing this unexpected declaration, I couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

"B-boyfriend...!?"

The girl looked at me seriously.

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol7_Img02.jpg|thumb]]

"Ugugu....! Kashiwazaki Sena, that woman is really my enemy...!!"

"Speaking of which... Who are you?"

Seeing her speak with her teeth clenched and fist balled, I couldn't help but ask.

"Y-you don't recognize me...!? Heh, as expected of someone in a relationship with Kashiwazaki Sena, how disrespectful!"

It seems that I angered her.

"Erm... Are you popular here by any chance?"

The girl puffed her chest, as if trying to make herself taller.

"Year 2-3, Yusa Aoi! Auditor of the Student Council! Also second place for this examination!"

"Ohh..."

I was shocked that she was actually the same age as I, so I checked the notice board again.

Beneath Kashiwazaki Sena's name, printed in slightly smaller font was the name "Yusa Aoi". Total score 853.

When I previously heard the name "Yusa"<ref>Kanji for her name 游佐葵</ref>, I didn't know how to write it. So this is how the kanji is written.

By the way, Sena's also in Class 2-3.

"Second in the Year and also a member of the student council, awesome."

I praised her sincerely, but that seemed to piss her off even more.

"Kuhhh...! Your hollier-than-thou attitude is so annoying! I know that I've been behind Kashiwazaki Sena since last year!!"

"Nono, I have no idea what happened last year... I really think you're impressive enough, its just that your opponent's too strong..."

"Even then I want to win against her once, at least academic-wise! Not only is she absolutely stunning appearance-wise, she's also a genius academic-wise, skilled sports-wise and a rich Ojou-sama to boot!!"

I think I've heard of this somewhere before...

"I know that people like Kashiwazaki Sena are called 'riajuu' nowadays! Not only that, she's also got a boyfriend now, doesn't that mean she wins at life!?"

"That's why I've been telling you to wait!"

I needed to rectify this misunderstanding.

"I'm not going out with Sena!"

"Heh heh, don't think you can weasel out of this so easily! 'Sena' huh... You're already calling her directly by her name, it's obvious the two of you are in a special relationship! All the boys in class address Kashiwazaki Sena as '-sama'!"

This girl wasn't listening to a word I was saying.

It can't be helped, she only knows of Sena being addressed as '-sama' by her classmates, so her misunderstanding me after hearing me call Sena by her name alone wasn't exactly a surprise.

Plus, in reality Sena wasn't one of those 'riajuu' as Yusa described, but let's not go there.

"Honestly... While I'm trying my best to pursue her, she ends up getting such a handsome boyfriend... I'm so envious!!!"

...?

... She seemed to have said something that grabbed my attention.

"... Erm, by handsome... Are you referring to me?"

"Huh? Who else would I be talking about. No matter how you put it, you are really handsome no?"

She praised me as if she was talking to a dummy.

"It's obvious you spent a lot of time on dyeing your hair, it leaves such a deep impression! Plus you rolled up your pants near your ankles, its like drawing a clear boundary between you and the rest of the dumb boys in this school. I know, people like you who are both handsome and well-dressed are known as 'delinquents', no?"

My hair aside, the reason I rolled up my pants was because that's what people in my previous schools used to do. I continued doing so in this school to give people an impression that I was serious, but also relaxed at the same time. This would give people the impression of wanting to come closer to me and... Never mind, forget it.

"...T-this is the first time anyone's ever said that to me..."

Ever since I came to this school-- no, ever since I started schooling in fact, this was the first time anyone had complimented my appearances. It made me feel happy inside.

Yusa still eyed me suspiciously.

"What's with that interested expression on your face? Not only are you handsome, you also posses a natural sense of humour, I can't find anything wrong with you! You're the absolute best match for that perfect Kashiwazaki Sena are you not! That's just so annoying, I'm so envious, I'm so jealous!!! I shall be going now!!!"

After giving me a terrible scolding (...Or was it praising), Yusa turned and ran.

Yusa Aoi...

I got the same feeling off her as the feeling I had that my school-life was about to become...

A "strange feeling".

<references />

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Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 7 Is this a date

2012-06-22T03:12:53Z

Dagger:

== '''About the Title''' ==
In Buddhism, Shuraba (修羅場) refers to the battleground between Asura and Sakra. In recent years it has come to refer to a necessary fight or challenge one must overcome in real life. The light novel "Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru" (A Shuraba between my girlfriend and childhood friend) is an example. You can find the teaser for it [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Ore_no_Kanojo_to_Osananajimi_ga_Shuraba_Sugiru here]. - [[User:HolyCow|HolyCow]]

== Is this a date? No it's a Shuraba Flag ==

The next day - Friday.

By the time school dismissed, the script wasn't done yet either.

"Huh... So this is how the Great Depression feels huh... However, I strongly believe that after this test, I'll be able to grow a step further as a creator..."

Yozora said in a deep tone, as if she was worrying about something. But you're not exactly a creator are you.

Yozora appeared to be cast as the "Creator who worries about creating activities" character.

"Great Depression or whatever, don't forget that we don't have much time left. If you're going to keep people waiting like this, I might as well write it myself."

Sena said while playing her game.

"Uh... I-I know."

Yozora said uncomfortably.

☺

That night, I received an email from Yozora

Title: Me
Content: I'm going to watch a movie as reference for the script you can come along if you're free. It's just a movie and it's not like it's going to be withdrawn anytime soon there's absolutely no need for me to go with others its just that if you feel like watching a movie I think it's ok for me to accompany you. If you have no interest in movies I don't mind going alone. 

... Her message was beating around the bush as usual, to put it simply she wanted to invite me to watch a movie.

Since we were going to shoot a movie, it made sense that we needed references of sorts.

Then how about catching a movie tomorrow with everyone--

As if to interrupt my train of thought, Yozora sent me another email.

She must be really nervous, for that short message contained tons of errors.

Title: None
Content: Pointles hole bunch pf peaple go together noneed contact

What she really meant: It's pointless for a whole bunch of people to go together. No need to contact the others.

Well something to that extent, I guess.

That's how Yozora and I went to watch a movie together the next day.

☺

The next day, 1.30 pm.

Yozora was already waiting at the meeting spot.

As usual she had a scowl on her face, as she leaned against the lamp post while crossing her arms.

...... She was wearing a jersey.

I was worried beforehand, but I never thought she would really dress as such...

There were many types of jerseys, some of them attractive. The one Yozora wore was the one she bought together with the Neighbor Club members last week at the supermarket, an absolutely toneless, pitch black jersey.

I think even Middle or High School jerseys looked trendier.

Truth to be told, it wasn't rare to occasionally spot students in cool-looking sport club jerseys, but Yozora's pitch black form really stood out in a crowd.

"... Are you planning to dress like this every time?"

"Of course."

I asked half-hopelessly half-disappointingly, to which Yozora nodded unfazedly.

"Then let's go, Kodaka"

"Haa..."

Seeing Yozora march forward determinedly, I had no choice but to sigh and follow her.

After walking fifteen minutes from the station, we reached the street the cinema was located.

There were boutiques and gift shops, bookshops and cafes - it seemed like a very wholesome street indeed.

There were no huge franchises or branch stores, only small, humble sized shop lots, each of them giving off a retro feel.

There were also shops whose windows were obscured with blinds. There weren't many pedestrians either.

I often passed by this street while taking public transport to school, but it was the first time I had ever been here on foot. I had no idea there was a cinema here either.

Yozora on the other hand, walked by me, seeming more spirited than usual.

"You usually come here?"

I asked.

"Once in a while... There's not much of a crowd here."

It seemed that she was really in a better mood, as Yozora replied cheerfully.

She can't stand crowds huh...

Compared to the hectic, bustling street where the bus station was located, it's not surprising that one would come to prefer such deserted streets instead.

Plus, it could be said that this place had a peaceful, relaxing atmosphere.

"So what movie are we watching today?"

"I haven't decided yet. Let's just find one that's about to start."

"Is that alright?"

"I've always decided things like this, based on instinct."

... I say, for a modern high school female student such movie standards were rare indeed.

Compared to those students who chased after commercials and had endless movie topics to talk about...

"Speaking of which, do you usually watch movies, Yozora?"

"... Maa, occasionally."

For some reason Yozora replied in a low voice, as if she was blushing.

☺

Five minutes later, we reached the cinema.

It was an old theater, completely devoid of modern traces.

From the poster near the entrance, it seemed that a movie was about to begin in a few minutes.

It was a French film whose title I had never heard of. The poster depicted a forest in the middle of autumn, a thirty-year-old-ish couple was staring at each other face to face, it was an epic... No actually, it seemed way too common.

Those two should be the main protagonists I guess, but neither of them looked too appealing.

... To be completely honest, it was definitely not my type.

I basically only watched movies on television. I preferred animated films made by the like of "Studio Ghiblika" or stunning CG films which screamed 'American Box Office Topper!'

It was a plus if the movie made me feel good afterwards.

"Hmm... The time's just right. Let's watch this then."

"... Err..."

Upon hearing Yozora decide, my face crinkled up.

"... You don't feel like watching this?"

"Ahh... Maa, how do I put this..."

As I struggled to put my thoughts in words, Yozora suggested plainly.

"How about we look for others? There's another two theaters nearby."

I shook my head.

"Nah, this is fine."

Occasionally watching something I disliked could be viewed as a challenge too.

And who knows, I might actually like it.

That was what I thought when I bought the tickets.

The inside of the cinema was as bare as I expected. All the seats were free seating, so we chose the middle seats.

We didn't buy any food or drinks.

As Yozora said, first no carbonated drinks, so sodas were eliminated; second, she didn't like orange juice or lime juice, she didn't like the flavor of oolong tea either; third, popcorn only made her thirsty, and she didn't really like it either.

... To be honest, I don't think she's suitable for cinemas.

As for me, I was initially thinking of what to buy, since this was a rare opportunity and all, but in the end I decided against it since everything was too pricey. I was never really fond of junk food anyway. Having to pay out extra for something I didn't particularly like - as the one in charge of household expenses it was an obvious no go for me.

... Maybe I'm not too suitable for cinemas myself.

The screen soon started playing a long list of movies that were to be shown. Just as I was starting to get bored and thinking "What a long list... When are they going to start..." the movie started.

Because I never read the synopsis, I never knew what kind of movie it was until it started. Now I realized it was a romance movie.

The protagonists in question were a married couple, they were aged around thirty or so and already had kids. Due to this it was hard for me, as a high school male student, to really get into the movie. Aside from the climax where his extra-marital affair was discovered by his family, the entire movie was just a plain illustration of his and her daily lives.

Due to the script being too plain, I had no idea how the protagonists were feeling, or how much they grew as characters.

It's not because I liked the shuraba that was real life, but even if it was fictitious, I hoped that there would be more easily relatable moments, or moments that made my heart beat faster in excitement or fear.

We should have watched a different movie after all...

Because reading subtitles became too much of a chore, I regrettably looked away from the screen to Yozora, who was seated next to me. For some reason, she was looking at the protagonists with eyes full of animosity.

She really hated the movie that much huh.

So even fictitious riajuu irked her that much, eh. If that was the case even entertainment media would lose their amusement value.

How long will this continue... I'm falling asleep already...

Just as I was thinking so, ''that'' happened.

By that I mean - an H-scene.

HUH...!?

Because I wasn't paying attention most the time, I didn't know how the script progressed to such a level (though even if I was paying attention I doubt I would have known). Anyway, the main protagonists were kissing deeply in the middle of the street (with moving cars on both sides too).

Then the scene abruptly changed to a room, and ''those'' scenes begun.

Because it was a normal movie and not an adult film or eroge, the depictions weren't that obvious, and the scene was also dimmed. But it was obvious that the big screen was showing a nude guy on top of a nude girl doing ero stuff to her.

It was okay if I was watching alone, but seated next to me was a girl the same age as I was - this was way too awkward!!

As I wiped cold sweat off my brow, I stole a quick glance at Yozora.

Even in the dark cinema it was obvious Yozora's face was bright red. Although her face was lowered, her eyes were still glued to the screen.

[[Image:Hgn7 089.jpg|thumb]]

Just then, Yozora looked at me.

Our sights connected.

"... Guh!"

"<nowiki>~~~~~~~~///!</nowiki>"

The both of us hastily shifted our glances, back to the screen.

The female protagonist on the screen was moaning "Oh~~! OHHH<nowiki>~~~</nowiki>! C'est si bon~! C'est si bon~ <ref>French for "It's so good"</ref>!!!" as her huge breasts bounced up and down.

☺

After the movie ended, Yozora and I exited the cinema in silence.

... The main protagonists actually did "C'est si bon~" four times before the movie ended.

"E-er... S-so how useful was that for the script?"

"As if that could be counted as reference, idiot!!!"

I asked in order to break the silence. Yozora yelled back angrily in response.

"A movie that starts by introducing the main characters is terrible and as expected of a terrible movie the plot was terrible and the story direction was an even more terrible pile of shit and not to mention they had... L-lewd scenes..."

Yozora blushed and said.

"...M-maa, perhaps it can be used as reference by others. We're high school students, we can't use such shameless products as reference, we need to created something more wholesome, something more happy, more fulfilling befitting of a high school entertainment product!"

"T-that' right! I think so too!"

I agreed with her loudly.

Just then,

"S-speaking of which, Kodaka do you fantasize about doing those... C'est... C'est si bon things?"

Yozora lowered her head and shifted her gaze upwards looking at me, mumbling something softly.

"Huh? You were saying?"

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOTHING AT ALL!!! Alright, let's write a wholesome script!"

Yozora once again declared, as if to cover up something, to which I responded with "Yeah, do you best", or something to that extent.

☺

After that.

Yozora said "Since we're here we might as well stop by for a drink". The both of us then boarded a bus and got off at the station near the shopping district.

Why didn't we stop by some cafe near the cinema, but commute specifically to this place which was especially full of people? Mystified, I asked her, to which she replied "There's a cafe I want to personally confirm".

Based on a map, Yozora stared at a destination on her phone screen and continued walking for fifteen minutes.

We finally reached the cafe in question.

It wasn't exactly far from where we got off, but because the place was crowded, our walking speed was halved, hence we took a bit longer.

"By 'a cafe I want to personally confirm' you don't mean---"

I read the name on the sign board.

The cafe where cats reside "Kitty Heaven"

This was... The kitty cafe that was discussed a few days ago in the club room (although thinking back about it the name really sounded cool).

I stared straight at Yozora, as cold sweat trickled down her brow.

"Y-you have anything to say!?"

"No, nothing..."

"I-I'm just visiting for the sake of experiencing it!!"

Putting on a cool and prideful pose to mask her intentions, Yozora opened the door.

"Kyaa!?"

Adorable purrs sounded through the door.

"Cats--!?"

Following right behind Yozora, I could not help but let out a squeal.

"Meow~♥"

That soft, sweet sound that escaped Yozora's lips - was it my imagination? Its only my imagination right?

Putting that aside, the moment Yozora opened the door, two cats darted towards us.

There was a thin film fence erected to prevent the cats from going outside, but because it seemed easy to jump over, I hurriedly closed the door.

After changing into slippers, we proceeded forward to the front desk.

Looking at the inside of the cafe from the front desk, it was spacious indeed. The internal decorations weren't much different from that of a normal cafe, the only difference was the racks were mostly filled with cat-related books and magazines. Posters of cats adorned the walls.

Oh, and obviously the cafe was filled with cats. There were more than ten of them walking around freely.

Incredible... They really had cats inside a cafe...

There were about ten customers, some were rubbing the cats chins, some were teasing the cats with nekojarashi <ref>Green Foxtail Grass, often used as a cat teaser</ref>, and some were just sipping tea with a plate of snacks, relaxing as they would do in a normal cafe.

"Ahhh... Huh..."

"... Hey, Yozora."

"......♥"

Since Yozora appeared to have her consciousness completely stolen by the cats, I had no choice but to explain to the shop keeper.

The entry fee was a round of drinks and 600¥ per hour. Anything else incurred additional charges.

Cat toys like nekojarashi and mice plushies could be rented from the shop. Speaking of which, even nekomimi and cat tails could be rented... Was it for people to pretend they were cats, so that cats would grow closer?

When the shop keeper asked how long would we be staying, Yozora muttered something illogical like "Let's start with six hours!" I hurriedly made a correction. After placing a reservation for an hour, we entered the cafe.

The moment we sat on a sofa, a few cats immediately came close.

"Wow, surprisingly friendly..."

A black cat abruptly came by my leg and started rubbing against it.

H-how adorable, this is such a prized animal...

By the way, Yozora was already teasing two cats with a rented nekojarashi.

She had a gentle expression on her face, completely different from the scowl she always wore. Her mouth opened and closed repeatedly, and she would occasionally let out an "Auu~~" -a genuinely happy moan from the bottom of her heart- with an expression that showed she was obviously trying hard to resist.

Yozora continued playing with the cats, completely oblivious of the fact that the coffee had arrived.

"Why not try using 'Nyaa~' to communicate with the cats? It might work you know."

I joked as I sipped my ice lemon tea.

"Ohhh, good idea!! <nowiki>Nyaa~♥ Nyaa~~~~~♥ Nyaa~~~~aa~~♥</nowiki>"

Good looking, sharp witted Mikazuki Yozora who always wore a poker face, was cold to others, distant from friends, had no friends, hated riajuus and always had a sharp retort to everything.

'''JUST. MEOWED. LIKE. A. CAT.'''

It took a few seconds for that to sink in. And then,

"Ack!? Cough cough!"

Upon hearing my coughing, caused by my iced tea entering my nostrils, Yozora finally came to her senses.

"W-what did you just make me say, idiot Kodaka!?"

Yozora, all red in the face, yelled out loud, scaring away the cats.

"Ahh..."

Yozora's face immediately went blank, turning into a (′･ ω･｀) shape.

"... So you actually like cats huh."

When the topic of a kitty cafe was brought up, I had a feeling Yozora was fond of cats, but I never thought she would be this infatuated.

"I-it's nothing much really...."

As if changing her mind mid-sentence,

"...Y-you have an opinion or something! Nobody would hate cats!"

Suddenly changing her stance.

It appears that Yozora liked cats to the extent that she was willing to discard her own embarrassment.

With an intoxicated expression,

"... Ahh why do such cute creatures exist in this world... If only the companions in 『Monkari』 weren't dogs but cats... That's right, if only they were feline beasts called 『Felynes』<ref>Felynes are the feline companions present in Monster Hunter</ref>, I would be a full time hunter by now..."

"What does a full time hunter do anyway?"

Speaking of which, in the PSP game 『Monkari』, we could take a 『Canynes』, a race of dog-like creatures that walked on two legs, together with us as hunting companions.

... A dog is just as cute as a cat right?

"Don't you have cats at your place?"

"I stay in an apartment, we're not allowed to have pets."

Yozora replied with knitted brows.

"Ahh, I guess that's true."

"Ahh......"

Suddenly, Yozora's expression darkened.

"... Even if I wasn't living in an apartment, I could never have a cat as a pet."

"Huh, why?"

I asked, mystified. Yozora let out a melancholic smile.

"... Do you remember Night, Kodaka?"

... Upon hearing that name, I suddenly remembered.

"... Oh."

Recalling that incident, even I couldn't help but feel sad.

'Night' was the name of a friend of both Yozora -Sora- and I.

... By friend, actually I mean a cat.

Near the park Yozora and I used to go to was an abandoned temple. Night was the name of a stray cat that used to live there. One day, upon seeing it resting under a broken pillar, we decided to feed it some food. From that day on, it started to grow close to us.

Even though it was an adult cat, its size was rather petite. Its fur was as black with white spots, just like the starry night sky, hence we decided to name it "Night".

Since Kobato was allergic to fur and Yozora lived in an apartment, neither of us could bring it back home. The most we could do was sneak out food to feed it.

However, about a month later, Night suddenly disappeared.

We searched high and low for Night, but we never found it.

We had no idea what happened to Night.

It was actually quite old even though its body was small. Was it because it realized it was about to die, that's why it ran away?

Or did someone else adopt it?

Or could it be... No, back then the moment I thought of any other unpleasant possibilities, I would be reduced to a crying wreck. It's better if I forget that incident.

"...Disappearing just like that, it's saddening."

......

Faced with Yozora, who was mumbling something under her breath, I, who had too once disappeared in front of Sora, could not find anything to say.

"If it's destined to leave behind painful memories, maybe it's better if I just played with like this for a bit. I don't need too strong a bond."

Was she referring to the cats?

Yozora hurriedly made amendments.

"... Maa, I really do like cats. I dunno if you remember Kodaka... But the reason I like using Nyaagakuga equipment in 『Monkari』 is because I like cats."

"I don't remember what kind of equipment you used that day..."

Speaking of which, I remember Nyaagakuga being a huge, behemoth black cat.

In 『Monkari』, one could use skin, horns, claws etc from slain monsters to craft equipment.

"In order to craft all the equipment, I hunted more than 40 Nyaagakugas, thinking back about it sure is nostalgic..."

Yozora's eyes wandered off.

"...... No matter how you look at it, wouldn't that be considered genocide?"

Of course, my remark was swiftly ignored.

☺

After having enough fun with the cats, we left the cafe for the station.

It was already late October.

Due to this, the sky got dark quicker, and the sky was soon dyed crimson.

"Well then Kodaka, see you on Monday. Look forward to the script!"

While parting at the ticket counter, Yozora said as she smiled gently at me.

After going to the kitty cafe, Yozora seemed to be in a better mood.

"H-how do you put it, today really feels, like that."

"Like that?"

Yozora took a deep breath.

"...Like ten years ago."

Yozora said as a smile appeared on her face - her beautiful, matured face, different from ten years ago.

Seeing that smiling face, my heart beat faster.

If she wasn't in her jersey and sports attire but in a skirt or even shorts, I can't imagine... Thinking of this, I couldn't help but smile.

"... Yeah true, it feels a bit like back then."

Hearing my reply, Yozora lowered her head in embarrassment as she twirled her fringe. "Umm..." she nodded.

"W-well then, see you, Kodaka."

Yozora swiftly turned around and began walking in the opposite direction, slowly disappearing into the distance.

After seeing Yozora off, I too journeyed back home.

<references/>

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</noinclude>

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 3 The Silent Phone

2012-06-22T02:51:41Z

Dagger: /* The Silent Phone */

==The Silent Phone==

The third day of summer break.

"Hey, you guys. Why didn't any of you come yesterday?"

I, who had just arrived in the clubroom around 3 o'clock, asked my fellow club members.

By the way, today both Yozora and Sena got here earlier than me.

"Kodaka-senpai, were you lonely because you weren't able to meet Rika?"

Said the girl wearing a white robe over her school uniform with little smile on her face for some reason.

Rika Shiguma, Freshman.

She's apparently a genius, though you'd never guess it by how crazy she is about ero doujinshi... especially how she acts like an insane person when it comes to mecha x mecha stuff.

She's one of the members of the Neighbors Club.

Yukimura was also in the room.

Kobato was being a hikkikomori as usual, and Maria wasn't here.

"I wasn't really lonely or anything, just wondering..."

"Hmph, I had things to do yesterday."

Said Yozora unconcernedly.

"Stuff to do huh... Guess there's no helping that..."

Next was Sena (whose eyes were bloodshot for some reason) who said something.

"I was really busy yesterday too."

"Busy?"

"I figured I'd reach the ending soon and then go to the clubroom, but it ended up taking four more hours than I thought it would. It was a really moving ending though, so it evens out. That scene where Mikan scores a goal was just so..."

Her eyes started to water up, and she sniffled her nose as bit.

I'm not really sure, but I guess she got so involved in her game she didn't come here.

"I'll lend it to you sometime, so you better play it Kodaka. You'll be wasting your life if you don't."

"...Sure, if I feel like it."

Now that I think about it, I got the Masaru (the protagonist's guy friend) end in that "Tokimemo" game she lent me (made me take home) and never played it again.

"Also, the theme song is super good. We should make it our national anthem! When you start the game again after finishing once you can totally feel how it connects to the last scene, and-"

"B-by the way!"

I quickly tried to change the subject, since if I don't stop her now who knows how long I'll have to put up with her going on and on about her galge.

"What."

Sena made an annoyed look on her face.

"Hn?"

Yozora looked over here too (as she put on a face that looked like she thought Sena's ramblings were annoying as all hell, and quietly reached out for her fly swatter).

Rika and Yukimura both looked over at me too.

"To make sure nobody ends up coming here and killing time when nobody else is going to show up, I think we should come up with a way for us to know when everyone else is coming."

"...Hmph. You may be right."

Yozora gave her approval of what I suggested.

"Not a bad idea considering it's you, Kodaka." said Sena.

"So, what specifically should we do?"

"Eh? Hmm, I'm not sure..."

I didn't really think it out farther than that.

"What about using a BBS on the web? We can get one for free, right?"

I threw out the first thing that came to mind.

"Rejected." "No way."

Yozora and Sena said at the same time.

"You hardly even thought about it!! Why can't we use one!?"

Yozora and Sena both made faces that showed a deep disgust from the bottom of their hearts.

"...It's my personal rule to not use the internet for anything other than researching things and shopping."

"It is?"

That was kind of unexpected, but at the same time maybe it wasn't.

"That's how I do it now...... I'll never do that again."

Yozora said, with a sad little look on her face.

"...I won't bother asking what exactly it was that you did."

"...Thank you."

Yozora gave me an honest thanks.

She must really regret whatever it is that she did.

"I've had bad experiences with them before too."

Sena said.

"...Ahh... Just remembering it pisses me off! Those guys... that damn 'Yasuo' and 'Parko' and 'rikiya' and 'Mai-tan(*´Д`*)HaaHaa'...! I hate that damn moderator who banned me from that one fansite because he thought I was a troll too! Those assholes can all go die!"

"...Did you get into a fight with them on some BBS or something?"

"I had to, those damn morons called my lovely Natsumi a dumbass muscle-brain! Like hell I'd let them get away with that! You know, Natsumi might seem like that, but she's actually really delicate!"

Sena was getting louder and louder.

I don't have a clue when you mean if all you tell me is "she might seem like that".

The one thing I can say for sure is that it's some character from a galge.

"Well, people are going to have their own likes and dislikes. Not much you can do about it..."

"Haa? That's fine if you to keep it to yourself, but if you're gonna make fun of Natsumi in front of a fan of hers like me, that's the same as a declaration of war! If someone does that, then all I can do is get them to shut up and admit how stupid they were, or die trying!"

It's not like I don't get where she's coming from, but she gets angry way too easily.

"...My battle still isn't over with those damn morons... If I ever meet them in real life I'll kick the crap out of them!"

"A-anyway, BBS's are a no go, right!?"

I interrupted Sena who was quickly reaching critical levels.

"Then how about that thing... nixi. We can send messages to each other without any worries that way, right?"

nixi is a social networking service, and you can use it to write stuff that other people can read and comment on... At least, that's what I think it's like anyway.

Since you can keep the things you write limited to certain people, it'd be a good choice for us all to use to communicate with each other... I think.

"Eh, Kodaka you're on nixi? Then give me an invite." said Sena.

nixi runs on an invite-only system, and thus you can only join if an existing member invites you.

"No, I'm not, but..."

"Hmph, like hell I'd ever join that site."

Yozora looked me in the eyes and gave a reply that was full of pride for some reason.

"Rika isn't on that site either~"

"Neither am I."

Rika and Yukimura both said.

That makes sense, nixi is based on the assumption you have friends to invite you after all...

"So we can't even join nixi..."

A heavy atmosphere filled the room.

"But, you know, nixi isn't the only SNS out there! We just have to pick one that doesn't need an invite!"

I said, but then Rika stopped me.

"Hold on Senpai. If Rika asks her acquaintances in the game industry, I think we can get an invite to nixi."

"Really? Then let's do that..."

"That's fine with me, but..."

Rika said, with her head tilted in confusion

"But why can't we just use our cells to talk to each other rather going out of our way to use something else?"

Yozora, Sena and I all stood shocked.

"Cells... Are you talking about cell phones?"

I asked, still stunned.

"Huh? Well, yeah."

The wild idea that a cell phone could be used for anything other than calling home hadn't come within a mile of my thought process.

"...I see, cell phones... Rika... You really are a genius... That's an amazing idea."

"Yeah... I never even considered doing that... So cell phones aren't just for looking up karaoke shops... Rika Shiguma... it would seem I have no choice but to recognize your genius..."

[[Image:Boku_wa_Tomodachi_ga_Sukunai_Vol3_Ch04_Img01.jpg|thumb]]

"...It's nice to hear you all think my idea is so good."

Yozora and I showered Rika with praise, calling her a genius and stuff, but Rika looked like she was a little creeped out by it.

"Anyway, why don't we exchange addresses for now?"

Rika took out a cell phone from her lab coat's pocket.

I followed her lead and opened my bag, taking out the cell phone buried within its depths.

I bought it when I got into high school. It's a folding type that doesn't have any particularly amazing functions to it.

By the way, both Kobato and I have had cell phones since we were in grade school, and I'm currently on my 3rd one (I bought my 2nd in middle school).

I gave a quick look at my call log, and every call and text I got was from "Home" and every one that I sent was to "Little Sister".

"Here, I took mine out too."

Yozora hesitantly showed her phone to me.

There wasn't a single ornament or strap on it; it was just your run of the mill black cell phone.

By the way, it seemed like Yozora's phone was at the bottom of her bag too, so it took her a while to take it out.

"Okay, send your infra-red rays this way please."

Rika said, and stated casually hitting buttons on her phone.

"Eh- I-infra-red rays???"

Yozora confusedly stared at her phone's LCD, as did I.

What's she talking about?

Is she really trying to say these little phones can shoot out infra-red rays?

"...I do feel like I've heard people talk about how more recent phones are able to exchange data via infra-red rays... So that was all true... Hrmm... W-which is it?"

Said Yozora as she furled her brow while hitting buttons on her phone.

"You're kidding me... When did phones get that advanced..."

Rika looked at me and my astonishment as though I were some kind of Neanderthal.

"Here you are."

The one who said that and turned their phone towards Rika was... Yukimura.

"Yukimura...!?"

"Ah, thanks Yukimura."

Rika and Yukimura pointed their phones at each other for about 2 seconds and pulled them back soon after.

"Yes! Yukimura address get!"

"I have confirmed yours as well."

Said Rika and Yukimura.

An utterly shocked expression rose on Yozora's face.

"I-it can't be, you're done already...? That quickly...?"

"Oh man... Kids these days are something else... I can barely keep up..."

"Ahh... So this is the virtual generation of this digital world we live in... I hear everything is like a game to them..."

"...This must be what people mean by children who don't know the meaning of hard work..."

"That's quite a lot to say considering you're only a year older than us, Senpai..."

Rika made a pitiful face at the three of us shaking in awe...

"People like Aniki who only rely on their own strength don't pay heed to things such as cell phones, do they?" Yukimura said.

...Actually, high-tech girl Rika aside, the fact that even Yukimura can easily use infra-red rays was simply shocking.

I figured he was the type to be bad with technology.

Though, now that I think about it, he didn't seem to be confused at all when we were all playing that "Romancing Saga" game...

"Arghh.... I don't get it! Besides, it's weird for people to know how to use this machine when they don't have any friends! Kodaka! I'll just have to do it normally so tell me your address."

Yozora finally gave up on the infra-red rays.

"Okay. I'm pretty sure that'll be faster for me too."

Uhh, my address is............ about 30 seconds later, I managed to pull up my phone number and e-mail address on my phone's screen.

"Here." I said as I showed it to Yozora.

"Hm.........Ah, went too far. Mu..."

Yozora clumsily fished her way around her phone's buttons, trying to enter my address.

"...Hrmm... This is a pretty complex address you've got here..."

"Yeah, it's because I never changed it since I bought my first phone..."

"......Hm... where are the special characters..."

..................

............

After a full two minutes, Yozora finished entering my e-mail address and phone number.

"Phew..."

Yozora wiped her forehead, and let out a sigh as though she'd just completed some insanely difficult task.

"O-okay... I'll send you something now Kodaka. An e-mail. An e-mail using my cell phone."

"O-okay...!"

Yozora nervously pushed a few buttons, and then hit send.

About a second later, the words "Receiving Mail" popped up on my screen.

Then, 2 seconds later it went "Ding di~ng" as the default ringtone played.

"I got it!"

"You got it!?"

Yelled Yozora in a happy voice.

The e-mail was titled "E-Mail" and "E-Mail" was written in the message itself as well.

Uhh, I guess this is Yozora's e-mail address.

eternalfriendship2@codomo.ne.jo

I went and added "Yozora Mikadzuki" to my contacts list.

"Ohhh... My first address from someone other than my family...!"

This is almost like, some kind of momentous occasion or something!

Yozora made a surprised face after hearing what I just said.

"I am? What about the addresses of the people from the schools you were at before...?"

"...I never put them in. At the farewell party there were some guys who said "Gimme your address later," but I never did end up exchanging addresses with any of them..."

"........."

Yozora had a look of sympathy in her eyes, and then murmured,

"Oh, I see... so I'm your first non-family address..."

A tender smile rose to her face for a single moment.

And then she said, triumphantly for some reason,

"By the way, I've never even added my own family's addresses before. You're the very first ever, Kodaka."

...I don't know what you want me to say to that, Yozora.

"Muu~. I wouldn't have minded teaching you how to use the infra-red rays, but when Rika sees you two having so much fun it feels like we're the ones who lost here..."

Rika said with an unsatisfied look on her face. Then, all of a sudden,

"Hmph, it's just a stupid cell phone."

Said Sena, who had been unusually quiet up until now, as though she were spitting the words out.

"...? What are you mad about?"

"I'm not mad!"

Said Sena, who seemed to be in a bad mood.

"If you say so... Anyway, come on, give me your address too."

I said, which only made Sena look even more angry.

"...ave a..."

She mumbled with her lips pursed.

"Eh?"

"I don't have a cell phone!"

Sena yelled at the top of her lungs, which startled Rika and Yukimura.

"O-oh, you don't have one..."

Sena glared at me and said,

"Just so you know, I'm not jealous of you or anything!! It's not like not having one is a problem for me, and even if I did have one it wouldn't do me any good! Cell phones are what those annoying retard girls in my class use! A noble like me doesn't have any use for one!"

"...Uh-huh... O-okay. Yeah, there's plenty people who say they don't need a cell phone, right?"

"Exactly! Forget a cell phone, I don't even need a normal phone. No matter where they are or what they're doing, lowly commoners should be able to gratefully accept the angelic voice of a goddess like me!"

"Uh, that's a little bit..."

as I started talking,

Ring ring ring... all of a sudden the phone in my hand started ringing.

"Eh!?"

I fumbled the phone around and saw a number I didn't know on the screen.

I figured I might as well answer it.

"...Hello?"

" 'It's me.' "

I heard a voice from the phone and from behind me.

I turned around and saw that the one who called my phone was Yozora.

" 'Enter my phone number into your contacts.' "

"Ah, yeah okay."

Talking on the phone with somebody right in front of you is so weird.

Yozora kept on talking to me over the phone like that for some reason.

" 'Since we just got it all set up, let's talk over the phone for a while.' "

"Eh... Sure, I guess."

" 'Good. Then let's talk about dinner last night. What did you eat, Kodaka?' "

"Uhh, what did I eat..."

As I was thinking I happened to look over at Sena again, who looked even more pissed off than she was before to the point I could almost see her veins popping out.

"Y-you two! Who gives a damn about what you ate yesterday!? Why do you have to go out of your way to talk about that over the phone now!?"

" 'Shut it, Meat. Can you not even shut yourself up while people are trying to talk on the phone?' "

Said Yozora, waving her hand at Sena telling her to go away.

"Khhhhh!"

" 'Still, these cell phones are quite handy. We can even talk when we're not together.' "

"Then use them when you're not together!!"

Yozora completely ignored Sena and continued,

" 'We can let everyone know when we're coming to club with them. Also, let's talk about all of our plans via e-mail from now on.' "

"S-sure..."

"Ghhhhh..."

Sena was about to burst into tears.

Yozora still kept on talking too, although this time it was with a much quieter voice that you could barely hear.

" 'By the way, about my dinner last night, I had meat. Specifically, it was curry with chicken meat, and the meat was incredibly tender and tasted so good.' "

She carefully made sure to only say the word "meat" at a normal volume.

"Uu~... What are you talking about...!?"

" 'Something that has nothing to do with you Meat. The store I went to didn't have just chicken meat, but also had pig meat, cow meat, and a bunch of other stuff that was so cheap I think we should all meet up there sometime. I'm sure you'll all love the meat they have th-' "

"Gaaaahh! Shut up, stop saying meat!!!!"

Sena roared all of a sudden, and took my phone away.

"Hey!!"

Sena brought my phone to her mouth and then yelled at the top of her lungs,

<div style="font-size:250%">"Idiot! Jerk! Retard!!!"</div>

"Kh!?"

Yozora cringed and pulled the phone away from her ear.

Sena shoved my phone back into my hands, and told Yozora "Go die!" before running out of the clubroom.

"...God damn, stupid piece of meat..."

Yozora ended the call while holding one hand to her ear.

"You really know exactly what to do to piss Sena off, don't you..."

I have to admit, I was a little impressed by it.

<div style="font-size:250%"><center>☺</center></div>

On the bus and train ride home, and even after I got home, I kept opening my cell phone and looking at my contact list.

After Sena ran out, I exchanged addresses with Rika and Yukimura (I even learned how to use the infra-red rays).

Up until now I've only ever had home, Kobato's cell, and Dad's work phone in there, so my contact list easily doubled today.

Crap... I can't stop smirking...

That night, I went to sleep in a good mood,

but...

Ring ring ring...

The phone ringing woke me up.

The phone that was ringing wasn't my cell, but rather our home phone.

I checked the time using my cell I left near my bed, and saw that it was just past 2 in the morning.

"...Who the hell is calling at this time of day..."

I thought about ignoring it, but I figured it might've been one of dad's overseas contacts so I got out of bed to answer it.

I headed downstairs while rubbing my sleepy eyes and picked up the phone.

"...Hello, this is Hasegawa speaking."

It felt like I was being a little quieter than usual.

<div style="font-size:250%">"H-HEWOO!!"</div>

A voice that sounded like the person talking held the receiver right next to their mouth and yelled as loud as they possibly could rang through my ears.

I reflexively pulled the phone away from my ear and cringed.

W-what the hell...!?

As I thought that,

Ca-lick!

.....They hung up.

"...What the hell, a prank call...?"

Still pissed off at the annoying person who'd make a prank call in the middle of the night, I went back to bed. However, right as I was about to fall asleep again, the phone rang again.

I'm ignoring it.

I told myself that and closed my eyes, but the phone didn't stop ringing even after 20 seconds had passed.

Oh yeah, I never set the answering machine...

Annoyed, I got up again and went downstairs to pick up the phone.

"...Hello."

Even I could tell how pissed off I sounded.

"Eek!?"

I heard a shriek from the receiver.

Huh, where have I heard that voice before...

"...Hello?"

I asked again, and then heard someone gulp and say,

<div style="font-size:250%">"U-umm! T-this is Sena Kashiwazaki, i-i-i-i-is Kodaka, I mean, Mr. Kodaka available!?"</div>

She was obviously nervous, talking as fast as she could.

"...Eh, Sena?" I asked.

"H-huh? Is this Kodaka?"

"Yep."

I could hear Sena breathe a sigh of relief over the phone.

"You idiot! Geez, don't scare me like that you idiot! Your voice is scary idiot!"

Not holding back on the insults are we?

...This doesn't even make any sense.

"Do you have any idea what time it is right now...?"

"H-hey, more importantly, Kodaka!"

Sena rambled on, perfectly ignoring my complaints.

"What kind of cell did you get?"

"...What kind? It's just a normal one..."

I answered, unsure of what she was asking.

"That. Is. Not. What. I. Meant! It's gotta have the name of the company or a serial number on it somewhere!"

"Eh... The company is ∀Ｕ. I don't know what kind it is."

"Then find out."

"Huhh?"

"Just do it!"

"...Fine, wait."

I put down the receiver and went back up to my room and flipped on the lights.

I took my cell in my hands, and found something that looked like a model number.

"Uhh, it's a M61b, I guess."

"An M61b by ∀Ｕ?"

"Yeah." I could hear her writing something down.

"Okay, I got it. See you later."

Ca-lick!

Announcing the end of her business she quickly hung up.

Just what in the world...

<div style="font-size:250%"><center>☺</center></div>

The next day.

Just before noon I got an untitled message from Yozora that said nothing other than "2 o'clock." so I sent a mail to Yozora, Rika, and Yukimura my own mail titled "Today" that said "I'll be there around 2 o'clock too."

After I finished lunch, I left home so I'd get there around two.

While I was on the bus, I got a mail from Rika titled "Waiting Naked" which said "I'll be waiting for you naked, Kodaka-senpai♥ Ah, you just imagined Rika naked didn't you? Senpai you pervert♥"

"...Is she retarded?"

I gave her a quick reply of "retard".

A few minutes later yet another mail from Rika came.

The title was "Ass"... pushing the line with that one.

It read: "By the way, Yozora-senpai is totally naked too (*丿丿)kya~ As proof, I've attached an image of Yozora's cute little butt for you."

"Wha!?"

I let my voice slip in surprise, but after taking a good look at it I could see it was just a picture of her elbow.

...How old is she? 12?

Right after that, I got a mail from Yozora that said "That was Rika's arm just now." in the title field and nothing in the actual body. She must've been flustered when she wrote it. I also got another weird mail from Rika that came at nearly the same time as Yozora's with the title "Iyan♥" that said "Yozora-senpai hit Rika's butt with her fly swatter, Rika can't take it anymore s-stop itttt~~♥"

I sent Yozora a mail that said "I know." and ignored Rika.

I then got another mail, this time from Rika's laptop, with the title "The Truth" that read "Eh? Yozora-senpai, why are you taking Rika's panties off? Ahn~ I can't stand it, this is too embarrassing! Ahh, Don't lick me down thereee! I can't stop twitching each time I feel it! Yozora-senpai then whispered into the moaning Rika's ear, 'Here? Do you want it here? You dirty little girl.' She then gently blew on Rika's ears which caused Rika to lose all the strength in her body and (etc.)" I was reading her stupid mail, but the bus reached the school so I got off without finishing it.

Today was as hot as ever.

I entered the clubroom, where Yozora and Rika (who were obviously not naked) and Yukimura were waiting.

Yozora looked exhausted as she lay on the sofa.

Yozora pointed at Rika, and turned only her face to me as she said,

"Watch out Kodaka... she's, a freak..."

She barely managed to get even that out.

"Yeah, well... I already know that." I said.

As for the freak in question, she was currently typing away on her laptop.

It looked like she was writing a novel.

"Ah, Kodaka-senpai! Rika just recently discovered that yuri might not be all that bad! Rika thinks she might be okay with anything as long as it's erotic!"

"You're sure full of energy..."

I sat on the sofa, pitying Rika who seemed like she was about to launch herself into space.

"I have prepared tea."

Yukimura handed me a glass of barley tea.

"Thanks!"

I thanked Yukimura and happily took the drink from him.

Glug glug... I gulped the whole thing down at once.

...It wasn't hot or cold, just lukewarm tea.

"Would you like another?"

"Eh? Yeah, sure."

I took another glass of tea from Yukimura.

...It was warmer than before, but I still gulped it down pretty quickly.

"Here you are, Aniki."

"Thanks. Ah! That's hot..."

The third cup of tea was very hot, and not something I could just gulp down.

I looked at Yukimura, who was looking at me as though expecting something.

He was probably trying to imitate how Mitsunari Ishida gave Hideyoshi Toyotomi a cup of warm tea, then a slightly hot cup, and then a relaxing hot cup of tea to drink.

"...Umm... Mitsunari was a pretty thoughtful guy."

"It is an honor to receive your praise, Aniki."

I praised Yukimura, and he smiled bashfully.

"...But I still think cold barley tea is best. I won't let that one go."

"Is that so..."

Yukimura got a little depressed.

While relaxing and slowly drinking the hot tea from Yukimura, the door to the clubroom flew open all of a sudden.

"Heh heh, so you're all here, lowly commoners! Your goddess has come to you!"

It was Sena who opened the door.

"Ahh, hey." I said while sipping my tea.

Yukimura was stone faced, as usual.

Even Yozora, who'd usually make fun of her, only gave her a little glance as if to say she couldn't care less.

"You're letting the cold air out, can you close the door now?"

Rika coolly said, while still typing on her keyboard and not even looking over at Sena, to which Sena replied "Ah, sorry..." and quietly closed the door.

"I'm gonna get some sleep."

Yozora crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"Uuu... W-why are you all so lifeless!?"

Sena ground her teeth, annoyed, and then said,

"I wonder, will you be able to stay like that after you see this!? Here, look at it Yozora!"

Sena quickly walked over to Yozora and held out a cell phone as though it were Mito Koumon's seal case.

"Heh, what do you think now? I asked Papa yesterday and he bought it for me!"

Sena said with the face of a delighted child.

"Hmph..."

Yozora opened her eyes a little, and then closed them again, uninterested.

"Huh, isn't that the same as mine?"

Sena's model matched the one I had. It was even the same gold color as mine.

"O-ohh... it is? W-what a coincidence!"

Sena's face turned a little red.

"Uh, no, not really..."

You called me in the middle of the damn night and asked me about it... before I could say that,

"...the same as Kodaka's?"

Yozora angrily said, and glared at Sena's cell phone.

"Hehe." Sena chuckled as though she'd just won some battle.

"Anyway, come on let's exchange addresses! Come on, hurry!"

"Eh? Okay..."

I took out my cell phone.

Yozora groaned as she looked at and compared our phones.

I got ready to use the infra-red rays I learned about yesterday.

"By the way, do you know how to do it this way?"

"Of course!" Sena said triumphantly and pointed her cell at me.

We quickly exchange addresses.

Sena had a big grin spread across her face as she stared at her phone's LCD.

"Haha... Here Yozora, I'll even do it with you."

"I have no need for your address."

Sena got caught off guard by Yozora's refusal.

"Hey! I went and bought one so just tell me your address!"

"...Do you want my address that much?"

"I-it's not like I want it or anything! I don't want to know it at all, but I figured I'd let you exchange with me since we're in the same club! You should be grateful!"

"I see, thank you. I'll make do with your feelings alone."

"I can't call you using my feelings alone!"

Yozora looked at Sena with her eyes full of disgust.

"...Hmph, making such a greedy face... look at this bitch. If you want it so badly then prove it to me."

"Prove it...? Ah, I'm not going to lick your feet, got it~? Uuu~ Fine, forget it, stupid Yozora!"

Sena ran out of the room with a few tears in her eyes.

"...She gives up so quick..."

Whispered Yozora, who looked just a little bit sad.

After Sena left, Yozora and I began reading like we always do.

About 15 minutes later, I got a message on my phone.

...it was from Sena.

"I'm gonna send that idiot Yozora a bunch of spam mail so tell me her address (^_^)"

"...So this is the first mail you send me...?"

And on top of that, Yozora, who was sitting next to me, peeked at it.

"...That stupid Meat..."

A smile found its way to Yozora's face for some reason.

"...Kodaka, let me see Meat's address. I might as well just tell her what mine is personally..."

...It was roughly 30 minutes later when Sena came running back into the clubroom, half in tears, to talk to us about a bunch of mails from an unknown address she kept getting that simply said either "Death" or "Curse".

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|-
| Back to [[Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 3 History|History]]
| Return to [[Boku_wa_tomodachi_ga_sukunai|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai: Volume 3 Sealing Technique, Release!|Sealing Technique, Release!]]
|-
|}

Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter8

2012-02-12T05:09:36Z

Dagger: "destroy you personality" -> "destroy you personally" (I'm guessing that's correct?)

== Chapter 8==

=== Part 1 ===

A craft 80 centimeters long and 50 centimeters wide including the very ends of the main wings was bringing destruction to Academy City. It had the same basic form as the kind of toy with a battery and motor inside that gained propulsion from a propeller. Normally, it was controlled remotely, but if the signal weakened, it could continue flying automatically according to a program.

It was a small UAV.

It held the detonation signal for the Solntse hydrogen bomb and would mercilessly detonate the bomb Anti-Skill had recovered once it entered Academy City airspace.

Someone had sent it out.

It was as if the grim reaper had folded a love letter into a paper airplane and thrown it toward Academy City.

Mikoto pulled out her cell phone.

Before, she had been unable to contact Academy City. It was likely the situation had not improved, but she refused to give up on that hope.

Lessar was (reluctantly) applying first aid to Caliche and the others from her organization. Mikoto darted through a narrow employee corridor, heading to a floor where she thought she would get a better signal.

She opened up her address book, highlighted Shirai Kuroko’s number, and hit the call button.

She had to get her message across as soon as possible.

If they were satisfied with only having successfully intercepted the old fighters over the Sea of Japan, they would be unable to stop the slowly approaching UAV.

If that happened, it was all over.

Academy City would disappear in a flash of light.

(Answer, answer, answer. Just answer already!!)

The ringing continued.

The confusion must have been continuing on the other end as well. Mikoto doubted they would actually announce that a hydrogen bomb was approaching, but the back and forth over the emergency lines could possibly overload the communications network. She had to get her information across before that happened.

She knew she had to, but…

She had to get it across no matter what, but…

No matter how many times she tried, her phone would not connect to anyone outside the shopping mall.

“Dammit!!” cursed Mikoto.

She hit the call button again, but it just would not connect. She was not even switched over to the message center.

A bad feeling built up in her chest and she gave up on trying to make a call. Instead, she started typing out an email with her thumb. Right after she hit the send button, she got an email in response. It was simply too quick. She checked her inbox and found a new message with a cold subject saying her email had failed to send.

(But I managed to connect with that Lancis girl before!! Is it just outside this city I can’t connect to!?)

Mikoto’s power could be used over a network. However, she failed even when she tried to forcibly open the line. It was either cut off with some kind of special method or the connector was physically removed.

Then, Lessar opened the door coming from the employee corridor and headed toward her.

“How goes it?”

“Not well.”

Mikoto explained what had just happened. As usual, Lessar’s expression clouded over a bit.

“We have no way of knowing if the Solntse’s detonator has been dismantled yet or not. Academy City has no idea this UAV is headed there. …With the way things are, can they really avoid this danger?”

“It’ll be difficult. I’m sure they will remain on guard for the time being, but it will only be on the level of seeing if any remnants of that group are still inside Academy City. They won’t suspect that there is still a chance of the Solntse detonating now that they have determined it to be safely recovered.”

“So what will we do?”

Mikoto lightly shook her cell phone in response to Lessar’s question.

“We find the person that’s keeping me from using this. Whoever it is has to still be hiding in the shopping mall. First, we need to find them from the method and route used to block the signal. …And if they’re the person behind all this, they might have a means of getting a detailed location of the UAV. If I can get that information to Kuroko, the odds of successfully intercepting it will go way up.”

“Caliche I Niknosh did not seem to have any more allies,” Lessar said as she thought. “Should we hit her some more to see if anything more turns up?”

“With as much blood as she’s lost, anything else is likely to stop her heart. If we aren’t likely going to get any information, it’s just a waste of time.”

(Well, the blocking of the signal is not the kind of method I would expect from Caliche anyway.)

“?”

Mikoto looked puzzled, but she had no time to think about anything else.

She focused and turned her power toward the cell phone.

“Where are you going to check first?”

“The transmission network from the shopping mall to Academy City. I’m rechecking the path data from this phone takes as it heads to its destination. There has to be an opening a third party is using to cut in and interfere.”

As she responded, Mikoto manipulated the internal workings of the cell phone directly using her power to manipulate electricity, but she was very uneasy.

They were at the climax. Whatever she did, she had no time. If some new giant and dangerous secret organization showed up, it was highly likely she would not be able to deal with it. She had to pray that the enemy was on a size where she could manage to take it out before the UAV arrived at Academy City from Tokyo Bay.

As she thought that, Mikoto suddenly frowned.

“What is it?”

“I’m checking how the data from my phone heads to Academy City, but it seems that all phone data in the shopping mall gathers in one place before being sent outside.”

That in and of itself was not too unusual.

In an area that dealt with information with a certain level of value, phone lines did not just stretch all around like a spider web. All the data would be gathered together in a giant server and checked in real time before being sent out. Essentially, a checking station was set up.

There did seem to be isolated servers like the one for credit card information in the casino, but the main pipeline out seemed to be cut off due to the emergency situation.

It was a bit different than she had expected, but now the issue was just where the checking station for phone and email was located.

Mikoto continued to look confused and spoke to Lessar.

“It’s in the main computer of the stock market center. In other words…”

“The center of Code EIC?”

That computer had been set up on the pretext of gathering stock data from around the world and processing it all at high speed. In secret, Code EIC sent out information to various types of media both mass and local in order to freely manipulate the people within the shopping mall. In either case, it was not too strange for it to act as a relay point for cell phone data.

However, the timing was odd.

Code EIC has already been suppressed and had no one controlling it and yet it was blocking transmissions that would inform Academy City of the danger.

Mikoto thought for a bit on what that meant, but her thoughts were cut off by Lessar.

Technically, it was by a noise coming from Lessar’s clothes.

She forced her hand down through the collar of her lacrosse uniform-like shirt.

“Oh, it seems I have my hands full with transmissions, too.”

“…Isn’t it a bit much to stick it there with that outfit?”

“Heh heh heh. They may not look it, but mine are big enough to hold something between them.”

“Shut up,” Mikoto snapped back.

At the same time, Lessar pulled her wireless device out.

But…

“Um…Why are you holding that piece of cardboard like it’s a cell phone?”

“There’s no need for you to know.”

Lessar made no attempt to explain why she looked so victorious.

“Hello, hello. Is this Bayloupe?”

“Yes. I’m currently on the roof of the grand hotel.”

Mikoto looked shocked. The cardboard vibrated and produced a human voice.

(??? Is that a cell phone made from some new material…?)

She thought it must be ecological, but she also thought it would be unsuitable for normal life. It seemed the corner would start peeling up if you messed with it.

“How are things at the hotel?”

“In regards to the rioting? Things are relatively calm here. It seems the shopping facility was the worst, but everyone has just been staring in disbelief ever since that strange giant wheel was rampaging around,” the girl who seemed to be named Bayloupe then changed the subject. “Can you see it from there?”

“See what?”

“One portion of the airport on the edge of the city just opened up. If it isn’t a pitfall for an elephant, it has to be a launch facility for a rocket or a missile.”

Mikoto and Lessar exchanged glances.

“A missile…? It isn’t related to the Solntse, is it?”

“If they could use multiple hydrogen bombs, they would have actually put them on the old fighters, don’t you think? They went out of their way to reuse the hydrogen bomb that they have no idea how far Academy City has dismantled, so they presumably only have one Solntse.”

“Which means…”

“A rocket?”

Mikoto thought for a bit.

What reason was there to launch a rocket that had not been turned into a weapon…?

“We still haven’t found whoever is truly behind this plan.”

“Then are you saying whoever it is has been cornered and is trying to escape using the rocket?” Lessar said with a puzzled look. “But what would they do even if they made it into space? Even if they managed to escape our reach, a spaceship that cannot resupply from a space station or something can only stay up there for a few days. And its expected landing spot can be calculated from the surface. In fact, a ballistic missile with a normal warhead could shoot it down. That method of escape is nothing more than cornering oneself further.”

“They would just have to never come back down to the earth,” said the girl who seemed to be called Bayloupe. “If whoever is behind this does not need supplies, that doesn’t matter.”

“I see,” Mikoto said cutting in. She politely matched the other two by speaking in British English. “So someone is acting in secret ''to make us think'' Code EIC is behind this.”

“They’re afraid of taking the blame themselves, so they’re making it look like it was all caused by an out of control computer. But there is a danger of their interference being detected if the computer is thoroughly investigated, so they’re having the computer escape the solar system so it cannot be investigated.”

“But isn’t the plan stored in the offline storage…?”

“I’m sure they’ve thought of that. They could have added some unnatural parts to the records to make it look like the records are just fakes Code EIC made to manipulate people.”

“Which means,” said Mikoto confidently, “whoever is truly behind all this is currently making preparations in the launch pad’s control room. If we capture whoever it is and get the whole story from them, we can wrap this whole incident up.”

=== Part 2 ===

A machine that looked like a model aircraft flew through Japan’s capital.

It was not high enough to be said to be in the sky.

It cut through the wind at a height similar to a traffic light where it just barely made it by beneath power lines and overpasses.

It did not go unnoticed.

People who had the attention to spare looked up in confusion at the flying piece of machinery that gained its propulsion with a propeller.

It did not fit into the scenery crowded with buildings and people. It stood out. Most everyone who saw it was not sure if it was technically violating any set rule but still felt it was violating common manners.

But…

At the same time, no one saw it as a military weapon. It looked like nothing more than a toy.

In reality, precision machinery with a camera that could transmit information in real time was classified as military weaponry.

Most of what were called military satellites were only used for reconnaissance. They did not have anything like laser weaponry installed. Even that was known to the people in that country that had been dulled by peace.

Information could be used as a weapon.

In fact, it could be more useful than directly using a bullet or a bomb.

And that small aircraft held a string of numbers in it no longer than a bank account number that could blow away the city center by reviving the recovered hydrogen bomb.

Many people noticed the UAV as it headed in a straight line for Academy City.

It was predicted to arrive in thirty minutes.

As soon as it penetrated the city’s outer walls, the entire city would be erased from the map.

=== Part 3 ===

Enirya G. Algonskaya headed for a large helicopter sitting on the heliport. It had many antennae so that it could communicate in many different ways. It even had a means of accessing a communications satellite for cell phones.

“I was right,” she muttered to her colleague. “The electronic signatures used to declare martial law were not from the higher ups. They were created by a third party. Do you know what this means?”

“…”

Her colleague did not respond. It was not that he did not know; he simply did not want to admit it. That was why Enirya continued on for him.

“Some unknown person or persons currently hold authority over this city in place of the higher ups. Since the true higher ups are showing no sign of trying to stop this, they have likely completely left already. This third party may have directly forced them to leave or they may have left for some other reason.”

“The data came from the rocket launch facility.”

“This third party may have ordered us to stop the rioting with martial law so that the rioters would not interfere with whatever plan is being carried out there.” Enirya looked over at her colleague as they walked along. “Can you contact the launch facility?”

“The staff locked up the facility when the rioting broke out and evacuated to a safer underground area.”

“Well, I suppose that was the best decision. The launch facility is filled with fuel and oxidants, so any rioting there would have turned it into a sea of flames.”

“But that also means the area should be completely abandoned.”

“Yes, but we know ''someone'' is there,” replied Enirya. “Did the account search turn up anything?”

“If this result is correct, it is most likely this person.”

According to the information displayed in the window at their feet…

=== Part 4 ===

Mikoto and Lessar entered one section of the international airport on the outskirts of the giant city known as the shopping mall.

It was a rocket launch facility.

In that city, space development may have been nothing more than another business through which to make money. However, Mikoto was not sure whether their service was to launch people or objects into space or to gather information from satellites that had been launched into space.

“Y’know…” Mikoto looked around the flat area as she ran. “This place reminds me of Academy City’s District 23. Why does everything have to be so damn huge when it comes to air and space!?”

“It seems there is more than one launch module.” Lessar showed no sign of fatigue as she ran alongside Mikoto. “There are 25 total. They’re laid out in a 5 x 5 pattern.”

“Do you know where the rocket with the core of Code EIC inside is?”

“According to what Bayloupe can see form atop the hotel, it’s the module in the fourth row and fourth column.”

“And where are we?”

“Row one column one.”

“We’re pretty much on the complete opposite side!! This is about the worst possible situation distance-wise!!”

As they spoke, the two girls dashed through the rocket launch area.

The launch modules were large circular holes opened in the ground. They were about 30 meters across and 30 meters deep. The edge of the holes had no railings, so they did not want to approach them. However, it seemed the rockets stood in the center of the circle and they were surrounded by crane-like devices that attached cables and tubes for data and fuel. The module Mikoto and Lessar circled around had all that minus the actual rocket itself.

Those giant modules were set up in a nice 5 x 5 layout.

Suddenly, Lessar realized something as she ran along and reached into her pocket.

It seemed she had received a transmission over that cell phone-like object made of cardboard.

“Hello, this is Floris. I’ve snuck into the center of the stock market center, and I found something interesting.”

“?”

“A part of the giant Code EIC computer has been removed like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. The missing piece is…I guess about the size of a small refrigerator.”

“I guess that piece was brought to the rocket.”

“Yeah, and I doubt the rectangular box just grew legs and walked off on its own. Although, I’m sure some people would insist it was carried by people being manipulated by Code EIC.”

“You said your name is Floris, right?” Mikoto cut in speaking English. “Since you’re in the stock market center, could you try to bring the phone lines back online? It seems the city’s phone system is set up to head outside after going through there, so that would be the most likely place for something to be set up.”

“I’m not too knowledgeable about that kind of thing.”

“Just do what you can. All I want is to see if you can get it back online and connected to the outside. Even if we gather information here, it can’t be used to intercept the UAV if I can’t get it back to Academy City. So just do what you can.”

“Understood,” she said and ended the transmission.

And in the next instant, another transmission arrived.

This time, it was from a different worker at the occult convenience store.

“Hee hee.”

But Mikoto did not know them well enough to know who it was just from a laugh.

“Hee hee hee. Nyu ha ha. I-it ticklesh…Nyahh.”

“Hello, who is this playing around in the middle of an emergency?”

“Lancis. Thish is Lancish. Nyuhu. Uuh, I can’t stand it. Magic power really does…tickle…”

Lancis continued muttered nonsensical things, but she slowly forced herself to calm down.

“Heh…heh. I received some new information from that cabal.”

“I’m surprised they told you anything.”

“Not from the people…nyuhu…I gathered the information left behind in that giant wheel snake.”

“But the cabal is not who is truly behind all this.”

“It seems they were…hee hee…gathering information from all over the shopping mall to see if anyone was going to get in the way of their plan.”

“And you found some information on who you think might be behind this?”

“It seems a French Academy City cooperative institution is deeply involved in all of this. Nyuha. A man named Peter Wellgo was invited here to see the Number Three’s demonstration, but it seems he had connections to the shopping mall’s higher ups beyond that.”

“Peter Wellgo…?”

Mikoto frowned and activated the Semipublic AR on the ground. A window opened like a shadow at her feet. She used a few tricks to access the data meant for Misaka Mikoto while using a different account and accessed the data on the demonstration.

She found the same name there.

He was one of the people who had been invited to view the demonstration as a representative of a cooperative institution.

“A cooperative institution?” said Lessar glancing over at Mikoto as they ran.

Mikoto nodded.

“Assuming that information was not put in there to intentionally throw us off track, it seems he is the person behind this. Even if the plan came to light and Academy City and the shopping center destroyed each other, the French cooperative institution could benefit by establishing a business model using the scientific information they have.”

It started with the oranges filled with crimson long-legged army ants and continued with the Code EIC report, the attack by remote controlled snowplows, the uranium ornament, and the establishment of a business model. Many people had been involved in that single large plan. There had not been a single “incident” or “criminal” and the plan had eventually left the control of the shopping center higher ups who had created it in the first place.

A lot had happened.

But they had finally come to the last person manipulating things from the shadows.

Peter Wellgo.

It was clear he was trying to load the core of Code EIC onto a rocket and launch it into space.

He likely knew the nuclear detonation code and the flight path of the UAV.

In other words…

“If we can capture this Peter Wellgo and get the details of the plan to Academy City, they can almost certainly shoot down the UAV and prevent the Solntse from detonating.”

“Wellgo came to the shopping mall with…nee hee…a few bodyguards, but he is likely the only one involved in this plan. He would want to keep his connections to the shopping mall as secret as possible so that the odds of blame falling on the French cooperative institution would be as low as possible.

Suddenly, a pillar of flames erupted up from a launch module directly to their side.

The huge explosion filled the entire 30 meter width and depth of the large hole. The brilliant red pillar of flames reached well above Mikoto and Lessar’s heads. After reaching 50 meters above ground, it finally stopped its ascent and started spreading out in all directions.

“Wha—!? What is that!?”

“The liquid fuel in the launch area must have exploded! I don’t know if it was liquid oxygen or hydrogen though!!”

The shock of the explosion caused Lessar to drop her cardboard cell phone, but she did not turn back for it.

The flames overhead had already surpassed Mikoto and Lessar’s location creating a “ceiling” of flames.

“But that module didn’t have a rocket in it!!”

“To create an explosion with the fuel, you just need the supply tanks and pipes. I’m betting someone set it to detonate remotely!”

“So nothing is being done directly by humans to the end. By using the tools and equipment here, he can make it look like Code EIC is doing this.”

The ceiling of flames wavered.

The far end of it dropped as if it had finally recalled the existence of gravity.

“Isn’t that right, Peter Wellgo!?”

As Mikoto shouted, the ceiling of flames collapsed.

It turned into countless masses of blazing heat and rained down on the launch area as Mikoto and Lessar ran through it.

Mikoto ran and Lessar leapt, but they were not quite going to make it in time. They rolled across the AR ground and the flames filled the area just behind them.

The danger did not end there.

The hard ground was smashed by the vibration. Mikoto covered her face with both arms to protect it against the fragments and she could see a dazzling light make its way between her arms.

It was coming from one of the fuel pipes that had been buried in the ground.

The thick steel pipe had been partially torn up and was spraying flames around like a flamethrower.

“There’s more!! Above!!” Lessar yelled.

A container larger than a tanker truck was spraying out flames and falling down above Mikoto like a long throw in baseball.

But this time Mikoto did not panic.

After all, the pipe that was writhing around on its own was…

“It’s made of steel, so I can handle it!!” she shouted and used magnetism to forcibly bring the pipe to a stop.

She pointed the flamethrower-like opening straight upward and smashed it against the giant tank that was sending flames down.

The high temperature flames quickly raised the internal temperature of the tank.

Only one portion had burst, so it was spewing flames, but the entire tank then lit.

As a result, it exploded.

The new explosion in the air blew away the remains of the ceiling of flames that was still collapsing and raining down.

During it all, Mikoto and Lessar ran as quickly as they could.

The Semipublic AR on the ground must have been damaged by the flames because complex static spread across it.

Many launch modules had pillars of flames erupt out of them, many supply pipes were ripped apart, and flaming tanks attacked them like missiles.

But none of it stopped their advance.

They knew that continuing forward was the best way of protecting themselves from the continual fiery attacks.

“There it is!! Row four, column four!! The core of Code EIC is there!!”

“And so is Peter Wellgo!!”

The launch area was filled with the orange of the flames and the static of the broken AR as Mikoto and Lessar ran through it.

Holding a spear-like object, Lessar asked a question.

“Do you know where the entrance to the rocket launch facility is?”

“Row four, column four!! Didn’t your companion on the hotel tell you that!?”

“No, not that! That’s where the rocket is launched from. The door people go in and out of has to be somewhere else!!”

“This is all we need.”

Mikoto smiled and ran across the gray surface.

A giant hole was opened in the ground ahead of her like some kind of strange crop circle.

“If we jump in there, we’ll be exactly where we want to be!!”

She jumped in without hesitating.

The giant hole was 30 meters across and 30 meters deep. A large pillar stood at the center giving the hole a donut-like impression. A few cranes stretched in from the side connected to the central pillar either to prevent the pillar from collapsing or to pass in cables for data transfer.

It was the rocket.

Mikoto focused magnetism on the bottoms of her feet, ignored gravity as she jumped, and stuck to the side of the rocket. She then moved vertically down the side like someone skiing down a steep slope.

Sparks flew from her bangs.

Above her, Lessar peered over the edge of the hole and frantically yelled down at her.

“Most of the rocket is filled with liquid fuel!! If you make a careless attack, it’ll all blow up!!”

(I know that.)

Mikoto had no intention of blowing herself up and pure destruction was not going to resolve the current situation. She had to retrieve the core of Code EIC from the rocket in a state where it could be analyzed.

Mikoto slid down the side of the rocket. On the side of the cylindrical hole were many thick windows used to observe the rocket. Through them, giant pieces of equipment one would not see at an electronics store could be seen. They were likely used for control either during or after launch.

She saw a single figure amidst the equipment.

He was one of the people on the list of people who were to have viewed her demonstration.

He was Peter Wellgo.

It was her first time to see him, but Mikoto was naturally able to guess who he was.

And she did not hesitate.

“…!!”

She changed the flow of magnetism.

She pulled her body toward a steel door on the other side of the thick wall.

Her body flew horizontally.

A thick window made of reinforced glass stood in her way, but Mikoto ignored it and smashed through.

With a high-pitched shattering noise, she entered the facility.

The man within immediately tried to protect himself from the countless glass shards. As he covered his face with his hands and balled up, Mikoto “landed” directly on him. The shock had to have been more than from a simple body blow. She cut off her magnetism and knocked him to the floor so she was sitting atop him.

(He’s…?)

The man Mikoto had restrained seemed to be around 50. He was a tall white man. His pale blond hair had gray mixed in. He was wearing a high class custom suit, but he seemed to be using it to hide his muscles that were beginning to wither away with age.

“Checkmate, Peter Wellgo.”

Mikoto stuck her thumb toward the aging man’s throat and sent bluish-white sparks flying so that they almost reached his skin.

“I am here because I’ve seen through your plans. I know you are from a French cooperative institution. I know that you were supporting the shopping mall’s rebellion so that you could also benefit by establishing a business model using the scientific information you have. And I’m not stupid enough to think you’re really just being used by Code EIC.”

“…”

“You put the main portion of Code EIC on that rocket and are trying to launch it into space so that it can’t be investigated. But it’s all over. Now, stop the rocket. If you don’t, I’ll have to physically destroy you personally with a high voltage current.”

Mikoto felt it was finally over.

She did not think Peter could turn things around in that situation. From what she could see, no one else was hiding within the area, but she could still handle it if he did have subordinates hiding somewhere. It truly was checkmate. She would safely retrieve the computer core of Code EIC, get all the information from Peter, and get the information on the UAV heading toward Academy City. With everyone behind the plan gone, she could finally get a phone call through and tell Academy City the information they needed to destroy the UAV. A small craft that could be flying anywhere was one thing, but they would have no problem with a target that they knew the location of.

That was what Mikoto thought, but…

“…It wasn’t me…”

An odd sound reached her eardrums.

It took her a second to realize it was a voice because it was so far outside of what she had expected.

Peter Wellgo spoke once more from his location on the floor.

“It wasn’t me.”

A smile was affixed on his face.

The smile made it look like small bugs were wriggling about under his skin about to rip the skin apart with their movements.

Mikoto had a thought.

Ignoring logic and calculations, her pure thoughts arose from the depths of her heart and formed words.

''What is he saying?

''Is he truly Peter Wellgo?

The aging man’s words and atmosphere were so odd that she started to grow unsure of the assumption she had made. That doubt was spurred on by the fact that the man had never actually confirmed that he was Peter Wellgo.

But she could not let herself be led astray.

The French cooperative institution he belonged to would gain nothing by him telling the truth there. Peter Wellgo would choose to either remain silent or lie.

After all, the plan to destroy Academy City was still ongoing. Once the Solntse was detonated and the core of Code EIC was dealt with, the French cooperative institution could sip on the wine of victory.

(How am I supposed to get him to talk?)

Mikoto felt a strange sweat on her cheek.

(And even if he does talk, how am I supposed to determine if he’s telling the truth!?)

At the same time, an explosive noise came through the shattered window.

It did not end with just one noise. The explosions continued on, one after another. The walls and ceiling vibrated violently since the soundproofed window had been lost. The din was much greater than that from road construction.

The rocket engine was beginning to ignite.

“…Stop it,” Mikoto said.

She had thought she had reached checkmate, but she was the one trembling.

How were you supposed to defeat an opponent that continued playing even after their king had been taken?

“Stop the rocket!! I broke the window! If the rocket launches now, the flames and scorching wind will fill this room. If that happens, neither of us will survive. We’ll die!! Sending Code EIC into space now will not lead to a victory for you!!”

Hearing those words, Peter’s smile grew even wider.

Mikoto shuddered at the mere fact that a smile wider than the previous one even existed.

“…It isn’t my fault.”

His words were like a spell.

His twisted sense of legitimacy meant he would not give in even when faced with one billion volts or 2000 degree flames.

“It was all the machine. I was just a tool. We were all just used, so I can’t stop this.”

That must have been how he wanted it to be.

No matter what, that was the “truth” he wanted the world to see.

(He wasn’t doing this for the sake of his own life or position…)

Finally, Mikoto glimpsed what the conditions were for him.

(He just wants to bring prosperity to the French cooperative institution he belongs to and to keep all blame from falling on them. That’s all he wants. That’s all!!)

What was the cooperative institution to France?

Was Peter Wellgo a leader of the institution or was he just in charge of that mission?

She did not know the answer to any of that.

And she had headed to the conclusion of the incident with all that information lacking.

The shaking within the facility grew. The rocket would launch before long. Once it did, the materials that could prove who was behind the incident would be sent outside the solar system. Mikoto and Peter would be enveloped by flames without passing along any information on the hydrogen bomb or the UAV. When the UAV arrived, the Solntse within Academy City would detonate allowing those behind the incident to profit by establishing their business model.

She had to stop it.

But randomly attacking the rocket would just cause an explosion. That held the danger of roasting Code EIC, preventing any information from being retrieved. And more importantly, the explosion would kill Mikoto and Peter. The result would be the same.

(What do I do…?)

While still restraining Peter, Mikoto looked around.

The many control devices were lined up within the room. She knew a lot about computers, but even she did not know what to do with such specialized equipment. The rocket would not necessarily stop if she just ended the program.

(What do I do!?)

The rocket was beginning to launch and the UAV was about to head into Academy City.

There was no longer any time to spare.

And…

=== Part 5 ===

The countdown reached zero.

The stabilizing cranes attached to the side of the three-stage rocket fell to the side, disconnecting one by one.

The mix of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen that acted as a fuel produced a huge amount of explosive power.

At the same time, a great amount of water was sprayed out like a shower from the side of the launch facility.

The water ensured that the high heat of the engines did not destroy the facility. The white gas that expands like cotton candy often seen in videos of launches was steam rather than smoke.

The rocket started to float up.

It was only a few centimeters, but it had definitely left the ground. The power of the multiple rocket engines was slowly lifting the rocket up. The first few dozen seconds was the most delicate time. Once it gained enough power to break free of the chains of gravity, no one could stop it.

A giant computer was loaded on the front.

No calculations to give it a stable orbit had been carried out.

The contents of the rocket merely had to be taken away from the earth.

The giant manmade mass started moving up more rapidly.

The thrust created by the rocket engines won out over gravity pulling the large mass toward the ground.

It looked as if it had suddenly been shot upward.

The three stage rocket violated one of the most basic phenomena of the planet as it headed for the sky as if it was being fired up by a rubber band.

And suddenly all light disappeared from the rocket engines that had been creating such massive amounts of energy.

It happened right after the three stage rocket made it about 5 meters into the air.

It suddenly stopped firing and the giant rocket was pulled by gravity back to the floor of the underground launch facility. The bottom of the engines were crushed and the main body of the rocket wobbled in its vertical position. Having lost its support, the giant vehicle was no longer able to keep its balance. It started to fall toward the side of the facility and the main body was bent when it struck the wall.

At the center where it bent, cracks appeared and white smoke poured out.

It must have been the liquid oxygen or liquid hydrogen used as fuel.

The fuels were only able to remain in their liquid state by being kept at temperatures lower than minus ten degrees. At normal temperature, they would immediately return to being a gas just like what flowed through the air.

“…”

Misaka Mikoto was standing facing the broken window.

Her palm was held out toward the launch facility.

“It’s no use. That rocket cannot fly anymore.”

For some reason, the rocket had failed to launch.

Or it had been stopped from launching.

However, Peter Wellgo’s smile did not disappear as he lay collapsed on the ground. The rocket itself had fallen, but his plan was not completely done for. With such a crude means of stopping the launch, the liquid fuel was sure to ignite and explode. He could only speculate as to how advanced Academy City’s analysis techniques were, but he was pretty sure Code EIC’s core would be mostly unreadable after being exposed to high temperatures for long periods of time.

His 100% safety had only been lowered to 90% safety.

He would still win.

The hydrogen bomb attack on Academy City was still ongoing.

That city would be destroyed and they would have no way of determining that his cooperative institution had been behind it, so their business model could still be established.

It did not matter that the rocket exploding would kill him.

The end result would be a victory for Peter.

But…

“I told you: it’s no use,” Mikoto said, cutting off the aging man’s thoughts. “The liquid oxygen and the liquid hydrogen will no longer explode. That is why the rocket cannot be launched or blown up. There is no way for you to win now.”

At first, Peter did not understand what she meant and just stared at her blankly.

Finally, he noticed that nothing was exploding and his expression suddenly changed.

Just where did he get the extra strength from?

Peter Wellgo forcefully stood up and shoved his hand in his pocket. Bluish-white sparks flew from Mikoto’s bangs and struck Peter, but the man did not stop. As he screamed, he threw something he had pulled out of his pocket. It flew through the broken window and out into the launch facility.

It was a lit oil lighter.

The lighter flew in a parabolic arc and fell down into the very bottom of the launch facility. A great amount of fuel that had leaked from the broken engines had to be gathered down there. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. The fuel had been prepared to provide explosive thrust even in areas with no air. It was enough to create an explosion large enough to instantaneously wrap the entire underground launch facility in flames.

But…

“Why…?”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

“Why? Why is nothing happening?”

“It wouldn’t detonate even if you used a flamethrower. I made sure of that,” responded Mikoto lightly to Peter Wellgo who stood shuddering at the edge of the window. “The way rocket engines use liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen is simple. Oxygen is needed for things to burn and the hydrogen that causes the explosive force is no exception. That’s why the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen are mixed to cause hydrogen explosions using oxygen even in places with no air.”

“…”

“And oxygen molecules can be easily broken down with electric power. When two oxygen atoms bind together, they create an oxygen molecule, but three create ozone. Needless to say, oxygen and ozone have different properties. A mixture of ozone and hydrogen will not ignite.”

Peter peered down into the launch facility.

The fire had disappeared from the oil lighter. The conditions needed for fire to burn were not met down there.

“Well, I can only just barely manage to pull off that method. When the entire launch area was burning before, I couldn’t deal with it and, more importantly, I might have ended up suffocating myself. But the bottom of a single module is sealed off to a certain extent, so it does not affect my own breathing.”

Mikoto wiped sweat off her face with the back of her hand.

“Your plan to launch Code EIC into space and leave the responsibility for this incident vague has failed,” said Mikoto as if stabbing the words into Peter. “Now, tell me everything you know about the UAV being used to detonate the Solntse. Where was it launched from, what route is it taking, and when will it enter Academy City? If we know that, we can intercept it. There is no longer any merit for you in attacking Academy City.”

“Heh.”

Peter Wellgo’s shoulders shook slightly.

He seemed to be laughing.

It happened immediately afterwards.

He did not even turn around.

He simply jumped straight out the broken window.

The action was as natural looking as a plastic bag being swept up in the wind. Due to that, Mikoto was a bit late in reacting. When she finally realized what was happening, Peter Wellgo had already disappeared from her vision.

“Kh…!!”

Mikoto frantically manipulated magnetism, but she failed to grab anything. She then heard an unpleasant noise.

She leaned out the window and looked down.

A human form was collapsed at the bottom of the module right next to the leaning rocket. He was not touching the puddle of leaked liquid fuel, but he was not moving and Mikoto could tell his life was slipping away.

Suddenly, she heard Lessar shouting from the top of the launch facility.

“The UAV has not been stopped yet!! The Solntse will detonate at this rate!! Hurry up and find what the UAV’s route is!!”

“But what about him!?” Mikoto yelled back. “There is no oxygen down there! A lighter cannot even remain lit! All of the oxygen molecules have been turned to ozone!! Even if he’s still breathing, he won’t last longer than a few minutes down there!!”

“Agh! Fine, then I’ll get him!”

“How!?”

“I just have to do it without breathing, right!? I’ll manage somehow!!”

After that somehow occult-sounding response, Lessar jumped to the wall of the launch facility. She then slid down to the bottom as if skiing. She showed no sign of suffering, so she must truly have had some way of “managing”.

(The UAV’s route…)

Mikoto thought.

Peter Wellgo had sealed off his information by defenestrating himself.

Was there anyone else who had a complete understanding of the incident and the UAV’s route?

(Wait a second.)

Mikoto looked up and out the broken window.

Her eyes landed on the very end of the bent rocket.

(He was trying to put all responsibility on the core of Code EIC. In that case, it wouldn’t surprise me if he put all the data on the incident inside the computer to make sure the disguise was perfect. He would have made sure there were records making it look like Code EIC itself had come up with and carried out the plan!!)

Peter had been afraid of Code EIC being recovered, but he would have tried everything he could. It was highly likely that the computer loaded on the rocket contained files on the incident.

Mikoto shouted out the broken window.

“Has that Floris girl contacted you!? Has she repaired the phone lines!?”

“I don’t know! I lost my communications spiritual i—uhh…communications device in the fire! And Floris already told you that she doesn’t know much about machines!!”

(Dammit. So I have to continue tightrope walking when I don’t even know if the other end is connected to anything!!)

Mikoto immediately began manipulating magnetism.

She jumped out the window and flew pretty much horizontally before landing on the side of the bent rocket.

She then ran for the top.

(Please make it in time….)

She pulled out her PDA.

She sliced through the armor at the top of the rocket with an iron sand sword to reach the computer within.

“Please make it in time!!”

=== Part 6 ===

At the same time, the small UAV that had taken off in Tokyo Bay raised its altitude slightly.

It had to in order to cross Academy City’s outer wall.

The outer wall was made to emit a highly directed jamming signal pointed vertically in order to prevent information from being leaked.

As such, a signal sent from outside the walls would not reach anything inside Academy City.

The instant the UAV passed directly above the outer wall, its flight grew slightly unstable.

But the UAV continued flying while it shook.

It held the signal needed to detonate the hydrogen bomb within it.

The UAV took the final action needed to detonate the Solntse which had been recovered by Anti-Skill.

It passed the outer wall.

It passed the jamming signal.

The UAV entered Academy City. It reached an area where nothing would block its signal. The UAV had a clear connection to the Solntse.

And…

The explosion…

=== Part 7 ===

Mikoto sat flat on the floor.

She was within the top of the rocket.

Her PDA was connected to the giant computer and a few pieces of information were displayed on the small screen.

She held a cell phone in one hand.

Odd-sounding static could be heard through it.

It was not a proper connection.

Mikoto used a cell phone about as frequently as any middle schooler in Japan, but this was the first time she had seen such an odd connection.

She could not hear any voices.

She could not sense any breathing on the other side.

She could not imagine what the scene was like on the other side.

It was if…everything had suddenly vanished.

“…”

For a while, Mikoto said nothing.

All strength left her body.

The PDA slid from her hand.

She just barely managed to hold on to the phone because she trusted her connection with the person on the other side.

And…

“…e…sama…”

Finally, she heard a voice coming through the phone.

But it sounded different from normal. It was extremely scratchy and hard to hear as if all moisture had been taken from the very depths of the speaker’s throat.

The speaker was Shirai Kuroko.

She was giving her final report.

“The UAV…was successfully shot down… And…it was thanks to…the information you gave us…onee-sama…”

Hearing that, Mikoto finally remembered to breathe.

Meanwhile, Shirai sounded confused.

“But your voice…sounds very distant.”

“That’s probably because I’m not using a proper antenna.”

As she spoke, Mikoto looked up at the sky through the opening she had created in the side of the rocket.

The cell phone in Mikoto’s hand was not her own.

That one had fallen down from above in the middle of the countdown.

She had heard the sound of something repeatedly beating against the air above her.

She had looked up and seen a large helicopter circling around. From the Russian she could read on the side, it belonged to the security guards.

The helicopter’s door had opened and Mikoto had recognized the face that stuck out.

(Enirya…was it?)

It seemed the woman had come that far following different information, but it had saved Mikoto and Academy City in the end.

The large helicopter was loaded with all sorts of communications equipment so that it could carry out investigations smoothly. It had antennae for things such as simple radio signals and also had a device that could access cell phone satellites.

Enirya had thrown down the cell phone and Mikoto had caught it.

Enirya may have determined she should help Mikoto because the helicopter had intercepted Mikoto’s failed transmissions as she tried to get the information to Academy City during the countdown.

“So what’s the situation?”

Just as Mikoto asked that, the sound quality became much clearer.

The helicopter’s antenna may have performed some kind of adjustment.

“As you told us to before, the UAV approaching the outer wall was intercepted. The Solntse has shown no signs of being detonated. It seems unlikely, but it is possible that a second or third UAV could have been sent out at the same time, so the Solntse is being sent to a sealed off underground facility. Even if there is another UAV, it can no longer receive the signal.”

“So for now the danger has been avoided.”

“How are things on your end?”

“I’ve recovered the core of the Russian shopping mall’s super computer, but it’s a decoy. The person truly behind this is…”

Mikoto looked down over the edge of the rocket.

Lessar looked back at her while holding Peter Wellgo.

“Well, he’s alive. If we ask him for the details, we should be able to get more info about the background to this whole situation. There seem to be some passionate security guards in this city, so it looks like this will clear all the suspicion that had been placed on me. It’s all over,” Mikoto said with a sigh.

The incidents surrounding the Russian shopping mall and the Solntse attack on Academy City were all over.

She felt more exhausted than refreshed.

The end of a real incident did not leave one with the same sense of achievement as the end of an RPG.

=== Part 8 ===

“So in the end, what happened?” muttered a silver-haired girl named Bayloupe.

She was riding a small charter plane rather than a large passenger plane. It was currently waiting in a corner of the airport for its turn to use the runway.

A girl with black hair that had just the ends braided sat across from Bayloupe.

Her name was Lessar.

“What do you mean?”

“The end with the UAV, right?” added a blonde girl named Floris who was sinking into a massage chair. In annoyance, she pushed another girl, Lancis, off of her lap. “With Misaka Mikoto? That Japanese girl put up quite an effort, but did she really make it in time?”

“Right, right.” Bayloupe leaned against the wall. “Even though she got the UAV’s route out of Code EIC’s core and got the information to Academy City, would the defense units really move that quickly? After all, it’s just the word of a middle school girl. I doubt they would immediately send out all their forces.”

“Normally, they would act too slowly, the UAV would get its detonation signal out, and…boom!”

Bayloupe and Floris spoke back and forth, but then Lessar spoke up.

“Well, maybe that was their intention from the beginning.”

“?”

“Maybe the higher ups of Academy City had already predicted there were dangerous elements within the cooperative institution and they wanted an opportunity to draw them out. By carefully monitoring the Russian shopping mall, they could find all the dangerous people involved with the organization.”

“Which would mean…”

“Maybe they were constantly monitoring the whereabouts of the Solntse and the UAV using a different information source. By letting the situation develop as far as possible, they could see just how much strength the dangerous elements had. And as a result, they also managed to draw out another cooperative institution supporting the shopping mall. Not to mention actually capturing Peter Wellgo.”

“Uehh,” someone groaned.

“Would they really go that far for that?” asked Bayloupe.

“In that city, they would.”

“But the Solntse is a hydrogen bomb.”

“In Academy City, even that isn’t too much for them,” replied Lessar lightly. “I don’t know how sharp their higher ups are, but they might have been thinking about a possible future war between magic and science. This could be seen as an elimination of enemies on their own side before such a war begins.”

All four of them fell silent.

The word “war” weighed heavily on them.

“Well, if there is a war, Russia ''would'' be a likely candidate for the main battlefield.”

“And the other cooperative institution is from France, another dangerous location.”

“So they were laying the groundwork by getting rid of the unnecessary institutions before the fighting begins. With all the higher ups gone, this shopping mall will likely be completely shut down,” said Bayloupe with a grin. “I suppose we’re lucky no British cooperative institution was eliminated.”

“I wonder about that. At least our part in helping resolve this situation might help fool them a bit.”

Suddenly, Lancis spoke up for the first time.

She was twisting her body as if an invisible hand was tickling her side while she flipped through something like a small book.

“…Hee…hee hee. It found it.”

“?”

“The Coronation Sword. I…hee hee…just got a signal from the spiritual item…heh heh…automatically carrying out the excavation. It found it. It will…hee hee…start the actual exaction now, but this is most likely it. Heh heh.”

“Hmm,” Lessar smiled thinly.

It was a devilish smile.

It was a smile that indirectly showed that she was aware of her own ill will.

“If the revolution in England succeeds, I doubt the cooperation of Academy City will matter anymore, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. After all, we are a group that does what is best for England.”

They received permission to use the runway.

The pilot slowly moved the charter plane.

They arrived at one end of the straight runway and started accelerating for takeoff.

As the airplane took flight, Lessar said, “I guess we need to start seriously preparing for war.”

=== Part 9 ===

“Onee-sama, can you still use your cell phone?”

“We haven’t taken off yet. It should be fine for another ten minutes or so.”

Mikoto was holding her cell phone within a passenger plane. The large plane seemed to be waiting for its turn on the runway. Currently, she could see a small charter plane taking off.

“But,” said Shirai Kuroko over the phone, sounding upset. “That Russian shopping mall is a terrible place. I can’t believe they would carry out terrorist attacks in order to establish a business model using their partial scientific knowledge! I can’t believe they would bring a hydrogen bomb here to do that! And I especially can’t believe they would chase you around trying to capture you!! Those security guards they have instead of police sound completely useless!”

“W-well, the security guards did their job at the end and cleared me of all suspicion. I don’t think there is any more need to find fault in them.”

“Of course there is!! The security guards are supposed to protect normal people like you, onee-sama! What they did at the end does not cancel out what they did before that!!”

Mikoto had a sudden thought as Shirai continued to shout over the phone.

She did not think Academy City was a paradise. She did not think the city held the burden of the entire world’s justice. But she was still quite shocked to find that clear enemies of Academy City had appeared.

Why was she so shocked?

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS2_08_026.jpg|thumb]]

Was she simply shocked at the mere fact that Academy City had enemies?

Or was she shocked at the realization that she had believed up until then that Academy City did not have enemies.

There was no such thing as a perfect system.

There was no system one could unconditionally rely on forever.

Just like the shopping mall, Academy City might have its own dark side.

It might have enough darkness to produce enemies like that.

“Hey, are you listening, onee-sama?’

“Yes, I’m listening,” Mikoto responded arbitrarily as she looked out the plane’s window.

She made a gun with her fingers and pointed it toward the land of Russia that she would soon be leaving.

“But, y’know, this really did become one hell of a demonstration.”

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Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter7

2012-02-12T05:00:01Z

Dagger: Typo

== Chapter 7==

=== Part 1 ===

An Anti-Skill group wearing powered suits for work in nuclear facilities had begun the mopping up operation in Academy City.

The terrorists were armed with ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles and a large amount of detectors. Essentially, they had special electromagnetic firearms that could penetrate all forms of cover and would fatally destroy human cells and they had explosives that used those firearms.

The means of defense in a modern gunfight was not to see the bullet and evade it. Instead, it was to hide yourself behind something that functioned as a shield. As such, the ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles that could penetrate any kind of cover were quite a threat.

However, as long as you defended yourself with something that could completely block the ultra high frequency electromagnetic waves, you could turn the situation around.

Shirai Kuroko spoke into her cell phone.

“Onee-sama. The soldiers wearing lead armor have ended the firefight. They are fine. The suppression is complete. There is no sign of the nuke exploding. It seems they had almost finished putting it together, but luckily the timer was still incomplete. …That was the report I received.”

“Wait, Kuroko!! Don’t hang up!!”

“Onee-sama?”

“It seems the Russian shopping mall had a secondary plan in case the nuclear bomb on the timer failed. They have likely already switched over to that plan. You need to inform Anti-Skill!!”

Mikoto then seemed to hesitate.

But then she continued on with resolve.

“A fighter loaded with a hydrogen bomb is headed from Russia to Academy City. If the air defense unit does not head out immediately, it will be dropped right on top of you!!”

Three old style fighters cut across the Sea of Japan at a point just barely above the waves. They were flying that low in order to lower the odds of being seen on radar as much as possible. However, that was not enough to completely deceive an air surveillance network. If it was, no one would spend so much money developing stealth technology.

“Klyuch Samolyot to all crafts. I have detected multiple radar waves. The JSDF has likely caught sight of us on their wide-area radar. This will not be so easy from now on.”

“Prisluga Samolyot to Klyuch Samolyot. They are not idiots. They would have already noticed us. For diplomatic reasons, they were just waiting until we were past Russian waters.”

“Nochi Samolyot to all crafts. Russia will begin taking action soon, too. I’m more worried about having Sukhoi’s coming up behind us.”

“Klyuch Samolyot to all crafts. Academy City is our greatest enemy. They will soon realize what we are trying to do. This is the critical moment.”

There was no point in flying so low any longer.

The three old style fighters slowly raised their altitude, threw off the caution they had been flying with before, and accelerated to full speed.

They were heading for the capital of Japan, Tokyo.

Those fighters that had the ability to hold a nuclear weapon were headed for the center of the science side, Academy City.

Mikoto paced about in the stock market center beneath the shopping mall. She was not moving her legs in order to reach a destination. Instead, she was merely trying to suppress her troubled nerves.

“…We reached the center of Code EIC, but the equipment is just the equipment. We didn’t find the person who was controlling it, so we can’t stop the shopping mall’s plan.”

Mikoto was muttering in order to put together her own thoughts, but Lessar was listening in.

(Yes, I generally agree with that, but…)

Lessar recalled what she had seen deep in that hidden passageway.

(The problem is that everyone in the group that seems to have been behind all this was decapitated. And they were killed magically. So…who has control of this plan now?)

Various expectations had crossed paths and the final plan was continuing on.

The Solntse hydrogen bomb.

That weapon held such ridiculous destructive power and it was the truly horrible joker being used in that plan.

=== Part 2 ===

“I have a suggestion,” Lessar said to Mikoto as the other girl thought.

Mikoto looked puzzled.

“What is this all of a sudden?”

“If the modified MIG-21 continues at a normal rate, it will reach the center of Academy City in less than an hour. We cannot worry about our appearance right now. We need to find the person who is controlling this plan.”

“And?”

“The destructive force of the Solntse is massive, so the higher ups must have prepared a system to prevent the pilot from betraying them. Simply put, the bomb will not detonate if the pilot merely drops it. After the pilot drops it, the higher ups will send out a detonation signal. I’m betting a system like that has been built in,” Lessar explained. “Otherwise, there is a risk of the pilot betraying the higher ups and dropping a Solntse on the shopping mall. And if there is a unit of those old fighters, they could even drop one here and then run off with the rest once any pursuers have been utterly eliminated.”

Mikoto started to nod in agreement, but…

(…Huh?)

Something bothered her.

However, she could not get a proper grasp of what exactly it was.

Meanwhile, Lessar had continued speaking.

“In other words, even if they manage to get past the air defenses of Academy City and the JSDF, the dropped Solntse will not detonate as long as the detonation signal is not sent out.”

“In that case, there’s something we can do other than sitting here twiddling our thumbs.”

“Yes, we can find and capture whoever is controlling this plan.”

As Lessar spoke, she tossed something from between her fingers.

The object that spun through the air like a Frisbee in Mikoto’s direction was a single ID card.

“This is…?”

“I found it back in that passageway. That card holds authorization of the highest rank. If we search through the areas and data surrounding that person, we can get an idea of these invisible higher ups’ identities. We may even be able to figure out where their hiding places are.”

She had not lied.

But she had left out the little fact that “whoever is controlling this plan” may have changed from being the higher ups to being some third party.

=== Part 3 ===

The ID card had its owner’s name, picture, position, and authorized rank on it.

“The name and picture may be real, but the position is probably a fake. I doubt he would just have a card saying ‘Secret Organization’ hanging from his neck. We probably won’t find their hiding places by following that position.”

“That doesn’t matter. We can just use a different opening.”

“?”

“Having the highest rank has worked against them. Even in a shopping mall this huge, there aren’t that many areas restricted to that level. So if you open a map…”

Mikoto operated the Semipublic AR to automatically color code the security levels of the areas on the map.

The highest rank was red.

Only 5 areas were filled in with that color.

“See? He went to and from one of them frequently, so there should be some information left there. It’s possible he’s hiding there himself.”

When they actually went there, they found a small door at the end of a narrow passageway rather than something more like the door to a bank vault. A sign on the door said “staff only” and it just seemed like a break room for the workers from one of the shops.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, but normally I would think the security guards would be stationed around here. Or I suppose it could be a separate unit wearing normal clothes in order to keep even the security guards from knowing about this.”

“According to a report from Bayloupe and Lancis, the riots are in a bit of a lull, but it is still a bit of a problem.”

When Mikoto slid the ID card through a card reader near the knob, multiple dull metallic noises rang out. The door automatically opened inwards and it became apparent that it was over 1 meter thick. A rubber seal was placed around the edge of the door which likely made the door airtight when closed.

“This really does feel like a secret base.”

“Why do boys love creating this kind of atmosphere?”

As they spoke back and forth, the two girls entered the room.

The room was about as large as two classrooms, but it did not give an impression of spaciousness. Something like bookshelves were packed into the room. They were actually steel racks that had a great number of hard disks on them instead of books.

“Offline storage…” Mikoto looked around. “Code EIC is constantly connected to the network, so there is a possibility of someone attacking it externally. There is a risk that the data on the hard disks could be damaged or lost. This is a standalone backup for just such a case.”

“There are also paper documents strewn about.”

“He either was in the habit of printing out the data to check it or he just took all of the important data no one else should see and threw it in here. Either way, it’s more convenient for us.”

Mikoto and Lessar started investigating the room. Mikoto checked the stored data and Lessar checked the paper documents.

(I know the owner of this place is already dead, but…)

Lessar thought to herself while glancing over at Mikoto who was operating the Semipublic AR.

(I don’t think the magician who created those decapitated corpses is just an outsider. I can accept that an outsider could have found the secret passageway, but this magician managed to open and close the door with the proper science side method. …There’s a good chance he or she had a connection from the beginning.)

In that case, what she had to focus on was…

(If this is where the secret data is stored, then some data on the magician connected to the higher ups of the shopping mall may remain. I have to use that information to pursue this magician.)

“…This is it.”

After battling with the piles of paper for a bit, Lessar pulled out a large envelope. Inside were a single photograph and a few sheets of copy paper. It was a background investigation carried out by a detective agency.

(The shopping mall most likely did its own investigation into how safe it was to join forces with this person.)

The photo and name were clear enough, but the rest was strange for the most part. There just was no consistency in the text. For example, one page listed the person as staying at one hotel and the next page listed a different hotel.

Lessar snickered.

The person may have been protected by a spell that allowed others to accept mismatched reports without finding it odd.

But the effects had worn off once the reports had been turned to digital data.

As a result, the report had displayed the mismatched information as mismatched and the shopping mall had deemed the person as possibly dangerous.

Not taking into account the alteration of information from analog to digital was a common mistake. But there were some things that were difficult to handle when it came to getting that close to the science side.

(…Her name is Caliche I Niknosh. Well, the name is a bit doubtful, but she failed with the photo. From the small ornaments and the traces left on the headless bodies, it’s clear she’s some failed member of the Russian Orthodox Church. But…)

As Lessar thought to herself, she glanced over at Mikoto.

The girl seemed to be quite something as far as Academy City was concerned, but that did not make it okay to carelessly have her take part in a magic side incident. Lessar was not someone whose job it was to keep the peace, but because she was not bound by any strict rules, she knew quite well how far one could slip from the proper path if one forgot those vague manners.

Caliche who had decapitated the higher ups was a good example of that.

“I have a suggestion.”

“Again?”

“Let’s split up,” Lessar said with a grin. “To be honest, searching through this ridiculous amount of data is more your kind of thing. I don’t feel like I can help all that much. Academy City will be in a serious pinch soon, so I think it would be better if I actually did something rather than sitting around here.”

“Well, I’d be glad if you could go help somehow, but do you have any actual ideas?”

“No, if I did, I would have told you about it.”

“…I see. Well, go patrol around or something then.”

“While I’m out, I think I’ll go eat some of the free samples at one of the grocery stores,” Lessar said offhand as she started to leave the room.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“If you find something, don’t go charging off on your own. Having done that before, I can tell you that it isn’t very much fun. If you find a clue, come back here first, okay?”

“…”

For an instant, Lessar had the expression of someone taken off guard.

But an instant later she had the same mischievous smile as usual.

“Understood.”

After that response, she left the room.

(What a pain. Is there anyone who can act solely out of self preservation after hearing that?)

Lessar sighed and thought about what she was about to do.

The names of a few of the major Russian magic cabals came to her mind. Mikoto was still continuing her science side investigation, but she would likely reach a dead end that way. From there on, Lessar had to take the front line. She mentally arranged what she had to do.

And of course, she would be using the methods of the magic side.

=== Part 4 ===

Lessar first headed for a grocery corner.

The riots had calmed down a bit, but the after effects could still be seen. A lot of the shelves were knocked over, the number of products was down significantly, and a lot of what was left had been trampled underfoot. Lessar did not see any workers. They had likely decided that their pay did not match the risks.

She wandered around a place that had once had shelves lined with herbs and spices. She crouched down and looked through the small bottles on the floor.

“Oh, sage and parsley…and here’s turmeric. Found sanshou and chili peppers, too. With these, I may be able to reduce my work.”

Lessar gathered up a few products and a thought came to her.

“How ironic. The side trying to keep everyone from rioting is now stealing to achieve their goal.”

However, Lessar showed no hesitation in taking the spices without paying.

That showed that she was not on the side that kept the peace.

Lessar did not stand back up. While still crouching down, she opened the bottles of spices. She then moved her arm in a large circle drawing a circle on the floor about the size of a manhole.

Just like in many other cultures, Norse women used plants. Highly dangerous magical plants as well as herbs and spices sold at normal stores could be used as magical tools by them. If you had the proper knowledge, magical materials could be gathered at a convenience store.

“Well, I’m sure that girl and her serious science brain (ha) would rationalize it as autosuggestion concerning folk remedies or something ridiculous like that.”

Lessar waved the tail that extended from within her miniskirt. She liked using spells based on Norse mythology that was purposefully distorted by Christianity. By using that demonic form, she could control phenomena that could not occur within standard Norse mythology.

As she thought through that, Lessar drew a few more shapes inside the circle of spices.

(This is a lot easier when you mix in Christianity. After all, I can just use the modern alphabet rather than having to translate every little thing into ancient runes. Each individual letter of the alphabet does not have complex meaning to it, so you can make a magic circle just by lining up the needed terms. You don’t have to worry about the symbols and meanings of different letters ending up in some strange conflict that stains them and causes the circle to fail.)

Lessar completed her occult magic circle and then placed her index finger on the edge of the circle.

Immediately afterwards, bluish-white flames appeared in the place her finger had touched. As if they were spreading across lines of oil, the flames spread across the complex magic circle. There was no change in Lessar’s expression. The end of her index finger was in the bluish-white flames, but it did not feel any heat.

“Now then.” Lessar stared into the center of the magic circle as if she were enjoying herself. “I’ve opened a point of contact to the outside, so how will she react?”

In the next instant, she removed her finger from the magic circle.

It was not because she finally started to feel the heat.

An ice knife appeared out of thin air stabbing into the center of the magic circle and sending the flames and spices flying in every direction.

It was a clearly defensive action.

If she had removed her finger even an instant later, her finger would have been lost along with the magic circle.

But Lessar’s smile only grew.

She held the smile of someone who had just seen a second 7 line up on a slot machine.

“Yes, that was your only choice!!” She slowly stood up. “After all, I was about to send a message to Russia’s five main magic cabals saying that a magician was taking actions within their turf. And your name and photo would have been transmitted along with the message!! You knew I could trace your location from it, but you still had to magically interfere!!”

Lessar unhesitatingly started running.

The spices had been blown away by the defensive action…or so it had looked. In reality, they were leading the way to the attacker’s location as if they were a line of iron sand caught in a line of magnetism.

(The trace was a success!! I’m sure the attacker noticed it, but while she is mixed in with the crowds is best. I can’t miss her at this distance!!)

Lessar ran through the grocery corner and charged into a back passageway through an open door for workers. An ice knife flew at her at high speed from around a corner in the twisting passageway, but Lessar evaded it by twisting her upper body.

The blade passed by only a few millimeters from her skin, but Lessar’s expression showed no fear.

Her personality focused on the positive more than the negative which was not an aspect that made her well-liked by her comrades such as Bayloupe and Lancis.

The positive in that situation was…

(She’s close.)

As Lessar poured strength into her legs, she ran through the narrow passageway.

(If not, she would not have panicked and tried to stop me like that!!)

After heading around the next corner, she saw the back of a fleeing woman.

It was Caliche I Niknosh.

(Bingo!! Suspicious people always do suspicious things!!)

She did not shout out anything stupid like “wait”.

That kind of warning more accurately meant, “wait if you don’t want to die”. It would have no effect on someone already in a kill or be killed position.

As such, Lessar drew as much oxygen into her lungs as she could and ran at full speed.

She almost felt like she could hear her footsteps coming from behind her.

The woman was about 30 to 50 meters ahead.

Assuming there was no humorous pitfall, Lessar would not lose her.

She heard a loud noise.

Lessar sensed that it was the sound of a door being thrown open and she stepped through it as if sneaking through the gap in the swaying door.

She was now outdoors.

The area seemed to be a business parking lot for the delivery of materials. The entire area was flat. Streetlights were lined up at even intervals. Other than that, there was nothing there. Caliche was already about to pass beyond the short trees surrounding the parking lot, but Lessar showed no sign of worry.

At some point, a spear-like object had appeared in her hand.

It was the Steel Glove.

Four blades were attached to the end of the weapon and it looked a bit like a grabber arm.

Lessar used those blade fingers to grab a small cloth bag. Inside the bag were the spices from before blended at a set ratio.

With the bag hanging from the end, Lessar used both hands to swing around the long narrow weapon above her head.

She was using what was likely humanity’s oldest projectile weapon which had been used to increase the strength beyond that of one’s own arm strength before the invention of the bow.

The oldest form would have had a string or belt put in a U-shape with a fist-sized rock inside that used centrifugal force to fire the rock. But in later times, simplification plus the use of leverage had developed it into a device similar to a lacrosse stick that was a cup attached to the end of a stick.

(Three times…no five times around should be enough…!!)

Lessar gradually lowered the axis of the rotation above her head until she was swinging it similarly to the hammer throw. Once she had the necessary amount of centrifugal force, she opened the four blades that held the spice bag.

The small bag flew in a high arc and headed for its target from above.

It flew more like a grenade than a bullet.

And its actual effects were more like a grenade as well.

Most likely, Caliche had noticed the projectile coming her way. As a few ice knifes appeared out of thin air, she had likely intended to shoot it down.

But it was too late.

Before the woman could do anything, the string holding the bag closed came undone, so the result would have been the same whether the bag was attacked or not.

With the slight sound of something bursting, the spices inside spread through the air. They floated around according to set laws and created a complex magic circle all at once.

Lessar then moved her thumb horizontally and spoke quietly.

“Fire of the right and water of the back, mix the colors of your directions with the wind.”

That was a means of using the Four Types power used by Golden-style cabals.

Following her thumb that had accurately indicated a direction without a compass, an invisible power swirled up.

“The wind of the back right that contrarily holds both the active and the passive becomes that which indicates calamity and a turning point!!”

Immediately afterwards, a flash of light exploded from the magic circle blossoming above Caliche’s head.

An explosive wind was created.

The power from above slammed the fleeing woman’s body to the ground, the short trees surrounding the parking lot cracked and broke, and sparks exploded from the pavement. The Semipublic AR on the surface was intended to have large trucks drive over it, but it had not been able to withstand Lessar’s attack.

“I hope you realize I am being merciful by calling out to you,” Lessar said as she rested the Steel Glove on her shoulder after grabbing a new cloth bag in its four blades.

She cut across the parking lot.

“I have used the center of Code EIC to investigate what you have been doing regarding the shopping mall. Now, how about you tell me why you have killed the higher ups and taken over their plan?”

“…”

Caliche writhed on the ground.

Her face was covered by her hair, but a faint smile could be seen on her lips.

Lessar felt a chill, but she did not have time to actually take action.

Just after a roar reached her ears, Lessar was crushed underneath a large man.

The man had fallen down from the sky and landed on top of Lessar’s small body.

It took a few seconds for her to realize that much.

The shock had shaken her head.

(Dammit…!! She wasn’t alone…!?)

The man was practically sitting on top of her, but he still was not quite balanced.

(What is going on!? Where did he come from!? We’re in the middle of an empty parking lot!!)

Lessar was about to shake the large man off to the side, but he raised his back and then swung down his rock-like forehead.

A dull noise exploded out from right next to her ear.

His head had fallen on the pavement nearby rather than on Lessar. He had struck down with his head hard enough that it would not have surprised her if the hard pavement had broken. When the man lifted his head, Lessar finally realized what he had been doing.

He was holding the handle of the Steel Glove in his mouth like a dog with a bone.

(Not good…)

Lessar then heard Caliche’s voice for the first time.

“Thanks, Ivan.”

She then called some other names.

“Sergei, Drag, Milly, Wengo, Marian, Sevche, Aria…everyone join in.”

(Shit!!)

Lessar threw the man off of her and immediately rolled to the side.

Multiple small explosive noises came from a distance.

(On the roof!!)

Lessar looked over toward the noise and saw the bottoms of multiple feet approaching her like missiles.

Most likely, they were detonating the air beneath their feet to jump the 20 meter horizontal distance from the building’s roof to where Lessar was. They softened their landing in the same manner, but it was nothing but an explosive attack to Lessar who was beneath them.

(Tch! Can I avoid all of them!?)

As Lessar rolled, a great number of legs fell down in a straight line following her almost like bullets fired from a machinegun.

She could not escape to safety just by rolling to the side.

However, the explosions of air they used to soften their landings ended up working to her advantage. With the help of the wind they caused, Lessar’s small body managed to gain more distance than she could have normally.

As a result, the final foot landed just next to Lessar’s face.

As if she were breakdancing, Lessar used the momentum of her roll to stand up.

She had managed to avoid her enemies’ attack, but she did not have time to breathe a sigh of relief.

(Including Caliche and that large man, there are about 10 of them. And they’ve taken my Steel Glove.)

She looked over just in time to see the large man named Ivan throw the Steel Glove aside.

The large parking lot was a good place for a group to gang up on her.

“Did you realize I was leading you here?” Caliche said as she slowly approached.

Lessar pulled two or three more cloth bags from within her jacket.

“…It doesn’t look you’re going to tell me your magic name.”

“I don’t need to.”

As she spoke, Caliche lightly waved something like a long narrow spike.

Lessar finally realized that it was a ball-point pen. However, it likely did not have normal ink inside. Given the spells she had used, it most likely had holy oil in it.

Rather than a personal modernization, it seemed to be a format used by the entire cabal. The other members had also turned ball-point pens or other writing implements into spiritual items with which to construct spells.

“So just die for now.”

“Did you hear that?”

For some reason, Lessar spoke leisurely.

Caliche frowned questioningly, but Lessar just ignored her and continued speaking.

“Yes, yes, that’s right. That’s more or less it. From the quality of their spiritual items, they probably have other members in hiding providing logistical support, but I guess this sums up their actual fighting force for now. Yes, yes…well, just get to it.”

Yes, she ignored the woman.

Lessar was acting as if she was utterly ignoring the person before her and was talking on a cell phone.

Just after Caliche had that thought, she felt a sense of danger.

“You don’t mean…!!”

“Too late.”

Lessar mockingly stuck out her tongue and…

With a roar, ''countless runes'' appeared and unnatural green lightning struck the entire area.

The lightning was overwhelmingly different from natural lightning that came straight down from above. The thick sparks flew in an arc from the horizon and continually rained down on the parking lot.

Caliche had sensed the danger, so she had immediately taken evasive actions, but the men and women around her could not keep up. Their bodies were hit one after another and they fell to their knees before completely collapsing to the ground.

“This is my normal role. I move quickly about and act as a scout. Once we have accurate information on the enemy’s location, Bayloupe sends a highly destructive barrage from a distance. If necessary, Lancis can prevent the enemy from evading effectively by using all sorts of status altering attacks over a wide area and Floris can use her wings to recover me from deep within the enemy lines.”

The green lightning was similar to a carpet bombing, so Lessar too had to evade the arcing sparks as she spoke to Caliche.

“But Bayloupe is really overdoing this. And I could probably manage in a fight against her as long as she doesn’t use that Gjallarhorn. It may have been the right decision not to have her provide covering fire against the rioters.”

“…You…”

Lessar and Caliche faced each other amid the dancing green flashes of light.

Caliche could not hide that she was shaken, but Lessar had a belligerent smile on her face.

“Let’s keep this simple just like the lawless magicians we are.”

“Yes,” Caliche responded as if she had gotten over something.

The green electricity rained down above her head, but she did not move.

She merely raised the ball-point pen filled with holy oil and the sparks scattered in every direction.

With an odd noise, a piece of parchment appeared out of thin air.

The scrap of paper flew away like an empty cartridge and Caliche spoke as she held the spiritual item in the air.

“Let’s simply take each other out.”

Both Lessar and Caliche headed forward at the same time.

The sounds of their footsteps exploded out and the two magicians clashed at extremely close range amid the countless dancing green flashes of light.

In Lessar’s hand was a grenade-like spice bag that could create many different magical reactions.

In Caliche’s hand was the ball-point pen filled with holy oil that could freely create ice blades.

Caliche’s ice knife was faster when it came to the speed of creating a single attack.

A parchment flew up into the air like an empty cartridge and many different blades appeared.

“…!!”

Lessar avoided the knives coming for her throat just by moving her upper body and threw the cloth bag forward as she evaded.

She chanted a spell even though she would be affected as well.

“Earth of the left and water of the back, mix the colors of your directions with the wind. The wind of the back left which also indicates the passive becomes that which indicates peace and stagnation!!”

An explosive sound rang out.

However, it was different from the explosion using the sling from before. An impact something like being hit in the face by a solid airbag struck both Lessar and Caliche.

However, knowing the impact was coming or not changed how quickly each of them could take their next action.

Lessar was already moving her lips.

“Exorcism.”

She stepped further forward.

“The wind of the back left shall quickly disperse. It shall distance itself from the peace and stagnation of the wind of the back left and instead call in calamity and a turning point!!”

She struck her clenched fist forward.

It looked less like Lessar’s small body’s strength was bringing her forward and more like her and Caliche’s bodies were being drawn together by powerful magnetism.

Of course, Caliche had no way to avoid if they were being drawn in towards each other.

However…

“Too slow.”

Along with Caliche’s words, an upside down guillotine blade appeared on the ground.

The blade was about the size of a drawing board and it blocked the path of Lessar’s fist like a metal shutter.

As a clanging noise rang out, another parchment flew through the air.

Lessar pulled out another cloth bag and threw it forward underhanded. She was so close to her enemy that it flew back behind Caliche, but Lessar moved her lips regardless.

“Fire of the right and water of the back, mix the colors of your directions with the wind. The wind of the back right that contrarily holds both the active and the passive becomes that which indicates calamity and a turning point!!”

That time, a light exploded out and an explosive wind was created.

Caliche must have feared being drawn in towards Lessar by the explosion behind her because she twisted her body to the right to escape it.

But that was not Lessar’s aim.

She was after the parchment that was ejected like an empty cartridge after Caliche activated a spell.

The parchment was blown through the air by the wind and Lessar grabbed it between her index finger and middle finger.

“I was right. It’s Ex Voto. It’s a method of more easily causing miracles by communicating your request to the Son of God via a third party such as one of the patron saints throughout history. Using parchment rather than an object is very like a Russian-style cabal. Were you trying to have it correspond to an icon?”

“…!!”

A giant rotating blade like what would be used to cut lumber appeared on the ground.

But Lessar ignored it and continued speaking.

“With Ex Voto, as proof that the prayer by proxy was carried out, the ceremony is ended when an offering related to the prayer is brought to the altar of the patron saint. For example, it could be a text indicating the contents of the prayer carried out. However…” Lessar brought her index finger in near the approaching rotating blade. “It would be simple to determine the method of cancelling the spell once you have that text, don’t you think?”

With a clear noise, the rotating blade shattered.

Lessar did not even give the woman time to be surprised.

She charged through the fragments of ice that glittered like certain types of decorations and headed in close to Caliche.

She held a cloth bag in her hand.

“Fire of the right and wind of the front, mix the colors of your directions with the wind. The wind of the front right which also indicates the active becomes that which indicates attack and change!!”

Caliche knew she could not make it in time.

It would explode before her eyes.

However, she still produced an ice knife from thin air despite knowing it would be futile.

And then…

“Exorcism.”

Lessar continued speaking.

“The wind of the front right shall quickly disperse. It shall distance itself from the attack and change of the wind of the front right and instead indicate defense and immutability!!”

By the time Caliche realized what had happened, it was already over.

The ice knife she had created with her own spell did not stab into Lessar. Instead, it shattered and the many pieces stabbed into Caliche’s own upper body.

The symbol of defense and immutability.

It was as if the knife had been reflected.

=== Part 5 ===

Mikoto investigated the data in that storage area.

She was trying to find the details and locations of the as yet unseen higher ups controlling the plan.

The shopping mall was trying to drop a nuclear bomb on Academy City using old fighters, but Lessar predicted that the higher ups held the detonation code for the Solntse in order to prevent the pilots from betraying them.

Mikoto more or less agreed.

In order to stop the Solntse from detonating, they had to find the higher ups and prevent the detonation code from being entered before the bomb was dropped.

However…

“…I can’t find anything,” Mikoto finally muttered while looking at her PDA’s screen.

She had found the name of the person with the highest level of responsibility according to the documents, but from what she could find, that person was only for show and had little to do with the actual work. It was possible that person was completely unaware of the shopping mall’s darkness.

But given that those controlling the shopping mall from the shadows truly did exist, that result was suspicious. They must have worked to leave absolutely no trace because there was absolutely no sign of them. They were of course not in any register of names and nothing that appeared to be their names were listed in any of the documents.

Mikoto looked at the ID card with the highest authority that Lessar had given her.

At the very least, the person who had worn that card around their neck had to exist, but the data made even his existence seem doubtful.

(…I can see why Setali truly felt there were no evil higher ups.)

But one thing was for sure.

The plan that had brought a Solntse into Academy City and that was about to drop one of those hydrogen bombs on the city with an old fighter was still continuing.

If she did not find those higher ups as soon as possible, that plan would be carried out.

With that in mind, Mikoto continued searching through the stored data, but she did not find anything.

Just as she was about to sigh, her fingertips suddenly stopped.

It was not related to the higher ups, but she had found some data that interested her.

“This is…?”

(…Data on the secondary plan…)

The large computer at the center of Code EIC had only had data on the primary plan to bring a Solntse into Academy City and detonate it on a timer. There had not even been a file on the secondary plan that would be carried out if the primary one failed.

She had now found a description of that secondary plan.

(I’m sure the secondary plan is just the plan to drop a Solntse from a modified MIG-21, but…)

If Mikoto were to read through the detailed description by the shopping mall, she might find some useful data she did not know yet. If she found information on the flight path or time for the modified MIG-21s, it would be easier to intercept them.

Mikoto opened the file with that in mind, but…

“Eh…?”

She forgot to breathe for an instant.

Mikoto repeated herself while still looking at the PDA.

“Eh…?”

=== Part 6 ===

Multiple contrails passed by over Shirai Kuroko’s head.

They were likely from cutting edge fighters scrambling from District 23. It was not just 2 or 3 of them. She could tell that over 10 fighters had flown by above her.

They must have been cutting across Academy City while raising their altitude because the noise was quite loud even for Shirai who was on the ground.

(I wonder what official reason was given for those heading out of the city…)

She doubted they could completely disappear from the radar. And even if they could, it would be difficult to play ignorant if people on the surface saw them. She guessed Academy City was preparing some kind of official announcement.

But she did not have time to be surprised by that.

If the information from Mikoto was correct, at least one modified MIG-21 with the ability to carry a nuclear weapon was heading their way over the Sea of Japan. They could not allow something ridiculous like a hydrogen bomb to be dropped on Academy City.

At first Anti-Skill had been skeptical of what Shirai was saying, but their atmosphere had completely changed. After all, the terrorists using ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles had turned out to actually have a hydrogen bomb.

Since Anti-Skill had taken command of the investigation, Shirai was not able to step past the yellow tape cutting off the path inside.

From outside, she spoke to the powered suits inside.

“Is the recovered uranium ornament…is the hydrogen bomb safe now?”

“Luckily, the level of danger was much lower than it could have been since it was obtained before the timer was activated. However, completely cutting off the circuit will be difficult. The nuclear technicians and bomb squad have to work carefully together to do so safely.”

There was a 20 or 30 year gap between the technology inside and outside Academy City. Normally, the city would have had the advantage when it came to tech, but working on a hydrogen bomb still made them work cautiously.

Also, Academy City did not defuse bombs by cutting colorful cords with wire cutters like in movies and dramas. They would use special chemicals to cause a chemical reaction that turned the explosive into a material that would not explode or they would throw it into the back of a special truck with armor on the level of a tank and completely detonate it within. The work done in those cases was usually done by a remote controlled robot with a manipulating arm.

However, that changed when it came to a hydrogen bomb.

That kind of bomb could not be safely detonated.

“The more destructive and more dangerous the bomb, the more we have to rely on old methods. …How ironic.”

“But at least we don’t have to carry out the work with the timer counting down like in a movie.”

The Anti-Skill officers in powered suits looked up at the remaining traces of the contrails in the sky.

“…But that’s the real problem right now. A modified MIG-21 could drop a hydrogen bomb on us at any time.”

Shirai felt the same way.

“I know the threat is approaching, but there is nothing I can do… Really, this is not good to my stomach.”

=== Part 7 ===

The ice knife shattered before Lessar’s eyes.

The countless sparkling shards of ice struck Caliche’s upper body almost like a shotgun blast.

Caliche’s body was blown a few meters away while blood sprayed about.

“Well, I guess that about settles this.”

Lessar looked around the area and it seemed Caliche’s comrades were mostly collapsed and unable to move due to the green lightning attacks. It would have been a problem if one of them was faking it, but it did not seem that any of them had had the strength to spare needed to calculate out that far.

Lessar walked over as if dragging her exhausted body along and picked up her Steel Glove. She then turned toward Caliche who was collapsed face down on the ground.

Paying no heed to the woman’s bleeding, Lessar forcibly flipped her face up.

She crouched down and stared at the woman’s face.

“Even if you remain silent, I have ways of ‘looking inside’, so there’s no point in being stubborn.”

“…”

“Why did you kill the higher ups of the shopping mall and take over their plan? Do you have the detonation code for the nuke?”

“Our spiritual items…” Caliche moved her bloody lips, but she was not responding to Lessar’s questions. “From the number and details of our spiritual items, you realized that we had people in hiding providing logistical support in addition to the direct battle unit…”

“What…?”

“If you knew that much, why didn’t you realize it? Why didn’t you realize that leaving the ones who specialize in spiritual work and construction was much more dangerous than letting the battle unit remain active?”

Lessar’s breath caught in her throat.

At almost the exact same time, a giant mass of constructions broke through the wall of the large business facility and into the parking lot.

“Chehh…”

Lessar slowly stood up from her crouching position as she saw the giant silhouette through the dust that had been blown into the air.

What she saw was difficult to describe.

It was something like giant wheels. They were basically made of a white stone like marble and the outer edge that contacted the ground was reinforced with a gold-colored metal.

The small ones had a radius of 3 meters and the large ones had a radius of 15 meters.

The wheels were not simple ones. Instead, they were made of different sized wheels on top of each other like the gear of a mountain bike.

The large and small wheels fit into each other like gears connecting them together like a giant snake.

While making creaking noises, the giant wheel snake slowly bent its large form. It was as if it were setting its aim on Lessar.

If that giant form came at her, she would be crushed thinner than a piece of paper.

“Oh, come on, really? It feels like Telesma has been forcibly gathered together.”

“We originally set that up as insurance.” Without getting up, Caliche moved just her head to look over and smile at Lessar. “We would use it if the shopping mall decided not to give us our reward. The situation got out of hand and we lost our chance to use it, but it looks like it has come in handy after all.”

The giant form that appeared through the curtain of dust was easily over 70 meters long. It was likely a weapon designed to crush things with its weight.

Even though the shopping mall was huge, it did not have the space needed to hide a weapon that large. Either a magic circle to call it in from afar had been cleverly hidden or only the necessary things had been gathered so that the other parts could be gathered together automatically.

The weapon could likely cause quite a bit of damage just by freely running around and making random U-turns, but Caliche would not have called it in for just that.

It was best to assume it had some kind of magical power added in.

“Don’t tell me that thing’s for sale too,” Lessar said sarcastically, but Caliche did not respond.

When she did open her mouth to speak, it was on a completely different subject.

“It isn’t us.”

“?”

“We have no interest in oranges or nuclear materials. …Code EIC is a purely scientific product. However, the science side is not enough to investigate how it affects the human mind. For that reason, they contacted us in secret asking us to observe the people’s minds from the occult point of view. We were signed onto the project as just one of many sensors.”

“…”

“In exchange, we were going to use Code EIC’s improvements on the human mind from a group psychology point of view for ourselves, but that promise was broken. To repay them for that, we killed the higher ups and then tried to get our hands on Code EIC once more.”

Caliche was speaking as if she was not even looking at Lessar who stood before her.

It was possible that her consciousness was fading due to her blood loss.

It was true that Code EIC could be quite useful from a religious point of view. Using uncertain information such as rumors and urban legends, one could isolate a single group and freely regulate the merits of people within that community.
One could create a headquarters, a leader, or a natural enemy just as one wanted.

It was the same as raising or lowering the values of products.

Some people within the community would appear to be bright and shining and others would appear stagnant, dark, and fallen into the shadows.

In truth, the goal Code EIC had been created for could be called a financial religion.

Just by changing out what was at the center of it all completely changed the community.

And it could be changed to be like the world that Lessar and Caliche lived in.

“But ''it isn’t us'',” Caliche said with an odd firmness to her voice despite her condition. “''Someone is continuing the plan and detonating the Solntse, but it isn’t us''.”

“What…?”

Lessar turned her attention more to Caliche than to the giant weapon made of a great number of wheels. The woman was merely smiling. She would likely not say anything more even if Lessar pressed her for more information. In fact, doing so could even lead the woman to finally dying of blood loss where she would just continue smiling as a corpse.

And most importantly, the giant enemy that had appeared from the shopping mall was not going to let her take her time questioning the woman.

“Not good, not good.”

While using her magical communications to order an additional bombardment from Bayloupe, Lessar held out her Steel Glove.

“This is not time to be worrying about stopping a nuclear explosion that doesn’t especially concern me.”

=== Part 8 ===

Despite being covered in bandages, the security guard Enirya G. Algonskaya was still continuing her work.

“So the riots are spreading through the central business facility more than the hotels and airport. The number of people trying to take advantage of the chaos is increasing…”

Enirya thought as she checked on the situation using the Semipublic AR.

The rioting had begun on the pretext of protecting the peace by eliminating the dangerous person from Academy City who was trying to detonate a hydrogen bomb, but that surface reason was beginning to crumble.

However, that also meant that the rioters were regaining their ability to think rationally. If the situation reached the point where they could shake them mentally using verbal warnings rather than having to resort to force, the situation could be resolved more easily, but…

Suddenly, one of her colleagues who was similarly injured called out to her.

“I have a report.”

“Not much is going to surprise me after all this.”

“A giant 70 meter construction has been spotted within the grounds of the business facility. It appears to be moving about while destroying the building.”

“What!? What does it look like!?”

Enirya snapped at her colleague, but he did not seem to have a good grasp on the situation himself.

Enirya let out a groan as she received the explanation that it was a mysterious construction that could possibly be a weapon or a vehicle and that looked like a collection of many giant wheels.

“…Are the higher ups trying to literally crush the rioting using some secret weapon of a road roller or something?”

“The details are unknown, but it seems to be having the effect of putting a stop to the rioting in various places. It seems the people’s thoughts are changing from joining in a dangerous situation to watching a situation they do not understand.”

Suddenly, a new piece of information appeared on the Semipublic AR Enirya was looking at. She frowned and set the screen at a level where her colleague could see it.

“It seems the use of martial law has been approved.”

“The approval of the higher ups is needed for that.”

That was indeed their chance to put an end to the rioting. If martial law was declared while the rioters were focused on the giant construction, they could cut the rioters off from each other by cutting off the flow of information. After that, they could crush the riots individually until enough of the rioters had been defeated that the rioting could not continue.

Her colleague looked relieved.

“We lost track of where they were during the riots, but it seems they’re okay. And they are still powerful enough to take the actions necessary to bring functionality back to the city.”

But…

“Wait a second,” Enirya said cutting him off. “Don’t over half of the higher ups have to give their electronic signatures to enact special orders such as declaring martial law or imposing a gag order?”

“Y-yes. What of it?”

“For security reasons, those electronic signatures are only valid if they are carried out through the devices in the manager’s room. And with the higher ups missing, they of course are not in that room.” Enirya paused for a second before continuing. “Who made those electronic signatures and from where?”

“C-could it just be because we are in a state of emergency? I don’t know where the higher ups have evacuated to, but as long as they are all gathered in one place, they could still enact one of those special orders without going through the manager’s room.”

“That isn’t the issue. Even if it was the higher ups that did this, they can’t just ignore the security issue. Even if they are secured in some kind of shelter, they would not be able to send out electronic signatures at this level.”

“Then…”

“Once again, there is some system we are unaware of,” Enirya said as if she had given up on something. “But if so, we have no proof that these electronic signatures actually came from the higher ups. In order to accurately judge the situation, we need to find out who made these electronic signatures.”

“…”

“We will thoroughly investigate this.” Enirya pointed at the wall with the window displayed on it. “We will find out who made these and where they were sent from.”

=== Part 9 ===

The giant wheel snake broke through the wall of the shopping mall and appeared outside.

However, part of Lessar was still optimistic.

The giant wheel snake was indeed a dynamic weapon with a focus on destruction, but it had likely been prepared to destroy the entire landscape of an enemy base rather than an individual magician.

That was why Lessar had a chance of winning. If the destruction was the broad wide scale type, then there would be gaps through which she could slip. The giant wheel snake was constructed out of giant circles. When a ball was put inside a box it just barely fit inside, there would be gaps in the corners. If Lessar continually moved about aiming for those areas, she could avoid the enemy’s attacks.

Or so it should have been.

Lessar suddenly noticed that the rubble made of broken building materials was being sucked in towards the surface of the giant wheels.

It was not just a collection of giant wheels. It was a giant spiritual item that had been created by a magic cabal.

Lessar had forgotten that simple fact, so she was caught off guard.

Immediately afterwards, the countless large and small wheels plowed toward Lessar with a loud grinding roar.

The road surface broke under its weight and the remains were sucked in and utterly crushed at the point where the wheels met. Lessar’s small body would soon meet the same fate.

When that giant form broke into the parking lot, Lessar was already gone.

The giant wheels chewed through everything in its way.

She could not fix her gaze on anything.

She could not feel gravity or the ground on her legs that dangled down below.

Even the flow of her blood was unstable, so she had lost the ability to think properly.

Amid all that, Lessar blinked.

“…Huh? Why am I being embraced by Floris?”

“Because I saved you,” answered Floris, a girl who also worked at Nihon Daruma.

Just like Lessar had a tail stretching out from her miniskirt, Floris had small wing-like decorations attached to her shoulders. Those decorations currently had even bigger wings of light extending from them and she was flying at high speed just off the ground. Just when she occasionally needed to adjust her direction, she would lightly kick off the ground.

They cut between buildings and flew right past the trees lining the roads, but Lessar felt no fear. Just like when riding a bus or train, the acrobatics of the driver did not feel real as a passenger.

In fact, her focus was mostly on the giant wheel snake that was chasing after them and crushing the trees and street lights before sucking them up between the wheels where they were further crushed.

Floris spoke as she worked to keep her flight stable.

“But what is that thing? It looks like a weapon that crushes things with its weight and size alone. Is it used to suppress an enemy base by crushing absolutely everything flat?”

“If it is…ew. Caliche and the others must have been squished as flat as a newspaper by their own spiritual item.”

“Wouldn’t it be set to not crush its allies? For example, it could be set to not put any weight on its allies.”

“What do you think the base of the spell is?”

“I’ve only seen it from afar, but it seems to be different from the patron saint types they’ve used so far. Those Telesma wheels probably have their foundation in the Ophanim.”

“But the quality of the power used seems to be of Michael. For some reason, he is recorded as being both an archangel and a patron saint, right?”

“They have forced power into a spiritual item that has its symbols skewed. It sounds like they would lose quite a bit of power constructing it that way.”

“I’m pretty sure there was some story related to Michael that had to do with chains. Something about linking circles together.”

“You mean binding the highest class of fallen angel for 1000 years? Hmm, now that you mention it, the absorption of the rubble might be related to that. And the lack of damage to allies could be added on by an expanded interpretation of the fact that the chains that bind evil do not bind believers.”

“So what do we do now?” Lessar looked back behind them while Floris still held onto her. “That thing’s a weapon that just crushes things under its giant form, so it will likely pursue us to the end. Given its speed and destructive power, you may not be able to lose it with just your wings.”

“Of course, I’ll be turning back partway through.” Floris responded arbitrarily. “But it doesn’t look like it’s going to just wait around.”

“?”

Lessar did not even have time to look confused.

The giant wheel snake crashed through a nearby wall and charged toward Lessar and Floris. Their opponent ignored the layout of the roads and just plowed straight through buildings to get at them.

“Eh? You’re kidding!! That thing moves similarly to a collection of gears. With that much rubble in there, it should grind to a halt like getting some cloth caught between the gears!!”

“Well, it is part of the occult.”

“I guess there’s no complaining about it then.”

Arcs of green lightning appeared from afar and attacked the giant wheel snake, but Lessar doubted they would have much effect. With a tail of sparks following it, the giant construction pressed on toward Lessar and Floris.

It started making continuous hard crunching noises.

The construction of the giant wheel snake was changing. Like the gear of a bicycle changing, it changed its pattern to one more effective for chasing the two girls.

“Have you found its weakness yet!?”

“I’ve probably come up with about the same thing you have.”

Floris turned sharply and flew through the streets while darting through the gaps in the rubble the countless wheels had created. Lessar turned her focus back to the giant wheel snake that continued following them while crushing the buildings and trees.

More accurately, she focused on the points where the giant wheels met.

“When it swallows up pieces of rubble that are too large and when it changes the arrangement of the gears, the wheels temporarily ignore gravity and distance themselves from each other. Of course, a mystical power is needed to cause such mystical phenomena. In this case, it’s Telesma.”

“Right.”

“If we time it carefully and interfere at that moment, the normal rearrangement pattern will fail and something terrible could happen. A huge amount of power is needed to move something that huge, so having that power go out of control will create plenty of destructive power on its own.”

“Right, right.” Floris raised the output of her wings of light. “But the main problem is that those are not the same as simple wheels or gears. To make them grind to a halt, we need analyze what magical symbols those wheels use and what process they use to rearrange.”

“There are two ways to do that,” Lessar suggested while moving her fingers. “The first is to continue letting it attack us like this. If you’re skillful enough to avoid all of its attacks, I can carry out the analysis slowly but surely. But it doesn’t look like you have the mobility to spare to do that and the plan to drop of a nuke on Academy City is still ongoing. It wouldn’t be good to stretch this out unnecessarily.”

“What’s the second?”

“That is of course to get on it directly to get near the ridiculously huge wheels.”

Floris fell silent upon hearing that.

She finally opened her mouth to speak while continuing to quickly fly at low altitude.

“…Do you understand what you’re saying?”

“Of course. Only our scouting specialist—that’s me—can carry out the analysis of that spiritual item. You couldn’t do it, Floris.”

“If I let go now, you’ll be upside down. Even if you do land on top of the pursuing giant wheel snake, your feet will get caught in the wheels’ absorption and you’ll be thrown upside down into the gap between the wheels.”

“The axis of the wheels is not rotating. Only the wheel around it is rotating at high speed. If I can pinpoint my landing on that, I won’t get caught up in it.”

“Do you see how fast it’s moving? Don’t you think you’ll be thrown off by inertia if it makes a sharp turn?”

“If I can get close enough, the actual analysis won’t take much time at all. If I can analyze what magical symbols are used in the regulation of the intervals before getting thrown off, you and the others can defeat that giant snake.”

“If you fail at any point in that, you’ll die!! And all the data going into that plan is just speculation! If any of your assumptions are wrong, you’ll be jumping into a complete dead end!!”

“Floris,” Lessar slowly interrupted. “We have an objective here, right?”

“…”

“That objective is not to die here. And even if I do die, we need to avoid utter destruction. Do you understand? Analyzing those magical symbols is necessary to defeat that thing, only I can carry that analysis out, and I have to get close enough to touch those wheels to do so. That’s just the situation we’re in here.”

“God damn it.”

“If you understand, then let go of me on the count of three. Okay. Three, two, one…”

There was no hesitation in Lessar’s voice.

And realistically, there was no other way.

As Floris continued to fly at low altitude, she kicked strongly off the ground once which sent her flying up about 10 meters into the sky. And then she let go of Lessar.

=== Part 10 ===

Her cell phone would not connect.

Mikoto squeezed the plastic body with enough force to almost crush it, but she still could not connect.

At first, she had thought it was because the storage area was surrounded with thick walls and she had left the room, but it would not connect no matter where she went.

The city’s communications facilities may have been taken out due to the riots or the communications network may have been intentionally cut off.

It did not matter as long as she could not contact Shirai Kuroko or someone else in Academy City.

With the secondary plan being carried out, whether she could contact them or not was literally a matter of life or death.

(Ahh, dammit!! First, I need to figure out how far the communications are cut off. At this rate, the Solntse could still be detonated!!)

That was when her cell phone suddenly started to ring.

(Why…? No, maybe it’s still working within the city.)

An unfamiliar number was displayed on the screen, but she did not particularly care.

She answered the phone.

“Hi there. If I told you it’s been a while, can you figure out who this is?”

“Oh, lovely. So bank transfer scams are popular outside of Japan, too.”

“This is the happy and embarrassed Lancis. We got naked together in a back alley and changed into swimsuits.”

“…Wow. You’ve taken the memory I want to recall the least and set is as the thumbnail. And why do you know my number?”

“Do you know how much information can be taken from a cell phone that’s in wallet mode?”

Mikoto just about yelled out, “Just tell me where you really got my number!!”, but she resisted.

“Okay, what do you want? Oh, and I need to ask: can you connect outside the city with your cell phone? There’s something wrong with the signal and I can’t get a connection.”

“I haven’t tried, so I don’t know. And I didn’t call you to discuss the number of antennae.”

“?”

“Well, y’see…”

“Hey, why are you suddenly just trailing off like that?”

“This is difficult to say, but Lessar…”

=== Part 11 ===

Her feet slipped.

It was almost a miracle that Lessar managed to land on the nonrotating axis without getting crushed by the giant wheel.

And once she landed, the rest would not take long.

It was true that the weapon was quite powerful and getting caught up in it just once would likely give her wounds she would never recover from.

However, that also meant a lot of effort had to go into controlling it. They would likely have decided to make the magical symbols as pronounced, clear, and easy to understand as possible.

Once she got near, she could quickly analyze it.

And after that, it would not be difficult to destroy the giant wheel snake.

Suddenly, she felt a dull vibration. She felt it coming from her legs, so Lessar looked down at her feet, but she quickly realized that she was wrong.

The entire giant wheel snake was shaking greatly.

As the wheels rearranged, the giant structure’s entire silhouette changed from the straight “snake” to something more triangular.

But just like a bicycle’s gear, the wheels were not in a completely straight line. Instead, they shifted slightly to the side with each connection.

The giant construction almost seemed to be trying to scrape off and crush a bit of “dirt” from its side.

If the “top” of the triangle above her head came straight down, it would definitely hit Lessar where she stood on top of the axis.

Lessar’s throat quickly grew dry.

Her thought processes reached a point where she could think of nothing but life or death.

At that time, she had two options.

First, she could jump away as quickly as possible and run as far away as she could in order to avoid being hit by the wheel being swung down. However, the giant wheel snake could make a quick U-turn at any time. She doubted she could escape on foot and there was no guarantee that Floris would be able to pick her up.

Second, she could carry out the analysis of the magical symbols of the wheels knowing she could end up being hit by the attack. However, even if she completed the analysis, she still had to put together a spell to stop the movements of the wheels, so her odds of success were quite low.

And the option she chose was…

“Yeah,” she said with a small smile.

The slight bit of fear on her face disappeared.

“If I’m likely to get killed either way, I have to choose the one that won’t leave me with a guilty conscience!!”

She yelled out.

She stepped forward.

She stretched out her hand.

She placed her palm just barely off of the side of the quickly rotating wheel and recited something under her breath.

Lessar cast aside the option of jumping off the axle and focused all her energy on analyzing the magical symbols.

She felt as if she had grasped something.

But in that time, the giant wheel snake that had become triangular continued down straight above her head. It moved slowly but accurately down and it was more like a circular saw used to slice lumber than it was a blunt weapon.

It gave a strong impression of death.

Lessar could almost see the countdown until it hit.

Even so, she continued fighting to find a means of defeating the giant wheel snake down to the very end.

And…

With an explosive noise, the entire surface shook.

The huge body of the giant wheel snake trembled.

Its already bent silhouette became even more twisted.

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS2_07_027.jpg|thumb]]

However, that twisting had not been carried out by the giant wheel snake’s own power.

It had been done by an external force.

It had been forcibly twisted by the “other power” that stood opposed to magic.

In other words…

It had been Tokiwadai Middle School’s Railgun.

Lessar heard the explosion after a slight delay.

The giant mass of wheels had been greatly twisted to the side, but it still managed to force itself down toward Lessar.

However, the line of wheels that had been twisted by the Railgun was too far out to hit Lessar. The external force had caused it to miss its initial attack point.

And…

Whether it hit or missed, once it attacked, it lost time until it could attack again. In order to rearrange the many wheels and attack Lessar again, it would have to create a slight opening.

(This will work. I’ve read the contents of their spiritual item!!)

“Bayloupe, Floris, Lancis, I need assistance!! It is indeed related to Michael! It uses the property of bringing balance to the world via military force to constantly give stability, preservation, and regulation to the space between the wheels!!”

In that case, the conditions to create an explosion were simple.

Just like all the other angels, Michael could not be destroyed or brought into disorder. What was considered “stable” for any circumstances had already been inputted into him, so he would take the optimal action and bring about the optimal result. But Lessar and the others were not being threatened by Michael himself. It was nothing more than energy.

What was considered “stable” had been conveniently overwritten by the magic user who had brought in the Telesma.

That meant they could easily make the giant wheel snake self destruct by interfering with that point and destructively overwriting the conditions for that stability.

The giant wheel snake tried to rearrange its wheels to change its shape and destroy Lessar.

Lessar did not overlook that.

It was her only chance.

“The archangel and patron saint that is St. Michael holds the chains and the key. The chains bind the highest class of fallen angels and the key seals the pit into which the king of demons is cast so that 1000 years of stability may occur.” She recited a spell. “But now that key is to be reconfirmed!! Can the key truly seal the pit? Is it enough to seal the king of demons? Is it appropriate to bring about 1000 years of stability!? Recalculate the necessary outputs needed to match those conditions!!”

The phenomenon that occurred then was quite simple.

Destruction occurred.

The giant wheels fell and completely shattered the rubble and road surface below.

Normally, everything would have been swallowed up and crushed. Nothing in the area would have remained. Not the buildings, not the trees, not anything.

But a moment before, Lessar had rewritten the conditions. The stability between the wheels had been lost and the countless wheels both large and small had scattered. Some collapsed to the side like a coin on its side falling over and some continued rolling and slammed into the wall of a building.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh…”

Lessar jumped down to the ground from the axle. It was only about 5 meters up. An amateur would probably break some bones at that height, but a trained stuntman could jump down that far without any cushions.

The road surface there should have been made into part of the Semipublic AR, but it had not been able to withstand the weight that had been put on it. Sparks flew from various areas and it showed no sign of functioning.

When she landed, Lessar saw Mikoto striking a daunting pose with her hands on her hips.

Lessar had a bad feeling about what was to come.

“I thought I told you not to go running off on your own.”

“Yeah, well…”

That vague response caused sparks to fly her way.

=== Part 12 ===

“It seems heading after the higher ups of the shopping mall was in vain. The…um…outside group that was controlling that giant wheel snake seems to have been involved as well, but they said they are not the ones who have taken control of the attack plan to use the Solntse in Academy City either. In other words…” said Lessar.

She hid the fact that the higher ups of the shopping mall had all been turned to headless corpses, but she still managed to more or less get the situation across.

“There’s still someone else who has taken control of the plan?”

“Correct.”

Mikoto held her head in her hands.

Given what she had found out about the secondary plan in the storage room, the situation was not looking good.

“By the way, what is this about the secondary plan? Is it not a plan to drop a Solntse from a modified MIG-21 after all?”

“No, it isn’t. It turns out…”

=== Part 13 ===

A number of explosive noises rang out above the Sea of Japan.

The modified MIG-21s were loaded with chaff and flairs, but there was simply a limit to what they could do. The cutting edge fighters prepared by Academy City were more than two generations more advanced. And the difference in numbers was simply too great.

It was impossible to fly such that the more advanced fighters did not get on their tail.

There was no way to escape a lock.

Once a missile was fired, it was all over.

Even while taking special actions like quick rotations and using deceptive actions such as using chaff and flares, they could not continue to avoid the explosives forever while they approached with sharp angles.

“Klyuch Samolyot to Nochi Samolyot!! That’s enough!! Eject right now. Smoke is coming from your main wing where it was hit. If you stick with this any longer, you’ll just get caught up in the explosion!!”

“Nochi Samolyot to all crafts!! Not yet! As long as we aren’t all taken out, we win!! I’ll draw the enemy crafts to me!! While I do…!!”

The ocean was just too vast.

Academy City was just too far away.

The pilot of Klyuch Samolyot looked at a gauge in the cockpit with a burning feeling in his stomach.

Just a bit more.

The time was coming.

No matter how erratically he flew or even if he loop-the-looped, his cold sweating would not stop. He was being surrounded from all sides. He would not last long. Those were his simple feelings. He was of course outnumbered and outclassed, but his modified MIG-21 also had a giant weight hanging down from it. It was impossible to take part in a dogfight like that.

Machinegun fire started coming from one of the cutting edge fighters on his tail and a line of tracer bullets approached. Shortly thereafter, the unpleasant sound of metal being torn reverberated through the fighter.

“Shit!! My right aileron was taken out!!”

With that destroyed, he could no longer tilt the craft. Simply put, it was like having the steering wheel no longer work. And it was clear he would be shot down in no time now that another penalty had been added on in that already difficult situation.

But the pilot of Klyuch Samolyot smiled upon seeing what one of the gauges said.

They had won.

“Klyuch Samolyot to all crafts.”

With that, they had won.

“The time has come. There is no need to stick with this any longer! Let’s end this quickly!!”

After yelling that, the pilot of Klyuch Samolyot yanked on a lever which activated the ejection device. Tiny explosives detached the clear windshield covering the cockpit and it blew away as if it had slid back. Immediately afterwards, the seat and the pilot in it were ejected.

Prisluga Samolyot and Nochi Samolyot’s pilots also ejected from their old fighters and their parachutes opened.

“What?” said a bewildered Academy City pilot. “They just abandoned their hydrogen bomb. That was their last hope and their trump card. I doubt they can swim back to Russia once they fall in the ocean. They’ll just end up being recovered by one of our ships. It’s like they want to be captured.”

“…Look, dammit. There’s a submarine coming up to the surface. They were planning to recover the pilots here from the beginning.”

“Should we sink it?”

“We only expected this to be a dogfight. We don’t have any torpedoes.”

Meanwhile, the pilots that had fallen into the ocean were recovered.

One of the Academy City pilots clicked his tongue at the submarine that started to submerge.

“I guess we should be rejoicing that they gave up their hydrogen bomb. Contact the salvage ship and have them begin the recovery operation for the dropped hydrogen bomb as planned. Now that we know the enemy has a sub, you should tell them to make sure to sweep the sea for mines.”

The Academy City pilot took one last stubborn sweep over the area where the submarine had submerged.

“So in the end, what were they after?”

=== Part 14 ===

“Please tell me this is a joke…” Lessar said while peering over at the PDA Mikoto was holding.

However, it was the truth.

It displayed the details of the secondary plan which was to come into effect upon the failure of the primary plan of using a timer to detonate the Solntse hydrogen bomb that had been brought into Academy City.

It said:

''We can only prepare a single Solntse which is being used as the uranium ornament. As such, it is necessary to put together this plan so that our single shot is used to its fullest.

''In the secondary plan, three MIG-21s modified to carry nuclear weapons will be sent out as a diversion. They will be holding dummy bombs the same size as a Solntse. Those three will draw the attention of the air defense network, so they will not notice what we are truly after.

''We will be sending a small UAV. It will fly above Academy City and act as a mobile antenna with which to transmit the detonation signal to the Solntse being used as the uranium ornament.

''Even if the timer is stopped or it is recovered before the timer is activated, the Solntse will detonate as soon as it receives the detonation signal from the UAV.

''The closer to Academy City the UAV takes off from, the less the risk, but if it is too close, it may be detected before even taking off. As such, it will be taking off from a cruiser in Tokyo Bay.

“The modified MIG-21s are just decoys? They merely have the ability to carry nuclear weapons, but they are not actually loaded with hydrogen bombs?” muttered Lessar in utter shock.

Mikoto’s face had also paled, but part of the plan made sense to her.

Lessar had once predicted that the Solntses to be dropped from modified MIG-21s could not be detonated by the pilots. She had concluded that it was quite likely that they would not detonate without a detonation code transmitted from the higher ups in order to prevent the pilots from betraying them.

But that would not work.

To prevent the leak of information on their technology, Academy City had a powerful jamming signal running parallel to its outer wall. Even if they transmitted a signal from the Russian shopping mall, there was no guarantee that it would make it to the Solntse within Academy City.

That was what the UAV was for.

An environment allowing long distance transmissions had been created where the person behind the plan could send the detonation signal to the UAV or even cancel it it if necessary.

Once the small UAV with the detonation signal inside it made it within Academy City, it could transmit the signal without being affected by the jamming.

It would detonate the Solntse that Anti-Skill had recovered before the timer had been activated and was currently being prepared to be dismantled.

“That means…”

“The danger is not over even if those old fighters are shot down,” Mikoto said as if continuing Lessar’s words. “If the UAV relaying the detonation signal makes it to Academy City, the city will be utterly blown away!!”

She would not make it in time if she tried to return to Academy City.

All Mikoto and Lessar could do was find whoever it was that had taken over the plan and bring it all to a stop from the top down.

But where was the person behind it?

The higher ups of the Russian shopping mall were out of the picture already. And the outside group that had apparently been manipulating them from the background also was not continuing the plan using the nuke. Who was in control of the plan? Were there really that many layers of secret groups working in the shadows behind the previous group?

“This isn’t going to turn into a situation where there actually isn’t anyone else behind this, is it?” said Lessar quietly

“You mean this plan using a nuke is just continuing despite no one being in control of it?”

“No, not that.” Lessar seemed as if she was having trouble saying what she was trying to say. “I don’t know all that much about science, so an elite Academy City student like you might just laugh at me, but…”

“What?”

“This city seems to have a means of moving the entire organization without the existence of a clear boss…”

A very bad feeling came over Mikoto.

It had come to her mind too.

When she thought about it, it had been deeply related from the very first incident. It had spread the urban legends. It had caused the riots. It had free use of the cameras and the Semipublic AR, it read people’s reactions, it automatically created news sources to spread, and it manipulated group psychology like a toy car.

“The one behind this…is Code EIC itself…?” Mikoto muttered blankly.

Normally thinking, the answer was no. A machine rebelling was just too ridiculous. Anyone who regularly used computers knew that real computers and programs did not behave like that.

But…

Code EIC was a system made to interfere with the human mind using rumors in order to alter the values of selected products.

In a world without humanity, Code EIC would have no purpose and it could display its ability the greatest in a world overflowing with people. In that case, there was a possibility that it could bare its fangs toward humanity without having any actual “will” such as hatred toward humanity or wanting to fill the world with a new order. It could just be obeying simple commands to expand its functionality or to spread its range of options.

Had Mikoto, Lessar, the occult convenience store, the workers in the shopping mall, the higher ups, and the outside group all been manipulated by Code EIC?

Had attacking Academy City been a necessary command in order to expand its functionality as a machine?

After thinking through all that, Mikoto shook her head.

“…Yeah right.”

“?”

“The higher ups of the shopping mall did not like the difference between Academy City’s technology and the technology disclosed to the cooperative institutions. They decided that they would create a business model even if it meant the destruction of the field of psychic powers development and tried to lessen the 20 or 30 year gap with Academy City by preparing a Solntse. They planned to cause great damage to Academy City and bring their own unreliable data to the forefront in the world.” As Mikoto spoke, she sorted through all the different ideas in her own head. “But the Russian shopping mall is not the only place that would benefit from that!! If the scientific data held by a cooperative institution would grow much more valuable after the destruction of Academy City, then many different cooperative institutions would benefit from that. There are indeed other people who would benefit from this. That way of thinking is much more realistic than saying the computer started controlling people to expand its functionality on its own!!”

“Then…”

“Yes. There is an actual person behind this. This person may be hiding behind Code EIC and trying to pass it all off as computer issues. But we won’t let that happen. If this person is controlling the plan, we have to stop them!!”

The secondary plan continued with its objective to reuse the Solntse hydrogen bomb that had been brought into Academy City.

A still unseen person was behind it all.

A UAV acting as an antenna to transmit the detonation signal was heading to Academy City from Tokyo Bay.

They had to stop any or all of those things.

That was the final battle.

<noinclude>
{{Toaru_Nav|prev=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter6|next=Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter8}}
</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:Toaru Jihanki no Fanfare

2011-09-03T18:19:58Z

Dagger: Tense agreement; she's on her back, so "over there" doesn't make much sense

==Illustrations==
<gallery>
Image:INDEX_Toaru_Jihanki_no_Fanfare_000.jpg|'''Cover'''
Image:INDEX_Toaru_Jihanki_no_Fanfare_021.jpg|'''Page 21'''
Image:INDEX_Toaru_Jihanki_no_Fanfare_029.jpg|'''Page 29'''
Image:INDEX_Toaru_Jihanki_no_Fanfare_34.jpg|'''Back Cover'''
</gallery>

==Story==
===Prologue===

A certain pirated broadcast A.

On a certain day in July.

''Do you know about the Level 5 espers? My, my, this isn't some gaming production thing; they're the people who stand at the top of the six-tier hiearchy amongst our 2.3 million residents! The pyramid in the vast desert of Level 0s!''

''So, are the Level 5s standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid? That's just a wrong conclusion that you made. Those who stand at the pinnacle of the pyramid are Level 3s! The birds who are gracefully flying through the sky are Level 4s, and though they fly through the air freely most of the time, there are situations where they fall into a sandstorm when wind blows. Far above this chaotic situation that can't be seen, located high up in the sky, are the Level 5s.''

''"Accelerator", "Dark Matter", "Railgun", "Meltdowner", "Mental Out", "Eh, who's that Number Six...? Well, forget about it", "Hm, that Number Seven who's said to be really powerful"... Such a group of people are like the stars in the Big Dipper: so high above that we can't reach them.''

''Amongst them, there seem to be guys who've worked their way up the pyramid and to the stars, but they started off as Level 1s and not 0s. That's right, a sandstorm can't become a bird even if it can clip one.''

''What's there to talk about regarding a bunch of pitiful people who've had drugs and electric signals injected into their bodies and still can't even bend a spoon? They're just defeated mongrels.''

''But even mongrels can become a pack of wolves when gathered today. Today, let's talk about the legendary man who led the pack of wolves with their fangs pulled out, Kurozuma Wataru...''

Hearing such a network broadcast, the youth with a nose ring on him, Hamazura Shiage, clicked his tongue and said,

"What 'Kurozuma', damn it? It's Komaba-san's age now."

That pirated broadcast was directly aired through all sorts of channels in all sorts of places like a cat-and-mouse game, and even in Academy City, it can be considered a form of entertainment.

The Skill-Outs were divided into many groups, and though Hamazura's a member of a larger group, he didn't even have a bit of power at all. Though he had the indecent talent of stealing cars, in Academy City, he- rather, they were just treated completely as Level 0s.

Hamazura cut off the broadcast link as he praised his leader's name. As he said that, the surrounding Level 0s all nodded their heads and laughed as they agreed with Hamazura.

The bits of sand who'll knock the stars down kept being fearful of the existence of these beings that were treated as heroes as they continued to think that they were unable to be heroes, giving up on themselves.

Rewind to ten seconds back... In a certain dorm, a girl was listening to that same pirated broadcast, and clicked her tongue in disgust.

''What's there to talk about a bunch of pitiful people who've had drugs and electric signals injected into their bodies and still can't even bend a spoon? They're just-''

The girl cut the broadcast here, and inside the dark dormitory room, one can only hear the sound of the computer being used.

"Damn it, why are they describing people as stars?"

Sighing at the "star" comparison the broadcast raised, one of the seven Level 5 espers that Academy City's so proud of, Misaka Mikoto was grumbling softly about that stupid behaviour.

Behind her, another girl's growling angrily.

"That's really unbelievable, Onee-sama! Onee-sama's not just a star! Onee-sama's a sun that shines warmly on the Earth and brings forth the seeds of hope for the life of tomorrow! And I'm the moon that accepts this radiance of the sky. Right now, this is a mysterious celestial performance of two, forming together like an eclipse- GUAH HAHAHA!?"

"INSTEAD OF CALLING YOURSELF A CELESTIAL BODY, YOU MIGHT AS WELL CALL YOURSELF A PERVERT!"

Speaking midway through, Mikoto tucked the opponent's head underneath her armpit and performed a wrestling move. Shirai Kuroko's arms and legs were still twitching as she showed a happy expression while continuing to scream.

"AHH, AHHH! I CAN FEEL ONEE-SAMA'S TENDER ARMS, WAHH!"

Now increasing the force in her arms, Mikoto casually said what she thought.

"Speaking of which, even espers will feel uncomfortable about the last part of the broadcast."

Saying up until here, she suddenly remembered a boy who calls himself a Level 0.

"But maybe I can use that as a taunt."

While thinking of that as she continued to use the wrestling technique, while Kuroko's head started to go purple,

Mikoto's head got grabbed onto by a certain small hand.

"Huh?"

Though she thought that Kuroko had used teleport, she still continued to remain in that position as she fearfully turned around to look.

Over there was a person who had walked in, looking over without any expression. The sophisicated lady with a round face was standing there.

"Lights-out was twenty-five seconds ago, yet you're still here practising your wrestling techniques. How passionate, Misaka."

"Dorm mother."

The needles of ice that had pierced through Mikoto's back melted, causing cold sweat to come out.

"Hm, while you're training, let me remind you of the dorm rules and show you what real wrestling techniques are like."

"No, but this..."

And several seconds later,

In the girls' dorm room, the girls' tragic cries of despair replaced the broadcast as it aired throughout.

===Main Story: Toaru Jihanki no Sonzai Shoumei by Narita Ryohgo===

On a certain day in July, in a certain hospital in Academy City.

"I can make it."

"Unconscious state."

"Black widow's eyes."

"Unbelievable wound."

"AIM?"

"Brain."

"Sensei's coming along?"

"That Child Error?"

"Kiyama was too early."

"Tokiwadai's Railgun."

The noises could be heard echoing through a certain large hospital's research facility.

Normally, that was an area that can only be accessed by those involved, and right now, there's a girl who looked like an elementary school student listening intently to the "crowds of voices".

The girl got the necessary information from here- and asked the doctor beside her about something. Facing the problem the girl raised, the doctor could only shake his head in apology.

Thus, the girl showed a glimpse of a dark smile, and then said with a calm expression,

"Well, I'll settle it, so don't worry, doctor."

"Child Errors are flawed items; it's impossible for them to wake up with their own power."

At the end of the conversation, the doctor could only sigh heavily at the smiling girl.

<center>♦</center>

During summer vacation, in a certain Anti-Skill office meeting.

"THE LEVEL 5S ARE FIGHTING!?"

The man who shouted that had been in the middle of taking off the equipment with the trident-shaped coat of arms on them when he stopped. He widened his eyes and stood up.

To the extremely tired Anti-Skills who continued to deal with troublesome things daily, that report caused a ruckus amongst them.

"Where?"

"The park in the 7th district."

"THE PARK!? WHAT'S THE SITUATION OVER THERE!?"

"Why did that happen?"

"What's the status of those injured!?"

"Are there any injuries other than the espers?"

"No such reports up until now?"

"WHO ARE THE LEVEL 5S!?"

"Seems like the 3rd and the 7th."

"MISAKA AND SOGIITA!?"

"Why?"

"WAS THAT THE REASON TOKIWADAI REPORTED A POWER SHORTAGE!?"

"WHERE DID YOMIKAWA GO!?"

"Seems like she's still giving remedials!"

"GET HER OVER HERE NOW!!"

"Yes!"

Though the chaos remained, they weren't in a state of panic. The Anti-Skills were adamant as they got ready to sortie-

"No, wait, there's no need to call Yomikawa. It seems like it ended!"

The man who reported the situation in the first place frowned as he used his hand to stop the Anti-Skills beside him.

"It seemed to have gotten weird. There seemed to be two Judgement members there, but one of them seem to be related to 'Kihara'."

"!?"

Kihara. After hearing that name, the Anti-Skills started making a commotion again. The female Anti-Skill with the glasses tilted her head.

"Eh? Kihara? Is that the one involved in the Level Upper?"

"That's Kiyama. Not 'hara', 'yama'. Ah, well, it's not like they don't have any relationship."

"Basically, the entire family is composed of researchers. It's a rather famous name in Academy City. Well, that entire event was basically also because of that Kihara's research. Since everything ended, the higher-ups gave an order to the Anti-Skills to not sortie. It seemed like they dealt with the damage."

Hearing the man's explanation, everyone started to look at each other's faces, muttering as they look lost here.

"Two Level 5s and one really important related person; what experiment were they doing?"

"Why happened in Tokiwadai's park!?"

It was an abnormal situation that the Anti-Skills were all jumpy about.

The reason behind it was...

Just a loss of 120 yen at a certain vending machine.

<center>♦</center>

One hour ago, in the 7th student district park.

"Uu. My neck's still aching. Those injuries during the 'Level Upper' incident, and the pain when the dorm supervisor twisted my neck still remain."

Twisting her neck lightly, Mikoto grumbled to herself.

"Looks like I have to exercise periodically."

The girl who was sighing as she twisted her upper body like she's ready to exercise stopped after seeing a vending machine in front of her

It was the vending machine that was infamous in Tokiwadai Middle School for being a little faulty.

If one uses a battering ram-like force on it, there would occasionally be good cases of having cans of juice drop out without the use of electronic cards or cash, but since the legend originated from Tokiwadai Middle School, the school of ojous, it's basically impossible to see anyone do it.

Let alone...

"HAAA!!"

Misaka Mikoto was definitely the only person who would kick it with electricity around the leg.

<nowiki>*CRACK CLACK*</nowiki>. With the sound of something being fractured, a can of juice appeared in the exit.

"Mm, my body's okay now."

While grumbling as she cracked her shoulders and neck, she wondered,

''...Well, as Judgement officers, Kuroko and Uiharu should have it tougher than me. I shouldn't grumble like this.''

But right now, she didn't realize that what she had just done was basically interfering with Judgement's work.

She opened the seal of the canned juice, and drank half of it down in one gulp.

At that moment, there was another figure that appeared beside the vending machine.

''...Hm? Kuroko?''

She saw the obvious twin ponytails that appeared beside the vending machine, and remembered that Kuroko can teleport. With that information, Mikoto gathered her concentration to defend herself.

And then, before she can react and fight back-

A strange sensation struck her.

The surrounding air was distorted. There seemed to be something that entered her, as every single strand of muscle fibre and even her internal organs seemed like they can be seen through. That was what Mikoto felt.

...?

Feeling insecure, Mikoto hurriedly turned around-

"Judgement desu wa, Tokiwadai onee-san."

"EH?"

A twin-ponytailed girl who was slightly shorter than Mikoto appeared in front of her.

For a moment, she thought that it was Shirai Kuroko, but the way she said that "Judgement desu no" was completely different, and the voice was completely different as well. Though she was definitely wearing the armband, there was a slight difference in the shape of the ponytail. To add to that, the girl had shiny blond hair.

And more important than anything else, the only thing that was different from Kuroko was that...

The girl who said "Judgement" had a red kiddy schoolbag.

"Ah, about that."

Not knowing how to respond, Mikoto tilted her head and gave an earnest smile.

In Academy City, "Judgement" was formed by student volunteers from all schools, including Uiharu and Kuroko. Though there were many instances of many different schools working together, it was basically a system where each school worked independently. Over here, there are also elementary school Judgement officers, and Mikoto knows that, because Kuroko and Uiharu started training since grade school.

The hair didn't look dyed, and Mikoto didn't even know if she was Japanese. Remembering that the girl used Japanese when she made her entry, there seemed to be nothing that was worth taking note of.

At first, Mikoto didn't understand why this grade-school Judgement officer that she didn't know would approach her with such a term, but after looking at the can in her arm, she seemed to realise something...

The girl in front of her slowly let out a smile and said in a somewhat delightful tone,

"I didn't think that 'the chance' would be here so easily."

"'Chance'?"

At that moment, Mikoto suddenly felt that something was out of place.

It was not just a bad premonition- in fact, "something" was swallowing her.

"!? Wait, what are you doing?"

"You're under arrest for vandalism and theft, you know? Onee-san."

The direct emotion came from the girl's expression and voice.

Overwhelming antagonistic intent.

"!"

Though she didn't know what was going on, Mikoto can feel a terrifying force creating a signal within her.

The kid in front of her was dangerous.

Having been shown an "antagonistic intent" that would let her let out electricity in reflex, Mikoto tried her best to hold back her power while backing away from the source of this signal within her.

Then, seemingly in the next moment, 0.5 seconds from where she was, she could see the blond girl rushing towards her. There should be a distance of several metres, but she had already reached that place. And then, logically, she should fall here. However, the twin-ponytailed girl kicked the gravel floor and immediately rushed at Mikoto.

''This isn't any ordinary girl!''

"It's time to rest, Level 5 onee-san!"

The girl's right hand was twitching strangely as she rushed in like a bullet, trying to grab Mikoto's neck.

!

Mikoto's entire body was now stimulated by an even stronger signal-

She let out her ability on reflex.

And then, bluish-white sparks spread through the park...

<center>♦</center>

Near the park.

Haratani Yabumi was depressed.

It was supposed to be a rare summer vacation afternoon, walking down the high-security Tokiwadai district while getting uninvolved with delinquents...

"AMAZING PUNCH!!"

It should amount to such an unordinary scene.

As the weird technique name could be heard, that man's fist let out a mysterious wave and sent the huge man flying.

Even if it was a Level 5 walking about in Academy City, that can be considered an "abnormal" situation.

The big guy who got sent flying stood up with light feet and gives a smirk.

"Ku, to be able to send this visceral grinder Yokosuka flying away in this 30th revenge match. Sogiita Gunha, you brat, you seem to have gotten stronger than before."

In contrast to the man who looked like some evil terrorist boss in movies, the boy with the Rising Sun flag T-shirt had a white uniform over it, and though splendid-looking, it looked somewhat old-fashioned. "The seventh Level 5 of Academy City" Sogiita Gunha replied with a strong tone,

"Oi, hot pot guy, you actually managed to tank ten of my amazing punches. Seems like you got guts. As a token of respect, let me show you my more powerful technique."

Haratani knew the males called Sogiita, Yokosuka, and the nickname "hot pot guy", but it was too troublesome to remember them as he can only sigh and watch them fight.

"Wh-what!? So it's coming!? I'M SO HAPPY, SOGIITA!! GO TO HELLLLLL!!!"

Standing up with a delighted expression, Yokosuka jumped up and rushed at Sogiita.

Facing him head-on, Sogiita clenched his fist, and with all his strength, he shouted,

"SUPER AMAZING PUNCH!!!"

"IT DIDN'T GET ANY STRONNNNNGERRRRRRRRRR!!!"

Flying out and crashing into the railings on both sides of the road, Yokosuka lost consciousness just like that. Seeing him and the railings that got reduced to scrap metal, Haratani sighed as he wanted to say something-

But before that could happen, a girl who suddenly appeared said to Sogiita,

"Judgement desu no."

The twin-ponytail girl's hair was swaying about as she showed her armband to Sogiita. Though she seemed to be a middle schooler from nearby, she should be a somewhat impressive one given that she was a member of Judgement.

"I came here after hearing commotion of a fight. That person over there fell asleep because of your attack, am I right?"

Facing the girl who definitely used teleport to get here, Sogiita nodded his head calmly.

"Ohhh, I see! A girl like you can become a member of Judgement. Which means that you have quite the guts! Do your best!"

"..."

"On a side note, the answer to your question is 'yes'- but then again, it's more accurate to say that he got knocked out instead of saying that he fell asleep. Even though he fainted, that guy got guts. Got to remember that!"

Seeing Sogiita give her a thumbs-up, the girl from Judgement frowned and pulled out metal needles-like things from the her inner thighs, and said something that a Judgement officer should say.

"It seems like you don't understand your situation now. Anyway, based on the situation I've seen from the battle just now, you're suspected of causing damage. Please explain further after you're arrested."

Though she was right, Haratani said,

"Ahh, no, Miss Judegment officer, that was..."

He just fought back in response to an opponent's taunt. Though it was an overkill act of self-defense, they wouldn't know if that guy was a leader of some gang members with arms. This can be a decent way to defend Sogiita, but before that could happen, the suspect responded with a gutsy tone,

"Fighting? That's not right, missy."

"Huh?"

"All I did was get guts into him!"

''YOU BASICALLY SAID THAT YOU ABUSED HIM!!!''

Haratani wanted to shout out from deep within his throat, but after seeing that stupid guy, he realized that it was already troublesome to even give a look at the Judgement officer, and thus shook his head to say that it didn't matter if she arrested him.

"I'm going to arrest you."

It was useless to say anything for him. Thinking like this, Shirai Kuroko reached her hand out at the opponent's stomach-

And used her teleport ability to tilt the opponent upside down.

She would then teleport the body onto the floor and use the metal needles to pin the clothing to the floor like usual. It was just that simple-

But that would normally happen in battles against Skill-Outs.

What was troubling was that this guy was completely different from a Level 0 in all aspects.

"HAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

With a roar of hot-bloodedness, the surroundings started to be affected by the wave.

The vibration of the atmosphere echoed throughout, and everyone hurriedly covered their ears even though they knew that it was too late.

He didn't even need to use his hands. He just used a shout to prevent himself from falling down.

If it just involved an ability, anyone would feel that it was simply stupid. But no matter the result, the fact was that he stood upright in front of everyone.

"That sudden turnabout really shocked me. Was that teleport?"

"!! An esper, huh? So it doesn't matter if I go all-out, right?"

The words came out later than the action, as Kuroko let out a fearless smile, teleported her own body above the opponent, and let gravity affect her as she attacked down at the enemy.

Any ordinary man who saw that completely unexpected attack from above would easily collapse to the floor, but the moment her feet landed on the guy's head, a heavy impact can be felt from there.

It felt like a human-shaped wheel got kicked as Kuroko jumped backwards in a leaping manner. She stared at him with a puzzled look.

It didn't look like a complete block on the attack, as the guy put his hand on his head and turned around.

"Owww... What was that? ...Super speed or time stop? No, wait, you can teleport yourself, right? That's some guts you have there! But I won't accept ambushes. A man has to teleport his opponent right in front of him! Oh, but you're a girl, so that's fine... I guess."

The esper started to answer his own question, and behind him, it seemed like something was wavering like a mirage. ''This seems to be different from those ordinary opponents in the past,'' Kuroko thought.

"You seem like you have some mysterious power. I can't think of a clear way to beat you if I don't know what your power is."

"Oi oi, are you treating me as one of those baseless secret organisation members? Listen closely; my ability is..."

The mysterious guy stood upright, probably intending to answer that question without hiding or running away, but...

Uuu, the boy who looked familiar from the side frowned and answered,

"How should I describe my ability?"

"..."

"Well, my ability is still baseless! It expands endlessly! That's gutsy!!"

Seeing this exchange, Kuroko was wondering about how to deal with this guy in front of her.

She can't understand the nature of the ability, but at least it was not to the extent of a Level 1 or less.

But she didn't feel any antagonistic intent. That guy didn't look like some delinquent aside from his outfit. In this situation, Kuroko can just talk to him and not need to carry out an arrest, so right now, she's wondering how to solve this.

But at that moment-

In a corner of the park in the 7th district that was of huge significance to Kuroko, an intense explosion can be heard.

Thinking about what happened, she turned around. ''Wasn't that bluish-white electricity that was shot from between the trees in the park?''

"ONEE-SAMA!?!?"

Seeing the flash she recongised, Kuroko frantically thought of rushing over, but she couldn't just leave this mysterious esper behind. She was torn by her duties as a member of Judgement.

But at that moment, she did not have a need to continue worrying.

"Oi, what are you standing around for? Something happened. A Judgement officer has to show some guts here, you know?"

The mysterious esper himself went running to the park.

"I'll act first!!"

"Eh, how... Why? Any ordinary person should back down and talk! You're under arrest, you know!?!?"

"Relax! I'm rather proud that my expanding guts are more than an ordinary person's!!"

THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER!!

As she shouted, the guy in white uniform kicked off the floor without thinking. An impact that was slightly stronger than the shout from before covered the surroundings, and that air pressure was so strong that nobody could breathe.

Squinting, what she could see beyond the gaps in the hand she raised was an explosion of red-, blue-, and yellow-coloured smoke and a guy who "jumped" up and rushed to the park like a human bullet.

The guy in white uniform managed to advance by several metres with just a kick, and Kuroko watched him leave before asking the other boy who was left behind,

"Who was that guy?"

Haratani pulled a face with regards to the girl's question.

"That's created from a Level 5 esper. What you saw was all just an illusion. It would be better for your mental health if you think of it like that. Maybe..."

<center>♦</center>

The park.

Standing on the top of the streetlights, Mikoto fired numerous railguns.

She was using the iron sand to create conductive metallic rods, and there were about twenty of them floating around her. Looking down at the park from a higher position, she was like a conductor of an orchestra as she swung her right hand that was covered with electricity. The surrounding spears fell downwards at a certain area of the park like a thunderstorm.

But just as that exhibition of a thunder god's rage was going on-

A girl was moving between the gaps of the electric strikes and towards the streetlamp that Mikoto was standing on.

This girl "dodged the electric strikes". That was the fact that Mikoto was seeing.

Fast.

If there was a need to describe it simply, this word would be enough.

Forget about the fact that she was an elementary school student; this girl basically had speed and power that far exceeded what a human can logically have.

It seemed that this girl had dynamite in her joints all over the place, creating an illusion of instant burst and force. The girl's body was creating a "speed" that was faster than a beast.

The girl was moving towards Mikoto, who was standing on the streetlamp, as she proceeded at a terrifying speed that was just like removing the light of the railguns. She stepped onto the floor and jumped up before Mikoto could even prepare her next shot. Several parts of the stone floor in the park were blown off, and the girl's body was moving towards the streetlamp that was far taller than her.

Trying to avoid the opponent, Mikoto suddenly jumped off the streetlamp. It was unknown if the girl expected that, as she was targeting some place slightly lower than the top of the streetlamp.

If this kept up, they will definitely meet in the end.

Mikoto let out blueish-white sparks from both hands, and she started to fall really slowly.

"!"

Having lost the opportunity, the girl wanted to kick the streetlamp to redirect herself, but at that moment, Mikoto let out an intense electric shock from her right hand.

However, this attack wasn't aimed at the girl.

The streetlamp she had been standing on up until now was different from the rest. It was composed of a white thermal filament, and once this sort of filament took in too much burden, it would burn out before it can give a bright glow.

But right now, this was enough to take away the girl's sight while she was right beside the lightbulb.

"Ku!"

As the girl moaned, Mikoto used enough electricity to rob the opponent of her movements.

However, the girl whose eyes were shut seemed like she can see the attack, as she used her right hand now to knock the streetlamp and get away from the line of attack.

Despite having squashed a part of the metallic streetlamp pole, the girl's hand wasn't showing any injury.

Several seconds later, both girls landed in front of the vending machine like how it began.

"Who exactly are you?"

<nowiki>*Biri biri*</nowiki>. The electricity surrounded Mikoto like snakes as she asked the girl in front of her.

The moment she was about to be caught, Mikoto instinctively activated her ability. This young girl dodged with superhuman reflexes the electric strike that Mikoto released, and Mikoto was slightly shocked at this young girl as she started to show some more emotions. But before she could deal with them, the young girl swung a fist with even more antagonistic intent, and without even saying anything to convince the other party, both sides gradually went into combat mode.

In this situation when they can finally talk again, Mikoto tried to talk to the girl, but-

"Judgement desu wa, Level 5 onee-san."

"I don't want to listen to this- or rather, is a grade-schooler like you unable to understand my question?"

"Uh huh."

Both of them revealed fearless smiles, the elementary school girl and the middle school girl.

"Kihara Nayuta."

After a while, the girl calmly stated her name.

"Special school prefect of the Advanced Education Department, and RFO<ref>"Reserve Force Officer"?</ref> of Judgement."

"Eh?"

The girl's words caused Mikoto to waver slightly.

That name that sounded like that of a school had never reached her eardrum before, and never had she seen it before.

However, Mikoto recognised that name.

Once, she read a female scientist's "memory" through electric signal flow. In there appeared the name of this primary school and the name Kihara.

However, that "memory" never showed the image of this girl.

"What's going on? That school should have been-"

"So you knew? Where did you hear that from? From Kiyama-sensei?"

"!"

Kiyama-sensei. That term was enough to cause a spine-chilling reaction in Mikoto.

Maintaining the electric pulses in her body that were spreading out, Mikoto inquired further into the opponent's history.

"A student of that school? That means you're..."

Mikoto wanted to say the words "Child Error", but she swallowed them before she could.

But Nayuta seemed to have realised what Mikoto wanted to say, as she snickered,

"I'm not a Child Error."

"..."

Unable to grasp the true identity of the opponent, Mikoto shook her head.

Despite the fact that the person in front of her was a Level 5, Nayuta looked smug as she said,

"I'm just the 'process'."

"'Process'?"

"Created from the experiment where Banri onee-san and the rest became its guinea pigs; the representative of the Crystallised Esper Essence, one process of the many predicted results; and just a guinea pig. That's me."

"What in the world are you saying?"

Frowning, Mikoto again felt insecurity within herself.

It was like the unpleasant feeling of undergoing a thorough body scan, and it was likely that this girl in front of her was the cause.

"Is this strange feeling your doing? What did you do?"

Mikoto asked directly. In response, Nayuta looked somewhat surprised.

"Eh, so you knew what I'm doing? Is it because of that tremendous power? Or is it that your electromagnetic power can do something like telekinesis?"

"I thought I asked what you did, right?"

"Right hand."

The moment the girl said this, the electricity that was wrapped around Mikoto's right hand started to expand aggressively, letting out blueish-white sparks and continuing to cackle as the noise directly entered the ground.

"Eh?"

Mikoto stared at her right hand, not knowing what was going on at all. She did not cast electricity at the ground consciously; it just got released from her right hand naturally, unrelated to her consciousness at all.

After the girl in front of her said "right hand",

Nayuta showed a cruel smile and said,

"Left hand."

Mikoto felt the blueish-white sparks gather in her left hand. She frantically tried to restrain it, but like a hiccup that can't be controlled, she let out an electric flow from her left hand on reflex.

"Don't tell me you..."

"An experiment that deliberately causes abilities to overload. That is the name of the experiment which Banri onee-san and the rest became test subjects in. Mikoto onee-san knows about it, right?"

Those weren't words that a primary school student would use. Mikoto remembered the conversation she had with Kiyama Harumi a few days ago.

''"A lot of things were created from that experiment; one of them was a crystal called 'Body Crystal'. It is a drug that 'deliberately causes an ability to overload'. Actually, the experimental item existed since a few years ago."''

Continuing to talk, the girl's eyes looked like a hunter hunting prey as she stared at the Level 5 in front of her.

"So let me ask you, 'Railgun' nee-san..."

"..."

"If this 'Body Crystal' appears as an 'ability' that can 'overload other people's abilities and power and even control their ability flow', that can't be considered an 'overload', right? Well, I can manipulate the flow and timing, but I can't track someone down to the ends of the galaxy and even take away their ability like Takitsubo onee-san."

On seeing that she just said a name Mikoto didn't know of, Nayuta looked disheartened, but she immediately abandoned it and showed a bone-chilling smile that was completely unlike a kid.

"Right now, anyway."

<center>♦</center>

Kihara Nayuta was a guinea pig.

That was the life she chose when she was young.

The "Kihara" family has quite the standing in Academy City, and while everyone else in the family chose to head down the road of research, the young Nayuta chose a different path.

On a certain day, Nayuta said with a cruel and merciless smile on her face to a professor who had quite the authority even amongst that family,

"Flawed items like Child Errors can't even be guinea pigs."

The young girl requested to be a test subject.

"If an experiment is to be top-notch, the test subject has to be top-notch!"

Everyone thought that she was going to say something else, and the researchers around her all looked at each other. Since she was still a little girl, she probably dreamt that she could use magic by undertaking the experiment. Though it was enough to just laugh it off, that old professor, Kihara Gensei, smiled with "other intentions" and gently patted on Nayuta's head.

"Ohh, ohh, Nayuta's a good kid. You want to offer your body for the development of Academy City's first Level 6? Before that, your 'cousin', that 'nee-san' willingly became a guinea pig herself, but Nayuta, you're the first one to actually request that yourself."

This professor can easily use others as his own test subjects and destroy them even if they're his own relatives. The surrounding researchers felt a chill on their backs, and it's not just because it would overload.

After Kihara Gensei disappeared mysteriously, Nayuta used all sorts of other means to experiment on herself.

That's something that can't be revealed, an experiment that she should have never messed with.

Due to the effects of the drugs, her hair and eyes changed colour. Even so, she didn't mind at all.

Even though she carried out the experiment that would cause great pain to her body, she never succumbed to the pain.

She even took part in the mental aspects of the "Testament" experiment that Nunotaba Shinobu also took part in. She used her mind's consciousness to rebuild her ability's calculations thoroughly, and then used the "results" as samples to develop them further. She became a "Kihara" radical who offered her mind and body to experiment even after she wasn't able to.

''"The Kiharas are elites. But wouldn't it be meaningless if they can't surpass a Level 5 even after becoming guinea pigs?"''

After repeating those experiments for who knew how many times, she started laughing maniacally and answered as she continued to devote her body into a new experiment.

In the end, what she got was "the ability to 'see' and 'feel' the flow of AIM diffusion fields". This was a power she wanted not as a guinea pig but as a researcher.

An older girl that had a similar power was now one of the candidates to become the next Level 5, and she's in ITEM. Nayuta's ability can't compare to that girl's, but she doesn't need to use the drug called "Body Crystal". Looking at it that way, she may be able to advance to a higher Level. This was a possibility she had.

Of course, there was a price to the experiment.

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"I see, so this is like tickling someone's neck to make them laugh."

Hearing the explanation of the ability, Mikoto answered with a forced tone, but there's still doubt lingering within her.

Mikoto originally thought that the abnormal speed she showed was her "ability". Though she felt that it was done through a certain power that boosted her movements, what the girl just said was not enough to explain it.

Besides, there was a bigger question.

"And besides, why did you challenge me? This antagonistic feeling seems to be out of personal issues rather than Judgement's work."

As Mikoto was talking, Nayuta was showing a smile that did not fit her cute face. That was like a humanoid monster in those horror movies grinning vilely at the victims who were suffering a terrible fate.

"I don't have any personal anger. But even though it's not anger, there are all sorts of emotions that I can't get rid of."

Muttering to herself, Nayuta glared at Mikoto's body.

"It's a little early, but I still want to determine the results of my experiment. The 'results' that were born from Academy City, the seven Level 5s that stand at the peak, I want to see if I've reached that place, even if it's just a little bit. Basically, I can't fight if I don't have a valid reason; thus, I became a member of Judgement. 'Always waiting to see who will do what'."

Mikoto did not really understand what she intended by those words, but she at least understood what her opponent wanted to say. Mikoto frowned and said somewhat unhappily,

"So that means that you just used 'those kids' sacrifice' as a stepping stone to try to boost your own power? Your personality's rather twisted for a girl your age."

The "Child Errors" that were used as test subjects were still unconscious. Mikoto never met them before, but she taunted Nayuta with much anxiety.

However, after hearing those words, Nayuta's expression changed.

"That's not true."

"Eh?"

The smile disappeared. Nayuta glared at Mikoto with even more hostility.

"Everyone's not some martyr."

The dark flames in her eyes were burning as she tilted her head aside, causing the bones to crack.

Something started feeling out of place. Mikoto wanted to continue talking, but...

"'Child Errors' are just flawed items to Academy City."

"..."

"BUT EVEN IF THEY'RE FLAWED, HUMILIATING THEM LIKE THIS IS UNFORGIVABLE!!"

Seemingly trying to end this conversation, the girl stomped hard on the road, and sent bits flying. Her slender body leapt towards Mikoto.

Though Mikoto did not really know what to do about the restart of the battle, having gotten used to fighting, she naturally matched the opponent's movements and breathing and stepped forward towards the opponent.

At the same time, there was an uneasy feeling in her right hand as it forcefully tried to release electricity.

But Mikoto guided this attack with a magnetic field on her left hand, and immediately captured the "overload". It seemed that Nayuta can't manipulate AIM diffusion fields that appear in more than one area.

During the 0.5 seconds when Nayuta closed in, Mikoto deduced the power of the opponent, and realised something shocking.

This "conscious overload" was just a "bait" to cause the opponent to be alert.

As for her power, what she really needed to be wary about was the AIM diffusion field "visualising" that was impossible to detect without high-tech machinery.

Lightning travelled way faster than 100 km per hour, and it was nigh impossible to avoid on sight.

However, if one can see the "energy" that formed the source of this electricity and predict its direction, there will be an opening.

But it would be just for an instant. Even if one understood the power and direction of the electricity that was produced, it was much harder to avoid it than a bullet.

However, Nayuta had a "speed" that can do it.

''This speed can't be explained with that ability just now!''

While admiring the opponent's speed, Mikoto fearlessly faced that "speed" head-on.

She opened her body wide, and released the electricity that had escaped to her left hand.

In this electromagnetic field that was without any openings, Nayuta kicked the floor and barely escaped this forcefield, and her body danced high into the air.

Just like that, she landed behind Mikoto and reached her hand out at Mikoto's neck.

But Mikoto, who released the electromagnetic field throughout the surroundings, detected the attack without even turning her head back.

Balls of iron sand rose up from behind Mikoto and spread out at Nayuta.

"!"

Normally she would jump into the mist of iron without thinking, but she "saw" the flow of energy and immediately slowed down before increasing her distance from Mikoto.

''Most likely, she was used to fighting such rude and unreasonable people as a member of Judgement.''

Like Kuroko, she was used to fighting espers "outside school". Facing off against this Judgement officer with the attitude, Mikoto again said,

"If you dare to touch me while I have electricity on me, what's that thing on your hand?"

As she said that, she let the iron sand that was accumulated from the surrounding dirt and sand form objects that were as large as golf balls, letting them float around in tens, hundreds.

Like a disco ball rotating, the black figures danced about in the midst of the blueish-white sparks. Standing in the midst of this amazing scene, Mikoto let out a fearless smile, and the numerous balls flew towards the girl.

Nayuta can see the flow of the 'energy', but the electric discharge between the iron sand balls can't be seen. She most likely thought that the opponent won't use her full power, as she uses this chance not to escape but to enter the crowd of balls and close in on Mikoto.

Next, she realised her stupidity and frantically tried to let her body escape.

But it was too late.

The iron sand balls collapsed into even smaller ones and expanded out, surrounding Mikoto and Nayuta's surroundings. They then emitted blueish-white sparks.

With the park as the centre, Mikoto used the iron sand balls that were conducting electricity to cover the entire place in a dome, letting electricity flow through them. The gaps between the balls let out electricity, forming a large electric cage with Mikoto at its centre.

Looking at Nayuta who's trapped in this case, Mikoto let this "cage" slowly shrink towards her.

"!"

Nayuta wanted to let a part of Mikoto's power "overload" and expand the iron sand balls, but Mikoto immediately repaired that and regenerated the damaged cage.

The girl's ability can "overload", but it can't "stop".

Well aware of this, Mikoto let the electric cage spin fast and close in.

"So now what? Do you still want to continue!?"

Trying to convince the opponent to surrender, her words got interrupted. Nayuta leapt at Mikoto without hesitation.

Mikoto let out an electrical surge from her entire body, trying to prevent the opponent from touching her. But Nayuta didn't mind as she used her hand to spear into the electric wall.

The blueish-white sparks run down Nayuta's body, and the girl let out a "slightly" bitter look.

But that wasn't enough to slow the momentum down, as Nayuta's right hand closed in on Mikoto.

Seeing that the hand's about to reach her neck, Mikoto twisted her body and tried to use the electrical flow to knock the opponent off.

She let electricity flow into the opponent's nerves, using the involuntary reflexes to stop Nayuta. This was an ability that used a large amount of calculations. However, the girl's hand didn't slow down for some reason, and it was even closing in on Mikoto in a random manner.

"!"

Having stretched her hand out, Mikoto grabbed Nayuta's hand.

"As expected, your hand has something... hm, wait, what is it?"

Barely able to defend from the opponent's sudden attack, Mikoto said after she saw the opponent's right hand, "Just some relaxants. But I may have overdone it."

The girl's right hand was outstretched in front of Mikoto. Over there, she can see a hole that was dug out of the palm of the hand, and there was something small that looked like it got injected.

"You... this right hand..."

The girl's hand wasn't damaged at all after the electric attack just now. There were burns all over the hand, and several bits of skin were curled up. However, what was oozing out from there wasn't blood but something transparent that felt like lubricant. Under the curled-up skin wasn't tender red flesh but long strands of black artificial fibres.

"I said it earlier, onee-san. I'm a guinea pig."

The prosthetic hand clearly let out a creaking sound, and she "proudly smiled" at her situation now, and said,

"After injecting 'the unique power of this city' into my body, it started exploding all over the place. However, I was able to get meaningful data. If it wasn't for that frog-faced doctor, it's likely that I would be dead now."

Nayuta said all that without blanking, and Mikoto realised that after meeting her eyes.

Her right eye was letting out a mysterious "glulp glulp" sound. The colour was different from a natural one, and the irises were giving a tint of something.

"After that, I took on several experiments, and about 70% of my body isn't of flesh anymore."

Action was faster than words as she pointed at her left eye and opened her artificial right eye wide.

The next moment, that right eye let out a bright glow, taking Mikoto's vision away.

Mikoto felt endangered from this loss of vision, so she wanted to let out a light electric shock at the girl to bind her. However, Nayuta didn't let Mikoto's wavering slip for even a single moment as she moved her entire body of artificial muscles and escaped from the opponent's grasp, pulling herself a great distance away.

Nayuta, who was just able to avoid the electric attack, seemed happy as she smiled at Mikoto.

"Ahh, it's alright since there are earth wires, but onee-san's electricity is really tough. It's still numbing."

"I see. So you use this body to carry out superhuman fights."

"My family reads the esper's diffusion field flow and uses the gap to attack. Because I haven't learnt it yet, I can only use this mechanical body and my own ability to make up for the lack of senses those amazing people have. They were able to detect the opponent's energy flow just through instinct and experience."

The creaking sound was still echoing in her mind. Nayuta's right eye still had some flash in it even after blinking, and then she said,

"The one who taught me all these, Amata oji-san, told me that 'if I train this to the max, there'd be nothing to be afraid of when fighting that Number One esper in Academy City, and I can win'. But in fact, so what?"

Saying that, she stared at Mikoto while maintaining the smile on her face.

"I don't have any grudges against onee-san. It's just that I want to prove my own 'strength and justice'. 'So that Banri onee-san and the rest can smile as they wake up'."

Mikoto didn't really understand the meaning behind it, but after hearing those words that had loneliness and determination, Mikoto sighed and let even more electricity surround her like a more powerful snake.

"I don't know the specifics, but at least I understand that you're not like those simple cold-blooded animals. Willing to take on an opponent head-on like this; well, Kuroko may say that this is what an amateur would do, but I rather like it."

"Really?"

"No problem. Though it's not the first time someone younger than me challenged me, I do fight against older people. I don't hate 'such things'."

Mikoto drew the iron sand from the ground and used it in a manner that was different from the semi-sphere-shaped iron balls that were emitting electricity between them, creating a black sword.

"Since you're challenging me, I accept. Let's have a fight that we won't regret. Fight with all we got."

"I'm going all-out then, 'Railgun onee-san'."

Mikoto and Nayuta let out fearless smiles, and they rushed towards each other, getting ready for an even more intense battle.

However...

"OI OI, WHAT'S GOING ON!? POWER OVERLOAD!? I'M HELPING YOU NOW!!"

A voice that didn't understand the atmosphere here can be heard.

"AMAZIIINGGG PUNCHHH!!!"

An impact that didn't understand the atmosphere here surrounded this place,

Blowing aside the "cage" that was made of iron sand balls and electricity.

The guy who can't understand the atmosphere appeared in front of them both in a hot-blooded manner.

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However, during this time, most of the people living in the 7th district noticed the blueish-white sparks in the park.

The people who saw the commotion were shouting, and the people who were viewing this light through the windows in their apartments were going "Ahh, that crazy Tokiwadai girl is at it again". They all immediately realised it, and cut off the power in their houses in advance, turned off the power of their computers, and pulled out the cables that were in their sockets. And so, the "anti-disaster program" was under way.

The people who were walking on the streets were moving away from the park, thinking that they shouldn't get close. However...

"!"

A girl who saw the blueish-white electric sparks started to move as the "biri biri" sounds can be heard.

She was moving in a completely different manner from the crowd. Or rather, it seemed like she got attracted by the blueish-white sparks in the park.

<center>♦</center>

"No worries! I don't know what's going on, but you can relax now!"

The guy in white uniform forcefully nodded his head and shouted at Mikoto and Nayuta.

Seeing such a guy, Mikoto's jaw dropped, and asked,

"Who are you?"

"What? This isn't something worth introducing myself with! But if I have to say-"

Interrupting the guy who was about to introduce himself was the voice of the person Mikoto was used to hearing inside the park.

"Onee-sama? What's going on here!?"

"Eh? Kuroko?"

Kuroko appeared in front of the guy through the use of "instant teleport", and asked with a loud voice. The guy whose collar was grabbed by Kuroko's right hand is going "oi, that's not my doing!"

"Ara ara, using such amazing power in the park. Who is it for, eh?"

Kuroko turned to look at the twin-ponytailed girl in front of Mikoto with the Judgement armband on her.

"A member of Judgement? Speaking of which, I've never met you before. Oh, well, I'm Shirai Kuroko of Tokiwadai Middle School. What happened?"

After a greeting, Kuroko asked the girl who was also a member of Judgement.

Nayuta was showing an uninterested look at Kuroko, and then quickly reverted back to the childish child as she reported to the older Judgement officer.

"I'm Kihara Nayuta of the 49th branch, special school prefect of the Advanced Esper Department and Judgement RFO. As there's an onee-san who kicked and vandalised a vending machine and stole juice from it, I wanted to arrest her. Will you help me, senpai?"

"Vandalism and theft? That's exaggerating!!"

Mikoto frantically tried to say,

But Kuroko immediately kneeled down with an expression as if the world was ending, and said with a tragic voice,

"I KNEW THAT THIS WOULD HAPPEN ONE DAY!!"

"K-Kuroko?"

"I'm really sorry, Onee-sama! If only I could have advised you harder! But I'm an accomplice for leaving Onee-sama like this! Let us enter the same jail cell and accept the punishment together! And Uiharu and the rest will be sad that I went against Judgement's duties!"

"Sigh, well, you fought it instead of just resisting it."

Though Nayuta wasn't lying, Mikoto can't really explain the situation clearly.

"I understand it all."

The guy in white uniform placed his hand on Mikoto's shoulder as if he was about to lecture her.

"It's true that it's foolish to destroy a vending machine. But I can understand the pain of being unable to buy even a can of juice. However, you can't commit crimes. Even if it's at the vendors who created this vending machine, the housewives and kids who rely on it for food, and the dogs and crickets that are kept as pets, they will be bothered, right?"

"Eh? EHHHH?"

Mikoto was feeling bothered by this guy in white uniform who was lecturing her like some relative.

"Well, Kuroko, who's that?"

Mikoto asked as she tilted her head. Kuroko stopped crying and simply answered,

"A suspect of assault and vandalism."

"HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO LECTURE ME, THEN!!!"

Hearing Kuroko's answer, Mikoto shouted as she wanted to shake the hand off,

But in that right hand, the irritating, bone-chilling sensation she felt a few times just now was swimming up her body.

"EH?"

The next moment, Nayuta used the "overload" electric shock to shoot a powerful surge at the guy in white uniform without mercy.

Nayuta commanded Mikoto's power to overload and attack the guy in white uniform. However, she realised that there was something complicated about this.

Both of them were Level 5s.

Nayuta had the data of the espers in her brain, so she knew who Sogiita Gunha is.

Impossible to analyse. This was the result of the Kiharas' research. They couldn't even tell if there were useful AIM diffusion fields to be made use of. This was one of the rare few things in Academy City that existed completely as a black box, and this was Gunha's ability.

The waves that were shrouded in mystery, a punch that was swung at the speed of sound, like an American comic hero, it can't be stopped, and it surpassed all logic- besides, the theory itself was suspect. He was such a strange esper.

In fact, to Nayuta, the AIM diffusion field around this guy was rather unstable. Even when he was not doing anything obvious, she still couldn't visualise him in this state. Maybe there was some power obstructing the sighting of the AIM diffusion field.

Thus, she thought of a plan.

Against an opponent that her ability can't handle, she would make Mikoto's ability "overload" at an opportune time and use the Level 5's electricity to implicate Mikoto.

Nayuta continued to manipulate Mikoto's "power flow" as she continued to let Mikoto's electricity "overload".

In the end, by the time Mikoto frantically used her left hand to hold off the overload, three strikes of electricity had been shot at Sogiita's face.

"O-Onee-sama!? Even if you want to be the straight one, isn't this a little too much!?"

Kuroko said that with a surprised voice, not knowing what was going on.

Seeing her like this, Nayuta calmly said the fact she had kept hidden.

"I did that just now."

"Eh?"

Though she could have shifted the blame onto Mikoto, Nayuta definitely said that it was her power.

"If both sides are criminals, then I have to arrest both of you."

"HOLD ON A MINUTE! DID YOU JUST DO THAT!? S-SPEAKING OF WHICH, YOU'RE ALRIGHT!?"

Mikoto glanced at Nayuta, and then walked towards the guy in white uniform who got bathed in electricity.

"Wow, that was a really gutsy and intense attack."

If it were an ordinary person, they would have simply fainted. The guy who got bathed in such an explosive electric attack just looked like nothing happened as he creaked his neck and grabbed his temple, nodding away, and said,

"It's true that I beat hot pot guy and damaged the railings. These are facts, I won't say anything else! I'll beat Judgement's judgement with my guts!!"

"No, that's not something that should be overcome through guts."

The guy who was released from Kuroko's grip seemed to mutter, and Kuroko seemed like she was listening with a delicate expression on her face.

However, Mikoto used her hand to draw at the opponent's face, and frowned as she said,

"How did you defend that just now?"

"Hm? I didn't defend against it. Besides, 'there's no point to defend it if it's just that level of attack'."

"!"

On hearing the guy in white uniform answer, Mikoto's temples twitched slightly.

"!! Not, not good!"

Kuroko, who's been with her for a long time, felt a bad premonition after seeing Mikoto's expression.

"?"

On this other hand, Nayuta, who only understood Mikoto through data and rumours, couldn't understand why Kuroko was so panicky. She was wondering if this was a chance to let Mikoto's power overload even more, but...

"?"

The values of the AIM diffusion fields Mikoto released weren't showing that it would overload, yet it was expanding rapidly.

On the other hand, Nayuta no longer existed in Mikoto's eyes, as Mikoto asked Sogiita Gunha,

"You just blew up that 'cage' like that. Are you the same as 'that guy'?"

"? Oi, who's the 'guy' this lady's talking about? You?"

Sogiita turned to look at the guy who was hiding behind the vending machine and looking at this. The guy just went "DON'T LOOK AT ME, DON'T GET ME INVOLVED! HOW WOULD I KNOW ANYWAY!?"

Basically, he was saying the same thing he said a few minutes ago.

"Ahh, if you don't know, never mind. Either way, the attack just now doesn't seem to be of your liking. Do you want a slightly stronger attack? It's bad for your body if you try to force it."

"Oi oi, missy, are you treating me as some spineless guy? What's with a gal's attack? It won't be effective even if I take one hundred of them, right?"

"Then I can launch another attack like that?"

"Oh! Bring it on!"

As for Sogiita, who answered bravely...

The next moment, with the sounds of rumbling thunder, a thunder strike that was many times stronger than before struck down on him.

As the guy was a suspect who caused serious damage, Mikoto basically used force without mercy like what she would normally do.

However...

"WOOOHHH!!"

This was an electric shock that would render anyone immobile, but Sogiita just moaned a bit, and once the electricity stopped, he continued to talk like nothing happened.

"Wow, that shocked me! I got a bit numb there. Ah, though I'm a bit numb, it's not like I have any feelings for you or something like that. Don't be mistaken!"

On seeing that Sogiita was unscratched, Mikoto said calmly,

"What Level are- never mind, that isn't important anyway."

Remembering the face of the guy who kept "calling himself" a Level 0, the Level 5 girl's eyes were glowing sharply.

"Ohh, it's true that Level isn't anything. We really agree on it, anyway."

"Ahaha, it's a bit weird to say this in front of Judgement officers..."

"What's wrong?"

"''Can I request a fight with you?''"

"AAAHHHHH, SO IT BECAME LIKE THIS!!!"

Hearing Mikoto's words, Kuroko placed both hands on her face, swaying about as she collapsed on the tree.

[[Image:INDEX_Toaru_Jihanki_no_Fanfare_021.jpg|thumb]]

"H-hold on, what's going on!? What is that onee-san saying all of a sudden?"

Nayuta asked the weakily swaying Kuroko.

"Onee-sama would normally help us in our work, so she may forget about it. But she hates losing and being treated like a kid the most."

The Judgement officer who just got excluded was impacted really badly after seeing the dark side of her beloved "onee-sama". Kuroko was barely able to squeeze out a voice weakily.

"It's a bit sudden to taunt an opponent like this."

"Oh, a duel? Missy, what you said is pretty gutsy."

The guy in white uniform responded to what Mikoto suddenly said with a fearless smile.

"I'm not really interested in battling girls and kids, but I can't refuse such a gutsy challenge. So be it. Missy, you can attack me all you want. If I can take it, I win, and if I can't or if I fight back, I'll admit that I'm not gutsy enough, and it will be my loss."

On hearing the hot-blooded guy who just set the rules on his own, Mikoto frowned and said,

"Ahh... the more I think about it, I'm reminded of this manner of speech. The personality's completely different, so why is that so? Oh, well, let's just treat it as practice before I face that guy. I'll force you to fight back. Get ready."

Flipping the arcade coin she had taken out from who knows where, Mikoto quickly accelerated the electric output in her entire body.

"So since you're using me as a stepping board to challenge on, 'that guy' seems like he's a really gutsy person! Then I won't run, I won't hide! Bring it on!"

Facing the guy in white uniform who was still rattling on, *BOOM!!* The Railgun was shot out.

"OOOOOOOOOONEEE-SAMA!? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!? THIS ESPER IS A SUSPECT, BUT YOU ACTUALLY LET OUT SUCH A MOVE ON A HUMAN OF FLESH AND BLOOD SO SUDDENLY!? No, wait, I seem to hear that it's okay if it's against an opponent in a car, but even then, it's a bit delicate for a Judgement officer."

Remembering that she once used this attack to finish off a criminal, Kuroko hurriedly lectured her, but...

"No worries, Kuroko. This person feels a lot sturdier than a tank."

"Eh?"

Appearing in front of Kuroko's eyes was the white uniform guy standing casually in the midst of the dust that had been blown up due to the impact.

"Nah hah, hissy (Not bad, Missy)..."

She thought that he mumbled because of the high impact,

But Sogiita just seemed like he was biting on something as he said that.

Understanding that the object he was biting onto was the arcade game coin that the electromaster girl shot out with a supersonic speed, Haratani and the Tokiwadai Judgement officer were both dumbstruck. The blond Judgement officer's teeth were letting out a creaking sound.

Sogiita spat the arcade game coin onto his hand, and stared at it unhurriedly.

Then, after tilting his head slightly, he said with a serious expression,

"Missy, I have something to say to you."

"Wh-What? You're fighting back now?"

Seeing the Electromaster girl who was breaking cold sweat and forcing a smile, Sogiita said,

"Arcade game coins are not to be brought out."

"..."

Everyone there was silent. At that moment, Sogiita seemed like he was worried for the girl who was his opponent, and said,

"I feel that it's better that you return this to the arcade before the shopkeeper gets angry. Well, I can go apologise with you if you want."

After a while, Haratani, who was hiding behind the vending machine, shouted at Sogiita,

"I THOUGHT OF IT BEFORE, BUT I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE! I MUST SAY THIS: YOU'RE AN IDIOT!!!"

"WHAT!?"

On hearing the words that were a blow to him, Sogiita widened his eyes, seemingly in shock.

"I see, so I'm an idiot."

After lowering his head dejectedly a bit, he quickly recovered and said loudly with guts,

"But, well, SUCH TRIVIAL STUFF LIKE WHETHER I'M SMART OR DUMB IS UNNECESSARY! I DON'T HAVE TO MIND!!"

"BE MINDFUL OF THAT A BIT!!!"

Seeing the opponent who was having an exchange with the boy who seemed to be familiar with him, Mikoto frowned and asked,

"You, you don't seem like you negated all my power without a scratch, right?"

"How is it possible!? It hurts like heck! But I just overcame it with guts!"

"I see, so you're a little different from that guy."

Facing Mikoto who was smiling fearlessly, the guy in white uniform asked back,

"Then, that move of yours was the arcade game coin cannon, right? It feels like you didn't use your full power."

"That was just 30%. You, too, it seems like you haven't used your full power, and I don't really like that."

Mikoto used the iron sand she drew from the ground to form two huge black swords, getting ready in a nitoryu pose.

"Though I can shoot something even larger, let's try something else."

The souls of the blades were wrapped in electricity and seemingly cut everything they touch. Seeing them, the fighting will in the guy in white uniform exploded.

"I see! This is a great chance for me to try my guts! You have to accompany me until the end!"

Misaka Mikoto and Sogiita Gunha.

Two of the Level 5s, both of them show a happy smile- and the intense battle began again.

A few minutes later...

Due to the thunder that struck from the thunderclouds that suddenly appeared, the area around the park lost power,

But in contrast to the power shortage a few days ago in the other districts, the damage control ended at the minimum.

The residents there were already used to the manmade "calamity".

<center>♦</center>

''So far away...''

Several seconds before the thunder struck,

Kihara Nayuta stared at this calamity (battle) with near despair.

''This is a battle between Level 5s...''

She can feel the atmosphere trembling just by standing nearby. All the hairs on her body seemed to be standing up.

And above them, Nayuta, who can see and feel the AIM diffusion field, thought that this looked like the end of the world. All the forces were fluctuating intensively, and it seemed like she was standing in front of a typhoon.

''The power difference is actually that great...''

And also, this wasn't really an intense battle between Level 5s.

One side was attacking, and one side was defending. It was just a one-sided battle.

But even so, there was already such a large flow of power. If Sogiita Gunha used his real ability to fight back, no matter who won, maybe there would be a need to be ready in case the entire park disappeared.

"AMAZING PUNCH... GUARD!!"

Facing the electric strike Mikoto released from her hand, he used what looked like a fist that was shrouded in a mirage to knock it to the ground. It was really a ridiculous scene.

In contrast, Mikoto used the iron sand to create several hundred drills and run them through with electricity, readying them to pierce Sogiita from all over the place, and shot them out. Manipulating the iron sand at such a speed that there was no time to breathe, she also let the empty cans ionise into plasma to distract the enemy's eyes before running into him, displaying all sorts of attacks.

''Was that holding back...?''

More than humiliation, what appeared first to her was the anger that she was so useless.

If she hadn't been stopped by Sogiita and continued to fight with Mikoto when she was using "slightly more ability", would she really survive until the end!?

Seeing the damaged prosthetic hands that couldn't take the impact of the electricity, the girl thought,

''I'm not there yet...''

Behind Nayuta, who was gritting her teeth in regret, Kuroko said,

"E-Either way, it's better to get away from here! If there are any ordinary people nearby, we should tell them to get away!"

While saying this, she grabbed the collar of what seemed to be Sogiita's acquaintance and got ready to teleport.

Nayuta shook her blond hair, lowered her head...

And then jumped into the tornado of AIM diffusion fields.

"!? What are you doing!? That's too reckless!!"

Kuroko frantically said, but Nayuta had no intention of turning her head back.

Though she wanted to use teleport to bring her back, she was wondering if she should bring the ordinary person who was beside her. At this moment, another person appeared beside her.

"EXCUSE ME! ORDINARY PEOPLE ARE TO EVACUATE!!"

But on seeing this person's face, Kuroko's body froze.

"? W-What?"

The boy whose collar got grabbed by Kuroko looked at the Judgement officer whose face was all blue with shock, looked at what looks like an ordinary adult, and looked back again.

At that moment, that "ordinary person" casually said to the boy,

"Boy, I want to know a bit about this."

"?"

"I want to know why you're in this situation. As brief as possible, if you can."

<center>♦</center>

In the tornado of "power", Nayuta tried to force her way in.

''I never thought of winning so easily... But...''

''A little more, just a little more... I want to believe that I can get slightly 'closer' to their territory!''

The natural and artificial nerves in her heart were running wild in her body. Even though she can't match Sogiita and the Level 5, the Judgement girl continued to head into the midst of this calamity, rushing in at a speed that far surpassed what a human can do.

"AMAZING PUNCH GUARD, GUARD, GUARD!!!"

Sogiita continued to use the mysterious waves to knock the continuous strikes of electricity down to the ground. Like what he declared, he hadn't fought back against Mikoto. Besides, it was impossible for him to not be hurt, as it looked like burns were developing on his body.

"You actually knocked electricity down? What did you do? You're the same type as 'that guy', right!?"

"Let me explain! I use telekinesis to gather the Earth's magnetic field into my hand, and use this electromagnetic field to divert the electric flow! I call it Aurora Guard!"

The boy, who was being grabbed by Kuroko behind the vending machine and talking to someone, immediately shouted at Sogiita who said such weird things,

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!? STOP MAKING UP SOME RANDOM STUFF LIKE AN ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD!!"

"WHAT!? THEN HOW DID I KNOCK THAT ELECTRICITY TO THE GROUND!?"

Sogiita looked rather amazed as he stared at his own fists. Mikoto rubbed her temples and said,

"Am I seeing a Boke and Tsukkomi routine? Anyway, I don't feel satisfied with this one-sided attack. Hurry up and retaliate!"

"I won't take back what I just said!!"

Seeing Sogiita nod his head forcefully, Mikoto frowned.

"Then I'll forcefully twist that stiff mouth of yours!!"

Saying what sounded like a line from a villain, Mikoto increased the power output from her entire body.

It was unknown how it was powered as the sky was covered with dark clouds. Seemingly in cohesion with the trails of electricity surrounding Mikoto, the skies were lit with lightning.

"Fufu, I can imagine what you're going to do now. Either way, it'll be really painful if I take one of these. Then, I have to bet all my guts and defend with all I got."

Sogiita let out a fearless smile, and with that momentum, a tornado of mysterious waves was whipped up.

''Now's the time...!''

''If I 'overload' that electric attack some more, maybe I can cause Mikoto onee-san's power to wither...!''

Nayuta gambled on this instant chance and rushed in so that she can overload the power, but...

''...! This flow of power!''

The AIM diffusion fields covered her eyes, and because of Sogiita's "guts", they became rather confusing and almost unpredictable. Thus, she moved in to try to see Mikoto's power clearly.

But at that moment, her right leg suddenly wobbled.

''—!?''

Due to the damage she sustained in her fight against Mikoto, Nayuta's prosthetic leg started to detoriate. Thus, what happened was...

With Nayuta unable to command an overload, Mikoto and the thunderclouds roared as one as they launched an attack that was going down on the park.

''You got to be kidding me...''

''This power flow itself is already equivalent to an overload...''

As the terrifying values flowed through her body, an even louder shout and undecipherable wave filled the entire park.

"SUPER ULTRA—DEFENSE!!"

Covered in red, blue, and yellow, with such gorgeous explosions, Sogiita faced this attack.

The terrifying impact spread to the surroundings, levelling all the trees in the park, and Nayuta got swallowed in the vortex of this power and immediately got blown out.

"KUUAAAHHHHH!!!"

Because of the "power" in her, she understood clearly that the AIM diffusion fields were flowing back into her body.

She was in a state where she felt that she took in too much power, which was completely different from an overload. The girl's mental condition was wavering intensely.

''Got to move...! How can I stay here!?''

Moving at her,

The bench that got blown away by the impact was about to strike her mercilessly.

"AH!"

Nayuta, who shouted without thinking, saw the bench that was flying at her, and inconceivably thought of a girl's face.

''Sorry, Banri onee-san...''

The girl who was older than her and should be a middle schooler already.

''I can't become a Level 5 "with everyone"...''

What was flickering in her mind were little, little boatlights.

<center>♦</center>

"Nayuta, you really can't make it. So you actually wanted to make that experiment 'succeed'?"

Kihara Gensei laughed once as he said this.

"Wouldn't that be like pulling the brake on this experiment? It seems like you can't be called a Kihara yet. Breaking the guinea pigs down and pushing the boundaries is the first step to research, Nayuta."

The guy who was her relative continued to pat Nayuta's head. The other relatives were the same. Everyone was gentle to Nayuta, but they never praised the girl as a researcher.

Kihara Nayuta was often called a failure, a "flawed item".

Ever since she was young, she was educated specially in the research lab. She was different from the rest; she was a girl who was geared to be an elite. When she was young, she had several successful highly difficult experiments, and these were "perfect experiments that ensured the safety of the test subjects". However, to the Kiharas, these were a proof of inability.

Though she didn't feel insecure, she felt angry over being called a flawed item and a sense of deficiency of truth.

There weren't any kids in the research lab who were the same age as her. Sometimes, she would talk to a wide-eyed girl, one 4-5 years older than her called Nunotaba who had a hard-to-approach presence around her. However, she didn't really have many chances to talk to her anyway.

And just like that, on a certain day in a facility called the Advanced Education Department, Nayuta met those children.

After asking about them, she found out that they were called Child Errors, flawed items who were abandoned by Academy City.

A boy who she never met before walked towards her, acting all familiar and uncouth. Nayuta felt unhappy about it, and insulted him like how she would insult others.

"Hmph, so you guys are flawed items who got abandoned by your relatives?"

Seeing this snobbish attitude, the boy responded, "WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" and started arguing with her. However...

The one who defended her was a girl who was also a Child Error.

"Really, guys are so crude!"

''Why must you defend me?'' Nayuta asked. She, Edasaki Banri, smiled and answered,

"Well, we already know that we're called flawed items by the adults. So we're grateful to her."

"?"

"Because she taught us a lot of things even though we were abandoned. I like this Academy City and Kiyama-sensei the most!"

Even though she got marked a flawed item, the girl continued to smile. Nayuta felt that she was really incomprehensible.

But after she headed to the facility to investigate this girl, and after many interactions with her, the doubts in her heart started to vanish unknowingly.

Nayuta, who was always educated in the research lab, started making friends for the first time in her life with Edasaki Banri and the other children.

"If we work hard, maybe we can become Level 4s or even Level 5s! Kiyama-sensei said this before!"

One day, Edasaki Banri said this.

Nayuta knew that that wasn't something that can be done with just hard work alone, but she couldn't say that. That was because she didn't want to see Banri's smile disappear.

"If that's the case, everyone can thank Kiyama-sensei and Academy City!"

"So we first have to become Judgement officers and defeat all the bad guys in Academy City."

"So, let's all become Level 5s, become Judgement officers, and protect Academy City!"

"But can we really do this as flawed items?"

"Yes, we can!"

Nayuta frantically responded to one of the girls who asked in an unsure manner.

"Even if we're flawed, as long as everyone make up for each other's shortcomings, we can have the strongest power! Nunotaba-nee said this to the clones. It seems that espers can do this!"

"Really!?"

"That's great!"

The kids started cheerly innocently, and Nayuta stared at them in envy. At this moment, Banri smiled at Nayuta in the same manner.

"Nayuta-chan, let's do our best as well!"

At this moment, all of Nayuta's logic in her brain got blown away as she nodded with a smile.

"Yes!"

What she lacked... was already patched up by Banri and the rest.

Edasaki Banri went into a coma because of an accident in the experiment. That happened just several months ago.

Nayuta, who didn't participate in the experiment, couldn't come to grips with this sudden reality.

"Kiyama Harumi."

This was the name of the female scientist who Banri called "Kiyama-sensei", and the name of the one in charge of that experiment.

Having known that her family was involved in the "deliberate overload experiment", Nayuta requested to be a test subject in order to obtain large power.

In order to get the power to take revenge on Banri and the rest's "Kiyama-sensei".

And to get the power to protect Academy City "together" with Banri with the rest.

Also, she thought that...

''If she became a guinea pig for all sorts of experiments, the number of children who would be sacrificed will be reduced.''

Having such a childish mentality, the girl offered her body to Academy City.

"Ya, Yu-chan. I heard that your body got blown up all over the place? Well, it's really great that you're still alive, 'really great'. Well, Powered Suits, we gave them to Shiokihshi-san and Therestina-nee already. The research on prosthethics wasn't too good anyway. The damage done to the precision machinery and the life maintenance equipment are a problem as well. But if the entire body's crushed, we don't even need to talk about exoskeletons and driven armour, right?"

As the result of the experiment, when more than half of her body got blown up, Nayuta's researcher relative said that while her body was being modified (or messed with). However, Nayuta just treated that as "power" and accepted it.

And then, time passed...

Listening to the explanation of the state of the unconscious kids, she said to the doctor,

"Well, I'll settle it, so don't worry, doctor. Child Errors are flawed items; it's impossible for them to wake up with their own power."

Saying that, the girl gave a smile at the doctor at the end. The doctor never intended to lecture her.

Because this doctor knew about it all.

For these kids called "flawed items", she cried for them who knew how many times.

"So I'll make up for what they lack."

Remembering all her friends who were unconscious, Nayuta said these tragic words to herself.

"I'll definitely become a Level 5, become that school's Judgement officer, and protect the peace of Academy City, and I'll wait for you. So that everyone isn't some sort of sacrifice, I will keep waiting for you. I want to be with everyone."

Without saying any more, the girl continued to harbour a strong will and offered her own body.

As for the ridiculously large amount of funds she got as a reward, she donated them all to the Child Error facilities. It may be pretense, but if there are funds, at least they don't have to send the kids in the facility to experiments for the sake of funds.

She hoped to never have kids who got fooled by scientists like Kiyama Harumi.

But on a certain day, she finally knew.

Kiyama Harumi intended to sacrifice 10,000 people in Academy City to save the children in that class. Nayuta knew of the fact that she didn't betray those kids.

And also knew of that plan being foiled by a Level 5.

What Kiyama Harumi did wasn't something worth admiring.

Even if she used that method to wake them up, nobody would be happy.

The Level 5 called the "Railgun" most likely did the correct thing.

But she couldn't get rid of this idea because of her feelings.

Was this Tokiwadai Level 5 really someone worth admiring? If that was not the case, she had to beat this Level 5 on her own, and then create an ending Edasaki and the rest wished for.

With these thoughts, Nayuta started observing Misaka Mikoto on the first day.

She witnessed her kick the vending machine and take the canned juice away.

And back to now.

<center>♦</center>

The bench was closing in on her, and as Nayuta thought of dying,

Someone forcefully grabbed the shoulder strap of her schoolbag and pulled her back.

And then a woman stood in front of her, blocked the bench, and knocked it away to somewhere empty because she couldn't take it.

''...? Who is it? I can't see an AIM diffusion field.''

''...She's not an esper?''

"Rest here for a while."

The woman said that to Nayuta and headed to Mikoto, who was still in the midst of battle, with fast steps.

"Ku, not bad. But you should be at your limit and should start fighting back, right?"

"That was a really gutsy attack. But you're still lacking!"

Both of them were panting, and right now, the two Level 5s were still showing fearless smiles.

Mikoto intended to attack again as she raised her right hand,

But before she could use electricity to bind her opponent, a hand grabbed her from behind.

"Eh?"

Facing such a sudden situation, Mikoto turned her blank face around.

"Misaka."

Standing over there was a woman who didn't mind the creaking of her own hand and was standing right there with an extremely icy look. Seeing this, Mikoto's body, sweat, and electricity all shrank back into her body.

"Recently, the vending machine earnings register seems to be weird. It's become a topic amongst the staff members. On a side note, you do know that you have to follow the dorm rules first and foremost, right?"

"Ah, th-this."

<nowiki>*Crak crak crak*</nowiki>. Mikoto's face got pulled. She wanted to say something to the Tokiwadai Dorm Supervisor, but...

"You do know what will happen next, don't you?"

Misaka answered the supervisor's question- and the moment she did, her neck got twisted with a crack. The Level 5 girl silently collapsed there.

''A Level 0 without powers just manhandled a Level 5?''

Seeing this unbelievable scene, Nayuta was unable to comprehend anything and lost consciousness due to confusion and fatigue.

<center>♦</center>

The moment Nayuta woke up, she found herself being carried by someone on their back.

"Hm? Are you awake?"

Carrying her on her back was the bespectacled woman who suddenly appeared. She still can't sense any AIM diffusion fields. It didn't seem like she was an esper. Nayuta, still wary of this woman who knocked out that Electromaster in one hit, asked,

"Onee-san, who are you? Are you a Hound Dog?"

"What's that? I don't recognise such a weird name of a squad, Kihara Nayuta."

"! How do you know my name?"

Though she frantically tried to get off her back, it seemed that the impact just now was still hurting her, as she can't use her strength properly and can only step on her wildly.

[[Image:INDEX_Toaru_Jihanki_no_Fanfare_029.jpg|thumb]]

"Don't worry, I'm just sending you to the hospital. Though you did all sorts of crazy things last time, what you did wasn't admirable. Wouldn't your friends be sad to see you battered once they wake up?"

"! How did you know about that?"

"The care centre I'm working at had a donation from a 'Kihara', and I just did some investigation as a precaution. Well, I felt that it's safe after looking into you."

"But I."

She was still unclear of the other person's identity. Just as Nayuta lowered her head, trying to argue back,

The voice that interrupted her was the stern voice of the bespectacled woman.

"Well, I have only one thing to say about that."

"Eh?"

"I can only treat you kindly while you still have to carry this kiddy schoolbag along. Once you're in middle school, if you do something like that again... '''I'll treat you like I would a Tokiwadai student. Remember that.'''"

"...! Y-Yes!"

Nayuta can see a Hades-like spirit behind that casual smile. To her, who can see the AIM diffusion fields, she wondered if she just saw an illusion. As for the answer to this doubt, nobody knew.

Either way, to her who would accept whatever kind of experiment, she would never carry out this "experiment" again if she had to make this bespectacled woman her enemy. Nayuta remembered this with quite the deep impression.

"Good that you understand. Now rest there like a kid."

"Yes."

On the other side of this terror, she can definitely feel her kindness from deep within. Kihara Nayuta slowly fell asleep on the back of this woman. Nayuta felt a new possibility: that a Level 0 can reach the heights of a Level 5.

One day, she would overcome those Level 5 monsters...

And smile with the awakened "senpais".

The greedy girl in the greedy family dreamed of such a method...

Sleeping silently and sweetly.

<center>♦</center>

Several minutes later, in a certain place in Academy City.

"So Nayuta-chan's AIM diffusion field-defense prosthetics are 47% damaged?"

"It seems like she took the 3rd's electric attacks."

"Strengthening and adjustments will likely take ten days."

"Ahh, that's good."

"That may be great data."

"It's great to see them destroyed."

"If they weren't destroyed, we wouldn't know their limits."

"Nayuta-chan finally became an outstanding person."

"And it's great that she can't move within these ten days."

"For some reason, Nayuta got really obsessed with those lab rats in the overload experiment."

"Therestina-nee will come and interfere if she found out."

"Well, this can't be helped yo. The ones who developed the Ability Body Crystal were Gensei-jii and Therestina-nee."

"More importantly, how is Amai's mass-produced Radio Noise plan?"

"Well, Amata's son is..."

"..."

<center>♦</center>

"That guy with the red and white shirt with the white uniform over it, I don't even know his name in the end. But he sure is strong."

Saying this, Mikoto continued to walk back to the dorm.

After that incident, the researchers from Academy City came over. "We're going to repair the park. Don't get nosy to this; hurry up and go back". Though they didn't understand why, Mikoto and Kuroko ran away from the park in order to not be glared at by the dorm supervisor.

"Onee-sama, do you want to look for this person because the battle outcome wasn't decisive?"

"Well, it's true that it ended because time was up even though we didn't go all out, and that guy really irritates me. It's better if I just focus on 'that guy'."

"Who's 'that guy'? I'm really mindful of that as well."

Ignoring Kuroko's question, Mikoto's heart was raging with even more determination.

"But I can't remain complacent. If that guy just retaliated normally, I probably would have lost. There's really a lot of amazing people in the world. I have to train my ability, too!"

"Ahhh, you're saying such things that a shounen manga protagonist would say. Onee-sama, you should focus on more feminine hobbies."

Sighing deeply, Kuroko looked at Mikoto.

"Speaking of which, Onee-sama, it's really convenient of you that you can do an electric massage on yourself."

Inserting electricity into the neck the dorm supervisor had twisted, Misaka Mikoto looked embarrassed and said,

"Well, it's alright."

<center>♦</center>

"Well, I don't think I lost in terms of guts, but I actually got beaten in terms of momentum. Is that bespectacled woman the incarnate of a Hariti?"

"Hard to tell."

Sogiita Gunha and Haratani Yabumi were leaning on the vending machine and watching the researchers continue with their "recovery work".

At first, he said that he wanted to help, and after doing hard manual work like lifting a fallen tree, he was told "leave everything else to us", so he went to the vending machine to rest.

Gunha and Haratani, who was left at this messy place, remembered the scene just now.

The girl who he had been fighting just now just got twisted *CRACK* by the bespectacled woman who had just entered. The next moment, that woman seemed to glide on the ground towards him as she said,

"It seems that our students here caused you trouble. I would like to apologise for this. Please forgive her."

She said all that as she gave an invisible pressure.

He didn't even have time to feel angry that this battle was interfered with. Sogiita felt a chill on his back as he responded, "Oh, okay."

Since he had nodded his head and accepted the apology, he didn't have any right to be angry, and the final battle ended without a decisive outcome.

"But that Electromaster missy really has some guts. She didn't mock me even when I didn't fight back, and even wished to fight me on equal standing."

"Ahh, okay."

"This world is so big! I don't know who that Electromaster missy is, but if that had kept up, maybe it would have been my loss. It seems that I can't be complacent. Got to correct my guts!"

''...Before that, please correct some other aspects first.''

Thinking about this, Haratani didn't say it as he casually responded.

The faulty vending machine that was famous in Tokiwadai.

Not knowing of this rumour, Sogiita put 120 yen into the coin slot. He chose a drink and pressed the button.

<nowiki>*Clack*</nowiki>. Just like that, the vending machine spat out the product.

"It actually can work even after such an electric shock."

The levelled trees, the volcanic crater–like stone floor that was ripped off... Despite facing such a devastating situation, the vending machine continued to work. Sogiita Gunha smiled and said,

"You're rather gutsy."

As if it was a response to him, the vending machine responded with a "you won a prize" music...

Singing that it was still standing firm in this park that was filled with killing intent.

===Epilogue===

A certain pirated broadcast.

''Do you know about Level 5s? Ah, I seem have have used this intro before. Well, never mind.''

''Then, though I always described Level 0s as grains of sand, this world isn't just made of sand grains, stones of a pyramid, birds, and stars. There's something even more bone-chilling.''

''For example, there's sand that can negate all powers like a black hole, or a spellcaster that can turn the laws of the world topsy-turvy, or a 'monsterous, gluttonous devil' that has pins all over its nun habit, or someone mysterious who can make their ears big and stuff it into a wallet... guys like these with mysterious abilities. If these people all exist in Academy City, what will happen if people continue to move without knowing anything?''

''Well, even though these rumours exist, they're not bad either. Just today, there was a 'miracle Level 0' who took down two Level 5s. No, actually, as she didn't even develop her powers, she's lower than a Level 0. Why don't we talk about this cool and interesting woman?''

''There's a rumour that her ability far exceeds a human's, even those of those Skill-Outs Kurozuma and Komaba!''

''There's also a rumour that even though she's able to knock down two stars at one dog, she's unexpectedly naive when it comes to love. Today, let's talk about this naive yet cold-blooded killing machine-'' *BEEP* ''Hm? Wh... wron...? The bro... ast... state...''

Suddenly, what sounded like a sandstorm echoed throughout the network. Hamazura Shiage muttered in front of the computer.

"What? What's wrong!? Who is it!? Forget about Kurozuma; there's someone else stronger than Komaba-san!? OII! WHY DID THE PIRATED BROADCAST END AT SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART!? DID THE NAVY ATTACK THEM!? OI OI!!!"

At the same time, Mikoto was listening to the same broadcast in the dormitory, and slowly closed the laptop.

"Ahh, why did it end? But speaking of which, what's with this fight between Level 5s? Something dangerous actually happened. But who was the one who stopped that?"

Mikoto was unable to realise that she was one of the people involved. Behind her, her roommate added,

"Speaking of fighting, the commotion at the park was amazing! However, I found out something strange during my investigation. That student called Kihara Nayuta is really registered as a Judgement branch officer. However, her personal information was stored in a thick anti-hacking system, so I can't break through it on my own. As for that school she mentioned, it wasn't operational in the first place. If that's the case, I have to ask Uiharu and Konori-senpai tomorrow."

"Don't do that. It's still justified if it's a common suspect, but I don't feel too good about this if we just look into others like that. As for this, I was wrong for getting over my head, so don't mind."

"Eh? But as a Judgement officer, I feel that someone who just let Onee-sama's power overload and attack a compliant suspect was a little too much."

Kuroko tilted her head. Interrupting her, Mikoto snuggled under the blanket.

"Okay. Well, it's lights-out. Time to sleep."

Deep in her mind, she remembered the "memory" she saw from Kiyama.

As for that girl Nayuta, in the end, she never had the chance to talk to her properly. However, it felt like she wasn't a bad person. Wanting to think about the meaning behind all of that...

"Okay, then I'll come over with my sweet talk!"

Mikoto did a German Suplex on Kuroko, who seemed like she was ready to sneak under Mikoto's blanket. At this point, to Misaka Mikoto, it was now back to normal.

Of course, there's a reason as to why she didn't hear the pirated broadcast later.

<center>♦</center>

''Ahh... hello... can you hear me? Good, the broadcast's on again. I'm really sorry about that. Today's broadcast content has to change a bit. One of the ojous of Academy City's family of researchers stepped in just now. It seems that the topic just now was a taboo. Ohh, this isn't submitting to authority! How can a guy not listen to an elementary school girl's earnest request?''

''Then, let's talk about something else as well! Actually, that was from one of our sponsors. It seems that this was to be aired no matter how flimsy it was. Well, just forget about all of that. Have you sneaked into some abandoned building in Academy City?''

''If it were per normal, one would think that they would be mugged by delinquents for their money. But what if this were the opposite? What if it's a chance to get money?''

''Actually, this is a rumour that just appeared recently. It's said that under some vending machine on the roadside are unused debit cards in a 'blind corner' that even Academy City's security cameras can't enter, you know? An earthquake? There's been a lot of them, too, recently. Well, actually, let's just continue talking about the cards. It seems like there's already a few hundred of them taken this month. Actually, I've been looking for these cards as well...''

As Misaka Mikoto continued to sleep, Academy City continued to buzz.

A huge, rumbling monster that completely ignored her will for good or for evil, swallowing everything up.

After that, Mikoto met all sorts of incidents, and she faced off against this monster before. However...

That was another story altogether.

'''END'''

===Notes===
<references/>
<noinclude>
{{Toaru_Nav}}
</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter6

2011-08-15T13:56:38Z

Dagger: /* Part 2 */ Wow, that's fast

== Chapter 6==
 
=== Part 1 ===
 
“A nuclear bomb!?” Misaka Mikoto yelled into her cell phone in the backroom of the occult convenience store.

Shirai Kuroko was on the other end.

“Yes. I don’t know how the rumor ended up changing like that. …It may have simply been that the original story had to do with a uranium crystal, so it made people think of a nuclear bomb.”

“…I wonder if this change was part of their plan.”

The problem was who it was that was going to intentionally cause an incident related to the urban legend.

And there was the fact that there were currently terrorists hidden in Academy City who were armed with weapons that used ultra high frequency electromagnetic waves. Not to mention that they had been brought in from the Russian shopping mall.

The ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles were enough of a threat, but the possibility of the danger being much, much higher had just gotten a lot more likely.

After all…

“The shopping mall used the Code EIC system to spread the rumor. If the uranium ornament is part of the plan of the shopping mall’s higher ups, then they will cause an incident related to it. If their plan is to cause catastrophic damage to Academy City so the value of their unreliable scientific information on developing psychic powers rises astronomically, then the bigger the scale of the incident, the better for them…”

“It’s true that this would resolve everything much more simply than just creating small bits of damage with the ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles and the harmful electromagnetic wave detector.”

“The ones trying to cause the incident may have revised the contents of the urban legend in order to detonate a nuke…”

Lessar operated the screen of a smartphone with her index finger and then lightly struck the table with a corner of the device. When Mikoto looked over, Lessar showed her the screen.

It showed the search results from a search engine.

There was a list of sites and boards that had the keywords “uranium ornament” in them. The number of results was already beyond 100,000.

Mikoto started thinking that the rumor must have really started to spread through the Russian shopping mall too, but then she realized she was wrong.

The search engine Lessar was using was not a local one that only searched the shopping mall. It was a worldwide one.

(…What? Are the effects of Code EIC expanding?)

“Kuroko, have any actual nuclear materials or bombs been found in Academy City?”

“Not yet. But Uiharu is…a colleague of mine is tracking their escape route. I assume they have not already made into a bomb and I do not think they can put one together while on the run.”

“But it’s still possible. There’s even the risk of damage caused by having the enriched uranium leave its container in the process of suppressing them.” Mikoto thought for a bit. “What about evacuating the residents of Academy City?”

“This wouldn’t be so difficult if we could do that. If we made this information public, it would cause a panic throughout the city which would create secondary damages. If all 2.3 million residents tried to leave at once, the transportation facilities would be paralyzed and it would all fall apart near the gates.”

“…”

“Also, the majority of Anti-Skill is skeptical of the existence of the nuclear bomb. They are interpreting this as the terrorists with the ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles trying to bring the city into a panic so Anti-Skill will be unable to function properly allowing them to escape.”

Mikoto felt that was being too calm given the situation, but it was true that they had no proof of a nuclear bomb in Academy City. It was just an urban legend.

“Understood. Contact me again once Anti-Skill begins their suppression operation.”

“What will you do, onee-sama?”

“I’ll do what I can,” Mikoto sighed. “The people truly behind this are in this city. If I defeat them, I should be able to get accurate information on what the terrorists in Academy City have and what they plan to do.”

She hung up.

The situation had gotten even more serious. The new crisis made the living bombs using special ants pale in comparison.

“That certainly seems bad,” said Lessar as her fingers raced across the smartphone once more.

She sounded as if the situation did not affect her. For a foreigner like Lessar, it may have seemed like nothing more than a war in a distant country.

“The urban legend that had been spreading through both the shopping mall and Academy City has begun to spread throughout the entire world. Someone is clearly behind it. I don’t know what they’re trying to do, but it seems the window to ‘outside’ has been opened in Code EIC. …They likely can’t conveniently control the media outside the shopping mall in the same way, but they can provide a stimulus through various media with a time delay by using ‘foreign news’ as a substitute.”

Even just within the shopping mall, Code EIC had caused a rather large problem.

If its effects spread to the entire world, the scale of the incidents would skyrocket.

Baseless data could have an effect on the physical world.

Just by adding in data, they could destroy people’s minds.

“Before, you spoke like you knew how Code EIC was controlled. You said you wanted to explain it, but that there wasn’t enough time.”

“I wasn’t trying to put on airs of importance or anything. That just happened to be when the remote controlled snowplow drove into the building.”

“But now’s fine, right?” Mikoto said cutting her off. “Tell me right here and now what is at the center of Code EIC. We need to go directly destroy the source of the urban legends.”

 
 

=== Part 2 ===
 
Mikoto exited the occult convenience store and sensed that something was off. It was an unpleasant prickling feeling in her skin. It was an odd sense of tension where the slightest sound seemed as if it would set off bloodshed like during a standoff between a police squad and a group of people about to riot.

“Wait, what is going on out here…?”

“Well, Academy City is not the only place filled with urban legends,” Lessar said and laughed. “Nee hee hee. The people in this shopping mall have reached their mental saturation point. They can’t distinguish between the truth and lies, so when they hear a rumor that a nuclear bomb in an unknown location could detonate at any time, they have begun to take it seriously. That’s how it seems to me, at least.”

Suddenly, Mikoto heard a slight noise.

They were in an area filled with small tenant-owned shops and a large white man had come out of one of those shops.

There was an odd light in his eyes.

Fear, anger, and joy at being permitted to destroy could be seen in that light.

When he saw Mikoto, he first muttered something in Russian.

Then, he let out an explosive shout.

“He’s shouting ‘I’ve found her’.”

“You don’t have to tell me that! I can understand Russian!! More importantly, what’s with that reaction!? Did the security guards release a picture of me as the suspect in the orange case!?”

“Hmm, it seems the details of the uranium ornament story were altered for easiest use for the Academy City version and the shopping mall version. But I think that change happened in the process of spreading from person to person rather than by using Code EIC to control it.”

“What?”

“Just saying the people of the shopping center are villains running a black market wouldn’t hold much interest here, so the story ended up changing. Here the story says some enriched uranium was sold here, but that it was brought in by someone from Academy City who is trying to cause a nuclear explosion here in order to get rid of the shopping mall.”

“In other words…”

As Mikoto started to take over the explanation, the large shouting white man reached for his waist. There was a holster attached to his belt.

“…they may have been keeping my personal information a secret up to the day of the demonstration, but there could still have been some partial rumors such that I was a girl and around middle school age.”

While looking at an oddly small handgun that did not suit the large man, Lessar spoke.

“I suppose right now any Academy City Asian middle school girls will be treated like terrorists in this city.”

Mikoto and Lessar moved at the same instant as if being repelled by the other.

As they moved quickly to the left and the right leaping behind nearby pillars, a dry gunshot exploded out.

“I don’t like this society of guns!! Why would you let just anyone have a gun!?”

“That’s not really something a girl who can fire a coin at three times the speed of sound should be saying.”

“The problem is,” Mikoto said changing the subject, “less about this cheerful man and his gun and more about whether these gunshots will rouse up the rest of the people.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I will of course…”

While multiple bullets caused sparks to fly from the pillar she was using as a shield, Mikoto calmly watched the motions of her target without shutting her eyes.

“…quickly silence him.”

Immediately after she said that, an electronic noise came from right beside the white man.

What looked like a human figure jumped in his peripheral vision.

The man immediately looked over there, but then he froze.

There was only a wall there.

The man had turned his vision to an image of Mikoto on the Semipublic AR.

(His aim has gone astray!!)

Immediately afterwards, the sound of building materials breaking could be heard.

It was coming from above.

A power cable as thick as a thumb ran across inside the ceiling. And that cable was attached using iron fixtures at even intervals.

Mikoto magnetically manipulated those fixtures to indirectly move the power cable.

The white man stopped moving again more in shock over the fact that the cable was unnaturally floating than at the destruction being done.

The sound of something slicing through the air could be heard.

A strike swooping up from below knocked the handgun from the man’s hand. However, that was not enough to neutralize him. Mikoto continued to swing the cable around.

Five consecutive strikes assaulted the man.

The man used his thick arms to cover his face and upper body and Mikoto darted from behind the pillar and dashed toward the man. By ducking under his guarding arms, she tackled him as if trying to embrace his waist which knocked the man to the floor.

A dull sound exploded out.

“Okay!! Now I-…!!”

Mikoto was about to bind the man’s arms and legs using some smaller cables, but she suddenly froze in shock.

The man who had been struck to the ground was still stretching out his arms.

Normally, the blow should have knocked him out.

At the very least, he should have been having trouble breathing.

“He’s in a riotous state! He’s full of adrenaline, but his reason has been compromised!! The Code EIC rumors have agitated him. It’s possible that he can’t feel normal pain!!” yelled Lessar from a short distance.

“…!!”

In order to avoid having her legs grabbed, Mikoto stepped back and put some distance between her and the man.

With his body leaning to the side, the white man slowly tried to stand back up. Also, the handgun was now back in his hand.

“What am I supposed to do about this…?”

Just being prepared to knock someone unconscious or stop their movements was not enough.

Most likely, they would still come for her even if she broke their arms and legs. Most likely, even if she damaged their organs, they would keep moving until the moment their hearts stopped. To stop the rioters for sure, she would need even more violence.

In other words, she could not stop them unless she killed them.

And she did not have time to hesitate.

She saw a few more men and women peering around a corner.

They had most likely headed over after hearing the gunfire. At first, they looked shocked upon seeing Mikoto and the white man, but their expressions soon changed.

(This is bad.)

Mikoto felt a chill run down her spine.

She could practically see an illusion of a small fire spreading throughout the area.

“Help me out!! She’s a monster! She suddenly came and struck me while I was just walking along!!” the white man yelled out in anger to clinch things.

Mikoto had no time to cry out in protest.

The expressions of the men and women who were glaring at her (the terms peering or looking no longer accurately expressed what they were doing) from around the corner were so twisted they barely looked human.

“Oh, crap.”

Mikoto took swift action upon seeing one of them holding the kind of axe that was used by firefighters or for emergency escape.

She magnetically manipulated the rebar at her feet to cause the floor to cave in.

With a great noise, Mikoto fell down to the next floor down.

“If you’re going to run, give me a sign first,” Lessar said in a carefree voice.

Mikoto had no idea when the girl had managed to get so close to her.

But she had no time to worry about it.

“Oh ,dear. This is bad, this is bad. …I’m not even close to joking when I say this area is really, really bad.”

“Wh-why?”

“It looks like everyone came rushing here hoping to turn their life around in one shot. The gun shop corner is pretty much being looted.”

“Ugehgeh!! Why did we fall down into an area full of guns!?”

Mikoto’s eyes widened.

It seemed to be a place packed full of all the gun shops registered with the shopping mall, but they were selling ice cream like normal right next to it all. It was being treated just like the bookstore corner. The feelings toward guns were completely different than in Japan.

“I thought the shopping mall was supposed to be divided between necessary daily items and the entertainment or luxury items!”

“What are you talking about? A rifle is necessary for daily life.”

“…Seriously?”

“In this country, things don’t get to the level of entertainment or a hobby until you get up to a rocket launcher or a Gatling gun.”

“Oh, god damn it… Next you’re gonna tell me people here fire railguns for fun.”

“Anyway, things could get bad if this looting continues.”

“Are you saying something even worse is going to happen!?”

“With their blood rushing to their heads like this, I doubt they’re intentionally going for it, but there is a large vault in the underground space further back in the gun shop corner. It’s about the size of a hangar from a private airport.”

“What’s inside the vault?”

“Viner,” Lessar quickly responded. “It’s filled with weapons scheduled to appear in a summer weapons show that specializes in ground weapons. There are weapons from the 14 major companies in the world as well as Academy City. There is more of a difference than you would ever want to know between these ‘everyday necessities’ out here and what is in there.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

Tons of rifles were neatly lined up in large glass showcases as if they were brand name bags. The storage areas in the back were packed full of guns and ammunition.

But the glass had been smashed to pieces.

High-pitched alarms hurt their ears.

No one had turned around when Mikoto had come crashing down from above because they were causing similar noises themselves.

Dozens of pairs of hands grabbed at brand new rifles like people fighting over items during a good sale. Ammunition was spilled all over the floor. Some people ran around while shoving multiple guns into shopping carts, some people stuck handguns into their belts, and some people grabbed up a bunch of rifles and then were punched from the side by someone else who took all the rifles from them. No mercy was shown to anyone regardless of age or gender. Guns were flying all over the place like when each customer was limited to one package of eggs so people had their kids line up to buy some, too.

Mikoto’s face paled at that scene that was outside of common Japanese knowledge.

“…Are they stupid? I could understand one or two, but what are they planning to do with an armful of guns!?”

“I wonder if the precious metals are being stolen in the same way or if the people here are leveling themselves up in order to attack stores with more value. At any rate, it does not look like things are going to be quiet.”

It may have been a mistake to start speaking in Japanese.

The people had not reacted when the ceiling had come crashing down, but their gazes and the barrels of their guns all pointed in Mikoto’s direction when she spoke.

“Wow. An enemy sure is a powerful thing when it comes to justifying crimes!”

“This is no time to be giving carefree commentary on the situation!!”

Mikoto pulled on Lessar’s arm and jumped behind a nearby shelf. After she did, she came to the shocking realization that the shelf was filled with ammunition, but it was too late to hide elsewhere.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of gunfire followed them.

The relatively heavy looking shelves and the products lined up on them were mercilessly pierced by the bullets. Their opponents were firing military rifles rather than handguns. The shelves would not act as a shield against that.

Mikoto complained quietly as she jumped behind another shelf that had everything from ammunition accessories to something like a tripod.

“What the hell!? That old man is firing at us with a monstrous look on his face!! Someone needs to stop him before he collapses from high blood pressure!!”

“It’s lucky those are downgraded civilian models. If they had proper full auto functionality, this truly would’ve been bad.”

“Even with semi-auto, it’s still pretty much a constant stream of bullets with that many guns.”

Their opponents were not soldiers under a unified command. They were just worked up rioters. It seemed a few of them were trying to circle around, but Mikoto was more worried about them taking each other out in friendly fire.

Mikoto looked around the area while rushing out of the area lined with shelves, across the open hallway, and into another area lined with shelves.

“Where are the security guards?”

“They won’t be able to put out this fire. The fire has already spread to the dry grass. As the number of people with guns grows, not even the security guards will be able to do anything about it. All they can probably do is isolate the fire so it doesn’t make its way to the truly important petrochemical complex.”

That city was noisily crumbling.

The instant the power balance between those protecting the peace of the city and those destroying it reversed, it was as if oil scattered on the floor had caught fire. The curtain opened on a nightmarish stage where people devoured other people.

Mikoto realized her entire body was trembling.

That violence was in a completely different dimension from the times she had gotten in fights with delinquents in the back alleys of Academy City. If it gained enough momentum, it would just swallow everything up. Both the good and the bad, both the assailant and the victim, and everyone else would sink down into the sea of blood they had created with their own hands.

“I have to stop this…” Mikoto muttered as she stopped her feet that were carrying her from one row of shelves to another. “I have to stop this before those guns make it everywhere in this city!!”

“Personally, I think that’s rather pointless,” Lessar said in an almost ridiculing manner.

It was possible that was not the first time the mysterious girl had been in a situation like that.

“Things are already flowing in that direction. It has permeated every nook and cranny of the city. Even if you manage to suppress everyone in this gun shop corner, it will not stop the overall disturbance. Plenty of people already have handguns.”

“Then what?” Mikoto said speaking overly quickly due to her nervousness. “It’s true that there are probably people who already have handguns and that defeating the people in this gun shop corner will not stop all of this primitive violence. But if all the guns here get scattered around, the density of the violence will rise significantly. It will get to the point where no one will even be able to survive even by a miracle. That’s why I have to at least stop that from happening. I need to bring the violence down to a level where the word miracle can at least still have its place.”

Lessar sighed.

“…Um. Are you aware that you’ll be doing nothing more than satisfying yourself as long as you don’t resolve the fundamental problem?”

“I know, I know.”

“And are you aware that you’ll be risking your life in order to satisfy the feelings of a single individual?”

“I know that too,” Mikoto said while looking Lessar in the eye. “That’s why I’m not asking you to stay with me. You need to head to the facility with Code EIC’s centralized control in it as originally planned. We can’t let this riot spread any further, but that’s also why we can’t just ignore Code EIC either.”

“You say it likes it easy…” Lessar thought for a bit and then spoke quietly. “You’re suggesting we split up, but how am I supposed to escape in this situation? All of those rioters have rifles. Not to mention that we’re pretty much surrounded.”

“Not necessarily.”

“?”

Lessar frowned and Mikoto tapped her foot on the ground.

“There’s a convenient duct passing through down below. However, if we both went inside and disappeared from view, they would notice right away.”

But if they split up there and one of them went on a rampage, the rioters’ focus would be drawn to that one. In that time, the other could safely sneak to the center of Code EIC and destroy it.

“…At the base, these rioters are in a panic stemming from the urban legend of the uranium ornament, so they may calm down if Code EIC is stopped.”

“We have no proof of that. That many people is enough to wear even you down. If you go all out and run around expecting them to stop, it may be too late by the time you realize they aren’t going to stop.”

“…”

Mikoto understood that danger.

After all, she was the primary target of the rioters. If she made a mistake, she would definitely be given a long, painful death in a flood of primitive violence.

Understanding that quite well, Mikoto spoke.

“…That isn’t for you to worry about.”

“Seriously? This kind of hot-blooded mood just isn’t part of my character, so I’m not going to go along with it.”

“Then get going.”

“Chehh,” Lesser muttered before pulling a four-bladed spear-like weapon from somewhere.

She stabbed it into the floor and one of the blades passed through the gap around the square duct cover. She used the principle of leverage to easily open it.

“I won’t shed any tears if you die, so try to stay alive.”

“I’ll haunt you if I do, so at least tell me where the center of Code EIC is.”

“It’s in an underground facility called the stock market center. The stocks of all the countless stores registered in this shopping mall are traded there and deals are made using money from all over the world.”

“I see. A large scale communications network needs a processor that can calculate that massive amount of data instantly. That would be perfect to act as the center of Code EIC.”

“Given the location, it really does seem like they intended to spread their reach beyond the shopping mall in the end. It gives me a bad feeling and it fits with this disturbance.”

After saying that, Lessar jumped into the square hole.

Just her head was sticking out.

“Okay, I look forward to seeing you again assuming it isn’t as a ghost.”

“Sorry, but people from Academy City don’t believe in spiritual phenomena, so if I’m going to haunt you, I’ll do it scientifically.”

Lessar ducked her head down and Mikoto moved the square cover with her foot so it closed up the entrance.

Mikoto then heard a creaking sound.

It was not coming from just one place. The sound seemed to be surrounding her and it seemed to be slowly approaching her.

“Now then…” Bluish-white sparks flew from her bangs. “I thinks it’s time for a fun demonstration of just how powerful Academy City’s #3 is.”

 
 

=== Part 3 ===
 
The security guard named Enirya G. Algonskaya shouted into her radio.

“I already told you!! Bring down all the functioning shutters!! Cut off all the communication connections!! Don’t let those taking part in the riots gather beyond a certain level! They’re only civilians! We don’t need to be afraid of them if we can get them in a situation where we can attack and restrain them individually!!”

She instinctually ducked down when she heard some dry gunshots.

Sparks flew from the barricade made from a car dealer’s display model.

(…Dammit. They’re using handguns, but those aren’t normal bullets. If I hadn’t packed that stuff into the car, they would be piercing straight through.)

The normally spacious inside of the car was filled with iron scraps. They were square masses of packed together crushed cans that had been gathered for recycling. Even something usually weak like that could be effective if you gathered together enough of them.

And it was the same with the civilian rioters.

“The riots are even now cropping up in more areas!! They’re mostly around the north and east gates, but they’re heading inward. At this rate, it’s going to spread throughout the entire city!!”

“This is Unit C. It seems they have realized that we are using nonlethal rubber bullets! Their actions are clearly getting bolder!! We can’t deal with rapid fire handguns with this equipment!! Even if we’re wearing bulletproof vests, we’ll be unable to continue if we keep getting hit!!”

(So we’re at our limit…)

Enirya’s face turned bitter.

Protecting the peace was only effective in a situation where one chased after the minority that broke the rules while the majority followed the rules. If every single person in the city stopped listening to them, their effectiveness became paralyzed.

Once that happened, all that was left was to use weapons until one side was silenced.

And on top of that…

(We’re being pushed back more by the difference in numbers than in the quality of our equipment… They have more strength right now. If they realize that, the rioters will gain the sense of superiority that being in the majority brings. Then words and actions will not be able to get through to them!!)

“God damn it…” Enirya spat out. “What are we doing!? Following the manual as to what gets top priority? Escorting the VIPs to safety? How many civilians do you think will be killed while we’re protecting those old men that can only think of their own safety!?”

“I can’t contact those higher ups,” said a colleague of hers who was hiding behind the makeshift barricade. “They ordered us to secure escape route C and allow the priority members to escape to safety, but ever since then I haven’t heard a word from them. They’re supposed to have transmitters on them to tell where they are, but….”

“Do you think they were swallowed up by the rioters?”

“I don’t want to think they’re that stupid. If they were, I’d want to kill myself for following their orders for so long.”

“Same here,” Enirya said while checking on how many spare magazines she had. “Most likely, the higher ups are doing something in secret that they don’t feel the need to inform us of. They’re probably carrying out some master plan that does not involve stopping the rioters. In other words, they’re probably just leaving us here to die.”

“What do we do?” said her colleague while carefully choosing his words. “Do we just carry out the role of the dog that follows the order of ‘stay’ until it starves to death?”

“Our duty is to protect the peace of this city,” Enirya responded without a second’s delay. “I didn’t quit my job as a police inspector and come here just to curry the favor of some old men.”

If they could quit guarding the escape route for the higher ups who probably weren’t even coming, they had a lot more options. As she had said before, the rioters were civilians. Just by laying traps and falling back, they could neutralize and corner a group that size.

What should they do in order to rob the rioters of their fighting spirit without killing them while at the same time avoid having any of the security guards getting swallowed up by the rioters?

Enirya was envisioning the layout of the facility in her mind when she heard a new piece of information.

“I have a report from Unit G that is working to suppress the rioters near the gun shop area!!”

“Dammit, has that area fallen to them!? All the ground weapons for the weapons show are being stored there!!”

“No, the samples for Viner are safe.” Her colleague sounded as if he could not believe what he was saying. “I can’t confirm it on the surveillance cameras, but…it seems a single civilian is fighting to hold back the rioters attacking the gun shop area!!”

“A…civilian…?”

“It’s Misaka Mikoto.”

Enirya was completely dumbfounded and her colleague continued.

“It seems she’s working to prevent those deadly weapons from spreading through the very shopping mall that was chasing after her.”

“…”

Enirya had a few thoughts in that instant.

“…Is there a path to the gun shop area?”

“Are you planning to get her help? Despite what she’s doing, she’s still the primary suspect, you know!?”

“No, not that.” Enirya spat out. “These riots seemed to have been sparked by the urban legend of the uranium ornament. And their goal is the death of the girl who is supposedly trying to detonate a nuke.”

“You don’t mean…”

“All of these rioters have their eyes on that girl, so we need to restrain them before the worst happens.”

Most likely, the riots would not stop even if Misaka Mikoto were truly killed. Once that primitive violence gained momentum, it would continue for some time before their desires died down.

But at the same time, that girl was at the center of the riots.

That girl could greatly change the direction of the riot. She could lead to a method of controlling them. They could not lose that. They needed to use it.

“The target is continually moving around rather than staying in one place.”

“Of course she is. If she didn’t, she would be swallowed up by the waves of people,” Enirya said with a look of disinterest. “Use the surveillance equipment to determine where the rioting is at its strongest. That will be where we will find that girl.”

 
 

=== Part 4 ===
 
Misaka Mikoto jumped out from behind a battered shelf.

At the same time, multiple gunshots chased after her.

Intense bluish-white sparks flew from her entire body starting with her bangs. The flash and roar were just like that from actual lightning. The tremendous light and noise pounded an extremely primal fear into the hearts of the rioters that were staring at her through their gun sights.

Simply put, it was similar to a stun grenade.

However, the problem was that they held rifles or handguns in their hands. The flash and roar did make them flinch away and it succeeded in taking a few of their senses from them, but at the same time, their trigger fingers pulled back almost reflexively.

Even more bullets flew through the air.

Mikoto had been heading for a nearby shelf, but she gave up on that and used magnetism to forcibly pull the shelf closer.

The rifle bullets could easily pierce straight through the shelf.

However, Mikoto used magnetism to crush the shelf raising its density. As a result, it just barely managed to stop the deadly bullets.

Mikoto then threw the crushed shelf at the group of rioters.

Multiple people were knocked away as if they were bowling pins.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

With a universally understood cry, men and women continued to charge for her despite having blood flowing from their foreheads. It did not matter whether they held guns. Mikoto had been determined to be pure evil, so they were mercilessly heading for her as if they enjoyed the fact that they had made that determination.

(The lowering of their ability to think has dulled their sense of pain… Dammit, this is practically a scene from a zombie movie!!)

The crackling of bluish-white sparks exploded out.

A high voltage current flew straight ahead and finally stole the use of his limbs from a rioter and knocked him unconscious.

Or so it should have.

“Gh…gh…”

Despite having collapsed, the rioter’s fingertips were wriggling which caused even Mikoto to gasp in surprise.

And then…

(…?)

Mikoto heard a creaking sound from the side.

As soon as she heard it, multiple shelves from the gun shops collapsed all at once as if they had been hit by heavy machinery.

“Wha-…!?”

At that time, Mikoto remembered a documentary on tropical oceans she had seen.

More accurately, she recalled the sea anemones.

What reminded her of them were all the hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands!!!!!

“…!! What happened to your guns!?”

Mikoto magnetically manipulated one of the shelves that had been knocked over. She sent it sliding across the floor at high speed as if it was sliding on ice. It took out the rioters’ feet knocking them over.

But that was not enough.

She then heard a metallic click behind her.

“I didn’t say that because I was hoping you would bring the guns back!!”

Multiple gunshots rang out.

Mikoto dropped down her hand that was up in the air while magnetically manipulating the rebar in the ceiling. A large amount of building materials came crashing down like a shutter creating a shield against the bullets.

An unpleasant sweat appeared over Mikoto’s body.

There were some rioters as well as Mikoto along the path where the bullets would have gone. They truly were just a gathering of strangers, so they did not care about friendly fire.

She could not continue stopped in one place.

She had to stop the guns from being spread out from that gun shop area, but getting swallowed up by the waves of people would not help anything.

“…!!”

Mikoto gritted her back teeth and moved swiftly. She fired a few more flashes and roars in the place of stun grenades and used all her speed to leave that gun shop area.

She cut across a grocery corner and into a do-it-yourself carpentry corner while a few bullets were fired nearby.

(I can’t do anything if I don’t neutralize their guns.)

Mikoto ducked down and ran between shelves while covering her head from the remnants of the products being blown away by the rifle bullets.

(My power can do a lot of things, but it’s easier to use by strengthening it with items gathered from the area than just using it by itself. Even its namesake, the Railgun, is like that…)

Mikoto practically slid into the corner she was headed for and grabbed the package she was going for. It was a large plastic bag about the size of a bag of rice.

(And so is my magnetic control using iron sand.)

Inside the bag were business use hand warmers.

The package held a few dozen of them and Mikoto used magnetism to rip them apart from the inside.

There were multiple types of hand warmers, but those ones had iron powder inside.

“Personally, I find iron sand easier to use, but I guess this is no time to be picky.”

She heard a sound similar to when an insect flew by her ear.

The advantage of iron sand or iron powder was that it could easily be interfered with using magnetism. If she made it vibrate at high speed, she could cut objects as if with a chainsaw and she could change it into the form of a sword, a spear, or a whip at will.

For example, it was not difficult to send out orders that caused masses smaller than a speck to be fired into the barrels or the ejection ports of the guns to tear them apart from the inside.

The sound of objects slicing through the air continued.

However, the sound was not that of rifle bullets.

It was the sound of the “bullets” of iron powder Mikoto was firing being swallowed up by the barrels of the rioter’s guns.

(This will work.)

She was now sure of that as she started to run again.

This time, she was not trying to flee. She was running in order to fight.

(This way, I can neutralize all of the guns being looted from that area! I can avoid the worst possible situation!!)

Just as she thought that, Mikoto sensitively felt an invisible current in the atmosphere. It was not a physical current of air. It was the current of emotions that had spread throughout the area and given rise to that rioting.

It had chaotically spread through that area like a giant balloon being filled to its limits within an airtight room.

However, it was now as if a gap had been created.

The flowing feelings were leaving for somewhere else. The tense feelings started to move off into the distance.

At first, Mikoto thought it was just the rioters faltering at the beginning of her counterattack.

But it was not that.

It was…

That current of emotions was…

(The target of the violence…has changed to something else?)

Mikoto frowned while continuing to destroy the rioters’ rifles from the inside.

(The Russian version of the uranium ornament story had me as the ultimate villain. Why would they start to leave their primary target alone…?)

Had the violence advanced to the point where their original reasons no longer mattered? If so, it could be a major problem in its own way, but…

(Wait.)

Mikoto suddenly realized something.

(It’s possible this rioting is being caused by Code EIC. What if it was caused in order to stop us from reaching the center of the incident…?)

Mikoto stopped running without even realizing it.

(That would mean the target of the rioting had moved to Lessar who’s even closer to the center of it all!!)

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS2_06_027.jpg|thumb]]

Mikoto was not the one who was truly in the most danger.

It was Lessar who was heading for the center of Code EIC.

She had finally realized that fact, but dozens of rioters were still heading her way like an avalanche.

“Out of the way…”

Sparks crackled around Mikoto.

A large amount of iron dust writhed like a living being.

“Get out of my waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!”

 
 

=== Part 5 ===
 
Lessar was running down a long narrow passageway.

The narrow duct had not continued on straight to her destination. There were areas where she had to come out above ground. And even if it had continued on, she would not have just headed through it. If the rioters had noticed her while she was travelling through that narrow area, she would have been trapped.

As such, Lessar had headed a certain distance through the duct and then come back up onto the first floor.

“I expected this wouldn’t be exactly easy…”

She ran at full speed without even glancing behind her.

“…but actually experiencing it is something else entirely!!”

It was like the scenes common to adventure-style action movies where the hero was chased by a giant steel ball.

However, there were dozens of men and women chasing Lessar in place of the steel ball. As they had legs, they did not need to roll, but the front row would be knocked down and trampled and then the next row would get tripped up in the same way. This made it look like she was being chased by a giant sphere made of human beings.

Lessar could feel something rather cold running down her spine while an enjoyment of the thrill somewhere in her heart caused a smile to come out on her face.

(This is bad. Very, very bad. I’m pretty sure I’ve still got a ways to go before I reach the stock market center where the center of Code EIC is.)

She could feel a vague sense of cruelty chasing after her in addition to the physical pursuers.

(It looks like my approach was detected and they divided up the rioters to have some go after me.)

Lessar had so readily split up with Mikoto because she had expected that to happen.

But suddenly Lessar saw a large group of rioters flowing out up ahead in the long passageway. She was being attacked from both sides. The knives and fire extinguishers in their hands seemed even more dangerous than guns that could kill in one shot.

(Wow! Their fingers are fidgeting around like crazy!!)

Lessar suddenly changed directions and leapt to the other side of a metal door partway down the passageway. She sealed the door with the table and other heavy objects within and was finally aware of just what kind of situation she was in. She was fed up with it.

The room was small.

It was not a place for customers. Most likely, cleaning supplies were stored inside the room. There were no other exits.

She was isolated.

But Lessar completely forgot about that kind of issue.

A greater danger lay before her eyes.

“Why…?” she muttered. “Why is there a magical bomb set up in this city of science?”

A stone big enough to just barely be held in one arm lay in the center of the room. No, technically, it was not a stone. It was a stone of charms that was created from dozens, hundreds, even thousands of parchments glued together.

(…It’s using a misinterpretation of Revelation. I guess it’s a large scale bomb that uses the sulfur fire. Well, it’s a fairly popular method to change that description to an attack method.)

Sulfur fire was of course not something physical or chemical.

In that case, it was easier to think of it as something that gave one lasting and intense pain by giving a burning pain to the skin and damage to the internal organs.

It could not be seen.

It ignored all obstacles.

And yet it was a means of attack that would definitely damage every person within range.

The bomb did not kill. Instead, it gave people incurable pain.

(If this “invisible bomb” were detonated here while there is a rumor going around of someone hidden in the city trying to detonate a nuclear bomb, it’s clear what the rioters would mistake it for with their dulled judgment.)

While looking at the sulfur fire made up of a giant mass of charms, Lessar stuck her hand into her pocket. She pulled out a card-shaped communications spiritual item made out of thick paper.

“Hello, Bayloupe?”

“What is it, Lessar?”

“I’ve found a bit of a Revelation-ish bomb. Is this you or the others’ doing by any chance?”

“How about you ask me again? I’ll give you 100 spankings.”

“Hmm, I see…”

“So are you saying there’s another cabal hidden here besides us?”

“Pretty much,” Lessar said before smacking herself on the forehead. “Achahh!”

A banging noise could continually be heard. The rioters were touchingly acting as a group in order to destroy the metal door.

“This means this whole situation is likely to get a bit more complicated…”

“Lessar,” Bayloupe cut in stopping Lessar’s thoughts. “Sorry for cutting in while you were getting heated up, but I don’t think the merits for us outweigh the risks here.”

“Even though this has spread beyond a purely science side problem and has begun to involve the magic side as well?”

“That would be a job for the official groups like Necessarius. It does not fit our goal. There is some kind of plan being carried out in this city and some magicians besides us may be involved, but there is no need for us to clean up for them. There are no merits to match the risks, so we need to quickly retreat.”

“…I’m guessing this means I can’t expect any reinforcements.”

“Even if we save the people in this city, it will not benefit us in any way.”

“Then I have no choice,” said Lessar admitting her colleague was right. “Bayloupe.”

“What?”

“Let’s have a real fight once this is over. You can use your Gjallarhorn or whatever else you want.”

Having said what she had to say, Lessar cut off the connection.

She did a general analysis of the sulfur fire’s construction by sight.

(…The construction itself is simple, but the amount will make dismantling it take some time. It looks like it’ll take between 15 and 30 minutes.)

She heard a great thud coming from the metal door. The door was beginning to dent inwards.

(The problem is that they don’t look like they’re going to give me that much time.)

But she could not just leave it alone and wait for it to detonate either.

Lessar pulled out a few Nihon Daruma “souvenirs” from her pocket. She smeared a yellow chemical on her thumb, muttered a spell under her breath, and then traced her thumb across one of the charms making up the stone-like object.

The charm fell off like a dried leaf.

(I estimate there are about 30,000 of them. I’ve simplified the dismantling ceremony down as much as possible, but I still may not make it in time.)

As Lessar’s fingers raced along, the charms peeled off one by one.

However, she was indeed going to be too slow.

A violent din rang from the metal door clearly declaring her time limit. The door was already bent and multiple pairs of eyes could be seen peering through the gap.

She guessed the straining sound she heard was coming from the hinges.

Suddenly, an L-shaped crowbar stabbed through the gap between the door and the wall. With a cracking noise, the gap started to widen due to the principle of leverage.

(Not good…!!)

The door was not going to last.

If the rioters came pouring in before she had dismantled the sulfur fire, all of the civilians in the area would take the full brunt of the magical bomb.

Lessar was thinking that, but…

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and the crowbar was knocked away.

The gunshot had not come from outside the door. It had clearly come from within the room. But there was no one inside the room besides Lessar.

Lessar turned toward the source of the noise in shock.

“…Above?”

“Moving through ducts is a basic part of action movies.”

A square portion of the ceiling was removed and the upper half of a woman appeared upside down through it. They were in a Russian facility but the handgun the woman held was a foreign gun, so it may have been a favorite of hers.

(So this city has ducts running through both above and below.)

“Who are you?”

“I am Enirya G. Algonskaya of the security guards,” said the redheaded woman giving a simple introduction. “I rushed over here thinking Misaka Mikoto was here, but it looks like I was wrong. At any rate, it seems you’re trapped here. I’ll protect you, so grab onto my hand.”

“I’d really, really like to do so, but…”

“?”

“Do you know what this is I’m dismantling? Nn, I guess you wouldn’t. Well…just think of it like a time bomb filled with a liquid explosive. If I just leave it here, those vigorous rioters will be completely blown way.”

“A bomb? …God damn it,” Enirya cursed.

She pulled her upper body back inside the duct and then dropped down into the small room right side up.

“Do you have the skills to dismantle it? Since you’re already touching it, I sure as hell hope you’re a specialist.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. More importantly…”

A great din started coming from the metal door once more.

“Could you do something about them?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Enirya stuck the barrel of her gun into the gap between the door and the wall and pulled the trigger without hesitating. Dry gunshots rang out and a sense of faltering could be sensed from the other side.

“How long is it going to take to dismantle that thing!?”

“Fifteen minutes if we’re lucky. Thirty if we’re not.”

Even as Lessar said that, her hands were sending charm after charm falling from the stone-like mass. The great amount of fallen parchments looked like a pile of feathers.

Enirya fired through the gap in the door and seemed to be contacting someone over her radio. She was likely sending a security guard unit to the passageway outside the door. But would they make it in time? Could they prepare enough strength to restrain the group of people who had become a mass of cruelty?

Suddenly, a new grinding sound became audible.

It was coming from the other side of the wall.

The wall opposite the door.

“Uuh… I have a very bad feeling about what that means.”

“?”

“You’re one of the security guards that was there back then, right? Then you should recognize that sound. Don’t you remember hearing that when the remote controlled equipment showed up?”

“That’s the sound of…treads…?”

Enirya stopped firing and turned around toward the opposite wall.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy equipment plowed through the reinforced concrete wall and appeared amid a cloud of dust.

It was a small snowplow.

This time it was not equipped with a light machine gun and it had no explosives on it. It was simply being driven by one of the enraged rioters.

Lessar and Enirya jumped to the walls on the left and right as the snowplow cut through the center. It plowed through the table and metal door on the other side of the room and continued into the passageway filled with rioters.

Even so, the next noise was that of cheering.

The rioters were letting out joyous voices at the fact that they could resume their violence now that the door was out of their way.

Enirya fired a few shots, but it was meaningless.

Countless rioters charged in through the two holes opened up in the walls.

Lessar did not stop her dismantling job and she was forced to wrap her arms around the bomb as if she were trying to protect it.

She felt her throat dry up, but there was nowhere left to flee.

She would be swallowed up.

It was pointless to ask Enirya for help. The woman was about to disappear amidst the crowd just as she was.

Arms…

Legs…

They both flew at her and pain exploded just beneath her skin. Before the feeling could disappear, the next strike would come. And the next, and the next, and the next. The number of blows accumulated in no time at all. She tried to ball up and protect her organs as much as possible, but she wasn’t sure how effective her efforts were. She was saved by the fact that the rioters were packed in too tightly, so they did not have room to aim their guns at her. However, being driven closer and closer to death by their bare hands was a hell of its own.

The situation may have been truly bad.

Lessar noticed an iron-like flavor welling up from deep in her throat. She could tell her thoughts were growing dull. Her pain exceeded a certain level and she began to feel nothing more than a vague heat.

(…Fire…)

That thought vaguely entered her head.

(Sulfur…fire…)

The mass she was holding in her hands fell to pieces. The final explosion-causing charm lost its effects and slipped from her hands.

With even her pain in a vague state, Lessar smiled slightly.

And then something flew by at high speed piercing through the walls on the left and the right that had not yet been destroyed.

It ripped through the air at three times the speed of sound.

An extremely tiny projectile pierced through the wall at a point almost at the ceiling. This smashed the entire wall spreading pieces of concrete everywhere.

A glowing orange line remained burned in the retinas of everyone there.

Shortly afterwards, the rioters crowded inside that small space were blown away as if it were an afterthought. Some were hit by the shockwave and some were hit by the whirling concrete fragments. As if that raging violence had been overwritten by an even more sublime violence, the situation was completely turned around in an instant.

A low rumbling noise could be heard.

With the four walls destroyed, the now unsupported ceiling began to collapse.

The rioters that could still move frantically ran from the room, but the tragedy they were expecting did not occur.

Ignoring gravity, the concrete ceiling floated in midair.

It was as if magnetism were being manipulated.

“…Chehh. You stole the best part,” Lessar muttered while still collapsed on the ground.

Enirya looked over in the direction Lessar was looking and discovered who the “ruler” was.

“Misaka…Mikoto…”

Enirya spat out some saliva mixed with blood and adjusted her grip on her handgun with bloody hands. The incessant violence had left her in a situation where she could not even stand up, but she still managed to hold her right arm out.

Mikoto’s expression did not change despite having the gun aimed at her.

“Aren’t you pointing that at the wrong person?”

“N...no. You are the…highest priority.”

Her hand was trembling, but there was a piercing light in her eyes.

Amid the strange silence, Enirya stared through her gun sight at the suspect and asked a question.

“Misaka…Mikoto. Are you…the leader…behind this…incident?”

Mikoto smiled slightly upon hearing the question.

And then she unhesitatingly responded.

Her response seemed to be directed not just at Enirya but at all the rioters there as well.

“Do you really think that person would come here to save a security guard?” This time, Mikoto asked a question. “Do you have any ideas who could be behind this?”

“That is…what I am currently…investigating. It’s not just…you. I am…thoroughly investigating…every single…suspicious person.”

Her strength must have been at its limit.

After saying that, Enirya’s right hand fell to the floor. It seemed she had lost consciousness.

Silence fell over the room.

Bluish-white sparks flew from Mikoto’s bangs destroying that silence,

“…I am really pissed right now.”

She did not run away. She headed straight into the rioters.

She did it because she knew it was right.

She did not hesitate.

“I am not trying to kill any of you as I head forward, but make sure not to screw up and get yourselves killed.”

 
 

=== Part 6 ===
 
Enirya woke up to a stabbing pain.

It was different from the feeling before that could not be distinguished from heat.

She realized it was due to disinfectant and tried to get up from the floor.

“You should stay still,” said a fellow security guard.

“Where…am I?” Enirya said moving her lips that were covered in dried blood.

From the looks of things, she was not very far away from the place where she had been attacked by the rioters. There were a few security guards armed with guns stationed in the long, narrow passageway.

(…What happened? Was I saved by the suppression strategy…?)

Suddenly, Enirya remembered what had actually happened.

Just before she had passed out someone other than the security guards had shown up.

Enirya asked for an explanation of the situation while half-grabbing her colleague’s collar.

“What happened?”

“It was Misaka Mikoto.”

“What happened to that primary suspect!? She was here before, right!?”

But her colleague shook his head.

“I don’t know what happened to her…”

Just because the battle ended in one place did not meant that the rioting was completely over.

After all, the disturbance had spread throughout the entire shopping mall. Things had gone beyond the level were just a strong individual like Mikoto could do anything about it. It could not be stopped without the power of a group.

“Didn’t you go a little easy on that security guard?” said Lessar while she spread disinfectant on her wounds. “From how she was acting, I’m betting she’s still going to bare her fangs at you.”

“I don’t need to worry about that. If she truly is trying to find who is behind this incident, she is not my enemy even if she does get in my way.” After saying that, Mikoto changed the subject. “But what kind of people are the higher ups of the shopping mall?”

“I’m sure they didn’t want this much damage. It’s possible they don’t have many cards left to play. They may have started a wildfire with a cigarette butt and now they aren’t able to put it out.”

“They have control of Code EIC and they can send out any information they want, right? …In that case, wouldn’t they be able to use the news and other things to control the scale and flow of the rioting?”

“The people don’t know about Code EIC. It does not send out orders that people are obligated to follow. Instead, it adjusts the direction they head in without them realizing it. If they tried to forcibly change the direction of the people, there’s a danger that the people would notice the inconsistency. If that happened, where do you think the people’s anger would turn? Humans are easily deceived, but a human that enjoys being deceived is a rare thing indeed.”

Lessar led Mikoto to an underground facility within the shopping mall.

Inside were many booths divided by transparent partitions made of reinforced glass. In addition to the normal screens and monitors, the walls, ceiling, and other surfaces were all monitors for the Semipublic AR. The entire space was filled with flowing numbers. The size of the area was around the size of small concert hall. The conspicuous facility was constructed out of straight lines and was colored mainly a pale blue.

“This is like the color scheme of a men’s bathroom,” Lessar commented letting her troubling impression leak out.

Mikoto ignored her.

“So this is it?”

“As I said before, this is the stock market center that centers on the tenant-owned stores within the shopping mall. The stocks for all of the companies in the city are handled here. It’s a market that is connected to the entire world through the network. It’s listed in the shopping mall’s pamphlet as one of the sightseeing spots. It suggests that one experiences its ‘real’ presence.”

When she looked closer, Mikoto noticed that here was a space up high on the wall that circled around the entire area. It may have been similar to how foreigners loved seeing the fish markets in Japan.

Mikoto hung her head down as she thought.

“So there’s a giant computer that can carry out massive amounts of calculations and a large scale server that can exchange data on trading from all over the world with no lag…”

“If the higher ups wanted to extend Code EIC beyond the shopping mall, there’s no better facility for it, right?”

“I know that, but…”

Mikoto looked around.

On the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the partitions, the monitors, the screens, and everything else, there were tons of dizzyingly tiny numbers scrolling across and curving graphs moving up and down ever so slightly. Investors from all over the world would either rejoice or worry based on the changes in those numbers. Depending on the situation, some would hang themselves and some would make baths of banknotes.

But…

Despite the intense changes in the numbers, Mikoto could not detect a single person inside that stock market center. The numbers continued to change, so the trading could not be over. And even if the trading for the day was over, there would have to have been at least one guard.

“What is going on? Why are there no businessmen or operators here?”

“I dunno. They may have left because the city lost functionality. Or they may have run off to find shelter because they knew we were coming.”

“But the shopping mall seems to need Code EIC. Wouldn’t they normally try to oppose us?”

“Maybe there’s some sub system. Or maybe they’re preparing some way to interfere remotely.”

“Well, just speculating isn’t going to solve anything.”

Mikoto looked up at the giant computer in the center of the facility.

Its area alone was greater than 8 school classrooms and its height was on par with a three story building. Because it was installed in the center, the entire facility was built in a donut shape.

“Then I’m going to get all the information I can. We can think this through once we have all the materials.”

Lessar moved away from Mikoto and started to investigate the area.

Mikoto reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a PDA.

As she was in one of Academy City’s cooperative institutions, they used the same type of connector. She connected the PDA to the giant computer with a cable and started “peeking” inside.

“…Chehh. The calculation area used for the stock trading only takes up a third of it. I guess the rest is related to Code EIC. It reads people’s actions through all the security cameras and estimates what their feelings are. Then it automatically creates a news source that uses the best timing to spread the rumor in waves. It controls people as a mass rather than as individuals…)

She had found the program related to Code EIC, but she did not touch it because she had no manual to tell her if simply shutting it down would be fine or if it would bring even more chaos.

She focused on finding the details of whatever the shopping mall’s higher ups were planning.

After all, they may have brought a nuclear weapon into Academy City.

(They used Code EIC to spread the urban legend of the uranium ornament, so what they are planning to do in Academy City and the details of the incident using the urban legend as its motif may be inside this computer.)

Mikoto used the PDA to search through the massive storage areas of the computer, but her fingers finally stopped moving.

She had found it.

“Concerning the Fluctuation in the Value of Scientific Information once Academy City is Destroyed”

It was generally what Mikoto and Lessar had predicted.

If Academy City was destroyed and it could no longer function as the headquarters of the scientific world, the quality of the world’s “cutting edge science” would drop drastically. If that happened, companies and organizations throughout the world would see great value in the fragmentary knowledge the shopping mall had.

If psychic power development could be successfully created from that information, that was fine. And even if that did not happen and technology branching off from what supported psychic powers was developed instead, it was still fine as long as it made a profit.

The loss of Academy City would of course be a major blow to the world, but it was not as if all of humanity would be immediately destroyed.

After all, Academy City had been hiding its cutting edge technology that entire time. Even if that unreleased technology that no one else knew about was lost, the rest of the world would still be able to live their lives.

Of course, there would be obvious damage when it came to the financial and economic worlds, but the shopping mall was an expert in those fields. They could keep their damages to a minimum and rearrange the network of the market in the confusion in a way advantageous for themselves.

They would create a business model.

That was what the shopping mall was trying to do.

The problem was how they were planning to destroy Academy City…

(…Means of using a Solntse hydrogen bomb?)

Mikoto read those words and then started to feel dizzy.

What was all that about a uranium ornament?

Things had gone beyond the level of mere nuclear fission.

“…The primary plan is to deploy a Solntse within Academy City and then activate a timed detonator. It will detonate after the spies escape.”

That must have been the true identity those attackers armed with ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles that Shirai had run into.

“If the primary plan runs into problems, we will immediately switch to the secondary plan. That decision does not need to be discussed with the spies carrying out the primary plan. If we decide it is necessary, we will switch over.”

A chill ran down her spine.

The lack of people in the stock market center meaningfully pressed on Mikoto’s chest.

“The secondary plan is…”

After reading that far, Mikoto frowned.

She could not find any text on the secondary plan. It just said that it would only be shown to those with the authority to view it.

(Is there any more text? Or is the rest only told by mouth in order to leave no records?)

She could not make a judgment based on only the information she had.

Mikoto gave up on that report and looked through the giant computer for another file.

As expected, she could not find anything explaining the secondary plan, but she found a few pieces of reference data that supplemented that unseen center. She looked through quite a few encrypted files and a common item began to show itself.

(A modified MIG-21…?)

It seemed to be the designation of a Russian aircraft.

Mikoto looked through one of the reference files.

The file had photos and videos in it.

(It’s a fighter that was originally developed during the cold war. Its defining characteristic is how oddly low the cost for one is. Its functionality can be summed up in the term “old model”.)

Mikoto scanned through the data being displayed on the PDA.

(At the end of the cold war, most of the Soviet weapons were sold at very low prices and the MIG-21 was no exception. One of them has a value of 30,000 dollars. When compared to the American fighters that cost 100,000,000 dollars each, it is an extremely cheap fighter that can be obtained by almost anyone.)

All of that had been the specs of the normal MIG-21.

The higher ups of the shopping mall had purchased one due to its low price and how easy it was to obtain one. They had then independently modified it.

They had modified it to fill a role in their current plan.

Mikoto opened the diagram for the modified fighter and scanned through the desired specs.

That time, she truly thought she had become anemic.

It said the following:

''Added suspension for a nuclear weapon.

''Modifications to hold a Solntse.

Mikoto concluded that it would be used to force a detonation if the primary plan were to fail.

 
 

=== Part 7 ===
 
Lessar lightly clenched her fist and knocked on the wall with the back of her hand.

She slowly moved along tapping accurately along at even intervals.

Lessar listened to the sound it made as she moved along the well, but she eventually came to a stop.

The noise had changed.

The sound was weak. It was as if the impact of her knock was escaping on the other side of a thin wall.

Lessar’s mouth loosened and she smashed the glass case on the wall with her elbow. Inside was an axe in case of emergency. That kind of thing may have been rare in Japan, but overseas they were as common as fire extinguishers.

She grabbed the axe and unhesitatingly struck the wall.

Sparks flew from the Semipublic AR screen, but Lessar paid them no heed. She swung the axe three or four more times. With a cracking noise, the wall finally collapsed in the other direction. It was more like it had been knocked down by a blunt object than like it had been sliced by the axe.

“Oh, it was a sliding door. And I was pushing it forward,” muttered Lessar as she tossed the axe to the side.

It probably had a strict electronic lock, but she did not care.

She stepped inside.

She smelled a nostalgic scent.

The dimly lit area seemed to be a straight passageway. It was not clear whether it led to some kind of secret facility or was just an escape route. Lessar grinned and headed further inside.

The passageway turned at a right angle.

“This is…?”

Just as she peered around the corner, she heard Mikoto shouting after her from within the stock market center.

“Wait! Come here a second!! I’ve found some amazing data.”

“Oh, that sounds important.”

“It looks like they’ve given an old fighter the ability to hold a nuclear weapon!! What about you? Did you find anything!?”

“No.” Lessar peered around the corner of the passageway once more. “There’s nothing here. I’ll be right there.”

(…Well, I guess it’s for the best to tell her that.)

Around that corner was another long and straight passageway. Inside that passageway were 9 headless bodies of people that had been killed before they managed to get to the end of the passageway.

All the corpses were wearing high class suits that one would never see on a salaryman. Hanging from the remnants of their necks were ID cards with the highest rank. The ID photos on the cards smiled eerily as if in place of the heads that had been removed and taken away.

The walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

Fresh blood was spread all over like part of a bad joke.

The higher ups were dead.

And the wounds were much too clean to have been done by the rioters those higher ups had created.

But Lessar was not especially concerned by the bodies themselves.

She was concerned by the symbol on the necks.

(…The sword emblem. And since the scroll ornamentation is there too, it must be related to St. Paul.)

“That’s in terrible taste,” Lessar muttered.

(The symbol of a patron saint often designates where that patron saint received persecution such as a gouged out eyeball or a severed breast. But using the emblem of the decapitated St. Paul to behead another… That just reeks of modern Western magic that loves secret tricks.)

But in that case, something inexplicable came to the surface.

Something clearly different had been mixed in with that incident that had progressed based on scientific means.

The other set of laws known as magic had been mixed in.

And…

(Even if the higher ups have been slaughtered, the plan involving a nuke is still continuing.)

Those gears that had remained hanging down continued to turn, so the unit carrying it out would not be stopped easily. At the very least, the option of having an order sent out that would end it all peaceably had disappeared.

(So what idiot is continuing this plan?)

Lessar smiled thinly as she turned around and headed back through the passageway toward Mikoto.

“It looks like this has gotten a bit more interesting.”

 
 
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| Back to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter6

2011-08-15T13:55:09Z

Dagger: /* Part 2 */ manage -> managed

== Chapter 6==
 
=== Part 1 ===
 
“A nuclear bomb!?” Misaka Mikoto yelled into her cell phone in the backroom of the occult convenience store.

Shirai Kuroko was on the other end.

“Yes. I don’t know how the rumor ended up changing like that. …It may have simply been that the original story had to do with a uranium crystal, so it made people think of a nuclear bomb.”

“…I wonder if this change was part of their plan.”

The problem was who it was that was going to intentionally cause an incident related to the urban legend.

And there was the fact that there were currently terrorists hidden in Academy City who were armed with weapons that used ultra high frequency electromagnetic waves. Not to mention that they had been brought in from the Russian shopping mall.

The ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles were enough of a threat, but the possibility of the danger being much, much higher had just gotten a lot more likely.

After all…

“The shopping mall used the Code EIC system to spread the rumor. If the uranium ornament is part of the plan of the shopping mall’s higher ups, then they will cause an incident related to it. If their plan is to cause catastrophic damage to Academy City so the value of their unreliable scientific information on developing psychic powers rises astronomically, then the bigger the scale of the incident, the better for them…”

“It’s true that this would resolve everything much more simply than just creating small bits of damage with the ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles and the harmful electromagnetic wave detector.”

“The ones trying to cause the incident may have revised the contents of the urban legend in order to detonate a nuke…”

Lessar operated the screen of a smartphone with her index finger and then lightly struck the table with a corner of the device. When Mikoto looked over, Lessar showed her the screen.

It showed the search results from a search engine.

There was a list of sites and boards that had the keywords “uranium ornament” in them. The number of results was already beyond 100,000.

Mikoto started thinking that the rumor must have really started to spread through the Russian shopping mall too, but then she realized she was wrong.

The search engine Lessar was using was not a local one that only searched the shopping mall. It was a worldwide one.

(…What? Are the effects of Code EIC expanding?)

“Kuroko, have any actual nuclear materials or bombs been found in Academy City?”

“Not yet. But Uiharu is…a colleague of mine is tracking their escape route. I assume they have not already made into a bomb and I do not think they can put one together while on the run.”

“But it’s still possible. There’s even the risk of damage caused by having the enriched uranium leave its container in the process of suppressing them.” Mikoto thought for a bit. “What about evacuating the residents of Academy City?”

“This wouldn’t be so difficult if we could do that. If we made this information public, it would cause a panic throughout the city which would create secondary damages. If all 2.3 million residents tried to leave at once, the transportation facilities would be paralyzed and it would all fall apart near the gates.”

“…”

“Also, the majority of Anti-Skill is skeptical of the existence of the nuclear bomb. They are interpreting this as the terrorists with the ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles trying to bring the city into a panic so Anti-Skill will be unable to function properly allowing them to escape.”

Mikoto felt that was being too calm given the situation, but it was true that they had no proof of a nuclear bomb in Academy City. It was just an urban legend.

“Understood. Contact me again once Anti-Skill begins their suppression operation.”

“What will you do, onee-sama?”

“I’ll do what I can,” Mikoto sighed. “The people truly behind this are in this city. If I defeat them, I should be able to get accurate information on what the terrorists in Academy City have and what they plan to do.”

She hung up.

The situation had gotten even more serious. The new crisis made the living bombs using special ants pale in comparison.

“That certainly seems bad,” said Lessar as her fingers raced across the smartphone once more.

She sounded as if the situation did not affect her. For a foreigner like Lessar, it may have seemed like nothing more than a war in a distant country.

“The urban legend that had been spreading through both the shopping mall and Academy City has begun to spread throughout the entire world. Someone is clearly behind it. I don’t know what they’re trying to do, but it seems the window to ‘outside’ has been opened in Code EIC. …They likely can’t conveniently control the media outside the shopping mall in the same way, but they can provide a stimulus through various media with a time delay by using ‘foreign news’ as a substitute.”

Even just within the shopping mall, Code EIC had caused a rather large problem.

If its effects spread to the entire world, the scale of the incidents would skyrocket.

Baseless data could have an effect on the physical world.

Just by adding in data, they could destroy people’s minds.

“Before, you spoke like you knew how Code EIC was controlled. You said you wanted to explain it, but that there wasn’t enough time.”

“I wasn’t trying to put on airs of importance or anything. That just happened to be when the remote controlled snowplow drove into the building.”

“But now’s fine, right?” Mikoto said cutting her off. “Tell me right here and now what is at the center of Code EIC. We need to go directly destroy the source of the urban legends.”

 
 

=== Part 2 ===
 
Mikoto exited the occult convenience store and sensed that something was off. It was an unpleasant prickling feeling in her skin. It was an odd sense of tension where the slightest sound seemed as if it would set off bloodshed like during a standoff between a police squad and a group of people about to riot.

“Wait, what is going on out here…?”

“Well, Academy City is not the only place filled with urban legends,” Lessar said and laughed. “Nee hee hee. The people in this shopping mall have reached their mental saturation point. They can’t distinguish between the truth and lies, so when they hear a rumor that a nuclear bomb in an unknown location could detonate at any time, they have begun to take it seriously. That’s how it seems to me, at least.”

Suddenly, Mikoto heard a slight noise.

They were in an area filled with small tenant-owned shops and a large white man had come out of one of those shops.

There was an odd light in his eyes.

Fear, anger, and joy at being permitted to destroy could be seen in that light.

When he saw Mikoto, he first muttered something in Russian.

Then, he let out an explosive shout.

“He’s shouting ‘I’ve found her’.”

“You don’t have to tell me that! I can understand Russian!! More importantly, what’s with that reaction!? Did the security guards release a picture of me as the suspect in the orange case!?”

“Hmm, it seems the details of the uranium ornament story were altered for easiest use for the Academy City version and the shopping mall version. But I think that change happened in the process of spreading from person to person rather than by using Code EIC to control it.”

“What?”

“Just saying the people of the shopping center are villains running a black market wouldn’t hold much interest here, so the story ended up changing. Here the story says some enriched uranium was sold here, but that it was brought in by someone from Academy City who is trying to cause a nuclear explosion here in order to get rid of the shopping mall.”

“In other words…”

As Mikoto started to take over the explanation, the large shouting white man reached for his waist. There was a holster attached to his belt.

“…they may have been keeping my personal information a secret up to the day of the demonstration, but there could still have been some partial rumors such that I was a girl and around middle school age.”

While looking at an oddly small handgun that did not suit the large man, Lessar spoke.

“I suppose right now any Academy City Asian middle school girls will be treated like terrorists in this city.”

Mikoto and Lessar moved at the same instant as if being repelled by the other.

As they moved quickly to the left and the right leaping behind nearby pillars, a dry gunshot exploded out.

“I don’t like this society of guns!! Why would you let just anyone have a gun!?”

“That’s not really something a girl who can fire a coin at three times the speed of light should be saying.”

“The problem is,” Mikoto said changing the subject, “less about this cheerful man and his gun and more about whether these gunshots will rouse up the rest of the people.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

“I will of course…”

While multiple bullets caused sparks to fly from the pillar she was using as a shield, Mikoto calmly watched the motions of her target without shutting her eyes.

“…quickly silence him.”

Immediately after she said that, an electronic noise came from right beside the white man.

What looked like a human figure jumped in his peripheral vision.

The man immediately looked over there, but then he froze.

There was only a wall there.

The man had turned his vision to an image of Mikoto on the Semipublic AR.

(His aim has gone astray!!)

Immediately afterwards, the sound of building materials breaking could be heard.

It was coming from above.

A power cable as thick as a thumb ran across inside the ceiling. And that cable was attached using iron fixtures at even intervals.

Mikoto magnetically manipulated those fixtures to indirectly move the power cable.

The white man stopped moving again more in shock over the fact that the cable was unnaturally floating than at the destruction being done.

The sound of something slicing through the air could be heard.

A strike swooping up from below knocked the handgun from the man’s hand. However, that was not enough to neutralize him. Mikoto continued to swing the cable around.

Five consecutive strikes assaulted the man.

The man used his thick arms to cover his face and upper body and Mikoto darted from behind the pillar and dashed toward the man. By ducking under his guarding arms, she tackled him as if trying to embrace his waist which knocked the man to the floor.

A dull sound exploded out.

“Okay!! Now I-…!!”

Mikoto was about to bind the man’s arms and legs using some smaller cables, but she suddenly froze in shock.

The man who had been struck to the ground was still stretching out his arms.

Normally, the blow should have knocked him out.

At the very least, he should have been having trouble breathing.

“He’s in a riotous state! He’s full of adrenaline, but his reason has been compromised!! The Code EIC rumors have agitated him. It’s possible that he can’t feel normal pain!!” yelled Lessar from a short distance.

“…!!”

In order to avoid having her legs grabbed, Mikoto stepped back and put some distance between her and the man.

With his body leaning to the side, the white man slowly tried to stand back up. Also, the handgun was now back in his hand.

“What am I supposed to do about this…?”

Just being prepared to knock someone unconscious or stop their movements was not enough.

Most likely, they would still come for her even if she broke their arms and legs. Most likely, even if she damaged their organs, they would keep moving until the moment their hearts stopped. To stop the rioters for sure, she would need even more violence.

In other words, she could not stop them unless she killed them.

And she did not have time to hesitate.

She saw a few more men and women peering around a corner.

They had most likely headed over after hearing the gunfire. At first, they looked shocked upon seeing Mikoto and the white man, but their expressions soon changed.

(This is bad.)

Mikoto felt a chill run down her spine.

She could practically see an illusion of a small fire spreading throughout the area.

“Help me out!! She’s a monster! She suddenly came and struck me while I was just walking along!!” the white man yelled out in anger to clinch things.

Mikoto had no time to cry out in protest.

The expressions of the men and women who were glaring at her (the terms peering or looking no longer accurately expressed what they were doing) from around the corner were so twisted they barely looked human.

“Oh, crap.”

Mikoto took swift action upon seeing one of them holding the kind of axe that was used by firefighters or for emergency escape.

She magnetically manipulated the rebar at her feet to cause the floor to cave in.

With a great noise, Mikoto fell down to the next floor down.

“If you’re going to run, give me a sign first,” Lessar said in a carefree voice.

Mikoto had no idea when the girl had managed to get so close to her.

But she had no time to worry about it.

“Oh ,dear. This is bad, this is bad. …I’m not even close to joking when I say this area is really, really bad.”

“Wh-why?”

“It looks like everyone came rushing here hoping to turn their life around in one shot. The gun shop corner is pretty much being looted.”

“Ugehgeh!! Why did we fall down into an area full of guns!?”

Mikoto’s eyes widened.

It seemed to be a place packed full of all the gun shops registered with the shopping mall, but they were selling ice cream like normal right next to it all. It was being treated just like the bookstore corner. The feelings toward guns were completely different than in Japan.

“I thought the shopping mall was supposed to be divided between necessary daily items and the entertainment or luxury items!”

“What are you talking about? A rifle is necessary for daily life.”

“…Seriously?”

“In this country, things don’t get to the level of entertainment or a hobby until you get up to a rocket launcher or a Gatling gun.”

“Oh, god damn it… Next you’re gonna tell me people here fire railguns for fun.”

“Anyway, things could get bad if this looting continues.”

“Are you saying something even worse is going to happen!?”

“With their blood rushing to their heads like this, I doubt they’re intentionally going for it, but there is a large vault in the underground space further back in the gun shop corner. It’s about the size of a hangar from a private airport.”

“What’s inside the vault?”

“Viner,” Lessar quickly responded. “It’s filled with weapons scheduled to appear in a summer weapons show that specializes in ground weapons. There are weapons from the 14 major companies in the world as well as Academy City. There is more of a difference than you would ever want to know between these ‘everyday necessities’ out here and what is in there.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

Tons of rifles were neatly lined up in large glass showcases as if they were brand name bags. The storage areas in the back were packed full of guns and ammunition.

But the glass had been smashed to pieces.

High-pitched alarms hurt their ears.

No one had turned around when Mikoto had come crashing down from above because they were causing similar noises themselves.

Dozens of pairs of hands grabbed at brand new rifles like people fighting over items during a good sale. Ammunition was spilled all over the floor. Some people ran around while shoving multiple guns into shopping carts, some people stuck handguns into their belts, and some people grabbed up a bunch of rifles and then were punched from the side by someone else who took all the rifles from them. No mercy was shown to anyone regardless of age or gender. Guns were flying all over the place like when each customer was limited to one package of eggs so people had their kids line up to buy some, too.

Mikoto’s face paled at that scene that was outside of common Japanese knowledge.

“…Are they stupid? I could understand one or two, but what are they planning to do with an armful of guns!?”

“I wonder if the precious metals are being stolen in the same way or if the people here are leveling themselves up in order to attack stores with more value. At any rate, it does not look like things are going to be quiet.”

It may have been a mistake to start speaking in Japanese.

The people had not reacted when the ceiling had come crashing down, but their gazes and the barrels of their guns all pointed in Mikoto’s direction when she spoke.

“Wow. An enemy sure is a powerful thing when it comes to justifying crimes!”

“This is no time to be giving carefree commentary on the situation!!”

Mikoto pulled on Lessar’s arm and jumped behind a nearby shelf. After she did, she came to the shocking realization that the shelf was filled with ammunition, but it was too late to hide elsewhere.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of gunfire followed them.

The relatively heavy looking shelves and the products lined up on them were mercilessly pierced by the bullets. Their opponents were firing military rifles rather than handguns. The shelves would not act as a shield against that.

Mikoto complained quietly as she jumped behind another shelf that had everything from ammunition accessories to something like a tripod.

“What the hell!? That old man is firing at us with a monstrous look on his face!! Someone needs to stop him before he collapses from high blood pressure!!”

“It’s lucky those are downgraded civilian models. If they had proper full auto functionality, this truly would’ve been bad.”

“Even with semi-auto, it’s still pretty much a constant stream of bullets with that many guns.”

Their opponents were not soldiers under a unified command. They were just worked up rioters. It seemed a few of them were trying to circle around, but Mikoto was more worried about them taking each other out in friendly fire.

Mikoto looked around the area while rushing out of the area lined with shelves, across the open hallway, and into another area lined with shelves.

“Where are the security guards?”

“They won’t be able to put out this fire. The fire has already spread to the dry grass. As the number of people with guns grows, not even the security guards will be able to do anything about it. All they can probably do is isolate the fire so it doesn’t make its way to the truly important petrochemical complex.”

That city was noisily crumbling.

The instant the power balance between those protecting the peace of the city and those destroying it reversed, it was as if oil scattered on the floor had caught fire. The curtain opened on a nightmarish stage where people devoured other people.

Mikoto realized her entire body was trembling.

That violence was in a completely different dimension from the times she had gotten in fights with delinquents in the back alleys of Academy City. If it gained enough momentum, it would just swallow everything up. Both the good and the bad, both the assailant and the victim, and everyone else would sink down into the sea of blood they had created with their own hands.

“I have to stop this…” Mikoto muttered as she stopped her feet that were carrying her from one row of shelves to another. “I have to stop this before those guns make it everywhere in this city!!”

“Personally, I think that’s rather pointless,” Lessar said in an almost ridiculing manner.

It was possible that was not the first time the mysterious girl had been in a situation like that.

“Things are already flowing in that direction. It has permeated every nook and cranny of the city. Even if you manage to suppress everyone in this gun shop corner, it will not stop the overall disturbance. Plenty of people already have handguns.”

“Then what?” Mikoto said speaking overly quickly due to her nervousness. “It’s true that there are probably people who already have handguns and that defeating the people in this gun shop corner will not stop all of this primitive violence. But if all the guns here get scattered around, the density of the violence will rise significantly. It will get to the point where no one will even be able to survive even by a miracle. That’s why I have to at least stop that from happening. I need to bring the violence down to a level where the word miracle can at least still have its place.”

Lessar sighed.

“…Um. Are you aware that you’ll be doing nothing more than satisfying yourself as long as you don’t resolve the fundamental problem?”

“I know, I know.”

“And are you aware that you’ll be risking your life in order to satisfy the feelings of a single individual?”

“I know that too,” Mikoto said while looking Lessar in the eye. “That’s why I’m not asking you to stay with me. You need to head to the facility with Code EIC’s centralized control in it as originally planned. We can’t let this riot spread any further, but that’s also why we can’t just ignore Code EIC either.”

“You say it likes it easy…” Lessar thought for a bit and then spoke quietly. “You’re suggesting we split up, but how am I supposed to escape in this situation? All of those rioters have rifles. Not to mention that we’re pretty much surrounded.”

“Not necessarily.”

“?”

Lessar frowned and Mikoto tapped her foot on the ground.

“There’s a convenient duct passing through down below. However, if we both went inside and disappeared from view, they would notice right away.”

But if they split up there and one of them went on a rampage, the rioters’ focus would be drawn to that one. In that time, the other could safely sneak to the center of Code EIC and destroy it.

“…At the base, these rioters are in a panic stemming from the urban legend of the uranium ornament, so they may calm down if Code EIC is stopped.”

“We have no proof of that. That many people is enough to wear even you down. If you go all out and run around expecting them to stop, it may be too late by the time you realize they aren’t going to stop.”

“…”

Mikoto understood that danger.

After all, she was the primary target of the rioters. If she made a mistake, she would definitely be given a long, painful death in a flood of primitive violence.

Understanding that quite well, Mikoto spoke.

“…That isn’t for you to worry about.”

“Seriously? This kind of hot-blooded mood just isn’t part of my character, so I’m not going to go along with it.”

“Then get going.”

“Chehh,” Lesser muttered before pulling a four-bladed spear-like weapon from somewhere.

She stabbed it into the floor and one of the blades passed through the gap around the square duct cover. She used the principle of leverage to easily open it.

“I won’t shed any tears if you die, so try to stay alive.”

“I’ll haunt you if I do, so at least tell me where the center of Code EIC is.”

“It’s in an underground facility called the stock market center. The stocks of all the countless stores registered in this shopping mall are traded there and deals are made using money from all over the world.”

“I see. A large scale communications network needs a processor that can calculate that massive amount of data instantly. That would be perfect to act as the center of Code EIC.”

“Given the location, it really does seem like they intended to spread their reach beyond the shopping mall in the end. It gives me a bad feeling and it fits with this disturbance.”

After saying that, Lessar jumped into the square hole.

Just her head was sticking out.

“Okay, I look forward to seeing you again assuming it isn’t as a ghost.”

“Sorry, but people from Academy City don’t believe in spiritual phenomena, so if I’m going to haunt you, I’ll do it scientifically.”

Lessar ducked her head down and Mikoto moved the square cover with her foot so it closed up the entrance.

Mikoto then heard a creaking sound.

It was not coming from just one place. The sound seemed to be surrounding her and it seemed to be slowly approaching her.

“Now then…” Bluish-white sparks flew from her bangs. “I thinks it’s time for a fun demonstration of just how powerful Academy City’s #3 is.”

 
 

=== Part 3 ===
 
The security guard named Enirya G. Algonskaya shouted into her radio.

“I already told you!! Bring down all the functioning shutters!! Cut off all the communication connections!! Don’t let those taking part in the riots gather beyond a certain level! They’re only civilians! We don’t need to be afraid of them if we can get them in a situation where we can attack and restrain them individually!!”

She instinctually ducked down when she heard some dry gunshots.

Sparks flew from the barricade made from a car dealer’s display model.

(…Dammit. They’re using handguns, but those aren’t normal bullets. If I hadn’t packed that stuff into the car, they would be piercing straight through.)

The normally spacious inside of the car was filled with iron scraps. They were square masses of packed together crushed cans that had been gathered for recycling. Even something usually weak like that could be effective if you gathered together enough of them.

And it was the same with the civilian rioters.

“The riots are even now cropping up in more areas!! They’re mostly around the north and east gates, but they’re heading inward. At this rate, it’s going to spread throughout the entire city!!”

“This is Unit C. It seems they have realized that we are using nonlethal rubber bullets! Their actions are clearly getting bolder!! We can’t deal with rapid fire handguns with this equipment!! Even if we’re wearing bulletproof vests, we’ll be unable to continue if we keep getting hit!!”

(So we’re at our limit…)

Enirya’s face turned bitter.

Protecting the peace was only effective in a situation where one chased after the minority that broke the rules while the majority followed the rules. If every single person in the city stopped listening to them, their effectiveness became paralyzed.

Once that happened, all that was left was to use weapons until one side was silenced.

And on top of that…

(We’re being pushed back more by the difference in numbers than in the quality of our equipment… They have more strength right now. If they realize that, the rioters will gain the sense of superiority that being in the majority brings. Then words and actions will not be able to get through to them!!)

“God damn it…” Enirya spat out. “What are we doing!? Following the manual as to what gets top priority? Escorting the VIPs to safety? How many civilians do you think will be killed while we’re protecting those old men that can only think of their own safety!?”

“I can’t contact those higher ups,” said a colleague of hers who was hiding behind the makeshift barricade. “They ordered us to secure escape route C and allow the priority members to escape to safety, but ever since then I haven’t heard a word from them. They’re supposed to have transmitters on them to tell where they are, but….”

“Do you think they were swallowed up by the rioters?”

“I don’t want to think they’re that stupid. If they were, I’d want to kill myself for following their orders for so long.”

“Same here,” Enirya said while checking on how many spare magazines she had. “Most likely, the higher ups are doing something in secret that they don’t feel the need to inform us of. They’re probably carrying out some master plan that does not involve stopping the rioters. In other words, they’re probably just leaving us here to die.”

“What do we do?” said her colleague while carefully choosing his words. “Do we just carry out the role of the dog that follows the order of ‘stay’ until it starves to death?”

“Our duty is to protect the peace of this city,” Enirya responded without a second’s delay. “I didn’t quit my job as a police inspector and come here just to curry the favor of some old men.”

If they could quit guarding the escape route for the higher ups who probably weren’t even coming, they had a lot more options. As she had said before, the rioters were civilians. Just by laying traps and falling back, they could neutralize and corner a group that size.

What should they do in order to rob the rioters of their fighting spirit without killing them while at the same time avoid having any of the security guards getting swallowed up by the rioters?

Enirya was envisioning the layout of the facility in her mind when she heard a new piece of information.

“I have a report from Unit G that is working to suppress the rioters near the gun shop area!!”

“Dammit, has that area fallen to them!? All the ground weapons for the weapons show are being stored there!!”

“No, the samples for Viner are safe.” Her colleague sounded as if he could not believe what he was saying. “I can’t confirm it on the surveillance cameras, but…it seems a single civilian is fighting to hold back the rioters attacking the gun shop area!!”

“A…civilian…?”

“It’s Misaka Mikoto.”

Enirya was completely dumbfounded and her colleague continued.

“It seems she’s working to prevent those deadly weapons from spreading through the very shopping mall that was chasing after her.”

“…”

Enirya had a few thoughts in that instant.

“…Is there a path to the gun shop area?”

“Are you planning to get her help? Despite what she’s doing, she’s still the primary suspect, you know!?”

“No, not that.” Enirya spat out. “These riots seemed to have been sparked by the urban legend of the uranium ornament. And their goal is the death of the girl who is supposedly trying to detonate a nuke.”

“You don’t mean…”

“All of these rioters have their eyes on that girl, so we need to restrain them before the worst happens.”

Most likely, the riots would not stop even if Misaka Mikoto were truly killed. Once that primitive violence gained momentum, it would continue for some time before their desires died down.

But at the same time, that girl was at the center of the riots.

That girl could greatly change the direction of the riot. She could lead to a method of controlling them. They could not lose that. They needed to use it.

“The target is continually moving around rather than staying in one place.”

“Of course she is. If she didn’t, she would be swallowed up by the waves of people,” Enirya said with a look of disinterest. “Use the surveillance equipment to determine where the rioting is at its strongest. That will be where we will find that girl.”

 
 

=== Part 4 ===
 
Misaka Mikoto jumped out from behind a battered shelf.

At the same time, multiple gunshots chased after her.

Intense bluish-white sparks flew from her entire body starting with her bangs. The flash and roar were just like that from actual lightning. The tremendous light and noise pounded an extremely primal fear into the hearts of the rioters that were staring at her through their gun sights.

Simply put, it was similar to a stun grenade.

However, the problem was that they held rifles or handguns in their hands. The flash and roar did make them flinch away and it succeeded in taking a few of their senses from them, but at the same time, their trigger fingers pulled back almost reflexively.

Even more bullets flew through the air.

Mikoto had been heading for a nearby shelf, but she gave up on that and used magnetism to forcibly pull the shelf closer.

The rifle bullets could easily pierce straight through the shelf.

However, Mikoto used magnetism to crush the shelf raising its density. As a result, it just barely managed to stop the deadly bullets.

Mikoto then threw the crushed shelf at the group of rioters.

Multiple people were knocked away as if they were bowling pins.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

With a universally understood cry, men and women continued to charge for her despite having blood flowing from their foreheads. It did not matter whether they held guns. Mikoto had been determined to be pure evil, so they were mercilessly heading for her as if they enjoyed the fact that they had made that determination.

(The lowering of their ability to think has dulled their sense of pain… Dammit, this is practically a scene from a zombie movie!!)

The crackling of bluish-white sparks exploded out.

A high voltage current flew straight ahead and finally stole the use of his limbs from a rioter and knocked him unconscious.

Or so it should have.

“Gh…gh…”

Despite having collapsed, the rioter’s fingertips were wriggling which caused even Mikoto to gasp in surprise.

And then…

(…?)

Mikoto heard a creaking sound from the side.

As soon as she heard it, multiple shelves from the gun shops collapsed all at once as if they had been hit by heavy machinery.

“Wha-…!?”

At that time, Mikoto remembered a documentary on tropical oceans she had seen.

More accurately, she recalled the sea anemones.

What reminded her of them were all the hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands, hands!!!!!

“…!! What happened to your guns!?”

Mikoto magnetically manipulated one of the shelves that had been knocked over. She sent it sliding across the floor at high speed as if it was sliding on ice. It took out the rioters’ feet knocking them over.

But that was not enough.

She then heard a metallic click behind her.

“I didn’t say that because I was hoping you would bring the guns back!!”

Multiple gunshots rang out.

Mikoto dropped down her hand that was up in the air while magnetically manipulating the rebar in the ceiling. A large amount of building materials came crashing down like a shutter creating a shield against the bullets.

An unpleasant sweat appeared over Mikoto’s body.

There were some rioters as well as Mikoto along the path where the bullets would have gone. They truly were just a gathering of strangers, so they did not care about friendly fire.

She could not continue stopped in one place.

She had to stop the guns from being spread out from that gun shop area, but getting swallowed up by the waves of people would not help anything.

“…!!”

Mikoto gritted her back teeth and moved swiftly. She fired a few more flashes and roars in the place of stun grenades and used all her speed to leave that gun shop area.

She cut across a grocery corner and into a do-it-yourself carpentry corner while a few bullets were fired nearby.

(I can’t do anything if I don’t neutralize their guns.)

Mikoto ducked down and ran between shelves while covering her head from the remnants of the products being blown away by the rifle bullets.

(My power can do a lot of things, but it’s easier to use by strengthening it with items gathered from the area than just using it by itself. Even its namesake, the Railgun, is like that…)

Mikoto practically slid into the corner she was headed for and grabbed the package she was going for. It was a large plastic bag about the size of a bag of rice.

(And so is my magnetic control using iron sand.)

Inside the bag were business use hand warmers.

The package held a few dozen of them and Mikoto used magnetism to rip them apart from the inside.

There were multiple types of hand warmers, but those ones had iron powder inside.

“Personally, I find iron sand easier to use, but I guess this is no time to be picky.”

She heard a sound similar to when an insect flew by her ear.

The advantage of iron sand or iron powder was that it could easily be interfered with using magnetism. If she made it vibrate at high speed, she could cut objects as if with a chainsaw and she could change it into the form of a sword, a spear, or a whip at will.

For example, it was not difficult to send out orders that caused masses smaller than a speck to be fired into the barrels or the ejection ports of the guns to tear them apart from the inside.

The sound of objects slicing through the air continued.

However, the sound was not that of rifle bullets.

It was the sound of the “bullets” of iron powder Mikoto was firing being swallowed up by the barrels of the rioter’s guns.

(This will work.)

She was now sure of that as she started to run again.

This time, she was not trying to flee. She was running in order to fight.

(This way, I can neutralize all of the guns being looted from that area! I can avoid the worst possible situation!!)

Just as she thought that, Mikoto sensitively felt an invisible current in the atmosphere. It was not a physical current of air. It was the current of emotions that had spread throughout the area and given rise to that rioting.

It had chaotically spread through that area like a giant balloon being filled to its limits within an airtight room.

However, it was now as if a gap had been created.

The flowing feelings were leaving for somewhere else. The tense feelings started to move off into the distance.

At first, Mikoto thought it was just the rioters faltering at the beginning of her counterattack.

But it was not that.

It was…

That current of emotions was…

(The target of the violence…has changed to something else?)

Mikoto frowned while continuing to destroy the rioters’ rifles from the inside.

(The Russian version of the uranium ornament story had me as the ultimate villain. Why would they start to leave their primary target alone…?)

Had the violence advanced to the point where their original reasons no longer mattered? If so, it could be a major problem in its own way, but…

(Wait.)

Mikoto suddenly realized something.

(It’s possible this rioting is being caused by Code EIC. What if it was caused in order to stop us from reaching the center of the incident…?)

Mikoto stopped running without even realizing it.

(That would mean the target of the rioting had moved to Lessar who’s even closer to the center of it all!!)

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS2_06_027.jpg|thumb]]

Mikoto was not the one who was truly in the most danger.

It was Lessar who was heading for the center of Code EIC.

She had finally realized that fact, but dozens of rioters were still heading her way like an avalanche.

“Out of the way…”

Sparks crackled around Mikoto.

A large amount of iron dust writhed like a living being.

“Get out of my waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!”

 
 

=== Part 5 ===
 
Lessar was running down a long narrow passageway.

The narrow duct had not continued on straight to her destination. There were areas where she had to come out above ground. And even if it had continued on, she would not have just headed through it. If the rioters had noticed her while she was travelling through that narrow area, she would have been trapped.

As such, Lessar had headed a certain distance through the duct and then come back up onto the first floor.

“I expected this wouldn’t be exactly easy…”

She ran at full speed without even glancing behind her.

“…but actually experiencing it is something else entirely!!”

It was like the scenes common to adventure-style action movies where the hero was chased by a giant steel ball.

However, there were dozens of men and women chasing Lessar in place of the steel ball. As they had legs, they did not need to roll, but the front row would be knocked down and trampled and then the next row would get tripped up in the same way. This made it look like she was being chased by a giant sphere made of human beings.

Lessar could feel something rather cold running down her spine while an enjoyment of the thrill somewhere in her heart caused a smile to come out on her face.

(This is bad. Very, very bad. I’m pretty sure I’ve still got a ways to go before I reach the stock market center where the center of Code EIC is.)

She could feel a vague sense of cruelty chasing after her in addition to the physical pursuers.

(It looks like my approach was detected and they divided up the rioters to have some go after me.)

Lessar had so readily split up with Mikoto because she had expected that to happen.

But suddenly Lessar saw a large group of rioters flowing out up ahead in the long passageway. She was being attacked from both sides. The knives and fire extinguishers in their hands seemed even more dangerous than guns that could kill in one shot.

(Wow! Their fingers are fidgeting around like crazy!!)

Lessar suddenly changed directions and leapt to the other side of a metal door partway down the passageway. She sealed the door with the table and other heavy objects within and was finally aware of just what kind of situation she was in. She was fed up with it.

The room was small.

It was not a place for customers. Most likely, cleaning supplies were stored inside the room. There were no other exits.

She was isolated.

But Lessar completely forgot about that kind of issue.

A greater danger lay before her eyes.

“Why…?” she muttered. “Why is there a magical bomb set up in this city of science?”

A stone big enough to just barely be held in one arm lay in the center of the room. No, technically, it was not a stone. It was a stone of charms that was created from dozens, hundreds, even thousands of parchments glued together.

(…It’s using a misinterpretation of Revelation. I guess it’s a large scale bomb that uses the sulfur fire. Well, it’s a fairly popular method to change that description to an attack method.)

Sulfur fire was of course not something physical or chemical.

In that case, it was easier to think of it as something that gave one lasting and intense pain by giving a burning pain to the skin and damage to the internal organs.

It could not be seen.

It ignored all obstacles.

And yet it was a means of attack that would definitely damage every person within range.

The bomb did not kill. Instead, it gave people incurable pain.

(If this “invisible bomb” were detonated here while there is a rumor going around of someone hidden in the city trying to detonate a nuclear bomb, it’s clear what the rioters would mistake it for with their dulled judgment.)

While looking at the sulfur fire made up of a giant mass of charms, Lessar stuck her hand into her pocket. She pulled out a card-shaped communications spiritual item made out of thick paper.

“Hello, Bayloupe?”

“What is it, Lessar?”

“I’ve found a bit of a Revelation-ish bomb. Is this you or the others’ doing by any chance?”

“How about you ask me again? I’ll give you 100 spankings.”

“Hmm, I see…”

“So are you saying there’s another cabal hidden here besides us?”

“Pretty much,” Lessar said before smacking herself on the forehead. “Achahh!”

A banging noise could continually be heard. The rioters were touchingly acting as a group in order to destroy the metal door.

“This means this whole situation is likely to get a bit more complicated…”

“Lessar,” Bayloupe cut in stopping Lessar’s thoughts. “Sorry for cutting in while you were getting heated up, but I don’t think the merits for us outweigh the risks here.”

“Even though this has spread beyond a purely science side problem and has begun to involve the magic side as well?”

“That would be a job for the official groups like Necessarius. It does not fit our goal. There is some kind of plan being carried out in this city and some magicians besides us may be involved, but there is no need for us to clean up for them. There are no merits to match the risks, so we need to quickly retreat.”

“…I’m guessing this means I can’t expect any reinforcements.”

“Even if we save the people in this city, it will not benefit us in any way.”

“Then I have no choice,” said Lessar admitting her colleague was right. “Bayloupe.”

“What?”

“Let’s have a real fight once this is over. You can use your Gjallarhorn or whatever else you want.”

Having said what she had to say, Lessar cut off the connection.

She did a general analysis of the sulfur fire’s construction by sight.

(…The construction itself is simple, but the amount will make dismantling it take some time. It looks like it’ll take between 15 and 30 minutes.)

She heard a great thud coming from the metal door. The door was beginning to dent inwards.

(The problem is that they don’t look like they’re going to give me that much time.)

But she could not just leave it alone and wait for it to detonate either.

Lessar pulled out a few Nihon Daruma “souvenirs” from her pocket. She smeared a yellow chemical on her thumb, muttered a spell under her breath, and then traced her thumb across one of the charms making up the stone-like object.

The charm fell off like a dried leaf.

(I estimate there are about 30,000 of them. I’ve simplified the dismantling ceremony down as much as possible, but I still may not make it in time.)

As Lessar’s fingers raced along, the charms peeled off one by one.

However, she was indeed going to be too slow.

A violent din rang from the metal door clearly declaring her time limit. The door was already bent and multiple pairs of eyes could be seen peering through the gap.

She guessed the straining sound she heard was coming from the hinges.

Suddenly, an L-shaped crowbar stabbed through the gap between the door and the wall. With a cracking noise, the gap started to widen due to the principle of leverage.

(Not good…!!)

The door was not going to last.

If the rioters came pouring in before she had dismantled the sulfur fire, all of the civilians in the area would take the full brunt of the magical bomb.

Lessar was thinking that, but…

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out and the crowbar was knocked away.

The gunshot had not come from outside the door. It had clearly come from within the room. But there was no one inside the room besides Lessar.

Lessar turned toward the source of the noise in shock.

“…Above?”

“Moving through ducts is a basic part of action movies.”

A square portion of the ceiling was removed and the upper half of a woman appeared upside down through it. They were in a Russian facility but the handgun the woman held was a foreign gun, so it may have been a favorite of hers.

(So this city has ducts running through both above and below.)

“Who are you?”

“I am Enirya G. Algonskaya of the security guards,” said the redheaded woman giving a simple introduction. “I rushed over here thinking Misaka Mikoto was here, but it looks like I was wrong. At any rate, it seems you’re trapped here. I’ll protect you, so grab onto my hand.”

“I’d really, really like to do so, but…”

“?”

“Do you know what this is I’m dismantling? Nn, I guess you wouldn’t. Well…just think of it like a time bomb filled with a liquid explosive. If I just leave it here, those vigorous rioters will be completely blown way.”

“A bomb? …God damn it,” Enirya cursed.

She pulled her upper body back inside the duct and then dropped down into the small room right side up.

“Do you have the skills to dismantle it? Since you’re already touching it, I sure as hell hope you’re a specialist.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. More importantly…”

A great din started coming from the metal door once more.

“Could you do something about them?”

“I’ll do my best.”

Enirya stuck the barrel of her gun into the gap between the door and the wall and pulled the trigger without hesitating. Dry gunshots rang out and a sense of faltering could be sensed from the other side.

“How long is it going to take to dismantle that thing!?”

“Fifteen minutes if we’re lucky. Thirty if we’re not.”

Even as Lessar said that, her hands were sending charm after charm falling from the stone-like mass. The great amount of fallen parchments looked like a pile of feathers.

Enirya fired through the gap in the door and seemed to be contacting someone over her radio. She was likely sending a security guard unit to the passageway outside the door. But would they make it in time? Could they prepare enough strength to restrain the group of people who had become a mass of cruelty?

Suddenly, a new grinding sound became audible.

It was coming from the other side of the wall.

The wall opposite the door.

“Uuh… I have a very bad feeling about what that means.”

“?”

“You’re one of the security guards that was there back then, right? Then you should recognize that sound. Don’t you remember hearing that when the remote controlled equipment showed up?”

“That’s the sound of…treads…?”

Enirya stopped firing and turned around toward the opposite wall.

Immediately afterwards, the heavy equipment plowed through the reinforced concrete wall and appeared amid a cloud of dust.

It was a small snowplow.

This time it was not equipped with a light machine gun and it had no explosives on it. It was simply being driven by one of the enraged rioters.

Lessar and Enirya jumped to the walls on the left and right as the snowplow cut through the center. It plowed through the table and metal door on the other side of the room and continued into the passageway filled with rioters.

Even so, the next noise was that of cheering.

The rioters were letting out joyous voices at the fact that they could resume their violence now that the door was out of their way.

Enirya fired a few shots, but it was meaningless.

Countless rioters charged in through the two holes opened up in the walls.

Lessar did not stop her dismantling job and she was forced to wrap her arms around the bomb as if she were trying to protect it.

She felt her throat dry up, but there was nowhere left to flee.

She would be swallowed up.

It was pointless to ask Enirya for help. The woman was about to disappear amidst the crowd just as she was.

Arms…

Legs…

They both flew at her and pain exploded just beneath her skin. Before the feeling could disappear, the next strike would come. And the next, and the next, and the next. The number of blows accumulated in no time at all. She tried to ball up and protect her organs as much as possible, but she wasn’t sure how effective her efforts were. She was saved by the fact that the rioters were packed in too tightly, so they did not have room to aim their guns at her. However, being driven closer and closer to death by their bare hands was a hell of its own.

The situation may have been truly bad.

Lessar noticed an iron-like flavor welling up from deep in her throat. She could tell her thoughts were growing dull. Her pain exceeded a certain level and she began to feel nothing more than a vague heat.

(…Fire…)

That thought vaguely entered her head.

(Sulfur…fire…)

The mass she was holding in her hands fell to pieces. The final explosion-causing charm lost its effects and slipped from her hands.

With even her pain in a vague state, Lessar smiled slightly.

And then something flew by at high speed piercing through the walls on the left and the right that had not yet been destroyed.

It ripped through the air at three times the speed of sound.

An extremely tiny projectile pierced through the wall at a point almost at the ceiling. This smashed the entire wall spreading pieces of concrete everywhere.

A glowing orange line remained burned in the retinas of everyone there.

Shortly afterwards, the rioters crowded inside that small space were blown away as if it were an afterthought. Some were hit by the shockwave and some were hit by the whirling concrete fragments. As if that raging violence had been overwritten by an even more sublime violence, the situation was completely turned around in an instant.

A low rumbling noise could be heard.

With the four walls destroyed, the now unsupported ceiling began to collapse.

The rioters that could still move frantically ran from the room, but the tragedy they were expecting did not occur.

Ignoring gravity, the concrete ceiling floated in midair.

It was as if magnetism were being manipulated.

“…Chehh. You stole the best part,” Lessar muttered while still collapsed on the ground.

Enirya looked over in the direction Lessar was looking and discovered who the “ruler” was.

“Misaka…Mikoto…”

Enirya spat out some saliva mixed with blood and adjusted her grip on her handgun with bloody hands. The incessant violence had left her in a situation where she could not even stand up, but she still managed to hold her right arm out.

Mikoto’s expression did not change despite having the gun aimed at her.

“Aren’t you pointing that at the wrong person?”

“N...no. You are the…highest priority.”

Her hand was trembling, but there was a piercing light in her eyes.

Amid the strange silence, Enirya stared through her gun sight at the suspect and asked a question.

“Misaka…Mikoto. Are you…the leader…behind this…incident?”

Mikoto smiled slightly upon hearing the question.

And then she unhesitatingly responded.

Her response seemed to be directed not just at Enirya but at all the rioters there as well.

“Do you really think that person would come here to save a security guard?” This time, Mikoto asked a question. “Do you have any ideas who could be behind this?”

“That is…what I am currently…investigating. It’s not just…you. I am…thoroughly investigating…every single…suspicious person.”

Her strength must have been at its limit.

After saying that, Enirya’s right hand fell to the floor. It seemed she had lost consciousness.

Silence fell over the room.

Bluish-white sparks flew from Mikoto’s bangs destroying that silence,

“…I am really pissed right now.”

She did not run away. She headed straight into the rioters.

She did it because she knew it was right.

She did not hesitate.

“I am not trying to kill any of you as I head forward, but make sure not to screw up and get yourselves killed.”

 
 

=== Part 6 ===
 
Enirya woke up to a stabbing pain.

It was different from the feeling before that could not be distinguished from heat.

She realized it was due to disinfectant and tried to get up from the floor.

“You should stay still,” said a fellow security guard.

“Where…am I?” Enirya said moving her lips that were covered in dried blood.

From the looks of things, she was not very far away from the place where she had been attacked by the rioters. There were a few security guards armed with guns stationed in the long, narrow passageway.

(…What happened? Was I saved by the suppression strategy…?)

Suddenly, Enirya remembered what had actually happened.

Just before she had passed out someone other than the security guards had shown up.

Enirya asked for an explanation of the situation while half-grabbing her colleague’s collar.

“What happened?”

“It was Misaka Mikoto.”

“What happened to that primary suspect!? She was here before, right!?”

But her colleague shook his head.

“I don’t know what happened to her…”

Just because the battle ended in one place did not meant that the rioting was completely over.

After all, the disturbance had spread throughout the entire shopping mall. Things had gone beyond the level were just a strong individual like Mikoto could do anything about it. It could not be stopped without the power of a group.

“Didn’t you go a little easy on that security guard?” said Lessar while she spread disinfectant on her wounds. “From how she was acting, I’m betting she’s still going to bare her fangs at you.”

“I don’t need to worry about that. If she truly is trying to find who is behind this incident, she is not my enemy even if she does get in my way.” After saying that, Mikoto changed the subject. “But what kind of people are the higher ups of the shopping mall?”

“I’m sure they didn’t want this much damage. It’s possible they don’t have many cards left to play. They may have started a wildfire with a cigarette butt and now they aren’t able to put it out.”

“They have control of Code EIC and they can send out any information they want, right? …In that case, wouldn’t they be able to use the news and other things to control the scale and flow of the rioting?”

“The people don’t know about Code EIC. It does not send out orders that people are obligated to follow. Instead, it adjusts the direction they head in without them realizing it. If they tried to forcibly change the direction of the people, there’s a danger that the people would notice the inconsistency. If that happened, where do you think the people’s anger would turn? Humans are easily deceived, but a human that enjoys being deceived is a rare thing indeed.”

Lessar led Mikoto to an underground facility within the shopping mall.

Inside were many booths divided by transparent partitions made of reinforced glass. In addition to the normal screens and monitors, the walls, ceiling, and other surfaces were all monitors for the Semipublic AR. The entire space was filled with flowing numbers. The size of the area was around the size of small concert hall. The conspicuous facility was constructed out of straight lines and was colored mainly a pale blue.

“This is like the color scheme of a men’s bathroom,” Lessar commented letting her troubling impression leak out.

Mikoto ignored her.

“So this is it?”

“As I said before, this is the stock market center that centers on the tenant-owned stores within the shopping mall. The stocks for all of the companies in the city are handled here. It’s a market that is connected to the entire world through the network. It’s listed in the shopping mall’s pamphlet as one of the sightseeing spots. It suggests that one experiences its ‘real’ presence.”

When she looked closer, Mikoto noticed that here was a space up high on the wall that circled around the entire area. It may have been similar to how foreigners loved seeing the fish markets in Japan.

Mikoto hung her head down as she thought.

“So there’s a giant computer that can carry out massive amounts of calculations and a large scale server that can exchange data on trading from all over the world with no lag…”

“If the higher ups wanted to extend Code EIC beyond the shopping mall, there’s no better facility for it, right?”

“I know that, but…”

Mikoto looked around.

On the floor, the walls, the ceiling, the partitions, the monitors, the screens, and everything else, there were tons of dizzyingly tiny numbers scrolling across and curving graphs moving up and down ever so slightly. Investors from all over the world would either rejoice or worry based on the changes in those numbers. Depending on the situation, some would hang themselves and some would make baths of banknotes.

But…

Despite the intense changes in the numbers, Mikoto could not detect a single person inside that stock market center. The numbers continued to change, so the trading could not be over. And even if the trading for the day was over, there would have to have been at least one guard.

“What is going on? Why are there no businessmen or operators here?”

“I dunno. They may have left because the city lost functionality. Or they may have run off to find shelter because they knew we were coming.”

“But the shopping mall seems to need Code EIC. Wouldn’t they normally try to oppose us?”

“Maybe there’s some sub system. Or maybe they’re preparing some way to interfere remotely.”

“Well, just speculating isn’t going to solve anything.”

Mikoto looked up at the giant computer in the center of the facility.

Its area alone was greater than 8 school classrooms and its height was on par with a three story building. Because it was installed in the center, the entire facility was built in a donut shape.

“Then I’m going to get all the information I can. We can think this through once we have all the materials.”

Lessar moved away from Mikoto and started to investigate the area.

Mikoto reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a PDA.

As she was in one of Academy City’s cooperative institutions, they used the same type of connector. She connected the PDA to the giant computer with a cable and started “peeking” inside.

“…Chehh. The calculation area used for the stock trading only takes up a third of it. I guess the rest is related to Code EIC. It reads people’s actions through all the security cameras and estimates what their feelings are. Then it automatically creates a news source that uses the best timing to spread the rumor in waves. It controls people as a mass rather than as individuals…)

She had found the program related to Code EIC, but she did not touch it because she had no manual to tell her if simply shutting it down would be fine or if it would bring even more chaos.

She focused on finding the details of whatever the shopping mall’s higher ups were planning.

After all, they may have brought a nuclear weapon into Academy City.

(They used Code EIC to spread the urban legend of the uranium ornament, so what they are planning to do in Academy City and the details of the incident using the urban legend as its motif may be inside this computer.)

Mikoto used the PDA to search through the massive storage areas of the computer, but her fingers finally stopped moving.

She had found it.

“Concerning the Fluctuation in the Value of Scientific Information once Academy City is Destroyed”

It was generally what Mikoto and Lessar had predicted.

If Academy City was destroyed and it could no longer function as the headquarters of the scientific world, the quality of the world’s “cutting edge science” would drop drastically. If that happened, companies and organizations throughout the world would see great value in the fragmentary knowledge the shopping mall had.

If psychic power development could be successfully created from that information, that was fine. And even if that did not happen and technology branching off from what supported psychic powers was developed instead, it was still fine as long as it made a profit.

The loss of Academy City would of course be a major blow to the world, but it was not as if all of humanity would be immediately destroyed.

After all, Academy City had been hiding its cutting edge technology that entire time. Even if that unreleased technology that no one else knew about was lost, the rest of the world would still be able to live their lives.

Of course, there would be obvious damage when it came to the financial and economic worlds, but the shopping mall was an expert in those fields. They could keep their damages to a minimum and rearrange the network of the market in the confusion in a way advantageous for themselves.

They would create a business model.

That was what the shopping mall was trying to do.

The problem was how they were planning to destroy Academy City…

(…Means of using a Solntse hydrogen bomb?)

Mikoto read those words and then started to feel dizzy.

What was all that about a uranium ornament?

Things had gone beyond the level of mere nuclear fission.

“…The primary plan is to deploy a Solntse within Academy City and then activate a timed detonator. It will detonate after the spies escape.”

That must have been the true identity those attackers armed with ultra high frequency electromagnetic rifles that Shirai had run into.

“If the primary plan runs into problems, we will immediately switch to the secondary plan. That decision does not need to be discussed with the spies carrying out the primary plan. If we decide it is necessary, we will switch over.”

A chill ran down her spine.

The lack of people in the stock market center meaningfully pressed on Mikoto’s chest.

“The secondary plan is…”

After reading that far, Mikoto frowned.

She could not find any text on the secondary plan. It just said that it would only be shown to those with the authority to view it.

(Is there any more text? Or is the rest only told by mouth in order to leave no records?)

She could not make a judgment based on only the information she had.

Mikoto gave up on that report and looked through the giant computer for another file.

As expected, she could not find anything explaining the secondary plan, but she found a few pieces of reference data that supplemented that unseen center. She looked through quite a few encrypted files and a common item began to show itself.

(A modified MIG-21…?)

It seemed to be the designation of a Russian aircraft.

Mikoto looked through one of the reference files.

The file had photos and videos in it.

(It’s a fighter that was originally developed during the cold war. Its defining characteristic is how oddly low the cost for one is. Its functionality can be summed up in the term “old model”.)

Mikoto scanned through the data being displayed on the PDA.

(At the end of the cold war, most of the Soviet weapons were sold at very low prices and the MIG-21 was no exception. One of them has a value of 30,000 dollars. When compared to the American fighters that cost 100,000,000 dollars each, it is an extremely cheap fighter that can be obtained by almost anyone.)

All of that had been the specs of the normal MIG-21.

The higher ups of the shopping mall had purchased one due to its low price and how easy it was to obtain one. They had then independently modified it.

They had modified it to fill a role in their current plan.

Mikoto opened the diagram for the modified fighter and scanned through the desired specs.

That time, she truly thought she had become anemic.

It said the following:

''Added suspension for a nuclear weapon.

''Modifications to hold a Solntse.

Mikoto concluded that it would be used to force a detonation if the primary plan were to fail.

 
 

=== Part 7 ===
 
Lessar lightly clenched her fist and knocked on the wall with the back of her hand.

She slowly moved along tapping accurately along at even intervals.

Lessar listened to the sound it made as she moved along the well, but she eventually came to a stop.

The noise had changed.

The sound was weak. It was as if the impact of her knock was escaping on the other side of a thin wall.

Lessar’s mouth loosened and she smashed the glass case on the wall with her elbow. Inside was an axe in case of emergency. That kind of thing may have been rare in Japan, but overseas they were as common as fire extinguishers.

She grabbed the axe and unhesitatingly struck the wall.

Sparks flew from the Semipublic AR screen, but Lessar paid them no heed. She swung the axe three or four more times. With a cracking noise, the wall finally collapsed in the other direction. It was more like it had been knocked down by a blunt object than like it had been sliced by the axe.

“Oh, it was a sliding door. And I was pushing it forward,” muttered Lessar as she tossed the axe to the side.

It probably had a strict electronic lock, but she did not care.

She stepped inside.

She smelled a nostalgic scent.

The dimly lit area seemed to be a straight passageway. It was not clear whether it led to some kind of secret facility or was just an escape route. Lessar grinned and headed further inside.

The passageway turned at a right angle.

“This is…?”

Just as she peered around the corner, she heard Mikoto shouting after her from within the stock market center.

“Wait! Come here a second!! I’ve found some amazing data.”

“Oh, that sounds important.”

“It looks like they’ve given an old fighter the ability to hold a nuclear weapon!! What about you? Did you find anything!?”

“No.” Lessar peered around the corner of the passageway once more. “There’s nothing here. I’ll be right there.”

(…Well, I guess it’s for the best to tell her that.)

Around that corner was another long and straight passageway. Inside that passageway were 9 headless bodies of people that had been killed before they managed to get to the end of the passageway.

All the corpses were wearing high class suits that one would never see on a salaryman. Hanging from the remnants of their necks were ID cards with the highest rank. The ID photos on the cards smiled eerily as if in place of the heads that had been removed and taken away.

The walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

Fresh blood was spread all over like part of a bad joke.

The higher ups were dead.

And the wounds were much too clean to have been done by the rioters those higher ups had created.

But Lessar was not especially concerned by the bodies themselves.

She was concerned by the symbol on the necks.

(…The sword emblem. And since the scroll ornamentation is there too, it must be related to St. Paul.)

“That’s in terrible taste,” Lessar muttered.

(The symbol of a patron saint often designates where that patron saint received persecution such as a gouged out eyeball or a severed breast. But using the emblem of the decapitated St. Paul to behead another… That just reeks of modern Western magic that loves secret tricks.)

But in that case, something inexplicable came to the surface.

Something clearly different had been mixed in with that incident that had progressed based on scientific means.

The other set of laws known as magic had been mixed in.

And…

(Even if the higher ups have been slaughtered, the plan involving a nuke is still continuing.)

Those gears that had remained hanging down continued to turn, so the unit carrying it out would not be stopped easily. At the very least, the option of having an order sent out that would end it all peaceably had disappeared.

(So what idiot is continuing this plan?)

Lessar smiled thinly as she turned around and headed back through the passageway toward Mikoto.

“It looks like this has gotten a bit more interesting.”

 
 
<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS2 Chapter2

2011-07-29T22:40:16Z

Dagger: Typo, rephrase

== Chapter 2==
 
=== Part 1 ===
 
“So she got away…”

Enirya G. Algonskaya, a security guard, sighed while looking at the monitor.

She was in a small room.

It was the room beyond the interrogation room’s one-way mirror.

After cornering her a bit, they had given her a certain level of freedom. That was why they had allowed her to access the Semipublic AR and had not deleted her account. They had been hoping Mikoto would end up revealing something to them in how she used the network once she had lost her cool.

One of Enirya’s fellow security guards spoke while bringing up some files on the wall.

“She escaped through the window and along the wall. The AR monitors on the wall had some trouble due to magnetism. Perhaps we should not have treated her like a usual minor.”

“It’s not like we actually know how to restrain an esper. Not much data on them has been disclosed to us,” Enirya said in a very different tone from when she had spoken with Mikoto. “Or are you saying we should have put guillotine-like wooden shackles on her?”

“She rotated those bolts with magnetism. She might be able to vibrate something made of iron at high speed and use it like a saw.”

“So we have no way of resolving that. And now this dangerous person who can use anything made of steel like a saw or a bullet is fleeing through the city.” Enirya put her elbows up on the table and asked her fellow security guard a question with her head hanging down. “How is the tracking going? Do we have any idea where she’s fleeing to?”

“No. She is not showing up on the surveillance equipment.”

“Hm, and it isn’t supposed to have any blind spots. …What about her Semipublic AR account? Has she used it?”

That city’s AR checked on the user’s location and made sure others could not see the images the user was seeing. That also meant that the person’s location could be checked on.

However…

“She has not used it at all since she escaped. We are continuing to monitor her account, but…”

“So she’s realized what we can do with it.” Enirya smiled a bit despite having lost a possible hint. “We can target that.”

“?”

“Everyone in this city uses the Semipublic AR. It is not forced on them, but it is simply inconvenient not to. …A lone person not using it will stand out. Search for someone who is slow to react. Don’t just use the surveillance equipment. Have the security guards on patrol be on the lookout, too. Anyone can see the importance of human eye surveillance with things like checks for suspicious objects in airports.”

While looking over at her fellow security guard using the AR to arrange that, Enirya added more in her thoughts.

(What was that esper yelling in the interrogation room?)

She frowned while performing some operations on a monitor that had been isolated from the AR.

(She said this was not over and that there were 19 oranges left.)

She typed on the table performing a search over the AR.

(The details are unknown on the contents of the bucket the suspect said she stopped. The contents were almost completely turned to ash making it hard to tell if they were actually crimson long-legged army ants.)

If they had the lab check the DNA, some new information might be found, but that would simply take too long.

Of course, she could not deny the possibility that the remains did not belong to crimson long-legged army ants. It could all be the prank of a middle school girl.

However…

(If so, would she have had a good enough reason to escape the interrogation room? She caused some trouble, but if she had only used normal harmless ants, it was at a level where she could have just apologized.)

That meant the situation may have gotten to a point where that would not cut it.

(But now that she’s run off, it seems the best option where it was just a prank has disappeared. The incident was real. However, what exactly is going on? Were there really crimson long-legged army ants there or was she merely claiming there were and now she’s about to cause some more trouble?)

After thinking for a bit, Enirya tapped her index finger on the table getting rid of the AR search.

(In any case, we will capture her.)

She once more confirmed what her own objective was.

(Getting information from the one who knows what is going on is the fastest method.)
 
 

=== Part 2 ===
 
The date had changed.

Misaka Mikoto ran through the shopping mall late at night.

There was a major difference between day and night. Things were completely sectioned off. The night leisure areas that functioned into the night continually emitted light while the areas that closed at sundown were wrapped in darkness.

The vacant darkness may have been reminiscent of a school at night.

The emergency paths, the paths leading to security guard stations, and the locations of fire extinguishers and AEDs were color coded on the floor with arrows. The blue dots at even intervals on the ceiling likely denoted the locations of the sprinklers.

Those things were being shown on the Semipublic AR.

Because Mikoto was not allowing their sensors to see her, they were not able to personally focus them for her. Most likely, those displays were set at an isolation level where everyone could see them. In other words, it was the same as a normal television.

As Mikoto hid behind a display shelf with household appliances lined up on it, a few footsteps passed by.

It seemed to be a group of three. They seemed to be using the Semipublic AR to follow the “footprints” left on the floor.

If Mikoto had not tampered with the sensors, they would have caught up to her very quickly.

(But that also means I can throw them off my trail as often as I want as long as I can interfere with their electronic equipment.)

She watched the security guards head off in the wrong direction following dummy “footprints”. However, they would likely realize the “footprints” were unnatural before long. Once they stopped relying on the sensors, things would truly begin.

She could not allow herself to be captured.

Oranges filled with crimson long-legged army ant eggs could be set up around the shopping mall to act as living time bombs at that very moment. She had no idea when the eggs would hatch and the ants would become active. She had no idea how tenacious the ants were, but they might attack people no matter where they hid once they were spread around. It was horrible to imagine.

“…”

There were a lot of things she needed to investigate.

She had heard oranges mentioned a few times since she had entered the city. She had to go back and investigate those instances.

(It would be so easy if I could use the AR.)

Mikoto looked down at the ground while still hiding behind the display.

She was an esper that could control electricity. That did not just mean she could create powerful high voltage currents. She could also carry out precise hacking. In a city that managed the flow of people and things at such a high level, she could easily search for someone using the surveillance cameras, the electronic money, and other things. For Mikoto, an analog rural city would be harder to work in.

But the systems in that city used the Semipublic AR. That interface required Mikoto to use the actions of her body. In other words, if she used the ultrasonic wave sensors like usual, the security guards would find her.

She needed a different account to use.

She was already using her hacking to fool the cameras and sensors, but another problem arose. Just by going about not using the Semipublic AR that everyone used, she stood out to the security guards watching.

To completely continue on, she needed a new account.

However, the security was strong enough that Mikoto could not create a new account even with her hacking.

To create a new account, it seemed she needed to physically contact a large server that managed a great amount of information.

(I’ll start my preparations there for safety and convenience’s sake.)

Mikoto could not use the Semipublic AR, so she forced herself to recall the signs she had seen before.

She looked all around her and stopped while staring in a direction from which a faint light was leaking.

 
 

=== Part 3 ===
 
There were many different types of night leisure activities.

That area was like an amusement park lit up with many lights giving it a different look from a daytime amusement park. There were clubs for youths filled with booming music and alcohol. There was an opera house that required formal wear and an otherwise nice appearance to get in. There were various amusements of every genre, for every rank, and for every target demographic. All of it filled that area of the dark night with light.

However, the areas that would fulfill Mikoto’s requirements were limited.

She needed a place with a large server that dealt with a large amount of data.

“The casino, hm?”

(…I’m more used to arcades.)

As Mikoto muttered both out loud and silently, she was not wearing her Tokiwadai uniform. Instead, she was wearing a mostly red dress. She had taken it from the back of a dress shop she had found along the way. It was labeled “Misaka Mikoto – Demonstration Oufit”, so she did not think it would be a problem.

Mikoto was fired up, but when she actually entered the casino, it turned out not to have as formal and dignified an atmosphere as she had thought. There were a lot of gentlemen and ladies in formal dress at the roulette and baccarat tables that had dealers, but the area full of slot machines had plenty of Asians in T-shirts and jeans. That area looked just like the slot machines in a pachinko parlor.

Mikoto had no idea what the laws were in Russia, but in the shopping mall, both adults and children were allowed in the casino hall. Most of the children were with their parents, but that was not because they were required to be accompanied by an adult. It was simply due to the fact that most of the kids in the shopping mall were there on a trip with their families.

As such, a middle school girl like Misaka Mikoto did not especially stand out upon marching into the casino.

In fact, she seemed right at home.

(Is that really something to be proud of?)

There were plenty of human eyes she could not fool with her power like she could with the cameras and sensors. However, no one pointed her out as a wanted criminal and the security guards did not come charging over.

Perhaps her atmosphere had changed due to the dress, perhaps the security guards had hidden the information on her form the general public, or perhaps the people were simply too used to the Semipublic AR so they were unable to focus on her as long as a “danger” icon did not appear above her head.

If she did not take action while she could, she would be cornered before long.

(Now then…)

Mikoto looked around.

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS2_02_007.jpg|thumb]]

(There are all sorts of chips clattering around either increasing or decreasing in amount. This can’t just be the money they have on hand. There must be a system for using your credit card data to buy chips. There has to be a large server here that is linked to credit card companies across the world.)

However, the interior of the casino was made to look like an aristocratic mansion, so the ugly boxes like an air conditioner were not just left out in the open. They were likely stored somewhere possibly underground or in an adjacent room.

The walls, pillars, floor, tables, show windows, and everything else in that place were a terminal for the Semipublic AR, but those were just the very ends of the system. Those were far from the computers that managed all the accounts. Simply put, there were a lot of defensive walls between those two parts of the system and the data that could get through was limited.

However, if she made the commands directly in a large server, she could force her way through all the defensive walls at once.

Mikoto lightly looked around as she took a mixed drink known as a non-alcoholic cocktail from an unknown bunny girl.

There were stairs at the end of the hall that seemed to lead to the VIP seats on the second floor.

In other words, the area below that was a giant box.

“So it’s there.”

Mikoto lightly brought the cocktail glass to her lips and walked closer to the VIP seats while making sure not to go against the flow of people and the music being played within the casino.

There was a poker table below the VIP seats.

The cards were dealt by a physical dealer, but the betting and dividing up of chips seemed to be done digitally by the Semipublic AR on the table.

The dealer had his back to the wall, so it would be difficult to get up next to the wall.

You were free to watch the players, but hanging out in the back too much would probably make people suspect you were trying to spy on the cards and let one of the players know.

The best way to stay by the wall for a long period was…

(Sigh… I guess I have no choice but to join in.)

But while that game of poker used paper cards and a dealer (perhaps to ensure fairness), it also used the Semipublic AR for the betting and dividing up of the chips.

Mikoto could not use her own account, so was it even possible for her to join in?

“Hee hee hee. You seem troubled.”

“Wah!?”

Mikoto’s shoulders jumped in surprise at the sudden voice from behind.

Standing there was the girl named Lessar from the occult convenience store. For some reason, she was dressed as a black bunny girl and was piling variously colored chips onto a silver tray.

“I’m not sure what it is that has you so troubled, though. Did your allowance run out?”

“Wait a second. You said something about an orange to me, right? I need you to tell me what you were-…”

As Mikoto tried to speak, Lessar stretched out her index finger.

She touched Mikoto’s lower lip with that finger.

“Non non. Should you be talking about that here?”

“(…I need to speak with you later.)”

Mikoto had no idea who this Lessar girl really was. She had given her a hint about the orange. Due to that, she had somehow managed to deal with the first orange explosion, but she still did not know if Lessar was good or bad. However, it was clear that she had something to do with the incident.

But Mikoto still had no allies she could be completely sure of.

She did not need to wish for that much.

(I suppose I have to use everything I can…)

Mikoto reconfirmed her plan.

(As such, I still need to work on getting a new account allowing me to freely walk through the facility like I originally planned.)

“Are you working now? Or are you dressed like that for fun?”

“Nihon Daruma is a shop for souvenirs that bring good luck and certain victory, so its true value can be seen in a place like this. Even those who would normally find it ridiculous come to buy things. Although I don’t think there is actually anyone who can use spells that twist probability theory or statistics. To answer your question, I do not work for the casino, so I am not prohibited from gambling on the job.”

“And you can use the Semipublic AR, right?”

“What about it?”

In response to Lessar’s question, Mikoto pointed toward the poker table.

“I’ll help you win some easy money, so help me out.”

 
 

=== Part 4 ===
 
It was not even a competition.

Lessar in her black bunny girl outfit sat down at the Japanese fan-shaped table and Mikoto remained on standby peering over Lessar’s shoulder at the cards.

Then Mikoto just had to give slight instructions on what to do based on the five cards dealt to Lessar.

By the way, no matter how much tremendous luck one had, not even an experienced professional player could win every single time. What was important in that kind of card game was to clearly have hands one won and hands one lost during the first stage. One pushed toward losing on the hands that would have the lowest damage and pushed toward winning on the hands that would bring the greatest benefit. The differences between those would bring the player victory in the end.

“Wow, you’re really making this look easy. It feels like I was given a bank account that never goes down no matter how much I use it.”

“Luck and skill are not needed. Anyone can win as long as they can do math.”

“But poker is more than just probability and statistics, right? In fact, I think the real thrill comes from the psychological warfare.”

“Economics is fundamentally the study of the movements of people’s hearts. If unease spreads through the market, stock prices can plummet for no reason. Deciding when to stay with it and when to back out is the same,” Mikoto replied arbitrarily, but her true goal was not victory in a card game.

That was just what she was doing in her spare time.

Her brain was mainly focused on manipulating minute electronic currents in order hack the large server.

“But is this really okay?”

“Is what?”

“No matter how many hands go by and no matter how mean the dealer gets, we do not lose any chips. The other players are getting mad, the dealer is getting panicked, and it feels like someone is going to call the security guards on us for cheating before long.”

“Hm, I guess we stood out too much. …Wait, did you know I was being chased?”

“More or less.”

“What do you think I’m doing right now?”

“Trying to get some money to use in your flight?”

“Don’t joke. Running away isn’t my thing.”

A commotion had started behind Mikoto. Like a wave, it slowly approached her. It seemed more like someone was cutting through the waves of people than like the clamoring people were approaching.

“Looks like the time has come.”

“What should we do? If you’re going to run, I suggest creating some legal disorder. For instance, you could slam your fist down on the pile of chips to send them flying everywhere.”

(Whether I create some disorder or not, running out in a hurry is not a good plan. It would simply stand out too much.)

Mikoto felt a numb feeling on the inside of her forehead.

She continued to interfere with the large server.

The commotion continued to approach as she did so.

The people cutting through the waves of people were likely security guards.

“(They’re gonna ask for your digital identification, so it’ll look suspicious if you can’t use the Semipublic AR. However, you can’t exactly show them your actual ID either.)”

“(…Shut up. Just stay quiet.)”

Lessar did not seem worried at all. In fact, she looked at Mikoto and the security guard with a mischievous look in her eyes.

The security guards were now directly behind Mikoto.

Mikoto’s bangs slightly wavered in an unnatural way.

They did not hesitate.

Mikoto felt a hand on her right shoulder.

For some reason, she responded by turning around to the left.

She could not display a digital ID or show her normal ID as Misaka Mikoto…or so it should have been.

“Do you need something?” Mikoto said with a smile.

At the same time, a large window displaying a digital ID appeared on the floor. She used the keyboard in the touch window on the poker table to set the Semipublic AR to a level where the security guards could see it.

Two male security guards had come.

They looked down at the ground dubiously.

One of them spoke while looking at the data giving the personal information of the girl before his eyes.

“…Benisaki Eri-san?”

Lessar was the only one that smiled at that.

The girl in the red dress put her expression in order and slowly asked a question.

“Yes, is there a problem?”

She blinked her eyes in a way that a fellow woman could tell was completely purposeful.

“What were you two called here for?”

The security guards turned their suspicious gazes from the girl in the red dress to the dealer. He had likely been the one who had reported the girls for making people less likely to play at his table due to their constant winning.

“The movements of the cards should be tracked by the table’s Semipublic AR and you can also check the camera at the edge of ceiling over there.”

The girl in the red dress put a hand on Lessar’s shoulder in order to urge her to stand up.

The security guard men became a bit flustered.

“Eh…ah…wait! Where do you think you’re g-…”

“Then I’ll leave these.”

Mikoto dropped all the chips they had gained on the table.

She then pointed toward the dealer.

“However, you are the one who will lose in the end. We didn’t do anything wrong and yet you conspired with the security guards to have our game forfeited just because you weren’t doing so well. If I am restrained even temporarily, the opinion of this casino will drop like a rock. No one wants to be arrested for a baseless crime.”

After saying that, the girl in the red dress left the table along with Lessar. She moved powerfully and quickly but not so quickly that it seemed unnatural.

“(…Now then, I wonder if this will allow you to get away.)”

“(Don’t worry. The dealer who started this will do everything he can to end it because his job is on the line.)”

“(I don’t know how you got it, but isn’t that account you worked so hard to get useless now that it has been checked on?)”

“(I created more than one account just now.)”

The girl in the red dress leisurely headed for the casino’s exit as she listened to the trouble still occurring behind her.

“What are you going to do now?” asked bunny girl Lessar.

“We need to go somewhere where we can talk. I want to ask you something about the oranges.”

“Hm,” Lessar responded arbitrarily. “Then let’s head for Nihon Daruma.”

“W-wait. That’s fine, but what route are you taking?”

“We’ll stand out if we’re together, so let’s split up and rendezvous back there.”

“Hey! You need to answer my ques-…!!”

Leaving the door to the casino open, Lessar quickly mixed in with the crowds outside.

Yelling out after the other girl could bring the focus of the security guards back on her, so the girl in the red dress sighed and started calmly travelling along with the flow of the people.

 
 

=== Part 5 ===
 
Changing somewhere other than a dressing room took courage, but Mikoto managed to change out of the red dress and into her uniform.

She then headed to the occult convenience store.

Souvenir shops at tourist spots tended to close the earliest of any kind of store in the world, but that place did call itself a convenience store. Even after the date had changed, it was still filled with white-ish fluorescent light.

The girl named Lessar who had been working there had told Mikoto to watch out for oranges.

She had to know something.

On top of that, the occult convenience store was filled with suspicious looking goods. It was possible they treated horrible ants as pets.

Mikoto was planning to meet up with Lessar in order to get what information she could from the girl and then borrow a staff room at the occult convenience store or some other place that had a bit of privacy where she could use the Semipublic AR to search for some information on the living bombs.

However…

“Wait, where’s Lessar?” Mikoto asked as soon as the door slid open and she got a look inside the store.

The girl who had been working there just a few hours before was nowhere to be seen. A different girl had brought a folding chair behind the register counter and was flipping through a few Japanese sports newspapers.

“Hm?”

The girl was shorter than Mikoto. She had short brown hair that was forced up with a headband. Her nametag said “Lancis”. She was white just like Lessar.

She spoke after shuddering for some reason.

“…Lessar has not come back yet…”

“That brat. And she’s the one that said to meet up here,” Mikoto said accidentally letting her resentment leak into her voice.

The girl who seemed to be named Lancis looked at Mikoto’s chest with a confused look.

“…Lessar seems like more of an adult than you, though.”

“Where are you looking and what is your basis for that judgment, you damn brat!! I can’t lose to a child like that!!”

“Nnn, despite how she looks, Lessar broke the record at her school by starting to wear a bra in fourth grade.”

“Uuh!?”

Mikoto faltered. It was a secret that she did not start doing so until halfway through her first year of middle school.

“A-anyway, it seems Lessar isn’t here, so I can’t ask her about the orange. Have you heard when she’s going to be back?”

“I have this.”

Lancis waved around something in her hand. Mikoto grabbed it doubtfully. It seemed to be a postcard. The entire backside had some kind of painting printed on it. It may have been a religious picture. The picture was in truly bad taste as it showed a lady being captured by incredibly large ants.

“…Wait a second. If Lessar hasn’t come back yet, where did this postcard come from?”

“They can be delivered very quickly within the shopping mall. Although it’s still not as fast as just sending an email.”

Mikoto flipped it over to look at the front. The top half had the destination address and the bottom half had the message. The area for the sender’s location was left completely blank, but the message section had round English letters written in black marker.

It said: ''There is an incident carried out that follows a rumor, but what if the rumor itself was intentionally spread for that reason?''

“…”

Mikoto looked up from the postcard.

“I don’t have time for riddles.”

“Don’t look at me,” replied Lancis without much energy before collapsing over the newspapers and the counter.

It seemed the late night shift had made her rather tired.

“…We cannot predict what Lessar will do. And Bayloupe got after her about it recently, too…”

Mikoto even heard a snore. It seemed the girl had just fallen asleep.

For an instant, Mikoto thought of smacking the girl to wake her up and get Lessar’s cell phone number, but she decided that wasn’t the best idea. If Lessar was seriously intending to flee, she would not stay on the phone long enough to allow Mikoto to trace her using it.

(Anyway, it seems she didn’t immediately report me. I wonder how far the fact that I was involved with that orange incident and am fleeing from the security guards has spread.)

That kind of convenience store could have an alarm button under the register counter, so she could not let her guard down, but she wouldn’t worry too much until security guards actually showed up.

She had something she needed to investigate.

Mikoto put her hands on top of the register counter and called up a keyboard to control the Semipublic AR. Of course, she was using one of the accounts she had acquired in the casino. Her fingers raced across the surface as she began her search for the information she needed.

What she needed was…

(The security camera records for the entrance near the east gate.)

That orange had just been lying on the ground at that entrance with people streaming in both directions. If she checked on the footage from around that time, she might be able to find who put the orange there and where they went afterwards.

Of course, that information was not open to the public.

Mikoto put together her knowledge and ability to search for data she would normally not be able to access.

She almost immediately made it to the entire library of security camera footage.

However…

“The data is corrupted and cannot be read.”

That simple message popped up. Mikoto tried to open a different file. There was more than one camera set in each place. Because things were being monitored from multiple different points, there were multiple files that could be used.

And yet…

“The data is corrupted and cannot be read.”

“The data is corrupted and cannot be read.”

“The data is corrupted and cannot be read.”

Consistently receiving that same message surprised Mikoto more than it annoyed her. Someone had deleted the data for only that specific time.

Someone who worked at the shopping mall would be the most suspicious, but a third party could still have done it as shown by the fact that Mikoto had been able to hack in that far. It was difficult to narrow down who had messed with the security camera data with that situation alone.

She could not track where the oranges could have gone using those recordings.

Even then, the countdown continued until the eggs would hatch causing the living bomb to go off.

(That means I have no choice but to chase after the oranges using only the flow of the people.)

Mikoto looked back down at the postcard.

The riddle-like text seemed to be a hint related to the incident, but Mikoto could not get anything concrete out of it.

The picture of the ants and the lady reminded Mikoto of the crimson long-legged army ants, but it still did not seem to have any real information in it.

But…

“This pattern…?”

Mikoto focused on the lady’s clothes. They had a white and black design on them, but the balance seemed to be off at the edges as if it had turned into a monotone mosaic.

Her eyes were drawn in toward one point.

It looked familiar.

It was a square with a random arrangement of black and white.

(A QR code…?)

Mikoto pulled out her cell phone and aimed the camera lens at it, but it failed to read it. Mikoto almost gave up thinking she had read too much into it, but she suddenly looked over at the wall of the occult convenience store.

She recalled that the QR code used for the information on that orange had been in a format that needed to be read ultrasonically using the Semipublic AR.

She approached the wall.

Just like before, she pressed the postcard against the wall.

A rectangular window opened up like a large poster. It seemed to be different from a normal webpage. It was the type of page that could not be accessed via a search engine and could only be accessed directly through its IP address.

However, there was no information there.

It only had text in the center telling her to enter a password.

(Should I break through using brute force?)

Mikoto thought of using her power on it, but she then spotted a small signature at the edge of the backside of the postcard. However, the arrangement of the letters of the alphabet was too random to be a penname.

Mikoto entered those letters into the wall as the password.

She made it through on the first try.

After that confirmation, a great amount of information was displayed in the large poster.

What it said was…

 
 

=== Part 6 ===
 
Project Code EIC.

Concerning the encouragement of group psychology on the premise of economic effects.

The project will use this shopping mall as a testing ground to control the information about products on every level from the advertisements using the mass media to even the exchange of information between users over the internet and word of mouth. The intent will be to provide the most suitable stimulus to the customers on a mental level.

Due to the nature of the project, we cannot create a nonexistent product from nothing.

All this project specializes in is taking an already existing product and adding to its intrinsic value.

Products that have had their intrinsic value increased will become scarce because the rate at which they are consumed will increase. At the same time, the rate of consumption for products that have their value lowered will drop.

It may be simpler to think of it as giving products a sense of being “premiere” or making people see them as branded in a certain way.

We will call bringing a product’s sales up a “positive change” and the opposite a “negative change”.

By using these positive and negative changes, the rates of consumption for various products can be regulated. This can be used to create a large “flow” in the market and even to control entire economies. That is the true meaning of this project.

Whether we are making a positive or negative change, we add in all sorts of information based on an already existing product and make suggestions that compel people in one way or the other but leaves them with a certain degree of freedom.

They will make a personal judgment on the value of the product as it is and a prediction of the value of the product in the future. Based on that information, they will decide whether to purchase it or not.

When rain is scarce and water is expected dry up, people try to stockpile water and when there is too much rain and it is expected to have a negative effect on crops, people try to stockpile vegetables.

When a warm winter is expected, people will wait to buy studless tires and when a cool spring is expected to severely lowers the amount of pollen, the amount of masks bought lowers.

And all of this happens even when the data saying these things are expected is based on nothing.

It is common for people to intuitively determine how credible they find the data they use to decide whether to purchase a product or not. Often times, information of every level from a news broadcast put out by a specialty agency that verifies everything down to even a widespread rumor are taken in without distinguishing between the two sources.

We will create positive and negative changes for specific products in that form of what is “popular”.

We will control the consumers’ mentality with information.

They will receive this information from multiple sources, but it is not important what forms of media are used.

People are weak to multiple media.

If one medium gives a product high praise and another medium says otherwise, people will end up deciding to think for themselves.

On the other hand, if something people have heard rumors of locally is picked up by television stations and other mass media, they will feel trust and assurance from that.

We can use the thought patterns the customers themselves have built up on how to make judgments on the information they hear by giving out information in stages from multiple media sources in order to give the sense of what is “popular” that we wish. In doing so, we can raise or lower what products sell and what stores customers go to.

If you think of it like a pyramid, our final objective is to push from the base in order to shake the peak with finely-tuned vibrations.

The experiment in this shopping mall will use rumors as the form of information.

We will see how far the experimental information we have created spreads and in what time frame. We will also see how long until it ends and how much the information becomes distorted in the process of spreading.

We will see what general percentages of different age groups actually take action based on the information we spread.

Multiple routes through which to transmit this experimental information have been prepared and the first experiment’s goal is to find the most suitable route for…

 
 

=== Part 7 ===
 
Mikoto fell silent as she looked at the poster-sized window.

Project Code EIC.

A system to manipulate business results by spreading false rumors that altered the value of various products.

A third party would put a different value on the standard products that one would normally be able to just reach out and grab. That concept gave Mikoto a similar impression to the one she had of the Semipublic AR that had utterly permeated that city.

“…”

What if that report was telling the truth and a special advertisement system to control sales had indeed been implemented in that city?

Even if that Code EIC had been created solely out of good intentions, it did not matter. The effects it could have were massive.

Code EIC did not have the ability to control people’s minds and forcibly order them to do things.

It could only manipulate how people viewed various products and determine what was popular by creating rumors about them.

However, that was enough.

Whoever was controlling Code EIC could spread any rumor they wanted no matter how absurd it was at any time.

For instance, they could spread a rumor about an orange with a large amount of army ant eggs implanted in it.

In that case, most of the strange aspects regarding the very valuable orange urban legend disappeared. The fact that an identical urban legend had spread through Academy City at the same time was because someone had purposefully spread the rumor with that timing.

And if those who were setting up the oranges could pull the trigger on the incident whenever they wanted, it was all quite simple.

But…

(Why are they setting up the oranges in the first place? I can’t figure that out. Even if I know how the rumor is being spread, I can’t do anything if I don’t know why they are trying to cause incidents related to that rumor.)

She did not know who, but the person controlling the rumor had to be someone closely related to the shopping mall. But then what did they gain by spreading large amounts of army ants throughout their own home ground of the shopping mall?

“Hmm?” Lancis, who had been sleeping sprawled out on the register counter, looked up while rubbing her eyes. “…Are you still here? Don’t tell me you’re actually planning to buy something.”

“That’s about the worst possible thing for someone in customer service to say.”

Mikoto looked around.

If she used the Semipublic AR, she could figure out where most people lived. However, she was looking for the person completely controlling the popularity of things, the rumors, and the urban legends in that city using group psychology. She doubted whoever it was would simply tell her about their plan. However, she also needed to figure out where the other living bombs were set up around the city.

“You have all kinds of questionable things here, right?”

“…I’m not sure what you’re expecting, but we can even get you things like human skulls.”

“I see,” said Mikoto deciding to take that as a joke. “Then would you happen to have any oranges?”

As she asked her question, Mikoto manipulated the Semipublic AR on the floor, hacked through the security, and fairly accurately calculated out where a certain person must live given security camera records and the deposits of electronic money.

The person was Setali S Skinikia.

She had been Mikoto’s guide to the city and had been the one to tell her the story of the very valuable orange.

And that had also been the name listed as the author at the end of the project report.

 
 

=== Part 8 ===
 
Setali headed underground in an elevator and then walked quickly down a long passageway.

She was not heading for a secret base or anything like that.

The giant shopping mall built on the plains of Russia was basically a flat facility spreading out horizontally. However, that did not give enough living space for the over 50,000 workers. That space had been developed underground. Setali was returning to her apartment.

Things had developed in an unexpected way.

It seemed that Misaka Mikoto girl had escaped from a security guard office and was even then wandering about the shopping mall.

It was best to escape.

In a way, Setali was Misaka Mikoto’s sole point of contact within the shopping mall.

The odds were not exactly low that the girl would come her way if she were wrapped up in some kind of trouble.

She did not need to be told by her fellow security guards that being found by that girl would be bad.

But the public transportation facilities were closed at that time and even if she tried to use a car, it would just make it more likely she would be noticed. Setali was going to gather up some things in her apartment and then head for a tourist hotel. The large number of hotels in the city could hold up to 200,000 people. If she used a fake name and mixed in with all those people, she would not be found.

She would gather together the bare minimum of necessities in her apartment and quickly head to the hotel.

Once dawn came and the public transportation facilities began moving again, she would get on a passenger plane and leave the city.

That would be the end of it.

The girl would no longer be able to track her and Setali would have successfully escaped to safety. In that time, the security guards could act and finish things. Misaka Mikoto’s escape scene would not last long. She would eventually be tracked down and captured.

Everything was going well.

In fact, Setali could see no factor that would fail.

However, the instant she opened her front door, a white hand reached out through the gap and pulled her inside the room. She was pulled into that room which should have been locked until Setali had unlocked it just then.

Her back was slammed up against the wall.

She thought her breathing was going to stop, but that was not just because of the impact.

“People never seem to realize…”

Grabbing Setali’s collar and whispering to her at close range was a Japanese middle school girl.

“…that I can freely move the pins in a keyhole using magnetism. If you would at least make them of brass or stainless steel, you wouldn’t be faced with this kind of problem.”

“Misaka Mikoto…!?”

“Since you’re so surprised to see me, I’m guessing you have an idea what I’m here for.”

With her back pressed up against the wall, Setali tried to shake off Mikoto’s arms, but Mikoto was faster. She lightly swept Setali’s legs out from under her causing her to collapse to the floor.

She had held back, but that was hard to tell from Setali’s point of view.

That time, the woman’s breathing really did stop for a few seconds.

“I know that some oranges were delivered through the east gate at about 17:00 yesterday,” Mikoto said in a low voice ignoring the woman’s coughing.

She threw her next questions at Setali violently.

“Twenty oranges were delivered together!! Only one of those has been recovered! Where are the remaining 19!? Have crimson long-legged army ant eggs been implanted into all of them!?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Once those ‘detonate’, a huge number of ants will be scattered everywhere! They will eat up all human and animal flesh as they continue to breed and breed!! Once that happens, it’s too late! And with these crimson long-legged army ant living bombs, the colony is purposefully put in danger so the limit on the number of queens will likely be gone. Once the ants inside become active, they may breed so explosively that they will swallow up this entire city!!”

Setali shook her head back and forth as she was being pressed to the ground.

“I don’t know anything about these oranges!!”

There was a dull noise.

It was the sound of thrusting her knees onto the floor right next to Setali’s sides.

“I was suspected because the same rumor was spreading in Academy City and this shopping mall at the exact same time. The rumor was that of the very valuable orange. They claimed that I had to have purposefully spread the rumor and created an incident identical to it because I’m the only person who has gone between both cities.”

A high voltage current was coming dangerously close to shooting from Mikoto’s fingertips, but she desperately restrained herself.

“But there’s someone else who it could have been. After all, I had not heard the story of the very valuable orange until yesterday when I came to this city. That was when I first heard it from someone named Setali S Skinikia.”

“…!?”

“Answer me. Why did you know the story of the very valuable orange that had only been spread within Academy City at that point? And how much did you have to do with the living orange bomb incident taking place in this shopping mall?”

“I really don’t know anything…”

Tears started spilling from Setali’s eyes.

Mikoto did not know if they were due to fear or if they were an attempt at deception.

“I first saw that urban legend a few days before on the internet. I was looking up local information on Academy City so I would have things to talk with you about. I don’t know why things turned out this way. What are these oranges you’re talking about? What do you mean by a living bomb?”

“…”

While still sitting atop Setali, Mikoto stared into her eyes.

With her face wrinkled up in tears, Setali shook her head.

“Even if some incident has occurred following that urban legend…”

Mikoto listened to Setali’s words trying to determine whether they were the truth or a lie.

The woman continued speaking in a voice mixed with tears and sobs.

“…what are you saying I did? If the spread of a rumor is deeply related to this incident, then the criminal would have to be able to control the very flow of that rumor. Do you really think I could do something like that? It’s true that I could spread a rumor, but only a small handful of people would be able to ensure that it spread and became a major story that anyone would have heard of. Even a professional in the television business has to rely on luck for that kind of thing.”

“Yes,” Mikoto muttered.

She had come to her conclusion.

No matter how many tears flowed from Setali’s eyes, no matter how much her face wrinkled up in fear, and no matter how much she desperately insisted that she had only been wrapped up in it all, she was lying.

Even if Mikoto wanted to avert her gaze, she had to continue.

“Project Code EIC.”

“….!?”

That time, Setali S Skinikia’s entire body convulsed as if an electric current had passed through it.

“That project purposefully controls rumors in order to add or remove value to chosen products and to completely control which stores succeed. This city already had a system in place to control rumors and urban legends. You had to have known about it. After all, your name was given as the author of the report.”

“That’s…!?”

Mikoto did not wait for a response.

No, she could not wait for a response.

The next thing she knew, bluish-white sparks were flying from her fingertips. The current was at around 500,000 volts. That level of high voltage current was in bad taste even for a self defense stun gun.

A zapping noise exploded out.

Mikoto was ensuring that it did not head in Setali’s direction as she held the woman’s collar, but the woman did not know that. She was feeling only pure fear.

“Gy-gy-gy-gyaaaahhh!?”

It was perhaps commendable that Setali did not avert the focus of her gaze.

But Mikoto ignored that.

“I don’t know why you spread those oranges around and I do not intend to ask.” Mikoto would no longer be fooled by tears. “Where are the living bombs!? Where are the remaining 19 oranges!? That’s all you need to tell me. I won’t call the security guards on you, so just answer me!!”

“I…don’t know…” Even then, that was all Setali said. “I really don’t know anything about that urban legend becoming an actual incident.”

“I see.”

Mikoto sighed.

She was conflicted about what she should do.

(Is there…)

Should she pass beyond a certain line and use her powers violently?

(Is there some other way…?)

Mikoto poured strength into her hands and dragged Setali up from the floor.

“Then I’ll check to see whether what you’re saying is true or not.”

She headed further into the apartment dragging Setali along with her. She found the bathroom, opened the door, and threw Setali inside.

“What are you-…?”

Setali’s words trailed off and her face stiffened.

Misaka Mikoto pulled a single large orange from her skirt’s pocket. It was an odd orange that seemed almost squishy because it was overripe.

Setali did not even have time to yell or stand up from the tiled floor.

Mikoto chucked the orange into the bathroom and mercilessly closed the door. She then dragged the washing machine over and pushed it up against the bathroom door.

Inside the small bathroom, Setali pressed her back up against the wall to get as far away from the orange as she could. She slowly approached the door, but it would not open. She pounded on the door with her fists and slammed into it with her shoulder, but it would not budge.

“Wait!! Wait!! What is this!?”

“…Oh? I see no reason for you to panic. If you truly think what I’m saying is a bunch of crap and you truly know nothing about the oranges, then you wouldn’t know how dangerous that orange is.”

“You have to be kidding… You have to be kidding!! You just told me!! You mentioned oranges with eggs implanted inside them!! You said the ants inside would become active!! If that’s true…!!”

“You don’t need to worry.”

Mikoto’s voice was kind.

For an instant, Setali’s heart tried to find escape in the idea that the orange was a harmless bluff, but…

“It’s true that there are larva inside that squishy orange and about half of them have grown to adulthood already, but the bathroom is a sealed area. Even if it does ‘explode’, the ants cannot escape so easily. …The ventilation ducts and drains are a bit worrying, but when you know what the dangers are at the beginning, you can set up traps. By sending a high voltage current through those areas, the ants that enter will be fried.”

“N-no, no!! What are you thinking!? This is not normal!! Do you know what kind of ants crimson long-legged army ants are!?”

“Not really, but that is a creepy name, isn’t it? I wonder if they could eat a cow or a pig down to its bones.”

“…!!”

Setali pounded her fists on the door. Her breathing was erratic. Red blood was leaking from her hands. But it was no good. The door would not open even a single millimeter. She was completely trapped.

“You probably shouldn’t get too worked up.”

Mikoto’s voice from the other side of the door was one of someone enjoying herself.

That irritated Setali’s nerves even further.

“My prediction is that the living bombs have a time limit set by intentionally manipulating the timing of the hatching and activation of the ants. When stored, they are likely kept cold and they are put in a very hot and humid place when they are to be used. …If you breathe too erratically, you’ll bring up the temperature of the bathroom with your body temperature.”

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!”

If the orange exploded there, over 100 army ants would come overflowing into that small area.

Setali had nowhere to run.

Even if she clung to the ceiling, she would be overrun by army ants.

“How much did you have to do with this incident?” Mikoto asked as if dangling down a final lifeline.

She gave that terrible announcement that would send Setali down into an instant hell if she missed even a word.

“Where are the remaining oranges?”

Setali’s black eyes moved around unnaturally.

It looked like the orange in the center of the bathroom was sweating like human skin.

And then she saw the thick skin of the orange squirming from the inside.

That was her limit.

“I don’t know!! I really don’t know!! It’s true I was involved with Code EIC!! The research is continuing even now and we have intentionally spread rumors!! But I had nothing to do with that urban legend!! Code EIC was only intended to spread information that would raise the value of a given product. I never even thought about using it to spread creepy urban legends like that!!”

Setali felt like she was a human IC recorder. Unrelated to what she wished herself, she would tell any secret as long as someone pressed the button. It was quite pathetic. A woman of over 20 in tears and being talked down to by a middle school girl was simply pathetic.

“Why did you tell me the story of the very valuable orange?”

“I don’t know!! I just all of a sudden found myself telling the story!! I don’t even remember where exactly I heard about it!! But I must have heard it somewhere. You can check on your own where I found the information by checking my internet history or the digitally broadcasted television shows I watched!! But I don’t know!!”

“If Code EIC was used in this incident, then the higher ups in the shopping mall are the most suspicious. Do have any idea who it could be?”

“Of course not!! It’s true that we are a cooperative institution of Academy City that carries out economic experiments and research such as Code EIC, so we do have a few unofficial groups. But none of them are anything like a terrorist group that wants to harm people!! This isn’t a city with movie-like villains such as obviously evil organizations or fixers that control everything from the shadows!!”

“…”

“Wait… I’m telling the truth!! I don’t know anything else!! So please let me out of here!! The orange…that orange is moving oddly!! Please…please save me…!!”

Setali heard a slight noise from the other side of the door.

Setali thought it was the sound of Mikoto leaving.

She thought she was being left behind in that nightmarish bathroom.

“W-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

She screamed.

She could not help herself.

She felt that small bathroom had become her coffin.

But that was not what was happening.

Mikoto was moving the washing machine from in front of the door.

The door opened and Mikoto stepped into the bathroom.

“…Sorry about that.”

“Ah…uuh?”

Mikoto lightly picked up the orange from the center of the bathroom and Setali stared at her unable to believe her eyes.

Mikoto tore off the skin of the orange and showed Setali that nothing dangerous was inside.

“I cut the skin slightly with a knife and put margarine inside. The heat melted it and made it look like the skin was moving.”

“…”

Setali stared blankly for a bit.

Finally, she yelled like a beast and punched Mikoto in the face as hard as she could.

Mikoto did not even try to avoid it.

With her back slammed against the wall, Mikoto wiped the blood dripping from her split lip.

“If everything you said is true, then there really is someone out there who has set up oranges with crimson long-legged army ant eggs implanted inside.”

“…I thought I told you this city does not have any obviously evil organizations.”

“Yes.” Mikoto nodded. “So someone must be acting as if they are some dark group of “higher ups”. I don’t know if it’s someone from within the city or someone who has come in from outside, but I do know that these people actually exists and that they are causing dangerous incidents in the city.”

The city’s security guards still did not know that those people existed. Mikoto did not know if they would listen if Mikoto or Setali tried to tell them. It would be a problem if she was asked how she found out about Code EIC and a large scale incident could occur while she wasted time on that.

Having the living bombs full of ant eggs explode would be the worst possible situation.

“What are you going to do?” asked Setali. “How are you going to stop them?”

“I have no choice but to follow each hint I’ve been given.”

That said, all Mikoto had to work with were the security camera records, the reference to oranges by Lessar, and Setali who had told her about the urban legend. Two of those three had led to nothing.

That left only one.

“That Lessar seemed to know something, so I have to directly ask her about this.”

 
 
<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS2_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Dantalian no Shoka:Volume1 Chapter6

2011-07-26T18:19:16Z

Dagger: Typo

==Special Chapter 2 - The Lifetime Book Der Gevatter Tod==
__NOTOC__

There were two guests sitting at the counter of the bar.

One of them was an old man with a bony face and stale skin. Also, his unkempt long beard was white like the ashes of a stove.

The other guest was a young man who was wearing a leather frock coat.

Though his sincere features implied a good upbringing, a mysterious atmosphere enveloped him which did not reveal a single unguarded spot.

While toying with his glass of lukewarm ale, the young man was absorbed in reading a book. It was a novel with a thin cover.

When the young man had read about half of the book and ordered his second glass ale,

"Lad... it seems you like books?"

The white-haired old man suddenly addressed him in a hoarse voice.

The young man smiled at him and nodded.

"Yes. I like them. How about you?"

"...I hate 'em. They're boring."

The old man said so and chugged his glass of strong distilled liquor. Then, he laughed lightly in self derision.

"Things are just repeating themselves in this world. There's nothing new out there. Even the book you're just reading is just a clichéd plot that consists of rewritten tales and myths if we'd analyze it precisely. The story patterns people can think of have been exhausted ages ago."

The young man gazed silently at the old man and eventually smiled amusedly.

"You might be right on that."

The old man nodded with a most serious face.

"But listen, there is a single book in this world that does not get boring."

"What's that book called?"

The young man asked back calmly. The old man looked a bit triumphantly then and answered,

"Your book, lad."

"My book?"

"Right! The book in which your entire life is written down, from birth to death."

The old man raised the corners of his cracked lips and smiled. The young man tilted his head slightly,

"I didn't know such a book existed."

"I bet you didn't. I didn't believe in such a thing, either, until I saw it with my very own eyes. But for each person exists a book that belongs to him... of course also mine."

"Have you read it? Your own book."

The young man opened his eyes surprisedly.

"You bet! Oh, I've read it!"

"When and where did you?"

"I already forgot that. I was still a child then, you know... but I still remember this scene clearly. It was a library built like a maze. Bookshelves, tightly packed with books, completely covered the walls with no end in sight. It was almost like a cave reaching into the depths of the earth---"

While muttering so, the old man closed his eyes as if he was visiting this place in a dream.

"And your book was in one of those bookshelves?"

The young man asked back in a serious voice for some reason. The old man answered while leading the sparsely remaining liquor to his mouth.

"Yes. As you say. But not just my book. There were all books of the citizens of this country... no, there were the books of the entire world's population. The thick books belonged to the long-living people, who have made numerous experiences. And the thins ones belonged either to the people that died young or to the people that may have lived long but had a monotone life."

"How was your book?"

"Mine...?"

When the young man asked him, the old man saddened.

"It was surprisingly thin! So thin, I almost fell into despair... my life was boring and, on top of that, short."

"But aren't you..."

The young man narrowed his eyes in bewilderment. Countless wrinkles were carved into the old man's face that were proof of a long life.

"Oh well... I didn't want to die, you know. So I racked my brain and groped for a solution."

The old man chuckled with a dry throat.

"Our life span is destined from the beginning by this book. If the grim reaper really does exist, then I'm sure comes to take us when he finished reading our book... Thus, I thought: In that case I just have to make sure it doesn't end."

"Is that possible?"

The young man asked.

"Didn't I mention? My book was surprisingly thin."

The old man said slovenly.

"So I got rid of that bothering cover and tried to stick the first and last page neatly　together with glue. So that one would unknowingly return to the first page when reading... in other words, there's neither a beginning nor is there an end to my book anymore. Its an endless cycle."

"I see. So that's how you..."

The young man tried to bend his book like the old man had explained to him. When he overlapped the two binding, the thin book became a round bundle of paper. And indeed, one couldn't find a beginning nor an end anymore.

"But I regret it now... my life was saved of course, but in return it became a recurrence of the same events over and over. Well, naturally, since it's a thin book."

The old man said so and sent the young man a pleading glance.

"Please, lad... Could you find my book and tear it, if you ever lose your way into that library? If you don't, I'm condemned to live the same boring life without being able to die, over and over---"

"......"

The young man wordlessly gazed at the frail-looking old man for a while. Then, he smiled gently and nodded.

"Alright. I promise."

"Ohh..."

While thanking him repeatedly, the old man bowed.

Tears poured out from his eyes. In the end, the old man fell prostrate on the counter and started to sleep, tired from crying. It seemed like he was completely drunk.

"My, my... did the gramps fall asleep?"

The bartender, that wordlessly polished glasses until now, recognized the figure of the old man sleeping and sighed. The young man kept silent and shrugged his shoulders. While mentioning that its his treat, the bartender poured out new ale to the young man.

"My sympathies for listening to his horror story."

"Horror story?"

The young man raised an eyebrow and asked back. The bartender showed him a broad smile,

"Yeah. If that gramps gets drunk, he always starts to babble that story. It's always the same. I don't know how much I've already heard it myself."

"Is that so?" muttered the young man. Then he continued, but seemed to speak to himself.

"I see... a life that has become a recurrence of the same events, huh?... surprisingly, this might just be the truth."

"Eh?"

The bartender looked at him in puzzlement, but the young man just smiled and enjoyed his ale.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Dantalian_no_Shoka:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Dantalian_no_Shoka|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Dantalian_no_Shoka:Volume1_Chapter7|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Dantalian no Shoka:Volume1 Chapter3

2011-07-26T18:17:31Z

Dagger: Typos

It was afternoon in the town. A couple of children were sitting in a circle in a dirty small classroom.

The room was located in the back yard of a noble's mansion, in an old wooden building. The building was plain in construction and had probably used to be inhabited by servants. The smell of chalk was in the air of the classroom, whose walls were stained black by the smoke of coal.

On the dilapidated table in the midst of them there were old newspapers and magazines.

"Have you read it?" murmured one of the children listlessly while skimming through a magazine.

The speaker was about twelve or thirteen years old and had eerily resigned eyes that did not consort with his still young countenance. The magazine in his hands was filled with all kinds of complicated formulas.

The children opposite him giggled amusedly.

"If you are talking of Stark's thesis that earned him a nobel prize in physics, then yes."

"The same goes for Soddy's research in radioactive decay and Haber's methods for producing chlorine gas."

"Simple, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it surely was."

The children kept on giggling. Another one of them said as he watched a newspaper on the table, "Seems like there was yet another riot at the colonies."

"That is because the committee promulgates those absurd laws!"

"There's also a problem with who was selected for the governor general and the tax system."

"I concur. Why can the adults not even understand such simple things?" someone asked in a honestly wondering tone.

Someone else answered with a laugh, "Because they're fools!"

"Indeed, they are fools, the adults."

"Yes. Fools."

"Are we really going to be fine if we entrust the world to those foolish adults...?"

The amused laughter that had filled the classroom stopped abruptly.

They looked at each other with vacant eyes.

There was a very special book on the table they surrounded. There was no author denoted, nor was there any indication of its publishing date. The only evident fact was its old age.

The magnificent leather binding had lost its color during the many years it had witnessed, but one could still barely read the title.

The Book of Wisdom. That was the title of the book.

==Chapter 3 - The Book of Wisdom Episode 03: Liber Sapientiae==
__NOTOC__

===1===
Huey awoke in darkness that day.

Someone was violently shaking his resting body, producing the sound of metal clashing from time to time. It was the sound of an armor.

"—Wake up, Huey. Huey!"

A slightly lisping girl was calling his name by his ear. While her voice was pleasant and clear, the tone that came with it was haughty.

"Uh..." groaned Huey while opening his eyes.

He groped for the pocketwatch that was put next to his bed, but he found himself unable reading the time from it. The only thing he could tell was that it was pitch black.

The same held true for the scenery outside, which was as dark as in the depths of the sea.

In this darkness stood a small girl with long black hair.

She wore black clothing which blended into the night. The entire garment was adorned with countless laces and frills that at some spots were covered by parts of her metal armor. It was an odd mixture that could neither be called dress nor armor

And in front of her chest an old lock, tied by silver chains, shone dimly.

"What happened, Dalian...? It looks as though it was night outside," asked Huey, still bleary-eyed.

"You may rest assured. Your eyesight is perfectly normal," the girl in black that had been called Dalian replied tonelessly.

Huey paused for a moment and then put on a frown, "...what's the time?"

"The sun will rise soon."

"Mh," Huey sat up with difficulty. He could still see nothing but thick darkness outside and sense no indication of dawn.

The white moon hung in the eastern sky. Not even the roosters of the farmers had awoken yet.

Similarly, Huey had been deep in sleep too, of course, and was violently rouse from slumber. By that queerly dressed girl.

"So... why did you wake me so late in the night?" asked Huey in a powerless voice after he had shaken his dozy head.

Dalian was standing vacantly in the darkness, with a incredibly beautiful face that would remind of a well-crafted porcelain doll. In her arms she was holding a coat, making it evident that she was anxious to go out.

Huey contorted his face slightly upon noticing this, for the only plausible reason for hitting him awake he could think of was that there was some kind of emergency.

Dalian, however, told him with her calm voice, "We are going to the bookstore."

"...Eh?"

Huey's movements stopped for a few moments. He was gazing at her with eyes that signified his bafflement. Dalian on her part glared back at him and protested, "I'm bored because I have read myself through all books in this mansion. Thus, we are going to buy books."

"...You read yourself through all of them?"

Huey watched at Dalian in amazement.

As hard to believe as it was, she was not carrying a book around with her.

His grandfather, an eminent bibliomaniac, had collected a great number of books from all parts of the world. And as it seemed, those mansion-filling piles had been too few to her.

Unless there was a special circumstance, Dalian was practically always reading some type of book. Other than reading, she did almost nothing. Hence, it had been a mere question of time until she read herself through all of them, which, by chance, happened today, this very moment.

"How long do you plan on counting sheep there? Get on your feet already, you fishmoth," Dalian ranted while looking down to him.

"...a fishmoth, huh," sighed Huey, before he pulled himself together and raised his face again. "But you know, Dalian... bookstores aren't normally open so late in the night!"

"Even morons know that much," replied Dalian coldly, "Still you are explaining the obvious. Are you by any chance a moron?"

Huey shrugged his shoulders tiredly.

"Then why do you wake me this late?"

"If we take the first train, we'll reach the capital before noon," she answered his question straight away.

Huey leaned forwards, surprised.

"Wait a moment! Do you have in mind to go to the capital just to buy some books?"

Dalian nodded.

"Yes. We will '''also go to the capital'''. After buying most of the important books there, we will head to the surrounding places and buy the rest. Am I not being truly effective? Now hurry up and get yourself prepared when you're done admiring my brilliancy," the black-dressed girl said before turning from him and leaving the room. After looking after her for a few moments in blank amazement, Huey took his pocket watch once again.

"...oh please spare me."

There was still nothing but darkness beyond the window.

===2===
That bookstore was situated in a side street of the university town  which was lively with restaurants and shops.

The interior of the two-story building was buried in tall bookshelves in which countless books were put tidily. With sparkling eyes Dalian looked around in the shop and as soon as she had found a shelf to her liking, she rushed to it like an energetic puppy.

"Hm, a fairly good range of goods." Dalian flashed a smile while looking up at the titles in the shelf.

"This is the oldest university town in our country. If you're looking for scientific books, I think you'll have better fortune here than in the capital," said Huey as he sighed. He wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes and shook his head slightly to get rid of his sleepiness.

Dalian didn't give him an answer, but she was in high spirits like he hadn't seen her before.

She scurried around in the store, took all kinds of books just to put them back and at last stood still before a shelf deep inside the store. Then, after searching with her gaze for someone that looked like a shop assistant, she called him roughly.

"Hey, that shopman over there. Hand us all books from this shelf to that shelf in the corner over there!"

The shop assistant turned around, bothered and wordless.

A queerly clothed black girl had entered his shop and was saying absurd things; who could blame him for parading his discontent?

Dalian, irritated by his attitude, twisted her mouth, "Have you not heard me, you midlife loafer?! I just told you that I'm doing the compliment to you of buying all the books from here to there!"

"Hey, Dalian..."

Huey rushed to Dalian in a hurry. He covered the mouth of the ranting girl and removed her forcefully from the baffled shop assistant.

"Stop it! What are you doing, Huey!" Dalian struggled fiercely to come free by waving around her arms and legs. With a scowl she glared at Huey, "Let go of me! You rude fool! You reek like a geezer!"

Huey listened to her and let go of her. Dalian was pulled down by gravity, however, and fell to the ground headfirst. Her armor produced a deafening noise.

Huey shook his head and let out a sigh.

"Dalian. Listen up. Don't you think it's strange to buy books like that?"

"...What's strange is your head. What is wrong with buying books in a bookstore?" A teary-eyed Dalian looked up at him with resenting eyes while holding her reddened forehead.

"You know, you don't normally buy whole shelves! We haven't come here to buy ahead sardines or something, after all."

"But Wez has always bought books this way."

Dalian glared at Huey in disbelief, who then frowned slightly. "Wez" was the nickname of his grandfather who had passed away half a year ago.

Wez was a so-called bibliomaniac and famous in a certain lobby. Consequently, the mansion Huey had inherited from him was filled with thousands upon thousands of books. It was said that among those books one could even find some curious and banned books that his grandfather had bought for horrendous prices, and cursed books. Apparently, he had once given away half of his property for a single book.

"Don't compare me to my grandfather. In the first place, how do you plan on getting all those books home? Besides, we haven't brought enough money with us anyway."

"Ngh... then what should we do?"

Dalian bent her brows in disturbance.

Huey just shrugged with his shoulders, "Just choose those you really want to read? Restrict yourself to five or six books and I'll buy them for you."

"Five or six?!" Dalian widened her eyes. She shook her head weakly as though she had experienced a huge shock. "You tell me to select five or six books from that great number? How do you call this type of torture?! Is it so fun tormenting me?! Do you make a fetish of harming others, you hopeless sado?"

"At any rate, we aren't going to buy a whole shelf. Select only the ones you need."

Ignoring the girl's tirade, he headed back deeper into the store.

The bookstore did not only handle scientific books, but also dramas and latest novels.

While letting out a sigh, Huey took one of the new releases that had been piled. It was a detective novel by a popular author. At first he only speed read some of the pages, but as soon as there was a most mysterious incident, he started to flip through it with a serious mien.

In the beginning, she left it at scowling at him, but then she sneaked behind him on her tip-toes and whispered into his ear, "It's the mail delivery."

"Eh?"

"The culprit masqueraded as the postman. He concealed the corpse in a luggage bag, therefore the gatekeepers didn't notice."

"Ugh..."

Huey contorted his face when he was suddenly given away the ending, whereas Dalian chuckled mischievously. While glaring at her with a sidelong-glance, Huey took another book from a shelf.

Dalian narrowed her eyes immediately, "In this one it's the narrator himself, the doctor. Just read the depiction carefully when the corpse gets discovered."

"Why are you doing this?!" Huey burst out.

Dalian countered, unimpressed, "You were mean to me first."

"I merely taught you common sense!"

Understandingly enough, his voice was rough. Dalian pursed her lips and sulkily turned her head from him.

Suddenly, someone—it was a laughing woman's voice—addressed them from behind.

"Hey, hey, don't fight at such a place. You're just causing trouble!"

When Huey turned around, he found a young woman who was carrying a book, which she had apparently been reading.

Her age was about Huey's; either in her late teens or at most in her early twenties. She was rather short, but still a head taller than Dalian.

She could surely be called beautiful because of her pretty face, but what left even more of an impression was her smile. She laughed innocently like a child.

"If you lack the money to buy those books, shall I lend you some? I'll set a high interest rate though," teased the young woman while peeking into Huey's face.

Huey gazed at her, completely taken by surprise. "...Camilla?"

"Yaaay! It's been a while, Huey. Why didn't you get in touch with me when you've come back to England?" Camilla nodded over-happily.

While all this was happening, Dalian was hiding behind Huey.

At last she hesitantly poked half her head with utmost care. It was the behavior of a small animal. Moreover, she had taken a thick book and was shielding her head with it.

While pulling the hem of Huey's coat, she asked whisperingly, "Who's that blonde over there that looks as if she had no strong points at all apart from her face?"

"Well... how should I put it...," whispered Huey ambiguously.

Camilla leaned towards Dalian, "Who's this little one? Isn't she a little too tall for your daughter, Huey?"

"...daughter?!" The black-dressed girl reddened and was bereft of speech. Apparently, she took offense at being treated like a child and trembled in anger.

Camilla, however, laughed unaffectedly and said brightly, "No, just joking! Don't worry, I'm informed. You're looking after the girl grandfather has adopted, right?"

"Adopted... huh. More or less, yeah...," Huey nodded awkwardly.

After hearing him out with a raised brow, Camilla suggested, "I'd love to chat a bit with you. Do you have time to have a cup of tea with me?"

"We should have time," he said and turned around to the girl behind him. Dalian puffed her cheeks and glared at Camilla.

Camilla put her finger on her lips, pondering over something, and looked up at the ceiling. Then she took out a little package from her bag for some reason.

The package was wrapped with a ribbon and was from a famous confectionery in this street. As soon as she untied the ribbon, the delicious smell of baked sweets filled the air.

Camilla opened the package and Dalian leaned forwards.

She closed the package and Dalian quickly hid behind Huey.

Camilla opened the package again and Dalian stuck out her head again.

"How about enjoying a cup of tea together? I'll even add some freshly baked sweets! Wow!" Camilla asked with a broad smile.

Dalian fell into silence, caught between the two options that enfolded before her, but eventually asked with a oddly serious voice, "...will I get some clotted cream to the scones?"

"Yes, of course. I'll even get you some jam for your black tea!" Camilla nodded and laughed merrily.

After putting back the book to its original place, Dalian walked towards her. Then she turned back to Huey and urged him with reproaching eyes, "What are you waiting for? We're going!"

===3===

Huey and Dalian were taken to Camilla's holiday house within the town.

It was a pleasant building that had a little yet beautiful garden. There was a large river nearby, which they could admire from the glass veranda where the tea room was.

"Huey and I are childhood friends!" explained Camilla while delighting in watching Dalian, who was still a little wary of her. "My father works as a trader, you know, so our families have known each other for quite long. Especially Old Wez because he was a patron of us and visited our mansion quite often. That's also how I met Huey."

"......"

Dalian wordlessly turned her gaze towards Huey in order to have him confirm Camilla's statement. He seemed to be a little bothered and sighed.

"That was ages ago! She went to the new continent for a while."

"New continent?" Dalian slightly raised am eyebrow.

"Yay!" Camilla showed her the thumbs up and nodded over-cheerfully.

Dalian was taken aback and put on a frown. Apparently, she was overwhelmed by Camilla's America-style frankness.

"I was there due to my father's business. I've returned right after the war was over."

"So that's why you're dressed like this?" said Dalian, apparently having a queer aha moment, while wandering with surveying Camilla's clothes from top to bottom.

"Ugh... so it looks strange, after all? But over there it's quite normal..." she explained herself, whispering, while holding up the hems of her skirt with her fingers.

Though not as much as Dalian, her appearance was also quite uncommon.

[[Image:Dantalian no Shoka-vol1-p139.jpg|thumb]]

She wore a white blouse with a necktie, and a fedora on her head. Her slightly peculiar yet pretty fair hair was cut at shoulder length and on her feet were tall lace-up boots. The unadorned skirt she wore was fastened with a leather belt so massive one could tuck a gun into it. She looked much more like one of the pioneers of the new continent rather than a daughter of a wealthy man in the capital.

"Come to think of it, why were you in that bookstore anyway, Camilla?" asked Huey suddenly.

Her parents were wealthy and managed several enterprises, hence it would have been normal for someone at her position to just send a servant or call a bookseller home.

Camilla, however, shook her head casually.

"I wouldn't necessarily bother going myself for normal books, yeah. But you know, since it's about the textbooks I'm going give the kids, I wanted to check and select them with care."

Dalian cocked her head.

"Textbooks?"

"I'm voluntarily running a small private school. You see, there are kids that live in poor families and can't afford a governess but still wish for higher education. Well, as soon as they manage to enter some university, they may be awarded a grant, but until then there's no way around studying on their own. And that's what I'm helping them with," explained Camilla proudly.

Dalian surveyed her with marveled eyes and formulated her thoughts, "...you are one queer woman."

Huey gave a laugh and nodded. "She is. Has always been."

"How rude!" Camilla put her hands on her hips. "To begin with, you're no different, Huey. Have you found ''it'' by now?"

"It...?"

"—the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian." Camilla flashed a grin. "The private library that goes by the name of the demon that reigns over knowledge and is depicted with books in his hands. The prohibited repository that holds 900,000 and 666 phantom books, of which none ought to exist. You've been searching for that all the time, haven't you?"

"Who knows?" Huey feigned ignorance. While giving Dalian, who was glaring at him with a sidelong glance, a shrug, he added, "Did I ever talk to you about such a thing?"

Camilla got a little huffy and approached his face.

"You can't tell me that you forgot! I've been looking forward to seeing it, you know, since I thought Old Wez could actually possess it."

Huey refrained from answering and instead took a sip of the black tea that had been brought by a maid.

Camilla let out a big, stressed sigh, upon which she immediately contained herself and raised her face. "Right! Now that we're talking about books, I've been meaning to ask you something. Say, are there books that make you brighter?"

"...books that make you brighter?"

"Yeah. Books that raise your intelligence just by reading them."

"Well, I do think there's always something you can gain from reading a book. Be it knowledge, imagination or something else," Huey answered frankly.

However, Camilla shook her head with a surprisingly serious mien. "That's not what I mean! Just by simply reading it, you get as bright as though you were someone completely different. For instance, you suddenly know things you aren't supposed to know or you become able to easily solve the complexest calculations."

"A book that raises your mental faculties...?"

"Mh, yeah. I think that's what it is." Camilla paused to think, but nodded before long. "To tell the truth, I'm talking about Mildred."

"Mildred...? Do you mean the Mildred from the Dewar family?"

Huey struggled to recall the face of a woman he had completely forgotten about, letting his gaze wander in the room.

While with a wry smile watching him do so, she replied, "Yes, that disagreeable witch. Remember? She's running a private school, too, you know. Anyway, a while back she came accosting me, burning with rivalry, and that's when she told me that she obtained a phantom book that raises the intelligence of her students."

"...a phantom book?" Huey's mien darkened. "Did she say it was a phantom book?"

"Yes. Full of pride, I tell you," said Camilla while twisting her lips. Then however she seemed a little worried. "But you know, after that she changed. She suddenly stopped leaving her house... and fearfully said she couldn't handle her students anymore because they got too intelligent..."

"Too intelligent...?" Huey turned around to Dalian, still with a stern expression. "How do you think about it, Dalian?"

"Books that teach learning styles are not rare at all," Dalian ill-humoredly scowled at Camilla. "It's recorded that mnemonic techniques have already been used 2500 years ago in the ancient Greece, and many ancient cultures had developed their own ways of rapid calculations to calculate complex problems mentally."

"Simonides' [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_loci#Loci_as_architecture_and_the_.22Memory_Palace.22 memory palace] and Vedic Mathematics, right?" Camilla noted.

Dalian widened her eyes, "Yes. It seems you have done your homework... though you don't look like it."

"Ugh... I don't look like it? What do you mean...?" Camilla sobbed while sloughing her shoulders. "But anyway, it's not related to those things. I've only heard of it myself, too, but apparently not only their knowledge, but also their way of thinking and personality changed completely in just a few days' time..."

"In a few days?" Huey raised an eyebrow.

It was a physical impossibility that by reading a book, the intelligence of a student would rise so abruptly as to frighten the teacher—if it was just a normal book.

If something of that kind had really happened, then they were made read a abnormal book.

"I see...," Dalian put a frown on her clean face and sighed. "I may have come upon something. It's presumably a real phantom book. The so-called Liber Sapientiae which was written by a nameless latin. To think that such a thing was still out there somewhere..."

After saying this, she kept quiet with a contorted face. Apparently, that phantom book was connected with unpleasant memories.

"A phantom book that lifts one's intelligence without limit, huh. It should be a good idea to collect it as soon as possible."

Huey stood up with a sight. However, Dalian moved no muscle.

"No... just let it be," she said while adding some sugar to her tea.

Huey countered with a slightly strained voice, "But it's a phantom book! What if it crosses the boundary because someone is reading it who doesn't have the qualifications?"

"The 'Book of Wisdom'... awards its reader perfect knowledge. The reader is able to reign over the people or to destroy the world if he wants to."

Huey was clearly disturbed by Dalian's dreadful statements.

"Then we should get it all the more..."

"Just let it be," ordered Dalian coldly. "The initial issue of the 'Book of Wisdom' is already in the Bibliotheca. I don't need two editions of the same book. If you get on all fours before me, I may even deign to show it to you?"

"I wouldn't go that far for it!" Huey shook his head, irritated.

So far, Camilla had only watched their exchange amazedly, but now she joined their conversation. "Hey, you two. What are you talking about? Phantom book? Bibliotheca? ...it sounds almost as if the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian really..."

When Camilla asked this evident question, Dalian cowed her with a severe gaze. Then she gave her thumbs up and said, "Yay".

"Yay?"

Camilla twisted her lips bewilderedly upon accidentally responding Dalian by giving her thumbs up as well.

===4===

Mildred Dewar's mansion was just on the opposite side of the river.

She didn't want to meet anyone at first because of a foul mood, but as soon as they told her that Camilla had sent them, she let them in, though only surly.

The woman that welcomed them in the parlor, Mildred, was a little older than Huey. She clad herself in a tidy clothes and had pulled her brunette hair into a chignon. She could be called an example of a sober person who cultivates good manners, so it was no surprise that she didn't get along with Camilla. Her clean-living countenance, however, looked somewhere exhausted.

"Lord Hugh Anthony Disward?" Mildred let out a ill-humored sigh upon listening to Huey's self-introduction. "I remember you. You're a friend of Camilla Sauer Keynes'. What do you want? Did you come to laugh at me?"

Huey smiled wryly at her blatantly offensive attitude.

"That's not it! I would merely like to hear something from you about the phantom book you've obtained."

"...I don't want to tell you," Mildred refused point-blank. "Why don't you just ask the students directly? They'll tell you ''anything''! They are monsters, after all!"

"Monsters?" Huey wrinkled his brow. "It's cruel to call your own students like this."

"Oh, you know nothing, do you?" Mildred laughed out. It was a very bitter laugher, as if an hole opened in a beautiful sculpture. "Those children have surpassed us humans. They have monstrous a computational ability, a perfect power of understanding and have knowledge in all kinds of fields... in their eyes we're just lower creatures in line with monkeys!"

Huey's expression disappeared more and more from his face. Not because he was frightened, but because he was fed up from the bottom of his heart with the nuisance he had earned himself.

"Children whose knowledge has risen dramatically in just a few days, huh... if they have really become monsters greater than humans, what will they use their power for...?"

"I don't know," Mildred shook her head impassively. Although the sun was still high in the sky, she reeked slightly of alcohol. "We couldn't stop them anyway. If they felt like it, it would literally be a child's play for them to subjugate mankind or even bring about our ruin!"

"...did the phantom book turn them into what they are now?"

"It did! It's all the fault of that book and the strange figures in there!"

"Where are the children at the moment?"

Mildred answered his question silently by pointing at the backyard of the mansion.

A plain, old, wooden building stood there. Apparently, it had originally been used by the gardener and his family, but has then been altered in order to be used as a private schoolroom.

One could see several children inside the room.

Even though their teacher, Mildred, was absent, they showed no sign of playing around. Instead, they were seated in a circle and leading a heated discussion. Such a picture was no rarity in a university, but seeing young children discuss something expressionlessly was accompanied by an eerie out-of-place feeling.

"I wish I'd never obtained that book. How foolish I was for trying to triumph over Camilla... the children were so cute before then, though perhaps not so clever...," whispered Mildred while sinking into her chair.

She was apparently quite worn-out physically. Huey judged it was not possible to get more out of her.

He thanked her and stood up.

Right before they left the parlor, Dalian turned around to the gloomy Mildred and said calmly, "Humans are not necessarily more diligent or happier than monkeys."

Mildred raised her face, surprised, and gazed blankly after Dalian as they left.

The interior of the small private school was in general rather dirty and dust-covered.

What enfolded before them when they opened the creaking door was a small schoolroom, consisting of a blackboard with chalk stains on it and a teacher's desk. Moreover, six children had put together their run-down desks and were sitting around them.

Judging by their looks, they had probably only just absolved elementary school. One could almost see no stirring of emotion in their countenances, and their eyes had a touch of apathy.

Upon noticing Huey and Dalian, they turned around wordlessly.

The children didn't look disinterested, but actually seemed to enjoy observing the behavior of their visitors. As if dealing with a stray cat they had found, they waited for a reaction.

"Are you Mildred's students?" asked Huey.

Multiple children opened their mouth simultaneously:

"We are, so?"

"Are you the Black Yomihime and her Key Warder?"

"The caretaker of the Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian, huh... Oho, it did actually exist?"

"Did you come for the 'Book of Wisdom'?"

Their utterances disturbed Huey slightly.

"...Do you know about us?"

Only a very small number of people, familiar with occult knowledge like magic, were supposed to know about the Yomihime, proprietor of the phantom library called "Bibliotheca Mystica de Dantalian", and her servant.

Mere common children couldn't possibly know those terms, no matter how high their intelligence was. But they responded easily, while Huey was more and more surprised.

"There is a hypothesis called 'Six degrees of separation'."

"It's an idea that implies that you are acquainted with almost anyone on Earth within six steps that go like 'the friend of a friend of a friend'."

"In short, you can basically obtain any information you want. Even young children like us can."

"Our teacher sadly didn't understand it, though, no matter how many times we explained it to her..."

Their artless laughter resounded within the silent classroom.

Huey caught a glimpse of Mildred's mansion and then let out a weak sigh.

"May we have your phantom book?"

He was sure they'd refuse, but the children nodded readily without further ado.

"Sure. We don't need it anymore."

With a rather surprised expression, Huey reached for the old book on the desk.

There was nothing in the book that looked like letters. Only maze-like queer patterns and figures filled the pages, resembling the walls of ancient ruins.

"This book releases the potential capability of a child's brain."

"I'm sure you have heard of those rare people among the mental retarded and autistics that are gifted with a superhuman computational ability or superhuman memory, right?"

"The potential capability of a human brain is about that high!"

"The patterns that are drawn in this phantom book are designed to build a neural network to tap those capabilities postnatally. Unfortunately though, it only works for children because their brains are still amenable to influence."

"...I see."

Huey wrinkled his brow and closed the book. He braced himself against the wall with his hand, apparently feeling a little dizzy, and shook his head.

"Mnemonic devices and calculation techniques were originally meant for ancient statesmen like priests," Dalian explained to Huey in a disinterested voice. "In order to parade their superiority to the uneducated population, they were in need of a way to calculate the orbit of celestial bodies or to remember their complicated canons by heart."

They children nodded eagerly to the explanation of the black-dressed girl.

"Their knowledge, such as their calculation techniques and mnemonic devices, was then strictly locked away in order to preserve their special privileges."

"Only a very small part has been passed on to our age in form of mathematics and fortune-telling."

"The real technologies of the ancient priests have been lost along with the their ruin."

"Well, and one of those you find in this book. A technique they had used to train new priests and priestesses."

Huey had mixed feeling about being one-sidedly instructed by children. He let out a weary sigh.

"...What do you plan on doing with that technology?"

His right hand was in his coat, feeling a black, metal object—a top-break revolver that was loaded with six bullets.

The children blinked in wonderment.

"Hm? We don't have any plans really."

"Eh?" Huey breathed dubiously.

However, there was no sign of a previously arranged lie. No, they even laughed with pleasure.

"Did you think we would want to seize control of the world in place of the foolish grownups?"

"Oh well, it wouldn't be impossible if we went for that."

"First comes the economy. It's possible to earn a healthy profit in a short time by trading in the futures market with money taken from investment funds."

"An interesting option would be interfering in politics with the earned funds. Specifically we could also stir up the army of a politically instable country and have them start war. That would make the prices soar and enable us to make a good deal of money out of the exchange rate."

"On top of that, it would be easy to exploit the anxiety of the population then. We mustn't forget religion. We could, for instance, try interweaving economic and scientific terminology into the doctrines."

"Well, but we won't do that."

"Yeah, we won't."

Huey inclined his head, now completely baffled.

"...Why not?"

The children sighed to his question.

"Look, what good comes for us from ruling the world?"

"That would only get us some stressful time. After all, we might be assassinated some day by a subordinate after finally ascending the throne with difficulty."

"Why do capable people like us have to look after the foolish masses that only stand in our way?"

Huey, at a loss, looked forth and back between their faces and the phantom book in his hands.

"In that case, what are you going to do henceforth?"

With the chin on their palms, they replied listlessly:

"Didn't you hear us? Nothing!"

"We'll just idle our time away without even working."

"While our parents are still alive, they'll care for us, and it should be feasible to make ends meet by making advantage of ostentatious people like the teacher of this school."

"Don't worry. We don't have in mind to resort to irrational means like stealing."

A bunch of children with vacant eyes were there, laughing amusedly.

While gazing at them with a helpless expression, Huey said, "But with that knowledge of yours, couldn't you become researchers and develop new theories and such, you know...?"

"It doesn't pay if you take our chances of success into consideration."

They looked up at Huey with derogatory eyes.

"Even if we entered a renowned university, as long as you don't have money and connections, you won't go very far. Even if you found a good job, you would end up being sponged on by your superior."

"In the first place, what should we do if we succeeded and became rich? Live a happy-go-lucky life without working?"

"We'd better do that without working to begin with, then."

While listening to them, Huey held his head as though he suffered from a fierce head-ache.

With a tired expression he leaned on the wall, "Yeah... I'm sorry. I also don't know what's right anymore..."

In order to give him a leg up, one child said, "Well, I suggest you take that book and go home."

Huey nodded powerlessly.

"I'll do that!"

The time they left Mildred's mansion, it was already near evening. The evening sun was approaching the horizon, shining in the colors of apricot jam, while the reflection on the water threw a reddish light on their faces.

"Dalian, did you know that possessors of the 'Book of Wisdom' become like that...?" asked Huey while walking draggingly.

"That's why I told you to let it be," grumbled Dalian before she continued with a pitying sigh, "Those who are really intelligent realize before challenging something that the odds are against them. If you don't want to lose, just don't try to do anything in the first place."

"I see", murmured Huey, "Come to think of it, I get the impression that most of the memorable individuals in history weren't geniuses, but just stubborn and persistent."

Dalian let out a mischievous giggle and looked at him.

"Rejoice. It seems you aren't completely hopeless."

"...why oh why doesn't that please me?" Huey said with a frown.

After they had walked for a while along the river, a cab came in sight. Dalian quickened her pace a little and turned around to Huey.

"Now that you're done, we have to go back to the mansion of that spinster."

"Spinster...? Do you mean Camilla?" he asked and added with a wry smile, "Now that's rude."

Dalian nodded strongly, "Yes. She hasn't served me the promised scone yet."

"Eh, just for that...?"

She glared at him when he showed his surprise, and continued with an oddly serious tone, "'Just for that'?! You shalt not make light of clotted cream! And as soon as I'm done eating, we will visit some more bookstores!"

"Oh... so you remembered..."

Huey breathed a sigh towards the sunset.

Suddenly, Dalian changed the subject. "By the way, what are you going to do with this phantom book? I don't need it. No good comes from meddling with it."

"A phantom book that raises the intelligence of its readers, huh...," Huey whispered expressionlessly, holding the old, faded book before him, "Well! It is said that one must be a little foolish, if one does not want to be even more stupid!"

He took a crude army lighter out of his coat pocket and set the leather binding aflame.

The book burned down, the ashes dancing in the wind.

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Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS1 Chapter6

2011-07-25T17:50:21Z

Dagger: /* Chapter 6 */ Tense agreement

== Chapter 6==

The turmoil continued into the night.

Saten Ruiko was sleeping within her room.

She had been found in that rocky area by the sea that had been destroyed by missiles. She seemed to have swallowed a lot of seawater and she must have been relieved to have seen Mikoto and Uiharu who had come for her because she passed out as soon as she saw them.

Shirai Kuroko somehow managed to teleport them all back to the hotel, but the hotel was not exactly functioning properly either. It had not been struck by the Mixcoatl missiles, but all the panicked people out on the roads had wanted to at least escape to somewhere with a roof, so the hotel had more people in it than it was designed to hold. Possibly because of all the people rushing into it at once, the entrances had stopped functioning and the glass automatic doors had been smashed.

Everyone had realized that a tragedy was occurring.

They understood that it was not an attraction and that people’s lives could easily be lost. Because of that, the invisible atmosphere hanging over everyone had turned to one of discomfort.

Mikoto, Shirai, and Uiharu had gathered in the hotel room Saten slept in.

They had no idea how long the hotel would stay in operation and there was a risk of turmoil breaking out within the building given all the people gathered there. They had decided it would be better not to be separated.

“This has gotten bad…” Mikoto muttered.

The night scene that had been visible out the window the previous night was gone. Without all the lights, the darkness covering the sea made its usual eeriness all the more noticeable. Also, the orange lights of flames could be seen in places within the darkness.

It seemed the Mixcoatls had focused their attacks on the public transportation facilities and the airfield for the Liberal Arts City fighters. As such, no one had been directly hit and killed by the missiles despite the great commotion they had caused. However, it seemed the turmoil linked to the attack had left some people injured.

(Really, I thought this was just going to be a field trip that I could enjoy like a vacation. Why did we have to get caught up in this war-like situation?)

Mikoto gritted her teeth.

She heard another girl’s voice in her ears.

“I’m not sure we can trust what they say since they try to pass everything off as a show, but it seems Liberal Arts City did not have time to do so with this commotion,” Uiharu Kazari said while acquiring information from the network using the IC card charger.

“But this is odd,” said Shirai Kuroko as she pulled some fruit from the refrigerator installed in the room. “Why would they leave after only doing a certain level of damage when they had such an advantage? If it was me, I would continue to crush the city without giving them a chance to prepare anymore defenses.”

“Shirai-san!”

Uiharu shouted in protest, but Mikoto agreed with Shirai. It was not a game or a competition. It was a true fight to the death, so there was no reason to think about fairness.

Which meant…

“So is the mere destruction of Liberal Arts City not the goal of whoever is piloting those Mixcoatls?”

“Or maybe they could not find their true target, so they had to tearfully turn back to resupply.”

Mikoto was about to give an additional view, but she stopped.

She thought her idea was unlikely. And even if it was possible, she felt the destruction would have come at a sooner stage if it were the case.

(What if they already have the overwhelming force needed to finish this and they could do so whenever they want to…?)

“Yeah, I guess it isn’t that.”

“?”

Mikoto spoke without thinking and Shirai and Uiharu looked at her with confused looks on their faces.

With the Mixcoatls gone, the turmoil within the city started to settle down. However, it was human nature to be full of dissatisfaction once that happened. It hadn’t been the hotel workers’ faults, but a lot of people (some not even people staying at that hotel) flooded to the front desk or grabbed workers in the halls and yelled at them as if trying to tear them apart.

It may have been the attackers’ intention, but fortunately no one had died yet. However, there were some people injured. That led to a very tense atmosphere.

No one knew when the Mixcoatls would be back. On top of that, the undersea tunnel and the heliports had been destroyed, so there was no way to escape the city. It was difficult to remain calm in that kind of situation, but the atmosphere made it feel like even a slight shout could stir up a great disturbance, so it was about as uncomfortable as it could get.

“…It looks like we were right to order room service,” Mikoto said.

After cheering up the exhausted looking hotel worker by giving him a rather large tip, Mikoto and the others ate a late dinner in Saten’s room.

“Since the direct cause of the disturbance, the flying fish, has left, I think everything should calm down given time.”

“Of course, that’s only if the flying fish do not come back tomorrow.”

“…Shirai-san.”

They had ordered a simple dinner centered around beef. The flavor was not bad, but it had the impression of being compacted since the space on the room service cart was limited.

Saten must have smelled the food because she started stirring in the bed. Her eyes slowly opened and she sat up like a child waking up.

“S-Saten-san! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m more or less fine…Hm? What you’re eating looks pretty good, Uiharu.”

“Sh-should I really let her have some of this? It’s pretty heavy…” Uiharu said looking over to Mikoto for help. “Why don’t you start with this salad and then move on to the meat if the salad sits well with your stomach?”

“Uiharu, come over here. We only ordered food for three, so let’s reshuffle it all into four portions,” Shirai suggested.

When Shirai tried to secretly move only the food on Mikoto’s plate to her own, she got biri biri-ed and the food was then redistributed evenly.

After they finished eating, Saten started to tell the others what had happened to her.

“Earlier today, I met this strange girl…”

Saten was slowly moving her mouth to explain every little thing.

She had met a girl named Xochitl. That girl was one of the people piloting the Mixcoatls. She had snuck into the hidden part of Liberal Arts City to find out if Xochitl was a bad person or not. She had been found by an official and almost killed to make it look like an accidental drowning. In the end, Xochitl had saved her using a Mixcoatl.

Partway through the story, Mikoto brought her fist down on Saten’s head, Shirai did the same, and finally Uiharu did so as well. The path she had gone down was not an adventure. It was like she had pulled the trigger five times in a row in a game of Russian roulette but by pure chance a bullet had not come out. That was how the story sounded to the other three.

Saten suddenly spoke up again as she held the top of her head with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, right. I wonder what she meant when she mentioned Liberal Arts City’s lifeboats.”

“?”

“Um, the Xochitl girl mentioned them before she left. She said something called…um…Xiuh…coatl? Well, whatever it was, she said it was coming soon, but she didn’t explain what she meant. It sounded like she was talking about something different from before. Anyway, she said we needed to use the lifeboats to flee before it came. I don’t know how, but apparently Liberal Arts City has some huge lifeboats and the one million tourists can all fit on them.”

“Xiuhcotal?”

Mikoto looked puzzled. She was pretty sure the flying fish were called Mixcoatls. Did they have some other kind of craft?

“Lifeboats for a million people? The scale here is as huge as ever…”

“Could she have been referring to these?” said Uiharu from in front of the IC card charger. A few windows were open on the screen.

“In 12 places on Liberal Arts City’s coast, 200 meter class highly buoyant ships are stored. Each one can hold about 80,000 people.”

“Wait, can a ship like that really hold that many people?”

“Well, they aren’t comfortable cruise ships; they’re lifeboats. It seems each person only has about a sleeping bag’s worth of space and apparently each of those spaces can function as an independent boat.”

“It can be easy to forget, but we’re 50 kilometers from the American mainland here. Just floating in the ocean won’t be enough to save us.”

They would be surrounded by ocean in every direction, but they would dry up without a single drop of water to drink. It was a frightening thought and those giant lifeboats had been prepared to avoid that situation.

“No specialized knowledge of the boats is needed to use them. They are GPS controlled and will automatically avoid reefs and other boats as they head for the American mainland. However, all that is just to allow them to carry out their function as life boats. They cannot carry out the precise movements needed to dock, so a rescue team would have to save the people onboard.”

The large lifeboats were codenamed Salmon Red. Apparently, the way they held a large number of tiny boats with the people on them made them look like salmons holding their roe.

Mikoto felt that name was ridiculous, but it was hardly the time to complain about something like that.

Uiharu spoke while looking at the screen.

“The ocean around Liberal Arts City is still maintained as the environment of 50 years into the future needed for filming the movie, so something like a net is surrounding the area to prevent fish and other creatures in the ocean from coming and going. However, when the Salmon Reds start moving, that net needs to be torn away. That may be one of the reasons the ships are almost never used.”

Mikoto looked over Uiharu’s shoulder at the charger’s screen.

“But will those lifeboats prevent everyone from sinking along with the city if the Mixcoatls attack again?”

“I’m not sure…” Uiharu looked troubled. “It’s hard to say with just the information on the network, but from the data I have, the runways for the fighters and the other defenses for the city have been taken down below 20%. Normally, I would think sending out the lifeboats would take priority in a situation like that, but there is no sign of the officials trying to prepare the Salmon Reds.”

“So they intend to fight here to the end…”

According to Saten’s story, some kind of experiments and research were going on there. It was possible those things were keeping them from leaving or they may have decided that putting the fruits of their research on the defenseless lifeboats would be exposing their weak point to the Mixcoatls that could travel as quickly as a fighter jet.

It was not clear what those piloting the Mixcoatls were planning, but it was unlikely to be over. And there was the possible danger of the Xiuhcoatl that the girl named Xochitl had mentioned.

Liberal Arts City and the Mixcoatls had been fighting evenly, but the Mixcoatls had made a clear invasion that day which had greatly changed the situation. If it was all just left to the Laveze Squadron, the city would be destroyed.

Which meant…

(I know what I have to do.)

Misaka Mikoto’s conclusion was a simple one.

She was not an ally of either side.

Hearing Saten’s story made her want to favor Xochitl’s side, but that did not change the fact that both Liberal Arts City and the Mixcoatls were groups that had no problem injuring or even killing people.

As such, Mikoto had to stand between both groups without joining either side and bring an end to the issue without any more sacrifices.

She had to do it because the normal tourists who had come there were going to get truly involved in it all.

(In the worst case, I might end up having to fight both groups at the same time.)

She wanted to give the Mixcoatls a gift of a Railgun blast too, but even if she was going to resort to that kind of force, she had to let the people trapped in Liberal Arts city escape and secure a battlefield she could get a little violent in.

Mikoto turned to Uiharu.

“At any rate, staying within Liberal Arts City is dangerous. If the officials aren’t going to move on their own, we may have to lead the tourists to the Salmon Red lifeboats ourselves.”

“…That could be difficult. The Salmon Reds are one of the city’s secrets. In order to appear to be a safe and comfortable movie city, they do not want to let their emergency lifeboats be seen if they can help it.”

“So if we take the people to the large lifeboats hidden in a secret area, the officials may try to stop us? I guess they might even just fire into the crowd the instant we cross the line into the restricted areas.”

“…But that also means we cannot just leave this to the officials. If we just wait for them, we might end up waiting until the island has already been destroyed.”

Given the situation, it would be better to let all the people board the Salmon Reds.

No one had been killed in the attack earlier that day, but that would not necessarily be true the next time. Liberal Arts City’s defense network had been damaged, so the next attack would be even worse.

However, the officials would not let them simply lead the tourists to the large lifeboats.

(What do we do…?)

Mikoto looked down at the Railgun coin holder strapped to her sandal.

She thought about suppressing the officials so that they could get the Salmon Reds running, but she shook her head. Liberal Arts City did indeed appear weakened due to the damage done by the Mixcoatls, but that was the result of an organization clashing with an organization. An individual like Mikoto clashing with an organization would not necessarily produce the same results.

It was not an issue of the size of their collective firepower.

For example, each of the 12 Salmon Red lifeboats was located in a different location around Liberal Arts City. It was probably impossible for Mikoto to gain control of each of those docks. She would be out of breath just from running around the outside of that city that had a diameter of around 10 kilometers and that was made up of multiple blocks. She also had no idea how many officials were stationed at each dock. Even if she did gain control of one dock, in the time she spent attacking another, other officials would head to the first one making her efforts pointless.

(If only there was some core I could destroy and take care of everything all at once, but I guess things just aren’t that convenient.)

The scale was different from defeating some gang of delinquents in a city.

There were indeed some things that could not be resolved just by swinging your arms around and going on a rampage.

And then…

“Wah!?” Uiharu cried out.

Suddenly, the power went out in the room Mikoto and the others were in. The room went completely dark. Of course, the IC card charger Uiharu was using turned off too, so all light in the room disappeared.

“!!”

Mikoto immediately looked out the window.

Lights were sparse in the darkness other than the orange flames, but no entire building had its electricity out. She could see some lights on and some off in the windows making the buildings look like mouths with teeth missing.

That hotel or possibly that room alone had suddenly lost its power.

It was as if someone were forcibly cutting off their access through the computer.

(This timing must mean…!!)

Mikoto immediately pushed down Saten whose silhouette she could make out in the darkness and she dragged Uiharu down onto the floor from her position in front of the charger.

“They’ve noticed us!! Get down!!” she yelled.

Something happened at the exact same time, but it was not the enemy breaking through the window with ropes like in a movie.

It came from the wall to the next room.

The other side must have had explosives stuck to it because with a loud boom the entire wall broke to pieces like it was made of glass.

“Kuroko!” Mikoto shouted.

Multiple rifle barrels were stuck into the room through the destroyed wall. No warnings or threats were given. The men holding the guns merely aimed at every form in the room and unhesitatingly pulled the trigger.

But right before they did, the roof fell down like a shutter. Mikoto had used magnetism to forcibly move the rebar and metal ducts. Mikoto cowered down upon hearing the gunfire, but the great amount of building materials acted as a shield. She fired lightning spears from her bangs. She carefully knocked away each attacker on the other side of the destroyed wall with one shot each.

(Dammit!! I thought their superiors told them not to kill me!)

Mikoto cursed silently, but the environment within Liberal Arts City had greatly changed. The city’s superiors, the ones referred to as management, may have changed their plans.

But there was no point in complaining about that.

Mikoto quietly called out two names in the darkness.

“(…Uiharu-san! Saten-san!!)”

The room had no power, but light was leaking in from the destroyed wall and ceiling. No response came, but she saw two forms squirming on the floor covered in wreckage.

Those two were fine at least.

(Where is Kuroko…!?)

Mikoto continued to hide behind the wreckage while she carefully looked around the area for Shirai.

She heard a slight whoosh.

At that time, Mikoto was hiding behind the wreckage of the ceiling she had brought down. The pile of wreckage was only about as high as her waist, so she was crouching down on the floor.

And then…

Something approached Mikoto’s throat. It was a nonmetal war pick, a type of pickaxe meant for battle that could be held in one hand. The person holding it was circling around the pile of rubble at high speed bringing the war pick’s tip closer. The motion was so quick and smooth that Mikoto realized what was going on reverse order.

Someone was trying to kill her.

As soon as she realized that simple fact, Mikoto finally started to move.

“!!”

Still crouched down, she immediately twisted her body. The approaching war pick slightly tore at the skin of her neck and then stabbed into a gap in the rubble behind her. However, Mikoto fell over onto her back because she had tried to evade so quickly.

The attacker ignored the war pick that was stuck in the rubble and reached around behind him or herself.

The attacker pulled out a nonmetal knife and swung the blade down toward the top of Mikoto’s nose.

However, a great crackling noise rang out.

A high voltage current had been fired from Mikoto’s bangs.

Seeing that the attacker had been knocked away, Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh right, where’s Kuroko…?”

“I am over here,” the girl said from the direction of the room’s door.

The supposedly locked door had somehow been opened from the outside. Shirai entered through it using both hands to drag along some collapsed men.

“I took out the spare unit. It seems like having Uiharu’s hacking discovered brought some unwanted visitors. No matter how skilled she is, she simply stayed connected for too long.”

“Uuh,” said Uiharu from within the dark room.

Perhaps because Mikoto had knocked them to the ground beforehand, Uiharu and Saten did not have any obvious injuries. Shirai teleported around to make sure no more officials were around, but they had no idea when reinforcements would arrive. Mikoto decided they should get away from that area when…

“…Really, it seems some rather troublesome people have shown up,” said someone other than the four Academy City girls within the dark room.

The voice was coming from the direction Mikoto had knocked the attacker who had used the war pick. Mikoto tensed up and Saten started to tremble. They recognized the female voice.

“And we are the ones fighting an evil enemy. Not to mention that Liberal Arts City is filled with people like you.”

It was the woman official wearing the racing swimsuit and the lifejacket.

It was Olive Holiday.

When Mikoto stared into the darkness, she saw that Olive had bandages covering her body in places as she leaned against the half-destroyed bed. According to Saten, she had sunk down among the rubble when the Mixcoatl fired its missiles, but…

“An evil enemy…?” muttered Saten Ruiko.

The trembling girl tightly clenched her small fists and stared at Olive.

“You interfered with Xochitl and the others and continually did strange things in secret and whenever it looked like you were going to be found out, you tried to use violence to solve it!! So how can you call them evil!?”

“We are merely doing what we must as the world police.”

Olive’s expression did not change even while being the target of such clear anger.

Something red oozed from the bandages on various parts of her body.

“We must do more than just protect the world as it is. We also need to deal with the various dangers that will occur in the world ten years or even a hundred years from now.”

“What does that have to do with secretly researching psychic powers!?” yelled Saten.

She had a feeling that the power Xochitl and the others used was different from psychic powers, but at the very least, Liberal Arts City had decided they were the same and were trying obtain something from them.

“The problem is Japan’s Academy City.”

“…Don’t tell me you think we’re planning on using military force to take over the world or something,” Mikoto warned, but Olive shook her head.

“I’m sure you are not planning anything so childish. However, Japan’s Academy City is said to have technology 20 or 30 years ahead of the rest of the world. Do you understand what that means? In just 20 or 30 years, the entire world could be like that.”

“…”

“Psychic powers are no exception. Seven Level 5s have appeared within Academy City, but if espers spread to entire population of 6 billion, how many monsters do you think will be on the loose? Doesn’t it seem like a new age of wars will begin that cannot be controlled by monitoring the circulation of guns and other weapons?”

In reality, a Level 5 was not something that appeared so easily. The number of them could not be calculated as a statistical percentage like that. However, Olive would likely not accept that even if Mikoto explained it to her. Only people from Academy City like Mikoto who had truly experienced psychic powers could truly understand that fact.

However, it was true that Level 3 powers may become common after 20 or 30 years.

The future could not be predicted like that.

People from an older time had not known what a convenience store was and they would never have been able to imagine a cell phone. However, those things were used by everyone as if they were normal. They had become a basic part of the world.

In that case…

“We have our duty as the world police,” Olive said proudly. “We must not be left behind by the flow of time. If we fail to guide things properly, the world will be filled with unnecessary turmoil. The various types of problems that we have just barely managed to keep under control will erupt into conflicts all at once.”

New dangers of a new era.

Problems that had not existed before espers.

The world police felt they were the cornerstone to fighting those things in the future. They took the initiative and fought in countries and areas with no direct connection to themselves for the sake of ensuring peace.

After thinking through all that, Mikoto laughed.

That idea was just so stupid that it made her laugh.

“That’s no reason for this.”

Hearing those words, Olive looked at Mikoto.

Mikoto continued regardless.

“That’s no reason to kidnap people, to shoot those who get in your way, or to try to silence Saten-san.”

“It is necessary,” Olive laughed scornfully at Mikoto’s words. “We have no choice if we are to continue to maintain control as the world police.”

“Screw that.” With a crackling noise, bluish-white sparks flew from Mikoto’s bangs. “No one has asked you to keep doing these things. The people of the world are fighting in their own respective worlds. You don’t understand that, so you end up coming in with a bulldozer and destroying it all!!”

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS1_06_021.jpg|thumb]]

Mikoto's tone got stronger as she continued speaking.

The anger stored up in her heart was being released.

“If you want to develop psychic powers, then just do it!! Just make some institution for that that’s even better than Academy City if you want to!! How did that desire turn into this? You don’t need to solve every problem in the fastest possible way. You’ve become an organization that controls everything from the top by using incoming problems to your own advantage and by hiding every little thing that’s inconvenient for you!”

Shirai, Uiharu, and Saten averted their gaze upon hearing Mikoto’s words.

She was Academy City’s #3 Level 5.

Her words were not directed simply at the official named Olive.

They may have been something like a small child’s request for the world of adults.

“It’s true that Academy City is not a completely clean organization. And yes, espers do cause problems. But espers in and of themselves are not a type of calamity!! They aren’t some existence that you need to take the initiative to seal away!! They aren’t a problem that you need to resolve so badly that you need to put normal people in danger over it!!”

Mikoto’s tone then grew weaker.

She put as much strength into her hands as she could and slowly spoke.

“Can’t you at least understand that much…? Can’t you think for yourself and realize that you can do something without resorting to violence?”

“…”

Olive’s lips moved slightly.

However, the words that came from within were not the ones Mikoto had been hoping for.

“The situation…has changed.”

Her voice was cracking.

However, there was no trembling in her voice.

Mikoto’s words had not reached her.

“We are being attacked. This is no longer a situation where we can handle it by using the interception unit. This has gotten to the point where no one can predict who will be defeated next time.”

Her words supported what Mikoto had vaguely suspected.

Liberal Arts City was truly in trouble.

“That kind of nice reasoning will do nothing but get the island destroyed.”

All the damage Olive had taken must have caught up with her because her body wobbled. She had already been leaning up against the bed, but now she slowly collapsed to the floor. She smiled all the way down. She never once agreed with what Mikoto had said.

Mikoto looked down at Olive like she was looking at something she could not stand.

“…”

Previously, Olive Holiday had said that the city was the headquarters for the officials and that they had all the materials prepared needed to succeed in an attack if one was needed. However, that attack had failed. In other words, Liberal Arts City was not perfect.

Mikoto had been saved by that fact, but it did not give her any hope.

If the city was weakened, it meant they had lost the ability to repel the threat of the Mixcoatls.

The number of people that could fight was limited.

Also, Misaka Mikoto was one of the seven Level 5s of Japan’s psychic powers development institution, Academy City.

After remaining still for some time, Mikoto finally shook off her hesitation and headed for the exit of the hotel room.

Saten blankly watched her and then hurriedly spoke.

“Wh-where are you going?”

“To the large lifeboats. I’m going to do something about this.”

After saying only that, Mikoto left the room.

Even if most of the facilities had been destroyed, there were probably plenty of officials left. She could not go around defeating every single one of them. There were simply too many.

However, the officials would not want to waste their numbers. After all, the Mixcoatls would definitely be back. They had no idea if they could fight properly in their current state, so they would have an even harder time of fighting their true enemy if they lost any more of their fighting force.

(…So I’ll aim for that.)

Mikoto walked along the hotel hallway and pulled the coin holder from the strap on her sandal.

(The main force for fighting the Mixcoatls is the Laveze Squadron. If I destroy a few of the remaining runways or hangars, it should get their attention.)

After that, she would make a deal allowing the tourists to use the Salmon Red lifeboats.

Even if she could not defeat all of the officials, it was not too difficult to destroy immobile facilities.

At the same time in a different part of Liberal Arts City, the five men and women known as management sat with their bodies sinking deeply into comfortable chairs. Their council room was extremely spacious for a room to be used by only five people.

Management was discussing in what way Liberal Arts City should move from then on.

That giant institution controlled the resources for a large entertainment industry and it could have an effect on financial markets around the world. However, those five did not look for the opinions of others when deciding how the city should move.

They did not need to.

Not because they could resolve any problem instantly, but because there was no need for them to discuss their plans or intentions with the related organizations.

Dealing with that kind of trivial matter was not their job.

Even if it was necessary, they did not have to do it themselves.

They had hired people to carry out such things.

People had been fighting outside in Liberal Arts City, the Laveze Squadron had been damaged, they had learned anew what the Mixcoatls were capable of, and some tourists had been injured when some facilities had been destroyed, but they did not need to pay any of that any heed.

After all, someone would do something about it.

It was absolutely impossible for them to be truly cornered. Management’s job was just to walk down the path of success and it was the duty of those around them to make the effort needed to carry that out.

This was because the world needed management.

However, the 5 members of management were in utter shock over the response they received over the satellite connection they were just barely managing to maintain.

Their project had been completely frozen.

They were to destroy all the necessary data and have all the personnel escape.

“What is going on…?” someone said.

All of them were thinking the same thing.

Management had been in communication with the military on the American mainland. Liberal Arts City was at the disadvantage so they had requested assistance from the world’s greatest army that had given meaning to the term “world police”.

And that had been the response they had received.

“The research we are carrying out here is greatly advantageous to America as a whole. I see no reason to destroy the data. Why will the military not act on our behalf…?”

Did the military think that taking action would damage the tourists in the city as well? All five members of management felt that was a ridiculous reason. If one thought of the value given to each individual civilian, it was at a level where they could easily be ignored.

Or were they afraid of destroying the main research facility in Liberal Arts City by mistake? That was more realistic, but it was still odd. If they felt the research was important, they would not have frozen the project or told them to destroy the data. They would have at least told them to bring the fruits of their research back with them to the American mainland. Research data would normally not be sent over the network out fear of it being hacked, but there were other ways of getting it to the mainland.

It did not make sense.

That was why every member of management was confused.

“Why won’t the military comply with our request?”

It was true that the Mixcoatls were powerful. They had thought they were fighting evenly up to that point, but the city had been so easily overwhelmed and they had been forced to go on the defensive. There was no denying the Mixcoatls’ strength.

However, it was not their job to know exactly how to resolve that problem.

Things such as true fear were not needed for management.

According to the tedious reports their subordinates had sent them, the Laveze Squadron was the center of Liberal Arts City’s defenses, but a certain level of damage had been done in the previous attack to the runways and servicing facilities needed to keep using the Laveze Squadron.

“It is true that the frequency of attacks has been rising significantly recently,” said someone within management, “but is it really enough for the entire nation of America to draw back?”

No. Thinking of the value of the research being carried out there, they should want to protect Liberal Arts City even if it turned into a long drawn-out war. Liberal Arts City had a special position within America. That large institution was seen as necessary for America. The leaders of the military and the senators would not abandon the city easily.

Which meant…

“They’re being pressured,” said someone else. “Someone is applying enough pressure from the side to overcome our influence.”

When they thought about it, that was the only answer, but they could not think of anyone who had enough influence to crush a request from management. No, there were actually a few people within America who were more powerful than management, but all those people were directly benefited by Liberal Arts City. They would not go out of their way to crush their request.

What had happened?

Just as every member of management was thinking on that same question, they heard a slight bit of static.

Normally, an outside line could not directly connect via the satellite. A secretary-like operator would be contacted first and management would need to give their permission before the line was put through to them.

This connection ignored all that.

An impudent voice reached managements ears.

“You seem to be troubled.”

With just that short sentence, every single member of management’s faces twisted into the exact same expression at the exact same time. The expression was one of displeasure.

They recognized that voice.

It belonged to someone who could greatly influence the world even more than management.

That person was the head of Japan’s psychic powers development institution, Academy City.

He was Board Chairman Aleister.

“You seem to be having some difficulties with some attacks from an unknown enemy. If you like, we could send some reinforcements.”

Upon hearing that, all of their thoughts moved in the same direction.

With that proposal and with that timing, Aleister had to have been the one who had prevented the American air force from sending reinforcements. They didn’t know how he had done it, but he must have. It was not normal for any Japanese aircraft to take military actions in American territory. Quite a bit of preliminary preparations had to be carried out before that could even be said as a joke.

“Don’t tell me,” said one of the members of management, “that you are the one behind these incidents. I do not think those Mixcoatls are made from normal scientific technology. We were thinking of using them because we thought they were different from the kind of things Academy City uses. But if they are yours…”

“Of course they are not,” Aleister said in an unconcerned voice.

There was no sign of him being surprised at being distrusted.

“But it is true that you have come into contact with one of the truths of the world.”

“Truths?”

“You could also call it an agreement. At any rate, ''there is a world that the likes of you cannot understand''.”

He was completely speaking down to them.

Clear hate wrapped around the five members of management who had somehow managed to be given special privileges within the country of the world police.

“Oh, right. I have a question for you,” said Aleister ignoring the awkward silence as if to say it was worthless. “If Liberal Arts City itself were to be turned to scraps floating in the sea, would you be able to play that off as a show?”

District 23 of Japan’s Academy City specialized in research in the aviation and space industries. It had countless runways prepared both large and small. In one area of runways, a number of 100-meter airplanes were lined up.

They were HsB-02s, Academy City’s supersonic stealth bombers.

Those monstrous planes could fly through the air at over 7000 kph, so they could reach America from Japan in just under 2 hours.

Those giant bombers were being filed with various types of explosives including special bombs that could destroy facilities deep within the earth and bombs called synchronous multilayer bombs that would utterly destroy only the area designated. That equipment was a variation known as Style 3. With just that, they could utterly annihilate something like a manmade island.

“…So the time has finally come to use this stuff,” said a young mechanic working on one of the bombers. The pilot sipping cold coffee next to him responded coldly.

“I don’t think something on Level A Standby will be sent out so easily.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“You put that thing on the nose of the plane, right? From the briefing I received, apparently that’s a prototype AIM sensor. It can detect the location of a specific esper within the wide bombing area.”

“So the plan is to precisely bomb while avoiding the areas with the students?”

“That would be nice.” The pilot must not have been able to stand the flavor of the coffee because he flipped the cup upside down and poured the remaining drink onto the asphalt. “Given the performance of the sensor and the height from which we’ll be bombing, only an exceedingly strong and characteristic AIM diffusion field will be detectable. I’d say only something in the Level 5 class.”

“Wait, but that means…”

“I’m pretty sure there’s one of them down there. It seems they want to at least recover the most valuable one, but they don’t seem to care about the others. And even if we could detect all of the espers by their AIM diffusion fields, what about the teachers leading the trip there? Only the esper students emit AIM diffusion fields. …The higher ups clearly have no intention of saving all the others.” The pilot lightly shook the empty cup. “Just pray that fucking alarm doesn’t ring.”

 
 
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| Back to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Return to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS1_Chapter7|Chapter 7]]
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</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS1 Chapter2

2011-07-25T17:49:38Z

Dagger: /* Chapter 2 */ you're != your

== Chapter 2==

Liberal Arts City was the world’s largest artificial island. It was created on the ocean 50 kilometers west of the California coast. After the filming of a certain movie, it had been remodeled into a certain type of theme park, but the large movie country of America saw value in having it also function as a large facility for research and development of new filming techniques.

It was a collection of attractions that were created by those working on the front lines of the world’s movie business. Those attractions were first seen there and were overflowing with stimulation and wonder.

But Misaka Mikoto knew something.

She knew that every kind of abnormal situation was treated as a “show” there. Even if someone was shot right in front of people’s eyes, they would merely be surprised that an actor had been mixed in with the crowd, surprised at how well the actor was showing pain, and surprised at how real the fake blood looked.

It was an area where no one would be shocked upon seeing a corpse.

And that atmosphere was no coincidence.

There was Saten Ruiko.

“Wow, Misaka-san!! When did they get you to join the show!?”

Even after seeing Mikoto get involved in a real incident, she thought it was part of a show.

There was Uiharu Kazari.

“I-Is it really okay to show off Academy City powers publicly like that?”

She was a little worried, but she was worried about the wrong thing.

There was Shirai Kuroko.

“…Onee-sama?”

She was a little suspicious, but it had nothing to do with an incident or a fight.

And then there was Misaka Mikoto herself.

“…What is going on here?” she muttered.

No one could hear her quiet voice that had a bit of annoyance mixed in.

“Just what is going on in this city?”

Fwoom.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!”

Whoosh.

“Mgyaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!”

Fwoosh.

“Funyaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!”

Uiharu Kazari let out all those yells and then exited the private showers lined up near the hotel. She had been playing in the ocean all day until the sun went down, but all the seawater on her soft skin had been washed away. In fact, there was not a drop of water on her hair, skin, or swimsuit and the smell of salt water was completely gone.

She lightly tugged on the swimsuit that looked like she had just bought it and then her classmate, Saten Ruiko, approached her swinging an arm around.

The area was getting dark and the richly colored lights characteristic of theme parks had been turned on, but Saten was still the same as ever.

“Oh, Uiharu. How was it? Wasn’t that amazing!?”

“Was that thing a full body dryer? That’s a pretty major device. It washes and dries your swimsuit and your body as well…”

“Well, you wear your swimsuit everywhere except for your hotel room bed here, right? They’d rather you were clean and dry when you enter the hotel.”

Uiharu and Saten continued to give noises of admiration.

They lived in Academy City where the technology was about 20 or 30 years ahead, but Academy City was in western Tokyo, so they did not have many opportunities to use technology related to the ocean. That kind of research would obviously be done in Academy City, but the children of the city did not get a chance to use it.

Saten rubbed her upper arms.

“…But Liberal Arts City sure is cheap to charge for the cream that keeps the dryer mode from drying up your skin.”

“Ah ha ha. Yes. The theme park builds up this image with everything from the scenery down to the smallest details, but when they start bringing up money, it takes you back to reality.”

“And that wind pressure was amazing. It shot my breasts right out of my top.”

“Bfoeh!? S-Saten-san…?”

“Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have hit the quick dry switch. And my top is supposed to stick to my skin like a NuBra…Wait, if you were wearing a normal bikini, they’d be blown out for sure!”

Uiharu blushed at that topic of conversation, but there must not have been anyone around who knew Japanese because the passing foreigners did not look their way.

Saten Ruiko cared the least about her surroundings and she grabbed Uiharu’s hand.

“Okay, let’s go find Misaka-san and Shirai-san and then go get some dinner!”

“By the way, why did all the food on the menu at lunch have the titles of movies?”

“That restaurant gives you the food that appeared in various movies. If you aren’t familiar with the movie, you’ll have no idea what food you’ll be getting.”

“…I see. So that’s why I got a toothpaste-like tube of space food when I ordered Alien Wars.”

Uiharu had a distant look in her eyes as she and Saten entered the hotel.

“Oh, right. Have you checked in with the teacher? We have to do it in the morning and in the evening, right?”

“The roll call is after dinner. We’re free to eat anywhere we want. But I can’t believe we have to line up in front of the hotel as they call out our names. How lame. That makes it obvious we’re here on a school trip.”

The large hotel had over 800 rooms. It was mainly made of sparkling white marble with a few amber accents made of wood. Red carpet was laid out on the path the guests would take like it was some sort of movie palace.

People of all sorts of races were coming and going in the lobby making it clear that the city was popular all over the world.

“Are you bothered by all the guys looking at you, Uiharu? A leer is the same worldwide.”

“…I’m sure it’s you and your bikini that’s drawing attention, Saten-san.”

“Heh. But the way you’re fidgeting oddly and rubbing your thighs together is much sexier.”

“Ee!? I-I’m not….!”

Saten walked through the large atrium lobby that an entire large passenger plane could fit inside. Uiharu walked next to her and then suddenly asked her classmate a question.

“By the way, what do you want to eat for dinner? Even this hotel has plenty of restaurants in it.”

“Hmm. I’m kinda in the mood for Chinese. Well, I can just ask the hotel manager where a good restaurant is.”

“Oh, Saten-san, you can speak English?”

Uiharu held a waterproof cell phone in her hand. She had downloaded a voice recognition application that also translated for her, so she could speak Japanese into it and it would speak in English for her. Uiharu only had a first year middle school textbook knowledge, so the instant the battery died, she was dead in the water.

“Ah ha ha. We’re both humans right? I can get my words across through feeling alone. Hey, you, boy! Chinese food want eat delicious restaurant please!?”

“Gyaaahh!! I-I don’t think that’s going to cut it! You can only fumble around so much!!”

Uiharu started blushing, but the hotel worker must have managed well enough with the words and nuance Saten had thrown at him because he explained mostly via gestures that they had to take a turn up ahead and they would find one.

Saten nodded confidently.

“It seems there is an amazingly good Chinese restaurant, but it gets really busy around this time so we should wait until later. What do you think, Uiharu? If you’re so hungry you need to eat now, we can go somewhere else.”

“…A-am I just a very unsophisticated girl?”

Saten cheerfully handed a tip to the hotel worker and then waved at him as Uiharu felt slightly depressed.

They decided to look for Mikoto and Shirai so they could eat that amazingly good Chinese food and then Mikoto appeared out of the elevator hall with perfect timing.

But her face was red and she was running as quickly as she could.

“Gyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

“Wai-…wha-…M-Misaka-san!?”

Uiharu called out her name and Mikoto immediately turned her head in that direction.

However, she remained silent.

With a clear liquid welling up at the edges of her eyes, Mikoto ran straight for Uiharu. She leapt into Uiharu’s arms and refused to let go.

“Funyaaaahhhh!? Wh-wh-wh-wh-what is this all of a sudden, Misaka-san!?”

“I-I was scared!! I was so scared!!”

As Mikoto yelled, she was trembling and she was rubbing her nose into Uiharu’s small chest.

Saten placed a hand on her chin.

“Uiharu, this might be that cute kind of development where it turns out the ultimate invincible Ace of Tokiwadai is actually super afraid of roaches.”

“No. This is in a completely different dimension!!”

Mikoto finally pulled her face out of Uiharu’s chest and held out a magazine in her hand.

It seemed to be a swimsuit catalogue.

“K-Kuroko was reading this! She was muttering something about choosing another one. I casually looked over and now I don’t know what to do!!”

Uiharu and Saten grabbed the catalogue from Mikoto and started flipping through the pages.

And then they seriously regretted that encounter with the unknown.

“G-gyaaahhhh!? Uiharu, this is…wait, what!? I can manage – just barely – to understand the T back here, but this is an O and this is a V and this…Eh? An I!? How is that supposed to stay on!?”

“L-look at this, Saten-san. It says it’s a low leg, but there’s only 5 centimeters from the inseam to the waist!! It’s like it’s a…belt?”

“Watering material…? This is a see-through bikini with colored liquid inside…is that really okay!? It says the pattern changes depending on the slant of your body, but can you really not see anything through it!?”

“A reflective crystal bikini…? This is basically a mosaic! It’s true you can’t see things properly, but the color remains the same!!”

Saten and Uiharu’s faces were bright red as they started to wonder what kind of inhuman punishment game would lead to wearing things like that. Every item in the catalogue was full of danger to a maiden on the level of no longer being able to be a bride.

Misaka Mikoto, the Ace of Tokiwadai, sobbed which was rare for her.

“Th-there’s no guarantee that she only brought one swimsuit. What if Kuroko is still hiding an even worse bomb? I-if Kuroko clings to me wearing something with even more of an impact than the one from today…what am I supposed to do!?”

If someone wearing those kinds of things was walking next to them or clinging to her, Saten and Uiharu would be embarrassed, too. They could not just leave such an obscene girl to her own devices.

But what were they supposed to do about it?

Was there an effective method of sealing that pigtailed monster that was like an incarnation of freedom of expression?

The three of them silently thought for a bit and then an older girl passed by them who looked like some sort of celebrity having just finished a lovely dinner. She was wearing a black one piece swimsuit with sparkling gold thread sewn into it and a large pareo wrapped around her waist.

The three girls watched the celebrity-like girl’s butt as she walked off seemingly purposefully shaking her hips back and forth.

“A pareo! That’s it!!”

At that same time, Shirai Kuroko was rolling around in her bed still wearing the same swimsuit while digging through a ridiculously huge suitcase.

“Hmm… Just being highly revealing may not be enough. This one looks like a white school swimsuit at first, but it all becomes see through except for the three most important points when it gets wet. Maybe this one. It’s a string swimsuit that makes seven different transformations while wearing it. Heh heh heh… Onee-sama’s face when it transforms in front of her eyes would be something to see…”

Shirai was holding a swimsuit that did not have even a millimeter of cloth and was made of braided strings so it covered up the bare minimum of space. She laughed as she plotted something, but then the electronic lock to her room’s door started making odd noises.

“What? What?”

The instant Shirai looked over, the door burst open. Misaka Mikoto entered with sparks crackling from her bangs.

Seeing that, stars starting sparkling in Shirai’s eyes.

“Oh!? My, my, Onee-sama!? I never thought you would be so in the mood that you would break my lock to sneak a visit to my roo-….gwoohhh!? Ah, it’s so hot in this thing!? What’s with this large piece of cloth!?”

“It’s called a pareo! It’s meant to cover up the delicate zone of shyer people! Everything about you is worth being shy over, so it’s going to cover up all of you!!”

“S-stop, stop!! Don’t wrap me up like a teru teru bouzu! And this is more like an elementary school swimming towel than a pareo…mghgmghg….”

Uiharu and Saten had heard the commotion from out in the hall and then they heard the sound of the door opening. The looked over and saw Mikoto looking oddly refreshed.

“Okay, we’re ready! Now we can freely enjoy dinner.”

“??? What about Shirai-san…Ee!?”

Uiharu Kazari’s shoulders jumped when she saw Shirai Kuroko wrapped up from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet many times over with a large piece of cloth making her look like some kind of lame bigfoot.

After eating dinner in a mostly red Chinese restaurant within the hotel, Mikoto, Shirai, Uiharu, and Saten met up with the other students and the teachers carried out the roll call (that Saten claimed was lame). After that, the four of them gathered in the hotel lobby. They sat at a table in the rest area and relaxed as they ate desserts like almond jelly and ice cream.

Shirai had managed to get just her head out of the pareo.

“By the way, about that Beverly Seethrough we met today…”

She used a small spoon to scoop up some milk pudding as she spoke.

Beverly was a girl film director staying in Liberal Arts City.

“It seems the facility for research and development of new filming technology is real. It seems they have invited painters, sculptors, potters, doll makers, clockmakers, ukiyoe artists, and all sorts of other artists.”

“Ahn? That doesn’t sound like a Hollywood movie to me. That sounds more in the direction of a traditional craft or something. Why are they calling all sorts of people like that?” asked Mikoto with a spoon in her mouth making the spoon move up and down as she spoke.

“About that!!”

“Mgh!?”

The spoon fell from Mikoto’s mouth as a sudden loud voice came from behind her.

She turned around and saw the genius girl film director walking there.

“Did you finish your work?”

“It was really more of an inconvenient process required of us, so I wouldn’t really say it was part of my work. Now back to the topic at hand,” Beverly said nonchalantly. “Liberal Arts City – or rather, the rival spirit of the American film companies – has turned in the direction of the leading edge of the science side, Japan’s Academy City. They have concluded that they can’t win just by simply developing further technology such as CG or VFX. As such, they want to grow in a different direction from Academy City and they think a hint may lie in the more traditional arts.”

However, they were not simply planning to make a movie out of puppets or anything. Once they had perfectly analyzed the traditional art, they would check to see if it could be used in cutting edge films and then try to put it all together.

“And there are many different types of movies. Some have ancient dinosaurs and some have giant robots in the future. These traditional arts can of course be used for the historical movies, but they can also be studied to see in what way the arts evolved to help predict future evolutions of such things when creating a city set in the future.”

“Hehh,” Uiharu said in a very Japanese sound of admiration. “But is everyone cooperating? I think of potters as being stubborn old men.”

“Ah ha ha. Well, there’s a lot to this. Those kinds of arts are falling into decline all over the world. It isn’t unusual for these kinds of things to disappear altogether. Since Hollywood is taking great efforts to preserve them, they’re actually incredibly happy about the whole thing. They’ve even got things like a traditional Japanese workshop.”

If Academy City was a collection of cutting edge science, then that place was the opposite. It was a city created from a collection of traditional techniques from all over the world.

Mikoto and Uiharu gave more sounds of admiration, but Saten seemed not to be interested with that inside story. Her eyes were glued to Beverly’s giant breasts and she elbowed Uiharu in the side.

“(…Hey, Uiharu. What unprecedented cup size do you think she’s reached? I think she’s secretly made it to G or even I.)”

“Bgfh!?”

Uiharu choked and a few flower petals floated away from her head.

“Hm? They’re L,” Beverly responded.

“!?”

“!?”

“!?”

“!?”

An immeasurable shock pierced into those still-growing maidens. Saten regretted having brought it up, most of the flowers on Uiharu’s head fell out, Shirai’s eyes opened wide, and physical sparks crackled from Mikoto’s back.

Saten was unable to move for a bit, but she finally managed to bring her hands to her flat chest.

“…Uiharu. Your cup size levels up every 2.5 cm, right?”

“Y-yes,” Uiharu nodded.

“A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L,” Saten muttered under her breath as she moved her hands away from her chest at set intervals.

Finally, her hand stopped.

Saten looked down at her own chest to check on the hopeless gap between her hands and her small chest.

“That’s a huge gap!! Look at how much space there is here! Wait, this looks like I’m pantomiming hugging Uiharu!”

“Eeee!? Y-your calculations say my entire body would be buried in the boobs!?”

Saten was in a state of confusion and Uiharu was yelling in a shrill voice. The winner at life, Beverly, watched them and laughed.

“Don’t worry. Your body will grow on its own whether you do anything about it or not. After all, breasts are nothing more than masses of fat.”

“There it is!! The favorite line of the bourgeois winners!! Uiharu, bring out the sun oil. Let’s oil up the entire body of this girl and her pointlessly huge breasts!! Let’s show her what tears taste like!!”

“Ah ha ha. You don’t scare me,” Beverly laughed.

Suddenly, there was a great noise like a beer stein or a judge’s gavel being slammed down. It was caused by Misaka Mikoto slamming the bottle of oil on the table.

The flat-chested girl was hanging her head down so her expression could not be seen and her entire body was wrapped in a dark shadowy aura.

“Hey, you,” she said while barely moving her lips.

Mikoto slowly raised her head as a rumbling sound effect could be heard in the background.

Her eyes glowed like a carnivorous beast’s as she stared straight at Beverly and spoke like a drill sergeant.

“I’ll teach you that sun oil can sometimes be an excellent weapon.”

Misaka Mikoto watched Beverly Seethrough’s shiny retreating back with its slumped shoulders. She then high fived Saten, punched Shirai Kuroko who was trying to rub the oil on her body, and then returned to her senses at a comment from Uiharu.

“Uh? Weren’t you going to get Beverly-san’s autograph?”

(Dahh!! There’s just too much going on.)

An overseas trip just had too many things to do.

Mikoto returned to her hotel room because she knew it would be bad if she forced herself to stay in such high spirits all the way until morning. She entered the bathroom, turned on the sink faucet, and washed all the oil off of her hands.

“Hoo…”

She returned to the main room and sat on the bed.

She could see a summer night through the window. The buildings and pathways were of course decorated with various types of lights. She could see a large number of fireworks bursting in the distance and the dark ocean was being used as a screen to display various images.

(The pamphlet said something about a night swim in the ocean of light, but I just don’t feel like swimming right now. I think I had too much fun during the day because I’m kind of tired.)

Mikoto wanted to just collapse into the bed, but she did not do so.

There was still something she had to do.

“…”

There had been that battle between the fighters and the flying fish during the day.

And there had been that strange situation where everything was dealt with as if it had been a show.

She did not know what was going on in that city, but she had to stop it before another flying fish came and someone ended up dead. At the very least, Liberal Arts City had definitely intentionally hidden the incident by using the term “show” to make it disappear despite it happening right before people’s eyes.

(But then…)

She was not in Japan’s Academy City.

If she investigated into the secrets of the city, she could easily be shot on the grounds of protecting their information. It sounded like something from a movie, but she was not in Japan. She could not forget that she was in a place where anyone could easily get their hands on a gun.

“…”

Mikoto thought for a bit.

And then she nodded.

In that dangerous situation, Liberal Arts City had not provided emergency exits or even sounded an alarm. She could not exactly have a fun, carefree time knowing that. She could get wrapped up in a fight between fighters and flying fish again. Or some other “show” could take place. There was even a chance that her or some other visitor could end up being made into guest performers as the ones that get taken out.

Even though she had managed to stop it the first time, there was no guarantee that she would be able to stop it the next time.

“I guess I’ll do this.”

She looked over at the corner of the room where a device like a convenience store ATM was located. Liberal Arts City was an ocean and water theme park. That made it difficult to carry paper money around, so visitors borrowed an IC card upon entering and it could be charged with electronic money whenever needed. This allowed visitors to go to any facility they wanted with just that one card and small change to use for tips.

Mikoto lightly rubbed the chip portion of the IC card with her thumb. She then pushed the card up against the reader for charging it. With a beep, it switched from the simple screen for guests to a cold and efficient screen for the maintenance staff.

She had used her electric ability to hack in.

She passed her thumb over the IC chip again returning the monetary information back to normal. She then began typing on the keyboard displayed on the touch panel monitor.

She wanted all the information on the attractions and shows taking place in the city.

It seemed that information was not held on that computer itself, so she started to hack into Liberal Arts City’s local network.

“Wah!? ...What the hell?” Mikoto cried out as she looked at the screen.

She did not cry out because she was faced with extremely difficult security.

It was the opposite.

(Wah! Wah! I had heard that Academy City’s technology was 20 or 30 years ahead of the rest of the world, but I can’t believe their system is written in such an old style of language… This is like seeing a car running on coal.)

It was so simple that Mikoto felt it might be a trap.

But of course, not every student living in Academy City could do that kind of thing. Mikoto was both enough of a genius to go to Tokiwadai Middle School and she was the strongest esper in the category of electrical powers.

To her, Liberal Arts City’s security was not even at the level of a bucket with a hole in it. It was more like a bucket made of cotton cloth.

And the information she got was real.

The “show” with the fighters and the flying fish after the pirate ships had indeed been a real battle.

(They have 50 interceptor fighters based on F-35s and made to look like the ships from Alien Wars. This armored clothing and these rifles are…for the officials? I see. Those aren’t costumes. They really are fully equipped. And these aren’t even replicas. They’re all real guns. And they have tanks, armored vehicles…and PAC-3’s? Wait, those are surface-to-air missiles meant to intercept nuclear missiles! What kind of threat are they expecting!?)

From what she could see, Liberal Arts City had more firepower than an American military base in Japan. However, the area did not have the intimidating air of a military run facility. It seemed like they knew a powerful enemy was coming, so they were frantically gathering as much firepower as they could.

An enemy.

It couldn’t just be a spy from the film industry.

Then who was this enemy?

(…)

Mikoto recalled the flying fish that flew across the ocean earlier that day. Its movements had clearly not been something that could be easily done with the technology outside of Academy City. What had it been?

However, no matter how much she investigated into the mysterious object that had been fighting the fighters, she could not find any information on it. It was not that there was special security or encryption keeping her from the information. And she doubted Liberal Arts City did not have a single piece of information on it.

The term “cut off” passed through Mikoto’s mind.

The truly important data would not be connected to the network. That was why Mikoto was unable to access it just by gathering information through the network. She had access to the entire system, but with only that she was still missing a few pieces of the puzzle.

(…Going any further will be difficult.)

Mikoto completely gave up and exited the depths of the system with even more caution than when she entered it. She logged out from the network, checked to make sure no logs of what she had done remained, and then switched the IC card charger from staff mode to guest mode.

“Now then.”

Mikoto left the charger and headed for the exit of the hotel room.

From the layout of Liberal Arts City, she had a good idea of where this computer was that held the information she could not get through the network.

“From here on out, I need to investigate physically.”

Even at night, Liberal Arts City was not lacking in light. Various sources of illumination lit up the buildings, a parade was being held along the roads, and lasers were being used to create art made of light on the ocean and the pools.

But even all that was not enough to completely wipe away the darkness.

Areas far away from the hotels such as the central inland area of the city were surrounded by darkness.

(…I guess this is the place.)

Mikoto was walking along the white sand a distance from the promenade built over the beach.

Standing before her was a large facility.

It was an area of about 3 kilometers in every direction with a facility made up of a multitude of rectangular buildings both large and small. Towering above everything else in the center was a full size model of a large rocket.

It may have been intentional, but the large rocket in the center made it all look a bit like a tough castle made of steel and concrete.

The name of the facility was Large Launcher.

It seemed Liberal Arts City had originally been created for the filming of an SF movie. According to the pamphlet, that rocket launch pad, Large Launcher, had been incredibly important in the film. Almost every part of the city had been remodeled for sightseeing purposes and pathways had been prepared, but that launch pad alone had been preserved as the location of a famous scene. It seemed a large number of fans had started a petition in order to ensure it stayed that way.

The Large Launcher was lit up by various light sources and there were viewing platforms, Ferris wheels, and large hotels from which it could be viewed. Despite being off limits, it was a popular place that drew in a lot of visitors.

Mikoto was at the outer wall of the facility. She was at a maintenance entrance that was wrapped in darkness away from all the bright lights.

At first glance, it was a completely normal door, but that was just the outer appearance.

It may actually have been an entrance to the secret behind the mystery that Mikoto was investigating.

(…)

Mikoto looked around to ensure that no one else was around.

She then silently approached the outer wall and reached over toward the door and its electronic lock.

And then…

“Oh? What are you doing here, Misaka-san?”

Mikoto’s entire body jumped upon hearing Saten Ruiko’s sudden voice coming from behind her. After all, she was 5 seconds away from unlocking the door to an off limits zone. The electronic lock’s display was made so it could be understood regardless of what language one spoke, so it would be difficult to talk oneself out of that situation.

Workers entered and exited the area to maintain the rocket launch pad set, but Mikoto guessed that it was actually being used for a different purpose.

She could not bring Saten there.

Mikoto frantically put on a smile and moved her arms around as she spoke.

“Um, well…you see? The hotel’s air conditioned air is nice, but it’s too uniform and it’s messing with my bodily rhythm, so I wanted to get a taste of the real night air.”

An electronic beep was emitted by the door behind her indicating it had been unlocked.

She ignored it and continued speaking.

“Preferences for the natural are really something like an illusion. I know that there’s nothing that can’t be analyzed scientifically, but there’s just a psychological effect, y’know? Real palm trees aren’t something you get to see every day.”

“What was that beeping just now?”

“………………………………………………..”

Mikoto’s eyes wandered back and forth after Saten pointed that out right away.

Before Mikoto could say anything more, Saten gasped as if she had realized something.

“Y-you don’t mean…this is…!?”

“Wha-? Wait…Eh? No, this is…this isn’t…!!”

“This is the casino authorized by America that is said to be somewhere in the city!!”

“What?” Mikoto’s eyes turned to dots.

Saten’s eyes started sparkling as if she had caught scent of something dangerous.

“You met Beverly-san later and she told you about it, didn’t she!? You asked her what you do in Liberal Arts City in the seasons when you can’t go swimming and she told you there were places for more adult ways of having fun! Kuhaaah!! A casino!! That entertainment of money and desire that can’t be had in Japan!! I always wanted to see one at least once if I ever went overseas. But will they really let a middle schooler in?”

In Saten Ruiko’s mind was an image of lines of slot machines with piles of coins pouring out like they were broken. Saten was wearing her swimsuit and being swallowed up by the ocean of gold with a gigantic grin on her face. Ladies and gentlemen dressed in tuxedos and cocktail dresses were circled around her at a distance while a pair of red bunny girls were standing on either side of her giving her a baptism of kisses. “Ga ha ha ha ha! This is it! This is the nonstop flight from Las Vegas to the American Dream!” she shouted while immersed and intoxicated by her happy vision.

In Misaka Mikoto’s mind was an image of Saten staring blankly at the Baccarat table as her last chip was taken by the dealer. “Hand over everything you have on you. We’re taking everything that’s worth anything at all.” “No, no. All I have is this swimsuit.” “Then we’ll start with that!” was how the scene played out in her head when she remembered how Saten had a knack for getting into trouble. In the end, she knew it would end up with her barging into the casino and blowing away all the villains with her Railgun.

“C’mon, Misaka-san! I won’t let you say that the casino is for celebrities only!! I just want a peek! Just a peek!!”

“N-no. And this isn’t even a casino!!”

“Ha ha!!”

Saten didn’t even listen to what Mikoto was saying as she opened the door to the off limits zone and charged into that dangerous area.

(Ahhhhh!? That idiooooottttttttt!!)

Mikoto scratched at her head with both hands as she yelled internally before heading after Saten who had disappeared into the darkness. On the other side of the maintenance door was a narrow passageway. It had cables strewn about and tools left on the ground like the backstage of a theatre, so it was obvious at first glance that it did not lead to some facility of enjoyment.

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! Casinos sure are dangerous! This wild and undecorated feeling has such an immoral atmosphere to it!”

“You don’t even know what a real casino is like, do you? And like I said: this isn’t a casino…”

Mikoto felt exhausted as she somehow managed to catch up to Saten.

Up until that point, there had already been a few sensors mostly of the infrared variety, but Mikoto had used her electrical attacks to rather forcibly “fool” them. She didn’t think she had left a trace, but she was rather uncertain due to her crude method.

(But if I hadn’t done that, they’d be closing in on us armed with guns right about now. For now, I need to get this ridiculous girl to come to her senses…Wah!?)

Mikoto frantically grabbed Saten’s shoulder and pulled her back just as the smiling girl was about to head into an infrared zone.

(How can she head so thoughtlessly into such a dangerous area? I think that may be a type of talent.)

“S-Saten-san. I need to talk to you about something.”

“What? Let’s just hurry up and get to the casino. Wait! You don’t mean it’s a true super celebrity place that you need a membership for, do you!? C’mon, Misaka-san. Can’t you use your connections to get me in?”

“L-like I said, this isn’t a casino. I only came here because I have business to take care of. There’s nothing fun like that here.”

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS1_02_021..jpg|thumb]]

“Ohh, so it’s not a casino. I wonder if there’s anything else interesting in here then.”

As she spoke, Saten started to head back on the path she had come in on.

Mikoto grabbed Saten’s shoulder again.

She had only temporarily “fooled” the sensors, so their basic functionality was not gone. If Saten turned back there, the chain of events would clearly be “alarm -> captured -> shot”. Mikoto was the only one who could do anything about the security (and it was entirely possible that Saten would open some other door partway back and get lost), so she had no choice but to take Saten with her.

But Mikoto wasn’t sure how to explain it to her.

“…Something interesting is about to start, isn’t it?” Saten said with a grin as Mikoto still held her shoulder. “As a newcomer, I don’t know the details, but something truly interesting is about to begin, isn’t it?”

(She’s hopeless.)

It seemed the great Ace of Tokiwadai Middle School could not stand people who had a knack for getting into trouble.

(It’s like Area 51.)

Mikoto was reminded of that air force base in the middle of the desert that was a top secret facility and had many rumors including those about aliens preserved in formaldehyde or analysis of crashed UFOs. She might have been more easily reminded of that because she was in America.

They had walked along the short passageway breaking through the security as they went (or rather, Mikoto did all the work with her power while Saten just walked along) until they reached a large space that was what had brought that thought to Mikoto’s mind.

It was a rectangular area.

The area was made of iron and concrete, it was about 1.5 kilometers in every direction and it was almost 20 meters tall. The roof was strengthened with a complex metal framework much like a school gym and lights hung down at set intervals illuminating the large room. Narrow steel passageways ran across at about 10 meters above the flat concrete floor.

Saten looked around the area and spoke in admiration.

“Wow. Just this building alone shows the difference in scale between America and Japan.”

“…”

Saten’s innocent comment resounded about in an unpleasant way.

There did not seem to be anyone inside the facility and Saten’s voice had the same feeling to it as when someone gave a yell in an empty gym.

Mikoto’s face naturally stiffened at the sight of that dreadfully large space.

The facility was clearly not there for the purposes of amusement. Nor was it a space for the officials and workers to make preparations in order to please the tourists.

Most likely, that facility was the true center of Liberal Arts City.

(But the scale of things in America really is different…I can’t believe the largest landmark of the city is actually something like this.)

Mikoto looked around the large rectangular area again.

She had once seen a certain show on television.

It was been a quiz show. A certain object was being created in a factory. The question had asked what was being made. The answer had been a large passenger plane. The area reminded her of the footage they had shown then.

However, the large space was not storing round airplane parts.

It was storing the same type of flying fish that had been battling the fighters earlier that day.

The main body was about 5 meters long, made of acute angles, and made of wood. The sharp body looked like it had been made from an upside down canoe placed on top of another canoe and each side had a large wing and a small wing on it. The strange hovercraft was made of things like cloth and obsidian rather than metal.

The flying fish was enshrined like a butterfly specimen as if it was being studied.

However, the one there appeared to be defective…or rather, damaged. A giant hole had been smashed near the center of the canoe and the entire body was bent into a shallow V-shape. One of the wings had been broken off and was merely lying on the ground next to it.

“Hehh. This is the thing they used in the show today, isn’t it? Is this a tool room for their performances?”

Mikoto did not nod in response to Saten’s question.

(…No. This isn’t the one from today.)

The flying fish Mikoto had fought had been blown to pieces by its self destruct device in the end. That did not match up with that body that had been forcibly bent from an outside force.

Which meant…

(There isn’t just one of them. So was today not the only attack?)

She looked around again and noticed more flying fish. It looked like the kind of makeshift morgue set up after plane crashes that would be seen in dramas sometimes. Instead of having body bags lined up, the broken flying fish were lined up at even intervals. There were more than 200 of them there.

Each individual flying fish was lit up by a spotlight and no two were destroyed in the same way. Some had the front crushed in, some had all the wings broken off, some were missing the entire back half, and some were just a bunch of crushed parts laid out on the floor in the shape of the flying fish. It seemed all the flying fish that had been shot down up until then were stored there implying the history of intense fighting that had been occurring.

Mikoto approached one of the broken flying fish and spotted something like a plastic tag stuck to it. It had a string of letters of the alphabet and numbers on it. The numbers seemed to be a sort of code. Other than what looked like a date, the code was completely random. Without seeing the way Liberal Arts City used the code, it was meaningless data. The letters of the alphabet seemed to be some kind of name. It was a long word that started with an “m”. Mikoto didn’t think it was English, but it didn’t look like French or Italian either. It was a ridiculous spelling that looked like a language that did not use the alphabet had been forcibly spelled out.

“What is this? M…Mix…Mixca…no, Mixco maybe?”

Mikoto looked puzzled as she tried to read it. She couldn’t stay there for too long, so she thought about taking a picture of it with her cell phone so she could try to figure it out later, but…

“It’s Mixcoatl. It’s a Central American word that I’m told means Serpent of the Sea of Clouds.”

Mikoto and Saten turned around at that sudden female voice.

They had no idea how long she had been there, but a Liberal Arts City official stood there. The woman seemed to be in her mid-twenties and she was wearing an orange lifejacket over a sporty racing swimsuit.

She had her ID card hanging from her neck, so they immediately knew what her name was. The card said Olive Holiday.

Mikoto stuck her fist up to her head and spoke.

“Um, sorry. We’re kind of lost…”

“Ha ha. So you’re going to play dumb. If you want a job as a performer, you’re going to have to do better than that.”

“Tch.”

Mikoto glared at Olive and took a step forward so she could more easily protect Saten.

“You’re not going to tell us these are costumes for some kind of hero show, are you?”

“Is that how you see us?”

Olive shook her head while smiling.

“Playing everything off as a show requires the proper atmosphere. If we opened this up as a large underground hanger after building an entrance gate, charging money, having officials lead them in, and playing loud sound effects and visual effects, then people would believe that it was a large set we spent lots of money creating. It’s all the result of our great efforts, so please don’t act like it’s something that’s easily done.”

“…So you’re aware you’ve been found out. You’re getting attacked by these unknown enemies because there’s something here worth it, so you can’t fool me anymore,” said Mikoto with a sneer ignoring Saten who had been left behind in the conversation.

“Yes.” Olive Holiday slowly nodded. “It looks like I have no choice but to do it.”

“Do what?”

“This can no longer end quietly.”

A chill ran over Mikoto.

A killer intent exploded out from the official’s smile. Even Saten who had no idea what was going on started trembling behind Mikoto having finally realized the gravity of the situation.

Mikoto made sure her body did not tense up.

“What are you doing here? Seeing all these flying fish, it’s clear that “show” hasn’t happened just a few times.”

In response, Olive Holiday’s smile slowly grew with a sense of intimidation that seemed like it could push someone back despite the fact that she was in a swimsuit and had no weapon.

“Let’s talk about a hypothetical girl who was in a situation similar to yours.”

“I’d rather not,” said Mikoto calmly.

“Don’t take me lightly, you fucking brat.”

The instant the official said that, the killer intent-filled air got two or three times colder. She did not allow someone else to send killer intent back at her evenly. She only allowed for her to crush her opponent from above. A dark and wet hostility filled with that intention hung in the air.

“Why do you think I spoke to you from this position? I have nothing hidden on my body, the nearest exit I could escape through is far off, and I am right in the middle of this large area. Why do you think I am facing you here?”

Olive Holiday smiled.

As she smiled, her slender hand slowly moved bringing her index finger to her mouth.

It was as if she were purposefully taking her hand away from her lifejacket.

“The reason is that this location, this distance, and this timing are all within my needs for an ensured victory. I have no need to defend and no need to flee. …This is our stronghold. I could get anything I needed here and yet I stand here alone. That means that I already possess everything I need to control this location.”

She was exactly like the official who would lead a child who had gotten lost in the facility.

Except, she would lead them to an attraction that was a battlefield covered in fresh blood and death.

“…A word of warning. You should stop for your own sake,” Mikoto said.

“I have seen the data on the destruction of the Mixcoatl.” As if to demonstrate her control of the situation, Olive took a step forward. “And I still deem my victory ensured despite what it told me. You really need to realize that you two are no longer guests. You are nothing more than foreign enemies.”

Mikoto and Olive silently glared at each other.

Mikoto heard no noise from behind her. Saten may have stopped breathing.

(What’s she going to do…?)

Would a projectile fire from the lifejacket? Or would she charge in at high speed? Or was she hiding a secret weapon somewhere other than the lifejacket like her hair or her ear?

(How should I move…?)

There was no one move that would work on all situations. Every attack had its strengths and weaknesses. In other words, there was a risk of being wounded if she misread what her enemy intended to do.

Killer intent clashed with killer intent.

All sound disappeared.

And then…

A small electronic beep was heard.

“…What is it?” Olive asked.

Her index finger was still on her lips and her gaze was still on Mikoto, but she was speaking to someone else.

The response came from the small radio strapped on like a knife near the shoulder of the lifejacket.

“Leader, the directors in management have completed their negotiation.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Do not touch Academy City’s #3, Railgun. If a Level 5 class person were to be treated as having gone missing, Japan’s Academy City would determine that there was a danger that the important military secrets included in her DNA map had been leaked. There would be a risk of a multi-sided war on technological, economical, intelligence, and military fronts.”

“The world police decided that? I’m shocked.”

“Indeed,” came the immediate response over the radio. “Should we just ignore it?”

“Good question,” Olive said with a laugh.

Mikoto put herself on guard and bluish-white sparks flew from her bangs.

“Let’s not. We could deal with this independently, but the cost would be too great. The losses would be greater than the gains, so there is no reason to expend the effort. It doesn’t have enough value to incite the wrath of management.”

“Then we’ll go with that.”

“Yes. Leave the ''escorting of our guests'' to me.”

With a slight bit of static, the transmission cut off.

The killer intent being emitted from Olive disappeared, her shoulders relaxed, and she put on the traditional smile of the service industry.

“And that seems to be how this will go,” she said to Mikoto.

“…What do you mean?”

“I am saying that I will let you go. If you insist on fighting, I will of course do my best to satisfy you as you our guest. In that case, I would ensure that we fought until one of us was dead. Even if both of you fought me together, I’m sure it would not take even a minute.”

Olive’s overly polite speech seemed to be slightly sarcastic and it may have been expressing how angry she was. It was the kind of anger a child had when someone else splashed them.

“And what if we tell others about what happened here?”

“We have plenty of information experts. Have you forgotten that our country has the world’s largest intelligence agency? Anything you do in that regard will not leave Liberal Arts City, but if you still want to, feel free. We wholeheartedly want to give you the greatest hospitality we can. The gap between a professional and an amateur is clear and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you which one would win.”

Mikoto suddenly exhaled upon realizing Olive was telling the truth and not just being unwilling to admit defeat. If they had a standardized way of dealing with that kind of thing, then it also meant that they might not end up assassinating Mikoto and Saten.

(They’re letting go someone who has seen a portion of their secret. Normally that would be an unthinkable option, but they must some kind of foundation they’re basing that decision on.)

Of course, there was still a risk of everything that official saying being a lie and that they would end up being attacked in their hotel rooms that night.

(Either way, she is not the only issue. Getting held up here won’t help anything. Defeating her might even make them get more serious which would cause even more problems. …I’d like more information before I make my move.)

“I’ll take you up on your offer.”

“Heh heh. An excellent choice,” said Olive as she smiled. “Now, let me show you two guests to the exit.”

“…Are you serious?” Mikoto said as she realized Saten was utterly frightened behind her. “You want us to walk through some unknown facility following someone who could stab us in the back at any moment?”

“Do not be mistaken. I am nothing more than an official of this institution. I am only allowed to take action in order to physically enforce the rules of Liberal Arts City.”

Olive took a step to the side and held her hand out horizontally as if showing the way. The gesture seemed to be one of regulating the confused flow.

“As such, as long as you follow my warnings and do not take any unnecessary actions, we officials will do our best to give you an enjoyable stay.”

With a smile that made Mikoto shudder, the supple official began escorting them.

Uiharu Kazari had been a bit hungry before she went to bed, so she had used her cell phone translation application to speak with a tall waiter in the hotel lounge.

“Excuse me…My order…um…I want to eat…black tea and…a sandwich.”

Defying her expectations, a large plate covered in a large number of sandwiches was brought to her. As she was staring blankly at them…

“Uiharu! Uiharu!! Uuuuiiihaaaarrrruuuu!!”

“S-Saten-san!? Waah! Perfect timing. Please help me do something about this mountain of sandwiches! There’s no way I can eat all of them myself!!”

“That doesn’t matter right now!! It was amazing!! If I told you some things, I think my head might end up rolling on the floor, so I can’t explain, but it was all amazing!!”

“What are talking abou-…? Wah wah wah! Don’t start a focused attack on the healthy vegetable sandwiches!! Be more varied! Don’t leave just the juicy chicken sandwiches to me!!”

Saten’s mouth was stuffed so full of sandwiches she could not reply.

She merely tilted her head questioningly toward Uiharu.

Despite those girls in their swimsuits creating an uproar between themselves, the quiet Liberal Arts City night continued.

 
 
<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS1_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:RailgunSS1 Chapter3

2011-07-25T17:48:15Z

Dagger: /* Chapter 3 */ its != it's

== Chapter 3==

Dawn came and the brilliant white midsummer sun once again rose into the blue sky.

Seeing the sunbeams falling down, it almost made one forget that it was actually September.

Uiharu Kazari was looking up at the explosively shining sun while wearing a pink one piece swimsuit with a floral print.

“Hey, Uiharu. Quite fading away over there and get over here, you midsummer girl.”

“Saten-san. Don’t call me a midsummer girl. And what does that mean anyway?”

Uiharu looked over and saw Saten Ruiko approaching and seemingly irritated about something.

“Hm. It looks like you got a nice suntan from playing outside all day yesterday. Let’s see. Let me see the before and after of your tan.”

“Wait, ah!? Please don’t pull on the strap of my swimsuit!! Is that what you meant by a midsummer girl?!”

Uiharu protested, but Saten stretched out her swimsuit and stared at the line between milky white and light brown.

“My hair is long, so if I just stand there, I have parts that don’t get tanned. That’s why I used a strong sunblock, but I think it was too strong. I’m completely white. That’s pretty boring, so I wonder what I’ll do today. Maybe I should put my hair up so I can get a good tan.”

“W-wait! Don’t peel the brown parts! Th-that’s disgusting! You’re going to make it look terrible in the end, Saten-san!!”

“Don’t worry! You can play a lot today so it will tan up again!! Ga ha ha!”

That was when Mikoto arrived. They had eaten breakfast together, but they had split up to head back to the hotel before meeting up on the beach again.

“Hey. Sorry it took so long.”

“Oh, we don’t mind…Huh? Shirai-san isn’t with you?”

“That’s what took so long. Her sexy swimsuits were simply too destructive, so I had to go through all of her luggage to see if she had a swimsuit that was at least a little better. And I finally found one. It was a completely normal swimsuit.”

“S-so…?”

“So I’m here to introduce her reincarnation with this simple swimsuit!!”

Mikoto swung her arm over pointing in an odd direction. Standing there was Shirai Kuroko with a bored expression on her face. The swimsuit she was wearing was no more revealing than a school swimsuit. It was a white-ish one piece. It had a few straight lines on it and it was much more normal than her ridiculous swimsuit from the day before that had been nothing but a few lines.

But Uiharu and Saten were taken aback.

They looked like they were about to vomit.

“I-it doesn’t suit her at all!! Wh-why does it seem so off for Shirai-san to be wearing a normal swimsuit!?”

“How unfashionable can you get!? That looks like it would be in a cheap grab bag in a shopping district!”

Shirai Kuroko, the Japanese samurai, seemed to have become rather famous because even the surrounding (male) foreigners were making a disappointed commotion.

“Oh, it’s something simple today.

“You idiot. That’s normal.”

“The Japanese bushido certainly is dreadful to have grabbed our interest like that.”

Shirai gnashed her teeth.

“Th-this is why I didn’t want to wear something like this!! And if wearing something like this disappoints everyone, then I should have just worn a showier swimsuit!”

Steam seemed to be coming from Shirai’s head as she yelled, but Mikoto had a triumphant smile and Uiharu and Saten drew back. Shirai Kuroko finally ran out of patience and reached out for her ultimate weapon.

“Here we go!! Secret switch activated!!”

“Wha-!?”

“D-don’t tell me this is the ultimate sexy swimsuit that can transform and combine!? …Huh?”

The three of them put themselves on guard, but the swimsuit did not come apart revealing skin.

The white swimsuit seemed to be made of an outer cloth and an inner cloth. By using the intentional notches in the outer cloth, the blue color of the inner cloth made patterns on the white swimsuit.

Immediately afterwards…

“U-ugh!?”

“Wha-? …Eh? ...Wait! Th-this is..!!”

“I don’t understand why, but Shirai-san looks incredibly sexy!”

Mikoto, Uiharu, and Saten’s faces suddenly turned red. Shirai’s swimsuit was still the unfashionable one piece type that anyone from a young child to an old woman could wear. It truly was an extremely unfashionable white piece of clothing that was disappointing in how revealing it was.

And yet…

“Heh. This is your fault, onee-sama. I did not want to use this ultimate weapon, but you forced me to wear it today.”

“Gh…Gfh….What is that mysterious swimsuit…?”

“It is a collection of the best of Academy City’s technology. It was designed with the courtship displays of 38,000 animals in mind. Everything that living beings find to be sexy was gathered together so that it has sex appeal that will not only arouse men and women both young and old, but it will also arouse every kind of animal!!”

“Wait, aren’t the showier courtship displays usually done by the males…?”

“Complaint sealing courtship bomber!!”

“Mgyaaaaaaaahhhhh!?” Mikoto screamed upon seeing the courtship swimsuit.

She tried to overcome its effects, but it seemed Shirai’s swimsuit used more than the visual effects from the lines. It had small speakers installed inside and even had (electronically disseminated) pheromone scents woven into the fabric. That terrible swimsuit attacked via each of the five senses. Most likely, it would have a courtship flavor if you licked it and a courtship feeling if you touched it. In fact, with such a strange piece of technology, it may have even entered the realm of sixth sense courtship.

Which meant…

“Ahah…I’m the one wearing it, and even I’m feeling a little woozy…”

“Gwaah!! The idiot at the center of it all is receiving the most damage!? H-hey, Kuroko! At least tell us where the off switch is before you collapse!! Are you trying to turn this entire beach into an indiscriminate storm of courtship!?”

Mikoto’s vision was getting a bit distorted and it was all tinted a pale pink like she was seeing some kind of illusion. If something wasn’t done about that tactical courtship bomb, it could easily end up being reported on the news as a joke story.

“O-Onee-sama…”

“What, Kuroko!? J-just tell me where the switch is! If we don’t get that thing off soon, I’m going to make it stop even if I have to rip it apart!!”

“…Eh heh.”

“W-wait, why are you smiling? Why are you pulling your lips back and staying so silent!? Just hurry!! You can wear that sexy swimsuit from yesterday or whatever, just get rid of that new generation high-tech weapon!!”

In the end, Shirai had remained limp and silent, so Mikoto had searched about her swimsuit until she finally found the off switch.

Saten sighed heavily on the beach.

(Shirai-san certainly looked happy…)

Saten recalled Shirai Kuroko’s expression when she had been kicked in the back and sent back to the hotel. That futuristic swimsuit’s effects should have been gone, but an odd disturbance remained in Saten’s head.

“Uiharu, I’m a bit thirsty, so I’m going to go buy a drink.”

“O-okay. I was just about to go rest, so I’ll be lying over there getting a tan.”

After hearing Uiharu’s exhausted response, Saten walked from the artificial beach to a narrow promenade made of bricks.

(But…)

Saten thought to herself as she walked along.

(What was that yesterday?)

Saten may have usually seemed rather thoughtless (and she basically was), but that did not mean that she never thought about anything. There had been that hangar-like area in the center of Liberal Arts City and the destroyed flying fish-like crafts. And there had been the conversation between Mikoto and the official named Olive. It seemed something had been settled between them, but Saten had been left out. She had no idea what had happened and she could not relax until she did.

(On the way back to the hotel, Misaka-san said thoughtlessly getting into a dispute would draw unwanted attention from the teachers and might cause problems for the other students. She also said causing trouble could ruin the entire trip, so I shouldn’t make too much of an uproar over it…but why did she go in there in the first place?)

Truth be told, she had not slept well the night before. It may sound stupid, but she had felt like her window could shatter at any time and a special forces-like group would swing in on ropes like in a movie.

But nothing had happened.

The sky and the sea were blue and Saten Ruiko was in her swimsuit as usual.

(Misaka-san seems to be silently observing things…and I know someone like me can’t accomplish anything by worrying about it, but…)

She sighed and pushed her worries away to a corner of her mind.

The scenery of the area she was in seemed to be modeled off of Hawaii or Guam because the gently curving promenade next to the beach was lined with palm trees. After walking a bit further, she came across a stand selling drinks made by sticking fruits and milk into the juicer right there. The stand was really just a remodeled RV, but the undercarriage was thicker like an off-road vehicle perhaps so it could drive on the beach.

Saten looked over the menu that was written in English, Japanese, and Chinese.

(I guess the basic is a combination of banana and milk. Oh, but vanilla is something else entirely. Hmm? They have coconut. I’m pretty sure I’ve had a coconut soda before, but I wonder what a real fresh coconut tastes like…Wait!? They’re selling coconut milk like it’s nothing!!)

The shop was selling various nostalgic things, but Saten chose the coconut drink for the roundabout reason of it seeming “tropical”. She used the IC card around her neck to pay for it and took her cup from a man with very wild arm hair.

(Now then, time to see what real coconut tastes like.)

As she walked along the path leading back to where Uiharu was, she mixed the contents of the cup with the straw.

Suddenly, she heard a nearby thicket rustling. The thicket was made up of shorter trees planted behind the palm trees lined up along the promenade. The combination of the path, the palm trees, and the shorter trees was somewhat reminiscent of a Baumkuchen. The thicket was something like a green afro on the ground and it was rustling and moving in front of Saten’s eyes.

Generally, there were two different types of reactions people had upon seeing something strange.

Some would raise their guard and move back and some would be interested and move forward.

Saten Ruiko was most certainly the latter type.

(Wh-what? What what what what is this?)

She strayed from the promenade and pushed aside the giant afro thicket.

Immediately afterwards, two brown arms stuck out of the afro. Before Saten could react, the arms grabbed her arm and her waist and pulled her into the afro.

“Dwaaaaaaaahh!? Dammit, my drink!! I still don’t know what fresh coconut tastes like!!”

The instant she lost her balance and tripped, the contents of her cup spilled onto the sand. After seeing the coconut drink being absorbed by the earth, Saten glared at the one who had done it.

But she did not complain any further.

The owner of the brown arms used some strange kind of throw to hurl Saten further. Saten now lay on her back on the sand with the brown person on top of her. The person’s thighs were used to keep Saten from moving her arms and a brown arm was used to seal Saten’s mouth.

“Mgh!?”

“…You’re not an official. Tch. I got a simple tourist involved. I was hoping to beat one of them up and steal their clothes…”

Those words were spoken in some foreign language by a girl who looked to be around high school age. Her shoulder-length black hair was wavy and her eyes were piercingly black. The sunlight seemed to emphasize the tight lines of her brown skin.

The brown girl kept her hand over Saten’s mouth and then spoke in Japanese.

“If you yell, I’ll kill you.”

Saten Ruiko’s response upon hearing that was quite simple.

She used her small mouth to bite the brown hand over her mouth.

“Gwoh!?”

The brown girl yelled in a decidedly unfeminine manner and she removed her hand from Saten’s mouth due to the pain. At the same time, Saten opened her mouth wide.

“S-someone help! I’m being mugged! Ah, how do you say it in English!? U-um…Help!! Pinch!! I’m in a pinch here!!”

“Hey, I said I’d kill you if you yelled, didn’t I!? Dammit…just shut your mou-…ow!! Don’t bite me! Don’t bite me, you stupid bitch!!”

The brown girl looked around the area as she desperately tried to cover up Saten’s mouth again. When she did, that mouth closed on her hand like a bear trap. After being bit two or three times, it must have pissed her off because she grabbed some white sand and thrust it into Saten’s mouth.

“Mghgmghgh!?”

“…I-if you don’t shut up, I’ll show you just how full your mouth can get.”

Saten finally quieted down.

She coughed up the sand, but the brown girl did not get off of her.

“Ueh. Cough. Wh-what was that for…?”

The brown girl’s thighs finally loosened up just a bit and Saten looked up dumbfounded.

“Yesterday, a Mixcoatl crashed here.”

“?”

“That is the name of our vehicles that were fighting with the scientific airplanes. One of them crashed on the beach yesterday, right? I came here to rescue my comrade who was aboard, but I had to lend my one-man reconnaissance model to the injured pilot, so now I can’t get away,” the brown girl said in a fairly sulky and desperate way.

She turned her head aside and the feathered decoration in her ear lightly waved.

(I didn’t understand any of that…)

Saten had no idea what was going on, but she had no choice but to continue looking up at the girl who was sitting atop her.

Liberal Arts City was a ridiculous place where everyone wore their swimsuits everywhere, but even there, that brown girl’s outfit stood out. However, that was not because it was exceedingly revealing like Shirai Kuroko’s swimsuit.

She was wearing some sort of Indian or tribal sort of outfit. It was not made of the shiny materials common in costumes. Instead, it was faded and stained like it had been worn for a long time.

Swimsuits tended to be made of synthetic fibers which gave them a scientific taste. The brown girl’s tribal outfit stood out amid that.

“…Damn, I guess I have to change my plan. Hey, I’m gonna make use of you,” the brown girl said while looking down at Saten. “Walking around in the open dressed like this will just bring the annoying officials to me, so I need a swimsuit like the one you’re wearing so I can hide among the crowds.”

“Why me…?”

“I could always just steal what you’re wearing now. It may be simpler to just kill you,” the brown girl said bluntly.

Saten could not tell how serious the girl was being.

“I don’t want to kill a civilian if I don’t have to, but if you refuse to help, if you say you’re going to buy me a swimsuit and just run off, or you go running to the officials…Well, let’s just say you should just do what I say.”

“Boo.”

Saten literally booed, but then she felt something cold pressed against her throat.

The brown girl had stretched out her arm. She was holding something, but Saten could not see what it was because it was pressed against her throat.

“An obsidian knife may be a rare sight for you, but it can peel off skin, remove organs, and scrape the muscles and fat off of bones. This knife was originally made to use on human flesh.”

“…Really?”

“If you don’t want me to use it, listen to what I have to say. This is not made to sever without giving any pain. If it cuts your flesh, it will hurt. Do you understand?”

Saten nodded quickly.

Seeing that, the brown girl finally moved off of Saten.

Saten brushed the sand off of her back and butt while she grumbled in her heart.

“Dammit… Fine, I just have to buy you a swimsuit, right? So what are your measurements?”

“84, 58, 81.”

(Damn. I lose on all counts.)

“What’s with those glazed eyes? I don’t care about the color, but get something that’s easy to move in.”

“Okay, okay.”

Saten pushed aside the afro-like thicket and started to head back toward the promenade.

“Oh, right. What’s your name?”

“Xochitl.”

“Hmm,” was Saten’s arbitrary response.

(Hm? If she needs a swimsuit for camouflage so she isn’t found by the Liberal Arts City officials…then she can’t walk out in the open, right?)

“Gwoohh!! I’m outta here! I’ve gotta make a dash for the safe zone…Gyh!?”

“I thought you’d do that, you idiot!!”

The brown girl stretched out her arms again and pulled Saten Ruiko back into the afro.

Xochitl spoke with her head hanging down and a dark smile on her face.

“…You seem to be mistaken about something. Having the swimsuit does nothing more than make it ''easier'' for me to blend in with the crowd. If I wanted to, I could secretly move from cover to cover and chase you down. I would just prefer a safer plan that is a little less risky.”

“Fwa ha ha! Do you really think I’m going to remain silent after hearing something as dangerous as tha-…fgh!?”

Saten’s words were cut off because Xochitl had pulled something from her pocket and shoved it up Saten’s nose. An extremely unpleasant sensation moved its way up her nose.

“Gwooohhh!?”

Saten brought her hand up to her face, but the mysterious object had been completely embedded in her nose. She rubbed at the bottom of her nose, but could not feel anything there. It seemed it would be difficult to get whatever it was out.

“What the hell are you doing to a maiden’s nose!? And what was that!?”

“You want to know? It was one of these.”

In Xochitl’s hand was an odd rod that looked something like half a Q-tip. She then pressed a sort of button in her other hand. With a slight sound, small thorns emerged from the end and the entire rod started vibrating like an electric toothbrush.

“It isn’t what they’re made for, but they’ve become popular tools of torture in recent times. The mucous membrane in the nose is sensitive. Having it scraped off is rather painful.”

“…”

Saten’s face paled.

“It would be rather bad for you if it was activated while it’s still in your nose. If you don’t want that to happen, then go buy me a swimsuit. Oh, and don’t recklessly try to pull it out. It's remote controlled, so I can activate it at any time.”

And so Saten Ruiko ended up running an errand for someone in a distant foreign country.

She came to a large shopping mall in Liberal Arts City and had no motivation other than to just buy some cheap swimsuit and head back so as not to make the other girl mad.

“What are you doing looking through the swimsuits?”

“Hm? Oh, it’s the suspicious-looking film director,” was Saten’s arbitrary response to Beverly Seethrough whose breasts were as huge as ever.

Saten may have been the type who gets onboard each new big thing, but she had no interest when it was in a genre she did not care for.

Beverly stared at Saten’s red bikini.

“Have you gotten tired of the one you’re wearing?”

“Umm…no.”

If she actually explained what was going on, something bad would probably happen, so she had no choice but to evade the question.

“A friend of mine had her swimsuit’s strap break, so I was sent out on an emergency mission. She’s trembling in a thicket even now.”

“Oh, poor thing.”

“Oh, don’t feel sorry for her. She’s about as arrogant as you can get. I was thinking of getting revenge by choosing some terrible swimsuit that was so showy it would make her cry.”

“Hmm. How about this one?”

“No, that’s not nearly enough. I want something at least this bad.”

“No, no, what about this one?”

“No, no, no, this one has the destructive power I’m looking for, so…”

The organization Xochitl belonged to was created by gathering people from Central and South America and gathering techniques that were different from the existing scientific technology. That organization had been continually fighting with Liberal Arts City for years.

That brown girl who was all alone in the middle of enemy lines may have been hiding like a beast within the thicket, but she was actually feeling rather depressed.

It wasn’t that she could not take a step out of that afro-like thicket. She had actually been moving about slipping through gaps in the security since the day before. But moving around while having to cautiously pay attention to her surroundings like that had worn her down mentally. That was why she felt that stealing an official’s outfit or getting a swimsuit so she could mix in with the crowds would be much easier.

(…But I’m still in the middle of enemy territory. I guess things won’t go that easily.)

She had no idea when her comrades would come to help her, she would clearly be outnumbered if the officials found her, and despite her threats, she could not really do anything if that girl she had sent for a swimsuit actually ran away. Even if she did get revenge on the girl with the remote control, it would just mean mutual destruction.

And on top of all that, Xochitl had become fairly injured in the process of hiding herself and she had eaten practically nothing for an entire day.

Xochitl checked on her weapons while in that isolated state.

However, she barely had any weapons.

She was not trained for battle. Her role was to recover the pilots from the Mixcoatls that crashed or became otherwise unusable.

She had ended up there because the pilot who had escaped from the Mixcoatl that had crashed on the Liberal Arts City beach the day before had sent out a distress signal.

Xochitl had been flying a one-man reconnaissance craft. She was supposed to have only confirmed the location of the injured pilot and then sent that information to the rescuers, but the pilot had been too greatly injured. It had been necessary to take him back to their base as quickly as possible. Xochitl had let him use the tiny one-man craft meant to be used for reconnaissance which left Xochitl as the one needing rescue.

“…”

Xochitl looked down at her knife made of obsidian and sighed. If it came down to fighting the officials, she needed to be prepared, but just as she was about to focus on that…

“Hey, have you been waiting, little kitty? Saten-san is back with a swimsuit for yo-…gfh!?”

The idiot was back, so Xochitl covered her mouth and pulled her into the thicket.

Xochitl pulled a plastic bag from Saten’s hand. Annoyingly enough, it had the Liberal Arts City’s logo on it.

Saten made a pouting expression with her lips.

“C’mon, you don’t have to be so arrogant.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, and could you take that thing out of my nose?”

“…Okay, fine.”

Xochitl muttered something under her breath and Saten frantically reached up to her nose. She most likely thought she had a runny nose, but it was the thin rod that came out.

“I’ll be changing, so get out,” Xochitl said sounding annoyed.

“Okay, okay. Heh heh heh.”

“What? Why are you laughing?”

“No reason, no reason. Geh heh heh.”

Xochitl stared at Saten oddly as the girl headed from the thicket back to the promenade. Xochitl finally opened the plastic bag with the swimsuit in it and stuck her hand inside.

And then…

“Are you done?” Saten Ruiko shouted in a carefree voice toward the green afro-like thicket.

No response came, but the entire thicket shook as if to indicate the trembling of Xochitl’s body.

Saten ignored that and asked again.

“Are you done? If you don’t come out, I’m heading back in there.”

“What…?” said a voice from within the thicket.

“Hanyah?” Saten said purposefully tilting her head to the side as she pretended to be confused.

“What the hell is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssss!?”

Two arms shot from the green afro and Saten was swallowed up by the thicket as if it were a ridiculously huge sea anemone from a tropical ocean.

Saten was annoyed at how much the branches and leaves scraped against her and Xochitl was standing dauntingly on the other side of the thicket.

Seeing her, Saten Ruiko couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ahh…You really put on that sexy swimsuit…”

“How can you say that when you’re the one that bought it!? What! The! Hell! Is! This!? How stupid can you get!? Were you not embarrassed to take this up to the register!?”

What Xochitl was wearing was what would commonly be referred to as a bikini.

[[Image:RAILGUN_SS1_03_018.jpg|thumb]]

However, all of the narrow strings were covered in beads of various colors as if they were rosaries and the actual cloth was made of sparkling lamé. The cup portions covering the breasts were not made of cloth. They were made of spirals of strings with red, blue, and yellow beads that just barely covered up what needed to be covered up. This left the bottom of Xochitl’s breasts almost completely bare.

Saten put a hand to her mouth and a smile spread across her face.

“Heh heh. That’s called a jewelry bikini. You have much to learn, Xochitl-kun. Don’t you look a lot like a samba dancer!?”

“Th-this is…This is no time for joking around!!”

“Oh, watch out. If you move too much, something might pop out. Unlike my zip-up bikini, that isn’t made to stick to your skin, so you might end up putting certain things on full display. …And don’t try to go swimming. The resistance of the water would strip it all off.”

“Do you not see a problem with a swimsuit that can’t be used to swim in!?”

Due to both anger and embarrassment, Xochitl’s face was red and she was breathing erratically. It seemed she wanted to attack Saten right then and there but she could not do so because she was afraid the jewelry bikini would catch on something.

Xochitl finally realized she was at the disadvantage, so she gave up on heading over to punch Saten.

“…Hey, come with me.”

“Eh? I already bought you the swimsuit.”

“If you don’t, I’m prepared to take you down with me by ripping off your swimsuit. …Do you want both of us to be naked?”

Saten Ruiko was not able make a careless bet on whether Xochitl was bluffing and she would rather not have that strange rod stuck up her nose again.

And so Saten Ruiko ended up walking around Liberal Arts City with the mysterious brown girl named Xochitl. Xochitl did not want to go shopping somewhere or to ride on a roller coaster or anything. She was not walking around heading for a destination like that.

As she walked by a beach and a shopping mall, Xochitl gritted her teeth.

“(…Dammit. I want to take out at least one facility, but I can’t get a chance to do anything like that when I stand out this much!!)”

Probably due to her showy swimsuit, everyone’s gaze gathered on her wherever she went. The colorful beads glittered in the sun and living beings tended to turn their gaze toward shiny things, so all the men’s gazes were naturally drawn in toward the bikini covering her breasts and waist. Drops of sweat appeared on her skin due to the heat and her embarrassment. They also glittered, but in a much healthier and more lascivious way than with the beads.

“(…W-well, I have more than one goal. If I can’t destroy anything, I just have to put my focus on something else. Maybe I should try to get some more complete information on the enemy. If I don’t get at least something, this will have been such a waste that I’ll might feel like killing myself.)”

“What are you muttering about?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking that I might need to change my face if it comes down to it.”

“?”

Saten put on a puzzled expression but did not ask any more as she walked along.

She was being dragged along without knowing where they were headed. Her amateur thoughts led her to assume Xochitl was walking around with her because she would stand out less as she looked around if she had someone with her.

But…

(Oh, no. I chose an extremely showy swimsuit for her and I’m betting the officials have me marked after that incident yesterday.)

An unpleasant sweat started pouring form Saten, but Xochitl did not seem to notice.

After walking through an area made up of a couple of artificial islands created by artificial canals, Xochitl suddenly put her hands on her small waist and sighed slightly.

After walking all over the place, they had ended up near the shopping mall where Saten had bought the jewelry bikini.

“…Well, I guess that’s pretty much it.”

“What is?”

“The traces of underground facilities cannot be completely erased. The general size of a facility can be deduced from the number and locations of the ducts. …And so many of my comrades have been injured for the sake of those ridiculous underground areas.”

“…Underground facilities?”

“Basically, they need facilities prepared in order to fill in the discrepancies between a real battle and a show and they have all sorts of different kinds of ammunition stored up.” Xochitl seemed annoyed. “But the main facility for analysis and research doesn’t seem to be here. I guess the rocket launch pad in the center of the city is the most likely place. …Hmph. This artificial island was created by piling sand and manmade objects on top of the rocks that jutted up from the bottom of the ocean to only about 20 meters from the surface. In that case, they wouldn’t have the proper depth needed for a shelter. …Yes. If they dug too deep, they would open up a hole in the supporting rocks which would weaken them and could possibly cause the entire city to start to tilt.”

“???”

“Underground shelters are strong, but only if they are deep enough. If they aren’t there is a great risk of a cave in from the shock of an attack even if the shelter itself is not hit. And this country’s bunker busters are said to be able to blow up bases 20 or 30 meters below the surface. In that case, it would indeed be safer to not build their most important facility underground.”

“Xochitl, what are you going on about…?”

“Don’t ask. It’s better if you don’t know.”

At that time, Saten Ruiko saw multiple white contrails cutting through the blue sky above. It was the Laveze Squadron from Alien Wars doing an acrobatic show. Saten let out a stupid voice as she watched the multiple jets fly straight from the land out to the ocean.

“Wow. They’re doing that battle show today, too!”

The two of them were standing in an inland area a bit away from the beach. Even so, there was only white sand beneath their feet. The bricks of the promenade and the roads as well as the buildings such as the shopping mall and the hotel were all built atop the sand.

The blue ocean could be seen in the distance between two buildings.

Finally, Xochitl muttered something.

“So they’re finally here.”

“?”

Saten looked puzzled and then a tremendous explosive noise struck her ears. The noise was louder than one would expect from a show. It was more like an accident had occurred during the aerial acrobatics. Saten covered her hurting ears with her hands and saw some black smoke rising up in the distance seeming to sully the blue sky.

With another explosive noise something fluttered through the sky. Looking up, it looked like a small fragment of something, but it was actually a large fighter over 20 meters long and it came crashing into the beach. The sound of steam came from that fighter that was one of the ships used by the Laveze Squadron. The pilot must have ejected because the glass canopy covering the cockpit was gone.

“Wha-…Eh…Th-this is…?”

Saten did not have time to be surprised or to think that it was just a show.

Dozens of white lines cut across the blue sky. They looked similar to the contrails from before, but they were narrower, sharper, and faster. The white points were reminiscent of spears. They stabbed across various parts of Liberal Arts City, mercilessly exploded, destroyed building walls, dug up sand, and generally spread about damage and confusion.

One of those white points landed near Saten and she was knocked down on the hot sand despite not having been directly hit.

Xochitl calmly remained standing.

The girl’s expression did not change in the slightest as she slowly looked up into the sky and muttered a few words.

“You certainly took your time.”

As if in response, the beach right next to Xochitl exploded as if it were being lifted up from below. It was less like something was breaking out from within the earth and more like something was breaking through the ceiling of an underground facility. What appeared was one of the things that had been fighting the Laveze Squadron the day before. The craft looked like it was made up of a 5 meter long canoe with another one placed on top upside down. A short wing and a long wing were on both sides of the front of the flying fish-like craft.

Xochitl turned toward the flying fish and spoke in a much, much more friendly way than she had toward Saten.

She was speaking in a language Saten did not understand.

“So my survey of the enemy land was a waste, hm? My prediction was that the real analysis and research was not carried out in the facility underneath the attractions but in the rocket launch pad facility at the center of the city.”

“You were correct, but the two facilities share a large underground area, so they can travel between them without leaving.”

“And so you got in. How did it go?”

“I carried out the minimum amount of destruction needed and I retrieved you know what. But the inside was much more toughly built than I had expected. Personally, I didn’t like it.”

“Don’t get greedy. You shouldn’t have gone this far inland using a sea battle Mixcoatl in the first place.”

“And who do you think I did that for? I used one of these because you might have had a broken bone making you a complete burden.”

With a sound like a can of something carbonated opening, the upper canoe-like section slid back opening up the craft.

Inside that acutely angled main body was a girl with brown skin just like Xochitl’s. She appeared to be just a bit older than Xochitl. The gap in age was small enough that an adult would probably just refer to them both as kids, but a middle schooler like Saten noticed age differences like that.

It may have had some formal meaning or it may have functioned as a kind of pilot suit, but the girl was wearing the same kind of tribal outfit as Xochitl had when Saten had first met her.

The girl in the canoe looked at Xochitl and then pointed behind her.

“Hurry up and get on. All four wings are almost crushed because I forced it to walk on the land. Just getting back to the ocean will be about the limit.”

Xochitl headed to the canoe as instructed.

“Ah…” said Saten without meaning to upon seeing that receding back.

Even Saten could tell by then that she was not just seeing some kind of show. She had not just seen an explosion; she had gotten caught in the blast. And now Xochitl was headed toward the person who seemed to have caused the explosion.

She wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

Xochitl did not turn back toward Saten.

Xochitl put her small body into the back of the canoe and the upper part slid back to its original place closing up the craft. The flying fish made of wood, cloth, and obsidian vibrated as if it were trembling and used the four wings carefully crushed underneath it to walk away from Saten.

The Mixcoatl made it from the beach to the ocean and then used its wings to float up a few centimeters from the water’s surface allowing it to regain its normal speed.

The girl in front of Xochitl who was controlling the Mixcoatl was named Tochtli. She spoke without turning around.

“Well, it looks like you didn’t get any obvious injuries.”

“I was only unable to contact you. Well, I’m thankful you went out of your way to retrieve me.”

“I’m impressed you managed to wait it out there.”

“The center of the land of the enemy we’ve been fighting for years was as boring as I expected.” Xochitl sighed. “…I’m sure Tecpatl isn’t going to shut up about this once I get back.”

“Well, the higher ups are afraid of losing any of their fighting force, so it’s unlikely you’ll be seriously punished.”

Tochtli did not turn Xochitl’s way, but from the shaking of her shoulders, she seemed to be laughing.

“So you said you managed to retrieve it?”

“Yeah.”

Tochtli nodded without turning around and pointed to the side.

Right next to her was an object about the size of a softball that appeared to have been casually placed there. It was wrapped in a soft cloth like one that would be used to wipe glasses with, so its outer appearance could not be seen.

“I see. So it’s finally returned to our hands,” Xochitl muttered.

“But we won’t be able to activate it right away just because we got it back. It seems the assembly and adjustments will take some time. But even so, we’ve made quite a bit of progress.”

“…Xiuhcoatl, hm?” Xochitl muttered.

The inside of the craft fell silent for a short time.

Finally, Tochtli spoke while operating the Mixcoatl.

“That was a nice girl.”

“What?”

“That girl was quite nice to help you even though you were about as suspicious as a person can get,” Tochtli said completely seriously. “Did you see her face at the end? Her head was full of questions and she wanted to ask you all sorts of things, but she was clearly troubled because she wasn’t sure how to ask those questions without hurting you. In the end, she ran out of time and didn’t say anything, but she was definitely a nice girl. This city itself may be twisted, but it seems good people do come in from outside. I’ll admit that much.”

“…”

Xochitl did not respond.

Tochtli did not say anything more and merely piloted the Mixcoatl outside of Liberal Arts City’s sphere of control.

Tochtli finally recalled something.

“By the way, Xochitl.”

“What?”

“What’s with that ridiculous swimsuit? Even if you were trying to mix in with the crowd in enemy territory, wasn’t that a bit too risky? Well, I suppose it’ll make a nice souvenir for the guys back at the base.”

“…I’m reminded of something I said back in Liberal Arts City: I could always just steal what you’re wearing now.”

“…!?”

The sounds of the girls yelling back and forth and enjoyable sounds of destruction resounded within the Mixcoatl.

“Do you really think I’ll let you!?”

“You idiot!”

“Shut up!”

“If you don’t like it, then come up with something better!”

 
 
<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Toaru_Majutsu_no_Index:RailgunSS1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:Toaru Love Letter SS

2011-07-24T18:20:51Z

Dagger: /* Part 5 */ Tense agreement

==Illustrations==
<gallery>
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_000.jpg|'''Cover'''
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_168.jpg|'''Page 168'''
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_169.jpg|'''Page 169'''
</gallery>
Note: Rainbow Spectrum: Colors is an ART BOOK containing Haimura Kiyotaka Illustrations. With about 192 pages filled with Illustrations, Love Letter SS is only a small part of it.
==Story==

===Part 1===

“Kamijou.”

This was a time when autumn's changing to winter.

It was during a slightly more harmonious lunch break.

“I'm looking for Kamijou Touma.”

At the entrance of the classroom, there was a 'sempai' who really didn't look like one, peeping in from the front door. She had shoulder-length black hair, and her fringe is tied back. She's tall, busty, and was a beauty. The long-skirt of her sailor uniform looks like it had strong defenses. One could see her bellybutton in the gap between her blouse and skirt. She definitely looked smart, and was definitely athletic. Also, it seems like she didn't need to worry about money, only needing red tea to go along with cake. Though she's an adolescent, she could taste the difference between brandys, and even if she drove around in a red sports car, she won't look out of place. Of course, the latter descriptions were just an impression others would get when they look at all.

She's Kumokawa Seria.

Almost everyone in the school finds her to be a 'beauty sempai', and there's even a feeling that if they 'remove a layer of the exterior, they will find a smart robot'. Seeing that they can't get on with such a person, the students would just randomly say 'what?' 'beauty, she can fire beauty lasers' 'here we go again, she's looking for Kamijou'. They only know Kamijou's name.

There's still a group of students in the classroom who can ignore the beauty's presence. But the fact that the 'beauty sempai' is looking for that person has spread throughout the entire classroom.

"...Hm, seems like he's not around. Is he resting today?"

Kumokawa twitches her eyebrows as she 'can't find that person'.

Seems like she's somewhat unhappy.

Then, while looking like she's searching for a new toy.

"Oh well, let's ask someone else. Hm, who should I look for...that person with black hair, huge forehead and large breasts, the one imitating me."

"YOU'RE TOO NOISY, IDIOT!!!"

Kumokawa was looking for the one called the most anticipated freshman star, Fukiyose Seiri.

There's now a commotion of 'Ohh, she's looking for Fukiyose'.

On a side note, as for which part she's most anticipated for, it's most probably the part below the collarbone, the B of the BWH.

Fukiyose unhappily starts seething as she leaves her seat and quickly gets to Kumokawa.

"I had my hairstyle since 5 years old. Please stop making judgements based on your own standard!!"

"That's a coincidence, I had that hairstyle since 5 years old."

"ISN'T THAT AT THE SAME TIME?"

"But well, I'm your sempai. You're later than me by one year."

Uuu...Fukiyose hums unhappily as she closes in on Kumokawa and stares at her. Kumokawa finds it interesting as well, and plays along with Fukiyose by pushing her forehead around.

...With that, the most outstanding parts on their bodies that was obvious since kindergarten are pressing against each other, and those are the B parts underneath the collarbone. But it seems like they don't have time to notice this predicament.

Because of this, in a corner of the room, Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu are lecherously staring at them and says,

"Heeh~~though this country has recession or tariffs or whatsoever, isn't that still ample..."

"And it's the place where it should be ample."

Beside them, dark lines start to appear heinously on the similar black haired Himegami Aisa (who's not large-breasted).

Fukiyose pushes her forehead over and says,

"Well, will the experienced sempai please tell us why she's here at this brats' class?"

"Well, that's because...of this!"

Saying it quickly, Kumokawa quickly pulls out the white envelope like it's a key card and brushes it between their faces. Feeling the heat of the friction, Fukiyose shouts,

"HOT HOT...!?"

"Hm~seems like you still need training."

For some reason, Kumokawa's forehead is shining as she smiles casually. She then keeps her smile and passes the white envelope in her fingers to Fukiyose.

What's passed to her is,

"...Ah?"

"It's just a letter, what's so surprising about it?"

One can tell what that is, but just right at the tip of Fukiyose's nose, there's a cute lucky item that's sealed with a heart-shaped sticker. ''Is 'that' thing inside?''.

The female Kumokawa is passing a love letter to me, a woman? For a moment, Fukiyose was stunned, and then she recalls, Kumokawa was here to look for 'that person'.

In other words--

"It's a love letter. Seems like he's not around, so pass it to him for me."

For a moment,

Fukiyose Seiri's mind went blank.

The large-breasted sempai smiles at the large-breasted kouhai who hasn't recovered, and says,

"Oh, please let me state this, it's a violation if you read the secret contents inside. I advise you not to do anything silly and help me pass that to him."

"Ah..."

"LOVE!?"

"LOVE LETTER!?"

"AH? TO KAMIJOU!? NOT TO ME!?"

Everyone in the classroom start to cause a ruckus.

Facing the stunned Fukiyose, Kumokawa seemingly whispers to her,

"...Ah? Why do you look like you got a shock? Is there a reason why you can't pass that letter?"

"No-"

"If there's no problems, I'll leave it to you then. This is just like passing a note to a kid who's resting at home due to flu. Even elementary school kids can do that, isn't that simple?"

Then, Kumokawa casually waves her hand and says goodby, and the beauty sempai leaves the classroom.

As for the stunned Fukiyose, she's holding the love letter she doesn't know how to deal with. And then, after taking in all her unhappiness, she explodes,

<big>"WHAT---!?"</big>

'''<big>SOMETHING BIG HAPPENED!!</big>'''

===Part 2===

That's a love letter.

"KAMIJOU..." "KAMIJOU THAT BASTARD...!" "HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE HIM BREAK UP WITH THAT BEAUTY!?" Chaos strikes the class that descended into a ruckus, and Fukiyose focuses on the letter in her hand.

Fukiyose wonders, ''there's a sender and a receiver. I see, in terms of impact, if one use such an old-fashioned method like paper, the person may gain a huge advantage.''

Giving a bad example, it's like a transaction scam. Before the message is sent back, the receiver may have time to calmly think through to analyse and verify it. In contrast, the sender who wrote the letter directly will have the confidence that 'he will definitely not get rejected', and thus can forcefully let the other person accept it.

Even if the worst scenario occurs, words on a letter are still the best.

The 'sending' of the letter will show the intention of the sender. Also, the sender can force the receiver to respond before opening the envelope.

And especially to the people who aren't used to having love letters, once such a scenario occurs, the receiver will waver. Before the sender calms down, the other party may ask for an immediate reply. The moment the receiver calms down, even if he or she doesn't know what happened, everything's decided. Isn't that a skill in itself?

(No no no, is it because a sempai sent the letter that I'm so spaced out?)

"Is this the letter just now?"

The classmate, Himegami Aisa, stares intently at Fukiyose.

Fukiyose fans the letter and says,

"I just got tasked with something really irritating. The boys' dorm is in a completely different direction from how we go to school."

"Now that you mentioned it, you're right."

"The boys dorm and girls dorm were deliberately separated, and now I have to go to the boys dorm. This just sounds like a penalty game. I'm going to be in grave danger."

"Oh...? I once accidentally went there..."

Facing Himegami, who said that, Fukiyose turns to focus on the envelope again.

''How irritating. I don't want to be someone's messenger, especially not that woman's. If I'm going to be her runner, I should at least check her character first. Got to let others do this. So what should I do?''

"Oh, I got a great idea."

"?"

===Part 3===

Though it's after school, and there's no extra-curricular activities to take care of, anyone will be mistaken if they think that a High School teacher's life is easy!

Right now, the 135cm tall homeroom teacher Tsukuyomi Komoe is in the staff room fighting against the notepad computer, typing away all sorts of questions of a mini-test at the keyboard.

Sitting beside her and looking rather bored as she lets the chair spins around, the female teacher says,

“Eh, Komoe-sensei, you're a lot more hardworking than usual today-jan.”

“I want to finish it and then go off to get smashed. I want to finish off all the alcohol in that bar! That's why I came here by bus and didn't drive here. Even if I'm a school teacher, I can't call myself one if I get pressured by homework!”

So that's how it is.

At this moment, Fukiyose Seiri walks in,

“Here, sensei, someone left it to me. Please pass it to Kamijou's house.”

“KYAH!”

While her routine got broken, Komoe-sensei lets out a shout that isn't really scary.

Fukiyose ignores her and continues on,

“I didn't hear her say when it should be sent, but most likely, it's going to be troublesome if this isn't sent today. Please help send over, sensei.”

“Bu, but, sensei here is as busy as how you see me. Normally speaking, would teachers act as a student's runner? There's also black stout waiting for me, and this isn't anything impo—what's this? LOVE LETTER!?”

Komoe-sensei's eyes land on the letter the student handed over, and jumped up in reflex,

Fukiyose sighs and says,

“It's crazy, isn't it? That weird girl who left this with me left after that. This shouldn't be anything that should be left over there, right?”

“...”

This is bad, Komoe-sensei thinks.

A boy-girl relationship between students is a super dangerous and sensitive area to teachers. Though they can just say 'a student's duty is to study! All impure intentions are forbidden!', at this age, young people may be hurt because of love! If she's not careful, the student may not come to school, or even worse, commit suicide!

Thus,

''Uwah, this is really troublesome. Are you belittling this single teacher's ability to refuse? But if I refuse them unreasonably, I may end up causing bad things in a student's future and ruin a young person's life, and I won't feel good about it.''

While Komoe-sensei's thinking about this, the (female) colleague who's sitting nearby and dressed in sports attire says calmly,

“Hn? Isn't it still allowed?”

“Whose opinion is that? Until what stage is it allowed?”

“As long as they don't get pregnant-jan.”

“HOW CAN A SPORTS TEACHER SAY THAT!?”

Fukiyose stealthily sneaks away from Komoe-sensei, who's waving both arms in protest.

“Then, I'll leave it to you. The rest doesn't matter to me now.”

“Ahh! Hold it right there, Fukiyose-chan! Sensei still has lots of things to do, and you're the one who requested it. Please take responsibility...”

“Ha?”

The black-haired huge-breasted Fukiyose reveals a very wary look and says,

“So you want me to go to that boys dorm after school when it's almost night, and at that Kamijou's room?”

“...I can imagine something big going on. As for Kamijou-chan, I guess it has nothing to do with his own will...”

“Hn? Since when has pregnancy got to do with this?”

Seeing Komoe-sensei still wavering, Fukiyose dashes out to the staff room entrance.

“Bye bye then! Even that Kamijou won't do anything to sensei!”

“Fukiyose-chan! I said that I have a date with black stout later! Ehh, what will happen if I leave it alone!?”

Just like that, the baton was passed from Fukiyose to Komoe-sensei.

As for how Fukiyose's thinking after escaping successfully from the staff room?

''God, please let that idiot Kamijou deal with it badly and get severely hurt as a result!''

===Part 4===

Goodbye, my black stout.

“Ha, haa, ahh. I didn't drive because I intended to drink, and now I'm so tired."

Komoe-sensei sighs heavily as she continues to stop and go on the road in the evening.

Walking beside her, the teacher in sports attire laughs and says,

“Hahaha, seems like you can only give up on the black stout and continue to work on the test.”

“...Why is Yomikawa-sensei looking so happy?”

“Because that's punishment for not inviting me-jan.”

“I don't want to be messed up by such a trivial thing.”

“Either way, you just need to drop the envelope into that letterbox and just go off, isn't it-jan?”
“...This, well, it's bad for a teacher's reputation no matter I hand it over to him or confiscate it from him, right?”

A teacher should respect a student's privacy, but at the same thing, she has to monitor the student's actions.

“Iya?”

The teacher in sports attire casually asks,

“Is there a special reason why Komoe-sensei's hesitating so much? Don't tell me—you personally don't want to hand the letter to that
student?”

“What are you saying!? Let's hurry up and hand that letter to Kamijou and go off!!”

Those are the 2 teachers who are making a commotion as they head towards the boys dorm...

===Part 5===

Nearby, there's a middle school girl who pricked her ears.

Misaka Mikoto.

“...”

“Onee-sama, what's wrong?”

Misaka Mikoto's kouhai, Shirai Kuroko, asked. Both of them are dismissed from school, but Mikoto doesn't have any answer to the reaction in her heart.

“Nothing, that's...”

Mikoto turns to look at the tall PE teacher and the child.

(...What's going on? Did that kid just say that idiot's name...? I have a bad feeling about it. Why do I feel that the envelope in that kid's hand mustn't be handed over to that idiot...?)

Just as Mikoto's thinking about this, the girl (?) who's holding onto the letter collides with a student.

“Ah? Komoe-sensei, where's that letter?”

“KYAH--! IT GOT BLOWN AWAY BY THE WIND--!!”

And thus, both of them frantically chase after the letter. They're on a pedestrian walkway, that's surrounded by lots of overhead bridges, so the letter vanishes over to the other side and directly below Mikoto.

In other words, this is her chance!

At least that should be the case.

“Misaka won't allow onee-sama to do that, says Misaka.” “--!?”

Hearing the sudden voice from behind, Mikoto quickly pokes Shirai in the eyes with 2 fingers to rob her of her sight, and then uses an arm to judo slam her from above the shoulder to knock her out.

“WAH!? O, onee-sama, is, is this another way of expressing love...?”

Shirai seem to be daydreaming as she muttered. No matter what, how can such an important encounter happen in such a side story? Not thinking of the timing, Mikoto decides to let Shirai back away.

Mikoto turns around.

As she expected, standing over there is one of the clones, serial number 10032.

“Judging from the current situation, the recipient's of that important letter is 'that person', so this letter can't end up in onee-sama's hands, Misaka says as she shows her intent to battle.”

“...You, you do understand what you just said, right?”

“Misaka is confident enough to say that she understands.”

10032 snorts.

“Misaka will create a fact that 'the letter was taken away by onee-sama' and personally hand that letter over to the recipient, saying to him 'I worked so hard to get it back, praise me more--', Misaka boldly proclaims.”

“Your black-heartedness really shocks me!”

Though Mikoto glares at her, the result is obvious if they fight it out. ''I won't have much pride if I lose to a clone.''

“That's what you think.”

“Whose heart are you reading anyway? That wasn't my thought.”

“Misaka refers to onee-sama's retort. Also, it's unclear who will win, as Misaka as use the power of the entire network to simulate all your tactics, Misaka can swear on it.”

''Hoho, if there's a love letter or anything interesting, Misaka will not leave until Misaka reads what's inside, says Misaka as Misaka explains while showing her enthusiasm for fun things.''

“Even if you say that, please note that you can't say it out through Misaka's brain,”

''Really? But the entire Misaka network is controlled by a huge thought process, so strictly speaking, 10032 and this Misaka are a part of that large personality, says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head. So will all the Misakas support Kamijou Touma or Accelerator? Wonders Misaka as Misaka starts to carry out a simulation mode to think about it.''

“Che, I could have killed two birds with one stone if you didn't say anything, Misaka grumbled. Wa—simulation mode...”

“Oi, what are you doing? Ignoring me and carrying out your own internal conversation!?”

“Misaka as Misaka explains that Misaka can.”

Trapped in self-doubt and causing a network failure, 10032 appears powerless in front of the no. 3 esper.

===Part 6===
The envelope ignores their squabble as floats about in the sky of Academy City.

But this isn't a balloon filled with helium, so it can't possibly fly away forever.

Picking up the envelope that landed on the floor is,

“Oh, there seems to be some interesting letter on the floor?”

This is the maid-in-training in Academy City, Tsuchimikado Maika.

She's sitting on the cylindrical cleaning robot as she saw the cleaning robot nearly suck the envelope in. Maika quickly uses the broom to flick the envelope up just before it was about to get sucked it. It's like a highly difficult task of catching a ball in mid-air with one hand, but she doesn't mind at all.

Maika stares at the envelope, looking at the front for a while, and then the back

“...Hmm, seems like it's some important letter.”

Beside her, Maika's older brother Tsuchimikado Motoharu is walking beside Maika, and froze on seeing the envelope in her hand.

“Mai, Mai-chan? Can you let onii-chan read this?”

“Hm? No no, this is somebody else's private stuff. Even if it's onii-chan, I can't let you read it.”

“I, I won't say any random stuff. For some reason, I have a feeling that the letter's a lot different from what you thought, and it's something important...”

“Nononono--”

While the brother is reaching out to grab the envelope, Maika continues to wave her hand, trying to remove the envelope away from her older brother's demonic clutches.

“Ah.”

The hand that was holding that envelope knocks into a girl walking nearby.

“Oh—sorry there!”

Maika lowers her head, and then realises,

“Ara, where's the letter?”

===Part 7===

The girl who's holding onto the letter moves about through the crowd, but she doesn't look at what's inside it.

Before that, amongst the crowd, someone unknowing reached a hand out.

Silently, like a phantom.

The real identity of the person who took that letter is a bespectacled long-haired frail-looking girl.

Her name is Kazakiri Hyouka.

Kazakiri raises the envelope above her head to confirm the recipient's identity.

“So it's someone I know...”

This seems like a letter that was passed around, nearly stolen and caused quite some commotion, and I know the recipient. Better hand it over to him than to let it land in a criminal's hands.

And thus, Kazakiri starts to move towards the boys dorm where Kamijou Touma's staying at.

At the entrance of the dorm, there's a management room, but there's no real security surveillence function. Thus, Kazakiri takes the lift to the desired level, through the corridor, past many doors and in front of the recipient's house.

There's a window to receive letters, and she just needs to drop it in.

(...Hm, there's 'that child' here, and 'that child' may end up reading the letter if I drop it here...)

Kazakiri considers for a moment.

(...Oh well.)

Kazakiri casually makes such a conclusion and lets the cute envelope slide through the window.

===Part 8===

As for the girl who memorised al 103,000 grimoires, Index hears the soft 'clunk' sound.

"?"

She turns to look at the entrance, and looks around. Index then finds that the bag-shaped installation underneath that door is used to keep newspapers and letters.

Thus, she looks deeper in.

There's still 3 seconds till the emotion of love kicks in.

However,

"Hm?"

Index tilts her head.

She definitely heard something drop in, but there's nothing there.

What's there are just,

Some lines of what looks like scratches.

===Part 9===

The boy rolls up the copper wire he extended into his sleeve and walks out of the building.

Wires are really convenient.

They can be used to tie people up and used to strangle people to death. It can be used as a weapon to spear through a target's legs, and can even be used to reach for places where the narrow gaps can't reach.

He finally got the letter, and he uses his fingers to roll past the name on the envelope,

“So this is the contact that the consultant of that director wanted to hand over to Kamijou Touma...”
The boy casually muttered as he wants to pull out the cute sticker.

At this moment,

'''''“Your brain will be drained out.”'''''

A girl's voice can be heard from behind.

A chill.

Then, without knowing whether it was deep within his skull or the intensity, the boy feels sticky in this 'container that's called a head'.

It got taken away.

It's like tilting a board that has beancurd all over it and letting it slide.

Of course, that's just a mistaken feeling,

But he can't resist.

At the same time,

A cracking sound can be heard from his backbone.

Unbelievably, the pain that shouldn't be there causes the fingers to stop. He can't move; he's about to become a pillar. The boy finally realised.

(...So the girl's words didn't have any meaning in them.)

The boy feels sweat on his nosetip, but he can't rub it away.

(...She just wanted me to feel shocked and create this opening...!?)

This isn't some special scientific power of Academy City.

It's just a simple trick.

This girl who used her brain and auditory ability to face off against the darkness managed to use her sharp tongue to a certain effect.

Completely unable to turn back, the boy hears footsteps from behind him.

He knows.

Even if he doesn't turn around, his mind can clearly imagine the smile of that shinigami.

“Really, I suppose you should know how people who obstruct other people's feelings should feel, right?”

Such a unique way of speaking.

The breath reaches the ear.

“But that's easier for me. To think that I can nab you so easily. I actually wanted to maintain a fine line against that guy, so I intended to let the letter get passed around to spy on the situation, all just to lure you out. But really, right now, I got a means to destroy that platform you belong to.”

“Th, then...”

The hormone that doesn't allow any refusal kicks in.

His lips completely stop.

“Before that, I have something that I want to try.”

Only the girl's sweet words slip into his ears without obstruction.

Deep into his ears.

Deep into his brain.

“You often hear in movies or manga that hypnotism isn't all-powerful, that it can't be effective when the person being controlled doesn't like a command or when it endangers the person.”

The words themselves don't have any significance.

The main point is to shock that boy.

To open the psychological 'opening', to cause the boy to sink into his own heart.

“Is that true?”

However,

Even if he knows, he can't avoid it.

It's like Pandora's Box.

Even though one knows that he can't open it, there's a hidden voice tempting, forcing one to open it.

“As for whether it can work, let's try it.”

===Part 10===

The next day.

Having taken leave because personal reasons, Kamijou Touma finally returned to school.

Thus,

“Oi, oi, Kamijou, what's your reply?”

“What happened to that love letter?”

“I got it. Attracting beauty sempais has become an ability of yours, right?”

Kamijou's feeling really weird. Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu are glaring at him regarding that 'beauty sempai'; Himegami's looking really horrifying as she mutters 'black-haired, she's running black-haired', and Fukiyose's anger limit seems to be rather low as compared to usual.

The moment he asked for the reason. POW! Everyone in class continues to bite onto this. Using this entire morning, Kamijou manages to gather the information.

And then, he got a conclusion.

He waits till lunch break before going out to school canteen to check it.

“Sempai, sempai.”

“...It's useless to fool me. I came late and all the stuff in the convenience stores were sold out...”

“Can't you just go to a canteen or some snack shop? Anyway, that's not what I want to ask.”

Kamijou corrected what he said, and continues,

“Sempai, what did you use my good name for?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

Behind him, “Kamijou...” “Sempai” “Beauty sempai”, these strange words can be heard from behind him.
At this moment, Kumokawa Seria still smiles,

“Nothing. I don't know anything at all?”

“That won't do. I can't break through sempai's defence like this. How can I attack it...”

“What do you mean by that? I'm all open now.”

“?”

No matter when it is, Kumokawa's still as tactful as ever.

She continues to maintain that smile, and finally says,

“It's just that a lot of things happened in places you don't know of, right? Yes, in the place that's devoid of your memories.”

<noinclude>
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</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:Toaru Love Letter SS

2011-07-16T17:33:43Z

Dagger: Phrasing, tense agreement

==Illustrations==
<gallery>
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_000.jpg|'''Cover'''
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_168.jpg|'''Page 168'''
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_169.jpg|'''Page 169'''
</gallery>
Note: Rainbow Spectrum: Colors is an ART BOOK containing Haimura Kiyotaka Illustrations. With about 192 pages filled with Illustrations, Love Letter SS is only a small part of it.
==Story==

===Part 1===

“Kamijou.”

This was a time when autumn's changing to winter.

It was during a slightly more harmonious lunch break.

“I'm looking for Kamijou Touma.”

At the entrance of the classroom, there was a 'sempai' who really didn't look like one, peeping in from the front door. She had shoulder-length black hair, and her fringe is tied back. She's tall, busty, and was a beauty. The long-skirt of her sailor uniform looks like it had strong defenses. One could see her bellybutton in the gap between her blouse and skirt. She definitely looked smart, and was definitely athletic. Also, it seems like she didn't need to worry about money, only needing red tea to go along with cake. Though she's an adolescent, she could taste the difference between brandys, and even if she drove around in a red sports car, she won't look out of place. Of course, the latter descriptions were just an impression others would get when they look at all.

She's Kumokawa Seria.

Almost everyone in the school finds her to be a 'beauty sempai', and there's even a feeling that if they 'remove a layer of the exterior, they will find a smart robot'. Seeing that they can't get on with such a person, the students would just randomly say 'what?' 'beauty, she can fire beauty lasers' 'here we go again, she's looking for Kamijou'. They only know Kamijou's name.

There's still a group of students in the classroom who can ignore the beauty's presence. But the fact that the 'beauty sempai' is looking for that person has spread throughout the entire classroom.

"...Hm, seems like he's not around. Is he resting today?"

Kumokawa twitches her eyebrows as she 'can't find that person'.

Seems like she's somewhat unhappy.

Then, while looking like she's searching for a new toy.

"Oh well, let's ask someone else. Hm, who should I look for...that person with black hair, huge forehead and large breasts, the one imitating me."

"YOU'RE TOO NOISY, IDIOT!!!"

Kumokawa was looking for the one called the most anticipated freshman star, Fukiyose Seiri.

There's now a commotion of 'Ohh, she's looking for Fukiyose'.

On a side note, as for which part she's most anticipated for, it's most probably the part below the collarbone, the B of the BWH.

Fukiyose unhappily starts seething as she leaves her seat and quickly gets to Kumokawa.

"I had my hairstyle since 5 years old. Please stop making judgements based on your own standard!!"

"That's a coincidence, I had that hairstyle since 5 years old."

"ISN'T THAT AT THE SAME TIME?"

"But well, I'm your sempai. You're later than me by one year."

Uuu...Fukiyose hums unhappily as she closes in on Kumokawa and stares at her. Kumokawa finds it interesting as well, and plays along with Fukiyose by pushing her forehead around.

...With that, the most outstanding parts on their bodies that was obvious since kindergarten are pressing against each other, and those are the B parts underneath the collarbone. But it seems like they don't have time to notice this predicament.

Because of this, in a corner of the room, Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu are lecherously staring at them and says,

"Heeh~~though this country has recession or tariffs or whatsoever, isn't that still ample..."

"And it's the place where it should be ample."

Beside them, dark lines start to appear heinously on the similar black haired Himegami Aisa (who's not large-breasted).

Fukiyose pushes her forehead over and says,

"Well, will the experienced sempai please tell us why she's here at this brats' class?"

"Well, that's because...of this!"

Saying it quickly, Kumokawa quickly pulls out the white envelope like it's a key card and brushes it between their faces. Feeling the heat of the friction, Fukiyose shouts,

"HOT HOT...!?"

"Hm~seems like you still need training."

For some reason, Kumokawa's forehead is shining as she smiles casually. She then keeps her smile and passes the white envelope in her fingers to Fukiyose.

What's passed to her is,

"...Ah?"

"It's just a letter, what's so surprising about it?"

One can tell what that is, but just right at the tip of Fukiyose's nose, there's a cute lucky item that's sealed with a heart-shaped sticker. ''Is 'that' thing inside?''.

The female Kumokawa is passing a love letter to me, a woman? For a moment, Fukiyose was stunned, and then she recalls, Kumokawa was here to look for 'that person'.

In other words--

"It's a love letter. Seems like he's not around, so pass it to him for me."

For a moment,

Fukiyose Seiri's mind went blank.

The large-breasted sempai smiles at the large-breasted kouhai who hasn't recovered, and says,

"Oh, please let me state this, it's a violation if you read the secret contents inside. I advise you not to do anything silly and help me pass that to him."

"Ah..."

"LOVE!?"

"LOVE LETTER!?"

"AH? TO KAMIJOU!? NOT TO ME!?"

Everyone in the classroom start to cause a ruckus.

Facing the stunned Fukiyose, Kumokawa seemingly whispers to her,

"...Ah? Why do you look like you got a shock? Is there a reason why you can't pass that letter?"

"No-"

"If there's no problems, I'll leave it to you then. This is just like passing a note to a kid who's resting at home due to flu. Even elementary school kids can do that, isn't that simple?"

Then, Kumokawa casually waves her hand and says goodby, and the beauty sempai leaves the classroom.

As for the stunned Fukiyose, she's holding the love letter she doesn't know how to deal with. And then, after taking in all her unhappiness, she explodes,

<big>"WHAT---!?"</big>

'''<big>SOMETHING BIG HAPPENED!!</big>'''

===Part 2===

That's a love letter.

"KAMIJOU..." "KAMIJOU THAT BASTARD...!" "HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE HIM BREAK UP WITH THAT BEAUTY!?" Chaos strikes the class that descended into a ruckus, and Fukiyose focuses on the letter in her hand.

Fukiyose wonders, ''there's a sender and a receiver. I see, in terms of impact, if one use such an old-fashioned method like paper, the person may gain a huge advantage.''

Giving a bad example, it's like a transaction scam. Before the message is sent back, the receiver may have time to calmly think through to analyse and verify it. In contrast, the sender who wrote the letter directly will have the confidence that 'he will definitely not get rejected', and thus can forcefully let the other person accept it.

Even if the worst scenario occurs, words on a letter are still the best.

The 'sending' of the letter will show the intention of the sender. Also, the sender can force the receiver to respond before opening the envelope.

And especially to the people who aren't used to having love letters, once such a scenario occurs, the receiver will waver. Before the sender calms down, the other party may ask for an immediate reply. The moment the receiver calms down, even if he or she doesn't know what happened, everything's decided. Isn't that a skill in itself?

(No no no, is it because a sempai sent the letter that I'm so spaced out?)

"Is this the letter just now?"

The classmate, Himegami Aisa, stares intently at Fukiyose.

Fukiyose fans the letter and says,

"I just got tasked with something really irritating. The boys' dorm is in a completely different direction from how we go to school."

"Now that you mentioned it, you're right."

"The boys dorm and girls dorm were deliberately separated, and now I have to go to the boys dorm. This just sounds like a penalty game. I'm going to be in grave danger."

"Oh...? I once accidentally went there..."

Facing Himegami, who said that, Fukiyose turns to focus on the envelope again.

''How irritating. I don't want to be someone's messenger, especially not that woman's. If I'm going to be her runner, I should at least check her character first. Got to let others do this. So what should I do?''

"Oh, I got a great idea."

"?"

===Part 3===

Though it's after school, and there's no extra-curricular activities to take care of, anyone will be mistaken if they think that a High School teacher's life is easy!

Right now, the 135cm tall homeroom teacher Tsukuyomi Komoe is in the staff room fighting against the notepad computer, typing away all sorts of questions of a mini-test at the keyboard.

Sitting beside her and looking rather bored as she lets the chair spins around, the female teacher says,

“Eh, Komoe-sensei, you're a lot more hardworking than usual today-jan.”

“I want to finish it and then go off to get smashed. I want to finish off all the alcohol in that bar! That's why I came here by bus and didn't drive here. Even if I'm a school teacher, I can't call myself one if I get pressured by homework!”

So that's how it is.

At this moment, Fukiyose Seiri walks in,

“Here, sensei, someone left it to me. Please pass it to Kamijou's house.”

“KYAH!”

While her routine got broken, Komoe-sensei lets out a shout that isn't really scary.

Fukiyose ignores her and continues on,

“I didn't hear her say when it should be sent, but most likely, it's going to be troublesome if this isn't sent today. Please help send over, sensei.”

“Bu, but, sensei here is as busy as how you see me. Normally speaking, would teachers act as a student's runner? There's also black stout waiting for me, and this isn't anything impo—what's this? LOVE LETTER!?”

Komoe-sensei's eyes land on the letter the student handed over, and jumped up in reflex,

Fukiyose sighs and says,

“It's crazy, isn't it? That weird girl who left this with me left after that. This shouldn't be anything that should be left over there, right?”

“...”

This is bad, Komoe-sensei thinks.

A boy-girl relationship between students is a super dangerous and sensitive area to teachers. Though they can just say 'a student's duty is to study! All impure intentions are forbidden!', at this age, young people may be hurt because of love! If she's not careful, the student may not come to school, or even worse, commit suicide!

Thus,

''Uwah, this is really troublesome. Are you belittling this single teacher's ability to refuse? But if I refuse them unreasonably, I may end up causing bad things in a student's future and ruin a young person's life, and I won't feel good about it.''

While Komoe-sensei's thinking about this, the (female) colleague who's sitting nearby and dressed in sports attire says calmly,

“Hn? Isn't it still allowed?”

“Whose opinion is that? Until what stage is it allowed?”

“As long as they don't get pregnant-jan.”

“HOW CAN A SPORTS TEACHER SAY THAT!?”

Fukiyose stealthily sneaks away from Komoe-sensei, who's waving both arms in protest.

“Then, I'll leave it to you. The rest doesn't matter to me now.”

“Ahh! Hold it right there, Fukiyose-chan! Sensei still has lots of things to do, and you're the one who requested it. Please take responsibility...”

“Ha?”

The black-haired huge-breasted Fukiyose reveals a very wary look and says,

“So you want me to go to that boys dorm after school when it's almost night, and at that Kamijou's room?”

“...I can imagine something big going on. As for Kamijou-chan, I guess it has nothing to do with his own will...”

“Hn? Since when has pregnancy got to do with this?”

Seeing Komoe-sensei still wavering, Fukiyose dashes out to the staff room entrance.

“Bye bye then! Even that Kamijou won't do anything to sensei!”

“Fukiyose-chan! I said that I have a date with black stout later! Ehh, what will happen if I leave it alone!?”

Just like that, the baton was passed from Fukiyose to Komoe-sensei.

As for how Fukiyose's thinking after escaping successfully from the staff room?

''God, please let that idiot Kamijou deal with it badly and get severely hurt as a result!''

===Part 4===

Goodbye, my black stout.

“Ha, haa, ahh. I didn't drive because I intended to drink, and now I'm so tired."

Komoe-sensei sighs heavily as she continues to stop and go on the road in the evening.

Walking beside her, the teacher in sports attire laughs and says,

“Hahaha, seems like you can only give up on the black stout and continue to work on the test.”

“...Why is Yomikawa-sensei looking so happy?”

“Because that's punishment for not inviting me-jan.”

“I don't want to be messed up by such a trivial thing.”

“Either way, you just need to drop the envelope into that letterbox and just go off, isn't it-jan?”
“...This, well, it's bad for a teacher's reputation no matter I hand it over to him or confiscate it from him, right?”

A teacher should respect a student's privacy, but at the same thing, she has to monitor the student's actions.

“Iya?”

The teacher in sports attire casually asks,

“Is there a special reason why Komoe-sensei's hesitating so much? Don't tell me—you personally don't want to hand the letter to that
student?”

“What are you saying!? Let's hurry up and hand that letter to Kamijou and go off!!”

Those are the 2 teachers who are making a commotion as they head towards the boys dorm...

===Part 5===

Nearby, there's a middle school girl who pricked her ears.

Misaka Mikoto.

“...”

“Onee-sama, what's wrong?”

Misaka Mikoto's kouhai, Shirai Kuroko, asked. Both of them are dismissed from school, but Mikoto doesn't have any answer to the reaction in her heart.

“Nothing, that's...”

Mikoto turns to look at the tall PE teacher and the child.

(...What's going on? Did that kid just say that idiot's name...? I have a bad feeling about it. Why do I feel that the envelope in that kid's hand mustn't be handed over to that idiot...?)

Just as Mikoto's thinking about this, the girl (?) who's holding onto the letter collides with a student.

“Ah? Komoe-sensei, where's that letter?”

“KYAH--! IT GOT BLOWN AWAY BY THE WIND--!!”

And thus, both of them frantically chase after the letter. They're on a pedestrian walkway, that's surrounded by lots of overhead bridges, so the letter vanishes over to the other side and directly below Mikoto.

In other words, this is her chance!

At least that should be the case.

“Misaka won't allow onee-sama to do that, says Misaka.” “--!?”

Hearing the sudden voice from behind, Mikoto quickly pokes Shirai in the eyes with 2 fingers to rob her of her sight, and then use an arm to judo slam her from above the shoulder to knock her out.

“WAH!? O, onee-sama, is, is this another way of expressing love...?”

Shirai seem to be daydreaming as she muttered. No matter what, how can such an important encounter happen in such a side story? Not thinking of the timing, Mikoto decides to let Shirai back away.

Mikoto turns around.

As she expected, standing over there is one of the clones, serial number 10032.

“Judging from the current situation, the recipient's of that important letter is 'that person', so this letter can't end up in onee-sama's hands, Misaka says as she shows her intent to battle.”

“...You, you do understand what you just said, right?”

“Misaka is confident enough to say that she understands.”

10032 snorts.

“Misaka will create a fact that 'the letter was taken away by onee-sama' and personally hand that letter over to the recipient, saying to him 'I worked so hard to get it back, praise me more--', Misaka boldly proclaims.”

“Your black-heartedness really shocks me!”

Though Mikoto glares at her, the result is obvious if they fight it out. ''I won't have much pride if I lose to a clone.''

“That's what you think.”

“Whose heart are you reading anyway? That wasn't my thought.”

“Misaka refers to onee-sama's retort. Also, it's unclear who will win, as Misaka as use the power of the entire network to simulate all your tactics, Misaka can swear on it.”

''Hoho, if there's a love letter or anything interesting, Misaka will not leave until Misaka reads what's inside, says Misaka as Misaka explains while showing her enthusiasm for fun things.''

“Even if you say that, please note that you can't say it out through Misaka's brain,”

''Really? But the entire Misaka network is controlled by a huge thought process, so strictly speaking, 10032 and this Misaka are a part of that large personality, says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head. So will all the Misakas support Kamijou Touma or Accelerator? Wonders Misaka as Misaka starts to carry out a simulation mode to think about it.''

“Che, I could have killed two birds with one stone if you didn't say anything, Misaka grumbled. Wa—simulation mode...”

“Oi, what are you doing? Ignoring me and carrying out your own internal conversation!?”

“Misaka as Misaka explains that Misaka can.”

Trapped in self-doubt and causing a network failure, 10032 appears powerless in front of the no. 3 esper.

===Part 6===
The envelope ignores their squabble as floats about in the sky of Academy City.

But this isn't a balloon filled with helium, so it can't possibly fly away forever.

Picking up the envelope that landed on the floor is,

“Oh, there seems to be some interesting letter on the floor?”

This is the maid-in-training in Academy City, Tsuchimikado Maika.

She's sitting on the cylindrical cleaning robot as she saw the cleaning robot nearly suck the envelope in. Maika quickly uses the broom to flick the envelope up just before it was about to get sucked it. It's like a highly difficult task of catching a ball in mid-air with one hand, but she doesn't mind at all.

Maika stares at the envelope, looking at the front for a while, and then the back

“...Hmm, seems like it's some important letter.”

Beside her, Maika's older brother Tsuchimikado Motoharu is walking beside Maika, and froze on seeing the envelope in her hand.

“Mai, Mai-chan? Can you let onii-chan read this?”

“Hm? No no, this is somebody else's private stuff. Even if it's onii-chan, I can't let you read it.”

“I, I won't say any random stuff. For some reason, I have a feeling that the letter's a lot different from what you thought, and it's something important...”

“Nononono--”

While the brother is reaching out to grab the envelope, Maika continues to wave her hand, trying to remove the envelope away from her older brother's demonic clutches.

“Ah.”

The hand that was holding that envelope knocks into a girl walking nearby.

“Oh—sorry there!”

Maika lowers her head, and then realises,

“Ara, where's the letter?”

===Part 7===

The girl who's holding onto the letter moves about through the crowd, but she doesn't look at what's inside it.

Before that, amongst the crowd, someone unknowing reached a hand out.

Silently, like a phantom.

The real identity of the person who took that letter is a bespectacled long-haired frail-looking girl.

Her name is Kazakiri Hyouka.

Kazakiri raises the envelope above her head to confirm the recipient's identity.

“So it's someone I know...”

This seems like a letter that was passed around, nearly stolen and caused quite some commotion, and I know the recipient. Better hand it over to him than to let it land in a criminal's hands.

And thus, Kazakiri starts to move towards the boys dorm where Kamijou Touma's staying at.

At the entrance of the dorm, there's a management room, but there's no real security surveillence function. Thus, Kazakiri takes the lift to the desired level, through the corridor, past many doors and in front of the recipient's house.

There's a window to receive letters, and she just needs to drop it in.

(...Hm, there's 'that child' here, and 'that child' may end up reading the letter if I drop it here...)

Kazakiri considers for a moment.

(...Oh well.)

Kazakiri casually makes such a conclusion and lets the cute envelope slide through the window.

===Part 8===

As for the girl who memorised al 103,000 grimoires, Index hears the soft 'clunk' sound.

"?"

She turns to look at the entrance, and looks around. Index then finds that the bag-shaped installation underneath that door is used to keep newspapers and letters.

Thus, she looks deeper in.

There's still 3 seconds till the emotion of love kicks in.

However,

"Hm?"

Index tilts her head.

She definitely heard something drop in, but there's nothing there.

What's there are just,

Some lines of what looks like scratches.

===Part 9===

The boy rolls up the copper wire he extended into his sleeve and walks out of the building.

Wires are really convenient.

They can be used to tie people up and used to strangle people to death. It can be used as a weapon to spear through a target's legs, and can even be used to reach for places where the narrow gaps can't reach.

He finally got the letter, and he uses his fingers to roll past the name on the envelope,

“So this is the contact that the consultant of that director wanted to hand over to Kamijou Touma...”
The boy casually muttered as he wants to pull out the cute sticker.

At this moment,

'''''“Your brain will be drained out.”'''''

A girl's voice can be heard from behind.

A chill.

Then, without knowing whether it was deep within his skull or the intensity, the boy feels sticky in this 'container that's called a head'.

It got taken away.

It's like tilting a board that has beancurd all over it and letting it slide.

Of course, that's just a mistaken feeling,

But he can't resist.

At the same time,

A cracking sound can be heard from his backbone.

Unbelievably, the pain that shouldn't be there causes the fingers to stop. He can't move; he's about to become a pillar. The boy finally realised.

(...So the girl's words didn't have any meaning in them.)

The boy feels sweat on his nosetip, but he can't rub it away.

(...She just wanted me to feel shocked and create this opening...!?)

This isn't some special scientific power of Academy City.

It's just a simple trick.

This girl who used her brain and auditory ability to face off against the darkness managed to use her sharp tongue to a certain effect.

Completely unable to turn back, the boy hears footsteps from behind him.

He knows.

Even if he doesn't turn around, his mind can clearly imagine the smile of that shinigami.

“Really, I suppose you should know how people who obstruct other people's feelings should feel, right?”

Such a unique way of speaking.

The breath reaches the ear.

“But that's easier for me. To think that I can nab you so easily. I actually wanted to maintain a fine line against that guy, so I intended to let the letter get passed around to spy on the situation, all just to lure you out. But really, right now, I got a means to destroy that platform you belong to.”

“Th, then...”

The hormone that doesn't allow any refusal kicks in.

His lips completely stop.

“Before that, I have something that I want to try.”

Only the girl's sweet words slip into his ears without obstruction.

Deep into his ears.

Deep into his brain.

“You often hear in movies or manga that hypnotism isn't all-powerful, that it can't be effective when the person being controlled doesn't like a command or when it endangers the person.”

The words themselves don't have any significance.

The main point is to shock that boy.

To open the psychological 'opening', to cause the boy to sink into his own heart.

“Is that true?”

However,

Even if he knows, he can't avoid it.

It's like Pandora's Box.

Even though one knows that he can't open it, there's a hidden voice tempting, forcing one to open it.

“As for whether it can work, let's try it.”

===Part 10===

The next day.

Having taken leave because personal reasons, Kamijou Touma finally returned to school.

Thus,

“Oi, oi, Kamijou, what's your reply?”

“What happened to that love letter?”

“I got it. Attracting beauty sempais has become an ability of yours, right?”

Kamijou's feeling really weird. Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu are glaring at him regarding that 'beauty sempai'; Himegami's looking really horrifying as she mutters 'black-haired, she's running black-haired', and Fukiyose's anger limit seems to be rather low as compared to usual.

The moment he asked for the reason. POW! Everyone in class continues to bite onto this. Using this entire morning, Kamijou manages to gather the information.

And then, he got a conclusion.

He waits till lunch break before going out to school canteen to check it.

“Sempai, sempai.”

“...It's useless to fool me. I came late and all the stuff in the convenience stores were sold out...”

“Can't you just go to a canteen or some snack shop? Anyway, that's not what I want to ask.”

Kamijou corrected what he said, and continues,

“Sempai, what did you use my good name for?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

Behind him, “Kamijou...” “Sempai” “Beauty sempai”, these strange words can be heard from behind him.
At this moment, Kumokawa Seria still smiles,

“Nothing. I don't know anything at all?”

“That won't do. I can't break through sempai's defence like this. How can I attack it...”

“What do you mean by that? I'm all open now.”

“?”

No matter when it is, Kumokawa's still as tactful as ever.

She continues to maintain that smile, and finally says,

“It's just that a lot of things happened in places you don't know of, right? Yes, in the place that's devoid of your memories.”

<noinclude>
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</noinclude>

Toaru Majutsu no Index:Toaru Love Letter SS

2011-07-16T17:28:15Z

Dagger: envelop -> envelope

==Illustrations==
<gallery>
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_000.jpg|'''Cover'''
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_168.jpg|'''Page 168'''
Image:Rainbow_Spectrum_Colors_169.jpg|'''Page 169'''
</gallery>
Note: Rainbow Spectrum: Colors is an ART BOOK containing Haimura Kiyotaka Illustrations. With about 192 pages filled with Illustrations, Love Letter SS is only a small part of it.
==Story==

===Part 1===

“Kamijou.”

This was a time when autumn's changing to winter.

It was during a slightly more harmonious lunch break.

“I'm looking for Kamijou Touma.”

At the entrance of the classroom, there was a 'sempai' who really didn't look like one, peeping in from the front door. She had shoulder-length black hair, and her fringe is tied back. She's tall, busty, and was a beauty. The long-skirt of her sailor uniform looks like it had strong defenses. One could see her bellybutton in the gap between her blouse and skirt. She definitely looked smart, and was definitely athletic. Also, it seems like she didn't need to worry about money, only needing red tea to go along with cake. Though she's an adolescent, she could taste the difference between brandys, and even if she drove around in a red sports car, she won't look out of place. Of course, the latter descriptions were just an impression others would get when they look at all.

She's Kumokawa Seria.

Almost everyone in the school finds her to be a 'beauty sempai', and there's even a feeling that if they 'remove a layer of the exterior, they will find a smart robot'. Seeing that they can't get on with such a person, the students would just randomly say 'what?' 'beauty, she can fire beauty lasers' 'here we go again, she's looking for Kamijou'. They only know Kamijou's name.

There's still a group of students in the classroom who can ignore the beauty's presence. But the fact that the 'beauty sempai' is looking for that person has spread throughout the entire classroom.

"...Hm, seems like he's not around. Is he resting today?"

Kumokawa twitches her eyebrows as she 'can't find that person'.

Seems like she's somewhat unhappy.

Then, while looking like she's searching for a new toy.

"Oh well, let's ask someone else. Hm, who should I look for...that person with black hair, huge forehead and large breasts, the one imitating me."

"YOU'RE TOO NOISY, IDIOT!!!"

Kumokawa was looking for the one called the most anticipated freshman star, Fukiyose Seiri.

There's now a commotion of 'Ohh, she's looking for Fukiyose'.

On a side note, as for which part she's most anticipated for, it's most probably the part below the collarbone, the B of the BWH.

Fukiyose unhappily starts seething as she leaves her seat and quickly gets to Kumokawa.

"I had my hairstyle since 5 years old. Please stop making judgements based on your own standard!!"

"That's a coincidence, I had that hairstyle since 5 years old."

"ISN'T THAT AT THE SAME TIME?"

"But well, I'm your sempai. You're later than me by one year."

Uuu...Fukiyose hums unhappily as she closes in on Kumokawa and stares at her. Kumokawa finds it interesting as well, and plays along with Fukiyose by pushing her forehead around.

...With that, the most outstanding parts on their bodies that was obvious since kindergarten are pressing against each other, and those are the B parts underneath the collarbone. But it seems like they don't have time to notice this predicament.

Because of this, in a corner of the room, Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu are lecherously staring at them and says,

"Heeh~~though this country has recession or tariffs or whatsoever, isn't that still ample..."

"And it's the place where it should be ample."

Beside them, dark lines start to appear heinously on the similar black haired Himegami Aisa (who's not large-breasted).

Fukiyose pushes her forehead over and says,

"Well, will the experienced sempai please tell us why you're here at this brats' clas?"

"Well, that's because...of this!"

Saying it quickly, Kumokawa quickly pulls out the white envelope like it's a key card and brushes it between their faces. Feeling the heat of the friction, Fukiyose shouts,

"HOT HOT...!?"

"Hm~seems like you still need training."

For some reason, Kumokawa's forehead is shining as she smiles casually. She then keeps her smile and passes the white envelope in her fingers to Fukiyose.

What's passed to her is,

"...Ah?"

"It's just a letter, what's so surprising about it?"

One can tell what that is, but just right at the tip of Fukiyose's nose, there's a cute lucky item that's sealed with a heart-shaped sticker. ''Is 'that' thing inside?''.

The female Kumokawa is passing a love letter to me, a woman? For a moment, Fukiyose was stunned, and then she recalls, Kumokawa was here to look for 'that person'.

In other words--

"It's a love letter. Seems like he's not around, so pass it to him for me."

For a moment,

Fukiyose Seiri's mind went blank.

The large-breasted sempai smiles at the large-breasted kouhai who hasn't recovered, and says,

"Oh, please let me state this, it's a violation if you read the secret contents inside. I advise you not to do anything silly and help me pass that to him."

"Ah..."

"LOVE!?"

"LOVE LETTER!?"

"AH? TO KAMIJOU!? NOT TO ME!?"

Everyone in the classroom start to cause a ruckus.

Facing the stunned Fukiyose, Kumokawa seemingly whispers to her,

"...Ah? Why do you look like you got a shock? Is there a reason why you can't pass that letter?"

"No-"

"If there's no problems, I'll leave it to you then. This is just like passing a note to a kid who's resting at home due to flu. Even elementary school kids can do that, isn't that simple?"

Then, Kumokawa casually waves her hand and says goodby, and the beauty sempai leaves the classroom.

As for the stunned Fukiyose, she's holding the love letter she doesn't know how to deal with. And then, after taking in all her unhappiness, she explodes,

<big>"WHAT---!?"</big>

'''<big>SOMETHING BIG HAPPENED!!</big>'''

===Part 2===

That's a love letter.

"KAMIJOU..." "KAMIJOU THAT BASTARD...!" "HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE HIM BREAK UP WITH THAT BEAUTY!?" Chaos strikes the class that descended into a ruckus, and Fukiyose focuses on the letter in her hand.

Fukiyose wonders, ''there's a sender and a receiver. I see, in terms of impact, if one use such an old-fashioned method like paper, the person may gain a huge advantage.''

Giving a bad example, it's like a transaction scam. Before the message is sent back, the receiver may have time to calmly think through to analyse and verify it. In contrast, the sender who wrote the letter directly will have the confidence that 'he will definitely not get rejected', and thus can forcefully let the other person accept it.

Even if the worst scenario occurs, words on a letter are still the best.

The 'sending' of the letter will show the intention of the sender. Also, the sender can force the receiver to respond before opening the envelope.

And especially to the people who aren't used to having love letters, once such a scenario occurs, the receiver will waver. Before the sender calms down, the other party may ask for an immediate reply. The moment the receiver calms down, even if he or she doesn't know what happened, everything's decided. Isn't that a skill in itself?

(No no no, is it because a sempai sent the letter that I'm so spaced out?)

"Is this the letter just now?"

The classmate, Himegami Aisa, stares intently at Fukiyose.

Fukiyose fans the letter and says,

"I just got tasked with something really irritating. The boys' dorm is in a completely different direction from how we go to school."

"Now that you mentioned it, you're right."

"The boys dorm and girls dorm were deliberately separated, and now I have to go to the boys dorm. This just sounds like a penalty game. I'm going to be in grave danger."

"Oh...? I once accidentally went there..."

Facing Himegami, who said that, Fukiyose turns to focus on the envelope again.

''How irritating. I don't want to be someone's messenger's, let alone that woman's. If I want to be her runner, I should at least check her character first. Got to let others do this. So what should I do?''

"Oh, I got a great idea."

"?"

===Part 3===

Though it's after school, and there's no extra-curricular activities to take care of, anyone will be mistaken if they think that a High School teacher's life is easy!

Right now, the 135cm tall homeroom teacher Tsukuyomi Komoe is in the staff room fighting against the notepad computer, typing away all sorts of questions of a mini-test at the keyboard.

Sitting beside her and looking rather bored as she lets the chair spins around, the female teacher says,

“Eh, Komoe-sensei, you're a lot more hardworking than usual today-jan.”

“I want to finish it and then go off to get smashed. I want to finish off all the alcohol in that bar! That's why I came here by bus and didn't drive here. Even if I'm a school teacher, I can't call myself one if I get pressured by homework!”

So that's how it is.

At this moment, Fukiyose Seiri walks in,

“Here, sensei, someone left it to me. Please pass it to Kamijou's house.”

“KYAH!”

While her routine got broken, Komoe-sensei lets out a shout that isn't really scary.

Fukiyose ignores her and continues on,

“I didn't hear her say when it should be sent, but most likely, it's going to be troublesome if this isn't sent today. Please help send over, sensei.”

“Bu, but, sensei here is as busy as how you see me. Normally speaking, would teachers act as a student's runner? There's also black stout waiting for me, and this isn't anything impo—what's this? LOVE LETTER!?”

Komoe-sensei's eyes land on the letter the student handed over, and jumped up in reflex,

Fukiyose sighs and says,

“It's crazy, isn't it? That weird girl who left this with me left after that. This shouldn't be anything that should be left over there, right?”

“...”

This is bad, Komoe-sensei thinks.

A boy-girl relationship between students is a super dangerous and sensitive area to teachers. Though they can just say 'a student's duty is to study! All impure intentions are forbidden!', at this age, young people may be hurt because of love! If she's not careful, the student may not come to school, or even worse, commit suicide!

Thus,

''Uwah, this is really troublesome. Are you belittling this single teacher's ability to refuse? But if I refuse them unreasonably, I may end up causing bad things in a student's future and ruin a young person's life, and I won't feel good about it.''

While Komoe-sensei's thinking about this, the (female) colleague who's sitting nearby and dressed in sports attire says calmly,

“Hn? Isn't it still allowed?”

“Whose opinion is that? Until what stage is it allowed?”

“As long as they don't get pregnant-jan.”

“HOW CAN A SPORTS TEACHER SAY THAT!?”

Fukiyose stealthily sneaks away from Komoe-sensei, who's waving both arms in protest.

“Then, I'll leave it to you. The rest doesn't matter to me now.”

“Ahh! Hold it right there, Fukiyose-chan! Sensei still has lots of things to do, and you're the one who requested it. Please take responsibility...”

“Ha?”

The black-haired huge-breasted Fukiyose reveals a very wary look and says,

“So you want me to go to that boys dorm after school when it's almost night, and at that Kamijou's room?”

“...I can imagine something big going on. As for Kamijou-chan, I guess it has nothing to do with his own will...”

“Hn? Since when has pregnancy got to do with this?”

Seeing Komoe-sensei still wavering, Fukiyose dashes out to the staff room entrance.

“Bye bye then! Even that Kamijou won't do anything to sensei!”

“Fukiyose-chan! I said that I have a date with black stout later! Ehh, what will happen if I leave it alone!?”

Just like that, the baton was passed from Fukiyose to Komoe-sensei.

As for how Fukiyose's thinking after escaping successfully from the staff room?

''God, please let that idiot Kamijou deal with it badly and get severely hurt as a result!''

===Part 4===

Goodbye, my black stout.

“Ha, haa, ahh. I didn't drive because I intended to drink, and now I'm so tired."

Komoe-sensei sighs heavily as she continues to stop and go on the road in the evening.

Walking beside her, the teacher in sports attire laughs and says,

“Hahaha, seems like you can only give up on the black stout and continue to work on the test.”

“...Why is Yomikawa-sensei looking so happy?”

“Because that's punishment for not inviting me-jan.”

“I don't want to be messed up by such a trivial thing.”

“Either way, you just need to drop the envelope into that letterbox and just go off, isn't it-jan?”
“...This, well, it's bad for a teacher's reputation no matter I hand it over to him or confiscate it from him, right?”

A teacher should respect a student's privacy, but at the same thing, she has to monitor the student's actions.

“Iya?”

The teacher in sports attire casually asks,

“Is there a special reason why Komoe-sensei's hesitating so much? Don't tell me—you personally don't want to hand the letter to that
student?”

“What are you saying!? Let's hurry up and hand that letter to Kamijou and go off!!”

Those are the 2 teachers who are making a commotion as they head towards the boys dorm...

===Part 5===

Nearby, there's a middle school girl who pricked her ears.

Misaka Mikoto.

“...”

“Onee-sama, what's wrong?”

Misaka Mikoto's kouhai, Shirai Kuroko, asked. Both of them are dismissed from school, but Mikoto doesn't have any answer to the reaction in her heart.

“Nothing, that's...”

Mikoto turns to look at the tall PE teacher and the child.

(...What's going on? Did that kid just say that idiot's name...? I have a bad feeling about it. Why do I feel that the envelope in that kid's hand mustn't be handed over to that idiot...?)

Just as Mikoto's thinking about this, the girl (?) who's holding onto the letter collides with a student.

“Ah? Komoe-sensei, where's that letter?”

“KYAH--! IT GOT BLOWN AWAY BY THE WIND--!!”

And thus, both of them frantically chase after the letter. They're on a pedestrian walkway, that's surrounded by lots of overhead bridges, so the letter vanishes over to the other side and directly below Mikoto.

In other words, now's the chance!

At least that should be the case.

“Misaka won't allow onee-sama to do that, says Misaka.”“--!?”
Hearing the sudden voice from behind, Mikoto quickly pokes Shirai in the eyes with 2 fingers to rob her of her sight, and then use an arm to judo slam her from above the shoulder to knock her out.

“WAH!? O, onee-sama, is, is this another way of expressing love...?”

Shirai seem to be daydreaming as she muttered. No matter what, how can such an important encounter happen in such a side story? Not thinking of the timing, Mikoto decides to let Shirai back away.

Mikoto turns around.

As she expected, standing over there is one of the clones, serial number 10032.

“Judging from the current situation, the recipient's of that important letter is 'that person', so this letter can't end up in onee-sama's hands, Misaka says as she shows her intent to battle.”

“...You, you do understand what you just said, right?”

“Misaka is confident enough to say that she understands.”

10032 snorts.

“Misaka will create a fact that 'the letter was taken away by onee-sama' and personally hand that letter over to the recipient, saying to him 'I worked so hard to get it back, praise me more--', Misaka boldly proclaims.”

“Your black-heartedness really shocks me!”

Though Mikoto glares at her, the result is obvious if they fight it out. ''I won't have much pride if I lose to a clone.''

“That's what you think.”

“Whose heart are you reading anyway? That wasn't my thought.”

“Misaka refers to onee-sama's retort. Also, it's unclear who will win, as Misaka as use the power of the entire network to simulate all your tactics, Misaka can swear on it.”

''Hoho, if there's a love letter or anything interesting, Misaka will not leave until Misaka reads what's inside, says Misaka as Misaka explains while showing her enthusiasm for fun things.''

“Even if you say that, please note that you can't say it out through Misaka's brain,”

''Really? But the entire Misaka network is controlled by a huge thought process, so strictly speaking, 10032 and this Misaka are a part of that large personality, says Misaka as Misaka tilts her head. So will all the Misakas support Kamijou Touma or Accelerator? Wonders Misaka as Misaka starts to carry out a simulation mode to think about it.''

“Che, I could have killed two birds with one stone if you didn't say anything, Misaka grumbled. Wa—simulation mode...”

“Oi, what are you doing? Ignoring me and carrying out your own internal conversation!?”

“Misaka as Misaka explains that Misaka can.”

Trapped in self-doubt and causing a network failure, 10032 appears powerless in front of the no. 3 esper.

===Part 6===
The envelope ignores their squabble as floats about in the sky of Academy City.

But this isn't a balloon filled with helium, so it can't possibly fly away forever.

Picking up the envelope that landed on the floor is,

“Oh, there seems to be some interesting letter on the floor?”

This is the maid-in-training in Academy City, Tsuchimikado Maika.

She's sitting on the cylindrical cleaning robot as she saw the cleaning robot nearly suck the envelope in. Maika quickly uses the broom to flick the envelope up just before it was about to get sucked it. It's like a highly difficult task of catching a ball in mid-air with one hand, but she doesn't mind at all.

Maika stares at the envelope, looking at the front for a while, and then the back

“...Hmm, seems like it's some important letter.”

Beside her, Maika's older brother Tsuchimikado Motoharu is walking beside Maika, and froze on seeing the envelope in her hand.

“Mai, Mai-chan? Can you let onii-chan read this?”

“Hm? No no, this is somebody else's private stuff. Even if it's onii-chan, I can't let you read it.”

“I, I won't say any random stuff. For some reason, I have a feeling that the letter's a lot different from what you thought, and it's something important...”

“Nononono--”

While the brother is reaching out to grab the envelope, Maika continues to wave her hand, trying to remove the envelope away from her older brother's demonic clutches.

“Ah.”

The hand that was holding that envelope knocks into a girl walking nearby.

“Oh—sorry there!”

Maika lowers her head, and then realises,

“Ara, where's the letter?”

===Part 7===

The girl who's holding onto the letter moves about through the crowd, but she doesn't look at what's inside it.

Before that, amongst the crowd, someone unknowing reached a hand out.

Silently, like a phantom.

The real identity of the person who took that letter is a bespectacled long-haired frail-looking girl.

Her name is Kazakiri Hyouka.

Kazakiri raises the envelope above her head to confirm the recipient's identity.

“So it's someone I know...”

This seems like a letter that was passed around, nearly stolen and caused quite some commotion, and I know the recipient. Better hand it over to him than to let it land in a criminal's hands.

And thus, Kazakiri starts to move towards the boys dorm where Kamijou Touma's staying at.

At the entrance of the dorm, there's a management room, but there's no real security surveillence function. Thus, Kazakiri takes the lift to the desired level, through the corridor, past many doors and in front of the recipient's house.

There's a window to receive letters, and she just needs to drop it in.

(...Hm, there's 'that child' here, and 'that child' may end up reading the letter if I drop it here...)

Kazakiri considers for a moment.

(...Oh well.)

Kazakiri casually makes such a conclusion and lets the cute envelope slide through the window.

===Part 8===

As for the girl who memorised al 103,000 grimoires, Index hears the soft 'clunk' sound.

"?"

She turns to look at the entrance, and looks around. Index then finds that the bag-shaped installation underneath that door is used to keep newspapers and letters.

Thus, she looks deeper in.

There's still 3 seconds till the emotion of love kicks in.

However,

"Hm?"

Index tilts her head.

She definitely heard something drop in, but there's nothing there.

What's there are just,

Some lines of what looks like scratches.

===Part 9===

The boy rolls up the copper wire he extended into his sleeve and walks out of the building.

Wires are really convenient.

They can be used to tie people up and used to strangle people to death. It can be used as a weapon to spear through a target's legs, and can even be used to reach for places where the narrow gaps can't reach.

He finally got the letter, and he uses his fingers to roll past the name on the envelope,

“So this is the contact that the consultant of that director wanted to hand over to Kamijou Touma...”
The boy casually muttered as he wants to pull out the cute sticker.

At this moment,

'''''“Your brain will be drained out.”'''''

A girl's voice can be heard from behind.

A chill.

Then, without knowing whether it was deep within his skull or the intensity, the boy feels sticky in this 'container that's called a head'.

It got taken away.

It's like tilting a board that has beancurd all over it and letting it slide.

Of course, that's just a mistaken feeling,

But he can't resist.

At the same time,

A cracking sound can be heard from his backbone.

Unbelievably, the pain that shouldn't be there causes the fingers to stop. He can't move; he's about to become a pillar. The boy finally realised.

(...So the girl's words didn't have any meaning in them.)

The boy feels sweat on his nosetip, but he can't rub it away.

(...She just wanted me to feel shocked and create this opening...!?)

This isn't some special scientific power of Academy City.

It's just a simple trick.

This girl who used her brain and auditory ability to face off against the darkness managed to use her sharp tongue to a certain effect.

Completely unable to turn back, the boy hears footsteps from behind him.

He knows.

Even if he doesn't turn around, his mind can clearly imagine the smile of that shinigami.

“Really, I suppose you should know how people who obstruct other people's feelings should feel, right?”

Such a unique way of speaking.

The breath reaches the ear.

“But that's easier for me. To think that I can nab you so easily. I actually wanted to maintain a fine line against that guy, so I intended to let the letter get passed around to spy on the situation, all just to lure you out. But really, right now, I got a mean to destroy that platform you belong to.”

“Th, then...”

The hormone that doesn't allow any refusal kicks in.

His lips completely stop.

“Before that, I have something that I want to try.”

Only the girl's sweet words slip into his ears without obstruction.

Deep into his ears.

Deep into his brain.

“I often heard in movies or manga that hypnotism isn't all-powerful, that it can't be effective when the person being controlled get commanded doesn't like it or when it endangers the person.”

The words themselves don't have any significance.

The main point is to shock that boy.

To open the psychological 'opening', to cause the boy to sink into his own heart.

“Is that true?”

However,

Even if he knows, he can't avoid it.

It's like Pandora's Box.

Even though one knows that he can't open it, there's a hidden voice tempting, forcing one to open it.

“As for whether it can work, let's try it.”

===Part 10===

The next day.

Having taken leave because personal reasons, Kamijou Touma finally returned to school.

Thus,

“Oi, oi, Kamijou, what's your reply?”

“What happened to that love letter?”

“I got it. Attracting beauty sempais has become an ability of yours, right?”

Kamijou's feeling really weird. Aogami Pierce and Tsuchimikado Motoharu are glaring at him regarding that 'beauty sempai'; Himegami's looking really horrifying as she mutters 'black-haired, she's running black-haired', and Fukiyose's anger limit seems to be rather low as compared to usual.

The moment he asked for the reason. POW! Everyone in class continues to bite onto this. Using this entire morning, Kamijou manages to gather the information.

And then, he got a conclusion.

He waits till lunch break before going out to school canteen to check it.

“Sempai, sempai.”

“...It's useless to fool me. I came late and all the stuff in the convenience stores were sold out...”

“Can't you just go to a canteen or some snack shop? Anyway, that's not what I want to ask.”

Kamijou corrected what he said, and continues,

“Sempai, what did you use my good name for?”

“Nothing.”

“Really?”

Behind him, “Kamijou...” “Sempai” “Beauty sempai”, these strange words can be heard from behind him.
At this moment, Kumokawa Seria still smiles,

“Nothing. I don't know anything at all?”

“That won't do. I can't break through sempai's defence like this. How can I attack it...”

“What do you mean by that? I'm all open now.”

“?”

No matter when it is, Kumokawa's still as tactful as ever.

She continues to maintain that smile, and finally says,

“It's just that a lot of things happened in places you don't know of, right? Yes, in the place that's devoid of your memories.”

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</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter3

2010-12-17T10:59:54Z

Dagger: Typos

===Chapter 3===

Although it was good to have sunny weather even after going into the monsoon season in June, the result of going into summer so early was that it became extremely hot. This was something that happened on the day that I got so fed up with the heat that I wanted to move to Australia to play with the Kangeroos and Koalas.

After school, I mustered up all my strength to clean up the music preparation room.

Firstly, I sorted the vaious papers into their respective categories, placing them back on the shelves and then I pulled out an amplifier from under the abadoned-looking conductor's stand. When I lifted a piece of music score from the teacher's table, a cloud of dust suddenly burst into the air like snowflakes.

"Cough Cough......"

The music preparation room looked as though it had been completely abandoned, just like the house of a useless men whose wife had divorced him and then kicked him out of the house.

"My god......"

I couldn't help but mutter.

I knew that the situation would be bad, but I would never have imagined that it was this bad. Looks like I've underestimated the potential ability of that person.

Looking at the music preparation room that could never be cleaned up, I sighed deeply.

As to why I'm cleaning up this place, it's all because of the owner of this room, the music teacher who is also my class teacher (A woman whom I have no resistance against).

I'll have to start from three hours ago.

"Yuu-kun~Are you free today?"

After the homeroom period, I had finished packing my bag and was just about to head home when the music teacher came looking for me. Her voice was as silky as the purr of a cat that was having it's chin rubbed by its master.

"No I'm not. My schedule is completely packed. I have absolutely no free time at all."

"I have a favour to ask of Yuu-kun~"

"I don't want to do it."

"If you're willing to do it, Onee-san will reward you for it~"

"I don't think I have a need for your reward."

"I have three types of set meals for you to choose from, how about that?"

"...I'm going home."

Since she pretended not to hear what I was talking about, I decided to just ignore this idiot and go home.

"Wait......Wait up!"

My arm was caught in a vice-grip, this is not good.

"...What?"

"I've already said that I have a favour to ask of you."

"And haven't I already said that I'm not interested?"

Nothing good ever comes out of doing her 'favours'. I speak from my personal experience.

"Don't say that. Why don't you hear me out first?"

Looks like she won't let go of me unless I hear her out. I don't have a choice but to nod my head reluctantly.

"...Fine, I'm only going to listen though."

"Mm~Onee-san loves it when you say that."

She pressed me into her sizeable bust. The soft feel that came into contact with my cheek, and the flowery smell that floated into my nostrils was indeed extremely tempting, but if I were to admit defeat here, I would have fallen right into Yukari's trap.

"What do you want to say exactly?"

In response to my question, Yukari gave a strange expression before saying,

"To be honest~The year director gave me a direct order today~"

"What kind of order?"

"He wants me to clean up the music preparation room by today."

"...Goodbye."

I only managed to turn away before my arm was caught by Yukari's vice-like grip again.

"Wait! Why are you trying to run away before I finish what I have to say~"

"I already know what you want, you want me to help you clean don't you? Please clean up by yourself, I've already cleaned the toilet for you before.

"Ah, that's such a pity. Although you're close, but that's not what I'm here for."

"It's not?"

I was sure that I won't be wrong, since all this person does is to trouble others.

Or could it be that I'm wrong?

"Hmm, it's not like that. Because I'm not trying to get you to help me clean, but trying to get you to do it for me."

Just what is going through this person's head!

There should be a limit to how shameless one can be!

"......Please die!"

I was already prepared to run for my life after throwing that phrase at her, but I would never have thought that Yukari would cling on to me for dear life.

"Hang on! I really want to help you, but I have something important going on today."

"What important thing?'

"It's SERAPH's live performance (whispers)!"

"...Huh?"

I thought that I had heard wrongly.

"SERAPH's having a live concert today, and I've already gotten my hands on the VIP ticket that I pre-ordered six months ago, so if I'm unable to go, I'll die because of this unfufilled desire."

'...You're serious about this?"

"Of course I am."

Yukari gave me a serious expression that I've never seen before as she replied. On a side note, SERAPH is the name of her favourite visual-kei band.

"Yuu-kun, I'm begging you, I really don't have anyone else to turn to, this is the biggest wish of my life."

Yukari attempted to climb on top of me while begging me with tears in her eyes.

Even though it was her own fault that things have come to this, but I was unable to just leave her in the lurch like that. I guess I don't have a choice but to help her then.

Since I have nothing to do after school today anyway, might as well let Yukari owe me a favour!

"...I've got it, so please stop trying to squash me from above, I'll clean the music preparation room for you alright?"

"Eh? You're willing to do it for me?"

"Yes, I'll help you for the time being."

Upon hearing my answer, the twenty-three years-old female teacher who was a diehard fan of visual-kei bands was filled with happiness.

"Thank you so much Yuu-kun, I love you!"

"...You're welcome."

That's basically what happened.

This is how I come to be cleaning up this heap of trash, but right now, I really regretted my decision.

"This is ridiculous..."

Due to the corrosive influence of the owner of this room, the sparkly clean music preparation room had become a nightmare island of rubbish in merely two months.Feeling despondent, I swiped off a layer of dust off Beethoven's portrait with a duster, while writing the word 'meat' on his dust-covered forehead. This primary-school level prank probably has the legendary musician turning in his grave.

Just as I tiredly prepared to magically wipe of the word that I had written on Beethoven's forehead...

Poron~~

I seem to have heard the sound of a piano.

At first I had thought that I was hearing things, so I just ignored it, but after a while, I realised that there was a melody to the notes. The melody was one that was sounded melancholic at times and and poignant at other times, while sounding sorrowful throughout, and it seemed to be coming from the neighbouring music room.I looked at the clock that was hung up on the wall, it was almost seven o'clock atnight, which means that all the students who were involved in club activities should already have gone home by now. So why would there be anyone playing the piano at this time?

My first thought was of one of the school's seven mysteries - The piano that plays by itself in the music room.

It can't be?

I opened the door of the music preparation room quietly and surveyed the situation in the neighbouring music room. But from my perspective, the position of the piano was in my blind spot, which meant that I was unable to see the person playing the piano (hopefully it is a person playing the piano). But I could now confirm that the sound was indeed coming from the piano.

I hesitated for a moment before deciding to step into the music room. I slowly shuffled towards the piano while praying that a person was indeed playing the piano. As I gazed at the piano, what I saw was actually--

"..."

Haruka.

Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, Haruka was playing the piano.

Probably because she was too engrossed in playing the piano, Haruka did not notice my presence. Her soft fingers nimbly danced across the keyboard as I looked on, mesmerized.

The piece finally finished, Haruka breathed out.

"Good work."

"Ah?"

Haruka jumped at the sound of my clapping, her eyes wide with surprise as though she just saw a rhinoceros beetle in the middle of winter.

"That...That's strange? Why would Yuuto-san be here? There wasn't anyone here when I came in..."

Of course she would be surprised at seeing a person that shouldn't be here after finishing a piece.

I explained my predicament to her.

"Ah,I see, you must be tired."

Haruka's tinkling laughter swept away the tiredness from the cleaning that had built up in my body. She's definitely an angel!

"Speaking of which, why are you still here at this hour?

In comparison, this should be stranger shouldn't it? It's not strange that Haruka would be in the music room, it's the timing that is strange.

"Well...It's complicated..."

Haruka tilted her head slightly as she replied.

"Enlighten me!"

I excitedly requested.

"Alright, I'll tell you then. To be honest, I was reading in the library a while ago when I came across this description of Shakespeare in a world history book..."

"Shakespeare? You mean that playwright?"

"Yes, I really like his works. He left behind an entire collection of brilliant plays, plays like <<Macbeth>> and <<A Midsummer Night's Dream>>.

"Ah...I see."

I nodded while feeling extremely guilty.

Because out of Shakespeare's works, I only know of <<Romeo and Juliet>>, and only a rough outline of the story at that.

"But, how does that tie in with you playing the piano?"

"Because the tempest is mentioned in one of Shakespeare's plays. Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 also carries the name of 'The Tempest', which is why I felt like playing this piece when I saw Shakespeare's name in the book...I also have a performance coming up, so I had wanted to practice a little before I went home."

"I...I see."

Reading -> World History -> Shakespeare -><- The Tempest -->> Piano, so this is how Haruka thinks. A little complicated, but still understandable.

"Do you usually read until this hour?"

If she went straight to the library after school, then she would have read for about three and a half hours, probably longer than the time I read for the entire week.

"Yes, because mid-term exams are coming."

"...Mid-term exams..."

I was roughly hauled back to reality by those words.

Before that moment of enlightenment, I really had forgotten all about the mid-term exams (that is to say, I've been running away from reality the whole while). Two weeks from today, the dreaded mid-term exams will begin.

Although Hakujo Academy has a two-term system, which means that there are only four exams a year, students who failed the exams (thirty percent and below) would be forced to
burn a third of their summer holidays on remedial lessons. Perhaps some people may think that thirty percent is extremely easy to get, but for people who aren't academically talented like me, it is an extremely dangerous obstacle.

"Is Yuuto-san also in the midst of preparing for the mid-term exams?"

"No, I haven't started preparing at all."

Since I just remembered that mid-term exams actually exist, I obviously have not even started on revision.

"Not at all? But you should already have a study plan for the next two weeks right?"

"Well......I'm not very good at things like that."

I really don't like studying, but if I don't study, then I'll have to burn a third of my summer holidays. It's unthinkable to give up a third of one's once-in-a-lifetime seventeen year-old summer holiday and to be stuck in a small classroom with mountains of notes and teachers, whose tempers are hotter than the weather (Why is it that most of the teachers in Hakujo Academy are single and male?).

"Now that I think about it, my notes are not even complete......"

I spend seventy-percent of my time in class daydreaming, so my notes are extremely disorganized and incomplete; one entry in April, the next one in June.

"I've got to borrow someone's notes to photocopy."

Although I said that, but I had no one to borrow from. In the years leading up to this year, the best candidate was Nobunaga (his results are extremely good), but since we're in different classes this year, our notes aren't the same either. I probably have to borrow from the three idiots.

...Looks like it's a matter of life and death.

Seeing that I was getting flustered, Haruka gave a pensive expression as she placed her finger next to the corner of her mouth, her head tilting forty-five degrees to the side.

She held that position for about thirty seconds.

After thirty seconds, Haruka seemed to have thought of something, as she opened her mouth to speak,

"Yuuto-san, why don't we study together?"

"Hmm..."

Study? Haruka and I?

"That's right, if you don't mind, I can lend you my notes to photocopy, even though my notes might not be that complete either..."

No, there would never be anything incomplete about Haruka's notes, for she's always attentive in class.

"That'll be too inconvienient for you..."

My results and Haruka's results were at opposite ends of the academic spectrum, so borrowing her notes would be the vital boost that I desperately need to pass the exams, but this wouldn't benefit Haruka anyway, and could even cause her to be docked points if the teachers found out.

But Haruka shook her head.

"It's not inconvienient at all! Studying is more enjoyable with a partner."

Is that so? I always hear that studying alone would be more efficient. But as long as Haruka doesn't mind, this would be a life-saver.

"...Is it really alright?"

"Of course it is."

Haruka answered without hesitation.

"Then...Thank you very much."

I have to take this chance to turn my results around. If I continue like this, I'm in real danger of landing in remedial classes.

"Then, what about the time and place? You can just pick a time that you're free..."

"Hmm..."

Haruka thought about it for a moment.

"About the time...How about this Sunday? From One O'clock onwards, the place...how about my home?"

"Ah, I'm alright with anything..."

I answered without thinking.

"...Hmm?"

I suddenly realized that there was a strange noun in Haruka's suggestion. Did she just say 'my home...'?

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing..."

My ears must be playing tricks on me. Haruka would never invite me to her home. I must have heard wrongly because I was expecting too much. Mm, it must be like that.

Seeing that I was in agreement, Haruka happily repeated the time and place.

"I'll see you on Sunday then, please don't forget about it!"

And so, I came to Haruka's home on Sunday to study for the mid-term exams.

I got lost.

"This is a map detailing the route to my home, it's only ten minutes away from the train station, so I don't think you'll get lost..."

I should have known something like this would happen the moment I received the hand-drawn map from Haruka, but I was too excited about being able to visit her home that I had completely overlooked the probable result if I were to follow her map. It was already too late when I took out the map at the train station near Haruka's home.

I took out the map that Haruka had given me and saw monstrous creatures and hysterical eight-eyed eels covering most of the map.

A wide-eyed bird-like, sadistic-looking creature was drawn at the side of the map. It had a satanic smile on its face as it drove a sharpened rod into the belly of an eel, the words on the sharpened rod reading 'it's here'.

...What is this? Is it some kind of psychological test for first-timers?

I really feel like crying.

A row of neatly written words at one corner of the map detailed 'Drawn by Haruka'.

Now...what do I do?

I attempted to go forward, but immediately got lost at the first crossroad junction. I wanted to call for help, but Haruka didn't have a cellphone, while I didn't take down the number of her home phone. There was an address written on the map, but since I didn't live around that area, I had no idea where it was, and to make things worse, there wasn't a traffic police in sight.

"I'm dead..."

Just as I was pathetically sitting at the side of the road like a tired bird, somebody called out to me from behind.

"Onii-san, what's wrong?"

I looked back to see a girl looking back at me. She looked like a middle schooler, with a pretty face and eyes that twinkled with charm. Her hair was tied down at the sides into two ponytails, giving her a mischievous but cute look. She would definitely become an extremely pretty girl in a few years.

"You've been groaning for a while now, are you having a stomache? Do you want me to call the funeral car?"

"What, are you planning to send me to the crematorium?"

"Ah! I should be calling the ambulance in this kind of situation."

The girl laughed, but stopped almost immediately as she realized the seriousness of my situation.

"What do I do? I should call for help if you're really not feeling well, shouldn't I?"

She was serious.

"I'm not feeling unwell, I'm just lost..."

I suddenly thought that since this girl looks like she lived in the area, perhaps she would be able to understand the map. Maybe Haruka's map is a perfectly readable map to everyone but me.

And so I hopefully showed the map to the girl, who looked disgusted as she looked at the mep.

"What's this? Demons? Or the Tiger Lady?"

"..."

"Or are these ghosts?"

My last hope was destroyed in a moment...Well, at least I expected this reaction.

"...This...Should be a map."

Hearing the truth, the girl jumped in surprise.

"...A map? This is a map? That's impossible..."

"It's true."

I don't want to believe it either but this is really supposed to be a map.

"Hmm, it still looks like a drawing of ghosts and demons no matter how I look at it."

The girl looked at the map with the look of a person looking at a rare animal. I completely agree with her assessment of the picture.

"Are the giant snakes supposed to be roads? Ah! There's a weirdly shaped thing here! Ah! There're two Karakasas over here."

This girl's really jumpy.

"...Hmm?"

She suddenly quietened down when her gaze stopped on a certain portion of the map.

"...It can't be!"

And then, she mercilessly tore the map to pieces.

"Hey, hey......"

I can understand her painful feelings of wanting to tear the map to pieces, but destroying the map would also destroy any clue that I had to finding my way to the Nogizaka residence.

"Hmm...Onii-san, you'll never get to your destination if you look at this map!"

"Even then......It's better than nothing isn't it?"

"It's definitely better to have nothing than that piece of map! I'll draw a new one for you, do you have any stationary with you?"

After tearing my only hope to pieces, the girl stretched out her right hand towards me. Although I don't know what she intended to do, but since she seemed to be willing to help me draw a new map, I quietly handed her my notebook and a pencil.

I let the girl have a look at the address written on one of the pieces of the map. The girl only took one look before beginning to work.

"This is how it should be."

Her pencil flying over the notebook paper, the girl drew a map for me.

"There, it's finished."

"Huh?"

Compared to Haruka's map, this map was on a completely different level! To be honest, I would even think that even comparing the two maps would be an insult to the girl's map.

"You're really good at drawing..."

Even a monkey could get to Haruka's home with this map.

"Not at all, it's actually a very simple route to your destination, and it should be harder to draw a map that resembles a drawing of demons and ghosts right?"

Though the girl said something like that, but anyone could tell that she was rather pleased with herself.

"But you really saved my life here, thank you."

"You don't have to say that! It's not something to be so grateful about. And also...I'm partly responsible for something like this."

"?"

"Ah, it's......it's nothing! I'll be going now, see you soon, Onii-san."

"Ah, wait!"

Without any hint of acknowledgement, the girl left.

...Just what was that about? Well, at least I'm saved.

It was all thanks to the map that the girl drew for me that I managed to get to the Nogizaka residence safely.

Technically, even though I had already reached the Nogizaka residence, but...

"What is this..."

That was the first thing that I had to say after reaching the Nogizaka residence.

A huge door was in front of my eyes, along with a line of ridiculously tall walls that extended far beyond my line of sight. From far away, the Nogizaka residence looked like an estate that nobles in the middle-ages lived in, complete with a fountain like the one in <<Roman Holiday>>.

Is this place really in Japan? The estate in front of my eyes really made me question whether this was indeed Japan. I had known that the Nogizakas were rich, but...this is beyond the wildest imagination of normal people.

And that was only the beginning.

Seriously, that was only the beginning.

Immediately after I pressed the doorbell, a maid came out to welcome me. A real maid! Although I had seen cat-eared maids in Akihabara, but a real maid in a real Japanese household was right in front of my eyes! I was too shocked for words.

The maid bowed respectfully the moment she saw me.

"Ayase Yuuto-sama right? Haruka-sama is expecting you. Please enter."

"Ye...Yes..."

I didn't even have the time to be moved over being addressed as 'sama' for the first time in my life before I was whisked into the huge garden. Whoa! The garden of the Nogizaka residence was like a forest, with bubbling streams running through the residence like a natural park.

"This way please."

After walking through the huge garden, I finally stepped foot into the residence itself. The residence looked like a castle from the outside, and even more from the inside. I've never been in hall with such a highly vaulted ceiling, and the luxurious decorations, ancient armor sets and art pieces were completely unknown to the son of a working class family like me.

"Wow, this is great..."

The Nogizaka residence was ridiculously luxurious.

Just as I was stupefied by the impressive entrance hall, the maid told me something extremely scary.

"Please follow closely behind me, it'll be dangerous if you get lost."

Could this place be a huge labyrinth? Judging by the scale of the place, a direction-idiot like me would probably die if I got lost here. I do not wish to get lost and embarrass myself in this place.

Following behind the maid, I turned seven corners, walked through two long corridors, went up and down three flights of stairs, finally reaching the living room (because the hall was extremely large, I didn't know if this was the living room or still the entrance hall), and finally met Haruka. I spent twenty whole minutes from the moment I stepped into the residence to get to the living room...It's ridiculous!

"Ah, Yuuto-san, welcome."

Haruka was wearing a white summer dress as she smiled at me, standing up from an ancient-looking sofa in the middle of the room.

"Hazuki-san, thank you for bring Yuuto-san here."

"It's nothing, I'm merely doing my job."

The maid answered expressionlessly.

"Please sit down and make yourself at home."

In accordance with the maid's directions, I sat down on the sofa. What a soft sofa!

"Would you like some tea?"

"Ah, would you mind?"

Haruka replied to the maid's suggestion.

"Not at all. Which kind of tea leaves would you like to use."

"Hmm, how about two pots of Royal Bengal Tigers?"

"What about snacks? We have Madeleine, plum pudding and Victorian cakes in the kitchen right this moment."

"We'll have the plum pudding."

"Alright, please wait for about ten minutes."

The maid left after receiving her orders from Haruka. I couldn't understand more than half of the vocabulary that they used in their conversation. Royal Bengal Tiger? Is that the name of a monster?"

"Please wait for a moment, Hazuki-san makes really good black tea."

...It's actually the name of a tea.

I've only ever drank canned and bottled black tea, so I wasn't knowledgeable about the different types of tea at all, perhaps it's actually a very common type of tea?

Exactly ten minutes later, the maid returned.

She placed the cups and pudding in front of us before standing behind Haruka like a statue.

Haruka then turned to face the maid.

"Hmm...Let me introduce her to you. This is Sakurazaka Hazuki-san, she's the head maid, in charge of our accomodation."

'Head' maid? So you're saying that there are more of these maids?"

"I am Sakurazaka Hazuki, it's an honour to meet you."

The maid gave a perfect bow together with her perfect greeting, but her face remainded expresionless throughout. Mm...Looking at how she interacted with Haruka a while ago, she seems to be the calm and collected type. Although she's really pretty, but she seems to be hard to interact with. I was quietly assessing her.

"Hazuki-san looks to be a strict person, but she's actually really gentle."

Did Haruka say that in response to what I was thinking in my head?

"A while back, she fed the leftovers from dinner to a stray cat. She almost always goes to the pet shop on rest days. Her hobby is collecting stuffed toys, so her room is filled with cute stuffed toys."

Stuffed toys? Hmm...I really couldn't imagine such a strict-looking person would have a room full of stuffed toys and even name each and every one of them.

"...Haruka-san, I can hear you."

Hazuki-san retorted softly. Hmm? She's actually blushing!

Ah~Hazuki-san's blushing."

"......I'm not."

She seems to be a little lost as to what she should do.

The three of us talked for a while longer.

After talking to Hazuki-san, I realised that although she looked stern, she wasn't hard to interact with, as she'll answer your questions and react to your jokes (she doesn't laugh, but at least there's a reaction). But the only thing that bothered me was that her expression almost never changes, means that you'll never know what she's actually thinking. But to that, Haruka said that 'You'll learn how to read the small changes in her expression once you get to know her better.' Hmm...Is that really the case?

So much had happened that I almost forgot what I was here for. I am here to study for the mid-term exams, not to get a feel of the upper-class lifestyle.

To achieve our original aim, we moved to Haruka's room after finishing our refreshments (I won't go into detail about the other halls, the dance floor and the mini cinema that I saw on my way there).

So this is Haruka's room...It's surprisingly normal.

Haruka's room is about thirty tatamis large, with a huge piano in the middle of the room and a luxurious-looking bed in a corner. Of course, this kind of room wouldn't be considered 'normal' in the usual sense, the normal that I'm referring to is the lack of any sign of Akihabara-influences in the room.

"Ah, please make yourself at home, I'll bring out the table."

Haruka said to me before she walked into a hidden closet to bring out the table. Judging by the size of that closet, it's probably bigger than my entire room.

I sat on the expensive-looking carpet before looking around the room once again. No matter how I look, this was the normal room of the daughter of a rich family, no Akihabara references to be seen anywhere.

This was really a room that looked like it belonged to the 'Nuit étoile', It would indeed be extremely strange if Haruka's room was like Nobunaga's with posters, manga, novels and figurines all strewn around the place.

Haruka brought the table out at this moment, so I asked,

"There doesn't seem to be any posters in this room."

"Ah, that's because..."

Haruka stopped abruptly. Hmm? Did I just ask something I should not have asked?

"Those things are really cute, and I really want to display them in my room if it were possible......but......I don't have a choice, because my family doesn't know about my hobby."

"Huh?"

Even her family doesn't know?

"My parents.......especially my father, he's extremely strict, so he'll probably throw all my anime posters and figurines away if he saw them. Because he thinks that these things are bad for my education, so I can't put them in places that are obvious."

Haruka lowered her head as she explained.

That's......really too bad for Haruka. I seem to have gained an insight as to why Haruka lacks some common sense. And that's also because there's nothing that could be classified as entertainment in this room right? No television, no computer, this must be the reason why Haruka doesn't have a cellphone either.

"Oh right, is your family at home?"

I suddenly thought of her family.

If her father is at home, then I better go and pay my respects to him, or he'll think that I'm a good-for-nothing who's here to corrupt his precious daughter if he sees me.

"I'm the only one at home today. Father's at the Pentagon, mother's teaching at the cooking school that she runs, it'll probably be midnight when they return. My grandfather's in Hokkaido hunting bears, so he left in the morning......."

"......"

My god! Just what kind of person is her father? I could possibly disappear from the face of the earth if I make one wrong move.

Not noticing my feelings, Haruka happily continued talking,

"So you can relax, just treat this place as your own home. Let's start with English, since it'll be tested on the first day of the mid-term exams."

Haruka really wasn't the top student in the level for nothing, as she nonchalantly did her own set of practice questions while helping me with the foundation questions given by the school, pointing out my mistakes and explaining the solution to me at the same time.

"Ah this is a special usage of the future tense, so you can translate it as "After moving to the city, he never went back to his home village ever again", that is to say, he might have invested a large sum of money after he moved to the city, but it turned out to be a failed investment, and not able to find a job, he could only work part-time in a convenience store. And in the end, because his landlord refused to renew the rental contract, he got kicked out of his apartment, and so he died alone in a public park, with his dreams of returning to his home village as a rich man shattered.

"Hmm,mm...I see......"

"This question tests your ability to differentiate between verbs and adverbs, and in comparison with the former "stopped to smoke", the meaning of the latter is "to stop smoking". Which is to say that the first sentence refers a middle-age smoker who's in the late stages of nicotine poisoning and couldn't help but stop for a smoke at the roadside or some other place where it's illegal to smoke, and got fined for it. As for the second sentence, it refers to a person who really liked to smoke, but later quit smoking for the sake of his child, and now hates smoking to the extent that he'll want to kill anyone who smokes in front of his child."

"...Hmm, even though I won't know about the middle-aged man's condition regarding nicotine poisoning, but I guess that's probably it..."

Although Haruka was teaching me this whole time, our study session was proceeding rather smoothly. Even when she was teaching me, her right hand was still writing down the answers to her own practice questions.

"Oh, and this is..."

Just as Haruka-sensei was about to launch into her n-th explanation of the day, her left hand suddenly knocked my eraser off the table and onto the carpet.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Haruka stretched to pick up the eraser, but I was closer to it,

"It's alright, I'll pick it up."

"No, I'll..."

Miraculously, we reached for the eraser at the same time.

"..."

"..."

My fingers came into contact with something soft. Definitely not my eraser.

My heart started pumping into overdrive.

"Ah......I......"

"I......I'm sorry!"

I hurriedly pulled my hand back, my heart still beating furiously as though I was on drugs and overheating. My face was also burning up as though I just came out of a hot spring.

What's going on! What a strange atmosphere! I looked over and saw Haruka blushing furiously, just like that time in the small park at Akihabara...If I were to describe the atmosphere in terms of colours, then the middle of this room would be covered in a shade of pink...

Haruka's slightly moist eyes were right in front of me.

Now that I think about it, right now, Haruka and I were the only ones in this room. By the only ones, I mean that there isn't anyone other than the two teenagers in this enclosed space. From this, the keyword that we'll naturally think about it......Secret room murder?

Not that! But if it's not that keyword, then I really can't think of any other keyword that's so, encompassing.

No,it's not the time to bash myself over my lack of imagination.

Anyway, I have to think of a way to pull away from this pink-shaded atmosphere, because if this goes on, my sense of reason will fly off like a satellite that's gone off-course, all the way to the other end of the universe...... Alright, to calm myself down, I shall start counting prime numbers. Starting from 0......Hmm, is 0 even a prime number?

Shouldn't I be starting from 1? Hmm, that doesn't sound right either...

My brain suddenly got itself into a knot.

My mathematics results are so bad that my math teacher came to me with tears running down his cheeks, 'I'm begging you, even if you're able to promote to the third year, please don't come for the science class mathematics lesson, alright?' That's basically a guarantee letter certifying that I'm an idiot.

......I'm so pathetic to call myself an idiot.

I turned to look at Haruka's face feeling sorry for myself and realized that Haruka was also looking at me.

Our eyes met! Haruka's face reddened even more, as she fidgeted around in her seat and looked away awkwardly before closing her eyes slowly as though preparing herself...... That's strange, why did Haruka close her eyes?

Another ten seconds passed like this.

Hmm...it'll would be an insult to Haruka if I were to do nothing at this juncture wouldn't it? I've never been in such a suggestive situation before, so I really don't know what to do.

Now that it has come down to this, I only have two choices, either I go with the flow and don't think about the consequences, or I pretend to fall asleep. After struggling with myself for a while (that is to say, after my mental condition deteriorated for a while), I was about to choose the first choice when...!!

"Please forgive me for breaking the nice atmosphere between the two of you."

Someone suddenly spoke from behind us.

"!?"

I turned around to see a maid stand behind us.

"Argh!"

"Kya!"

"...Do I look that scary?"

The maid answered our screams of terror with a mildly disappointed expression. No, that's not the point, the point is, since when has she been standing there?

"I knocked five times, but no one answered, so I had no choice but to let myself in."

No... Even if all my focus was on Haruka, it was impossible for me to not know if someone had come into the room. This maid is scary.

"Ha,Hazuki-san, is there anything you need?"

Haruka hurriedly changed the subject.

"Yes. Mika-sama just returned and has something to talk to you about, are you free right now?"

"Hmm? Mika?"

"Yes."

Haruka was a little confused.

"Umm...Haruka, who's Mika?"

"Hmm? Ah, I haven't told Yuuto-san about her, she's my sister."

"Sister? I didn't know that Haruka has a sister."

"Yes, she's in the second year of middle school."

Not that she mentioned it, Nobunaga seemed to have mentioned it to me some time ago.

"I'm sorry, I'll go over to Mika's for a while......"

"Mm, I got it."

"I'm really sorry...I'll be right back, please relax and rest here for a little while."

After Haruka and the maid left, I was the only one left in the room.

Haruka wants me to relax, but I was unable to calm myself down in such a big room, feeling like a lab rat that has just been released from its cage into a huge laboratory.

It was really boring to just sit here, so I decided to take a tour around the room.

The first thing I looked at was the the large piano in the middle of the room. The maid had said that it's a Steinway grand piano...anyway, this is a branded piano that costs around 20 million yen, something my family could never afford. Even if we could afford it, we don't have anywhere to put it.

"..."

I suddenly felt this strong sense of defeat as I couldn't help but shift my gaze away from the piano.

I walked towards the bookshelf opposite the piano.

There were many music scores placed on the shelf, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, I only knew the composers that my music teacher at school had introduced to the class.

"Could it be......that Haruka can play all of these pieces?"

<<Twelve Super Technical Practice Pieces>>...Although some of the scores sounded extremely hard, but I guess Haruka should be able to play all of them right? She was probably playing a super technical practice piece the last time I heard her play in the music room.

All of a sudden, I saw a book without a title hidden between the music scores. This book was covered with a classy white cloth, and was obviously treated more importantly than the music scores.

"What's this?

I was curious as to the true identity of the book.

I took the book down from the shelf and unwrapped the cloth around it.

"..."

It was a comic book.

"...This..."

No, to be precise, this should be a comic magazine, it's an old magazine that's the same size as a music score. The name of the magazine is,

<<Innocent Smile>> First Edition.

--Ah, that's the one.

Looking at the name of this magazine, I was reminded of how Haruka and I snuck into the school library at midnight about two months ago. This is something that Haruka loves, the magazine that started everything. The magazine had 'First Edition', so it should be the one that I saw at the library the other time, the magazine that got Haruka interested in the world of anime and manga. This magazine was the only thing worthy of Haruka's careful protection.

The magazine in Haruka's memory...

My gaze locked onto a smiling long-haired girl on the cover of the magazine.

"...Hmm?"

She attracted my attention deeply.

Why would I be attracted to that drawing? I don't know, but it seems to have awakened some distant memory in my mind.

"Yuuto-san, Mika wants to say hello, would you mind?"

Haruka's voice came from outside the room.

"Of course I won't mind!"

I don't have a reason to reject a person who wants to say hello to me, and I'm also rather interested in Haruka's sister. I should think that her sister would be just like her, a natural Ojou-sama right?

"Is that so, Mika will be really happy. Let's go in, Mika!"

"Alright!"

A lively girl walked in from the other side of the door.

"Hmm? This..."

"Hehe, good afternoon, Onii-san, we meet again!"

It's the girl who drew the map for me! She's Haruka's sister?

"Ah, don't be so surprised! Onii-san's such a naive person. Didn't I said 'see you soon'?"

She did say something like that. But...How could she have known that I was Haruka's friend?

Seeing that I was still confused, the girl came over and whispered into my ear.

(Because only my sister could draw such a demonic-looking map, plus her name was on the map.)

...Ah, so that's how it is.

(And also, Onee-san had mentioned that a guest would be coming today.)

The girl giggled again. Her innocent expression was exactly the same as Haruka's, proving that they were indeed sisters.

"...Demonic-looking drawing?"

Haruka asked confusedly.

"Ah, it's nothing. Onee-san, introduce him to me!"

"You're right, but it looks like the two of you already know each other...Yuuto-san, she's the sister I was talking to you about earlier..."

"I'm Nogizaka Mika, fourteen years old this year. My hobbies are playing the violin and rearing wild boars. Onii-san, please take good care of me!"

"..."

I seemed to have heard something impossible when she was talking about her hobbies. Well, I guess I should just pretend that I didn't hear anything!

After putting my own feelings in order, I started to introduce myself.

"Mm, I'm Ayase Yuuto, Haruka's classmate, please good care of me as well."

"Ah...Yuuto-san?"

That's strange, why would Haruka's sister have this kind of reaction to my name?

"Mika, he's older than you, it's rude to address him by his name..."

"It's alright, I don't mind, it's just that...is my name very weird?"

"Ah, hehe, it's that..."

"?"

"It's nothing much, just that you call Onee-san 'Haruka'."

Haruka's sister, Mika, looked at Haruka and I with strange smile on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Nope, it's just that there aren't a lot of guys who refer to Onee-san so intimately..."

Is that so? Well, everyone in school does seem to address Haruka as either Nogizaka-san, Haruka-sama, or the 'Nuit Étoile', and if a guy wanted to address her by her name directly, he'll have to go through the same punishment as I did (rolled up into a grass mat and thrown into the water). If I wasn't a guy who liked to step on such landmines, we probably won't have such a relationship right?

"It's......It's nothing special! It's just that, Yuuto-san is my classmate, and, we're friends, so.......so......"

"Hmm, Yuuto-san...it's my first time hearing Onee-san calling a guy by his name."

From Haruka's faltering answer, I could see how the relationship between this pair of sisters worked.

Seeing that Haruka was uncertain as to what to do, I decided to step in.

"Don't make any wild guesses, Haruka and I are just friends."

In truth, this explanation wasn't exactly correct, but since Haruka's family didn't know about her special hobby, so this should be how our relationship should look like on the surface shouldn't it?

"Onee-san, is that right?"

"Ye...Yes, we're just friends, our relationship isn't that spe......special."

Haruka answered in a suspicious manner.

Mika looked at Haruka as she gave a suggestive smile.

"Hmm, I see, so that's how it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Nope, nothing. If this continues, I think I'll be able to dig out all sorts of interesting things, but since I've gotten the gist of things, I'll let the two of you off today.

Oh, right! Onii-chan, please call me Mika from now on!"

"Got it."

"Great."

Haruka's sister was surprisingly different from her. If Haruka's the moon, then her sister would surely be the sun.

After that, I never got to touch my books again.

Under pressure from Mika, we played monopoly, international chess, and pieced puzzles together......and spent several hours like that.

"Mika, Yuuto-san's here to study."

"Ah, it's alright, just a while, just let Onii-chan play with me for a while longer."

"You..."

Although Haruka's tone carried a hint of displeasure, she actually didn't seem to mind it much.

"Yuuto-san, I'm really sorry, Mika usually doesn't warm up to people she just met for the first time. If you don't mind, please play with her a while longer..."

"I'm alright with it."

"Yay, then lets play poker cards next."

And thus, I ended up feeling as though I was here to play instead of studying, but...I guess it's not a bad thing to just relax and enjoy myself! There should still be sufficient time to prepare for the mid-term exams next week, things will surely work out (I'm just running away from reality).

It was already evening when I looked at the time.

Haruka invited me to stay for dinner, but as I had a problematic sister who would go out of control if she wasn't fed at home (sometimes a problematic music teacher would be there as well), I had no choice but to regretfully reject her invitation.

"I see, that's such a pity."

"I'm really sorry to reject your invitation like this, I'll make sure to prepare dinner for her before I come next time."'''(!)'''

"Prepare dinner? Yuuto-san, do you have a dog at home?"

"Ah, yes..."

The two were similar in that 'both need to be taken care of', but 'she' would probably be unhappy about being put on the same level as a dog.

"A dog...Ah, that's right, there's still a bit of the plum pudding we had earlier left. If you don't mind it, please bring it back for your dog."

"No, I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"No, not at all, please don't stand on ceremony, I think your dog will like it."

Haruka jogged out of the room to tell Hazuki-san about the plum pudding. She really seems to think that I have a dog at home.

"Well, I guess she's not far off the mark..."

There isn't a lot of difference between the two anyway.

"Onii-san, come over for a while!"

"Hmm?"

Mika beckoned towards me. Could it be that she wants to show me Haruka's childhood photos while she's out of the room?

I went over expectantly.

"Onii-san, did you have fun on your date at Akihabara?"

"!?"

She suddenly asked me something like that.

"You went on a date with Onee-san right? That's great, did the two of you hold hands? Did you guys kiss?"

My tongue got tied into a knot due to the flurry of questions thrown at my direction; why would she know about that?

"You..."

"What are you talking about..."

"Hehehe, there's no point in pretending, I know everything."

"Pre,pretending? What are you talking about..."

Since she mentioned Akihabara, she must be referring to the shopping trip that I went with Haruka last month, she can't be referring to anything else. But, how would she know about that? Even if she was trying to get me to divulge certain information, but don't you think that it's a little too accurate?

Mika probably saw through my inner dismay as she continued with her next wave of attack.

"Hmm, you're still pretending? But I have proof you know. It should be the Sunday of that long weekend right? Because Onee-san happily went out wearing her new clothes on that day you know."

Seeing my trepidation, Mika gave me the finishing blow.

"Onee-san even prepared a special 'shopping bookmark' for Onii-san, you know, that demonic-looking drawing."

"..."

I had no choice but to confess.

"How do you know about that......"

Seeing that I finally admitted defeat, Mika flashed a victorious smile.

"Hehehe, because I saw the 'shopping bookmark'! But it's not my fault, because Onee-san placed it on the table in the living room right in the full view of everyone."

"......"

"I took a look at it and saw two copies of the 'shopping bookmark'. One copy had 'specially for Yuuto-san'. At that time, I was still wondering who that mysterious 'Yuuto-san' was..... Until I heard from Onee-san that a guest named 'Yuuto-san' was coming today."

"Ah......I see."

I understand now, If it really was like this, then of course Mika would know about our shopping trip.

It was really something that Haruka would do, absentmindedly forgetting something on the living room table. Though Haruka looked to be perfect on the surface, she had an inclination to slip up at important moments. But I was already used to this inclination of hers.

"Right--Could I ask you something?"

".......Please do."

Right now, I don't think any question would make me more surprised than I already am now.

"Onii-san, you also know about Onee-san's secret right?"

"Eh......"

This was something I wasn't expecting.

Speaking of Haruka's secret, she could only be referring to one thing, should I just answer her? No, Haruka's family do not know about her secret don't they? Or did Haruka tell Mika? God......I'm getting more confused by the minute.

"Onii-san, so do you?

"About this.......no......"

"Ah, just by looking at you I think that you should know about it. You'll be better off if you were more honest."

Mika said as she tickled my sides.

"Hey......Hey......I'm really ticklish!"

"Then answer my question! Hehehe"

"Ughahahahahahaha......Stop......Stop it......."

"hehehe"

After a few minutes of fooling around, Mika asked me again with a serious expression.

"Onii-san, please answer me seriously. Do you know about Onee-san's secret?"

"......"

Although I hesitated for a moment, but I still decided to tell the truth. Because something about Mika's gaze told me that I should.

"......I know about Haruka's secret. I stumbled onto it by mistake, but Haruka told me everything after that."

"I see."

Mika's expression brightened considerably.

"Mm. I guessed as much. A woman's instinct is the most accurate thing in the world."

Mika smiled as she explained her rationale.

"Then, can I ask a question now?"

"Sure, what do you want to ask?"

"How do you know about Haruka's secret? She hasn't told her family has she?"

Although she might have guessed by looking at the 'shopping bookmark', but Mika's tone suggested that she has known about it for a long time already.

"Ah, about that."

Mika gave a slightly exasperated smile.

"Hmm......Onee-san did try very hard to hide it, but Hazuki-san and I have known about it for ages, because Onee-san never tells lies. I think my parents are the only ones who have not found out about it yet. But I know that Onee-san really wants to hide this secret of hers, so I haven't told her that I know her secret."

She didn't even stumble over such a long line of words. Mika thinks extremely far for a girl of her age......looks like she's a really good sister. In comparison, I really want to exchange my sister for a bag of toilet rolls.

I finally understood how Mika came to know of Haruka's secret.

But there was still one last thing that I didn't know.

"Why did you assume that I also know Haruka's secret?"

Regarding this, Mika should have been rather confident of my answer before asking me. But I already had been very careful in hiding the fact that I knew.

"This is easy. Onee-san would never invite someone who doesn't know of her secret to Akihabara, and she even prepared a special demonic drawing......Ah, no, I mean, she even prepared a special hand-drawn map."

"......You're right."

Her explanation made a lot of sense.

"And......even if I don't go down that line of thought, it's easy to guess at the truth from Onee-san's facial expression."

"Facial expression?"

"Yes. Because I've never seen such a happy expression on Onee-san's face before, until today. That expression means that she's giving you her heart. It definitely means that she's giving her heart to you. I guess that's because she's able to show her true self in front of you."

"......The real Haruka......you say?"

The Haruka that I see, is more real than the 'Nuit Étoile' that people in school sees......Is it because of the fact that I know her secret? I've only noticed recently that Haruka's actions in school are a little awkward, and that even when she's smiling, there's a small distance between the other students and her.

"I believe that Onee-san doesn't dislike Onii-san, and that this is something she's clear about, I also believe in my own assessment that Onii-san's a good person."

"Mm."

Both of them say that I'm a good person when I'm not as good as they think I am.

"Onii-san."

Mika's expression suddenly changed, as she looked at me with a serious expression on her face.

"No matter what happens......please don't abandon Onee-san."

"Abandon......"

About that......No matter how you look at it, it should be the other way round isn't it? Because Haruka is the 'Nuit Étoile', while I'm just an average student!

But Mika shook her head.

"Onee-san had a period of painful memories when the people around her found out about her secret. Because everyone around her felt that she should be a perfect Ojou-sama. In other words, they forcibly expect Onee-san to be the perfect person that they imagine her to be, which is why they would abandon her once their perfect image of Onee-san has been shattered. In actual fact, Onee-san's just a clumsy girl with a strange hobby.

Perhaps......it's really like what Mika says. There's a Haruka fan club in school, but how many of those fan club members would know about this side of Haruka? And how many of them would be able to look at her the same way they did before once they know about this side of her? A girl who gets addicted to capsule machines, who loves to read weird manga, who cries because she wasn't able to buy the game console that she wanted......This would never be part of the image of the 'Nuit Étoile' that everyone in school has of Haruka.

"I think the Onee-san needs someone beside her who doesn't look at her through coloured lens, so......no matter what happens, please be good friends with Onee-san, because I......never want to see an abandoned Onee-san crying ever again......"

Mika bowed to me as she spoke.

Mika really cares about Haruka. I can see that she's a really good girl from the way she speaks and her attitude towards me.

"......Don't worry, I will never abandon Haruka."

I placed my hand on Mika's head and told her using my kindest voice.

"Mm......"

Although I hesitated for a moment, but I still decided to tell Mika about my feelings.

"Because Haruka's a very important friend of mine, and also......"

"And also?"

"......I......I think she's very cute. Whether it's her natural clumsiness or her strange hobby, I think she's really cute."

If I didn't feel this way, then I wouldn't have gotten into so many incidents in the two months after I found out about Haruka's secret (Breaking into the school at midnight, being ignored by all the members of Haruka's fan club etc)

"Onii-san......You're just like what I thought you would be like!"

Mika happily shouted as she hugged me tightly. The twin tails at the side of her head swished past my nose, bringing with it the same scent that Haruka has, probably pointing to the fact that they use the same shampoo. For a moment, I had the impression that the person in my lap was Haruka, and that......

Just at this moment......

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The door opened with a click, announcing Haruka's return.

"The doggie's present has been prepared......Huh?"

"Ha......Haruka......"

Haruka walked in with a paper bag in her hands, her gaze coming to rest on Mika and I.

"Haruka, no, this is......"

This is the worst timing. Because from an objective point of view, it looks as though I'm the one who's hugging (or attacking) Mika.

"Mi......Mika! Say something!"

"Onii-san felt that I was too cute for words, so he suddenly hugged me. And then situation just continued as how such situations would continue, kya~"

Now's not the time to 'kya~'!

Not knowing what to do, my body stiffened like a husband caught in bed with a lover by his wife, but Haruka merely smiled.

"That's enough, Mika, you shouldn't trouble Yuuto-san anymore."

"Alright~!"

Mika let go of me as she gave a mischievious look, while Haruka continued smiling at Mika, what's going on?

"......Haruka, you're not angry?"

"Hmm? Why should I be angry?"

Haruka replied me confusedly, as though a question mark suddenly popped up in her head. It looks like she doesn't think that there was anything wrong with Mika hugging me......

For some unknown reason, I suddenly felt extremely sad.

"Onee-san's really slow about such things."

Mika latched onto my arm as she nodded knowingly.

"This is one of Onee-san's good points, as well as one of her bad points."

"?"

"Ah~ It's nothing if Onee-san doesn't understand. Onii-san, the most important thing is still......"

"Hmm?"

Mika turned her gaze from Haruka to me as she said with a serious expression on her face,

"I know that Onee-san frequently gets into accidents, but......no matter what happens, please take good care of her......Onii-san~! (This Onii-san is different from the other Onii-sans as Mika's calling Yuuto 'brother-in-law')

Is it just me, or did that last 'onii-san' sound a little different from the ones that came before it? Or did I hear wrongly? I must be be imagining things.

"Then......I'll see you tomorrow."

Haruka, who saw me to the door, said her goodbyes reluctantly.

"This is the leftover pudding that we had in the afternoon, and some other presents."

A hand-drawn hellhound looked at me with demented eyes beside the words 'For Doggie-san' on the package that Haruka gave me. Looks like the contents of this package must be something extremely valuable.

"Then......I'll see you to the train station......"

"Even though I'll really like that, but I don't think you need to. It's not a long way to the train station, so I'll be able to get there by myself."

I rejected Haruka's suggestion reluctantly since it's only ten minutes to the train station (while it took me twenty minutes to get to the entrance from the 'castle' in the Nogizaka residence)

"Onii-san, be careful on your way back!"

"Please come again soon."

Mika and Hazuki-san also came to see me off.

"Goodbye."

"I waved to the three of them before turning to walk towards the train station.

Just like that, I had a beautiful day.

Not only did I get to meet two interesting people, Hazuki-san and Mika, I also got much closer to Haruka. Although I got lost on my way to Haruka's home, jumped on from the back by that soundless maid, and also interrogated mercilessly by Mika, today was a beautiful day for me.

I hope that I'll have more days like this in the future.

What comes after this is not important to the story at all.

When I gave Haruka's present to the doggie-san in my home......

"Wow, this is delicious! The pudding's good, but the smoked meat is great to go together with Japanese sake. Although the taste is a little too light for my liking, but the person giving the present has been generous enough, so I'll probably be struck down by heaven if I complain anymore."

"......Smoked meat?"

So there was something like that in the package? Oh, right, Haruka mentioned something about other presents.

I suddenly had a bad feeling about the package! I peeked at the 'thing' beside my sister.

It was a paper bag that read 'High class beef jerky'. Only thing is......it also read 'for dogs'.

"......Argh!"

I was lucky that my drunk sister didn't notice as she happily stuffed the beef jerky into her mouth. And so I kept my eye on my sister as I quietly transferred the beef from the paper bag into another plastic bag before throwing the paper bag into the dustbin (to destroy any evidence). Because if my sister found out......she'll kill me.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Ah,it's......it's nothing, it won't taste as nice if it gets wet, so I placed it in another bag."

"Oh, thank you."

After saying a rare 'thank you', my sister reached for the beef jerky again. Looks like she really likes the taste of this beef jerky (for dogs).

Oh well, it's not like she'll die from eating it. And I've also heard that recently, pet food is becoming even classier than human food, so I guess it won't be a problem right?

"......I think I'll go sleep now, you should sleep early!"

"Alright, I'll go sleep when I finish this bottle."

Just like that, I was able to leave the living room without getting killed.

In the end, the beef jerky (for dogs) that Haruka gave me that day, all went into Ruko's stomach.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter3

2010-12-17T10:13:47Z

Dagger: Probably 'maid'

===Chapter 3===

Although it was good to have sunny weather even after going into the monsoon season in June, the result of going into summer so early was that it became extremely hot. This was something that happened on the day that I got so fed up with the heat that I wanted to move to Australia to play with the Kangeroos and Koalas.

After school, I mustered up all my strength to clean up the music preparation room.

Firstly, I sorted the vaious papers into their respective categories, placing them back on the shelves and then I pulled out an amplifier from under the abadoned-looking conductor's stand. When I lifted a piece of music score from the teacher's table, a cloud of dust suddenly burst into the air like snowflakes.

"Cough Cough......"

The music preparation room looked as though it had been completely abandoned, just like the house of a useless men whose wife had divorced him and then kicked him out of the house.

"My god......"

I couldn't help but mutter.

I knew that the situation would be bad, but I would never have imagined that it was this bad. Looks like I've underestimated the potential ability of that person.

Looking at the music preparation room that could never be cleaned up, I sighed deeply.

As to why I'm cleaning up this place, it's all because of the owner of this room, the music teacher who is also my class teacher (A woman whom I have no resistance against).

I'll have to start from three hours ago.

"Yuu-kun~Are you free today?"

After the homeroom period, I had finished packing my bag and was just about to head home when the music teacher came looking for me. Her voice was as silky as the purr of a cat that was having it's chin rubbed by its master.

"No I'm not. My schedule is completely packed. I have absolutely no free time at all."

"I have a favour to ask of Yuu-kun~"

"I don't want to do it."

"If you're willing to do it, Onee-san will reward you for it~"

"I don't think I have a need for your reward."

"I have three types of set meals for you to choose from, how about that?"

"...I'm going home."

Since she pretended not to hear what I was talking about, I decided to just ignore this idiot and go home.

"Wait......Wait up!"

My arm was caught in a vice-grip, this is not good.

"...What?"

"I've already said that I have a favour to ask of you."

"And haven't I already said that I'm not interested?"

Nothing good ever comes out of doing her 'favours'. I speak from my personal experience.

"Don't say that. Why don't you hear me out first?"

Looks like she won't let go of me unless I hear her out. I don't have a choice but to nod my head reluctantly.

"...Fine, I'm only going to listen though."

"Mm~Onee-san loves it when you say that."

She pressed me into her sizeable bust. The soft feel that came into contact with my cheek, and the flowery smell that floated into my nostrils was indeed extremely tempting, but if I were to admit defeat here, I would have fallen right into Yukari's trap.

"What do you want to say exactly?"

In response to my question, Yukari gave a strange expression before saying,

"To be honest~The year director gave me a direct order today~"

"What kind of order?"

"He wants me to clean up the music preparation room by today."

"...Goodbye."

I only managed to turn away before my arm was caught by Yukari's vice-like grip again.

"Wait! Why are you trying to run away before I finish what I have to say~"

"I already know what you want, you want me to help you clean don't you? Please clean up by yourself, I've already cleaned the toilet for you before.

"Ah, that's such a pity. Although you're close, but that's not what I'm here for."

"It's not?"

I was sure that I won't be wrong, since all this person does is to trouble others.

Or could it be that I'm wrong?

"Hmm, it's not like that. Because I'm not trying to get you to help me clean, but trying to get you to do it for me."

Just what is going through this person's head!

There should be a limit to how shameless one can be!

"......Please die!"

I was already prepared to run for my life after throwing that phrase at her, but I would never have thought that Yukari would cling on to me for dear life.

"Hang on! I really want to help you, but I have something important going on today."

"What important thing?'

"It's SERAPH's live performance (whispers)!"

"...Huh?"

I thought that I had heard wrongly.

"SERAPH's having a live concert today, and I've already gotten my hands on the VIP ticket that I pre-ordered six months ago, so if I'm unable to go, I'll die because of this unfufilled desire."

'...You're serious about this?"

"Of course I am."

Yukari gave me a serious expression that I've never seen before as she replied. On a side note, SERAPH is the name of her favourite visual-kei band.

"Yuu-kun, I'm begging you, I really don't have anyone else to turn to, this is the biggest wish of my life."

Yukari attempted to climb on top of me while begging me with tears in her eyes.

Even though it was her own fault that things have come to this, but I was unable to just leave her in the lurch like that. I guess I don't have a choice but to help her then.

Since I have nothing to do after school today anyway, might as well let Yukari owe me a favour!

"...I've got it, so please stop trying to squash me from above, I'll clean the music preparation room for you alright?"

"Eh? You're willing to do it for me?"

"Yes, I'll help you for the time being."

Upon hearing my answer, the twenty-three years-old female teacher who was a diehard fan of visual-kei bands was filled with happiness.

"Thank you so much Yuu-kun, I love you!"

"...You're welcome."

That's basically what happened.

This is how I come to be cleaning up this heap of trash, but right now, I really regretted my decision.

"This is ridiculous..."

Due to the corrosive influence of the owner of this room, the sparkly clean music preparation room had become a nightmare island of rubbish in merely two months.Feeling despondent, I swiped off a layer of dust off Beethoven's portrait with a duster, while writing the word 'meat' on his dust-covered forehead. This primary-school level prank probably has the legendary musician turning in his grave.

Just as I tiredly prepared to magically wipe of the word that I had written on Beethoven's forehead...

Poron~~

I seem to have heard the sound of a piano.

At first I had thought that I was hearing things, so I just ignored it, but after a while, I realised that there was a melody to the notes. The melody was one that was sounded melancholic at times and and poignant at other times, while sounding sorrowful throughout, and it seemed to be coming from the neighbouring music room.I looked at the clock that was hung up on the wall, it was almost seven o'clock atnight, which means that all the students who were involved in club activities should already have gone home by now. So why would there be anyone playing the piano at this time?

My first thought was of one of the school's seven mysteries - The piano that plays by itself in the music room.

It can't be?

I opened the door of the music preparation room quietly and surveyed the situation in the neighbouring music room. But from my perspective, the position of the piano was in my blind spot, which meant that I was unable to see the person playing the piano (hopefully it is a person playing the piano). But I could now confirm that the sound was indeed coming from the piano.

I hesitated for a moment before deciding to step into the music room. I slowly shuffled towards the piano while praying that a person was indeed playing the piano. As I gazed at the piano, what I saw was actually--

"..."

Haruka.

Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, Haruka was playing the piano.

Probably because she was too engrossed in playing the piano, Haruka did not notice my presence. Her soft fingers nimbly danced across the keyboard as I looked on, mesmerized.

The piece finally finished, Haruka breathed out.

"Good work."

"Ah?"

Haruka jumped at the sound of my clapping, her eyes wide with surprise as though she just saw a rhinoceros beetle in the middle of winter.

"That...That's strange? Why would Yuuto-san be here? There wasn't anyone here when I came in..."

Of course she would be surprised at seeing a person that shouldn't be here after finishing a piece.

I explained my predicament to her.

"Ah,I see, you must be tired."

Haruka's tinkling laughter swept away the tiredness from the cleaning that had built up in my body. She's definitely an angel!

"Speaking of which, why are you still here at this hour?

In comparison, this should be stranger shouldn't it? It's not strange that Haruka would be in the music room, it's the timing that is strange.

"Well...It's complicated..."

Haruka tilted her head slightly as she replied.

"Enlighten me!"

I excitedly requested.

"Alright, I'll tell you then. To be honest, I was reading in the library a while ago when I came across this description of Shakespeare in a world history book..."

"Shakespeare? You mean that playwright?"

"Yes, I really like his works. He left behind an entire collection of brilliant plays, plays like <<Macbeth>> and <<A Midsummer Night's Dream>>.

"Ah...I see."

I nodded while feeling extremely guilty.

Because out of Shakespeare's works, I only know of <<Romeo and Juliet>>, and only a rough outline of the story at that.

"But, how does that tie in with you playing the piano?"

"Because the tempest is mentioned in one of Shakespeare's plays. Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 also carries the name of 'The Tempest', which is why I felt like playing this piece when I saw Shakespeare's name in the book...I also have a performance coming up, so I had wanted to practice a little before I went home."

"I...I see."

Reading -> World History -> Shakespeare -><- The Tempest -->> Piano, so this is how Haruka thinks. A little complicated, but still understandable.

"Do you usually read until this hour?"

If she went straight to the library after school, then she would have read for about three and a half hours, probably longer than the time I read for the entire week.

"Yes, because mid-term exams are coming."

"...Mid-term exams..."

I was roughly hauled back to reality by those words.

Before that moment of enlightenment, I really had forgotten all about the mid-term exams (that is to say, I've been running away from reality the whole while). Two weeks from today, the dreaded mid-term exams will begin.

Although Hakujo Academy has a two-term system, which means that there are only four exams a year, students who failed the exams (thirty percent and below) would be forced to
burn a third of their summer holidays on remedial lessons. Perhaps some people may think that thirty percent is extremely easy to get, but for people who aren't academically talented like me, it is an extremely dangerous obstacle.

"Is Yuuto-san also in the midst of preparing for the mid-term exams?"

"No, I haven't started preparing at all."

Since I just remembered that mid-term exams actually exist, I obviously have not even started on revision.

"Not at all? But you should already have a study plan for the next two weeks right?"

"Well......I'm not very good at things like that."

I really don't like studying, but if I don't study, then I'll have to burn a third of my summer holidays. It's unthinkable to give up a third of one's once-in-a-lifetime seventeen year-old summer holiday and to be stuck in a small classroom with mountains of notes and teachers, whose tempers are hotter than the weather (Why is it that most of the teachers in Hakujo Academy are single and male?).

"Now that I think about it, my notes are not even complete......"

I spend seventy-percent of my time in class daydreaming, so my notes are extremely disorganized and incomplete; one entry in April, the next one in June.

"I've got to borrow someone's notes to photocopy."

Although I said that, but I had no one to borrow from. In the years leading up to this year, the best candidate was Nobunaga (his results are extremely good), but since we're in different classes this year, our notes aren't the same either. I probably have to borrow from the three idiots.

...Looks like it's a matter of life and death.

Seeing that I was getting flustered, Haruka gave a pensive expression as she placed her finger next to the corner of her mouth, her head tilting forty-five degrees to the side.

She held that position for about thirty seconds.

After thirty seconds, Haruka seemed to have thought of something, as she opened her mouth to speak,

"Yuuto-san, why don't we study together?"

"Hmm..."

Study? Haruka and I?

"That's right, if you don't mind, I can lend you my notes to photocopy, even though my notes might not be that complete either..."

No,there would never be anything incomplete about Haruka's notes, for she's always attentive in class.

"That'll be too inconvienient for you..."

My results and Haruka's results were at opposite ends of the academic spectrum, so borrowing her notes would be the vital boost that I desperately need to pass the exams, but this wouldn't benefit Haruka anyway, and could even cause her to be docked points if the teachers found out.

But Haruka shook her head.

"It's not inconvienient at all! Studying is more enjoyable with a partner."

Is that so? I always hear that studying alone would be more efficient. But as long as Haruka doesn't mind, this would be a life-saver.

"...Is it really alright?"

"Of course it is."

Haruka answered without hesitation.

"Then...Thank you very much."

I have to take this chance to turn my results around. If I continue like this, I'm in real danger of landing in remedial classes.

"Then, what about the time and place? You can just pick a time that you're free..."

"Hmm..."

Haruka thought about it for a moment.

"About the time...How about this Sunday? From One O'clock onwards, the place...how about my home?"

"Ah, I'm alright with anything..."

I answered without thinking.

"...Hmm?"

I suddenly realized that there was a strange noun in Haruka's suggestion. Did she just say 'my home...'?

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing..."

My ears must be playing tricks on me. Haruka would never invite me to her home. I must have heard wrongly because I was expecting too much. Mm, it must be like that.

Seeing that I was in agreement, Haruka happily repeated the time and place.

"I'll see you on Sunday then, please don't forget about it!"

And so, I came to Haruka's home on Sunday to study for the mid-term exams.

I got lost.

"This is a map detailing the route to my home, it's only ten minutes away from the train station, so I don't think you'll get lost..."

I should have known something like this would happen the moment I received the hand-drawn map from Haruka, but I was too excited about being able to visit her home that I had completely overlooked the probable result if I were to follow her map. It was already too late when I took out the map at the train station near Haruka's home.

I took out the map that Haruka had given me and saw monstrous creatures and hysterical eight-eyed eels covering most of the map.

A wide-eyed bird-like, sadistic-looking creature was drawn at the side of the map. It had a satanic smile on its face as it drove a sharpened rod into the belly of an eel, the words on the sharpened rod reading 'it's here'.

...What is this? Is it some kind of psychological test for first-timers?

I really feel like crying.

A row of neatly written words at one corner of the map detailed 'Drawn by Haruka'.

Now...what do I do?

I attempted to go forward, but immediately got lost at the first crossroad junction. I wanted to call for help, but Haruka didn't have a cellphone, while I didn't take down the number of her home phone. There was an address written on the map, but since I didn't live around that area, I had no idea where it was, and to make things worse, there wasn't a traffic police in sight.

"I'm dead..."

Just as I was pathetically sitting at the side of the road like a tired bird, somebody called out to me from behind.

"Onii-san,what's wrong?"

I looked back to see a girl looking back at me. She looked like a middle schooler, with a pretty face and eyes that twinkled with charm. Her hair was tied down at the sides into two ponytails, giving her a mischievous but cute look. She would definitely become an extremely pretty girl in a few years.

"You've been groaning for a while now, are you having a stomache? Do you want me to call the funeral car?"

"What, are you planning to send me to the crematorium?"

"Ah! I should be calling the ambulance in this kind of situation."

The girl laughed, but stopped almost immediately as she realized the seriousness of my situation.

"What do I do? I should call for help if you're really not feeling well, shouldn't I?"

She was serious.

"I'm not feeling unwell, I'm just lost..."

I suddenly thought that since this girl looks like she lived in the area, perhaps she would be able to understand the map. Maybe Haruka's map is a perfectly readable map to everyone but me.

And so I hopefully showed the map to the girl, who looked disgusted as she looked at the mep.

"What's this? Demons? Or the Tiger Lady?"

"..."

"Or are these ghosts?"

My last hope was destroyed in a moment...Well, at least I expected this reaction.

"...This...Should be a map."

Hearing the truth, the girl jumped in surprise.

"...A map? This is a map? That's impossible..."

"It's true."

I don't want to believe it either but this is really supposed to be a map.

"Hmm, it still looks like a drawing of ghosts and demons no matter how I look at it."

The girl looked at the map with the look of a person looking at a rare animal. I completely agree with her assessment of the picture.

"Are the giant snakes supposed to be roads? Ah! There's a weirdly shaped thing here! Ah! There're two Karakasas over here."

This girl's really jumpy.

"...Hmm?"

She suddenly quietened down when her gaze stopped on a certain portion of the map.

"...It can't be!"

And then, she mercilessly tore the map to pieces.

"Hey, hey......"

I can understand her painful feelings of wanting to tear the map to pieces, but destroying the map would also destroy any clue that I had to finding my way to the Nogizaka residence.

"Hmm...Onii-san, you'll never get to your destination if you look at this map!"

"Even then......It's better than nothing isn't it?"

"It's definitely better to have nothing than that piece of map! I'll draw a new one for you, do you have any stationary with you?"

After tearing my only hope to pieces, the girl stretched out her right hand towards me. Although I don't know what she intended to do, but since she seemed to be willing to help me draw a new map, I quietly handed her my notebook and a pencil.

I let the girl have a look at the address written on one of the pieces of the map. The girl only took one look before beginning to work.

"This is how it should be."

Her pencil flying over the notebook paper, the girl drew a map for me.

"There, it's finished."

"Huh?"

Compared to Haruka's map, this map was on a completely different level! To be honest, I would even think that even comparing the two maps would be an insult to the girl's map.

"You're really good at drawing..."

Even a monkey could get to Haruka's home with this map.

"Not at all, it's actually a very simple route to your destination, and it should be harder to draw a map that resembles a drawing of demons and ghosts right?"

Though the girl said something like that, but anyone could tell that she was rather pleased with herself.

"But you really saved my life here, thank you."

"You don't have to say that! It's not something to be so grateful about. And also...I'm partly responsible for something like this."

"?"

"Ah, it's......it's nothing! I'll be going now, see you soon, Onii-san."

"Ah, wait!"

Without any hint of acknowledgement, the girl left.

...Just what was that about? Well, at least I'm saved.

It was all thanks to the map that the girl drew for me that I managed to get to the Nogizaka residence safely.

Technically, even though I had already reacher the Nogizaka residence, but...

"What is this..."

That was the first thing that I had to say after reaching the Nogizaka residence.

A huge door was in front of my eyes, along with a line of ridiculously tall walls that extended far beyond my line of sight. From far away, the Nogizaka residence looked like an estate that nobles in the middle-ages lived in, complete with a fountain like the one in <<Roman Holiday>>.

Is this place really in Japan? The estate in front of my eyes really made me question whether this was indeed Japan. I had known that the Nogizakas were rich, but...this is beyond the wildest imagination of normal people.

And that was only the beginning.

Seriously, that was only the beginning.

Immediately after I pressed the doorbell, a maid came out to welcome me. A real maid! Although I had seen cat-eared maids in Akihabara, but a real maid in a real japanese household was right in front of my eyes! I was too shocked for words.

The maid bowed respectfully the moment she saw me.

"Ayase Yuuto-sama right? Haruka-sama is expecting you. Please enter."

"Ye...Yes..."

I didn't even have the time to be moved over being addressed as 'sama' for the first time in my life before I was whisked into the huge garden. Whoa! The garden of the Nogizaka residence was like a forest, with bubbling streams running through the residence like a natural park.

"This way please."

After walking through the huge garden, I finally stepped foot into the residence itself. The residence looked like a castle from the outside, and even more from the inside.I've never been in hall with such a highly vaulted ceiling, and the luxurious decorations, ancient armor sets and art pieces were completely unknown to the son of a working class family like me.

"Wow, this is great..."

The Nogizaka residence was ridiculously luxurious.

Just as I was stupified by the impressive entrance hall, the maid told me something extremely scary.

"Please follow closely behind me, it'll be dangerous if you get lost."

Could this place be a huge labyrinth? Judging by the scale of the place, a direction-idiot like me would probably die if I got lost here. I do not wish to get lost and embarrass myself in this place.

Following behind the maid, I turned seven corners, walked through two long corridors, went up and down three flights of stairs, finally reaching the living room (because the hall was extremely large, I didn't know if this was the living room or still the entrance hall), and finally met Haruka. I spent twenty whole minutes from the moment I stepped into the residence to get to the living room...It's ridiculous!

"Ah, Yuuto-san, welcome."

Haruka was wearing a white summer dress as she smiled at me, standing up from an ancient-looking sofa in the middle of the room.

"Hazuki-san, thank you for bring Yuuto-san here."

"It's nothing, I'm merely doing my job."

The maid answered expressionlessly.

"Please sit down and make yourself at home."

In accordance with the maid's directions, I sat down on the sofa. What a soft sofa!

"Would you like some tea?"

"Ah, would you mind?"

Haruka replied to the maid's suggestion.

"Not at all. Which kind of tea leaves would you like to use."

"Hmm, how about two pots of Royal Bengal Tigers?"

"What about snacks? We have Madeleine,plum pudding,and Victorian cakes in the kitchen right this moment."

"We'll have the plum pudding."

"Alright, please wait for about ten minutes."

The maid left after receiving her orders from Haruka. I couldn't understand more than half of the vocabulary that they used in their conversation. Royal Bengal Tiger? Is that the name of a monster?"

"Please wait for a moment, Hazuki-san makes really good black tea."

...It's actually the name of a tea.

I've only ever drank canned and bottled black tea, so I wasn't knowledgeable about the different types of tea at all, perhaps it's actually a very common type of tea?

Exactly ten minutes later, the maid returned.

She placed the cups and pudding in front of us before standing behind Haruka like a statue.

Haruka then turned to face the maid.

"Hmm...Let me introduce her to you. This is Sakurazaka Hazuki-san, she's the head maid, in charge of our accomodation."

'Head' maid? So you're saying that there are more of these maids?"

"I am Sakurazaka Hazuki, it's an honour to meet you."

The maid gave a perfect bow together with her perfect greeting, but her face remainded expresionless throughout. Mm...Looking at how she interacted with Haruka a while ago, she seems to be the calm and collected type. Although she's really pretty, but she seems to be hard to interact with. I was quietly assessing her.

"Hazuki-san looks to be a strict person, but she's actually really gentle."

Did Haruka say that in response to what I was thinking in my head?

"A while back, she fed the leftovers from dinner to a stray cat. She almost always goes to the pet shop on rest days. Her hobby is collecting stuffed toys, so her room is filled with cute stuffed toys."

Stuffed toys? Hmm...I really couldn't imagine such a strict-looking person would have a room full of stuffed toys and even name each and every one of them.

"...Haruka-san, I can hear you."

Hazuki-san retorted softly. Hmm? She's actually blushing!

Ah~Hazuki-san's blushing."

"......I'm not."

She seems to be a little lost as to what she should do.

The three of us talked for a while longer.

After talking to Hazuki-san, I realised that although she looked stern, she wasn't hard to interact with, as she'll answer your questions and react to your jokes (she doesn't laugh, but at least there's a reaction). But the only thing that bothered me was that her expression almost never changes, means that you'll never know what she's actually thinking. But to that, Haruka said that 'You'll learn how to read the small changes in her expression once you get to know her better.' Hmm...Is that really the case?

So much had happened that I almost forgot what I was here for. I am here to study for the mid-term exams, not to get a feel of the upper-class lifestyle.

To achieve our original aim, we moved to Haruka's room after finishing our refreshments (I won't go into detail about the other halls, the dance floor and the mini cinema that I saw on my way there).

So this is Haruka's room...It's surprisingly normal.

Haruka's room is about thirty tatamis large, with a huge piano in the middle of the room and a luxurious-looking bed in a corner. Of course,this kind of room wouldn't be considered 'normal' in the usual sense, the normal that I'm referring to is the lack of any sign of Akihabara-influences in the room.

"Ah, please make yourself at home, I'll bring out the table."

Haruka said to me before she walked into a hidden closet to bring out the table. Judging by the size of that closet, it's probably bigger than my entire room.

I sat on the expensive-looking carpet before looking around the room once again. No matter how I look, this was the normal room of the daughter of a rich family, no Akihabara references to be seen anywhere.

This was really a room that looked like it belonged to the 'Nuit étoile', It would indeed be extremely strange if Haruka's room was like Nobunaga's with posters, manga, novels and figurines all stewn around the place.

Haruka brought the table out at this moment, so I asked,

"There doesn't seem to be any posters in this room."

"Ah, that's because..."

Haruka stopped abruptly. Hmm? Did I just ask something I should not have asked?

"Those things are really cute, and I really want to display them in my room if it were possible......but......I don't have a choice, because my family doesn't know about my hobby."

"Huh?"

Even her family doesn't know?

"My parents.......especially my father, he's extremely strict, so he'll probably throw all my anime posters and figurines away if he saw them. Because he thinks that these things are bad for my education, so I can't put them in places that are obvious."

Haruka lowered her head as she explained.

That's......really too bad for Haruka. I seem to have gained an insight as to why Haruka lacks some common sense. And that's also because there's nothing that could be classified as entertainment in this room right? No television, no computer, this must be the reason why Haruka doesn't have a cellphone either.

"Oh right, is your family at home?"

I suddenly thought of her family.

If her father is at home, then I better go and pay my respects to him, or he'll think that I'm a good-for-nothing who's here to corrupt his precious daughter if he sees me.

"I'm the only one at home today. Father's at the Pentagon, mother's teaching at the cooking school that she runs, it'll probably be midnight when they return. My grandfather's in Hokkaido hunting bears, so he left in the morning......."

"......"

My god! Just what kind of person is her father? I could possibly disappear from the face of the earth if I make one wrong move.

Not noticing my feelings, Haruka happily continued talking,

"So you can relax, just treat this place as your own home. Let's start with english, since it'll be tested on the first day of the mid-term exams."

Haruka really wasn't the top student in the level for nothing, as she nonchalantly did her own set of practice questions while helping me with the foundation questions given by the school, pointing out my mistakes and explaining the solution to me at the same time.

"Ah this is a special usage of the future tense, so you can translate it as "After moving to the city,he never went back to his home village ever again", that is to say, he might have invested a large sum of money after he moved to the city, but it turned out to be a failed investment, and not able to find a job, he could only work part-time in a convienience store. And in the end, because his landlord refused to renew the rental contract, he got kicked out of his apartment, and so he died alone in a public park, with his dreams of returning to his home village as a rich man shattered.

"Hmm,mm...I see......"

"This question tests your ability to differentiate between verbs and adverbs, and in comparison with the former "stopped to smoke", the meaning of the latter is "to stop smoking". Which is to say that the firet sentence refers a middle-age smoker who's in the late stages of nicotine poisoning and couldn't help but stop for a smoke at the roadside or some other place where it's illegal to smoke, and got fined for it. As for the second sentence, it refers to a person who really liked to smoke, but later quit smoking for the sake of his child, and now hates smoking to the extent that he'll want to kill anyone who smokes in front of his child."

"...Hmm, even though I won't know about the middle-aged man's condition regarding nicotine poisoning, but I guess that's probably it..."

Although Haruka was teaching me this whole time, our study session was proceeding rather smoothly. Even when she was teaching me, her right hand was still writing down the answers to her own practice questions.

"Oh, and this is..."

Just as Haruka-sensei was about to launch into her n-th explanation of the day, her left hand suddenly knocked my eraser off the table and onto the carpet.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Haruka stretched to pick up the eraser, but I was closer to it,

"It's alright, I'll pick it up."

"No, I'll..."

Miraculously,we reached for the eraser at the same time.

"..."

"..."

My fingers came into contact with something soft. Definitely not my eraser.

My heart started pumping into overdrive.

"Ah......I......"

"I......I'm sorry!"

I hurridly pulled my hand back, my heart still beating furiously as though I was on drugs and overheating. My face was also burning up as though I just came out of a hot spring.

What's going on! What a strange atmosphere! I looked over and saw Haruka blushing furiously, just like that time in the small park at Akihabara...If I were to describe the atmosphere in terms of colours, then the middle of this room would be covered in a shade of pink...

Haruka's slightly moist eyes were right in front of me.

Now that I think about it, right now, Haruka and I were the only ones in this room. By the only ones, I mean that there isn't anyone other than the two teenagers in this enclosed space. From this, the keyword that we'll naturally think about it......Secret room murder?

Not that! But if it's not that keyword, then I really can't think of any other keyword that's so, encompassing.

No,it's not the time to bash myself over my lack of imagination.

Anyway, I have to think of a way to pull away from this pink-shaded atmosphere, because if this goes on, my sense of reason will fly off like a satellite that's gone off-course, all the way to the other end of the universe...... Alright, to calm myself down, I shall start counting prime numbers. Starting from 0......Hmm, is 0 even a prime number?

Shouldn't I be starting from 1? Hmm, that doesn't sound right either...

My brain suddenly got itself into a knot.

My mathematics results are so bad that my math teacher came to me with tears running down his cheeks, 'I'm begging you, even if you're able to promote to the third year, please don't come for the science class mathematics lesson, alright?' That's basically a guarantee letter certifying that I'm an idiot.

......I'm so pathetic to call myself an idiot.

I turned to look at Haruka's face feeling sorry for myself and realized that Haruka was also looking at me.

Our eyes met! Haruka's face reddened even more, as she fidgeted around in her seat and looked away awkwardly before closing her eyes slowly as though preparing herself...... That's strange, why did Haruka close her eyes?

Another ten seconds passed like this.

Hmm...it'll would be an insult to Haruka if I were to do nothing at this juncture wouldn't it? I've never been in such a suggestive situation before, so I really don't know what to do.

Now that it has come down to this, I only have two choices, either I go with the flow and don't think about the consequences, or I pretend to fall asleep. After struggling with myself for a while (that is to say, after my mental condition deteriorated for a while), I was about to choose the first choice when...!!

"Please forgive me for breaking the nice atmosphere between the two of you."

Someone suddenly spoke from behind us.

"!?"

I turned around to see a maid stand behind us.

"Argh!"

"Kya!"

"...Do I look that scary?"

The maid answered our screams of terror with a mildly disappointed expression. No, that's not the point, the point is, since when has she been standing there?

"I knocked five times, but no one answered, so I had no choice but to let myself in."

No... Even if all my focus was on Haruka, it was impossible for me to not know if someone had come into the room. This maid is scary.

"Ha,Hazuki-san, is there anything you need?"

Haruka hurridly changed the subject.

"Yes. Mika-sama just returned and has something to talk to you about, are you free right now?"

"Hmm? Mika?"

"Yes."

Haruka was a little confused.

"Umm...Haruka, who's Mika?"

"Hmm? Ah, I haven't told Yuuto-san about her, she's my sister."

"Sister? I didn't know that Haruka has a sister."

"Yes, she's in the second year of middle school."

Not that she mentioned it, Nobunaga seemed to have mentioned it to me some time ago.

"I'm sorry, I'll go over to Mika's for a while......"

"Mm, I got it."

"I'm really sorry...I'll be right back, please relax and rest here for a little while."

After Haruka and the maid left, I was the only one left in the room.

Haruka wants me to relax, but I was unable to calm myself down in such a big room, feeling like a lab rat that has just been released from its cage into a huge laboratory.

It was really boring to just sit here, so I decided to take a tour around the room.

The first thing I looked at was the the large piano in the middle of the room. The maid had said that it's a Steinway grand piano...anyway, this is a branded piano that costs around 20 million yen, something my family could never afford. Even if we could afford it, we don't have anywhere to put it.

"..."

I suddenly felt this strong sense of defeat as I couldn't help but shift my gaze away from the piano.

I walked towards the bookshelf opposite the piano.

There were many music scores placed on the shelf, Beethovan, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, I only knew the composers that my music teacher at school had introduced to the class.

"Could it be......that Haruka can play all of these pieces?"

<<Twelve Super Technical Practice Pieces>>...Although some of the scores sounded extremely hard, but I guess Haruka should be able to play all of them right? She was probably playing a super technical practice piece the last time I heard her play in the music room.

All of a sudden, I saw a book without a title hidden between the music scores. This book was covered with a classy white cloth, and was obviously treated more importantly than the music scores.

"What's this?

I was curious as to the true identity of the book.

I took the book down from the shelf and unwrapped the cloth around it.

"..."

It was a comic book.

"...This..."

No, to be precise, this should be a comic magazine, it's an old magazine that's the same size as a music score. The name of the magazine is,

<<Innocent Smile>> First Edition.

--Ah, that's the one.

Looking at the name of this magazine, I was reminded of how Haruka and I snuck into the school library at midnight about two months ago. This is something that Haruka loves, the magazine that started everything. The magazine had 'First Edition', so it should be the one that I saw at the library the other time, the magazine that got Haruka interested in the world of anime and manga. This megazine was the only thing worthy of Haruka's careful protection.

The magazine in Haruka's memory...

My gaze locked onto a smiling long-haired girl on the cover of the magazine.

"...Hmm?"

She attracted my attention deeply.

Why would I be attracted to that drawing? I don't know, but it seems to have awakened some distant memory in my mind.

"Yuuto-san, Mika wants to say hello, would you mind?"

Haruka's voice came from outside the room.

"Of course I won't mind!"

I don't have a reason to reject a person who wants to say hello to me, and I'm also rather interested in Haruka's sister. I should think that her sister would be just like her, a natural Ojou-sama right?

"Is that so, Mika will be really happy. Let's go in, Mika!"

"Alright!"

A lively girl walked in from the other side of the door.

"Hmm? This..."

"Hehe, good afternoon, Onii-san, we meet again!"

It's the girl who drew the map for me! She's Haruka's sister?

"Ah, don't be so surprised! Onii-san's such a naive person. Didn't I said 'see you soon'?"

She did say something like that. But...How could she have known that I was Haruka's friend?

Seeing that I was still confused, the girl came over and whispered into my ear.

(Because only my sister could draw such a demonic-looking map, plus her name was on the map.)

...Ah, so that's how it is.

(And also, Onee-san had mentioned that a guest would be coming today.)

The girl giggled again. Her innocent expression was exactly the same as Haruka's, proving that they were indeed sisters.

"...Demonic-looking drawing?"

Haruka asked confusedly.

"Ah, it's nothing. Onee-san, introduce him to me!"

"You're right, but it looks like the two of you already know each other...Yuuto-san, she's the sister I was talking to you about earlier..."

"I'm Nogizaka Mika, fourteen years old this year. My hobbies are playing the violin and rearing wild boars. Onii-san, please take good care of me!"

"..."

I seemed to have heard something impossible when she was talking about her hobbies. Well, I guess I should just pretend that I didn't hear anything!

After putting my own feelings in order, I started to introduce myself.

"Mm, I'm Ayase Yuuto, Haruka's classmate, please good care of me as well."

"Ah...Yuuto-san?"

That's strange, why would Haruka's sister have this kind of reaction to my name?

"Mika, he's older than you, it's rude to address him by his name..."

"It's alright, I don't mind, it's just that...is my name very weird?"

"Ah, hehe, it's that..."

"?"

"It's nothing much, just that you call Onee-san 'Haruka'."

Haruka's sister, Mika, looked at Haruka and I with strange smile on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Nope, it's just that there aren't a lot of guys who refer to Onee-san so intimately..."

Is that so? Well, everyone in school does seem to address Haruka as either Nogizaka-san, Haruka-sama, or the 'Nuit Étoile', and if a guy wanted to address her by her name directly, he'll have to go through the same punishment as I did (rolled up into a grass mat and thrown into the water). If I wasn't a guy who liked to step on such landmines, we probably won't have such a relationship right?

"It's......It's nothing special! It's just that, Yuuto-san is my classmate, and, we're friends, so.......so......"

"Hmm, Yuuto-san...it's my first time hearing Onee-san calling a guy by his name."

From Haruka's faltering answer, I could see how the relationship between this pair of sisters worked.

Seeing that Haruka was uncertain as to what to do, I decided to step in.

"Don't make any wild guesses, Haruka and I are just friends."

In truth, this explanation wasn't exactly correct, but since Haruka's family didn't know about her special hobby, so this should be how our relationship should look like on the surface shouldn't it?

"Onee-san, is that right?"

"Ye...Yes, we're just friends, our relationship isn't that spe......special."

Haruka answered in a suspicious manner.

Mika looked at Haruka as she gave a suggestive smile.

"Hmm, I see, so that's how it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Nope, nothing. If this continues, I think I'll be able to dig out all sorts of interesting things, but since I've gotten the gist of things, I'll let the two of you off today.

Oh, right! Onii-chan, please call me Mika from now on!"

"Got it."

"Great."

Haruka's sister was surprisingly different from her. If Haruka's the moon, then her sister would surely be the sun.

After that, I never got to touch my books again.

Under pressure from Mika, we played monopoly, international chess, and pieced puzzles together......and spent several hours like that.

"Mika, Yuuto-san's here to study."

"Ah, it's alright, just a while, just let Onii-chan play with me for a while longer."

"You..."

Although Haruka's tone carried a hint of displeasure, she actually didn't seem to mind it much.

"Yuuto-san, I'm really sorry, Mika usually doesn't warm up to people she just met for the first time. If you don't mind, please play with her a while longer..."

"I'm alright with it."

"Yay, then lets play poker cards next."

And thus, I ended up feeling as though I was here to play instead of studying, but...I guess it's not a bad thing to just relax and enjoy myself! There should still be sufficient time to prepare for the mid-term exams next week, things will surely work out (I'm just running away from reality).

It was already evening when I looked at the time.

Haruka invited me to stay for dinner, but as I had a problematic sister who would go out of control if she wasn't fed at home (sometimes a problematic music teacher would be there as well), I had no choice but to regretfully reject her invitation.

"I see, that's such a pity."

"I'm really sorry to reject your invitation like this, I'll make sure to prepare dinner for her before I come next time."'''(!)'''

"Prepare dinner? Yuuto-san, do you have a dog at home?"

"Ah, yes..."

The two were similar in that 'both need to be taken care of', but 'she' would probably be unhappy about being put on the same level as a dog.

"A dog...Ah, that's right, there's still a bit of the plum pudding we had earlier left. If you don't mind it, please bring it back for your dog."

"No, I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"No, not at all, please don't stand on ceremony, I think your dog will like it."

Haruka jogged out of the room to tell Hazuki-san about the plum pudding. She really seems to think that I have a dog at home.

"Well, I guess she's not far off the mark..."

There isn't a lot of difference between the two anyway.

"Onii-san, come over for a while!"

"Hmm?"

Mika beckoned towards me. Could it be that she wants to show me Haruka's childhood photos while she's out of the room?

I went over expectantly.

"Onii-san, did you have fun on your date at Akihabara?"

"!?"

She suddenly asked me something like that.

"You went on a date with Onee-san right? That's great, did the two of you hold hands? Did you guys kiss?"

My tongue got tied into a knot due to the flurry of questions thrown at my direction; why would she know about that?

"You..."

"What are you talking about..."

"Hehehe, there's no point in pretending, I know everything."

"Pre,pretending? What are you talking about..."

Since she mentioned Akihabara, she must be referring to the shopping trip that I went with Haruka last month, she can't be referring to anything else. But, how would she know about that? Even if she was trying to get me to divulge certain information, but don't you think that it's a little too accurate?

Mika probably saw through my inner dismay as she continued with her next wave of attack.

"Hmm, you're still pretending? But I have proof you know. It should be the Sunday of that long weekend right? Because Onee-san happily went out wearing her new clothes on that day you know."

Seeing my trepidation, Mika gave me the finishing blow.

"Onee-san even prepared a special 'shopping bookmark' for Onii-san, you know, that demonic-looking drawing."

"..."

I had no choice but to confess.

"How do you know about that......"

Seeing that I finally admitted defeat, Mika flashed a victorious smile.

"Hehehe, because I saw the 'shopping bookmark'! But it's not my fault, because Onee-san placed it on the table in the living room right in the full view of everyone."

"......"

"I took a look at it and saw two copies of the 'shopping bookmark'. One copy had 'specially for Yuuto-san'. At that time, I was still wondering who that mysterious 'Yuuto-san' was..... Until I heard from Onee-san that a guest named 'Yuuto-san' was coming today."

"Ah......I see."

I understand now, If it really was like this, then of course Mika would know about our shopping trip.

It was really something that Haruka would do, absentmindedly forgetting something on the living room table. Though Haruka looked to be perfect on the surface, she had an inclination to slip up at important moments. But I was already used to this inclination of hers.

"Right--Could I ask you something?"

".......Please do."

Right now, I don't think any question would make me more surprised than I already am now.

"Onii-san, you also know about Onee-san's secret right?"

"Eh......"

This was something I wasn't expecting.

Speaking of Haruka's secret, she could only be referring to one thing, should I just answer her? No, Haruka's family do not know about her secret don't they? Or did Haruka tell Mika? God......I'm getting more confused by the minute.

"Onii-san, so do you?

"About this.......no......"

"Ah, just by looking at you I think that you should know about it. You'll be better off if you were more honest."

Mika said as she tickled my sides.

"Hey......Hey......I'm really ticklish!"

"Then answer my question! Hehehe"

"Ughahahahahahaha......Stop......Stop it......."

"hehehe"

After a few minutes of fooling around, Mika asked me again with a serious expression.

"Onii-san, please answer me seriously. Do you know about Onee-san's secret?"

"......"

Although I hesitated for a moment, but I still decided to tell the truth. Because something about Mika's gaze told me that I should.

"......I know about Haruka's secret. I stumbled onto it by mistake, but Haruka told me everthing after that."

"I see."

Mika's expression brightened considerably.

"Mm. I guessed as much. A woman's instinct is the most accurate thing in the world."

Mika smiled as she explained her rationale.

"Then, can I ask a question now?"

"Sure, what do you want to ask?"

"How do you know about Haruka's secret? She hasn't told her family has she?"

Although she might have guessed by looking at the 'shopping bookmark', but Mika's tone suggested that she has known about it for a long time already.

"Ah, about that."

Mika gave a slightly exasperated smile.

"Hmm......Onee-san did try very hard to hide it, but Hazuki-san and I have known about it for ages, because Onee-san never tells lies. I think my parents are the only ones who have not found out about it yet. But I know that Onee-san really wants to hide this secret of hers, so I haven't told her that I know her secret."

She didn't even stumble over such a long line of words. Mika thinks extremely far for a girl of her age......looks like she's a really good sister. In comparison, I really want to exchange my sister for a bag of toilet rolls.

I finally understood how Mika came to know of Haruka's secret.

But there was still one last thing that I didn't know.

"Why did you assume that I also know Haruka's secret?"

Regarding this, Mika should have been rather confident of my answer before asking me. But I already had been very careful in hiding the fact that I knew.

"This is easy. Onee-san would never invite someone who doesn't know of her secret to Akihabara, and she even prepared a special demonic drawing......Ah, no, I mean, she even prepared a special hand-drawn map."

"......You're right."

Her explanation made a lot of sense.

"And......even if I don't go down that line of thought, it's easy to guess at the truth from Onee-san's facial expression."

"Facial expression?"

"Yes. Because I've never seen such a happy expression on Onee-san's face before, until today. That expression means that she's giving you her heart. It definitely means that she's giving her heart to you. I guess that's because she's able to show her true self in front of you."

"......The real Haruka......you say?"

The Haruka that I see, is more real than the 'Nuit Étoile' that people in school sees......Is it because of the fact that I know her secret? I've only noticed recently that Haruka's actions in school are a little awkward, and that even when she's smiling, there's a small distance between the other students and her.

"I believe that Onee-san doesn't dislike Onii-san, and that this is something she's clear about, I also believe in my own assessment that Onii-san's a good person."

"Mm."

Both of them say that I'm a good person when I'm not as good as they think I am.

"Onii-san."

Mika's expression suddenly changed, as she looked at me with a serious expression on her face.

"No matter what happens......please don't abandon Onee-san."

"Abandon......"

About that......No matter how you look at it, it should be the other way round isn't it? Because Haruka is the 'Nuit Étoile', while I'm just an average student!

But Mika shook her head.

"Onee-san had a period of painful memories when the people around her found out about her secret. Because everyone around her felt that she should be a perfect Ojou-sama. In other words, they forcibly expect Onee-san to be the perfect person that they imagine her to be, which is why they would abandon her once their perfect image of Onee-san has been shattered. In actual fact, Onee-san's just a clumsy girl with a strange hobby.

Perhaps......it's really like what Mika says. There's a Haruka fan club in school, but how many of those fan club members would know about this side of Haruka? And how many of them would be able to look at her the same way they did before once they know about this side of her? A girl who gets addicted to capsule machines, who loves to read weird manga, who cries because she wasn't able to buy the game console that she wanted......This would never be part of the image of the 'Nuit Étoile' that everyone in school has of Haruka.

"I think the Onee-san needs someone beside her who doesn't look at her through coloured lens, so......no matter what happens, please be good friends with Onee-san, because I......never want to see an abandoned Onee-san crying ever again......"

Mika bowed to me as she spoke.

Mika really cares about Haruka. I can see that she's a really good girl from the way she speaks and her attitude towards me.

"......Don't worry, I will never abandon Haruka."

I placed my hand on Mika's head and told her using my kindest voice.

"Mm......"

Although I hesitated for a moment, but I still decided to tell Mika about my feelings.

"Because Haruka's a very important friend of mine, and also......"

"And also?"

"......I......I think she's very cute. Whether it's her natural clumsiness or her strange hobby, I think she's really cute."

If I didn't feel this way, then I wouldn't have gotten into so many incidents in the two months after I found out about Haruka's secret (Breaking into the school at midnight, being ignored by all the members of Haruka's fan club etc)

"Onii-san......You're just like what I thought you would be like!"

Mika happily shouted as she hugged me tightly. The twin tails at the side of her head swished past my nose, bringing with it the same scent that Haruka has, probably pointing to the fact that they use the same shampoo. For a moment, I had the impression that the person in my lap was Haruka, and that......

Just at this moment......

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The door opened with a click, announcing Haruka's return.

"The doggie's present has been prepared......Huh?"

"Ha......Haruka......"

Haruka walked in with a paper bag in her hands, her gaze coming to rest on Mika and I.

"Haruka, no, this is......"

This is the worst timing. Because from an objective point of view, it looks as though I'm the one who's hugging (or attacking) Mika.

"Mi......Mika! Say something!"

"Onii-san felt that I was too cute for words, so he suddenly hugged me. And then situation just continued as how such situations would continue, kya~"

Now's not the time to 'kya~'!

Not knowing what to do, my body stiffened like a husband caught in bed with a lover by his wife, but Haruka merely smiled.

"That's enough, Mika, you shouldn't trouble Yuuto-san anymore."

"Alright~!"

Mika let go of me as she gave a mischievious look, while Haruka continued smiling at Mika, what's going on?

"......Haruka, you're not angry?"

"Hmm? Why should I be angry?"

Haruka replied me confusedly, as though a question mark suddenly popped up in her head. It looks like she doesn't think that there was anything wrong with Mika hugging me......

For some unknown reason, I suddenly felt extremely sad.

"Onee-san's really slow about such things."

Mika latched onto my arm as she nodded knowingly.

"This is one of Onee-san's good points, as well as one of her bad points."

"?"

"Ah~ It's nothing if Onee-san doesn't understand. Onii-san, the most important thing is still......"

"Hmm?"

Mika turned her gaze from Haruka to me as she said with a serious expression on her face,

"I know that Onee-san frequently gets into accidents, but......no matter what happens, please take good care of her......Onii-san~! (This Onii-san is different from the other Onii-sans as Mika's calling Yuuto 'brother-in-law')

Is it just me, or did that last 'onii-san' sound a little different from the ones that came before it? Or did I hear wrongly? I must be be imagining things.

"Then......I'll see you tomorrow."

Haruka, who saw me to the door, said her goodbyes reluctantly.

"This is the leftover pudding that we had in the afternoon, and some other presents."

A hand-drawn hellhound looked at me with demented eyes beside the words 'For Doggie-san' on the package that Haruka gave me. Looks like the contents of this package must be something extremely valuable.

"Then......I'll see you to the train station......"

"Even though I'll really like that, but I don't think you need to. It's not a long way to the train station, so I'll be able to get there by myself."

I rejected Haruka's suggestion reluctantly since it's only ten minutes to the train station (while it took me twenty minutes to get to the entrance from the 'castle' in the Nogizaka residence)

"Onii-san, be careful on your way back!"

"Please come again soon."

Mika and Hazuki-san also came to see me off.

"Goodbye."

"I waved to the three of them before turning to walk towards the train station.

Just like that, I had a beautiful day.

Not only did I get to meet two interesting people, Hazuki-san and Mika, I also got much closer to Haruka. Although I got lost on my way to Haruka's home, jumped on from the back by that soundless maid, and also interrogated mercilessly by Mika, today was a beautiful day for me.

I hope that I'll have more days like this in the future.

What comes after this is not important to the story at all.

When I gave Haruka's present to the doggie-san in my home......

"Wow, this is delicious! The pudding's good, but the smoked meat is great to go together with Japanese sake. Although the taste is a little too light for my liking, but the person giving the present has been generous enough, so I'll probably be struck down by heaven if I complain anymore."

"......Smoked meat?"

So there was something like that in the package? Oh, right, Haruka mentioned something about other presents.

I suddenly had a bad feeling about the package! I peeked at the 'thing' beside my sister.

It was a paper bag that read 'High class beef jerky'. Only thing is......it also read 'for dogs'.

"......Argh!"

I was lucky that my drunk sister didn't notice as she happily stuffed the beef jerky into her mouth. And so I kept my eye on my sister as I quietly transferred the beef from the paper bag into another plastic bag before throwing the paper bag into the dustbin (to destroy any evidence). Because if my sister found out......she'll kill me.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Ah,it's......it's nothing, it won't taste as nice if it gets wet, so I placed it in another bag."

"Oh, thank you."

After saying a rare 'thank you', my sister reached for the beef jerky again. Looks like she really likes the taste of this beef jerky (for dogs).

Oh well, it's not like she'll die from eating it. And I've also heard that recently, pet food is becoming even classier than human food, so I guess it won't be a problem right?

"......I think I'll go sleep now, you should sleep early!"

"Alright, I'll go sleep when I finish this bottle."

Just like that, I was able to leave the living room without getting killed.

In the end, the beef jerky (for dogs) that Haruka gave me that day, all went into Ruko's stomach.

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| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter4

2010-12-17T09:55:32Z

Dagger: Oni-chan -> Onii-chan

===Chapter 4===

July.

After the mid-term exams, the entire school was extremely boisterous as the summer holidays would soon be here.
Some students were discussing holiday plans, while there were others who had decided to confess their feelings to someone before the graduation ceremony, and thus was extremely nervous.

Having managed to successfully stave off the threat of holiday classes (I barely scraped through quite a few subjects), I was chatting with the three idiots and a block head (Nobunaga, but subjectively, people probably think of us as the five idiots) as usual during the lunch break.

"It's summer, so we should go to the beach. The crashing waves, the hot sun, the burning sands, and the passionate watermelon-hitting competition. This is how we Japanese people enjoy......but why are there only guys!"

"You're right. Our second choice is to go into the mountains to get away from the heat, this is how a Japanese summer should be......but we might be attacked by bears!"

"Ah, right. We could go to the nearby park to drink, play, sing and strip through the night, this is the true joy of summer......but we'll probably get arrested!"

Looks like all three of them didn't like summer, which would explain the babbling.

"Speaking of summer, we have to go to Yumei."

Even Nobunaga was starting to babble......Yumei? Is he planning to go to the Kyuushuu Islands?

"Hey, Yuuto, what do you think? Real men should go swimming right?"

Naigai suddenly asked me. Is he trying to drag me down into this as well?

"No, no, no, the UV rays at the beach are too strong, they're not good for health. Camping in the in the mountains full of fresh air is the clever thing to do."

"Don't you think that having a party at the public park is the best choice? We won't need to spend a lot of money too."

"Doujinshi is still the best!"

The four of them turned towards me at the same time...This.....is so boring!

I'm alright with anything, be it climbing up mountains or swimming in oceans (I didn't really understand what Nobunaga was talking about), but there'll be lots of problems if everyone were to go together. Because......No matter where we end up going, I have full confidence in their ability to get into trouble. And the worst part about these holiday proposals is that only guys are involved (in other words, it's not very tempting).

"Ah, I think I'll abstain."

Because no matter which proposal I support, someone will be unhappy, so it'll be better not to say anything.

"You're too much, king of patronizing!"

"I believe that I've warned you about changing this patronizing habit of yours before, you'll get into big trouble one day if you don't change."

"Tsk! Stop being so indecisive!"

"Yuuto, you've always been indecisive, so much so that you take a lifetime to even order your food at a restaurant......"

They were going at it again. But now that I'm used to it, it doesn't bother me.

I slump onto my desk, trying to ignore the four of them.

--Speaking of summer holidays......What will Haruka be doing?

I suddenly started to be very interested about that.

I really do not care about the holiday plans of the three idiots, but on the other hand, I am extremely interested in what Haruka is planning to do for hers.

Haruka's from a rich family, so she'll probably spend her holidays either enjoying life on a southern island or playing sports in Karuizawa right?

I looked over to the other side of the classroom. Haruka was enjoying a cup of tea while reading, her graceful posture giving everyone the image of an elegant Lily. Although the book that she was reading had a luxurious cover that was full of the smell of literature, but ever since that day, I know that what's on the surface may not be the real thing. Please don't drop that cover in front of other people!

Haruka suddenly stopped reading and gazed towards me, our eyes meeting. She blushed with a little embarassment, but still smiled and waved at me. Ah~She's too cute.

If it was possible, I would rather go out with Haruka then to go on some trip with the three idiots......Ah, I seem to be getting too full of myself. Even though we've been rather close these few months, but I don't think we're close enough that she would consent to go out with me during the summer holidays.

Then again, it couldn't hurt to ask...

"Hmm? You're asking whether I have any plans for the summer holidays?"

"Yes, are you planning to go anywhere?"

I took the chance after class to ask her about her plans in the corridor. With her head slightly inclined to the side, Haruka answered my question a little mischievously.

"Hmm...I've already decided to go to my family's summerhouse in Hayama. I have a piano concert in August, and after that I'm going to play tennis with my grandfather in Oze."

"I see."

Just as I had expected, Haruka's summer was packed with all the activities that daughters of rich families do.

"Hmm, what else do I have......Ah, there's a place that I would like to go."

"What would that be?"

"The Summer Comiket."

......And what is that?

"I read on on <<Innocent Smile>>, they seem to be selling the limited edition figures of the tea ceremony versions of <<Clumsy Girl Aki-chan>> and <<Useless Girl Megu-chan>>......I think

it'll be a really exciting event."

Haruka looked like a maiden in love when she was talking about the Summer Comiket. Well, at least I know what the Summer Comiket is now.

"Where will this be held at?"

"It's at the Tokyo International Expo. I don't dare to go by myself, so I was thinking of giving up, but......"

"We can get there by taking the Lily Pelican......"

That place wasn't very far.

"If you don't mind, I'll go with you!"

I tentatively made a suggestion.

"You......You don't mind?"

"Of course not!"

"Thank......Thank you!"

Haruka stood up excitedly, she seems to be really happy.

After celebrating for a while......

"I have to go, I'm on duty today."

Haruka said to me before walking away with a huge grin on her face.

Although it was still a little lacking (or a lot?) in temptation, but I had already decided to go somewhere alone with Haruka during the upcoming summer holidays.

After saying goodbye to Haruka, I was accosted at the school gate.

"Hey~ Onii-chan!"

"Hmm?"

I've heard that voice somewhere before.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a lithe figure waving at me in front of the school gate.

"Mika?"

"Hehe~I haven't seen you for a long time, onii-chan."

I walked over to Mika, who was wearing her school uniform.

"What's happening? Are you looking for Haruka?"

"Hmm, it's nothing much, it's just that I was in the area, so I wanted to go home with onee-chan. Is onee-chan still in school?"

"She, is, but she won't be coming out right away."

Because Haruka's on duty today, so she probably won't be out for another twenty, thirty minutes right? Now that I think of it, it was a little weird that the 'Nuit étoile' is on cleaning duty.

"I see. Well then, onii-chan, would you mind talking to me until onee-chan comes out? Since I don't get to see you often...Or do you have something more important to do?"

"No, I'm free."

I don't have a girlfriend, I have no job, and the only thing that I need to do is to prepare dinner for Ruko before seven, which means that my schedule after school is completely blank...I feel really sorry for myself.

"Wow, that's great!"

Mika jumped up excitedly. Personally, I'm alright with it, but it's not a very good idea to jump when you're wearing a skirt.

"So how has your relationship with onee-chan progressed lately?"

Mika suddenly shot a question at me in the midst of her excited jumping.

"Well...How do I put it, it's just like that."

Although we've agreed to go out together during the summer holidays, but there hasn't been any special progression other than that. Because if I were to appear to be too close to Haruka in

school, I will be constantly harassed by her fanclub, which is also the reason why we're unable to talk to each other in peace in front of other people.

"Hmm~This won't do! If this carries on, god knows when onii-chan will become by brother-in-law."

Mika latched on to my arm after saying that.

"Hey...Hey!"

"Hehe, don't mind me, I just want a real onii-chan! And right now, onii-chan's the top candidate for the position of my brother-in-law."

Mika smiled mischievously.

"Or are you saying that you don't like me?"

"No, of course not......"

Anyway, Mika's extremely cute, and it's not like she's sticking to me with malicious intent. It'll probably be quite good if I were to have a younger sister like her.

It's just that--

"If you were to do this in front of other people, I think there'll be problems..."

The two of us had been the centre of attention ever since Mika latched herself onto my arm.

Everyone who walked past us were whispering to their friends about us.

I overheard a few lines of what they were saying.

"That girl's a middle-schooler isn't she? Is the guy trying to hit on her?"

"But she's been calling him 'onii-chan', maybe they're brother and sister?"

"This 'onii-chan' is obviously fake. It seems to be the 'onii-chan' here has the same meaning as 'otou-san'"

"How could he do such a thing!"

Another group of people were also talking about us.

"Don't you think that girl's really cute?"

"Yes, she looks rather familiar though..."

"Who?"

"Hmm..."

"What is that guy trying to do? Hit on her?"

"How could he try to hit on a middle school girl in front of our school gate in broad daylight!"

Right after that group of people, another groups of people walked past us.

"Isn't that Ayase from year 2? I heard that he tried to hit on Haruka-sama..."

"He's trying to woo another girl without taking his eyes off Haruka-sama?"

"He seems to be enjoy being called 'onii-chan'"

"They're even locking arms.....Pervert!"

"...Why don't we kill him?"

"If we call for Haruka-sama's defence force, we should be able to get about twenty people within five minutes."

The last few sentences I heard made me fear for my life.

I suddenly felt an acute sense of danger, my instinct telling me that my life will be in danger if I were to stay here any longer.

"Ah, onii-chan, your face looks really pale, are you feeling unwell?"

Mika leaned towards me.

Sharp gazes from the people around us were immediately directed at me. This is bad...I'll really be murdered if this goes on.

Which is why I must get out of here (a tactical retreat).

"Ah...Mika, I'm sorry, but I suddenly remembered something important that I have to do, so I---"

"Eh? Mika? Why are you here?"

Just as I was going to pull out from this dangerous place, I was cut off by a voice coming from the school building.

It was Haruka.

Having just finished her cleaning duties, Haruka had an enchanting smile on her face as she walked towards us. This is not good, I will look more suspicious than I already am if I leave the moment Haruka comes out.

"Hey, hey! It's Haruka-sama..."

The appearance of the 'Nuit étoile' caused a commotion among the crowd, with many people fumbling in their bags to take out a weird looking headband which they promptly tied around their foreheads.

"Does Haruka-sama know that girl? They seem to be very intimate."

"Ah...Could she be Mika-sama?"

"Who's that?"

"How could you not know? That's Haruka-sama's younger sister!"

"Now that you mention it, they really do look alike."

"She's so cute..."

"But why would Haruka-sama's sister be holding onto that guy's arm so intimately?"

"...Has he gotten his dirty hands onto Haruka-sama's sister as well?"

"He's stepping on two boats at the same time..."

The atmosphere suddenly became extremely heavy after that last sentence.

"...Hey, assemble the Haruka-sama defence force, get as many people as you can! This fellow...didn't just make a move on Haruka-sama, he even has designs on Mika-sama! Tell the guys with baseball bats and shinais to bring their weapons!"

"Yes sir!"

The atmosphere suddenly turned to that of a gang fight. This is bad! This is really bad!

"Mika, now that Haruka's here, I think I'll take my leave. See you tomorrow, Haruka."

"Ah~Why don't we walk back together for a short distance, we don't really get a chance like this often~"

Mika firmly locked her arms around my left arm.

"Ah, that's right, I rarely have the chance to walk home with Yuuto-san."

Haruka grabbed my right shirt sleeve.

"This......This......"

Normally, I would say that I was holding two beautiful moon orchids in my hands, but under the current circumstances, the moon orchids looked more like flowers at a funeral (my funeral).

"Excuse me, Ayase-kun."

Someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind forcefully.

I looked back and saw a guy the size of a bear, with a white headband wrapped around his head and an expression as hard as stone. He glared at me as though he was looking at the person who murdered his father.

"I would like to talk to you for a moment, would you mind following me to the back of the school campus?"

His eyes glinted dangerously. I seem to have seen him somewhere...Ah! He's the ace of our school's karate team (he was ranked third at the nationals). Rumour has it that he just sent five delinquents from another school into the hospital a few days ago...

"Ah, I won't take up too much of your time...Because it'll only hurt for a moment."

Because I could literally smell the danger in the air, I desperately mouthed 'Save.Me.From.Him!' to Mika and Haruka, to which they nodded as though they understood me perfectly.

"I see, onii-chan, you should have told us that you had promised to go with a friend!"

"Since you're going with your friend, then I guess we don't have a choice. Even though it's such a pity, but you better go with him!"

The two of them smiled as they announced my death sentence.

"That was not what I meant..."

My escaped bid failed miserably...They actually thought that Mr. Karate was my friend...

"Well then, onii-chan, we'll be going now."

"Goodbye, Yuuto-san."

I could only watched as the two sisters turned their backs to me.

"Hey! This way, the defense force is waiting for you."

I was forcibly dragged in the opposite direction as Haruka and Mika.

Luckily for me, Nobunaga suddenly appeared out of nowhere (it seemed as though he had been watching the whole incident from the moment I came into contact with Mika) and helped me escape the Haruka-sama defence force (He whispered something in the ear of the karate ace, who promptly turned green and ran away). But ever since that incident, I became a class A wanted criminal in Haruka's fan club, and was forced to sneak around in school for quite a while after that.

On another day, a similar incident occurred.

That day, I was once again accosted by Mika at the school gate (she has been coming rather frequently), and after enduring the cold stares of the normal students, I was dragged towards the back of the school campus by Haruka's fan club as usual. But luckily for me, I managed to break free of Haruka's fans to run back home. But I heard two people laughing loudly the moment I stepped into my home.

"Hahaha, this is so funny."

"Ahahahaha, it really is."

One voice belonged to Ruko, and the other, was also a very familiar voice. This voice brings an inexplicable sense of pressure to anyone who hears it, so it can only be her!

I suddenly felt more exhausted than I already was.

At that moment, I had the urge to just rush up to my room. But if I don't gret hte two people in the living room, the consequences will be dire (Like using the school's PA system to call me into the office, or forcing me to sing <<Give me another toki-doki love>> etc). Which is why I know from experience that this was something I had to do, and it was with a heavy heart that I walked into the living room.

"I'm back."

"Oh, you're back."

"Yuu-chan, you're back! Sorry for disturbing you again!"

Just as I had expected, there were two people on the sofa: My idiot sister, who was sitting with her legs crossed, and her best friend, the music teacher, Yukari, who was waving to me from her seat on the sofa.

"..."

The two of them were already working, so how is it possible that they reach home before high school student such as myself? It's only half past four in the afternoon, so why are there two empty japanese sake bottles on the table already? I had a lot of questions in my head. But I knew that if I treasured this life of mine, it was better not to ask at all. Oh well, I'm used to these two (drunkards) anyway...But something even worse happened immediately after that.

"You're later than usual, did anything happen?"

"Nope, nothing happened."

My sister stared right into my eyes. I deliberately looked away. I don't want to tell them about Haruka for the time being, because offering conversation topics to two drunkards (two very ill-mannered drunkards) was like offering an arm to a hungry tiger.

But...

"You didn't do anything strange to Haruka and her sister did you?"

I didn't say anything, but Yukari had a creepy Doctor Faustus-like smile on her face as she held a bottle of japanese sake in one hand.

"......What are you talking about?"

"Trying to hide it from me? It's useless, because I already know all about your relationship with Haruka and her sister from the information that Nobunaga probided."

That guy knows that I'm interested in Haruka, but he's definitely not the type who would go around gossiping about people. He may be a little patronizing at times, but he's definitely a man of principles. So even though he knows everything about my relationship with Haruka, he wouldn't tell a certain music teacher who likes to sexually harrass other people.

"It was rather hard getting him to talk at first, but the moment I told him 'I'll treat your body very gently', he talked. He said 'Ah, I get it! I'll tell you everything...No, I thank you for the chance to tell you everything, Ahhhhh~I still want to preserve my virginity! Yuuto, forgive me!'"

I have no idea what they were threatening to do to him......But for the sake of my mental health, I refrained from thinking about it. I was still rather sympathetic towards my childhood friend who seemed as though he was going to be used as a human sacrifice.

"Nobunaga's information was accurate and detailed. His reports about how you talk to Haruka secretly, how you went over to Haruka's home to study for the exams, how you flirted with

Haruka's sister at the school gate were extremely accurate...It was almost as though he had witnessed the events with his own eyes."

From the way Yukari was talking, it seemed as though Nobunaga had really told her everything he know. In other words, that guy know everything about Haruka! Ah! This is bad!

"...Hmm?"

Don't panic! Analyse the situation calmly!

I wouldn't be that surprised at him knowing about how Haruka and I secretly talk to each other in school, and also about the incidents with Mika, but how in the world did he know about me going over to Haruka's home? I've never told anyone about that before...

"In an information-driven society such as ours, even though their are safeguards in place to protect privacy of individuals, but as long as you know how to go about doing it, it's very easy to access such information..."

I recalled the words that Nobunaga had said to me.

"..."

I finally realized how scary Asakura Nobunaga is. He's definitely a stalker.

Yukari looked at the stunned expression on my face and continued.

"Actually, I already had an clue about you and Haruka before I asked Nobunaga because you've been rather famous in school lately! When I heard people talking about how not only did that fellow try to stick his dirty paws into the 'Nuit étoile', he also has designs on her sister, and that he must be a pervert, I had a feeling that it was you, Yuu-chan."

...That's strage, why would Yukari think of me the moment other people talk about perverts?

"Because Yuu-chan is a very perverted boy, so the chances of you being the pervert that everyone's talking about is very high."

"..."

In response to my wordless protest, Yukari's response was crisp.

"...Yuu-chan, you shouldn't be too interested in little girls, I didn't educate you to become that kind of person..."

She continued in this vein while acting as though she was the caring older sister.

"Yuu-chan, because of your character, you'll definitely be bullied by young girls."

"..."

I should have known that being Yukari, babbling is the only thing that she'll do. But then, I'm really getting angry listening to her.

"Ah, Yuu-chan, are you angry?"

"...Yes, I'm angry."

Anyone would be angry after being labeled a pervert.

"I'm sorry, so please don't give me that scary face. I'm joking, even though the part about having a clue about you and Haruka was true. Because you've always been unable to leave Haruka alone, and the incident after the after-school activity is only one of them."

If she uses this to bombard me, my heart will be very painful.

"Yuu-chan, you're like a male zebra during the mating season. You're channeling all your pent-up desire into Haruka. I'm trying to stop you because of the potentially disastrous consequences. Do you that that it is an extremely tiring job to hold down a wild animal full of pent-up desire?"

"Don't talk about your own fantasies as though they were real!"

You haven't done anything at all!

"Don't be like this, being in love is a good thing. It is because of love that humans are able to develop such a high level of culture. Love is the saviour of the earth! LOVE AND PEACE~"

Even though it sounds like a piece of profound knowledge that she was trying to impart, it was actually only drunken rambling. THe more Yukari continued to ramble, the more excited she became, even giving me a thumbs up.

"How about this, Yuu-cham? Let's save the earth together!"

"I'll have to politely decline!"

When facing a drunkard who was practically drowning in a sea of pink, my answer only took half a second.

"Ah, I've been abandoned! Ruko, Yuu-chan's being so cold towards me."

"...No, I don't want you to be my sister-in-law either."

"Sob, sob, you siblings are like the wind from the north pole, cold and heartless..."

I decided to ignore the crying drunkard for now.

"I still have some homework to do, so I'll go up to my room now. It's not a bad thing to drink sake, but please don't drink too much. You, too, Ruko."

"Don't worry about it."

Even though I knew that Ruko's reassurance cannot be believed, but I hoped to at least prevent them from blowing fire in my home (Loading up their mouths with 96% alcohol-content vodkas before spitting it all out at the fire coming out from a lighter. This is very dangerous, good kids shouldn't imitate something like that.), so that I won't have to call civil defence.

"...Please be careful."

Just as I opened the door of the living room to walk towards my room...

"Yuu-chan."

Yukari called to me in an extremely serious voice. I looked back and saw Yukari with an authentic teacher's expression on her face (she really is a teacher anyway).

"...I only want to say one thing."

"And what might that be?"

This felt more serious than usual, as I answered her statement with a question while trying to calm the sudden wave of nervousness that had washed over me. Yukari answered me in an extremely serious voice.

"...Older girls are still better than younger girls. Just the difference in technique alone is nothing the younger girl can make up for..."

"Stop it, I've had enough of this!"

...This person has been lost to the world.

Ever since I got closer to Haruka, my life has been something like this.

Chatting with the three idiots and Nobunaga in school while trying to get a sneak a chance to talk to Haruka privately, and then being teased by Ruko and Yukari at home. Sometimes I'll go shopping with Haruka, and for some unknown reason, Haruka would ask me to go shopping with Mika as well.

All in all, my life has changed a little ever since I've come to know the real Nogizaka Haruka.

Most of the time, this change has brought nothing but trouble.

But I like the life I have now.

Because right now, my life is much more interesting than the boring one I've had before getting to know Haruka.

On a certain day after school, two weeks before the start of the summer holidays.

On Yukari's orders, I trudged towards the staff room. Hearing someone call out my name, I turned around to look back at the corridor.

"Yuuto-san~"

Looking in the direction of that mesmerizing female soprano, I saw Haruka beaming as she waved to me at the other end of the corridor.

"Yuuto!"

I've been marked again.

Everyone walking in the corridor was looking at me, and a significant number of the looks seemed to be hiding their murderous intent. Am I reading too much into it? But I did recognize a

few faces when they were still wearing headbands.

But Haruka was still smiling like a wind that no one knows the direction of...

"I've brought the 'thing I told you about the last time'. If you're free, would you like to look at it together?"

She started to run towards my direction, but...

"Ah! Haruka! Be careful!"

There was a rag that someone probably forgot to pick up after cleaning duty on the ground between us.

"Eh?"

Haruka, who was completely engrossed in running over that she didn't look at what was beneath her feet, stepped onto the rag with ridiculous accuracy.

"Eh...EH...?"

Under the eyes of the audience, Haruka flew.

"Ah...Kya!"

After flipping over in midair, she landed heavily onto the ground.

The three actions of Running->Slipping->Landing heavily was done with acrobatic fluidity.

"It...Hurts..."

Haruka was rubbing her waist gingerly probably because of the fact that she had fallen onto the ground. The things in her bag was scattered all around her.

Just as I was going over to help Haruka up, I suddenly realized that the looks of the people around us were a little strange.

They looked like they had seen something that they shouldn't have seen, their gazes a carbon copy of the look of a female bulter who's assassinating witnesses from a hiding spot, and these looks were concentrated on Haruka.

At first, I thought that everyone was looking at Haruka because you don't get to see the 'Nuit étoile' step on a rag and fall down.

But when I saw the magazine beside her that looked like a dictionary of demon summoning, I understood what kind of looks those people were giving Haruka.

Those were looks of disgust.

'The thing I told you about the last time'!

Coincidentally, the magazine was flipped out to the page with a drawing of a blue-haired girl who was in the exact same position as Haruka right now, as she sat on the ground holding her butt. The drawing was captioned 'Clumsy girl Aki-chan clumsy position No. 3'.

Everything seem to freeze in place for a moment.

Right now, the atmosphere in the corridor was as awkward as how a karate master would have felt if he got hit in the face by his disciple while trying to show him how to block an attack.

"I...I did it again..."

Haruka sheepishly mumbled as she sat on the ground, not knowing the dire situation that she was in. But almost immediately, she realized that her surroundings were too quiet.

"Ah...What is wrong with you people?"

"..."

"Umm...Why is everyone so quiet?"

Haruka looked at me confusedly, as I didn't know how to answer her. Seeing that I was unable to answer her question, Haruka looked around, as the people whom she looked at looked away uncomfortably.

"?"

I could literally see the question marks floating on top of Haruka's head as she tried to make sense of the current situation.

"Yuuto-san, what's going on..."

She looked at me again helplessly.

"Eh...?"

Haruka finally noticed the object of personal interest that had dropped onto the ground.

"Ah, why did the 'Summer Comiket Doujinshi'...Hmm? Eh?"

Haruka's face suddenly turned as pale as the student who fainted during the principal's speech during morning assembly.

"Eh? I remember placing it in the innermost part of my bag, so why would it..."

Haruka mumbled to herself nervously as she tried to accept the current situation.

"Haruka, perhaps you should get up first?"

I helped Haruka straighten out the edge of her skirt that had been crumpled by the fall before offering her my right hand, but Haruka was acting a little strangely.

"Ah...I...I..."

"Haruka?"

Haruka looked around her blankly, her gaze shifting between the two sides of the corridor.

"No...Don't...Please don't look at me like that. I...I..."

"Hey, hey, calm down..."

Haruka didn't seem to be able to hear me as she buried her face in her hands as she shook her head vigorously, as though she wanted to shake the looks of the people around her out of her head.

"I...I..."

And then, tears started to roll around in Haruka's large eyes.

"Sob..."

And then, Haruka abruptly got up from the ground, grabbed her bag and ran off.

"Ha...Haruka..."

I was left behind together with the magazine that had started all this, the piercingly painful looks now focused on me.

"Was...that really Nogizaka-san's magazine?"

"I don't know, but it definitely fell out from her bag."

"How is is possible that the 'Nuit étoile' would have such a thing..."

I heard the whispers all around me. This was bad! If this goes on, Haruka's secret will be exposed, and even if it isn't that bad, the whole school will still be talking about it. If things really come to that, then Haruka will surely be extremely upset. To be honest, I really don't want to see Haruka cry.

I have to do something!

Now that it has come to this, there was only one solution to this problem.

"Ah! It's here!"

I pointed at the magazine on the ground as I deliberately raised my voice.

"This is the magazine that I've been searching for ever since I lost it three days ago! Yes, it is the right one! I see, Nogizaka-san must have helped me pick it up. She's really a great
person!"

...After forcing out every single cheesy sentence that I could remember, I realized that I really don't have any talent in acting.

But the people around me still bought it.

"...That's right. How could Nogizaka-san be reading something like that."

"Nogizaka-san is really a kind person, instead of throwing it away, she was actually looking for its owner."

"Isn't that fellow Ayase from A class? He's good friends with Nobunaga, so it's not really a surprise that he reads something like that."

"Hmm, I never thought that Ayase would have that kind of hobby. Looks like his reputation's completely destroyed."

"Is that right? I never knew that he had a reputation in the first place."

"Whatever, let's just go!"

The people around me started to walk off as as they talked among themselves (please don't talk about other people's reputation).

...Phew, looks like they believed my story.

I patted myself on the chest as I started to pick up the things that had dropped out of Haruka's bag. There were textbooks, a notebook, a pencil case, some music scores, and that magazine.

Haruka must have landed really heavily if all these things flew out of her bag. Even though they were scattered all over the place, I had picked everything up within a minute.

"Sigh..."

I stood up.

No matter what happens, I guess this incident should be over. Haruka's secret didn't get exposed, so I just need to secretly return this magazine to Haruka tomorrow. But I was a little worried about her strange behavior. Perhaps she overreacted like that time in the library (where half the library got destroyed) because it all happened so quickly!

My explanation for Haruka's behavior was very simple.

However, it seemed to be a little too optimistic.

Because Haruka didn't come to school the next day.

"That's right, after French impressionist composers like Debussy and Ravel started to feature prominantly..."

Yukari was writing on the black board on the podium. Even though her handwriting was like a high school girl's handwriting, she was very familiar with the content of the lesson.

"...the main characteristics of impressionist music is that it tries to break free of the shackles of classical music in three main ways: Melody, harmony, and rhythm. In short, impressionist music places emphasis on composing on instinct, through personal feelings, as opposed to stubbornly forcing out music in a mind chained by the rules of classical music..."

Yukari's explanation reflected her thorough understanding of the subject. Even though she's like a perverted middle-aged man on the inside, this person is a surprisingly good teacher...Anyway, Yukari would be the prime example of how a person's character and her teaching ability is on completely different levels of the mind.

But I was unable to pay attention to Yukari's lesson, and the reason is not just because of the fact that I've always found music to be boring (if I dared to say it out loud, a metal fist will come flying towards me), but also because I was worrying about something else.

Haruka's seat was empty again.

Three days after the incident, I still wonder if I had done the right thing.

I sighed deeply in my heart.

Today was the third day that Haruka had been absent from school.

Ever since the 'Dropped magazine incident' (my own name for it), Haruka had been absent from school. I had asked Yukari about it, but only got sexually harrassed in response.

"She's not feeling well~What did you do to make her so tired?"

Because the amount of energy expended while trying to get Yukari to talk wouldn't be worth the information I'll get, I wisely chose to drop the issue.

Is Haruka really just feeling unwell? It can't be, right?

I was still thinking about the megazine in question that was currently in my bag. Now that I think of it, Haruka probably overreacted because she thought that her hobby was exposed.

But no matter how much I thought about it, someone as stupid as me was unable to make any sense out of the facts available to me.

But no matter what, I can't leave Haruka alone like this.

--I'll try visiting her!

If Nobunaga and Yukari knew about what I intended to do, they'll probably laugh at me for exaggerating the seriousness of the situation (although from my perspective, they were more like ghosts who haunt me all the time), but I'm really worried about Haruka.

And so, I decided to go visit Haruka after school.

Do you guys have a problem with it?

Ever since that incident, something else had changed around me.

"Again..."

Nowadays, a pile of letters will fall out whenever I open my shoe locker. Of course these aren't love letters, but hate mail cursing me and expressing their disgust towards me.

"Sign......"

I threw all the letters into the furnace. I had wanted to just leave them there on the ground, but these letters all had my name written on it, so I don't get rid of them, I'll probably be seen as the person responsible for writing all the letter. The hate mail writers are really smart to even take that into account! If they were willing to use those brains of theirs in more constructive ways, our steadily regressing standard of living would be better wouldn't it?

I sighed as I opened up a few of them.

"Don't go near Haruka-sama! You pervert! Don't let Haruka-sama come into contact with something like that! FUCK!"

"Someone like you will never be good enough for Haruka-sama! You're way out of your league! Stupid otaku!"

"You better not have made a miniature figurine of Haruka-sama, you pervert!"

The letters were full of incendiary words.

I sighed deeply.

I've received such hate mail before. But the contents were not as hateful as the ones I've been receiving. The previous ones merely said things liks 'Don't smile to Haruka-sama like that' or 'Don't appear within 5 meters of Haruka-sama, and don't breathe the same air that she does'. Thanks to Nobunaga's manipulation of the information that went around the school, the letters stopped for a while, but ever since that incident, I started to receive massive amounts of hate mail again, and some strange-looking people had even contacted me.

"...I can't take this anymore!"

In any case, the 'Fellow who always sticks to the Nuit étoile (me)...is a perverted otaku' seems to have been accepted as an undeniable fact by the school population. The reason for this is obviously because of the incident a few days ago. But this time, I can't ask Nobunaga to help me out of this, because the moment people think that the megazine isn't mine, they'll start to suspect Haruka. But because it's Nobunaga after all, since he joyfully came up to me and said, 'Wow~Yuuto, it's great that you've finally found your true calling and joined our ranks!',

I guess I could try to ask him for help.

"I don't understand...Why does everyone hate otakus so much?"

Or maybe they just don't like me!

When I settle down and think of it, the second possibility is higher. Because Nobunaga, a self-admitted otaku hasn't been subjected to the kind of treatment that I've been receiving, and on the contrary, most people actually think of him as the school mascot because of his friendliness and interesting characteristics. Some people really like him too (because he looks like a bishounen).

I can only draw one conclusion from the facts at my disposal.

"...In other words, I'm being subjected to this treatment because of who I am?"

I was felt a little depressed at that deduction. Sob, sob, just what did I do to deserve this...

But, it won't carry on like this forever, right?

As the saying goes, no rumour ever goes on for more than a month, so hopefully, everyone will forget about me after a while. Not thinking too deeply into things is one of my weak points, but conversely, it's also one of my good points.

I threw the rest of the letters into the furnace.

To be honest, I was more worried about Haruka. I intended to go to the Nogizaka residence immediately after burning all the hate mail.

But just as I was rushing towards the school gate...

"Hey, Ayase-kun! It must be hard to have to throw the rubbish again today right!"

A guy with slightly long brown-dyed hair sniggered as he blocked my path.

...Who is this guy?

Even though this is the first time I've seen this person, but for no reason, I really didn't like him. Just like how most girls instinctively hate cockroaches, I instinctively disliked this guy.

"Ah, where are my manners. I'm Sasaoka Shyuuto."

He smiled cynically as he nodded his head.

I've heard that name before.

He's the ace of the basketball team, and had been rejected by Haruka before (I bet he has gone for plastic surgery before). Because he's a little weird and is a chronic skirt-chaser, he's the most famous year 3 senpai in the school, and also the person that most people didn't want to be connected to.

"...And what can I do for you, Sasaoka-senpai?"

I was very sure that it won't be anything good, but I still asked politely.

"Nothing much, I just want to get a good look at the otaku who's sticking to Haruka-san like a parasite."

"...You really hava a lot of free time."

Just as I had expected.

How is it that I'm never able to guess any questions correctly in exams, but have a 100% success rate in guessing such random things? After sighing to myself for my bad luck, I looked straight at Sasaoka.

"...I think you've seen enough. Can I go now? Unlike you, I actually have something to do."

I pushed Sasaoka away as I tried to go around him, but Sasaoka continued to give that cynical smile of his that made me want to punch him in the face and continued to block my way.

"...Just what do you want?"

"Hang on, I just want to tell you something."

"Get to the point!"

I want to get this over with within 3 seconds.

"It's simple...Do not harrass Haruka-san anymore! You make me sick! I don't want to see someone who gets excited when looking at figurines of strange girls to get close to Haruka-san. In other words, Haruka-san's too pitiful to have someone like you around her!"

In actual fact, Haruka's the one who'll get really excited when looking at figurines of strange girls. Oh well, why am I even wasting my time listening to this person's incessant babbling.

"That's it? Then I'm going."

"Wa,Wait!"

"Now what?"

This person's really annoying.

"You should have heard what I've just said right? I want you to swear that you will never go near Haruka-san ever again!"

"I won't do it."

"It's good that you understand...Eh? Hang on, you refused to do it..."

"That's right, because I don't have to listen to your mindless rambling."

I would have thought that this much was obvious.

"...Gah!"

Probably because my answer was extremely unsatisfactory, Sasaoka took a step back, the expression on his face the mirror-image of the prime minister who has just failed to assassinate the king.

"Hmph, hmph, alright then, I'll let you go today, since you'll soon be dumped by Haruka-san anyway, because you're an otaku!"

He spat at me.

Oh well, I should get away from this place as quickly as possible.

Just when I finally got rid of Sasaoka and got to the school gate...

"Onii-chan!"

Mika was standing right in front of the school gate.

She had her hands on her hips with her legs apart as she glared at me. Whoa! Just what did I do to make her so angry?

"Onii-chan, just what did you do to onee-chan!"

What's with that question!

"How can just assume that I'm the reason for this incident!"

But Mika conpletely ignored my protests.

"Because you're the only person who can make onee-chan so miserable! Onii-chan, did you force onee-chan into some kind of weird cosplay?"

Mika shouted at the top of her voice while blushing furiously...I'm begging you, there're students everywhere because school just ended, so please don't shout 'weird cosplay' in front of so many people!

"Did you force her to cosplay as a sexy nurse, or a bunny girl, or did you force her to wear nothing but an apron..."

Mika started to become more specific.

Just as I feared, looks of disgust were shot at me from every direction, now they really think of me as a pervert...Well, not like I can do anything about it, so I'll just let them think whatever they want to think!"

"Hey, it's not because of me that Haruka's like this."

Mika gave me a suspicious look in response to my explanation.

"You're lying! Why else would onee-chan become like this? She's locked herself in her room every since she came home three days ago, and she hasn't eaten at all! And she keeps playing

pieces like 'Funeral March', and 'Dance of Death' on the piano..."

That's really scary.

"We even heard onee-chan crying in the middle of the night...This is like what happened when she was in middle school..."

Mika's face suddenly lit up as she seemed to have understood something.

"...Don't tell me onee-chan's secret has been exposed?"

Mika lifted her head to look at me as she waited for the answer.

"Nope, it was almost exposed, but nothing happened in the end."

"Then why..."

"Hmm...Maybe because Haruka mistakenly thought that her secret had been exposed. From what you've said, I guess being sick isn't the real reason for Haruka's absence from school."

"Ah, yes..."

Mika nodded her head cautiously.

"Onee-chan said that she wasn't feeling well, but she's definitely lying. Father and mother haven't really given much thought , but...onee-chan's acting exactly the same way as that time,

Hazuki-san's very worried about her too."

"You mentioned 'that time'?"

"Ah, that's..."

For someone like Mika to stutter, it must be something really serious.

"You don't have to force yourself to tell me..."

"...It's not like that."

"But if you don't mind, I would like to hear it, because this is probably related to how Haruka is acting now."

Mika lowered her head as she thought about it.

"...You're right. Mm, I guess onii-chan should know about it."

She lifted up her head again after seeming to break free of some unseen restriction.

Once again, I had come to the Nogizaka residence.

After spending twenty minutes passing through a door that was as imposing as the Arc de Triomphe, walking through a courtyard that was bigger than a forest garden, and making our way through the mazelike interior of the Nogizaka mansion, I finally reached the door to Haruka's room.

"Haruka-sama, Yuuto-sama is here to see you."

Hazuki-san knocked on the door, only garnering a muffled squeal in response.

"Onee-chan, onii-chan bought cake from the ----, let's eat it together!"

Thump, thump, we heard a sound that suggested that the occupant of the room was locked in a struggle between her feelings and temptation.

The cake that I was currently holding in my right hand (only ten pieces are sold a day), seems to be something that Haruka really likes to eat, so much so that she eats it once every three days. For someone who eats so much cakes and other desserts, it's a wonder that Haruka can maintain that figure of hers.

"...She didn't come out."

After that instance of movement, the room behind the door fell silent again.

Mika wrapped her arms around herself as her head leaned to one side, thinking about our next move.

"Hmm, I think onee-chan's being sorely tempted by the combination of onii-chan and the cake, so let's just start our tea party here! Hazuki-san, could you prepare what we need?"

"Absolutely."

Hazuki-san immediately set up a simple foldable table that she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere, and placed a table cloth on it before pulling out four sets of chairs (again, out of nowhere), after which she started to set up the tea cups......Wait a minute! Where did she get all these equipment from? Weren't both her hands completely empty just a moment ago?

"Corporate secret."

The maid-san replied me nochalantly after I asked her about it. What kind of corporate secret it this...Could it be possible that the pockets of their maid uniform are linked to the fourth dimension?

"Corporate secret."

"No..."

"Corporate secret."

"Which is why..."

"Corporate secret."

"...I get it."

I gave up. It'll probaby be better for me to just shut up and sit on the chair (that came out of nowhere)!

The maid-san held up the tea-pot and looked at us.

"Would Nuwara Eliya be alright?"

"I'm not a picky tea-drinker like onee-chan, so I'm alright with anything."

"...Same for the cup on the right."

If Mika hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even know that 'Nuwara Eliya' is the name of a tea.

And just like this, our tea party outside Haruka's room (in the corridor) began.

"Ah, this smells so good!"

"It's Sachertorte. Would you like me to cut it for you?"

"Yes please."

Hazuki-san divided the cake with an experienced hand as the smell of chocolate immediately burst out into the surroundings. It's no wonder that Haruka likes to eat this, it looks really tempting.

Suddenly, I heard a something behind me.

"Hmm?"

"!"

I looked back and saw Haruka looking at us through a gap in the door. The moment our eyes met, Haruka hurriedly closed the door again...Was she looking at the cake?

(This is good, we've successfully piqued her interest.)

Mika whispered to me...Is it really like this?

(Do you think I should take out the candied fruits as well?)

(Good idea, onee-chan likes to eat candied fruits too.)

(Then...)

Hazuki-san left the corridor.

(Sorry to keep you waiting.)

In the blink of an eye, she was back with a tray of candied fruits that gave off a special scent.

(These candied fruits are first boiled together with sugar before it is mixed together with rum.)

Hazuki-san explained how the candied fruits were made to us. I see, that special scent comes from the rum.

Click!

The door opened again. Haruka stuck her head out again as she couldn't resist the temptation of the candied fruits, but the moment she saw me looking, she quickly closed the door again.

But her actions were really cute.

(Hmm, only a little more to go!)

(Then I shall go bring out the gingerbread.)

(Thank you.)

But in the end, despite sticking her head out several times, Haruka still refused to come out.

"Onee-chan, I've had enough of this!"

Probably because she had run out of things to tempt Haruka with, Mika was a little impatient...

"Fine! Since it has come to this..."

Mika breathed in deeply.

"If you still refuse to come out, the I'll take both the cake and onii-chan! Alright, onii-chan!"

"Huh, ah, hey!"

I shouted because Mika suddenly launched herself into my arms. Ah, she's so soft.

"Onii-chan~Roll~Roll~"

"Hey...Hey!"

Don't...Don't rub my face like that!

"Why don't you dump onee-chan and go out with me! Let's go on a date, just the two of us, let's go to Akihabara."

"Wa...Wait a minute!"

Just as I was desperately tring to peel Mika off from, there was a loud bang from the other side of the door.

"No...You can't!"

And immediately after that, Haruka pushed the door open with tremendous force as she came out of the room with her arms flailing.

"On...Only Yuuto-san's off limits! I can let go of everything else, but I won't let go of Yuuto-san! I...I'm the only one who can go to Akihabara with Yuuto-san!"

"..."

"..."

"...Ahahaha."

Hazuki-san and I were stunned speechless, while Mika laughed happily.

Finally realizing the meaning behind what she had blurted out, Haruka's face suddenly blushed the shade of a litmus paper's reaction to acid.

"I...What did I say...I...I'm sorry!"

The door slammed shut with a bang, afterwhich we heard the clicking of the normal lock and the anti-theft lock (a high-tech lock commonly used in high-class hotels).

"Hmm, that didn't go as well as I thought it would..."

"On the contrary, I thought it worked quite well..."

"Right, hmm, onii-chan's such a pervert~"

"...You're like a gigolo!"

The two of them (especially the maid-san standing behind us) started to go off-topic.

And it's back to square one. No, not square one, we might even be at square minus three, minus four.

"...Right now, the only thing we can do is to break in. Haruka-sama hasn't eaten for the past three days, I'm worried that she's going to collapse."

The maid-san stepped forward.

"You're right, but how do we break into Haruka's room?"

The anti-theft locks are almost unbreakable.

"By using this."

A giant blue chainsaw that the serial killers in horror movies use suddenly appeared in the maid-san's hands. Just where did she pull that out from...

"This thing is a little dangerous, so please step back."

The chainsaw started to shake dangerously as it was started up, Hazuki-san's really planning to use this!

"Well then..."

"Hand on, maybe I should try talking to Haruka."

I stopped Hazuki-san just as she was going to slice the door into half with her chainsaw (her solution's definitely not going to help).

Actually, this problem should be solved the moment I tell Haruka that I've helped her cover up. Because from what Mika told me, I'm thinking the main reason for Haruka's behaviour is because she thinks that her secret has been exposed.

Which is why the situation would probably change for the better as long as I clear up the misunderstanding, right?

"Please let me try."

At this this solution's more orthodox than using the chainsaw!

"I understand, we'll leave this to you them."

"Good luck, onii-chan!"

Mika and Hazuki-san wished me luck before I knocked softly on Haruka's door.

"Haruk, please open the door, I want to talk to you about what happened that day."

Haruka's room was completely silent.

"Actually, it's not so bad. Look, here's the cake that you love to eat!"

Haruka's room remained silent.

"If you don't open up, Hazuki-san says she's going to take your door down with a chainsaw."

"...You don't need to mention that."

The maid-san who was standing behind me retorted. What, you did intend to do it didn't you?

"So would you please open the door?"

Just when I was going to repeat my question, I felt some movement on the other side of the door. After a little while...

"...I understand, please come in."

Haruka replied me softly.

Haruka hugged her knees on her luxurious four poster bed.

There was a teddy bear and some megazines beside her.

After confirming that I was the only one coming in, Haruka blushed as she closed her bloodshot eyes.

...I'm really sorry for saying something like that just now..."

"Ah, don't worry about it."

About what Haruka just said, I instinctively thought that it would be better not to as Haruka what she really meant. Even though I really wanted to know, but...

"You've been absent from school for three days...I'm very worried about you."

"...I'm sorry."

"No, I'm not blaming you or anything..."

Seeing Haruka lowering her head like a puppy who has just been scolded by its master, I felt rather unhappy as well, since it looks like I'm bullying Haruka.

"Anyway, everything's alright now."

"Eh?"

"Your secret hasn't been exposed to everyone, my cover-up after you ran off probably worked I guess."

"Rea...Really?"

Haruka lifted up her head.

"That's right, so you don't have to worry about anything."

"Than...Thank you. But, how did you cover up my secret under those circumstances..."

That situation was really quite difficult...

After I told Haruka what I had done after she ran off (third-grade acting and cheesy lines included), Haruka's facial expression changed drastically.

"So you're saying that, everyone thinks that you're the owner of that megazine?"

"Probably."

"How...How can it be..."

Haruka had a very strange expression on her face.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"But...Yuuto-san, other people will be giving you strange looks..."

Ah, I see what Haruka's worried about now. She's right, I have been harrassed recently due to that incident (like the hate mail, and Sasaoka). But compared to the recent events in the world, this is nothing. Rather than seeing how upset and depressed Haruka is, I would rather endure any kind of harrassment...This is strange, I've never felt this way towards anyone before.

"Please don't worry about that, I'll be happy as long as you're alright."

I really feel that way, but...

"But...This..."

Haruka didn't seem to feel the same way.

"Yuuto-san, you don't understand, you don't understand what this is really about. You don't know how the people around you will treat you once they find out that you have an interest that's different from everyone else..."

Large tears started to roll around in Haruka's eyes.

"No...Definitely not...I do not want you to have the same experience that I did."

"Haruka?"

"...That...That kind of thing....I've already..."

Haruka buried her head in her knees as her shoulders trembled. After a while, she looked up at me after seeming to come to an important decision.

"...Yuuto, I have something to tell you. You...Would you be willing to listen to me?"

"Of course......"

The moment Haruka started to talk, I had a feeling that the only thing that she could possibly be telling me at this time, was the very thing that Mika had just told me!

Haruka started to talk softly. Just as I expected.

"...This happened when I was still in middle school."

This is basically what I understood from what both Haruka and Mika told me.

In short, a similar incident happened when Haruka was in middle school.

I'm not very sure about the exact details, but it's something along the lines of Haruka stepping on a milk bottle on a certain afternoon in class and falling down, afterwhich the manga that she had on her (the first volume of <<The Shy Triangle>>) was dropped in front of all her classmates...Just thinking about how the situation must have been like made me a little afraid.

And just like that, Haruka's secret was exposed.

When Haruka was in middle school, she was also extremely popular, which means that her special hobby soon became the talk of the school. From then on, the atmosphere around Haruka changed.

Although she wasn't bullied or insulted, the attitude of Haruka's classmates and the way they looked at her completely changed. Even the classmates whom Haruka had thought of as her good friends started to keep their distance from her. At that time, Haruka was like a politician who had just lost an election.

According to Mika, Haruka's behaviour at that time was extremely unsettling.

"Onee-chan was extremely depressed at that time, so much so that it was painful to even look at her. The talkative and cheerful onee-chan that I had once known slowly built up a wall between her and the outside world, and rarely smiled...She also cried frequently by herself at night."

To change the situation, Mika and Hazuki-san tried many solutions, but because a school is a closed-society, as outsiders, the two of them were unable to do anything.

In the end, the situation persisted all the way until Haruka graduated from middle school. Which means that Haruka ended her middle school life on an extremely bad note.

"One-chan had originally planned to continue studying in the high school section of the 圣树馆女学院, but...Because of that incident, she had no choice but to transfer to Hakujō Academy. Since there's quite a bit of distance between the 圣树馆女学院 and Hakujo Academy, so no one would know about onee-chan's hobby."

The 圣树馆女学院 has a full nineteen-year educational system, that goes all the way from kindergarden to university, with the aim of grooming true ladies (rumour has it that almost 80% of the students in the school uses honorifics in their daily speech; It is also rumoured that you can throw a pebble into a crowd of 圣树馆女学院 students and definitely hit the daughter of a company president...The school's canteen also provides french crusine), an extremely famous school in our district. Now that I think of it, it is a little strange for someone like Haruka to study at a school like Hakujo Academy, but after hearing about that incident, I completely understand this arrangement.

"Onee-chan's extremely afraid of the possibility of her secret being exposed, and I should think that it is because of the psychological scars from that bad experience that onee-chan's acting like this now. Onii-chan, I'm placing my trust in you because you're the only person I know of who doesn't shun her in any way after knowing of her secret."

After finishing her exposition, Haruka wiped off the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"...That's how bad it can get. If everyone thinks that you're the owner of the megazine, they'll all look at you differently, and will keep their distance from you."

It must be painful to recall such a bad experience, but Haruka stubbornly forced the words out of her mouth.

"I...don't want Yuuto-san to be like me..."

"It won't be like that."

I understand what Haruka meant, but I didn't think that everyone will react like that. Maybe otakus are strange people in the eyes of the 圣树馆女学院 ladies, but...in normal schools, one in ten students probably don't mind otakus don't they?

Haruka shook her head in response to my reasoning.

"You may be right, but you don't have to do this for my sake, because it's my fault in the first place...I should be the one getting ostracized..."

"Please don't say that."

"But...But..."

Haruka looked at me with wide eyes.

"The friends that leave me because of this can't be counted as real friends, because even without this incident, I probably won't be able to get along well with them. I can't say that it'll be good if these people stop being friends with me, but...even if you're upset about it, you can't change things, can you?"

At least this is what I thought.

If a certain person changes the way he interacts with me based purely on the fact that I'm an otaku, it's not like I can do anything about it, even if that person is my friend.

"But...But..."

Haruka held her hands together tightly.

"But...It's very painful to be ostracized. I couldn't take it, and even now, I don't think I can. To be completely alone...I hate this feeling, and I believe that everyone would hate this feeling as well..."

She looked away painfully.

Hmm...Haruka's being rather pessimistic here. Perhaps it's normal for her to think in this way, but I still wish that she can be liberated from the shadow cast over her by that experience.

Which is why I replied,

"I don't think I'll be completely alone!"

"Eh?"

Haruka looked up at me.

"Haruka, if I had a weird hobby, would you leave my side?"

"Of course not, I like Yuuto-san, so I will not leave you because of something like that."

I was thinking about whether the 'like' that I heard contained any special meaning in it.

"That is to say, even if everyone leaves me, I will still have you!"

"But..."

Seeing that Haruka still didn't get it, I decided to continue, since these are the things that I really wanted to say to her.

"Anyway...It's the same for me. Even if the entire world leaves you, I will stand beside you, no matter what the opposition is, no matter what kind of harrassment I have to endure, I will

support you. This is my promise to you."

"Eh...Eh..."

I can say this without any hesitation.

Even if the same thing happens again, or if Haruka makes a mistake that causes her hobby to be exposed to the school (...which is very possible), I will stand on her side. Even if everyone will look at me differently, even if vicious rumours are spread about me, I don't think I will ever regret my choice.

Why?

Because I am the only one who knows about Haruka's secret, because I have a resposibility to protect her secret, because Mika had requested me to protect Haruka. Anyway, I had a lot of reasons.

But, the main reason that pushed me to make this decision was very simple.

In short--

I like Haruka. I like the Haruka who looks perfect on the surface, but is actually a crybaby, an airhead, an innocent, albeit a little quirky daughter of a rich family whom I just can't bear to leave alone.

"This is why you won't be alone, Haruka. No matter what happens, I will never leave you."

...What am I saying! Am I not saying things that sound like a love confession? What I'm saying now sounds like how a guy would say 'I want to see the reflection of the fireworks in your eyes' to a girl when they're watching fireworks.

"Yuu...Yuuto-san..."

Haruka was looked extremely moved as her big eyes teared up again.

"I...I've always been hoping for someone who would say something like that for me. I've always wanted someone to tell me that I'm not alone, that no matter what happens, I won't be alone."

Unable to hold it in any longer, tears started to roll down Haruka's cheeks. I wanted to take out my handkerchief to wipe her tears away before realizing that the handkerchief I had on me wasn't high-class enough. Sigh, I'm so useless.

"Umm...Could I ask you for something?"

"Sure."

"Would you lend me your chest to cry on?"

"Please do."

"Alright."

Haruka nodded as she buried her head into my chest, sobbing softly. I don't understand the meaning of those tears, but nevertheless, I wrapped my arms around Haruka tightly.

After a while, Haruka finally stopped sobbing and lifted up her head as she shyly said to me, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"...Please stay by my side forever."

I answered her with another hug. I haven't noticed until now, but the soft, sweet smell of Haruka's hair seems to have a calming effect on people. I really want to stroke her lush, long hair...

"...I'm very sorry for spoiling the atmosphere."

"Ah!"

"Kya..."

Suddenly, we realized that the maid-san was standing right behind us.

Upon hearing the maid-san's words, Haruka and I pushed away from each other like two like magnetic poles.

"...Do I look that scary?"

The maid-san asked with a surprised expression on her face. But the problem is, when did she enter the room? The door might not have been locked, but it's impossible that we didn't hear the sound of the door opening or the footsteps of the maid-san!

"The two of you were probably oblivious to the outside world during your intimate moment right?"

Mika, who had also entered the room without us noticing, teased us from behind Hazuki-san. There's definitely a problem with these two people...

"Now that the problem has been solved, Haruka-sama, please eat something. You must be hungry after not eating for three days."

"Ah, now that you mention it..."

Haruka's stomach also seemed to have finally remembered that it was hungry, as it growled cutely.

"..."

Haruka blushed a deep shade of red.

Looking at Haruka, I suddenly felt that everything about the daughter of a rich family is good......even the sound of their stomach growling sounds high-class!

After yet another week.

"Ah, Yuuto-san."

I met Haruka on my way to school.

"Good morning, Haruka."

"Good morning, it's a really nice morning today isn't it."

"Yes it is, but I'm still feeling a little sleepy."

"No that you mention it, you really look like a panda with the dark rings around your eyes."

Haruka's laughter was like the tinkling of wind chimes as I walked to school together with her, with a few of our schoolmates also walking to school around us.

Is it just me or have I been running into Haruka while walking to school a lot more often recently?

"Just two more days and the summer holidays will finally be here."

Haruka laughed happily.

Ever since that day, Haruka returned to her normal, energetic self (with the aura befitting a daughter of a rich family), the expression on her face devoid of any clues that would point to how upset she had been merely a week ago.

"I'm really looking forward to the summer holidays. Ah, right, do you still remember what you promised me the last time?"

"Of course I do."

"Good, I think that it'll probably be in the middle of August..."

All in all, things are going well.

Through that incident (the one where Haruka's secret was almost exposed), even though Haruka still hasn't been able to fully let go of her bad memories, but--at least she has learnt how to face up to that bad experience. On the other hand, it also turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the distance between Haruka and I have been shortened by a lot.

Under the current circumstances, only one problem was left unsolved.

"Good morning, Haruka-san."

Suddenly, a tall figure blocked our path.

"Haruka-san, walking together with this otaku is an insult to your status."

It was Sasaoka.

"This fellow is a pervert who'll get excited upon seeing miniature figurines! Anyway, he's neither tall nor handsome, he's not very clever, and he's not good at sports. But the worst part is still the fact that he's a pervert who gets excited upon seeing figurines. Haruka-san, I find it hard to believe that you have not heard all the rumours about this fellow."

He smiled cynically, as he glared at me.

This was the problem.

The unsolved problem that I was talking about is the fact that the rumours about me (the thing that Sasaoka is still talking about) still have not dissipated yet. Those rumours were like an unkillable mosquito as it stubbornly survived for ten days (and still continues to survive).

Even though I'm used to such things, but no one would feel happy at being insulted by the people around him everyday.

Sasaoka ignored the unhappy expression on my face and continued,

"And that's not the end of it! In bringing such a low-class megazine to school, you've proven that you're beyond redemption!"

This fellow was really pushing the limit.

"This fellow's completely useless. Haruka-san, I really do not understand why you persist in being friends with someone like him. Ah, could it be that he's blackmailing you? If that is really the case, just say the word and I will take care of it for you. I am equipped with grade 2 shaolin henpo..."

"...Please do not continue saying such things."

Haruka cut Sasaoka off.

"Yuuto-san is an extreely good person. He's kind, caring, and one of the people I really respect. It's such a pity that you're insulting him like this, so I would really appreciate it if you were to stop now."

"Ha...Haruka-san?"

Sasaoka didn't know how to respond to Haruka's abnormal behaviour. The other students around us also stopped in their tracks, curious as to what was happening. Could it be that...Haruka's angry?

"If you have nothing else to say, then please excuse us...Let's go, Yuuto-san."

"Ah, right."

Just as Haruka grabbed my hand to walk away...

"Wa...Wait a minute! What do you mean by that...Just what is so good about this otaku? Please explain yourself! Hey! Haruka-san!"

Sasaoka grabbed on tightly to Haruka's other hand. Hmm...It seems like someone who calls himself a staunch supporter of feminism like Sasaoka is that much of a feminism himself when he's angry. If I don't do something right now, things might turn nasty.

"Hey, you're really going overboard here..."

Just as I was about to smash Sasaoka's face in with a broom I spotted near our position (probably left there by the people in the town's cleaning squad)...

Sasaoka's body flew into the air right in front of me.

"...Huh?"

The laws of physics clearly dictate that such a long duration of hangtime is impossible, but Sasaoka did fly towards the sky like a dragonfly bursting out from the surface of the pond. Wow...And then after he flipped a full circle in the air, Sasaoka crashed into the tree that was about ten inches away from Haruka and I before dropping straight down onto the ground. I could swear that I heard Sasaoka groan like a frog who's going to die any moment.

"..."

And then, the launchpad of Sasaoka's body...Haruka, who standing in some martial arts pose beside me. I glanced at her, managing to catch a glimpse of something white under the billowing folds of her skirt (...), could this be... No, now's not the time to be fantasizing like a perverted middle-aged man.

The atmosphere around us was deathly silent.

Everyone around us looked at Sasaoka, who was rolling around on the ground in agony, with utter disbelief.

Hmm...

To be honest, I couldn't believe my eyes either.

Could it really be...Haruka who threw him?

Haruka ignored everyone around her (including me), as she walked over to Sasaoka, who looked like crab with a stroke as he foamed at the mouth (he seemed to be conscious, but just barely), and smiled as she said,

"Please don't insult Yuuto-san like that."

"Ha...Haruka-sa..."

"And...The low-class megazine that you were talking about is actually mine. So if you're unhappy about it, please talk to me."

I felt as though a fire-breathing dragon was roaring in anger behind Haruka.

Under the pressure of the power hidden behind Haruka's smile, Sasaoka didn't dare to say anything. No, or maybe he's just too badly injured to be able to talk?

"Yuuto-san, let's go, we're almost late."

I looked around to see that Haruka had reverted to her usual angelic smile.

...Right, I suddenly remembered that Haruka had a teacher's license in some ancient style of martial arts, which explains the inhuman way with which she threw Sasaoka...

"Umm...Yuuto-san?"

Haruka looked at me worriedly.

"...Ah, I'm alright!"

Oh well, I don't think I should think about this anymore, it's nothing to worry about (even though I'm really worried). In the face of Haruka's innocent smile, this is nothing. I'm willing to accept anything if it means that I never need to see Haruka cry ever again.

But on the other hand, I made a mental note to myself after looking at how Sasaoka was crawling on the ground like a zombie.

Never do anything to make Haruka angry!

After what Haruka did to him, Sasaoka became noticeably quiter, and scurried like a rat before a cat whenever he saw Haruka or me. I think I can understand his feelings perfectly.

At the same time, even the vicious rumours about me had disappeared. As for the reason--I think it's obvious enough! Because there were a few members of the art club at the scene of the incident as well...something that made me aware of just how influential Haruka is in the school.

In short, every single problem has been solved.

I was finally able to return to the life that I had left behind for two weeks.

Which is to say that the members of Haruka's fanclub still looked at me with the eyes of someone looking at the person who murdered their father, and will also send me the occasional 'Stay away from Haruka-sama! You pig!' warning. But I no longer cared about such things, because no matter what they do, it is an unshakable fact that my relationship with Haruka has become much closer. Hmm, but no matter what, it'll be better if I keep a low profile if I don't want to be dragged up to the roof of the school building to be candy-wrapped.

"Yuuto-san~!"

--That was my plan, but...

"If you're alright with it, would you like to eat lunch together?"

--To be honest, it's not easy to keep a low profile.

Haruka waved at me as she smiled happily.

It was lunchtime in school, and we were in class. Recently, Haruka has been talking to me more enthusiastically than before. I'm extremely happy that she trusts me so much, but as they say, there're always two sides to a coin.

In other words...

There'll sure be quite a number of students in the classroom as well, which means that the moment the 'Nuit Étoile' does something, she'll naturally become the centre of attention.

"Ayase, looks like you've been very friendly with Haruka-sama recently, eh?"

"You're eating lunch together with Haruka-sama? Don't get too full of yourself!"

To tell the truth, many of my classmates are also members of Haruka's fan club (and they all belong to the more reactionary faction).

"Would you like to go for a round of wrap-the-Ayase on the rooftop?"

"Burying him in the garden as fertilizer for the flowers would be good too!"

"It's more exciting to dip him upside-down into the school swimming pool!"

...I should be able to welcome my summer holidays in relative safety, right?

...No, I seriously doubt that...

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| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter4

2010-12-17T09:44:44Z

Dagger: Typos

===Chapter 4===

July.

After the mid-term exams, the entire school was extremely boisterous as the summer holidays would soon be here.
Some students were discussing holiday plans, while there were others who had decided to confess their feelings to someone before the graduation ceremony, and thus was extremely nervous.

Having managed to successfully stave off the threat of holiday classes (I barely scraped through quite a few subjects), I was chatting with the three idiots and a block head (Nobunaga, but subjectively, people probably think of us as the five idiots) as usual during the lunch break.

"It's summer, so we should go to the beach. The crashing waves, the hot sun, the burning sands, and the passionate watermelon-hitting competition. This is how we Japanese people enjoy......but why are there only guys!"

"You're right. Our second choice is to go into the mountains to get away from the heat, this is how a Japanese summer should be......but we might be attacked by bears!"

"Ah, right. We could go to the nearby park to drink, play, sing and strip through the night, this is the true joy of summer......but we'll probably get arrested!"

Looks like all three of them didn't like summer, which would explain the babbling.

"Speaking of summer, we have to go to Yumei."

Even Nobunaga was starting to babble......Yumei? Is he planning to go to the Kyuushuu Islands?

"Hey, Yuuto, what do you think? Real men should go swimming right?"

Naigai suddenly asked me. Is he trying to drag me down into this as well?

"No, no, no, the UV rays at the beach are too strong, they're not good for health. Camping in the in the mountains full of fresh air is the clever thing to do."

"Don't you think that having a party at the public park is the best choice? We won't need to spend a lot of money too."

"Doujinshi is still the best!"

The four of them turned towards me at the same time...This.....is so boring!

I'm alright with anything, be it climbing up mountains or swimming in oceans (I didn't really understand what Nobunaga was talking about), but there'll be lots of problems if everyone were to go together. Because......No matter where we end up going, I have full confidence in their ability to get into trouble. And the worst part about these holiday proposals is that only guys are involved (in other words, it's not very tempting).

"Ah, I think I'll abstain."

Because no matter which proposal I support, someone will be unhappy, so it'll be better not to say anything.

"You're too much, king of patronizing!"

"I believe that I've warned you about changing this patronizing habit of yours before, you'll get into big trouble one day if you don't change."

"Tsk! Stop being so indecisive!"

"Yuuto, you've always been indecisive, so much so that you take a lifetime to even order your food at a restaurant......"

They were going at it again. But now that I'm used to it, it doesn't bother me.

I slump onto my desk, trying to ignore the four of them.

--Speaking of summer holidays......What will Haruka be doing?

I suddenly started to be very interested about that.

I really do not care about the holiday plans of the three idiots, but on the other hand, I am extremely interested in what Haruka is planning to do for hers.

Haruka's from a rich family, so she'll probably spend her holidays either enjoying life on a southern island or playing sports in Karuizawa right?

I looked over to the other side of the classroom. Haruka was enjoying a cup of tea while reading, her graceful posture giving everyone the image of an elegant Lily. Although the book that she was reading had a luxurious cover that was full of the smell of literature, but ever since that day, I know that what's on the surface may not be the real thing. Please don't drop that cover in front of other people!

Haruka suddenly stopped reading and gazed towards me, our eyes meeting. She blushed with a little embarassment, but still smiled and waved at me. Ah~She's too cute.

If it was possible, I would rather go out with Haruka then to go on some trip with the three idiots......Ah, I seem to be getting too full of myself. Even though we've been rather close these few months, but I don't think we're close enough that she would consent to go out with me during the summer holidays.

Then again, it couldn't hurt to ask...

"Hmm? You're asking whether I have any plans for the summer holidays?"

"Yes, are you planning to go anywhere?"

I took the chance after class to ask her about her plans in the corridor. With her head slightly inclined to the side, Haruka answered my question a little mischievously.

"Hmm...I've already decided to go to my family's summerhouse in Hayama. I have a piano concert in August, and after that I'm going to play tennis with my grandfather in Oze."

"I see."

Just as I had expected, Haruka's summer was packed with all the activities that daughters of rich families do.

"Hmm, what else do I have......Ah, there's a place that I would like to go."

"What would that be?"

"The Summer Comiket."

......And what is that?

"I read on on <<Innocent Smile>>, they seem to be selling the limited edition figures of the tea ceremony versions of <<Clumsy Girl Aki-chan>> and <<Useless Girl Megu-chan>>......I think

it'll be a really exciting event."

Haruka looked like a maiden in love when she was talking about the Summer Comiket. Well, at least I know what the Summer Comiket is now.

"Where will this be held at?"

"It's at the Tokyo International Expo. I don't dare to go by myself, so I was thinking of giving up, but......"

"We can get there by taking the Lily Pelican......"

That place wasn't very far.

"If you don't mind, I'll go with you!"

I tentatively made a suggestion.

"You......You don't mind?"

"Of course not!"

"Thank......Thank you!"

Haruka stood up excitedly, she seems to be really happy.

After celebrating for a while......

"I have to go, I'm on duty today."

Haruka said to me before walking away with a huge grin on her face.

Although it was still a little lacking (or a lot?) in temptation, but I had already decided to go somewhere alone with Haruka during the upcoming summer holidays.

After saying goodbye to Haruka, I was accosted at the school gate.

"Hey~ Oni-chan!"

"Hmm?"

I've heard that voice somewhere before.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a lithe figure waving at me in front of the school gate.

"Mika?"

"Hehe~I haven't seen you for a long time, oni-chan."

I walked over to Mika, who was wearing her school uniform.

"What's happening? Are you looking for Haruka?"

"Hmm, it's nothing much, it's just that I was in the area, so I wanted to go home with onee-chan. Is onee-chan still in school?"

"She, is, but she won't be coming out right away."

Because Haruka's on duty today, so she probably won't be out for another twenty, thirty minutes right? Now that I think of it, it was a little weird that the 'Nuit étoile' is on cleaning duty.

"I see. Well then, oni-chan, would you mind talking to me until onee-chan comes out? Since I don't get to see you often...Or do you have something more important to do?"

"No, I'm free."

I don't have a girlfriend, I have no job, and the only thing that I need to do is to prepare dinner for Ruko before seven, which means that my schedule after school is completely blank...I feel really sorry for myself.

"Wow, that's great!"

Mika jumped up excitedly. Personally, I'm alright with it, but it's not a very good idea to jump when you're wearing a skirt.

"So how has your relationship with onee-chan progressed lately?"

Mika suddenly shot a question at me in the midst of her excited jumping.

"Well...How do I put it, it's just like that."

Although we've agreed to go out together during the summer holidays, but there hasn't been any special progression other than that. Because if I were to appear to be too close to Haruka in

school, I will be constantly harassed by her fanclub, which is also the reason why we're unable to talk to each other in peace in front of other people.

"Hmm~This won't do! If this carries on, god knows when oni-chan will become by brother-in-law."

Mika latched on to my arm after saying that.

"Hey...Hey!"

"Hehe, don't mind me, I just want a real oni-chan! And right now, oni-chan's the top candidate for the position of my brother-in-law."

Mika smiled mischievously.

"Or are you saying that you don't like me?"

"No, of course not......"

Anyway, Mika's extremely cute, and it's not like she's sticking to me with malicious intent. It'll probably be quite good if I were to have a younger sister like her.

It's just that--

"If you were to do this in front of other people, I think there'll be problems..."

The two of us had been the centre of attention ever since Mika latched herself onto my arm.

Everyone who walked past us were whispering to their friends about us.

I overheard a few lines of what they were saying.

"That girl's a middle-schooler isn't she? Is the guy trying to hit on her?"

"But she's been calling him 'oni-chan', maybe they're brother and sister?"

"This 'oni-chan' is obviously fake. It seems to be the 'oni-chan' here has the same meaning as 'otou-san'"

"How could he do such a thing!"

Another group of people were also talking about us.

"Don't you think that girl's really cute?"

"Yes, she looks rather familiar though..."

"Who?"

"Hmm..."

"What is that guy trying to do? Hit on her?"

"How could he try to hit on a middle school girl in front of our school gate in broad daylight!"

Right after that group of people, another groups of people walked past us.

"Isn't that Ayase from year 2? I heard that he tried to hit on Haruka-sama..."

"He's trying to woo another girl without taking his eyes off Haruka-sama?"

"He seems to be enjoy being called 'oni-chan'"

"They're even locking arms.....Pervert!"

"...Why don't we kill him?"

"If we call for Haruka-sama's defence force, we should be able to get about twenty people within five minutes."

The last few sentences I heard made me fear for my life.

I suddenly felt an acute sense of danger, my instinct telling me that my life will be in danger if I were to stay here any longer.

"Ah, oni-chan, your face looks really pale, are you feeling unwell?"

Mika leaned towards me.

Sharp gazes from the people around us were immediately directed at me. This is bad...I'll really be murdered if this goes on.

Which is why I must get out of here (a tactical retreat).

"Ah...Mika, I'm sorry, but I suddenly remembered something important that I have to do, so I---"

"Eh? Mika? Why are you here?"

Just as I was going to pull out from this dangerous place, I was cut off by a voice coming from the school building.

It was Haruka.

Having just finished her cleaning duties, Haruka had an enchanting smile on her face as she walked towards us. This is not good, I will look more suspicious than I already am if I leave the moment Haruka comes out.

"Hey, hey! It's Haruka-sama..."

The appearance of the 'Nuit étoile' caused a commotion among the crowd, with many people fumbling in their bags to take out a weird looking headband which they promptly tied around their foreheads.

"Does Haruka-sama know that girl? They seem to be very intimate."

"Ah...Could she be Mika-sama?"

"Who's that?"

"How could you not know? That's Haruka-sama's younger sister!"

"Now that you mention it, they really do look alike."

"She's so cute..."

"But why would Haruka-sama's sister be holding onto that guy's arm so intimately?"

"...Has he gotten his dirty hands onto Haruka-sama's sister as well?"

"He's stepping on two boats at the same time..."

The atmosphere suddenly became extremely heavy after that last sentence.

"...Hey, assemble the Haruka-sama defence force, get as many people as you can! This fellow...didn't just make a move on Haruka-sama, he even has designs on Mika-sama! Tell the guys with baseball bats and shinais to bring their weapons!"

"Yes sir!"

The atmosphere suddenly turned to that of a gang fight. This is bad! This is really bad!

"Mika, now that Haruka's here, I think I'll take my leave. See you tomorrow, Haruka."

"Ah~Why don't we walk back together for a short distance, we don't really get a chance like this often~"

Mika firmly locked her arms around my left arm.

"Ah, that's right, I rarely have the chance to walk home with Yuuto-san."

Haruka grabbed my right shirt sleeve.

"This......This......"

Normally, I would say that I was holding two beautiful moon orchids in my hands, but under the current circumstances, the moon orchids looked more like flowers at a funeral (my funeral).

"Excuse me, Ayase-kun."

Someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind forcefully.

I looked back and saw a guy the size of a bear, with a white headband wrapped around his head and an expression as hard as stone. He glared at me as though he was looking at the person who murdered his father.

"I would like to talk to you for a moment, would you mind following me to the back of the school campus?"

His eyes glinted dangerously. I seem to have seen him somewhere...Ah! He's the ace of our school's karate team (he was ranked third at the nationals). Rumour has it that he just sent five delinquents from another school into the hospital a few days ago...

"Ah, I won't take up too much of your time...Because it'll only hurt for a moment."

Because I could literally smell the danger in the air, I desperately mouthed 'Save.Me.From.Him!' to Mika and Haruka, to which they nodded as though they understood me perfectly.

"I see, oni-chan, you should have told us that you had promised to go with a friend!"

"Since you're going with your friend, then I guess we don't have a choice. Even though it's such a pity, but you better go with him!"

The two of them smiled as they announced my death sentence.

"That was not what I meant..."

My escaped bid failed miserably...They actually thought that Mr. Karate was my friend...

"Well then, oni-chan, we'll be going now."

"Goodbye, Yuuto-san."

I could only watched as the two sisters turned their backs to me.

"Hey! This way, the defense force is waiting for you."

I was forcibly dragged in the opposite direction as Haruka and Mika.

Luckily for me, Nobunaga suddenly appeared out of nowhere (it seemed as though he had been watching the whole incident from the moment I came into contact with Mika) and helped me escape the Haruka-sama defence force (He whispered something in the ear of the karate ace, who promptly turned green and ran away). But ever since that incident, I became a class A wanted criminal in Haruka's fan club, and was forced to sneak around in school for quite a while after that.

On another day, a similar incident occurred.

That day, I was once again accosted by Mika at the school gate (she has been coming rather frequently), and after enduring the cold stares of the normal students, I was dragged towards the back of the school campus by Haruka's fan club as usual. But luckily for me, I managed to break free of Haruka's fans to run back home. But I heard two people laughing loudly the moment I stepped into my home.

"Hahaha, this is so funny."

"Ahahahaha, it really is."

One voice belonged to Ruko, and the other, was also a very familiar voice. This voice brings an inexplicable sense of pressure to anyone who hears it, so it can only be her!

I suddenly felt more exhausted than I already was.

At that moment, I had the urge to just rush up to my room. But if I don't gret hte two people in the living room, the consequences will be dire (Like using the school's PA system to call me into the office, or forcing me to sing <<Give me another toki-doki love>> etc). Which is why I know from experience that this was something I had to do, and it was with a heavy heart that I walked into the living room.

"I'm back."

"Oh, you're back."

"Yuu-chan, you're back! Sorry for disturbing you again!"

Just as I had expected, there were two people on the sofa: My idiot sister, who was sitting with her legs crossed, and her best friend, the music teacher, Yukari, who was waving to me from her seat on the sofa.

"..."

The two of them were already working, so how is it possible that they reach home before high school student such as myself? It's only half past four in the afternoon, so why are there two empty japanese sake bottles on the table already? I had a lot of questions in my head. But I knew that if I treasured this life of mine, it was better not to ask at all. Oh well, I'm used to these two (drunkards) anyway...But something even worse happened immediately after that.

"You're later than usual, did anything happen?"

"Nope, nothing happened."

My sister stared right into my eyes. I deliberately looked away. I don't want to tell them about Haruka for the time being, because offering conversation topics to two drunkards (two very ill-mannered drunkards) was like offering an arm to a hungry tiger.

But...

"You didn't do anything strange to Haruka and her sister did you?"

I didn't say anything, but Yukari had a creepy Doctor Faustus-like smile on her face as she held a bottle of japanese sake in one hand.

"......What are you talking about?"

"Trying to hide it from me? It's useless, because I already know all about your relationship with Haruka and her sister from the information that Nobunaga probided."

That guy knows that I'm interested in Haruka, but he's definitely not the type who would go around gossiping about people. He may be a little patronizing at times, but he's definitely a man of principles. So even though he knows everything about my relationship with Haruka, he wouldn't tell a certain music teacher who likes to sexually harrass other people.

"It was rather hard getting him to talk at first, but the moment I told him 'I'll treat your body very gently', he talked. He said 'Ah, I get it! I'll tell you everything...No, I thank you for the chance to tell you everything, Ahhhhh~I still want to preserve my virginity! Yuuto, forgive me!'"

I have no idea what they were threatening to do to him......But for the sake of my mental health, I refrained from thinking about it. I was still rather sympathetic towards my childhood friend who seemed as though he was going to be used as a human sacrifice.

"Nobunaga's information was accurate and detailed. His reports about how you talk to Haruka secretly, how you went over to Haruka's home to study for the exams, how you flirted with

Haruka's sister at the school gate were extremely accurate...It was almost as though he had witnessed the events with his own eyes."

From the way Yukari was talking, it seemed as though Nobunaga had really told her everything he know. In other words, that guy know everything about Haruka! Ah! This is bad!

"...Hmm?"

Don't panic! Analyse the situation calmly!

I wouldn't be that surprised at him knowing about how Haruka and I secretly talk to each other in school, and also about the incidents with Mika, but how in the world did he know about me going over to Haruka's home? I've never told anyone about that before...

"In an information-driven society such as ours, even though their are safeguards in place to protect privacy of individuals, but as long as you know how to go about doing it, it's very easy to access such information..."

I recalled the words that Nobunaga had said to me.

"..."

I finally realized how scary Asakura Nobunaga is. He's definitely a stalker.

Yukari looked at the stunned expression on my face and continued.

"Actually, I already had an clue about you and Haruka before I asked Nobunaga because you've been rather famous in school lately! When I heard people talking about how not only did that fellow try to stick his dirty paws into the 'Nuit étoile', he also has designs on her sister, and that he must be a pervert, I had a feeling that it was you, Yuu-chan."

...That's strage, why would Yukari think of me the moment other people talk about perverts?

"Because Yuu-chan is a very perverted boy, so the chances of you being the pervert that everyone's talking about is very high."

"..."

In response to my wordless protest, Yukari's response was crisp.

"...Yuu-chan, you shouldn't be too interested in little girls, I didn't educate you to become that kind of person..."

She continued in this vein while acting as though she was the caring older sister.

"Yuu-chan, because of your character, you'll definitely be bullied by young girls."

"..."

I should have known that being Yukari, babbling is the only thing that she'll do. But then, I'm really getting angry listening to her.

"Ah, Yuu-chan, are you angry?"

"...Yes, I'm angry."

Anyone would be angry after being labeled a pervert.

"I'm sorry, so please don't give me that scary face. I'm joking, even though the part about having a clue about you and Haruka was true. Because you've always been unable to leave Haruka alone, and the incident after the after-school activity is only one of them."

If she uses this to bombard me, my heart will be very painful.

"Yuu-chan, you're like a male zebra during the mating season. You're channeling all your pent-up desire into Haruka. I'm trying to stop you because of the potentially disastrous consequences. Do you that that it is an extremely tiring job to hold down a wild animal full of pent-up desire?"

"Don't talk about your own fantasies as though they were real!"

You haven't done anything at all!

"Don't be like this, being in love is a good thing. It is because of love that humans are able to develop such a high level of culture. Love is the saviour of the earth! LOVE AND PEACE~"

Even though it sounds like a piece of profound knowledge that she was trying to impart, it was actually only drunken rambling. THe more Yukari continued to ramble, the more excited she became, even giving me a thumbs up.

"How about this, Yuu-cham? Let's save the earth together!"

"I'll have to politely decline!"

When facing a drunkard who was practically drowning in a sea of pink, my answer only took half a second.

"Ah, I've been abandoned! Ruko, Yuu-chan's being so cold towards me."

"...No, I don't want you to be my sister-in-law either."

"Sob, sob, you siblings are like the wind from the north pole, cold and heartless..."

I decided to ignore the crying drunkard for now.

"I still have some homework to do, so I'll go up to my room now. It's not a bad thing to drink sake, but please don't drink too much. You, too, Ruko."

"Don't worry about it."

Even though I knew that Ruko's reassurance cannot be believed, but I hoped to at least prevent them from blowing fire in my home (Loading up their mouths with 96% alcohol-content vodkas before spitting it all out at the fire coming out from a lighter. This is very dangerous, good kids shouldn't imitate something like that.), so that I won't have to call civil defence.

"...Please be careful."

Just as I opened the door of the living room to walk towards my room...

"Yuu-chan."

Yukari called to me in an extremely serious voice. I looked back and saw Yukari with an authentic teacher's expression on her face (she really is a teacher anyway).

"...I only want to say one thing."

"And what might that be?"

This felt more serious than usual, as I answered her statement with a question while trying to calm the sudden wave of nervousness that had washed over me. Yukari answered me in an extremely serious voice.

"...Older girls are still better than younger girls. Just the difference in technique alone is nothing the younger girl can make up for..."

"Stop it, I've had enough of this!"

...This person has been lost to the world.

Ever since I got closer to Haruka, my life has been something like this.

Chatting with the three idiots and Nobunaga in school while trying to get a sneak a chance to talk to Haruka privately, and then being teased by Ruko and Yukari at home. Sometimes I'll go shopping with Haruka, and for some unknown reason, Haruka would ask me to go shopping with Mika as well.

All in all, my life has changed a little ever since I've come to know the real Nogizaka Haruka.

Most of the time, this change has brought nothing but trouble.

But I like the life I have now.

Because right now, my life is much more interesting than the boring one I've had before getting to know Haruka.

On a certain day after school, two weeks before the start of the summer holidays.

On Yukari's orders, I trudged towards the staff room. Hearing someone call out my name, I turned around to look back at the corridor.

"Yuuto-san~"

Looking in the direction of that mesmerizing female soprano, I saw Haruka beaming as she waved to me at the other end of the corridor.

"Yuuto!"

I've been marked again.

Everyone walking in the corridor was looking at me, and a significant number of the looks seemed to be hiding their murderous intent. Am I reading too much into it? But I did recognize a

few faces when they were still wearing headbands.

But Haruka was still smiling like a wind that no one knows the direction of...

"I've brought the 'thing I told you about the last time'. If you're free, would you like to look at it together?"

She started to run towards my direction, but...

"Ah! Haruka! Be careful!"

There was a rag that someone probably forgot to pick up after cleaning duty on the ground between us.

"Eh?"

Haruka, who was completely engrossed in running over that she didn't look at what was beneath her feet, stepped onto the rag with ridiculous accuracy.

"Eh...EH...?"

Under the eyes of the audience, Haruka flew.

"Ah...Kya!"

After flipping over in midair, she landed heavily onto the ground.

The three actions of Running->Slipping->Landing heavily was done with acrobatic fluidity.

"It...Hurts..."

Haruka was rubbing her waist gingerly probably because of the fact that she had fallen onto the ground. The things in her bag was scattered all around her.

Just as I was going over to help Haruka up, I suddenly realized that the looks of the people around us were a little strange.

They looked like they had seen something that they shouldn't have seen, their gazes a carbon copy of the look of a female bulter who's assassinating witnesses from a hiding spot, and these looks were concentrated on Haruka.

At first, I thought that everyone was looking at Haruka because you don't get to see the 'Nuit étoile' step on a rag and fall down.

But when I saw the magazine beside her that looked like a dictionary of demon summoning, I understood what kind of looks those people were giving Haruka.

Those were looks of disgust.

'The thing I told you about the last time'!

Coincidentally, the magazine was flipped out to the page with a drawing of a blue-haired girl who was in the exact same position as Haruka right now, as she sat on the ground holding her butt. The drawing was captioned 'Clumsy girl Aki-chan clumsy position No. 3'.

Everything seem to freeze in place for a moment.

Right now, the atmosphere in the corridor was as awkward as how a karate master would have felt if he got hit in the face by his disciple while trying to show him how to block an attack.

"I...I did it again..."

Haruka sheepishly mumbled as she sat on the ground, not knowing the dire situation that she was in. But almost immediately, she realized that her surroundings were too quiet.

"Ah...What is wrong with you people?"

"..."

"Umm...Why is everyone so quiet?"

Haruka looked at me confusedly, as I didn't know how to answer her. Seeing that I was unable to answer her question, Haruka looked around, as the people whom she looked at looked away uncomfortably.

"?"

I could literally see the question marks floating on top of Haruka's head as she tried to make sense of the current situation.

"Yuuto-san, what's going on..."

She looked at me again helplessly.

"Eh...?"

Haruka finally noticed the object of personal interest that had dropped onto the ground.

"Ah, why did the 'Summer Comiket Doujinshi'...Hmm? Eh?"

Haruka's face suddenly turned as pale as the student who fainted during the principal's speech during morning assembly.

"Eh? I remember placing it in the innermost part of my bag, so why would it..."

Haruka mumbled to herself nervously as she tried to accept the current situation.

"Haruka, perhaps you should get up first?"

I helped Haruka straighten out the edge of her skirt that had been crumpled by the fall before offering her my right hand, but Haruka was acting a little strangely.

"Ah...I...I..."

"Haruka?"

Haruka looked around her blankly, her gaze shifting between the two sides of the corridor.

"No...Don't...Please don't look at me like that. I...I..."

"Hey, hey, calm down..."

Haruka didn't seem to be able to hear me as she buried her face in her hands as she shook her head vigorously, as though she wanted to shake the looks of the people around her out of her head.

"I...I..."

And then, tears started to roll around in Haruka's large eyes.

"Sob..."

And then, Haruka abruptly got up from the ground, grabbed her bag and ran off.

"Ha...Haruka..."

I was left behind together with the magazine that had started all this, the piercingly painful looks now focused on me.

"Was...that really Nogizaka-san's magazine?"

"I don't know, but it definitely fell out from her bag."

"How is is possible that the 'Nuit étoile' would have such a thing..."

I heard the whispers all around me. This was bad! If this goes on, Haruka's secret will be exposed, and even if it isn't that bad, the whole school will still be talking about it. If things really come to that, then Haruka will surely be extremely upset. To be honest, I really don't want to see Haruka cry.

I have to do something!

Now that it has come to this, there was only one solution to this problem.

"Ah! It's here!"

I pointed at the magazine on the ground as I deliberately raised my voice.

"This is the magazine that I've been searching for ever since I lost it three days ago! Yes, it is the right one! I see, Nogizaka-san must have helped me pick it up. She's really a great
person!"

...After forcing out every single cheesy sentence that I could remember, I realized that I really don't have any talent in acting.

But the people around me still bought it.

"...That's right. How could Nogizaka-san be reading something like that."

"Nogizaka-san is really a kind person, instead of throwing it away, she was actually looking for its owner."

"Isn't that fellow Ayase from A class? He's good friends with Nobunaga, so it's not really a surprise that he reads something like that."

"Hmm, I never thought that Ayase would have that kind of hobby. Looks like his reputation's completely destroyed."

"Is that right? I never knew that he had a reputation in the first place."

"Whatever, let's just go!"

The people around me started to walk off as as they talked among themselves (please don't talk about other people's reputation).

...Phew, looks like they believed my story.

I patted myself on the chest as I started to pick up the things that had dropped out of Haruka's bag. There were textbooks, a notebook, a pencil case, some music scores, and that magazine.

Haruka must have landed really heavily if all these things flew out of her bag. Even though they were scattered all over the place, I had picked everything up within a minute.

"Sigh..."

I stood up.

No matter what happens, I guess this incident should be over. Haruka's secret didn't get exposed, so I just need to secretly return this magazine to Haruka tomorrow. But I was a little worried about her strange behavior. Perhaps she overreacted like that time in the library (where half the library got destroyed) because it all happened so quickly!

My explanation for Haruka's behavior was very simple.

However, it seemed to be a little too optimistic.

Because Haruka didn't come to school the next day.

"That's right, after French impressionist composers like Debussy and Ravel started to feature prominantly..."

Yukari was writing on the black board on the podium. Even though her handwriting was like a high school girl's handwriting, she was very familiar with the content of the lesson.

"...the main characteristics of impressionist music is that it tries to break free of the shackles of classical music in three main ways: Melody, harmony, and rhythm. In short, impressionist music places emphasis on composing on instinct, through personal feelings, as opposed to stubbornly forcing out music in a mind chained by the rules of classical music..."

Yukari's explanation reflected her thorough understanding of the subject. Even though she's like a perverted middle-aged man on the inside, this person is a surprisingly good teacher...Anyway, Yukari would be the prime example of how a person's character and her teaching ability is on completely different levels of the mind.

But I was unable to pay attention to Yukari's lesson, and the reason is not just because of the fact that I've always found music to be boring (if I dared to say it out loud, a metal fist will come flying towards me), but also because I was worrying about something else.

Haruka's seat was empty again.

Three days after the incident, I still wonder if I had done the right thing.

I sighed deeply in my heart.

Today was the third day that Haruka had been absent from school.

Ever since the 'Dropped magazine incident' (my own name for it), Haruka had been absent from school. I had asked Yukari about it, but only got sexually harrassed in response.

"She's not feeling well~What did you do to make her so tired?"

Because the amount of energy expended while trying to get Yukari to talk wouldn't be worth the information I'll get, I wisely chose to drop the issue.

Is Haruka really just feeling unwell? It can't be, right?

I was still thinking about the megazine in question that was currently in my bag. Now that I think of it, Haruka probably overreacted because she thought that her hobby was exposed.

But no matter how much I thought about it, someone as stupid as me was unable to make any sense out of the facts available to me.

But no matter what, I can't leave Haruka alone like this.

--I'll try visiting her!

If Nobunaga and Yukari knew about what I intended to do, they'll probably laugh at me for exaggerating the seriousness of the situation (although from my perspective, they were more like ghosts who haunt me all the time), but I'm really worried about Haruka.

And so, I decided to go visit Haruka after school.

Do you guys have a problem with it?

Ever since that incident, something else had changed around me.

"Again..."

Nowadays, a pile of letters will fall out whenever I open my shoe locker. Of course these aren't love letters, but hate mail cursing me and expressing their disgust towards me.

"Sign......"

I threw all the letters into the furnace. I had wanted to just leave them there on the ground, but these letters all had my name written on it, so I don't get rid of them, I'll probably be seen as the person responsible for writing all the letter. The hate mail writers are really smart to even take that into account! If they were willing to use those brains of theirs in more constructive ways, our steadily regressing standard of living would be better wouldn't it?

I sighed as I opened up a few of them.

"Don't go near Haruka-sama! You pervert! Don't let Haruka-sama come into contact with something like that! FUCK!"

"Someone like you will never be good enough for Haruka-sama! You're way out of your league! Stupid otaku!"

"You better not have made a miniature figurine of Haruka-sama, you pervert!"

The letters were full of incendiary words.

I sighed deeply.

I've received such hate mail before. But the contents were not as hateful as the ones I've been receiving. The previous ones merely said things liks 'Don't smile to Haruka-sama like that' or 'Don't appear within 5 meters of Haruka-sama, and don't breathe the same air that she does'. Thanks to Nobunaga's manipulation of the information that went around the school, the letters stopped for a while, but ever since that incident, I started to receive massive amounts of hate mail again, and some strange-looking people had even contacted me.

"...I can't take this anymore!"

In any case, the 'Fellow who always sticks to the Nuit étoile (me)...is a perverted otaku' seems to have been accepted as an undeniable fact by the school population. The reason for this is obviously because of the incident a few days ago. But this time, I can't ask Nobunaga to help me out of this, because the moment people think that the megazine isn't mine, they'll start to suspect Haruka. But because it's Nobunaga after all, since he joyfully came up to me and said, 'Wow~Yuuto, it's great that you've finally found your true calling and joined our ranks!',

I guess I could try to ask him for help.

"I don't understand...Why does everyone hate otakus so much?"

Or maybe they just don't like me!

When I settle down and think of it, the second possibility is higher. Because Nobunaga, a self-admitted otaku hasn't been subjected to the kind of treatment that I've been receiving, and on the contrary, most people actually think of him as the school mascot because of his friendliness and interesting characteristics. Some people really like him too (because he looks like a bishounen).

I can only draw one conclusion from the facts at my disposal.

"...In other words, I'm being subjected to this treatment because of who I am?"

I was felt a little depressed at that deduction. Sob, sob, just what did I do to deserve this...

But, it won't carry on like this forever, right?

As the saying goes, no rumour ever goes on for more than a month, so hopefully, everyone will forget about me after a while. Not thinking too deeply into things is one of my weak points, but conversely, it's also one of my good points.

I threw the rest of the letters into the furnace.

To be honest, I was more worried about Haruka. I intended to go to the Nogizaka residence immediately after burning all the hate mail.

But just as I was rushing towards the school gate...

"Hey, Ayase-kun! It must be hard to have to throw the rubbish again today right!"

A guy with slightly long brown-dyed hair sniggered as he blocked my path.

...Who is this guy?

Even though this is the first time I've seen this person, but for no reason, I really didn't like him. Just like how most girls instinctively hate cockroaches, I instinctively disliked this guy.

"Ah, where are my manners. I'm Sasaoka Shyuuto."

He smiled cynically as he nodded his head.

I've heard that name before.

He's the ace of the basketball team, and had been rejected by Haruka before (I bet he has gone for plastic surgery before). Because he's a little weird and is a chronic skirt-chaser, he's the most famous year 3 senpai in the school, and also the person that most people didn't want to be connected to.

"...And what can I do for you, Sasaoka-senpai?"

I was very sure that it won't be anything good, but I still asked politely.

"Nothing much, I just want to get a good look at the otaku who's sticking to Haruka-san like a parasite."

"...You really hava a lot of free time."

Just as I had expected.

How is it that I'm never able to guess any questions correctly in exams, but have a 100% success rate in guessing such random things? After sighing to myself for my bad luck, I looked straight at Sasaoka.

"...I think you've seen enough. Can I go now? Unlike you, I actually have something to do."

I pushed Sasaoka away as I tried to go around him, but Sasaoka continued to give that cynical smile of his that made me want to punch him in the face and continued to block my way.

"...Just what do you want?"

"Hang on, I just want to tell you something."

"Get to the point!"

I want to get this over with within 3 seconds.

"It's simple...Do not harrass Haruka-san anymore! You make me sick! I don't want to see someone who gets excited when looking at figurines of strange girls to get close to Haruka-san. In other words, Haruka-san's too pitiful to have someone like you around her!"

In actual fact, Haruka's the one who'll get really excited when looking at figurines of strange girls. Oh well, why am I even wasting my time listening to this person's incessant babbling.

"That's it? Then I'm going."

"Wa,Wait!"

"Now what?"

This person's really annoying.

"You should have heard what I've just said right? I want you to swear that you will never go near Haruka-san ever again!"

"I won't do it."

"It's good that you understand...Eh? Hang on, you refused to do it..."

"That's right, because I don't have to listen to your mindless rambling."

I would have thought that this much was obvious.

"...Gah!"

Probably because my answer was extremely unsatisfactory, Sasaoka took a step back, the expression on his face the mirror-image of the prime minister who has just failed to assassinate the king.

"Hmph, hmph, alright then, I'll let you go today, since you'll soon be dumped by Haruka-san anyway, because you're an otaku!"

He spat at me.

Oh well, I should get away from this place as quickly as possible.

Just when I finally got rid of Sasaoka and got to the school gate...

"Oni-chan!"

Mika was standing right in front of the school gate.

She had her hands on her hips with her legs apart as she glared at me. Whoa! Just what did I do to make her so angry?

"Oni-chan, just what did you do to onee-chan!"

What's with that question!

"How can just assume that I'm the reason for this incident!"

But Mika conpletely ignored my protests.

"Because you're the only person who can make onee-chan so miserable! Oni-chan, did you force onee-chan into some kind of weird cosplay?"

Mika shouted at the top of her voice while blushing furiously...I'm begging you, there're students everywhere because school just ended, so please don't shout 'weird cosplay' in front of so many people!

"Did you force her to cosplay as a sexy nurse, or a bunny girl, or did you force her to wear nothing but an apron..."

Mika started to become more specific.

Just as I feared, looks of disgust were shot at me from every direction, now they really think of me as a pervert...Well, not like I can do anything about it, so I'll just let them think whatever they want to think!"

"Hey, it's not because of me that Haruka's like this."

Mika gave me a suspicious look in response to my explanation.

"You're lying! Why else would onee-chan become like this? She's locked herself in her room every since she came home three days ago, and she hasn't eaten at all! And she keeps playing

pieces like 'Funeral March', and 'Dance of Death' on the piano..."

That's really scary.

"We even heard onee-chan crying in the middle of the night...This is like what happened when she was in middle school..."

Mika's face suddenly lit up as she seemed to have understood something.

"...Don't tell me onee-chan's secret has been exposed?"

Mika lifted her head to look at me as she waited for the answer.

"Nope, it was almost exposed, but nothing happened in the end."

"Then why..."

"Hmm...Maybe because Haruka mistakenly thought that her secret had been exposed. From what you've said, I guess being sick isn't the real reason for Haruka's absence from school."

"Ah, yes..."

Mika nodded her head cautiously.

"Onee-chan said that she wasn't feeling well, but she's definitely lying. Father and mother haven't really given much thought , but...onee-chan's acting exactly the same way as that time,

Hazuki-san's very worried about her too."

"You mentioned 'that time'?"

"Ah, that's..."

For someone like Mika to stutter, it must be something really serious.

"You don't have to force yourself to tell me..."

"...It's not like that."

"But if you don't mind, I would like to hear it, because this is probably related to how Haruka is acting now."

Mika lowered her head as she thought about it.

"...You're right. Mm, I guess oni-chan should know about it."

She lifted up her head again after seeming to break free of some unseen restriction.

Once again, I had come to the Nogizaka residence.

After spending twenty minutes passing through a door that was as imposing as the Arc de Triomphe, walking through a courtyard that was bigger than a forest garden, and making our way through the mazelike interior of the Nogizaka mansion, I finally reached the door to Haruka's room.

"Haruka-sama, Yuuto-sama is here to see you."

Hazuki-san knocked on the door, only garnering a muffled squeal in response.

"Onee-chan, oni-chan bought cake from the ----, let's eat it together!"

Thump, thump, we heard a sound that suggested that the occupant of the room was locked in a struggle between her feelings and temptation.

The cake that I was currently holding in my right hand (only ten pieces are sold a day), seems to be something that Haruka really likes to eat, so much so that she eats it once every three days. For someone who eats so much cakes and other desserts, it's a wonder that Haruka can maintain that figure of hers.

"...She didn't come out."

After that instance of movement, the room behind the door fell silent again.

Mika wrapped her arms around herself as her head leaned to one side, thinking about our next move.

"Hmm, I think onee-chan's being sorely tempted by the combination of oni-chan and the cake, so let's just start our tea party here! Hazuki-san, could you prepare what we need?"

"Absolutely."

Hazuki-san immediately set up a simple foldable table that she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere, and placed a table cloth on it before pulling out four sets of chairs (again, out of nowhere), after which she started to set up the tea cups......Wait a minute! Where did she get all these equipment from? Weren't both her hands completely empty just a moment ago?

"Corporate secret."

The maid-san replied me nochalantly after I asked her about it. What kind of corporate secret it this...Could it be possible that the pockets of their maid uniform are linked to the fourth dimension?

"Corporate secret."

"No..."

"Corporate secret."

"Which is why..."

"Corporate secret."

"...I get it."

I gave up. It'll probaby be better for me to just shut up and sit on the chair (that came out of nowhere)!

The maid-san held up the tea-pot and looked at us.

"Would Nuwara Eliya be alright?"

"I'm not a picky tea-drinker like onee-chan, so I'm alright with anything."

"...Same for the cup on the right."

If Mika hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even know that 'Nuwara Eliya' is the name of a tea.

And just like this, our tea party outside Haruka's room (in the corridor) began.

"Ah, this smells so good!"

"It's Sachertorte. Would you like me to cut it for you?"

"Yes please."

Hazuki-san divided the cake with an experienced hand as the smell of chocolate immediately burst out into the surroundings. It's no wonder that Haruka likes to eat this, it looks really tempting.

Suddenly, I heard a something behind me.

"Hmm?"

"!"

I looked back and saw Haruka looking at us through a gap in the door. The moment our eyes met, Haruka hurriedly closed the door again...Was she looking at the cake?

(This is good, we've successfully piqued her interest.)

Mika whispered to me...Is it really like this?

(Do you think I should take out the candied fruits as well?)

(Good idea, onee-chan likes to eat candied fruits too.)

(Then...)

Hazuki-san left the corridor.

(Sorry to keep you waiting.)

In the blink of an eye, she was back with a tray of candied fruits that gave off a special scent.

(These candied fruits are first boiled together with sugar before it is mixed together with rum.)

Hazuki-san explained how the candied fruits were made to us. I see, that special scent comes from the rum.

Click!

The door opened again. Haruka stuck her head out again as she couldn't resist the temptation of the candied fruits, but the moment she saw me looking, she quickly closed the door again.

But her actions were really cute.

(Hmm, only a little more to go!)

(Then I shall go bring out the gingerbread.)

(Thank you.)

But in the end, despite sticking her head out several times, Haruka still refused to come out.

"Onee-chan, I've had enough of this!"

Probably because she had run out of things to tempt Haruka with, Mika was a little impatient...

"Fine! Since it has come to this..."

Mika breathed in deeply.

"If you still refuse to come out, the I'll take both the cake and oni-chan! Alright, oni-chan!"

"Huh, ah, hey!"

I shouted because Mika suddenly launched herself into my arms. Ah, she's so soft.

"Oni-chan~Roll~Roll~"

"Hey...Hey!"

Don't...Don't rub my face like that!

"Why don't you dump onee-chan and go out with me! Let's go on a date, just the two of us, let's go to Akihabara."

"Wa...Wait a minute!"

Just as I was desperately tring to peel Mika off from, there was a loud bang from the other side of the door.

"No...You can't!"

And immediately after that, Haruka pushed the door open with tremendous force as she came out of the room with her arms flailing.

"On...Only Yuuto-san's off limits! I can let go of everything else, but I won't let go of Yuuto-san! I...I'm the only one who can go to Akihabara with Yuuto-san!"

"..."

"..."

"...Ahahaha."

Hazuki-san and I were stunned speechless, while Mika laughed happily.

Finally realizing the meaning behind what she had blurted out, Haruka's face suddenly blushed the shade of a litmus paper's reaction to acid.

"I...What did I say...I...I'm sorry!"

The door slammed shut with a bang, afterwhich we heard the clicking of the normal lock and the anti-theft lock (a high-tech lock commonly used in high-class hotels).

"Hmm, that didn't go as well as I thought it would..."

"On the contrary, I thought it worked quite well..."

"Right, hmm, oni-chan's such a pervert~"

"...You're like a gigolo!"

The two of them (especially the maid-san standing behind us) started to go off-topic.

And it's back to square one. No, not square one, we might even be at square minus three, minus four.

"...Right now, the only thing we can do is to break in. Haruka-sama hasn't eaten for the past three days, I'm worried that she's going to collapse."

The maid-san stepped forward.

"You're right, but how do we break into Haruka's room?"

The anti-theft locks are almost unbreakable.

"By using this."

A giant blue chainsaw that the serial killers in horror movies use suddenly appeared in the maid-san's hands. Just where did she pull that out from...

"This thing is a little dangerous, so please step back."

The chainsaw started to shake dangerously as it was started up, Hazuki-san's really planning to use this!

"Well then..."

"Hand on, maybe I should try talking to Haruka."

I stopped Hazuki-san just as she was going to slice the door into half with her chainsaw (her solution's definitely not going to help).

Actually, this problem should be solved the moment I tell Haruka that I've helped her cover up. Because from what Mika told me, I'm thinking the main reason for Haruka's behaviour is because she thinks that her secret has been exposed.

Which is why the situation would probably change for the better as long as I clear up the misunderstanding, right?

"Please let me try."

At this this solution's more orthodox than using the chainsaw!

"I understand, we'll leave this to you them."

"Good luck, oni-chan!"

Mika and Hazuki-san wished me luck before I knocked softly on Haruka's door.

"Haruk, please open the door, I want to talk to you about what happened that day."

Haruka's room was completely silent.

"Actually, it's not so bad. Look, here's the cake that you love to eat!"

Haruka's room remained silent.

"If you don't open up, Hazuki-san says she's going to take your door down with a chainsaw."

"...You don't need to mention that."

The maid-san who was standing behind me retorted. What, you did intend to do it didn't you?

"So would you please open the door?"

Just when I was going to repeat my question, I felt some movement on the other side of the door. After a little while...

"...I understand, please come in."

Haruka replied me softly.

Haruka hugged her knees on her luxurious four poster bed.

There was a teddy bear and some megazines beside her.

After confirming that I was the only one coming in, Haruka blushed as she closed her bloodshot eyes.

...I'm really sorry for saying something like that just now..."

"Ah, don't worry about it."

About what Haruka just said, I instinctively thought that it would be better not to as Haruka what she really meant. Even though I really wanted to know, but...

"You've been absent from school for three days...I'm very worried about you."

"...I'm sorry."

"No, I'm not blaming you or anything..."

Seeing Haruka lowering her head like a puppy who has just been scolded by its master, I felt rather unhappy as well, since it looks like I'm bullying Haruka.

"Anyway, everything's alright now."

"Eh?"

"Your secret hasn't been exposed to everyone, my cover-up after you ran off probably worked I guess."

"Rea...Really?"

Haruka lifted up her head.

"That's right, so you don't have to worry about anything."

"Than...Thank you. But, how did you cover up my secret under those circumstances..."

That situation was really quite difficult...

After I told Haruka what I had done after she ran off (third-grade acting and cheesy lines included), Haruka's facial expression changed drastically.

"So you're saying that, everyone thinks that you're the owner of that megazine?"

"Probably."

"How...How can it be..."

Haruka had a very strange expression on her face.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"But...Yuuto-san, other people will be giving you strange looks..."

Ah, I see what Haruka's worried about now. She's right, I have been harrassed recently due to that incident (like the hate mail, and Sasaoka). But compared to the recent events in the world, this is nothing. Rather than seeing how upset and depressed Haruka is, I would rather endure any kind of harrassment...This is strange, I've never felt this way towards anyone before.

"Please don't worry about that, I'll be happy as long as you're alright."

I really feel that way, but...

"But...This..."

Haruka didn't seem to feel the same way.

"Yuuto-san, you don't understand, you don't understand what this is really about. You don't know how the people around you will treat you once they find out that you have an interest that's different from everyone else..."

Large tears started to roll around in Haruka's eyes.

"No...Definitely not...I do not want you to have the same experience that I did."

"Haruka?"

"...That...That kind of thing....I've already..."

Haruka buried her head in her knees as her shoulders trembled. After a while, she looked up at me after seeming to come to an important decision.

"...Yuuto, I have something to tell you. You...Would you be willing to listen to me?"

"Of course......"

The moment Haruka started to talk, I had a feeling that the only thing that she could possibly be telling me at this time, was the very thing that Mika had just told me!

Haruka started to talk softly. Just as I expected.

"...This happened when I was still in middle school."

This is basically what I understood from what both Haruka and Mika told me.

In short, a similar incident happened when Haruka was in middle school.

I'm not very sure about the exact details, but it's something along the lines of Haruka stepping on a milk bottle on a certain afternoon in class and falling down, afterwhich the manga that she had on her (the first volume of <<The Shy Triangle>>) was dropped in front of all her classmates...Just thinking about how the situation must have been like made me a little afraid.

And just like that, Haruka's secret was exposed.

When Haruka was in middle school, she was also extremely popular, which means that her special hobby soon became the talk of the school. From then on, the atmosphere around Haruka changed.

Although she wasn't bullied or insulted, the attitude of Haruka's classmates and the way they looked at her completely changed. Even the classmates whom Haruka had thought of as her good friends started to keep their distance from her. At that time, Haruka was like a politician who had just lost an election.

According to Mika, Haruka's behaviour at that time was extremely unsettling.

"Onee-chan was extremely depressed at that time, so much so that it was painful to even look at her. The talkative and cheerful onee-chan that I had once known slowly built up a wall between her and the outside world, and rarely smiled...She also cried frequently by herself at night."

To change the situation, Mika and Hazuki-san tried many solutions, but because a school is a closed-society, as outsiders, the two of them were unable to do anything.

In the end, the situation persisted all the way until Haruka graduated from middle school. Which means that Haruka ended her middle school life on an extremely bad note.

"One-chan had originally planned to continue studying in the high school section of the 圣树馆女学院, but...Because of that incident, she had no choice but to transfer to Hakujō Academy. Since there's quite a bit of distance between the 圣树馆女学院 and Hakujo Academy, so no one would know about onee-chan's hobby."

The 圣树馆女学院 has a full nineteen-year educational system, that goes all the way from kindergarden to university, with the aim of grooming true ladies (rumour has it that almost 80% of the students in the school uses honorifics in their daily speech; It is also rumoured that you can throw a pebble into a crowd of 圣树馆女学院 students and definitely hit the daughter of a company president...The school's canteen also provides french crusine), an extremely famous school in our district. Now that I think of it, it is a little strange for someone like Haruka to study at a school like Hakujo Academy, but after hearing about that incident, I completely understand this arrangement.

"Onee-chan's extremely afraid of the possibility of her secret being exposed, and I should think that it is because of the psychological scars from that bad experience that onee-chan's acting like this now. Oni-chan, I'm placing my trust in you because you're the only person I know of who doesn't shun her in any way after knowing of her secret."

After finishing her exposition, Haruka wiped off the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"...That's how bad it can get. If everyone thinks that you're the owner of the megazine, they'll all look at you differently, and will keep their distance from you."

It must be painful to recall such a bad experience, but Haruka stubbornly forced the words out of her mouth.

"I...don't want Yuuto-san to be like me..."

"It won't be like that."

I understand what Haruka meant, but I didn't think that everyone will react like that. Maybe otakus are strange people in the eyes of the 圣树馆女学院 ladies, but...in normal schools, one in ten students probably don't mind otakus don't they?

Haruka shook her head in response to my reasoning.

"You may be right, but you don't have to do this for my sake, because it's my fault in the first place...I should be the one getting ostracized..."

"Please don't say that."

"But...But..."

Haruka looked at me with wide eyes.

"The friends that leave me because of this can't be counted as real friends, because even without this incident, I probably won't be able to get along well with them. I can't say that it'll be good if these people stop being friends with me, but...even if you're upset about it, you can't change things, can you?"

At least this is what I thought.

If a certain person changes the way he interacts with me based purely on the fact that I'm an otaku, it's not like I can do anything about it, even if that person is my friend.

"But...But..."

Haruka held her hands together tightly.

"But...It's very painful to be ostracized. I couldn't take it, and even now, I don't think I can. To be completely alone...I hate this feeling, and I believe that everyone would hate this feeling as well..."

She looked away painfully.

Hmm...Haruka's being rather pessimistic here. Perhaps it's normal for her to think in this way, but I still wish that she can be liberated from the shadow cast over her by that experience.

Which is why I replied,

"I don't think I'll be completely alone!"

"Eh?"

Haruka looked up at me.

"Haruka, if I had a weird hobby, would you leave my side?"

"Of course not, I like Yuuto-san, so I will not leave you because of something like that."

I was thinking about whether the 'like' that I heard contained any special meaning in it.

"That is to say, even if everyone leaves me, I will still have you!"

"But..."

Seeing that Haruka still didn't get it, I decided to continue, since these are the things that I really wanted to say to her.

"Anyway...It's the same for me. Even if the entire world leaves you, I will stand beside you, no matter what the opposition is, no matter what kind of harrassment I have to endure, I will

support you. This is my promise to you."

"Eh...Eh..."

I can say this without any hesitation.

Even if the same thing happens again, or if Haruka makes a mistake that causes her hobby to be exposed to the school (...which is very possible), I will stand on her side. Even if everyone will look at me differently, even if vicious rumours are spread about me, I don't think I will ever regret my choice.

Why?

Because I am the only one who knows about Haruka's secret, because I have a resposibility to protect her secret, because Mika had requested me to protect Haruka. Anyway, I had a lot of reasons.

But, the main reason that pushed me to make this decision was very simple.

In short--

I like Haruka. I like the Haruka who looks perfect on the surface, but is actually a crybaby, an airhead, an innocent, albeit a little quirky daughter of a rich family whom I just can't bear to leave alone.

"This is why you won't be alone, Haruka. No matter what happens, I will never leave you."

...What am I saying! Am I not saying things that sound like a love confession? What I'm saying now sounds like how a guy would say 'I want to see the reflection of the fireworks in your eyes' to a girl when they're watching fireworks.

"Yuu...Yuuto-san..."

Haruka was looked extremely moved as her big eyes teared up again.

"I...I've always been hoping for someone who would say something like that for me. I've always wanted someone to tell me that I'm not alone, that no matter what happens, I won't be alone."

Unable to hold it in any longer, tears started to roll down Haruka's cheeks. I wanted to take out my handkerchief to wipe her tears away before realizing that the handkerchief I had on me wasn't high-class enough. Sigh, I'm so useless.

"Umm...Could I ask you for something?"

"Sure."

"Would you lend me your chest to cry on?"

"Please do."

"Alright."

Haruka nodded as she buried her head into my chest, sobbing softly. I don't understand the meaning of those tears, but nevertheless, I wrapped my arms around Haruka tightly.

After a while, Haruka finally stopped sobbing and lifted up her head as she shyly said to me, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"...Please stay by my side forever."

I answered her with another hug. I haven't noticed until now, but the soft, sweet smell of Haruka's hair seems to have a calming effect on people. I really want to stroke her lush, long hair...

"...I'm very sorry for spoiling the atmosphere."

"Ah!"

"Kya..."

Suddenly, we realized that the maid-san was standing right behind us.

Upon hearing the maid-san's words, Haruka and I pushed away from each other like two like magnetic poles.

"...Do I look that scary?"

The maid-san asked with a surprised expression on her face. But the problem is, when did she enter the room? The door might not have been locked, but it's impossible that we didn't hear the sound of the door opening or the footsteps of the maid-san!

"The two of you were probably oblivious to the outside world during your intimate moment right?"

Mika, who had also entered the room without us noticing, teased us from behind Hazuki-san. There's definitely a problem with these two people...

"Now that the problem has been solved, Haruka-sama, please eat something. You must be hungry after not eating for three days."

"Ah, now that you mention it..."

Haruka's stomach also seemed to have finally remembered that it was hungry, as it growled cutely.

"..."

Haruka blushed a deep shade of red.

Looking at Haruka, I suddenly felt that everything about the daughter of a rich family is good......even the sound of their stomach growling sounds high-class!

After yet another week.

"Ah, Yuuto-san."

I met Haruka on my way to school.

"Good morning, Haruka."

"Good morning, it's a really nice morning today isn't it."

"Yes it is, but I'm still feeling a little sleepy."

"No that you mention it, you really look like a panda with the dark rings around your eyes."

Haruka's laughter was like the tinkling of wind chimes as I walked to school together with her, with a few of our schoolmates also walking to school around us.

Is it just me or have I been running into Haruka while walking to school a lot more often recently?

"Just two more days and the summer holidays will finally be here."

Haruka laughed happily.

Ever since that day, Haruka returned to her normal, energetic self (with the aura befitting a daughter of a rich family), the expression on her face devoid of any clues that would point to how upset she had been merely a week ago.

"I'm really looking forward to the summer holidays. Ah, right, do you still remember what you promised me the last time?"

"Of course I do."

"Good, I think that it'll probably be in the middle of August..."

All in all, things are going well.

Through that incident (the one where Haruka's secret was almost exposed), even though Haruka still hasn't been able to fully let go of her bad memories, but--at least she has learnt how to face up to that bad experience. On the other hand, it also turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the distance between Haruka and I have been shortened by a lot.

Under the current circumstances, only one problem was left unsolved.

"Good morning, Haruka-san."

Suddenly, a tall figure blocked our path.

"Haruka-san, walking together with this otaku is an insult to your status."

It was Sasaoka.

"This fellow is a pervert who'll get excited upon seeing miniature figurines! Anyway, he's neither tall nor handsome, he's not very clever, and he's not good at sports. But the worst part is still the fact that he's a pervert who gets excited upon seeing figurines. Haruka-san, I find it hard to believe that you have not heard all the rumours about this fellow."

He smiled cynically, as he glared at me.

This was the problem.

The unsolved problem that I was talking about is the fact that the rumours about me (the thing that Sasaoka is still talking about) still have not dissipated yet. Those rumours were like an unkillable mosquito as it stubbornly survived for ten days (and still continues to survive).

Even though I'm used to such things, but no one would feel happy at being insulted by the people around him everyday.

Sasaoka ignored the unhappy expression on my face and continued,

"And that's not the end of it! In bringing such a low-class megazine to school, you've proven that you're beyond redemption!"

This fellow was really pushing the limit.

"This fellow's completely useless. Haruka-san, I really do not understand why you persist in being friends with someone like him. Ah, could it be that he's blackmailing you? If that is really the case, just say the word and I will take care of it for you. I am equipped with grade 2 shaolin henpo..."

"...Please do not continue saying such things."

Haruka cut Sasaoka off.

"Yuuto-san is an extreely good person. He's kind, caring, and one of the people I really respect. It's such a pity that you're insulting him like this, so I would really appreciate it if you were to stop now."

"Ha...Haruka-san?"

Sasaoka didn't know how to respond to Haruka's abnormal behaviour. The other students around us also stopped in their tracks, curious as to what was happening. Could it be that...Haruka's angry?

"If you have nothing else to say, then please excuse us...Let's go, Yuuto-san."

"Ah, right."

Just as Haruka grabbed my hand to walk away...

"Wa...Wait a minute! What do you mean by that...Just what is so good about this otaku? Please explain yourself! Hey! Haruka-san!"

Sasaoka grabbed on tightly to Haruka's other hand. Hmm...It seems like someone who calls himself a staunch supporter of feminism like Sasaoka is that much of a feminism himself when he's angry. If I don't do something right now, things might turn nasty.

"Hey, you're really going overboard here..."

Just as I was about to smash Sasaoka's face in with a broom I spotted near our position (probably left there by the people in the town's cleaning squad)...

Sasaoka's body flew into the air right in front of me.

"...Huh?"

The laws of physics clearly dictate that such a long duration of hangtime is impossible, but Sasaoka did fly towards the sky like a dragonfly bursting out from the surface of the pond. Wow...And then after he flipped a full circle in the air, Sasaoka crashed into the tree that was about ten inches away from Haruka and I before dropping straight down onto the ground. I could swear that I heard Sasaoka groan like a frog who's going to die any moment.

"..."

And then, the launchpad of Sasaoka's body...Haruka, who standing in some martial arts pose beside me. I glanced at her, managing to catch a glimpse of something white under the billowing folds of her skirt (...), could this be... No, now's not the time to be fantasizing like a perverted middle-aged man.

The atmosphere around us was deathly silent.

Everyone around us looked at Sasaoka, who was rolling around on the ground in agony, with utter disbelief.

Hmm...

To be honest, I couldn't believe my eyes either.

Could it really be...Haruka who threw him?

Haruka ignored everyone around her (including me), as she walked over to Sasaoka, who looked like crab with a stroke as he foamed at the mouth (he seemed to be conscious, but just barely), and smiled as she said,

"Please don't insult Yuuto-san like that."

"Ha...Haruka-sa..."

"And...The low-class megazine that you were talking about is actually mine. So if you're unhappy about it, please talk to me."

I felt as though a fire-breathing dragon was roaring in anger behind Haruka.

Under the pressure of the power hidden behind Haruka's smile, Sasaoka didn't dare to say anything. No, or maybe he's just too badly injured to be able to talk?

"Yuuto-san, let's go, we're almost late."

I looked around to see that Haruka had reverted to her usual angelic smile.

...Right, I suddenly remembered that Haruka had a teacher's license in some ancient style of martial arts, which explains the inhuman way with which she threw Sasaoka...

"Umm...Yuuto-san?"

Haruka looked at me worriedly.

"...Ah, I'm alright!"

Oh well, I don't think I should think about this anymore, it's nothing to worry about (even though I'm really worried). In the face of Haruka's innocent smile, this is nothing. I'm willing to accept anything if it means that I never need to see Haruka cry ever again.

But on the other hand, I made a mental note to myself after looking at how Sasaoka was crawling on the ground like a zombie.

Never do anything to make Haruka angry!

After what Haruka did to him, Sasaoka became noticeably quiter, and scurried like a rat before a cat whenever he saw Haruka or me. I think I can understand his feelings perfectly.

At the same time, even the vicious rumours about me had disappeared. As for the reason--I think it's obvious enough! Because there were a few members of the art club at the scene of the incident as well...something that made me aware of just how influential Haruka is in the school.

In short, every single problem has been solved.

I was finally able to return to the life that I had left behind for two weeks.

Which is to say that the members of Haruka's fanclub still looked at me with the eyes of someone looking at the person who murdered their father, and will also send me the occasional 'Stay away from Haruka-sama! You pig!' warning. But I no longer cared about such things, because no matter what they do, it is an unshakable fact that my relationship with Haruka has become much closer. Hmm, but no matter what, it'll be better if I keep a low profile if I don't want to be dragged up to the roof of the school building to be candy-wrapped.

"Yuuto-san~!"

--That was my plan, but...

"If you're alright with it, would you like to eat lunch together?"

--To be honest, it's not easy to keep a low profile.

Haruka waved at me as she smiled happily.

It was lunchtime in school, and we were in class. Recently, Haruka has been talking to me more enthusiastically than before. I'm extremely happy that she trusts me so much, but as they say, there're always two sides to a coin.

In other words...

There'll sure be quite a number of students in the classroom as well, which means that the moment the 'Nuit Étoile' does something, she'll naturally become the centre of attention.

"Ayase, looks like you've been very friendly with Haruka-sama recently, eh?"

"You're eating lunch together with Haruka-sama? Don't get too full of yourself!"

To tell the truth, many of my classmates are also members of Haruka's fan club (and they all belong to the more reactionary faction).

"Would you like to go for a round of wrap-the-Ayase on the rooftop?"

"Burying him in the garden as fertilizer for the flowers would be good too!"

"It's more exciting to dip him upside-down into the school swimming pool!"

...I should be able to welcome my summer holidays in relative safety, right?

...No, I seriously doubt that...

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| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter1

2009-12-06T04:24:05Z

Dagger: /* 1 */

===Chapter 1===
__NOTOC__
==1==
The lunch break on that day wasn't any different from the usual lunch breaks.

I was eating lunch and chatting with a few classmates that I was close to (Nagai, Takenami, and Ogawa, more commonly known as the three idiots) in the 2-1 classroom of the private high school Hakujo Academy. The topic of conversation would probably induce suicidal thoughts in other people.

"That's why I think that the female sports uniform should have bloomers, anyone who wears [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_shorts Bermuda shorts] that reach down to the knees isn't human. Anyone who's opposed to this motion isn't a citizen of Japan."

"That's right, I think so too."

"You're absolutely right."

Ogawa and Takenami nodded their heads vigorously in agreement with Nagai's opinion.

"Yuuto, what do you think?"

"Hmm? Well, I'm alright with anything I guess."

I really was alright with anything that the girls wore, which was why I answered the way I did.

"Alright with anything? It's because of your sitting-on-the-fence attitude that Japan has been brought to its current state of affairs. You're always like this, not taking sides on anything."

"Ayase, that's what you are. You don't have your own opinion on anything, you always cross the bridge only when you bump into it, you'll be sorry one day if you continue like this."

"That's right, you can't carry on like this!"

The three of them took turns to take shots at me, but they were merely meddling in other people's affairs. I don't deny that I'm an irresponsible and insensitive guy (though it's rather embarrassing that I say that about myself), but even I don't want to hear such criticism from three guys who discuss bloomers with perfectly straight faces.

"Alright, let's do this! You can listen to our respective arguments before deciding which side you're on. We'll start with the visual impact of bloomers."

Gosh, they really are the 'three idiots'.

I sighed soundlessly while casually looking around the classroom. Everything was normal, as the students were eating lunch while chatting with their friends, making up the familiar lunchtime scenery.

The spot in the classroom that attracted me the most was that seat next to the corridor. Because in the classroom that is so messy that it would make even the monkey closure look tidy, only that particular spot had a soothing and comforting aura around it.

In this place, there's a beautiful girl endowed with the nickname "Nuit Étoile".

She's my classmate, Nogizaka Haruka.

She had probably finished lunch already, as she leaned slightly backward and was concentrating on the book that she held in her left hand. The way she flipped the pages of her book with her fingers looked like a scene straight out of a painting. Colloquially, it means that she's too cute to describe. Or perhaps I should say that she's the very embodiment of a perfect and beautiful lady. Anyway, it seems as though all traces of corruption could be washed away just by looking at her.

[[Image:NHnH vol01 021.jpg|thumb]]

I stared, mesmerized at Nogizaka Haruka with my mouth stuffed with bread (while completely ignoring the discussion between Nagai and the others). Yes, the psychological wound received a few moments ago had already been healed. The feeling of pure bliss would probably be something like this, right?

I immersed myself in the joy of watching her while fantasizing.

But after a few short minutes, this feeling of bliss was abruptly ended.

I heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the corridor. It wasn't a very loud voice, but it would probably take up a lot of my time, since it's probably Nobunaga. I sighed soundlessly again; here comes another idiot.

"Is Yuuto here?"

Just as I expected, a familiar face appeared at the entrance of the classroom. He's a petite pretty boy with light brown hair whom others would mistake as a girl from afar. This fellow started shouting the moment he saw me.

"Ah! There you are! Yuuto, did you catch the anime that aired late last night? I recorded it as I watched because I feel that that's the best way to appreciate it."

The volume of his voice attracted some attention from the other students in class, but after everyone saw that it was from Nobunaga, they resumed whatever it was they were doing immediately. I don't know how to put it, but either way, my classmates have gotten used to his presence after he's been coming over to talk to me since the start of the school year.

"You didn't watch it? Yesterday's 「The Shy Triangle」 will air its last episode next week, and the climax of the entire series is when the good friend of the protagonist...Ah, the DVD seems to be going on sale soon, I'll definitely go and buy it, since it's going to be limited edition and will come with a figurine of the protagonist 'Clumsy girl Aki-chan'..."

The guy who ran into my classroom and started talking about a topic that one would find hard to associate with based on his appearance is Asakura Nobunaga. I've known him since kindergarten, which is why you could use the phrase 'hellish bonds of friendship' to describe our relationship, though he's still a good friend of mine, since he doesn't get me into any trouble. Honestly speaking, he's still quite a cheerful and sociable person, which is why he can strike up a conversation with almost anyone. His academic results are extremely good, with Physics and Mathematics being his best subjects. From his earlier actions, you can tell that his hobby is rather extreme, a form of otaku-ism...which is what we all know as the 'Akihabara clan'. The man whose name is a combination of the names of two imperial generals has a weak looking exterior and a hobby which does not fit the names of a warring general nor his appearance. In conclusion, he's a guy with complicated characteristics and hard to place into any category.

"Yuuto, you've really missed out by not watching. This anime series was adapted from a manga, but is something like a tale prior to the story, explaining why the protagonist and his best friend turning against each other......"

"Ah------ I got that already!"

I had to do something to shut him up or he'll eat up my entire lunch break. I took this course of action precisely based on past experience.

"It's not nice of you to be such a wet blanket when I was just getting into my rhythm!"

"It's not nice of you to suddenly run into someone else's classroom to spam him with your personal hobby!"

"Is that so? But doesn't everyone like to talk about these kind of things?"

"Please do not think that everyone is like you!"

"Hmm, but, you like these kind of things, don't you?"

"Don't I always say that I don't have any special inclination?"

I don't like it, but I don't hate it either. I don't agree with it, but I don't disagree with it either. This is my stance regarding this fellow, and the rest of the Akihabara clan. No, to be more precise, it's more of 'I don't really understand them'. In short, I'm still quite mystified regarding the age-old question of 'why are people at this age still so interested in cartoons', and even more surprising, I'm actually good friends with someone like this.

"Hmm...But I've always thought that you have the right attributes."

What kind of attributes?

"That's the highest level of praise that I'll give to anyone, you know. Hmm...let's not talk about this anymore. Yuuto, I've got big news for you!"

"Big news?"

I felt that what this fellow was going to say probably won't be anything serious and wholesome, but...

"I've been looking for a certain magazine all this while, haven't I? Our school's library finally bought this old issue! Our library's the best, I can import in any rare book that I want by just filling in an application form. The school can afford to buy all these books because of the extremely generous donation they have been receiving. Their funds seem limitless. Money really makes the world go round indeed, yah~"

Nobunaga grinned widely as he babbled on and on about this big news.

Magazine? I seem to remember him asking me to help look for a magazine with an extremely strange name a while back. Looks like the school had approved his application form.

"......Wait a minute, did you fake an application form?"

I looked at him suspiciously.

"That's rude, I would never do something like that."

Nobunaga shook his head as he gave a 'you're totally wrong' expression, and then answered with a perfectly straight face, "I merely threatened them."

That's even worse.

But that fellow completely ignored my reaction.

"「INNOCENT SMILE」 is an extremely famous magazine! The original manga of the anime that aired yesterday night was serialized in this magazine. It wasn't too long ago, so you probably should have some memory of it. It caused quite a stir when its first edition came out."

Just as Nobunaga went into his extremely long-winded debate mode, there was a huge noise in the classroom.

Our position was in the middle of the classroom, while the sound came from the opposite direction. To be more precise, it came from the second-last seat from the corridor, which was the place that held my attention before Nobunaga came in. From a certain perspective, that was the one place in class that would never be associated with loud and jarring noises.

But right now, Nogizaka-san was standing there with her eyes trained on the two of us, a chair lying face-down beside her feet, the source of that loud noise.

The classroom suddenly became extremely quiet. Nogizaka-san, who always wore an expression of peaceful serenity, now had a disturbed expression on her face.

"No...Nogizaka-san, what happened?"

"I...I don't know, we didn't do anything weird did we?"

"She seems to be looking at Ayase-kun..."

Murmurings were heard in the classroom.

Did we do something wrong?

Even though I felt that we hadn't done anything, the sharp gaze that Nogizaka-san threw at us was that of a policewoman who has just caught a molester in the act on a crowded train. Under a gaze of that nature, Nobunaga and I really looked like we had done something against the welfare of society, and the looks of the rest of the class seemed to ask the exact same question, 'What did the two of you do?'.

"Yuuto, what do we do? Everyone's looking at us."

"Ye......Yeah......"

I thought that the most probable reason would be that Nobunaga's voice was way too loud, disturbing Nogizaka-san's reading. Even though I was already used to it, Nobunaga's voice would naturally become extremely loud when he talked about his hobby. It wouldn't come as much of a surprise if that had disturbed Nogizaka-san.

Which would mean that we had really done something wrong. So we should properly apologize.

Under the watchful eyes of the rest of the class, I walked towards Nogizaka-san's seat.

"Erm......I'm sorry for disturbing you with our loud conversation."

I bowed deeply as an apology, Nogizaka-san's expression then seems to have regained herself.

"Ah, that's not it, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean to blame the two of you or anything, so you don't have to apologize to me."

"?"

But, weren't you glaring at the two of us just a few moments ago?

"It's nothing, so, it's nothing......I'm sorry for troubling everyone."

After saying that, Nogizaka-san politely bowed to the rest of the class as she righted her chair and sat down as though nothing had happened.

However, this left us extremely confused.

"What just happened?"

"I don't know...... Wasn't it because of the noise you were making?"

"I'm not noisy!"

I ignored Nobunaga's contradictary loud shout to defend his stand that he's not loud, but instead I stared at Nogizaka-san like someone who has been played around with by a fox spirit. On the regal face of the "Nuit Étoile", a trace of uneasiness could still be seen... there has to be some reason for that.

Deviating from the topic at hand, from the time when Nobunaga rushed into the classroom to when Nogizaka stared at us, Nagai and the other two were still heatedly debating on the topic of bloomers. Should that be called concentration, or just plain stupidity?

I think the correct answer should be the latter.

Actually, I don't really care if they're idiots or not.

The fifth and sixth periods ended without incident. After class had ended, I walked towards the library only because that Nobunaga told me......

"Yuuto, I'm really sorry, but could you help me return this book to the library? Since you're free after school anyway, while I have to rush back to finish the map for WonFes--"

......Geez! I don't know what Wan Wan Fes. (Could it be a festival for dogs? But I recall that guy having a cat instead...). If it's like this, then he should have just returned it yesterday! But thoughts are mere thoughts, I still agreed to help him, as he helped me quite frequently normally (like him lending me textbooks when I forgot mine: helping me to repair my computer when it broke down......etc), oh well, I really had nothing to do after school anyway.

And this was why I came to the library, a place where I almost never set foot in normally.

It was said that the rate of usage for our library was unbelievably low, because, yours truly included, the number of people who've actually used the library could be counted on one hand. To increase the rate of usage of the library, the school had even set up an electronic lending system, renovated the library to be an extremely comfortable place for reading, and had bought books of all genres. But to the modern generation of children who're far disposed from printed products, all these measures were for naught, as nothing had changed. But I have not used the library for anything other than for afternoon naps, so who am I to say anything really.

Anyway, because of the pitiful number of users, I shouldn't need much time to return a book.

I walked towards the computer terminal and started to tap the keyboard. One has to use the computer to borrow or return books, which was rather tedious (Nobunaga said that once you get used to it, computers would definitely be faster than human processing). Oh well, if I felt that something as simple as this was tedious, then I probably won't be able to survive in modern society. The man who doesn't work does not get to eat. I entered the reference code of the book and my student identification number......OK, that's it. I only have to return the book to its place on the shelf. (By the way, the title of the book is 「Pretty Girl Models Collection III --- The History of Ball Joints」. Our school really does buy everything). Mission accomplished, I can go home now.

Just as I was about to walk towards the exit.

"..."

I spotted a suspicious character.

How should I put this? Mm, it is an extremely suspicious character indeed.

Because this person is hiding her face with her schoolbag while attempting to move stealthily behind the bookshelves like a ninja or assassin, and its a female student at that. If this is not strange, then what is (sarcasm)... What is with that person? She seems to want to conceal her movements, but isn't this making it worse, and attracting more attention instead? Or, could it be that she actually wanted attention instead?

In any case, it would be better not to come into contact with someone like that. Troubles come about from the mouth, as long as you are not overly curious, even the cat suffer an unexplained death. Just as I decided to pretend not to see anything and get out of the library---

I saw the face of the suspicious character behind the bookshelf.

At that moment, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I thought I was hallucinating due to the rejection reaction of my brain towards this library that I almost never step into.

"......"

Why would I think that way?

Because I was extremely familiar with that face.

"That's......"

Nogizaka-san?

As unbelievable as it sounds, that suspicious person really was Nogizaka Haruka. I would never miss that beautiful face of hers even if I was a mile away. But, why was she behaving so strangely?

I was bursting with questions, but Nogizaka-san didn't notice me as she ambled up to the computer terminal beside me with the air of a 15-year old girl who's preparing to steal a motorcycle in the middle of the night and began to type. I saw a magazine beside her, so she was probably planning to borrow it.

Tap, tap, I heard the sound of fingers on the keyboard.

She had probably finished borrowing the book, as Nogizaka-san lifted her head from the terminal with the smile of a German expert. Just as she prepared to walk towards the exit......

Our eyes met.

"..."

"..."

At that moment, time stopped.

"..."

"..."

"...Erm...What brings you here?"

That was what I wanted to ask her, but it wasn't surprising that Nogizaka-san would look at me as though she was looking at that legendary giant monster Uma, because the probability of meeting me in the library was lower than meeting a yeti.

"Since when have you been standing here?"

"For a while now."

"You...You saw it?"

"?"

Saw what?

"You...You saw the book that I borrowed..."

"No, I didn't see it..."

"Oh, is that so? Hoo!"

Nogizaka-san's expression was reminiscent of a middle-aged manager who just found out that he wasn't on the list of retrenched personnel. What's happening?

"?"

"Ah! It...It's nothing, Ayase-kun, please don't think about it, I'll be going now."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly nodded to me as she strode towards the exit. Maybe because she was disturbed by my presence, but she totally didn't notice that she was walking towards a reading table and chair set.

"Ah...Nogizaka-san, that's......"

"Hiiee!?"

And then!

Smash!

In the midst of the noise of falling furniture, Nogizaka-san, who'd tripped over a chair, fell onto her back. This was a breathtaking set of actions that one would be hard-pressed to produce.

"Ou...Ouch! Why would there be a chair here..."

Things were becoming stranger, those chairs have always been there, and the serenely-peaceful Nogizaka-san would actually do something out of character. Just what was happening? Perhaps this was what 'even the most complete strategy could fail' was referring to?

Whatever the case, I couldn't possibly just leave her there, so I helped Nogizaka-san up. From a certain perspective, Nogizaka-san probably brought it upon herself! But it would have been ungentlemanly of me not to help a girl who has just fallen down in front of you (especially if that girl is Nogizaka Haruka), and I have a National Gentlemanly Conduct Grade 2 certificate......Even though I say so myself.

"Ah......Thank you! I'm so sorry!"

After helping up the almond-eyed Nogizaka-san, I turned my eyes to her personal belongings that were scattered all over the place.

It was really a mess, but just as I was going to help her pick up her things...

"No...You can't!"

That scream was unbelievably loud, the kind that you hear when a bedroom scene suddenly shows on the T.V. when you're eating with your family. I can't? What does she mean? Is she saying that I'm not allowed to touch her personal things with my dirty hands......? No, I don't think Nogizaka-san would think that way.

"?"

Although I didn't know why Nogizaka-san wanted to stop me, I still reached out to help her pick up the magazine.

"No, don't do it!"

Nogizaka-san reached out towards the magazine at my feet like a depraved bandit.

But...

"Ah?"

On the path of her trajectory, there was a mathematics notebook!

"Ah? This...!?"

She stepped onto that notebook with one hundred percent accuracy!!

"Ehhhhhhh!?"

The foot that had all the force of her body weight behind it, was set free from its contact with the ground by virtue of the friction (or lack thereof) between the notebook and the floor of the library!

"Kyaaaaaa!"

And then, her body flew into the air, while directly in front of her......was a bookshelf.

Smash! Boom!

In the midst of an even louder crash, the bookshelf toppled over from Nogizaka-san's spinning attack. And then, the toppled shelf hit the one beside it, and the one beside it toppled over onto another shelf......the bookshelves toppled one by one like dominoes.

In the space of a few short seconds, all the bookshelves had toppled over.

"..."

In mere instant, the library had become ground zero.

Erm......

What just happened? I frantically tried to piece together the chronology of events.

What I see now is a library floor that's completely covered with books, making it look like a library from hell, and Nogizaka-san, who's never gotten into a fight her whole life, but had boldly smashed her way towards the bookshelf, plus her personal belongings that were spread out all over the floor.

What am I doing here?

Though I had blanked out for a moment there, I suddenly remembered what I was doing when I looked at all the things on the floor. That's right, I was trying to help Nogizaka-san pick up her personal belongings.

Nogizaka-san didn't seem to be hurt, so I wanted to help her pick everything up. And the first book that I picked up was that magazine by my feet!!!

---I finally found out the reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

"..."

"..."

There was an anime-style picture with a girl who had hair the color of the sky, something that could never be achieved through natural genetic inheritance, and a pair of biologically impossible large and sparkling eyes. The girl was smiling as she grabbed the hem of her skirt lightly with her fingers.

Below the picture was an overly photoshopped caption which read 「INNOCENT SMILE」 in bold and think yellow letters.

"This..."

I was speechless for a moment. This...was definitely the magazine that Nobunaga was talking about. But, why would Nogizaka-san want to borrow this book...

I had no time to continue my line of thought before a surprising voice entered my ears.

"Sob...sob...I've been seen, I've been seen!"

I only realized that the situation was serious when I saw that it was the sound of Nogizaka-san crying.

Due to the commotion, a few students from the art room had already gathered at the library.

"It's all over......sob..."

Nogizaka-san was still crying.

Actually, in this kind of situation, I felt that I should be the one that it was 'all over' for.

The stares from the surrounding students were sharp and piercing, turning the library into a much more dangerous place. Though there were only four or five students from the art room at the scene, their looks made me feel like I was the kind of contemptible man who extorted money from his girlfriend until she couldn't take it anymore and wanted a break-up, whereupon I bullied her until she cried. That kind of look was extremely uncomfortable to bear.

"What's happening? Aren't those two dating? -whisper whisper-"

"They are? But the guy looks like he doesn't really care about what's happening? -whisper whisper-"

"Was he the one who pushed down all the bookshelves? -whisper whisper-"

"Isn't he Ayase-kun of class 1? -whisper whisper-"

Listening to the contents of the whisperings, the only bright spot was that they hadn't realized that the crying girl was Nogizaka Haruka.

"The girl must have been begging him not to abandon her when he pushed her into the bookshelves."

"How could he! That's despicable!"

"Enemy of all women!"

"Detestable man!"

They were really going overboard here.

But from an objective point of view, it really did look like I had made Nogizaka-san cry, because that was practically the only possibility that could be inferred from the situation in the library, so I couldn't really blame the whispering students either.

In a nutshell, one thing was certain.

And that was, if I continued to stay at the scene of the crime, my bad reputation will be the talk of the entire school by tomorrow morning.

That's why...

With reference to the wisdom passed down by our ancestors, it was time to make a retreat! Therefore I picked up the stuff scattered all over the floor at breakneck speed, grabbed the hand of Nogizaka-san, who was still crying, and ran for dear life!! In truth...

We really were running for our lives!! From the library that is. From behind us...

"Ah! They've escaped!"

"He's kidnapping her?"

"They're eloping?"

"It should be the former, it's obvious that it's the former."

Those few lines were slightly better. But, why must they see me as the villain? I haven't done anything wrong.

Even I felt like crying, but while a woman's tears are like pearls, a man's tears are merely salt water. Other than the ability to melt slugs, salt water was practically useless.

But...why did it turn out like this?

I sighed deeply as I tried to look for a place where we wouldn't be seen. My feelings right now were heavier than a meat-cow that was being sent to the slaughterhouse.

Because of this...

I, who had been accused of breaking the law and of being a detestable man, finally made it out of the library with Nogizaka-san in tow, coming to a stop on the roof of the school. To someone without a corporate  brain like me, this was the only place I could think of which could let us talk in peace and not be seen.

Nogizaka-san had already stopped crying...but right now, she still wore a blank expression as her shoulders continued to shiver, giving an impression that was completely different from the perfect 'Nuit Étoile', as she appeared to be infinitely delicate. I had never noticed that Nogizaka-san was actually so petite.

There was only one reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

And that was the copy of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 that I held in my left hand.

Because everything happened so fast, I had no time to organize my thoughts. But after calming down and thinking about it, I understood why she was in such a panic.

Which is to say...

"Nogizaka-san...You're an otaku..."

Nogizaka-san gave a start at my words. Bingo! Looks like I was right!

Which means that the incident at lunch break was only her reaction to Nobunaga's reference to 「INNOCENT SMILE」. But no, now is not the time to be calmly analyzing her actions.

Nogizaka-san was extremely depressed.

Looks like Nogizaka-san was extremely bothered by the fact that someone knew that she was an otaku, but it was indeed extremely surprising.

Normal people would be more condemning with regards to the different hobbies of a small group of people, but there were so many of such things in Nobunaga's room that it made you want to vomit (literally), so I don't really mind these kind of things.

"Erm, Nogizaka-san..."

I decided to move on.

"...Mm?"

A flash of fear suddenly cut across Nogizaka-san's dull-looking eyes.

"Erm...I've already forgotten everything that I saw today."

"Huh?"

Nogizaka-san, who was looking like a wilted flower, finally perked up a little.

"I'm not saying that I don't care about you......but you seem to be extremely disturbed about this incident, right? So I'll forget everything that has happened today, I won't tell anyone about this, and I won't mention it in front of you either, so you don't need to worry."

"..."

After listening to my long sentence, Nogizaka-san had a stunned expression on her face, looking like a deer that was going to be shot by a hunter. Did I say anything weird?

"..."

For a while, Nogizaka-san stopped moving. Hmm...this looks bad, and it could become even worse if I don't try to cheer her up. Just as I started to think of ways to do that...

"Ayase-kun, please do not take me for an idiot, and please do not look at me with such a strange gaze."

Nogizaka-san spoke.

"Strange gaze? What do you mean?"

"Well......Because......most people are openly disapproving of this kind of hobby. So..."

Maybe she had thought of something, which was why Nogizaka-san would say this kind of thing. Openly disapproving? Though there was some truth in that, but...

"I understand what you're trying to say, but...even if you have that kind of hobby, a normal person is still a normal person, a strange person is still a strange person. That's why I don't believe in judging a person by their hobbies."

Nobunaga is the best example. He's the perfect embodiment of an otaku, and though he is a bit...strange, he's definitely not a bad person, or I wouldn't have been his best friend for more than ten years.

"But...But..."

Nogizaka-san still had a worried look on her face. Hmm...How should I explain this?

"What I mean is, even if you have this kind of hobby, but you're still you, right? That won't change, so you don't have to think about it so much."

"I'm...still myself?"

Nogizaka-san stuttered a reply.

"That's right! To be honest, being an otaku is just another hobby. In the end, I just think that it's an accompanying gift of a person's character. Because the nature of that gift differs from one person to the next, it's merely a small part of a person's character. A person's most important part shouldn't be here, should it? And..."

"...And what?"

"Hmm...I don't really know how to say this. But when I found out that you have a side that no one else knows about, I felt that it was really interesting..."

"Huh..."

"Or maybe I should say that I feel that I've gotten a little closer to you, so I'm happy..."

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red.

Although my words seemed to be nonchalant, it was a true reflection of my feelings.

But Nogizaka-san seemed to be seriously listening to my words.

"You're probably the first person to say this to me."

Probably? If not for this chance encounter, I didn't think I'd say something like this to the 'Nuit Étoile' either.

"Anyway, that's how it is, so I don't think you need to be too bothered by it."

Seeing that Nogizaka-san had calmed down, I passed the magazine to her, patted her lightly on the shoulder, and left the roof of the school building. I walked down the stairs, changed shoes at the lobby, and walked out of the school gate, finally able to move freely again.

I lectured Nogizaka Haruka.

I actually lectured Nogizaka-san with a mountain of extremely weird talk. Something which I really regret doing now, because I actually lectured a classmate with whom I had barely exchanged two sentences with before. Looks like I'm the weird one here. But it was all over now, and there was no point thinking about how I regret doing it.

In conclusion, my relationship with Nogizaka Haruka should probably stop here shouldn't it?

No matter how you look at it, she's the prettiest girl in school, she's an extremely smart girl with brilliant academic results, and also the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Japan, while I'm an average common citizen. Even if I do know that Nogizaka-san has her panicky moments, even if that has brought me closer to her, to be honest, we're still two people from completely different worlds. Today's incident was merely an accidental crossing of two parallel lines.

At least, that was what I had thought at that time.

==2==

Over the next few days, nothing of particular importance happened.

Nogizaka-san was still the school's most unattainable girl, while I continued to stumble through school. Rushing into class before the first bell rang, fighting against the sleep demon during lessons, chatting with Nagai and the others for a few minutes after lessons, either going to the arcade or listening to Nobunaga's endless fountain of otaku knowledge after school. I didn't have any goal in life, and I've never had a lifelong dream either. Though my everyday life was boring, it was extremely stable; it was the average life that I loved.

But within these unchanging days, I realized that one thing had changed.

And that was...

From that day onwards, the times which my gaze settled on Nogizaka-san has increased. In the classroom, I suddenly realized that I was staring at her. Hmm...Just what is happening?

"About that, I think that's called love."

"Argh!?"

Nobunaga's idiotic face suddenly appeared from the side.

"Yo! Yuuto! Let's eat lunch together!"

"When...When did you get here?"

I didn't feel his presence at all.

"Heh heh, stealth is one of my 48 special abilities!"

I've known this fellow for more than ten years, and still do not know everything about him...oh well, not like I want to anyway.

Going back to the main topic.

"Love? Nobunaga, what do you mean?"

"Gaining and losing, unable to differentiate between what's true and what's not, that's a person in love."

I know that, but my situation's not like that.

"I would advise you not to have any ideas about the 'Nuit Étoile'."

Nobunaga ignored my response as he pulled up a chair from a neighboring table to sit in front of me while he began to speak.

"How should I put this...For someone like you, she's in another league. Hmm...it's just that your social statuses are different!"

"Hmm."

"Yuuto, I don't think you know this, but in the little more than a year that she has entered this school, the number of people who have confessed their love for the 'Nuit Étoile' is, 78 guys and 16 girls, 94 people in total, about 20% of our school's population, while the number of people who have been rejected is also 94, which means that there is a 100% chance of getting rejected. An extremely scary statistic isn't it!"

My god...I know that Nogizaka-san was popular, but 16 girls? What's the meaning of that? Girls! And why would this guy have such detailed information on his hands?

"This kind of information gathering is one of the mandatory skills of the modern man. I could also tell you the basic personal information of the 'Nuit Étoile', hmm...Nogizaka Haruka, 16 years-old, born on the 20th of October, 155cm tall, excels at every subject, does not have a weak subject, has a grandfather, her parents, and a sister that's 3 years her junior in her immediate family..."

Nobunaga read off a notebook-like contraption that he fished out of his pocket...when did he become a stalker?

"Hey, don't look at me like I'm some kind of pervert, that's really rude of you! I'm not interested in real-life girls, for 2D girls are better, the most special of them being the cat-maid with a tail......"

I didn't even ask him about that kind of thing, so even if I were to retort, it would be obvious that we were on a different wavelength.

"And in such an information-laden time, anyone would be able to find out such information. This is a digitalized society, though there's a law regarding the protection of personal privacy, as long as one has the will, it's extremely easy to extract such information. Just tell me if you need information regarding other people. I know just about everything about everyone in school."

Nobunaga told me as he smiled generously.

...This person's dangerous! I've got to avoid having him my enemy!

"This is just my personal opinion! It's lamentable, but if you were to attempt to woo the 'Nuit Étoile', I think your chance of failure is 99.9%. According to my sources, even the basketball team captain, Sasaoka-senpai, was one of the rejected. He's actually a man-made hunk who had gone for plastic surgery, so if even someone like him got rejected, you..."

"...Don't look at me with that pitying glimmer in your eyes!"

"No, I'm not saying that you're not good or anything, it's just that you've chosen the hardest opponent of all. I just wanted to warn you that the 'Nuit Étoile' is the strongest opponent in our school."

Nobunaga shrugged as he smiled,

"But, no matter what you decide to do, I'll support you since we're childhood friends."

It's really disgusting to be described as 'childhood friends' by another guy. No, that's not the point.

"...I've never thought of wooing Nogizaka-san."

"Really?"

What are you so suspicious about! I've never told anyone about this from the start.

"Since you said it, let's not talk about this anymore. But, have you heard this phrase before?"

Nobunaga had a wise expression on his face as he continued,

" 'To start to care is to start to fall in love!' BY Asakura Nobunaga."

Just where did he get that from! I've never heard that!

I don't know if it was the influence of Nobunaga's words, but the frequency with which I looked at Nogizaka-san actually increased after that conversation. During lessons, after lessons, after school, as long as I had the chance, I would look for her. This is bad, I seem to have contracted some serious disease.

A few more days passed after that.

This incident happened one morning two weeks after that day.

==3==
"We're going to conduct a personal belongings check now, so please take out everything from your bag!"

The form teacher's, Tanabe Shigeo (38 years-old, male, single), words caused a stir in the classroom. While it was a mandatory check, the students were still understandably unhappy about it.

"Be quiet! I'll be checking the guys, while Kamishiro-sensei will be checking the girls."

Kamishiro-sensei is our assistant-form teacher, and a light music teacher who had only just graduated from an all-girls university last year. She didn't put on any airs, was well-liked by her students, and was also extremely pretty. She's pretty, cute, and her figure's......Hmm? I seem to have deviated from the main topic.

Speaking of which, I immediately thought of one thing when I heard that there was going to be a check.

It can't be that much of a coincidence can it? Nogizaka-san can't be holding that book right now, right?

The time limit for borrowing a book from our school library was two weeks. If she had really held the book until the last day, then she would have to return it today. No, she can't be that unlucky!!

I nonchalantly looked behind me, and saw that Nogizaka-san's face had gone ashen, looking as though she was the victim of a murder.

....Ah, she must be holding the book right now.

"Please endure the check for a while more, it's finishing soon."

As per the instructions of Kamishiro-sensei, the female students began to place their personal belongings on their desks, as Nogizaka-san could only do the same with a helpless look in her eyes. I seemed to have caught a glimpse of the magazine that I had seen two weeks ago hidden among the textbooks and music scores on her table.

What should I do?

I thought about it, and I shouldn't do anything, since it's not like I'm not obliged to help her or anything.

But...

The image of Nogizaka-san crying from two weeks ago suddenly flashed across my mind. Even though I've already seen her uncontrollable sobbing, if that were to repeat itself in front of the entire class, just what kind of situation would it result in? Hmm...I didn't even dare to imagine it, but I know that it wouldn't be pretty for the pampered daughter of a wealthy family like Nogizaka-san to react to this kind of sudden event. She probably wouldn't even know what to do.

Was there really no way around it? No matter if it was a mud boat or the Titanic, she had already boarded the vessel, so I should be doing something to help her. But just as I realized that the opponent was Kamishiro-sensei, I couldn't think of any plan of attack. Two negatives make a positive, there must be a way, I can't miss this opportunity!

God, why is my brain so slow to react in the morning!

I raised my hand to speak.

"I...My stomach really hurts, may I make a trip to the washroom?"

"What's wrong? Did you eat too much for breakfast? Never mind, since you've passed the check already, you may go."

The 38 year-old Tanabe Shigeo obnoxiously said something which implied that he didn't care about his students at all. As he made his way around the desks of his students, I thought that the reason behind the fact that he still hasn't gotten married was due to his character...Oh well, it's not like it's any business of mine. I pretended to be in pain as I slanted my body while walking towards the exit of the classroom, passing by Nogizaka-san's seat in the process.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

After saying that to Nogizaka-san, who was on the verge of tears, I pretended to trip on a bag on the floor as I deliberately fell towards her table.

"Eh? Ah!"

The table fell over as the textbooks, scores and other stuff that were on it flew onto the floor as well. Together with Nogizaka-san's low scream, her surroundings descended into chaos.

"Nogizaka-san, are you alright?"

"Ayase, get lost!"

"All you do is to get in the way of others! You better get away from Nogizaka-san this instant!"

My classmates started shouting at me from all corners of the classroom. How could it be that not even one of them cared about my condition?

"Ayase-kun. What are you doing!?"

Kamishiro-sensei walked over. She probably didn't see it.

"Sorry, I was trying to get to the washroom as soon as possible when I tripped."

"You're always so rash. Alright, just carry on and leave this to me."

"Sorry to trouble you."

I nodded towards Kamishiro-sensei, who had a conspiratorial smile on her face, and hurried out of the classroom.

I walked along the corridor to the washroom, clutching my stomach with one hand.

There shouldn't be a stalker hiding in the men's toilet right now, but for the sake of secrecy, I confirmed that there wasn't anyone else in the washroom before taking out a rectangular object from the inside of my uniform. No prizes for guessing the correct answer, of course it was the 「INNOCENT SMILE」. The blue-haired girl on the cover was still smiling happily. Phew, at least I successfully smuggled it out!

"This is..."

Just as I was congratulating myself, I suddenly realized that there was something else beneath the magazine, an expensive-looking green book. This is a book of musical scores, one of those that was on Nogizaka-san's table. Looks like in my hurry to smuggle the magazine out of the classroom, I had taken something else out along with it.

"Composed by Franz Liszt. Erster Mephisto-Walzer No. 1, S514"

Such a resounding name for a piece. The Waltz of Mephisto. I flipped the book open, only to find that its interior was covered with musical symbols which I didn't understand. Wow.

She's too brilliant! I don't know anything about playing the piano. But in that moment, I already knew that this wasn't a piece that an average high school student could play. Which was why I could only stand there in awe of Nogizaka-san's piano prowess.

I carefully closed the thick score that once again reminded me of how perfect Nogizaka-san is.

At that moment, something strange loomed up in the corner of my vision.

"..."

This is a drawing right? A horrific-looking villain with the eyes of a bloodthirsty bear was drawn in one corner of the piano score. He was holding a conductor's baton in one hand, while in a speech bubble beside him, 'please remember not to play at too fast a tempo at this part♪' in pink ink. In the stark contrast between the picture and the contents of the speech bubble, the reminder appeared to be extremely impish.

But the bear really wasn't drawn very nicely, as it also looked like a man-eating wolf, or a large bloodhound, or a failed clone of Godzilla. As for the object that it held in its hand, it looked like a saber, a police baton, or even an ill-designed lightsaber.

To be honest, that drawing was extremely bad. So bad that a kindergarten kid with a little bit of talent in the arts would be able to draw something better.

"...I'll just pretend that I didn't see it!"

After mulling it over, I felt that this was the wisest course of action. There are a lot of things in the world that are best left hidden and not known to mankind. See no evil.

After looking at it for a while more, I quietly closed the score.

After school, Kamishiro-sensei called me to the office.

She seemed to have seen through my act in the morning.

"You hid something at that time didn't you?"

Kamishiro-sensei crossed her legs in a way that would desolate the eyes of innocent youths as she asked. Against this sort of opponent, that the ill-conceived trick would be seen through shouldn't be much of a surprise. So I thought about how best to answer the question.

"Hmm...I admit that I hid something, but I assure you, it wasn't anything contraband. It was an object that would bring great distress to a teenage girl, which was why I took such drastic and rash measures to solve the problem.

I just gave an answer that even I didn't understand, but Kamishiro-sensei gave a devilish smile as though I just sold my soul to her.

"I believe you. You were trying to protect Haruka, right?"

"No, about this..."

"Am I wrong?"

"Ugh..."

It seems like...she's seen through everything. It's true that aged ginger is more pungent, so I should just keep my mouth shut for now.

"Alright you don't have to give me the details, so let's just put this matter behind us. Mm...it must be nice to be young and so full of energy. The exuberant youthfulness of the E generation, if only I was five years younger!"

Kamishiro-sensei's eyes sparkled with an unearthly light, she seemed to be rather happy. Though she seemed to have misunderstood something, but any attempts to explain the situation would probably fall on deaf ears, so I decided not to act rashly.

"It's true that one should experience every type of situation while one's still young, like dating two girls at once or a triangular relationship, anything goes! If you don't play your cards properly, you could even get into a 6-way relationship..."

And this was how I spent the next five minutes.

After Kamishiro-sensei finally snapped out of her own world, she uncrossed and crossed her legs again before continuing our conversation.

"Hmm, I don't have anything else to say to you, you can go now...Ah, wait a moment, I remembered something. Yuu-chan, do you know where my cellphone is? I lost it after I went to borrow some music scores during lunch break."

"How would I know the location of your cellphone..."

"Really? Actually, I was thinking that you had hidden it! Good boys also have times when they want to play bad, it's the special psychology of teenage boys..."

"I categorically deny that."

"If you say it so seriously, onee-san will be sad you know..."

"..."

I retorted softly.

"Ah, such a cruel retort, but I'm not bluffing...I really forgot where I put it, it's really strange. Oh well, I'll just continue looking for it, I'll think of something else if I really can't find it."

"You really do know how to act blur..."

Though I'm hardly one to say that, but,

"Really? Hmm! Haruka and you...To be honest, the two of you are a surprising couple."

"No, we're not dating..."

I retorted immediately, she really had misunderstood our relationship.

"It's alright, there's no point hiding it, onee-chan knows everything already."

[[Image:NHnH vol01 060.jpg|thumb]]

"It's not a question of hiding it or not...she's the 'Nuit Étoile'! I'm not good enough for her, so this is all a misunderstanding."

However.

"An inter-caste love relationship! So touching..."

God, this person isn't absorbing anything I'm telling her.

"...You haven't changed one bit, Yukari."

As expected of my sister's friend, for people who aren't dense enough will never be able to make friends with my sister...But why am I surrounded by such dense people! Nobunaga, the three idiots, Yukari, and my sister. Is this what they call 'birds of a feather flock together'? I really don't want to go down that line of thought.

"Hey, please call me Kamishiro-sensei when in school."

In that moment, I remembered that I had the habit of calling other people by their given names.

"I'm alright with anything, Sen---sei."

Under the influence of the pleading brown-colored eyes of Kamishiro-sensei, I lost the power to retort. Oh well, since this incident's over, I can go back to the classroom. But just as I prepared to walk back to my classroom, Yukari suddenly put on an expression that middle-aged obasan's have when they're preparing to sexually harass their female colleagues and happily told me,

"Saito-sensei's out on official business today, and the bed in the infirmary is empty! Work hard! Young man!"

I just walked out of the teacher's office when I saw Nogizaka-san standing there.

She stood there quietly, like the only lily in a garden full of tulips, though a little conservative, but still different from the rest.

"Ah..."

Nogizaka-san fiddled with her white hairband when she saw me as she stepped forward, looking as though she had something to say.

She stood there for a while before finally making up her mind,

"Umm...Ayase-kun..."

Her pink lips parted to say something, but...

"Ah! Isn't that the 'Nuit Étoile'?"

A voice rudely interrupted her.

"Where?"

"Look! There!"

On the other end of the corridor, there were a few guys who were pointing in our direction and talking among themselves.

"It's true, and some guy is trying to flirt with her."

"What!? A guy?"

One of the guys gave a murderous shout.

To be honest, after so much had happened, I had almost forgotten that Nogizaka-san was a famous person in school. A famous person like her talking face to face with a serious-looking guy (me) outside the teacher's office was extremely noticeable.

"What!? The 'Nuit Étoile'?"

"And a guy?"

"What's the matter? Just what is happening?'

Other than the loud voices of the group of guys, even the other students who were passing by had stopped and were looking at us curiously, some even moving closer to get a better look. In a few moments, the two of us had been completely surrounded by people.

Hmm...

The popularity of the 'Nuit Étoile' was extremely scary, so much so that we couldn't even hold a conversation in peace in public.

For the first time in my life, I realized that personal privacy was actually so worthless and meaningless. Though it's not my place to give out such lamentations,

Because 120% of those guys' interest was on Nogizaka-san and not on me.

Just as I was thinking of that, more and more people started to arrive. I looked around me...about twenty or even thirty people had already gathered, just where did all these people come from?

Anyway, it would be suicide to continue staying here. Under the watchful eyes of so many people, we won't be able to speak to each other properly.

Since it has come down to this, there was only one way of resolving this.

"Nogizaka-san, let's go."

"Ah?"

I pulled Nogizaka-san, who had a dazed expression on her face like a duckling who has just been born away from the scene. It's so strange! Why am I always running whenever I'm together with Nogizaka-san?

"Hey, that fellow actually dared to flirtatiously drag the 'Nuit Étoile' by her hand!"

"What!? By her hand?"

Just as we ran through the layers of human walls around us to escape, angry shouts sounded from the surrounding crowd.

"Damn! Don't run away!"

"Unforgivable..."

"Damn it, I've remembered his face! The next time I see him, I'll tie him up and hang him upside down from the roof!"

My god, those are such extreme words, I even started hallucinating, as I thought I saw a group of people putting on red headbands that read 'Protect Haruka-sama~ The Nuit Étoile Protection Force~'.

......Those should be the hallucinations generated by my own mind.

Once again, we came to the rooftop.

The only difference was that this time, Nogizaka-san wasn't the one crying, though I felt like I was going to. Looks like the legendary secret fan club really exists, I should get Nobunaga to dig up some information on them. I do not want to be the public enemy number one of these people, for if I don't take the appropriate actions, I might really be hung upside down from the rooftop.

As I thought about the fanclub members, all of whom had looked at me murderously, I felt extremely depressed.

I finally understood the extent of Nogizaka-san's popularity. It was rumored that Nogizaka-san's fan club membership was a three digit value, and it looked to be true. In the context of our school population, a three digit value would be equal to roughly a quarter of the entire school population. In other words (including girls), of every four students in our school, one is a supporter of Nogizaka-san. That's a bit too terrifying isn't it?

Due to fatigue, Nogizaka-san was panting loudly beside me, no surprise given the long distance that we ran to get here.

After Nogizaka-san's breathing had become more even, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Did......Did you have something to say to me?"

Actually I could already guess what Nogizaka-san would want to say.

"Yes I do, about this morning's incident......"

After she stopped panting, Nogizaka-san finally lifted up her head.

As I expected! That would be the only reason why Nogizaka-san would come looking for me.

Even though it's a bit sad to say that, but......

"Ah, I'm really sorry for lunging at you so suddenly in the morning."

As I said that, Nogizaka-san became a little nervous.

"Eh? That......That was very nice......No! It wasn't nice, but......"

So was it nice or was it not nice?

Nogizaka-san suddenly lowered her head like a dove, her slightly messy hair moving along with the movement of her head. At this point in time, the soft and silky fragrance of her hair was blown over.

"I'm really grateful to you. That time.....You were helping me, weren't you?"

"It's nothing!"

You could say that I was helping her, or you could say that I just couldn't leave her like that, because I know Nogizaka-san's secret!

Nogizaka-san giggled.

"Ayase-kun, you're a really nice guy."

"Nice guy..."

Normally, by saying that the guy is a nice guy, the girl usually means 'you're a hopeless nice guy', so it wasn't anything to be happy about. But since it came from Nogizaka-san, she probably doesn't mean it that way!

"Anyway, I want to thank you for helping me. I'm grateful for you helping me keep the fact that I borrowed the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 a secret...And I'm really sorry......Because of me, you got called to the teacher's office."

She bowed her head in apology again.

"It's nothing, don't think too much about it. It was Kamishiro-sensei who called me to the office, so it's nothing!"

"But..."

"It's alright, I wasn't scolded or anything!"

Finally convinced after my repeated explanations, Nogizaka-san finally raised her head again.

"Ayase-kun, thank you for all your help."

Nogizaka-san gave me a shy smile. Hmm......If she continues in this vein, I'll start to feel embarrassed too.

Which was why I decided to change the topic.

"Oh right, I gotta return this to you."

After checking to make sure that no one was around, I took out 「INNOCENT SMILE」 and the music score.

"Ah, Ayase-kun, you even took away the music score."

"I used too much force when I was trying to hide 「INNOCENT SMILE」! This piece of music looks really difficult, are you able to play it?"

I asked Nogizaka-san who was for an instant slightly embarrassed.

"Yes... it's the piece I'm currently practicing, so I'm almost able to play the entire piece."

I nodded. So she can play it after all. As the name of the piece, 「The Waltz of Mephisto」 suggests, this wasn't a piece that normal people would be able to play, but she could.

Just as I was filled with awe at her piano prowess, Nogizaka-san suddenly thought of something, and abruptly looked up at me...

"So......could it be that you looked inside?"

Nogizaka-san's voice carried a tinge of uneasiness, as though saying that I saw something.

"I......Didn't I draw a lot of drawings in it?"

She looked up at me.

"Ah......That's right......"

That man-eating bear who looked like it just killed two of three people! Because the visual impact was too jarring, I remembered that drawing in exquisite detail, the drawing which would bring at least three days of nightmares to anyone who looks at it.

"I'm sorry, but I saw it...or rather, it ran into my line of sight, I merely glanced at it."

"S..so, you saw it?"

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Hmm...that really was something that I shouldn't have seen, it was forbidden fruit! Just as I was frantically trying to think of a way to get over this awkward atmosphere, Nogizaka-san surprised me with her next sentence.

"What do you think of it?"

"Huh?"

What do you mean?

"That is......it's quite nice isn't it? It's the first time anyone has seen my drawings"

Nogizaka-san's eyes sparkled when she said that, her expression showing the confidence she had in her drawing skills. Don't tell me......that she's asking for my opinion? I never thought that things would turn out like this.

'The main source of nourishment of that bear seems to be humans'...That doesn't sound like a compliment. 'The bear's eyes make it look like it's sniffing drugs'...that's definitely not a compliment. 'If we were to put that bear into a hot pot, it'll probably be very delicious'...I really didn't how I should phrase my answer.

After mulling it over...

"The bear's gaze is extremely evil...no, or rather, it's very piercing. Everyone's perspective is different, so I suppose some people would find it very cute..."

In the end, my polite and invincible compliment was shattered by Nogizaka-san's response.

"...Hmm? Bear? But that's a cat!"

Nogizaka-san tilted her head as though asking, just what are you talking about.

"..."

"..."

"...Ah, you're absolutely right, it's a cat."

A cat?

I honestly didn't know that it was a cat. Because a normal cat wouldn't have fangs would it?

"Umm...Uh...It's really creative to let the cat hold a conductor's baton!!"

"...It's supposed to be a cat toy!"

"..."

"..."

"Ah, that's right, it's a cat toy."

The book is a music score, and adding those two things sure add a new perspective.

Luckily, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to have heard my soundless murmurings.

"It's embarrassing to say it myself, but I'm rather confident about that piece of art!"

Nogizaka-san continued.

"..."

Is she serious?

I stared at Nogizaka-san.

The look in her eyes was extremely serious.

There was no look in the world that could be more serious than that.

"..."

Well, no point picking out her faults, no one's perfect after all!

"...Hmm, that's a really creative and outstanding piece of work, I like it! I think I see a hint of Picasso's 「Guernica」 in it."

I expressed my own opinions very tactfully, but this was already the best I could say.

"Really? I'm so happy!"

Looking at the joy expressed on Nogizaka-san's innocent face, I felt a sense of guilt weighing down on me. At least I wasn't lying.

"I'm really really happy! I'm glad I asked for your opinion!"

"Righ......Right......"

I'm glad she didn't ask somebody other than me.

"Well......then please take good care of me in the future!"

"?"

What?

"I think I'll improve faster if I show it to other people. I've always been practicing alone, but its hard to improve like this...Of course, only if you have the time..."

"..."

Was she planning to show me these satanic drawings that bring nightmares and summon demons on a regular basis?

"What......What do you think?"

"...About this......"

"You don't want to?"

I didn't give an immediate answer and Nogizaka-san's expression immediately turned to one reminiscent of a puppy that had been abandoned by the roadside. That expression is a banned technique, for no one can reject the 'Nuit Étoile' or let the 'Nuit Étoile' put on such an expression. Furthermore, that Nogizaka-san would implore me like this is because I'm the only one who knows about this hobby of hers......I don't have a choice, for I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I really think that I've boarded the Titanic.

"If you don't mind, I'm willing to discuss it with you anytime."

I deliberately pitched my voice higher so as to impress upon my sincerity.

"Really!"

Nogizaka-san gave a blissful smile. God, I think I'll lose a hundred days of my life everytime I see this smile in the future...oh well, no point thinking about that now.

After that, for a long period of time (at least 30 minutes), I was listening to Nogizaka-san talk about her passion for drawing.

"I have to go now, thank you very much for today. After I finish some new drawings, I'll show them to you again. I'll be going first."

Because of her piano lesson, Nogizaka-san left first. She was in extremely high spirits, humming the tune of 「Für Elise」 as she walked.

Looking at her receding figure, I couldn't help but murmur to myself.

"...Have I acted too rashly...?"

==4==
That night, I was studying in my room when an exaggeratedly loud voice came from downstairs.

"Hey! Yuuto! You've got a call!"

I was slightly miffed at being interrupted just as I was getting into the rhythm of my English-Japanese translation homework, but my sister was in a worse mood, ready to explode at any moment.

"I said, you've got a call!!!"

She kicked the door to my room open!! She even took down one of the door hinges along with her kick!! And then she stomped into my room.

The tall person who entered my room.

"Ruko..."

My sister (A karate second-dan holder, but often abuses her martial arts skills. In the Ayase household where my parents are rarely at home, she has the highest authority) appeared to be extremely unhappy, like an Asian black bear woken up from its slumber during winter time.

She only wore a white shirt on top of her underwear, such a disgraceful appearance.

"How could she wake me up from my sweet slumber! I don't know who she is, but you better teach her a lesson and tell her not to call in the middle of the night!"

Middle of the night? It's only ten! Though it wasn't early, but it wasn't that late either. And what did she mean by 'teach her a lesson'? Shouldn't she say lecture or something!

I knew that retorting was useless, but I still gave it a try.

"Whatever makes you happy, since both mean 'input' in one way or another."

Those two phrases are completely different! They have totally different meanings!

But to Ruko, who was even lazier and more perfunctory than me, those two phrases really weren't that different. She gave an irritated expression as she glared at me.

"...You're really annoying! Just answer the phone will you! I'm so sleepy.......I'm going to sleep now, so you better remember to unplug the phone after you finish your conversation! "

Ruko threw the phone over to me before going through the door that was swinging on only one of its hinges.

For the love of God! Who'd have believed that she's actually the secretary for the CEO of a top-class firm, which goes to show that anything can happen in this society of ours. It was indeed the state of affairs that beautiful women would always have their way. Though my sister is pretty, but I don't really want to comment on her character. For a society that is perpetually harping on equality, we're extremely unfair.

I thought of all this as I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

And then...

"Ah, hello? Is this Ayase-kun? It's Nogizaka."

A surprising voice came from the other end of the line, the female voice that had the power to calm anyone who hears it, one that I've been hearing quite a lot of recently. But right now, this voice sounded extremely serious, nothing like the cheerful one I had heard in the day. Something must have happened.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you at such a late hour. Umm...I would like to ask for a favor from you, Ayase-kun..."

A favor? My heart beat really fast at that word.

"...I'm really embarrassed to say this right now. But I know I'll regret it for life if I don't say it now."

The seriousness in that voice was mixed with a heavy dose of embarrassment. Could it be that? No, Nogizaka-san would never ask me to do something as absurd as imitating the way crickets walk upside-down.

"Erm......Are you listening?"

"Ah, of, of course I'm listening."

I had no reason not to be listening.

"That's great...Ayase-kun, could you come out and meet me now?"

"Huh..."

After a second of lightning-quick analysis......

"Meet up...just the two of us?'

"That's right."

To meet up at this time......She can't be planning to have a secret date with me can she? The two of us sitting on a bench in the park. Time has stopped, and then the two of us......No, I can't continue fantasizing! I'll start to think about contents similar to the plot in a third-grade novel if I continue fantasizing.

I shook my heard violently. Got to stay calm, got to stay calm, I have to keep my cool.

To return my heartbeat to normal, healthy levels, I mentally recited the multiplication table. At this time, Nogizaka-san continued,

"Actually...I would like you to accompany me to school."

"School?"

The school in question...would obviously be the Hakujo Academy that we both attend. Why would she pick such a time to go to school when there wasn't a late night dare challenge of any kind going on......

"......The magazine...I forgot to return it."

The soft and hesitant voice cut off my line of thought.

"I had planned to return it after meeting Ayase-kun, but as I was feeling extremely happy after our conversation, I felt that I could return it a bit later......and I forgot to return in the end."

"You're talking about......that magazine?"

「INNOCENT SMILE」

"......Yes."

"..."

The situation......was really serious. The basic rules of our school were rather loose, but our school was extremely strict regarding the usage of school facilities. If a book that was borrowed from the library wasn't returned by the due date, the school would publicly remind the student through the PA system.

Of course, the public reminder would also include the student's name, year, and the name of the borrowed book.

"If I'm mentioned, I'll...sob..."

Probably thinking about what would happen if the book that she borrowed was publicly announced to the entire school, Nogizaka-san was whimpering slightly.

"Th, that's why I thought I'd go return it instead. *sniff* Bu, but going alone to school when it's this late...it's scary. So, I thought I'd ask somebody to go with me...B, but..."

Nogizaka-san said in a tearful voice.

So that's how it is. About this, I was the only one whom she could turn to for help. Because if she was to look for someone else, she'd have to show them 「INNOCENT SMILE」, bringing her hobby to the knowledge of one more person.

"Sob......Is it too much to ask? I'm really sorry to always bother you like this, but..."

It wasn't her fault. And......only a demented man would abandon a crying Nogizaka-san, right?

Therefore.

"Hmm...Let's just meet up at school now, alright?"

"Sob...Ah...?"

A surprised exclamation came from the other side of the line.

"You're willing......to go with me?"

"Yup, since I've got nothing to do right now anyway."

It was decided. Though I haven't finished my English homework, that's not important at a moment like this! I would like to avoid both Nogizaka-san's tears and the scolding given by my English teacher (forty-two years old, characteristic: Extremely annoying), but I don't have the time to deliberate any further on this.

"Thank you......sob......Thank you so much"

And that was how I decided to sneak into school at such an unearthly hour.

The campus was extremely creepy at night.

The thirty-something year-old white cement campus looked as thought it was floating in the sky in the dark, and from an angle, it really looked like an abandoned mansion, giving any observers a severe case of the creeps. This atmosphere was like the one in the supernatural shows on television where the spiritually-inclined guest appears and declares to the audience that 'an extremely evil aura can be felt here', whereupon the audience painfully wrestles with their inner-selves whether to continue watching or not. Nogizaka-san, who was standing next to me, was looking at the campus with exactly the same expression on her face, looking as though she was about to burst into tears any moment.

Now, how should we go about infiltrating the campus?

Of course the main gate wouldn't be open at this time, so perhaps we should try going by the staff entrance. Since it's the staff entrance, it should be near the teachers' office. But we'd have to be extremely careful if we were to go in by the staff entrance so as to avoid getting caught by a patrolling teacher. Or should we break a window and reach in to take the key, use a power tool to break the lock of the main gate, or just smash our way through the gate with a metal pole. Just that...all the above-mentioned methods were illegal.

Isn't there any way that's quieter? (Even though no matter how quiet an act of infiltration is, it's still an illegal act) Just as I was trying to come up with a better idea...

"Ayase-kun, this way."

Nogizaka-san pulled on my arm.

"We can get in by the back gate."

"Back gate......why?"

"Because I have a backup key."

"A backup key?"

Why would she have something like that?

"The key was in my father's study, so I just borrowed it for a while, because I thought it might come in handy!"

So it was from her father's study...I seem to have understood something, but why would her father have a backup key of the school?

"I'm not very sure about the specifics...but it seems like my father donated a large amount of money to the school, and to prepare for emergencies, he asked for a backup of all the keys in the school."

Investment...Right, I've heard this before. Ever since Nogizaka-san came to study at this school, ninety percent of all the money donated to Hakujo Academy came from the Nogizaka family. So it probably wouldn't be surprising if Nogizaka-san had a backup copy of all the keys in the school......right?

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing......"

Now's not the time to voice my questions, but since she had the backup copies to all the keys in the school, she'd surely have the key to the main gate. Wouldn't it be much better to just go in by the main gate? But I didn't say that out loud.

"Let's go!"

"Yes!'

Because the library was on the second story, we walked in the direction of the stairs.

Not surprisingly, the interior of the school was also empty, and as silent as a cemetery.

"It's really creepy..."

Nogizaka-san said as she looked around the deserted corridor. She gripped the sleeve of my shirt tightly, not daring to let go for even a second.

"If this was a game, a zombie should be jumping out from this corner."

"Ah!!!"

I had played this game where you had to fight off hordes of zombies, giant spiders and other monstrosities while attempting to escape from a western-style building. For the first ten minutes of the game, you would probably feel like you're about to be devoured by two of three zombies, but...

Never mind, forget I said it, now's not the time to think about something like that.

"Ayase-kun, do you know about the seven mysteries of our school?"

As we neared the stairwell, Nogizaka-san suddenly mentioned that. The seven mysteries of the school, though I'm not exactly sure as to the actual number of the mysteries, but there should be quite a few of them. Like...

There's the 'Thirteen steps of death to the rooftop'.

As for the others, I only know of the 'Dancing human figure in the science classroom', 'The self-playing piano in the music room', 'The self-bouncing ball in the empty gym'.

"There's still 'Hanako-san, who lives in the toilet' 'The big mirror in the infirmary that reflects the death of the user', and...'the dead book-reader'."

Nogizaka-san filled in the gaps.

"..."

An extremely bad premonition filled the air after hearing such rumors.

This was my first time hearing about 'The dead book-reader'. Since it has to do with a book-reader, it should be connected to the library right? And we just had to be going to the library at this time.

"..."

Should we just head back?

"Don't...Don't leave me behind!"

[[Image:NHnH vol01 084.jpg|thumb]]

My arm was held in a vice-like grip by Nogizaka-san, who had tears rolling about in her eyes. Looks like I wouldn't be able to perform the 'great escape'.

During the time when I was struggling with myself about whether to run away or not, we reached the library in question. The wooden door that looked so normal in the day now looked like the gates to hell.

It was a really bad feeling.

"So...What's the story behind 'The dead book-reader'?"

I asked Nogizaka-san.

"A long long time ago, when the campus was still made of wood, there was a student who really liked to read. Because he was crazy about reading, so this student would go to the library every day, until one day, where he passed away after getting into an accident on his way to the library. But it's rumored that for the sake of reading, this student would still report to the library everyday, which is why in the dark and silent library, footsteps and the sound of a book dropping onto the ground can be heard, and the shadow of a reading figure can also be seen at the window."

"You really know a lot about that."

"We're going off track here, but I heard that someone really came down to the library in the middle of the night, and that book-reader really did appear in front of that person."

"..."

"I only heard this story the day before yesterday. So now......I kind of regret hearing it..."

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Even if she regrets hearing that story, it was already too late...

"...It'll probably be even worse if this story was told to someone who's never heard of it before."

"You're right......It would be worse."

"I've never heard this story before."

"Huh...you..."

Nogizaka-san placed a finger at the edge of her mouth as she lapsed into deep thought.

"...So you're saying that...You just heard the story for the first time from me?"

"That's right."

"..."

"..."

The surroundings were deathly silent.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all that."

Nogizaka-san apologized with a horrified expression on her face, just like a puppy who did something wrong and was getting scolded by its master. I believe that no one would be able to grumble even a word more after seeing her like this.

"Ah, it's alright, since you didn't do it on purpose."

And I was the one who was asked for the details in the first place.

"But, if you meet the dead book-reader and get murdered by him because of my words..."

Nogizaka-san's face was terribly pale as she fervently prayed that I would not become the victim of a supernatural murder!

"It'll be alright! The dead book-reader won't run out just because of your story! And my only redeeming feature is that I'm really tough, so I probably would be able to survive a supernatural attack without much effort."

Because I have been forced to accept Ruko's rigorous training since I was young.

"But...the attack of a spirit...isn't a physical attack, but a mental one, like curses..."

"That's alright too."

Regarding mental attacks, besides Ruko's training, I've also been on the receiving end of a lot of training from Yukari. So my defensive ability against mental attacks would probably be even higher than my defensive ability against physical attacks. I am not proud of this inhuman defensive capability of mine, but it's the unfortunate truth.

Nogizaka-san smiled as she squinted slightly, probably hinting that she accepts my answer?

"......You're really kind."

"No......I'm not that kind......"

Why would she suddenly say something like this?"

"Hehe!"

"No...That's..."

I wanted to deny it, but couldn't find the right words. To mask the fact that I was blushing, I turned my gaze to the direction of the library.

"Cough, though I can't deny that this library's really creepy...we still have to go in don't we?"

Once I said that, Nogizaka-san immediately nodded her head furiously with a serious expression on her face.

"Let's...Let's go!"

Even though Nogizaka-san was the one calling for us to go, she didn't move at all as she looked at me as if trying to send me some kind of telepathic message...she probably wants me to lead the way. Alright, let's do it!

I pushed open the gigantic wooden door to the library, the wooden frame creaking under the force exerted by my hands before it opened. On the other side of the door was...an empty library. If this was a horror film, then at the exact moment where the door was opened, we would have gone face to face with 'the dead book-reader', a worst-case scenario that I wanted to avoid at all costs. The atmosphere in the empty room seemed to be extremely sinister, as though a ghoulish white face would appear from behind the black-painted shelves any moment.

"You can't leave me. Please don't leave me alone, I'm begging you."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my arm tightly as she whimpered, a flowery smell making its way to my nostrils. In fact, she needn't have been so worried, since she was grabbing me so tightly that I wasn't even able to move.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly let go of me, my body finally regaining its freedom of movement. But for some reason, I suddenly felt a trace of regret.

"Let's just maintain this position. Please don't leave me alone alright?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me as she requested me to stay by her side while she held on to my arm. I nodded as we made our way towards the book-returning counter.

It was about fifty meters to the counter, and we carefully made our way over.

During this short journey, Nogizaka-san's beautiful face almost touched mine a couple of time. Her alluring amber eyes, her exquisitely white skin, and her pink lips all made my heart beat faster after every close encounter...Is there a problem with the regularity of my heartbeat?

"Kya!"

Nogizaka-san seemed to have tripped over something...it should be the reading chair again, right? She lost her balance, but fortunately, she broke her fall just before her face was about to come into contact with the floor. That was close!

"Why is there a chair here..."

How could you say that when the chair's always been here, and you've already tripped over it once before already?

"I've embarrassed myself again, I'm so clumsy!"

She smiled embarrassingly before continuing to walk, but promptly tripped over another chair, and fell flat on the floor this time.

"..."

I was thinking, she can't be...

Nogizaka-san's a little...no, extremely dense.

"...I've been tripping over or knocking into things since young."

Nogizaka-san answered the question in my mind.

"I would be able to fall down even when walking on flat ground, and I've even walked into electrical poles and parked cars."

"You're not good at sports?"

But I had thought that she does quite well during physical education classes.

"Hmm......I don't think this has got anything to do with physical ability."

"...I think you're right."

Was she really like this? I've never seen her trip over something or knock into something at school though.

"I'm usually extremely careful...but maybe it's because Ayase-kun has already seen me trip over something that I probably subconsciously let my guard down, leading to me to trip over more things."

Nogizaka-san smiled abashedly. Looks like she's been putting in a lot of effort to maintain her public image.

"...Ah, what have I been saying! We should quickly return the book!"

The red-faced Nogizaka-san suddenly remembered our mission and walked towards the book-returning counter, this time not tripping over anything. After reaching the counter, Nogizaka-san immediately turned on the computer, which powered up with a whir as the monitor displayed the operating system.

"Hey, I suddenly thought of something."

"Thought of what?"

"Even if the book was returned now, won't the data be stored in the computer?"

It's a computer specially designed to handle the borrowing and returning of library books. Which is why the date and time of all transactions would definitely be recorded in the computer. To be more precise, in the hard-disk of the computer. It'll definitely show that on the twenty-second day of April, at 23:08, book number 1203 (INNOCENT SMILE) was returned to the library.

"..."

Nogizaka-san froze for five seconds.

"...I never thought of that."

Hey, Hey!

"Hmm...There's got to be a way. Let's think logically. Since no one in their right minds would return a book at this time, I would expect the librarian to assume that there's a problem with the data. People always look for a reason to explain such small and insignificant inconsistencies."

Maybe she's right. But I would never have guessed that she had this careless side to her.

"Please wait for a moment while I return the book."

Nogizaka-san concentrated on the computer in front of her after saying that.

I had nothing to do, so I couldn't help but look at Nogizaka-san, who had both eyes on the monitor.

Sleek, black hair, snowy white skin, under the weak light of the moon and the reflection of the light from the screen, her body was bathed in a bluish white light, making her look as mysterious as the Goddess of healing magic in legends. She's the beautiful, clever, dignified and musically talented 'Nuit Étoile'. But the string of compliments didn't seem to fit the girl standing in front of me.

Because my impression of Nogizaka-san isn't like this.

Before this, I had thought of Nogizaka-san as a calm and collected lady. And I'm sure the rest of my classmates would see her in the same way.

But right now, I finally understand why we can never judge a book by its cover.

Which daughter of a wealthy and powerful family would illegally infiltrate her own school just to return an otaku magazine?

And even crying while tripping over numerous things in front of another in the process, embarrassing herself by being extremely clumsy...

But, compared to the normally perfect Nogizaka-san, I felt that the Nogizaka-san that I was seeing right now was more 'human'. A much better feeling. But I guess I should keep such thoughts to myself! Because Nogizaka-san probably won't be happy with that, even if I thought this side of her was better.

"Nogizaka-san."

"Yes?"

Nogizaka-san didn't turn her gaze as she continued to operate the computer.

"Why did you start this hobby...I mean, how did you become an otaku?"

I finally asked that question! God, what have I said! I had already promised Nogizaka-san not to speak of this anymore.

"Hmm, how..."

Surprisingly, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to mind it at all as she answered my question.

"Actually, I'm not very sure myself, by the time I realized it, I was already an otaku. Just that...I'm quite sure that 'that' set off this whole hobby of mine."

She place a finger on the edge of her mouth as she thought about what 'that' was.

"This happened about six years ago. Because I quarreled with my parents over all the skills that I had to learn, I ran to a park near my house to cry. The reason for that quarrel should have been...I had promised some friends to go and play together, but it clashed with my Japanese dance class so I couldn't go. That was the first time anyone had invited me out to play, so I was extremely happy, but I had to reject their invitation because my parents had enrolled me in Japanese dance classes...I was really upset, so I ran out to the park to cry my heart out. I ignored the stares of people passing by and just wailed. I think I probably wanted someone to come over and comfort me, but this world wasn't as caring as I had thought it was. More than a few people walked past me, but they all ignored me, since a crying kid is really annoying. But...there was one person, just one person came over to talk to me."

Nogizaka-san had a faraway look in her eyes, as though she was looking at a distant place.

"Although he was a bit rough about it, he tried his best to comfort me. I still remember what happened as though it was yesterday. At that time...He let me read the first edition of 「INNOCENT SMILE」."

Nogizaka-san continued in a slightly exaggerated tone.

"Before that, I had never read manga before, so it was a refreshing experience for me...In the flash of an eye, I was enraptured by the magazine. People who read manga would feel very happy, and I was probably deeply attracted by that kind of atmosphere...And in the end, I even asked that person to give that first edition to me."

Nogizaka-san laughed.

Wow! What a touching story! How did that guy even think of using the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 to comfort a primary school girl! This guy was incredible.

"That's probably the beginning of my hobby. After that incident, whenever I thought of that happy atmosphere, I would hide and read manga...which is why, even to this day, 「INNOCENT SMILE」 has a special place in my heart."

So that's why she was willing to take the risk to return this book to the library. Even Nobunaga had said that old editions of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 were priceless books, I think I finally understand why Nobunaga would do anything to achieve his goals.

"Phew...I'm finally done."

I heard the sound of the ENTER key being depressed. Looks like our mission was complete.

Nogizaka-san finally noticed my gaze. Just as she stretched in front of the computer screen, she suddenly stopped moving, like an electric toy dog that had run out of batteries.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red due to her embarrassment, a reaction that I would never see in the classroom.

"No...I just think that you're a strange daughter of a wealthy and powerful family."

I told her my honest opinion.

"Hmm...I think it's really rude to say that to the person in question..."

Though she said that, Nogizaka-san didn't look angry at all. On the contrary, I thought she looked rather happy.

"In my opinion...Ayase-kun's much stranger than me. Yes, you're so strange that I can guarantee you'll win any All-Japan weirdo competition that there is."

"Thank you for the compliment."

What kind of competition is that!

"..."

"..."

For a moment, all was quiet.

"...Hahahaha!"

"...Hahahaha!"

In the next moment, both of us looked at each other and laughed. At the stroke of midnight, male and female laughter coming out of the empty library! If anyone hears that, there'll probably be a new version of the seven mysteries of the school. That'll be 'The terrifying maniacal laughter of a spirit couple in the library at midnight'.

I don't long how long we stood there laughing.

After our laughter had subsided, Nogizaka-san suddenly spoke rather seriously.

"I had thought......that everything was over." She began to talk about such a thing abruptly.

"Everything was over?"

"Yes."

Nogizaka-san nodded her head furiously.

"At the time when Ayase-kun saw that I had borrowed 「INNOCENT SMILE」, and also saw me trip and fall...I thought that everyone would know that I have this kind of hobby, and then everyone will look at me with strange looks and make fun of me. I really thought that it was going to turn out like that."

She's right. Although I didn't do it because I come into contact with such material on a regular basis through Nobunaga, there were many people in society who looked down on people with such hobbies. If anyone knew that the 'Nuit Étoile' was an otaku, that person would probably announce it to the whole school without hesitation.

Wait a minute, Nogizaka-san's tone seems to be suggesting that...

"Nogizaka-san, did you think that I would go around telling everyone that you're an otaku?"

Could it be that she thinks I'm that kind of person?

Nogizaka-san looked away embarrassedly.

"I'm...I'm really sorry! Because I didn't know what kind of person you are! So I couldn't deny that there was a definite possibility of that happening. And I've almost never talked to guys before...So I was a little afraid...of you."

"Never talked to..."

Nogizaka-san? The 'Nuit Étoile'? Now I would have never known that!

"For some reason, guys are always extremely stiff around me, unable to relax like they do around other girls. It seems that only Ayase-kun's able to talk to me normally."

I think it's because Nogizaka-san's too cute and perfect. But...I don't have to be like the other guys!

Nogizaka-san continued,

"Which is why I really thought that everything was over, so much so that I even thought about running away to a faraway place...But the truth has proven that I was wrong, because Ayase-kun kept his promise and didn't tell anyone about my hobby, and even after knowing about my hobby, you didn't make fun of me. You treated me like a normal person....and even helped me. If not for you, I really won't know what I would have done...I think I'm really despicable to doubt you in the first place, I really want to shout out how much of an idiot I am. I really......really want to thank you, Ayase-kun."

Nogizaka-san stood in front of me as she gave a curtsy to me to express her gratitude.

"Thank you......Thank you so much for everything you've done!"

That posture was extremely similar to one I had seen in a certain magazine a few days ago, but now that Nogizaka-san was the one doing it, it was probably the cutest pose of the century...

Just as I was about to lose all sense of reason...

Shuffle, shuffle!

"!?"

A sound came from behind the shelves.

"What...what was that......sound?"

Nogizaka-san grabbed me with lightning-quick reflexes. This kind of speed is the type that would only appear when one's caught in a fire...no, it should be an inhuman display of fleet-footedness, right? Whatever the reason as to Nogizaka-san's unnatural display of power, the point is, my arm came into contact with two soft orbs...

"It...It seems to have come from the other side of the shelves, could it be the 'dead book-reader'...

"Spirits don't exist in this world..."

They don't exist...Or rather, I hope they don't exist.

"What do we do?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me anxiously. There are three courses of action available to me right now. One, under the influence of my considerable curiosity, I go over to check it out. Two, remain calm and run away. Three, pretend to be frightened and take advantage of the situation to hug Nogizaka-san. Personally, I hope to choose number three, but...No, it's merely my personal fantasy, I could get charged for sexual harassment.

Logically, I should choose option two, since we've already done what we set out to do, there's no need to find out about anything that doesn't concern us.

"Ah, Ayase-kun..."

"I'll go and take a look, wait here for me."

She hugged me tightly around my waist.

"I'm going with you."

"But, you may see something scary..."

"I'll be even more afraid if I were to stay here by myself."

She's right.

"Then, let's go over together?"

"Al...Alright..."

The two of us started to walk towards the direction in which the strange sound had come from.

"I think...that sound came from the shelve with the music scores."

"Music scores?"

We even have music scores in our library? I only thought that it was weird they had 「INNOCENT SMILE」, but it shouldn't be much of a surprise if they had music scores as well.

"It's around here."

Under the guidance of Nogizaka-san, just as we neared the corner of the shelf in question...

Dangdangdang.......

We heard a different sound from just now.

Shuffle shuffle...

And then we heard the sound of a book dropping onto the floor.

"Kya..."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my hand while covering her ears with surprising agility.

"I think..."

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"It must be the 'dead book-reader'...Ayase-kun! I think we should run!"

"No, wait a moment..."

The sound of books dropping onto the floor stopped, but another sound took its place. Dingdangdangdingdangdang...It sounded familiar. Ah...could it be 'that'!

"Ah, Ayase-kun!"

I went up to the shelf and saw my conjecture validated.

"...It's a cellphone."

There was a white object on the shelf with the music scores, the white object was vibrating as it knocked into the music scores on the shelf. Because it's a cellphone that's receiving a call.

"...I seem to have seen this somewhere."

There was a keychain on it with YUKARI spelled out in English. Ah! Didn't that person say that she lost her cellphone? It looked as though she left it here when she came to borrow music scores. She really knows how to create a stir! I decided to return it to her tomorrow as I turned off the power to cut off its annoying ringtone.

"Nogizaka-san, it's alright, I've found the source of the sounds."

I called out to the ashen-faced, shivering Nogizaka-san who was hiding behind the shelf. Probably because the strange sounds had disappeared, Nogizaka-san seemed to have relaxed a little as she slowly made her way towards me.

"You know what was causing those sounds?"

"Yes, this is the source of it all"

I showed the white cellphone that had the opposite color to its owner's heart to Nogizaka-san, as she slumped down onto the ground as though her soul had just been sucked away.

"Ah, I feel weak now that I've loosened up ."

Nogizaka-san seemed to have been scared witless. This was the first time I've seen someone who's been scared to that extent, and that person was the 'Nuit Étoile'...It was a scene straight from the world of slapstick comedy.

"Hah..."

I couldn't help but laugh. Seeing that I was laughing at her, Nogizaka-san puffed out her cheeks.

"What...What are you laughing about! What's so funny? It's not like I did it on purpose, it's because...because it was too terrifying!"

She was retaliating, but soon stopped.

"You're......really a strange person."

"Same to you to!"

And then we looked at each other and started laughing again, laughing so loudly that even the people staying beside the school would probably be able to hear us.

Maybe a new version of the seven mysteries of the school would be heard in school tomorrow?

==5==
We finally completed our mission.

As we walked out of the school gate, Nogizaka-san bowed deeply to me.

"Thank you so much for today, Ayase-kun, you saved my life. Maybe...Today's actions wasn't legal, but I was very happy."

It was fun. Yeah, that expression was pretty improper, but it wasn't without its merit. That's why I could respond with a large smile.

"You're welcome, I enjoyed myself too."

Those were my true feelings.

"You...can just call me Haruka."

Nogizaka-san requested timidly.

"I'm saying that, you can just call me by my name. It feels like I'm an outsider if you keep calling me Nogizaka-san. No, I am an outsider, ah, I don't mean it that way...sob, I'm really bad at this...anyway, I wish that you'll call me Haruka and not Nogizaka-san."

She was serious about that.

Hmm...I don't know why she would be so flustered, but since she was the one who requested me to call her by her name, I don't think there should be any problems. To be honest, I felt that it would be an honor to be able to call her by her name.

"I got it, so I'll just call you...Haruka."

"Yes!"

Nogizaka-san nodded her head happily...No, I should refer to her as Haruka now. Right now, Haruka looked extremely cute.

"Then you should also call me Yuuto, all my good friends call me that."

For some reason, I suddenly felt embarrassed as I purposely looked away from her.

"Good friends..."

Haruka mumbled before smiling again, an honest smile straight from the heart that I've never seen before in the classroom.

"I got it, Yuuto, please take care of me from now on."

And thus, the relationship between Nogizaka Haruka and I began.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Kaze no Stigma:Volume1 Chapter6

2009-07-31T00:01:18Z

Dagger: /* 1 */

== Chapter Six - Decisive Battle ==

=== 1 ===
Ksssshaaaaaaaaaaaa…….

The forest rustled with unease. Such were the sounds made by the forest inhabitants, which had run away with all their might upon feeling the immense [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Youki|''youki'']]. The bugs, which had no means of sensing the danger, were unable to withstand the abnormal pressure and disappeared without a trace. Even animals, unable to escape, had come in contact with the youki and instantly perished. The sound of their corpses raining out of the trees and littering the forest floor could be heard. Though there were no external injuries, nonetheless they had all died instantly.

Then, all sound ceased. All the youki within Ryuuya was released, and its mere existence had spread death around the world.

Facing Ryuuya, who stood there silently, Ayano took up Enraiha. Unable to take even a single step in his direction, simply lifting it was all she could do. The youki, which felt as though it would freeze her blood, rendered her unable to move. And no matter what she tried, she could not stop her knees from trembling.

An immense fear had gripped Ayano’s soul. It was difficult enough to just force herself to stand there without running away; to advance would have been impossible.

Ayano had inherited Enraiha at the age of twelve, when she was still young. It might have been a mistake. Because of this, Ayano had never fought an enemy more powerful than herself. For someone who always defeated her enemies with brute strength, there was no way for her to make confident combat decisions when she was the one at a disadvantage.

To put it simply, after suffering her first defeat, Ayano had not been able to find the courage to go up against Ryuuya.

“What are you doing? Go on!” Kazuma said to the trembling Ayano.

“Don’t worry! I am with you.”

”How can I not worry?!” Ayano retorted angrily.

"How dare he say 'don’t worry' so simply?"

“There is no reason to run, now is there? Therefore, I won't run this time. Trust me.”

Who could trust someone who had just said “he would run if there was a reason”? Ayano stared back to see Kazuma smiling deviously.

“This…… This is the last time. If you dare to betray me again, before I die, I will kill you!”

“No problem, I swear to God.”

“……God? Which one?”

Ayano gave him an undisguisedly suspicious look, but Kazuma only continued to show that smile that couldn't be trusted and replied, ”Who knows? Which God I pray to doesn’t matter! I am an unbeliever after all.”

Ayano no longer had the strength to remain angry at this and murmured with her voice heavy in resignation, ”……Enough. I'll leave the support to you.”

”Leave it to me.”

Ignoring Kazuma’s mocking salute, Ayano dashed forward. Though she doesn't - and probably wouldn't ever - realize it, the fear which had gripped her had been greatly reduced by this meaningless chat.

Ayano rans towards Ryuuya, but when her target was just a few steps away, Ryuuya suddenly took to the air.

“……Huh?”

Looking at Ryuuya, who flew past her, Ayano gave a sound of shock.

“Idiot! Don’t get outmaneuvered so easily!”

”You…… Even if you say that……”

Completely ignoring Ayano, Ryuuya aimed straight for Kazuma, and as he descended he released wind blades at a rapid speed. Kazuma createed a strong upflow of air to cancel out the black winds.

But this is just a feint, the true attack uses a strength beyond human limits. A slice executed by claws. Raised high above his head, the originally hidden right claw suddenly lashes out.

That attack could easily rip through a human body as though it was cutting a piece of tofu. Kazuma, moving forward at an angle, dodges it barely. At the same time, he places his hand lightly on the back of the enemy’s right arm, and slightly diverts its path.

His attack hitting nothing but empty air causes Ryuuya to lose his balance and Kazuma immediately takes the opportunity to use his knee to strike at the side of his enemy’s abdomen, aiming for the liver. The force of Ryuuya's own momentum, together with a strong explosion of Kazuma's [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#ki|''ki'']], focused at a single point, makes Ryuuya’s body arc like a bow and throws him back into the air. Following the flying body closely, Kazuma strikes his enemy’s chin with his elbow, moments before it would have touched the ground. Ryuuya’s head is thrown so far backwards he can almost see his own back.

Had Ryuuya been a normal person, no, even someone as powerful as a wrestler, he would yet have instantly died from such a violent attack. However, to the demonized Ryuuya, it barely does any damage.

Instead, in mid-flight, Ryuuya uses his momentum and raises his right knee to aim straight for Kazuma’s jaw.

Even though the attack came from what should have been a blind spot, to Kazuma, who is synchronized with the wind spirits, there is no such thing. He steps forward, leaning to the left to avoid Ryuuya's knee, grabs the front of Ryuuya’s shirt, at the same time sweeping his left leg horizontally.

In a masterful example of judo, Ryuuya’s body is flipped. With Ryuuya's head about to fall flat on the ground, Kazuma strikes with his palm. Not to punch downwards, but to press. He bends down to push the enemy’s head straight into the ground, and a comfortable reaction is sent through his shoulder.

However, Kazuma did not feel Ryuuya’s skull crack. Realizing instantly that he has not given his enemy a fatal blow, Kazuma uses his foot to crush Ryuuya’s head, who lay on the ground facing the sky. The kick instead lands on Ryuuya's crossed arms, as he blocks Kazuma's attack.

”Chut!”

Kazuma quickly kicks away the arm that is about to grab his other leg, and jumps backwards to put some distance between them.

(To not even faint after such a fierce attack, does attacking the brain have no effect on him? To just what extent has he been transformed to a demon?……) Kazuma grumbles unhappily.

As though beating up a steel statue, he feels as if he has accomplished nothing. Ryuuya's body quickly swings back up, directly from his lying down position. This simple action is far beyond what a human can achieve, almost like a zombie from the movies.

Ryuuya releases countless wind blades as he gets up, and then, at a speed even faster than the wind blades, strikes at Kazuma. The wind blades and his claws reach Kazuma at the same time.

“Guahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

At the same time as the shout, Kazuma forcefully stretches his hand out towards the right arm that was swung at him. The wind forms a rapidly spinning whirlpool, as if that hand had squeezed them out. The rapid flow of air becomes a shockwave, destroying the wind blades, and Ryuuya is blown back into the air like a puppet.

It seems for a moment that he is unable to take this blow, but only for a moment, as Ryuuya adjusts his posture in the air and hovers at a fixed altitude, beginning to slowly retreat.

“Don’t even think about escaping!”

Kazuma knocks the air above Ryuuya downwards. The figure that was originally gliding away slowly, suddenly flew downwards at a sharp angle, as if swatted by something, and with a speed way beyond a free-falling object, hits the ground. Ryuuya was just able to land on his two feet, his body unable to move, stuck to the ground due to the great air pressure.

As Ryuuya stands there paralyzed, Kazuma quickly closes the distance.

The wind that was forcefully blowing downwards doesn't seem to lay a finger on Kazuma. Kazuma instead seems as though drawn into it, and runs quickly inside the raging winds without hindrance.

“How…… powerful, that guy is actually so powerful……”

Ayano is totally taken in by the scene in front of her eyes, completely mesmerized by the sight of Kazuma fighting. She had been unable to land even a single hit upon Ryuuya, and yet Kazuma could fight on an even level with or an even higher level than Ryuuya. Skillfully avoiding the attacks of the opponent, retaliating with perfectly timed counters, and slowly accumulating damage. This is, she realizes, what it means to be “an experienced fighter."

Forgetting that she is part of the fight as well, Ayano stands there enraptured, her eyes focused solely on Kazuma.

“------------------------------!”

When Kazuma is just a few steps away, Ryuuya, who is still trapped on the ground, looses a silent roar. Black wind begins to rampage, breaking the bonds that had restrained him just moments before.

In the same movement with which he straightens his knees, he stretches his claws out towards the incoming Kazuma, who is running directly at him, and aims directly for the throat, executing an insane counterattack.

Kazuma, however, does not stop. Instead, as he takes his last step, he bends down as much as possible. Reaching to the far ends of his consciousness to dodge the pitch black claws passing before him, he places his palm on Ryuuya's [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#tanden|''tanden'']].

Kazuma steps onto the ground firmly. From there, gathering power which goes past his knees straight to his waist, and from the waist to his shoulders, like a spiral, and continues to become stronger as it continued to be transmitted. From his shoulder to the front of his arm, after all the energy in his body has gathered, it is released from his palm. An immense ki is released from his body through his palm, dense enough that it feels as if it could pierce through the enemy.

“Hah!”

Accompanying his shout, a force great enough to blow even an African elephant to pieces exploded right into Ryuuya’s tanden, the core of a human’s central nervous system. Ryuuya’s body was blown away with such power he ended up embedded in a stone wall.

The ki of a person circulated around the body, originating in the tanden. Therefore, this place was the most vital of all vital areas for a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Practitioner|''jutsushi'']]. Once the flow of ki has been disrupted, no matter how powerful a jutsushi might be, he would be left unable to use any [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Jutsu|''jutsu'']] for some time. Or that would have been the case, had Ryuuya been a human being.

Huuuuu!!

“Muah!”

Ryuuya doesn't even look injured as he rapidly releases the blades of wind once more. Kazuma barely dodges in the nick of time, and hurriedly places some distance between them.

“Damn! Bastard! That didn’t work! That guy really, whole-heartedly doesn’t want to be human anymore!”

“…… whole-heartedly…… What kind of description is that……”

Hearing Ayano’s subconscious remark, Kazuma shouts out loud, “Don’t just stand there and watch the show! You're supposed to be the attacker, aren't you? So why don’t you grab your big torch and go beat him up!”

“Big……”

(Big torch?)

To use such a crude description of the treasure of the Kannagi clan?!

“You, I'll have a talk with you about this once this is over!”

Ignoring Ayano’s furious look, Kazuma waves his hand to hush her, “Don’t talk so much, ''attack'' little kitten."

Though her eyes burn with murder, Ayano steps forward. Perhaps reflecting her anger, Enraiha shines with a glaring glow unlike any before.

(Nee-sama, you can do it……)

Ren prays devoutly for the victory of the two.

He can only pray, since he does not possess the power to participate in their battle.

His inability to help deeply hurting his heart, Ren murmurs, ”If only I had more power……”

”No, no, your 'bit' of power is just right.”

”!?”

Ren turns in shock, and looks where there shouldn't be anyone.

“To break the seal placed upon our God, that bit of power is enough.”

The voice sounded like it had come from the opposite direction of just earlier. Ren turns his head once more, and calls out in a rising tone, “It…… it is you, Hyoue! Come out now!”

Shaaaaaaaaaaa, the sound of bushes rustling in the wind, this time from the left. Out of Ren's raised palm, fire begins to erupt in a rapid stream.

In short order, the withered plants catch fire and burn furiously, but there is no sign of Hyoue. Ren glances around frantically as Hyoue's coarse voice again sounds in his ears.

“It isn't that you lack strength. It's that you're still just a brat. Your technique is what's lacking!”

”Shut……Shut up!”

Flames emerge from Ren’s body. In order to prevent the enemy from moving behind him, he begins to search for Hyoue with a body wrapped in flame.

(I can’t find his presence!)

He has absolutely no idea where Hyoue may be. From the beginning, En-jutsushis are a bit unbalanced in their combat abilities. Though their attacking strength is the strongest, their detection abilities are among the weakest, let alone comparable to Fuu-jutsushis.

As an En-jutsushi, Ren was still inexperienced, and was unable to handle the jutsu that the experienced Fuu-jutsushi Hyoue was using to conceal himself.

“Still too immature. A flame of that level is unable to extinguish the hatred within me,” Hyoue whispers in his ear.

Though the direction from which Ren had heard Hyoue's voice was directly behind him, he could not sense his presence at all.

“Behind? Wh-Where?!”

He turned around several times, always failing to see Hyoue. No matter how swift his actions, the voice from behind never stopped.

“Over here!”

”Over here!”

”Over here!”

--Over here-- --Over here-- --Over here-- --Over here--

This line continues to repeat like an echo. The unease of being unable to see his enemy, and the rising fear and nervousness of fighting in actual combat, stretch Ren’s mind to its limit.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Driven by fear, he desires power. The power to eliminate the enemy. The power to destroy 'everything,' the power to rid himself of his fear...

In response to Ren’s scream, everywhere around, fires explode into existence. The fire spirits that had been released indefinitely, obeying only their own desires for survival and rampage, burn everything to ash.

Everything the flames touched was burnt. The forest becomes a sea of flame, with mighty pillars of fire that reach the heavens and shake the earth.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Ren, who is panicking after losing control, is attempting to create a Hell on Earth, [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Ren|just like his name]]. He continues to summon a massive amount of spirits, surpassing even the limits of his ability to control. The trees turn to ash in the extreme heat, and the already scorched earth begins to melt.

“Ahhhhhh……ah?”

But at precisely this moment, a cold gust of wind blows past his body, cooling his and and calming his madness in an instant. The youth, shocked, turns to look in the direction the wind originated from.

Kazuma was looking attentively at his brother. Basking in those clear eyes, Ren returns to normal.

(He is looking at me!)

Kazuma looks at him with boundless trust.

“Nii-“

(Nii-sama!)

Immediately after meeting Ren's eyes, Kazuma shifts his gaze away, focusing once more on the battle with Ryuuya.

Briefly disappointed, Ren remembers once more what he needs to do. Calming his breathing, he prepares to take on the enemy's assault.

"Your brother seems to have abandoned you.”

Hyoue’s voice rings mockingly from behind his ear. But Ren, his head clear once again, recognizes that his enemy isn't actually behind him. It was just a diversion, using his jutsu to mobilize the wind to carry his voice to Ren's ears. This was a very basic technique everyone in the Fuuga clan knew. Such a simple fact, and yet he hadn't noticed. Ren was ashamed at his immaturity.

"But he can't be blamed for doing so. Even working together, those two don't have a chance, let alone the luxury of taking time out to protect someone as useless as you."

Ho! Ho! Ho!

This time, hearing Hyoue's eerie laughter has no effect on Ren. He calmly searches out his presence, at the same time rejecting Hyoue's babbled nonsense.

"You're wrong."

”What is wrong?” Hyoue replies calmly.

Hyoue holds no doubts of his control of the situation. He might even think that this is not a fight, but a hunt, just a cat toying with a mouse before the kill. This is the weak point Ren grasped for.

“Nii-sama did not abandon me. It is because he believes in me, believes that I am more than enough to deal with scum like you.”

“What daring words. A little punk like you who can't even find me, how are you going to defeat me??”

Indeed, in terms of detection capability, En-jutsushi were far inferior to Fuu-jutsushi. Unlike fire, air was everywhere. One of the necessary conditions for a human to survive, and the one that occupies the most space, is air. The difference in amount of space occupied directly affects the amount of information obtainable.

(But, if it is now...)

The flames that Ren had released when berserk had burnt the trees in the area, and continued to burn fiercely. The density of fire spirits in the area had increased to a point that surpassed reason. With things like this, his abilities weren't less than any Fuu-jutsushi's. Ren closes his eyes, and opens his ears to listen to the voices of the spirits.

“What’s wrong? You want to beat someone like me, and yet you seem to be taking your time?”

Sounds of mockery come from every direction. A wind blade passes by his cheek, and flies straight on. Ren completely lets go of everything, and synchronizes himself with the spirits.

His five senses disappear, slowly replaced with the senses of the spirits. Relying neither on light, nor relying on sound, but instead relying on [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Theurgy|theurgy]] to view the world. Despite being faced with an abnormality which would drive a regular human insane, Ren adapts very easily.

(Gotcha!)

It should be said he didn't actually detect Hyoue's presence. Rather, within the areas he searched, only one refused the invasion of fire spirits. Hyoue had to be at this spot. Ren felt confident in his guess.

“Over there!”

Ren raises his palm to release a fireball. The divine power of purification slices through...

Empty space. Just empty space.

“You fool, where do you think you're aiming?……”

Seeing the flame travel in completely the wrong direction, Hyoue, concealed in a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Kekkai|''kekkai'']] of wind, reveals his scorn.

Only to change expressions immediately. He watches as the flames around him branch out and rain down in a curtain of flame, aimed directly at him.

“Wh-What!?”

Hyoue is so filled with shock his eyes almost pop out of his head. The fire rains down from all directions and all at once.

With every escape route cut off by the incoming flame, this was not a predicament that could be resolved by trickery. To defend himself, he has no choice but to force the flames aside with sheer power. But Hyoue does not possess such power. Judging by strength alone, Ren wins handily.

“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

As his kekkai is pierced by the rain of fire like so much paper, Hyoue gives off a pitiful scream.

“It...it worked……?” Sensing the kekkai's disappearance, Ren says quietly, staring into space.

The trick he used was really simple. There had been no need for him to create the attacking fire himself, as he had been surrounded by burning flames all along.

Ren had purposely loosed a flame at an empty spot to trick Hyoue into letting his guard down, and then had instead used the flames that were burning around Hyoue to attack.

Had Hyoue been fighting seriously, he might have seen through the trick. It was his overconfident attitude of seeing Ren as prey, and not as an enemy, that forced him to suffer such a dreadful attack.

“You……you are really something……Kid……”

”------!?”

A black shape, still roughly discernible as human, rolls just in front of Ren. No matter how you look at it, it was just so much charcoal, and yet it still moved somehow. Every time it moved, pieces of meat that had been turned to ash fell away, revealing pitch black skin below, skin that did not seem human.

“Hoho…… Watch closely…… This is the power I obtained by forming a contract with the youma - a power surpassing human ability! Do you get it now, kid? Your flames just won’t work against me. Hohoho…… Hahahahaha!!”

“You foolish thing.”

Ren's sudden speech, in a tone cold enough as to come from someone else, causes Hyoue's laughter to come to an abrupt halt.

“My flames, useless? How dare a piece of charcoal speak like a human being? Since you've already given up on being human, nothing more need be said. Because the Kannagi flames are purifying flames. A divine power bestowed for the destruction of inhuman monsters like you!”

A golden light cleanses away the dense youki. The rampaging flames appear to be absorbed into the purifying light. The fire weakens, and slowly disappears. The formerly uncontrolled fire spirits serve to make the golden light shine all the more brilliantly.

The flames that once expanded explosively now are beginning to shrink, and yet the temperature grows. Condensed into a high density semi-materialized flame, emitting a syrupy glow, it begins to revolve around Ren.

“I, as a member of Kannagi main family, declare! Hyoue Kazamaki: the many lives that you've taken away shall now be repaid with your own!” surrounded by that blurry glow, Ren says loudly.

Faced with tiny body that yet unleashes an immense pressure, Hyoue curls up in fear.

This is the descendant of a respected and powerful bloodline. The top of the En-jutsushis, a rightful son of the Kannagi.

A great power, formed of a thousand years of training, is about to awaken...

=== 2 ===

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Striking with all her might, Ayano chops Enraiha downwards.

Clang!

Ryuuya's claws make a clear sound as they deflect the blade.

(Even Enraiha cannot cut through, just what are those claws made of?)

Ayano immediately ignores the question that pops up in her mind. There's no time to think about this, I need to find some way to get past those claws...

Ayano increases the rate at which she strikes, including a number of feints in her attacks, to find a hole in Ryuuya’s defense. His defense, unfortunately, is impenetrable.

“What is that idiot doing……” Kazuma spits in disgust.

The fear of loss yet lingers in Ayano’s heart, causing her to forget her usual style. Adding those tricks to her attack was meaningless; she should focus on a single lethal strike instead.

At that moment, Enraiha finds its way into Ryuuya’s shoulder, cleanly severing his right arm.

(Now I've got him!)

Ayano strikes at his right side with all her strength. Because of this, she fails to notice his right arm, lurking behind her back, flying directly towards her.

“Behind you!”

Kazuma's voice and the attack come at almost the same time. Ayano jumps quickly, and the right arm speeds past her like a lance.

“That was close……”

The danger wasn't over though. Ryuuya suddenly appears in front of Ayano, still in mid-air, the claws on his remaining left arm glittering with deadly intent.

Dong!

Ayano somehow manages to block, but with her legs hanging in mid-air, she is unable to hold her position. Knocked away like a cannonball, with no way to stop herself, she slams into a nearby tree.

“Argh…… Ah……”

Perhaps feeling that it would be too easy, with her offering so little sport, Ryuuya opts not to pursue, instead leisurely reattaching his right arm. Wriggling muscle tissue and nerves extend from the severed arm as the same extend from the other end, merging together. After but moments, there is no hint of the injury - his arm was completely whole once more.

And yet Ryuuya still shows no sign of attacking. He lifts his head to stare at the sky, raising his arms as if to grasp the sky with his hands.

“------------!“

The instant he realizes what that gesture signifies, Kazuma sprints forward as fast as possible. Hugging Ayano's head to his chest, he forcefully slams her back onto the floor.

“Wah!”

With no time to pay it any mind, he ignores Ayano's strangled cry of protest. Lying as low to the ground as he can, he erects a kekkai of even greater density around them.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?” Ayano shouts, her nose glowing red from the pressure.

Kazuma immediately retorts at a volume twice her own, “You idiot! For what reason did you think it was necessary to engage in close combat? If you allow the enemy the time it needs to unleash such a powerful attack, all earlier effort would be rendered meaningless.”

Confronted with such a decisive answer that left no room for questions, Ayano is at a loss for words.

“……Huh……? Powerful attack……”

As she turns her head, as instructed by Kazuma, the scene revealing itself before her eyes leaves her at a loss for words. A spectacular pillar of wind connecting heaven and earth, a great vortex that tumbles as it spins, it is...

"What is...that?"

"What do you mean 'what is that?' As you can see, what 'they are' are tornadoes! Four, no five...by the way, what is the unit for tornadoes?"

Kazuma's randomly asked question does not register in Ayano's consciousness.

She gazes at the scene, as if spellbound. "Here is the roar of nature that hurls giant boulders and uproots giant trees" is all she can think about.

“……There's no way……”

”Ahhh? What did you say?”

”There's no way we can win!” Ayano turns her head to shout.

The eyes that had earlier been full of fight now carry tears. As if humbled, she falls to her feet beside Kazuma.

"It's impossible to win! Our enemy is 'that' kind of monster, just what do you expect me to do?! There's just no way to win!"

Ayano's eyes reveal an absolute despair transcending fear. "Eyes just like 'that' person's in the past" Kazuma thinks to himself.

<nowiki>--</nowiki> Did I not seek power because I hate seeing those eyes?

(Tsui-Ling...)

The weak girl that I was unable to protect in the past. No matter how difficult, no matter how painful, the girl who wanted to live on no matter what.

“I was not born into the world to be devoured by a devil.”

(Those eyes shone with the light of hope, and the one who erased that light was me.)

Because he had been weak, because he had had no power.

But things were different now. He had been defeated back then, and was helpless to do anything but watch as the girl he had sworn to protect had had her soul devoured...but things were different now.

Whether for self-fulfillment or to atone for the past, all he wanted now was to help the girl trembling before him.

Her eyes were filled with tears. Just before the first tears fall, Kazuma pokes her forehead with his finger.

Ayano leans back slightly, looking at him with wet eyes, as Kazuma smiles.

“Our jobs were clear from the start right? All you need to do is take that blade and slash Ryuuya. I'll deal with his wind.”

Ayano jabs her finger towards the tornadoes as she shrieks, “Deal with……? Tornadoes?"

Kazuma merely shrugs.

“Well, about that…… I'm sure there's a way. So, you just take care of him. Can you do that?”

She hesitates for a brief moment before nodding her head determinedly.

“Very good. Then let the match continue!”

Kazuma lifts Ayano, still sitting on him, with his arms and rises. Witnessing unbelievable arm and waist strength, Ayano's eyes widen, but even more shocking was what happened afterwards.

“……Wa……Ah……”

Before Ayano, a path opens. A path, surrounded by a kekkai of wind suppressing the tornadoes, straight to Ryuuya.

“Go!”

Receiving a gentle push from that voice, Ayano instinctively dashes forward.

“Okay, even though I said all that just now…… What should I do?”

After forcing an opening through the tornadoes, Kazuma grumbles to himself. Because he had boasted about it in front of someone else, he had no choice but to think of a way to take care of those five tornadoes...

"If only Ayano was of some use, then the enemy might not have the effort to spare to maintain those tornadoes...But an originally weak girl, now so scared witless she can barely walk, can't be of any use..."

The simplest method would be to create tornadoes of equal magnitude to cancel them out...

(……Nah, far too much trouble!)

Even the thought made him feel tired. There had to be an easier way...

“Wait a minute, a tornado is actually the upward flow of air right…… in that case…… Good, let’s do this.”

Kazuma lets the column of wind comprising the tornado rise even higher, raising the air to the lower stratosphere.

The air brought by the updraft cools rapidly, and the water particles it contains become tiny drops of ice that combine to form hailstones. As they fall once again, the hailstones melt, cooling the surrounding air even further, making the air heavy, and it drops down at a high speed. This great downward airflow is known as a "downburst."

The natural top speed of a downburst is comparable to a tornado, and Kazuma speeds it up even further. This section of air, pulled down from an extremely high altitude, easily surpasses the speed of sound.

The supersonic wind blade slices the tornadoes wide open, and the accompanying shock wave completely destroys what remains. Without any notable resistance, the raging winds easily erases any hint of the tornadoes, while directing all extra energy towards Ryuuya.

“Gwahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

In the midst of the thunder of destruction came a sharp scream, lacking of femininity.

(Gwah? Ohhh……)

Kazuma claps his hands as he realizes what happened.

“Darn, I completely forgot to avoid you. Sorry.”

”You idiot! Go to hell!” Ayano furiously shouts.

Yet for some reason, she is uninjured. Maybe the wind spirits had automatically avoided her?

Though Ayano continued to fuss, she quieted down as the dust settled and the scene slowly revealed itself to her.

The mountain view had changed. Originally a lush green forest, now uprooted trees lay scattered about, and the forest's surface had been dug up, forming a tract of empty land. All this due to Ryuuya's tornadoes and Kazuma's downburst.

(These guys are really monsters……)

Ayano gazes at Kazuma, struck with awe, but that flippant look of his betrays no sign of his magnificent power.

“Hey, this is a good opportunity! Ayano,” Kazuma hushes, no, tells her.

Even something like Ryuuya suffered tremendous damage from this assault. While his limbs were largely intact, deep cuts scored his body - wounds excreting a black mist instead of blood.

(When I cut him earlier, nothing like that came out……)

Though annoyed at the huge difference in power between her and Kazuma, now wasn't the time to worry about such things, and so Ayano took up Enraiha once more to stand before Ryuuya.

(Still alive - what a monster.)

Just as Ayano was facing off with Ryuuya, Kazuma’s expression grew more serious.

Kazuma could feel the end of the road looming.

Even when combining their powers, they had been unable to deliver Ryuuya a fatal blow. Though they currently appeared to hold the advantage, there was no way to win to in the long run.

There had never been a human that could exceed the youma in terms of physical stamina. This was because the youma possessed minds far surpassing their bodies, and could easily overcome their bodies limitations through sheer willpower.

(Should I use it? Even though I really don't want the Kannagi to learn of it, I guess there's no choice. And, I guess they'll hear it from Ren sooner or later, anyway. Either way, life is something irreplaceable.)

There was just one problem. Leaving breaking the seal aside, to gather enough power to truly destroy Ryuuya required a lot of preparation. During this time, Ayano would be left completely defenseless, and what would happen then has already been seen.

(So, what to do...)

He ponders deeply for a brief moment.

(So be it. This will be a test for her as well.)

Lions pushed their cubs off cliffs without hesitation. Kazuma would have to do the same for Ayano.

“Ayano! I am going to play my strongest card! Buy me some time!"

“Don’t shout it out loud like that! Idiot!” Ayano shouts in a pained voice.

She was seriously crying out to Kazuma.

As Kazuma had expected, Ryuuya struck instantly. In the blink of an eye, the defending and offensive parties had switched sides, as wind blades raced towards Ayano.

“Kazuma you big idiot! After I die, I will definitely come back to haunt you as a vengeful spirit! No matter how many times you change houses, I will burn them down and make sure the real estate agencies blacklist you!” Ayano shouts in a tone close to tears, as she tries her best to dodge the blades.

Regrettably, Kazuma was in a state of intense concentration by then, and Ayano's furious promise of eternal vengeance went unnoticed.

Sinking deep within his consciousness, he opens the “door” within himself. Within the “door” lay an azure sky as wide as the eye can see.

This place was a space that existed within “that being" - no, every corner of this space was filled with that being. This space was the being itself.

By opening the “door,” Kazuma and “that being” merged to form a single entity. Kazuma was reborn, becoming a human and the ruler of spirits at the same time, commanding all wind in existence as a high level jutsushi.

His consciousness expanded without limit. For as far as his mind could reach, an area of about a hundred kilometers in radius, all wind spirits located therein became Kazuma’s receptors, continuously transmitting an endless stream of information.

This immense amount of data - of which a human’s weak and fragile mind would be unable to handle the tiniest fraction - Kazuma controlled with his will. He picked out the necessary data from the scene in front of him, at the same time surveying the situation of everything within his domain. This was the viewpoint of a god - a power beyond human knowledge or understanding.

(Ren…… still alive. Very good.)

With his expanded perception, he can clearly see the battle between Ren and Hyoue, more than a kilometer away. It goes without saying, the same goes for Ayano’s battle...

Without Kazuma to cover for her, Ayano is forced into a one-sided defense. Unable to even think about retaliating, every thought, every action is devoted to dodging the incoming claws and blades of wind - to survival

(……Are you still not ready Kazuma?)

Glancing at Kazuma from time to time, Kazuma, focusing deeply, did not appear to notice. Despite her reluctance to admit it, the lack of attention filled her with unease.

She was scared, but Kazuma was not here to say something stupid to loosen her up, not now. He did not poke her head, or smile that disrespectful smile. For the first time, Ayano realizes how many times she has been saved by that flippant smile of his.

“Ahhh!”

A pitch black wind smashes into Ayano like a hammer. The powerful blow knocks her off her feet, throwing her backwards through the air. She lands on her back, but the force of the impact was so great she found herself rolling three times before slamming into a stone wall with a great crash.

(No more! I can’t hold on any longer……!)

Ayano turns pleadingly to Kazuma, desperate for help, and for a short-lived moment, she felt certain she had seen a smirk travel across his face.

Ryuuya took the opportunity to aim more wind blades at Ayano, who continued to lay there, unmoving. Even so, Ayano continued to stare at Kazuma.

(Ever since the moment when I saw him again yesterday, I've despised that guy.

Worse than Hyoue or Ryuuya, I refuse to even acknowledge his existence.

Because he is stronger than me? No, not just that.

Because of his flippant attitude? No, that's just a front, a facade of his.

The real him completely ignores my existence, does not care about me, and ''that'' is more unforgivable than anything else.

And so I resist, and so I quarrel with him, that he might acknowledge me.

But...he's given up on me.

"You will finish him" had become "buy me some time," "I will do everything," "I no longer have any expectations of you."

Even now, he is watching everything, mocking how pathetic I look.)

“A kitten is just a kitten,” she felt she could hear his condescending voice say.

“Don’t look down on me!”

An angry roar rocks the air, a furious flame consumes the blades of wind.

Ayano forces her swaying body to stand, her eyes focus on Ryuuya, but within, her mind continues to rail against Kazuma.

There was simply no way she would accept, or even tolerate, that she, the wielder of Enraiha, was believed to be useless.

She knew very well how to overturn this flawed belief completely. For a man like Kazuma, there was no point in further words.

The way to prove herself was with raw, overwhelming power.

"'Buy me some time'? Don’t joke around. I will finish him off myself, and you can just stand there until you die of boredom!”

Ayano raises Enraiha, and begins to gather ki. The flame that had always burned golden begins to flare red. This crimson flame continues to amass upon Enraiha.

Loosing a howl of pure rage, Ayano begins to run. Moving at an astonishing speed, which did not even leave an afterimage, she suddenly appears before Ryuuya, as if by teleportation, and swings downwards with all her might.

There were no tricks, just a single slice. Without time to dodge, Ryuuya crosses his arms to block the strike. That is, he tried to block it.

Burning with a crimson glow, Enraiha bore the divine flame to which there was no possible defense, severing all ten claws in one stroke, and with a quick turn, Ryuuya's left arm soon follows.

She slices at Ryuuya's now defenseless left side, but at this moment, the sliced off arm attacks Ayano from behind like the other arm had done previously.

This time, however, Ayano reverses her grip on Enraiha, and without even turning, stabs backwards. Enraiha mercilessly pierces through the arm that was flying through the air.

"Begone!"

Scorched from the inside-out, the arm was consumed in an instant. Never stopping, Ayano continued to chase after Ryuuya, who had begun a slow retreat. Again with that shocking speed, she easily caught Ryuuya once more.

The crimson blade flashes brightly, slicing Ryuuya from the shoulders to the legs. A quick turn of the blade and it continues to slice through the demonic body.

But even though his body has been chopped into four pieces, Ryuuya has yet to be destroyed. His listless eyes continue to gaze eerily at Ayano.

Ayano jumps backwards, but this time, not to run.

It all ends now!

“Namo, Sanmanduo, Warila Lan, Han!”

She chants the Acalanatha sutra. The chant itself possessed no power or meaning - it was just a string of keywords she had learned in her training. Having learned the mantra along with the complicated jutsu activation sequence, the two had become linked in her mind. For her, using the jutsu was a reflex when chanting the sutra.

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 269.jpg|thumb]]

As she lands, Ayano stabs Enraiha into the ground, activating the jutsu.

"Thrust of the Exorcising Supreme Flame!"

A crown of light burst forth from the ground with Ryuuya at its center, forming a hemispherical kekkai. The fire spirits within Enraiha darted through from beneath the ground, releasing all their heat within the barrier.

The earth under Ryuuya's feet instantly vaporized, and the spherical kekkai can now be seen in full view. The barrier efficiently reflected all heat inwards, focusing the energy at its center.

This was Ayano's strongest exorcism jutsu: to seal the youma in a kekkai, leaving nothing to escape but ashes.

"Hah! How's that?"

Ayano smiles proudly, about to look in Kazuma's direction, when she suddenly stops in her tracks, and stares at Ryuuya, caught within the kekkai.

Trapped in scorching plasma, Ryuuya had become nothing more than a piece of meat, having lost all signs of his previous appearance.

(He shouldn't have the power to resist anymore...but what is this youki?!)

Gurgle……Gurgle……Gurgle……

Right before Ayano eyes, the surface of the meat seemed to boil as one bubble after another began to appear. The eerie piece of meat did not appear to care that it was tens of thousands of degrees within the kekkai, and was multiplying at a high rate.

When the piece of meat had finished multiplying, the shape slowly changed. Sticks of meat stretched out from four areas, and a small sphere appeared at the top - the monster was complete.

It had probably intended to mimic human form, with hands and legs and head, body parts that could be recognized.

But that was it.

Like an ugly design a small child might make with meat colored clay, it was a likeness of the evil of mankind, an unforgivable insult to humanity.

The monster places its hands on the kekkai to force it open. That is to say, the sticks that passed for its hands did, and from the ugliness of its motions, it lacked any joints as well. If human arms were snakes, they would probably look like this!

“……This is not…… possible……?”

The monster easily dispels the kekkai, and steps out. It feels so ugly and evil that Ayano involuntarily takes a step back, tripping and losing her balance.

“Wah!”

Falling here means certain death. The premonition of death approaching gives her goosebumps.

But...the feeling on her back is not that of the cold, hard floor. Something warm had taken hold of this body, frozen with anxiety.

A strong hand caresses Ayano's head, and, as if whispering in her ear, a low, calm voice makes her ear twitch.

"That is enough. You did very well."

From the gentle, yet firm grip that enveloped her arm, Ayano feels an indescribable calm fall over her. Her tense body relaxes, bit by bit, entrusting everything to that wide chest behind her.

"You did very well."

That sentence repeats over and over in her mind. Those four mundane words make her happier than anything else in the world.

To be recognized by him makes her proud.

The man behind her talks in a comfortable tone that makes a shiver run down her back, and goes on to say...

"Very well done...for a kitten."

Pak!

Ayano pushes Kazuma's hand away with all her might. How is it possible that a moment ago she actually felt that this kind of guy's chest could possibly be comforting? Ayano felt whole-heartedly ashamed of herself.

“You're…… Huh……?”

Sensing something off in her surroundings, Ayano looks around and immediately understands.

The air shines with a blue glow.

The slow-flowing blue air holds an enormous amount of energy. Ryuuya's black winds are repelled by the azure glow, and compress around their master.

“This…… Impossible…… 'Purification'!?”

The secret power to destroy evil, bestowed only upon the Kannagi...and this magnitude!

"To surround the entire mountain with his winds? And such a massive amount of spirits, how did..." Ayano turns her head to ask, and is left speechless once more.

Knowing very well the reason for her shock, Kazuma smiles playfully, enjoying Ayano's stunned look.

“That…… What is…… Your eyes?”

“Oh these? They were marked by the Lord of Wind Spirits.”

Kazuma's blue eyes flash, as he calmly says something shocking.

“Spi……rit……Lord……?” Ayano dumbly repeats.

This fact that was beyond imagination had stopped all thought.

“………… N-No way----!?”

Bright as the azure sky, eyes that couldn't possibly be clearer - that was proof of the contract with the Lord of Wind Spirits. Ruling all the air on this planet, only a man bestowed with everything could be marked by this stigma.

Even in the legends, there had only been a few people with such a mark: the ancient King Solomon who governed the 72 demon lords and Moses who led the Hebrews and had contracted with Jehovah.

And after that would be the first chief of the Kannagi, who had been bestowed with Enraiha.

“Contractor.” Someone who had formed a contract with a supernatural existence. They called them “Contractors”.

But, to actually be confirmed, there is only one Contractor in history who has been proven to exist. "The first" Contractor was how he had come to be praised in modern legend.

“Come! It's about time you slept, Ryuuya!”

The azure wind begins to swirl like a maelstrom, with Ryuuya at its center. The maelstrom was, of course, Kazuma's creation, utilizing all the wind spirits at his command, and the area it spans can be seen even from outer space.

=== 3 ===

''Slice''

Hyoue's wind blades cut deeply into Ren's arms.

“Wahhhhhh-!”

Against the blades of wind, Ren can only dodge. The relentless assault does not even allow him to stand.

Hyoue cackles as he watches Ren. The scene of a jutsushi of the Kannagi main family, unable to even stand beneath his attacks, just couldn't get any funnier.

(Just you watch, Genma! Juugo! You're next! The humiliation we suffered, you shall receive ten thousand fold!)

A hysterical laughter shakes the air.

Hyoue looks down on Ren, who has finally managed to rise, and smugly shouts, full of pride, "Now do you understand the difference between us? You should just surrender before you get hurt further...If you're too heavily wounded, it might hinder the removal of the seal!"

Hahahaha……

Ren sends golden flame in the direction of the laughter, but while the flame may possess the power to destroy Hyoue, if it misses, it's simply a waste of effort.

“Wah!”

A sudden, violent shock wave strikes Ren's head, sending him reeling and leaving him feeling as though his brain were bouncing in his skull. For a few moments, he wavers on the edge of unconsciousness.

Just standing there, completely defenseless, has made Ren an easy target. But though there have been several such instances before, Hyoue has yet to finish him off. It can only be expected, though, as Hyoue does not want Ren's corpse; he needs him alive. Furthermore, there was still more fun to be had in his torment.

Hyoue, who has given up his humanity, now possesses a great power, incomparable to the past.

Of course, Ren is still far more powerful, but the gap in skill and experience is just too large. He is being toyed with, unable to show even half his power.

"Isn't it about time to give up? You know you can't win, right?"

Hyoue is slowly crucifying him, deliberately avoiding any fatal injuries. Time and again he tries to break Ren's will, targeting his weaknesses to force him to bow to despair, but Ren refuses to give in.

"I refuse! I promised Nii-sama that I would never give up, that I would live on no matter what! I will never obey you, never be used by you, and will never let you kill again!"

Despite cuts which run all over his body, blood that pours down his face and drenches his clothes, Ren's eyes never lose their shine. Faced with this proud and majestic vision, even Hyoue, who undoubtedly holds the advantage, cannot help but be wary.

"Hmph. In that case, let's test the limits of that pride!" he spits, as he prepares to unleash more wind blades-

“Wha!?”

Hyoue gives off a strangled cry, stretching his arms to hug his body. Hidden beneath his arms, something seems to be wriggling. Hyoue tightens his grip, intending to suppress whatever it is, but the eerie wriggling only spreads to his arms.

His entire body is wracked with convulsions. His muscles seize violently, before eventually bursting.

Hyoue had been surrounded by Kazuma's purifying winds. A great power had severed his connection to Ryuuya. Losing Ryuuya's protection, the demonic powers within Hyoue had begun to rampage.

Ren does not waste the opportunity, and races towards him.

“Ki……Kid…… Wahhhhh!”

As Hyoue attempts to defend himself, his raging body only grows worse. He is now forced to use his full power simply to restrain his now uncontrollable body.

Ren does not slow. Knocking into Hyoue at full speed, he hooks his arms around Hyoue's knees, and gives a mighty pull.

The powerful tackle leaves the two of them tangled on the ground. Ren hugs Hyoue tightly, and softly whispers...

"I won't miss at this distance."

“You……You fool! Let me go!“

No longer concerned about losing control, Hyoue releases his blades of wind.

But Ren is quicker. Hugging the shaking body, he shouts hoarsely.

"'''BURN!'''"

A brilliant golden pillar of flame roars into the sky. The purifying pillar of fire leaves no trace of the tainted body and even more tainted soul of the old man who had fallen into darkness.

“----------------------------------------------!!”

It even swallows his dying scream.

Ryuuya has lost control of his black wind. The strong, azure wind separates the berserk spirits from their dark master, absorbing them.

“Ryuuya's wind is………being consumed?” Ayano whispers in shock.

"Terrifying power" is not enough to describe the scene before her. Though there have been a number of logic-defying events today, this is by far the most ridiculous.

The wind surrounding Ryuuya releases the frenzied spirits before absorbing them, further increasing its power.

Even so, Ryuuya still isn't defeated and continues to release his dark, corrupt youki to defend against the purifying winds. However, he is unable to negate the purification completely, and as the azure wind closes on him, the surface of his body begins to boil and bubble. Slowly, very slowly, but surely, his body is being dismantled, piece by piece.

(Almost like a final battle between monsters.)

This unseemly thought running through her mind, Ayano begins to move. Although her power is by far the weakest of the three, she is still a participant, nor can her power be ignored, for she possesses the power to end the stalemate, and she knows her duty well.

-- You will finish him off, can you do it? --

“I'll show you!”

Ryuuya ''leaps'' backwards, intending to escape Ayano. His movements had slowed significantly, and he no longer had the means to dodge her attacks.

But Ayano chases after him, focused only on delivering the final strike! Ryuuya changes the tip of his arms into blades as a last ditch defense. The meat colored blades he raised above his head radiated a hard light.

“That won't save you now!”

Ayano furiously swings Enraiha downwards, no thought to defense. She instinctively realizes that this is the deciding moment. Kazuma has no power to spare to aid her and if she is blocked again, they are sure to lose.

The crimson glow arcs downwards without encountering any resistance, as if slicing through air.

The cloven meat blades that serve for Ryuuya's arms dissolve into the azure air as Enraiha carves its way into the top of his head, stopping at his heart. She takes a risk not cutting Ryuuya in two, choosing instead to call forth fire spirits from Enraiha directly within the wound...and igniting them.

Ryuuya's body explodes. Pieces of scattered meat are blown away by the flame, carried away by the wind and swallowed by the azure light. In the end, every trace of his existence had been erased.

This was the end of Ryuuya, no, the end of the unnamed youma who had founded the Fuuga clan.

The azure winds slowly fade, their power of purification weakening as they spread in all directions, probably to continue restoration of this youki polluted world.

Watching the wind spirits leave, Ayano is captivated by the scene.

“Damn it, just pennies for such hard work. I'll never take any jobs from the Kannagi again.”

And again, a line that completely disregarded the mood spoiled everything. Ayano turns angrily, to see Kazuma lying spread-eagled on the floor. Walking over to him, he doesn't move. He appears to be completely drained.

(No matter how strong he might be, he is still human.)

"After all he almost single-handedly handed Ryuuya defeat. I think I can forgive him one or two rude lines!" Ayano thinks generously.

“Great work,” she thanks him.

Kazuma does not reply, and merely sniffs.

She kneels down beside him.

“Hey, Kazuma?”

Neither expecting an answer, nor receiving one, she continues.

"Even if you'd been alone, you could've won anyway, couldn't you?"

“That's pushing it.”

This time, Kazuma finally reacts. His eyes, having regained their original black luster, turn to Ayano.

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 281.jpg|thumb]]

"A contract with a Lord of Spirits does not mean I am omnipotent. Though I may have limitless power at my disposal, I am limited by what I can control. I am still subject to human limitations, after all."

"Hmm? Maybe so. Besides, you still need time to prepare. You would definitely have been attacked by then, right?"

"...Yep. That's right."

Though outwardly he answers without hesitation, Ayano didn't miss a brief shift in his gaze.

“Kazuma?”

”Yes?”

His poker face is flawless, but it is already too late.

Ayano flops down on top of him, grabbing him by his collar, as if ready to strangle him. Kazuma can offer no resistance, and he remains spread-eagled on the floor.

"To push a man down like this - what a shameless girl. The Soushu would cry if he saw this."

Belying his exhausted state, his mouth is still at 100%.

“Don’t joke around, now answer me. When were you ready?”

Despite Ayano’s grip growing more forceful by the second, Kazuma replies carelessly.

“Right about the moment when you were blown away?”

“Then, why didn't you do anything earlier!?”

By now, Ayano's full strength was concentrated in her hands, and yet Kazuma replies calmly, as if nothing was happening.

“You're wrong to blame me. It was for your own good that I waited.”

”Which part!?”

Ayano is bristling, on the edge of exploding. If Kazuma does not provide a legitimate reason here, she intends to stab him with Enraiha.

"From the way things looked, if I'd ended it without you being able to land a single blow, you would have been doomed to be a loser for the rest of your life."

“Ugh……”

His dead-on remark hits her squarely, leaving her momentarily speechless. Indeed, if all she had done back then was escape from Ryuuya's attacks, leaving everything to Kazuma, she might never have regained the courage to fight again. Someone unable to overcome her fear, a jutsushi that could only fight enemies weaker than herself, simply could not be relied upon, no matter how strong.

"When I saw that you had finally managed to gather your courage, I decided to watch for a bit. Your performance wasn't half bad until about midway through. If he hadn't escaped right then, you probably would even have won!"

"Eh? You mean to say that my jutsu worked?"

"No. That was absolutely worthless."

Kazuma continues straightforwardly, “You are the wielder of Enraiha. There is no need to resort to tricks or lousy jutsu. If cutting him in four doesn't kill him, then just keep cutting until there's nothing left."

“…… Sorry for being 'lousy.'”

”That's not what you should be sorry for.”

Kazuma continues his ruthless criticism.

"You need to practice your swordsmanship. The way things are, there's no point in you having Enraiha."

”I know……”

"But...that last strike was pretty good. It skillfully used the characteristics of Enraiha as both a sword and a magical artifact."

Hearing the unexpected praise, Ayano blushes. She is suddenly filled with pleasure. In spite of the countless flaws in his personality, and the disgust she feels as she realizes she is dancing in the palm of his hand, the throbbing in her chest is undeniable.

“You…… Like you're so great. Just what do you know about Enraiha?”

Despite speaking harshly in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, her ploy had obviously failed. Kazuma smiles at Ayano, with a look that seems to see through it all.

"Oh. One more thing. It's best not to sit on a man dressed like that."

“……Huh?”

"Even if you ''are'' a little girl with neither breasts nor sensuality, other people might misunderstand!"

Ayano inadvertently glances at herself...and freezes. Unable to withstand the strenuous battle, her uniform is completely shredded. Even her underwear is partly torn, almost to the point where it failed to cover her body.

Seeing Kazuma's eyes that "seem to see through it all," Ayano blushes up to her ears.

“Id……Idiot------------!!”

A scream reverberates through the uninhabited forest.

“Nii-sama!”

Recognizing the ones approaching as Kazuma and Ayano, Ren cries out with joy, as he tries to run towards them, but his body, weak from injury, does not allow him to do so.

“Wah……”

A gust of wind gently carries Ren, who had tripped and was about to fall, right into his brother's arms. Kazuma hugs him tightly, patting his head. Ren hugs his brother back, never intending to let go.

“You did very well, Ren. A fine job.”

”Thank you, Nii-sama……?”

Their conversation suddenly ends as Ren stretches his hand to Kazuma's cheek, where there lies a very clear, very red, hand-print.

Faced with the silent question, Kazuma smiles and replies, "Well, just now, after defeating Ryuuya, I met an even more vicious enemy. I almost died."

Having said this, he turns in Ayano's direction. Ayano, now covered by Kazuma's jacket, turns away in anger, ignoring him.

“Ah...Hmm...”

Ren somewhat understands, but he has the unshakable feeling that to speak those words would be to endanger his life. Desperately, he tries to change the topic.

"Ryu-Ryuuya has also been defeated, so it's finally over!"

Trying his best to show an innocent smile, Ren laments his pitifulness.

“That's right. Let's go home! Ayano, how's the car?”

"It burned up," Ayano immediately replies, as Kazuma eyes her with suspicion.

“It……It wasn’t me! It was blown away by Ryuuya’s wind, and when it smashed into the ground it caught on fire.”

Ayano tries to explain, but even so, Kazuma’s eyes remain full of suspicion.

Lifting his head to gaze into the clear night sky, Kazuma tells Ren, "Never mind. Taking a moonlight stroll through the mountains isn't too bad now and again."

"...if we don't meet with an accident," hearing Kazuma's words that seem to be avoiding reality, Ayano interjects calmly.

"Oh? Did the root of all evil just say something?"

“What?! You were the one who abandoned me! It's ''your'' fault this happened!”

“…… Please stop arguing, the two of you.”

Ren's tired voice tries to pacify the pair, but they don't appear to notice, and only continue to energetically accuse each other.

Looking up at the moon, so much like a silver plate, Ren ponders the cruel reality of life. Ryuuya and Hyoue have both been eliminated, the Fuuga's ambitions smashed to pieces. Everything was perfectly settled, so why is a happy ending still out of reach?

With no end to the bickering in sight, and no longer with the strength to stop them, Ren leans against his brother's chest, and slowly gives in to his drowsiness, taking the pleasing sounds of his beloved brother and sister as a lullaby.

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| Return to [[Kaze_no_Stigma|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Forward to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
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Kaze no Stigma:Volume1 Chapter6

2009-07-30T23:59:52Z

Dagger: /* 2 */

== Chapter Six - Decisive Battle ==

=== 1 ===
Ksssshaaaaaaaaaaaa…….

The forest rustled with unease. Such were the sounds made by the forest inhabitants, which had run away with all their might upon feeling the immense [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Youki|''youki'']]. The bugs, which had no means of sensing the danger, were unable to withstand the abnormal pressure and disappeared without a trace. Even animals, unable to escape, had come in contact with the youki and instantly perished. The sound of their corpses raining out of the trees and littering the forest floor could be heard. Though there were no external injuries, nonetheless they had all died instantly.

Then, all sound ceased. All the youki within Ryuuya was released, and its mere existence had spread death around the world.

Facing Ryuuya, who stood there silently, Ayano took up Enraiha. Unable to take even a single step in his direction, simply lifting it was all she could do. The youki, which felt as though it would freeze her blood, rendered her unable to move. And no matter what she tried, she could not stop her knees from trembling.

An immense fear had gripped Ayano’s soul. It was difficult enough to just force herself to stand there without running away; to advance would have been impossible.

Ayano had inherited Enraiha at the age of twelve, when she was still young. It might have been a mistake. Because of this, Ayano had never fought an enemy more powerful than herself. For someone who always defeated her enemies with brute strength, there was no way for her to make confident combat decisions when she was the one at a disadvantage.

To put it simply, after suffering her first defeat, Ayano had not been able to find the courage to go up against Ryuuya.

“What are you doing? Go on!” Kazuma said to the trembling Ayano.

“Don’t worry! I am with you.”

”How can I not worry?!” Ayano retorted angrily.

"How dare he say 'don’t worry' so simply?"

“There is no reason to run, now is there? Therefore, I won't run this time. Trust me.”

Who could trust someone who had just said “he would run if there was a reason”? Ayano stared back to see Kazuma smiling deviously.

“This…… This is the last time. If you dare to betray me again, before I die, I will kill you!”

“No problem, I swear to God.”

“……God? Which one?”

Ayano gave him an undisguisedly suspicious look, but Kazuma only continued to show that smile that couldn't be trusted and replied, ”Who knows? Which God I pray to doesn’t matter! I am an unbeliever after all.”

Ayano no longer had the strength to remain angry at this and murmured with her voice heavy in resignation, ”……Enough. I'll leave the support to you.”

”Leave it to me.”

Ignoring Kazuma’s mocking salute, Ayano dashed forward. Though she doesn't - and probably wouldn't ever - realize it, the fear which had gripped her has been greatly reduced by this meaningless chat.

Ayano rans towards Ryuuya, but when her target was just a few steps away, Ryuuya suddenly took to the air.

“……Huh?”

Looking at Ryuuya, who flew past her, Ayano gave a sound of shock.

“Idiot! Don’t get outmaneuvered so easily!”

”You…… Even if you say that……”

Completely ignoring Ayano, Ryuuya aimed straight for Kazuma, and as he descended he released wind blades at a rapid speed. Kazuma createed a strong upflow of air to cancel out the black winds.

But this is just a feint, the true attack uses a strength beyond human limits. A slice executed by claws. Raised high above his head, the originally hidden right claw suddenly lashes out.

That attack could easily rip through a human body as though it was cutting a piece of tofu. Kazuma, moving forward at an angle, dodges it barely. At the same time, he places his hand lightly on the back of the enemy’s right arm, and slightly diverts its path.

His attack hitting nothing but empty air causes Ryuuya to lose his balance and Kazuma immediately takes the opportunity to use his knee to strike at the side of his enemy’s abdomen, aiming for the liver. The force of Ryuuya's own momentum, together with a strong explosion of Kazuma's [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#ki|''ki'']], focused at a single point, makes Ryuuya’s body arc like a bow and throws him back into the air. Following the flying body closely, Kazuma strikes his enemy’s chin with his elbow, moments before it would have touched the ground. Ryuuya’s head is thrown so far backwards he can almost see his own back.

Had Ryuuya been a normal person, no, even someone as powerful as a wrestler, he would yet have instantly died from such a violent attack. However, to the demonized Ryuuya, it barely does any damage.

Instead, in mid-flight, Ryuuya uses his momentum and raises his right knee to aim straight for Kazuma’s jaw.

Even though the attack came from what should have been a blind spot, to Kazuma, who is synchronized with the wind spirits, there is no such thing. He steps forward, leaning to the left to avoid Ryuuya's knee, grabs the front of Ryuuya’s shirt, at the same time sweeping his left leg horizontally.

In a masterful example of judo, Ryuuya’s body is flipped. With Ryuuya's head about to fall flat on the ground, Kazuma strikes with his palm. Not to punch downwards, but to press. He bends down to push the enemy’s head straight into the ground, and a comfortable reaction is sent through his shoulder.

However, Kazuma did not feel Ryuuya’s skull crack. Realizing instantly that he has not given his enemy a fatal blow, Kazuma uses his foot to crush Ryuuya’s head, who lay on the ground facing the sky. The kick instead lands on Ryuuya's crossed arms, as he blocks Kazuma's attack.

”Chut!”

Kazuma quickly kicks away the arm that is about to grab his other leg, and jumps backwards to put some distance between them.

(To not even faint after such a fierce attack, does attacking the brain have no effect on him? To just what extent has he been transformed to a demon?……) Kazuma grumbles unhappily.

As though beating up a steel statue, he feels as if he has accomplished nothing. Ryuuya's body quickly swings back up, directly from his lying down position. This simple action is far beyond what a human can achieve, almost like a zombie from the movies.

Ryuuya releases countless wind blades as he gets up, and then, at a speed even faster than the wind blades, strikes at Kazuma. The wind blades and his claws reach Kazuma at the same time.

“Guahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

At the same time as the shout, Kazuma forcefully stretches his hand out towards the right arm that was swung at him. The wind forms a rapidly spinning whirlpool, as if that hand had squeezed them out. The rapid flow of air becomes a shockwave, destroying the wind blades, and Ryuuya is blown back into the air like a puppet.

It seems for a moment that he is unable to take this blow, but only for a moment, as Ryuuya adjusts his posture in the air and hovers at a fixed altitude, beginning to slowly retreat.

“Don’t even think about escaping!”

Kazuma knocks the air above Ryuuya downwards. The figure that was originally gliding away slowly, suddenly flew downwards at a sharp angle, as if swatted by something, and with a speed way beyond a free-falling object, hits the ground. Ryuuya was just able to land on his two feet, his body unable to move, stuck to the ground due to the great air pressure.

As Ryuuya stands there paralyzed, Kazuma quickly closes the distance.

The wind that was forcefully blowing downwards doesn't seem to lay a finger on Kazuma. Kazuma instead seems as though drawn into it, and runs quickly inside the raging winds without hindrance.

“How…… powerful, that guy is actually so powerful……”

Ayano is totally taken in by the scene in front of her eyes, completely mesmerized by the sight of Kazuma fighting. She had been unable to land even a single hit upon Ryuuya, and yet Kazuma could fight on an even level with or an even higher level than Ryuuya. Skillfully avoiding the attacks of the opponent, retaliating with perfectly timed counters, and slowly accumulating damage. This is, she realizes, what it means to be “an experienced fighter."

Forgetting that she is part of the fight as well, Ayano stands there enraptured, her eyes focused solely on Kazuma.

“------------------------------!”

When Kazuma is just a few steps away, Ryuuya, who is still trapped on the ground, looses a silent roar. Black wind begins to rampage, breaking the bonds that had restrained him just moments before.

In the same movement with which he straightens his knees, he stretches his claws out towards the incoming Kazuma, who is running directly at him, and aims directly for the throat, executing an insane counterattack.

Kazuma, however, does not stop. Instead, as he takes his last step, he bends down as much as possible. Reaching to the far ends of his consciousness to dodge the pitch black claws passing before him, he places his palm on Ryuuya's [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#tanden|''tanden'']].

Kazuma steps onto the ground firmly. From there, gathering power which goes past his knees straight to his waist, and from the waist to his shoulders, like a spiral, and continues to become stronger as it continued to be transmitted. From his shoulder to the front of his arm, after all the energy in his body has gathered, it is released from his palm. An immense ki is released from his body through his palm, dense enough that it feels as if it could pierce through the enemy.

“Hah!”

Accompanying his shout, a force great enough to blow even an African elephant to pieces exploded right into Ryuuya’s tanden, the core of a human’s central nervous system. Ryuuya’s body was blown away with such power he ended up embedded in a stone wall.

The ki of a person circulated around the body, originating in the tanden. Therefore, this place was the most vital of all vital areas for a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Practitioner|''jutsushi'']]. Once the flow of ki has been disrupted, no matter how powerful a jutsushi might be, he would be left unable to use any [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Jutsu|''jutsu'']] for some time. Or that would have been the case, had Ryuuya been a human being.

Huuuuu!!

“Muah!”

Ryuuya doesn't even look injured as he rapidly releases the blades of wind once more. Kazuma barely dodges in the nick of time, and hurriedly places some distance between them.

“Damn! Bastard! That didn’t work! That guy really, whole-heartedly doesn’t want to be human anymore!”

“…… whole-heartedly…… What kind of description is that……”

Hearing Ayano’s subconscious remark, Kazuma shouts out loud, “Don’t just stand there and watch the show! You're supposed to be the attacker, aren't you? So why don’t you grab your big torch and go beat him up!”

“Big……”

(Big torch?)

To use such a crude description of the treasure of the Kannagi clan?!

“You, I'll have a talk with you about this once this is over!”

Ignoring Ayano’s furious look, Kazuma waves his hand to hush her, “Don’t talk so much, ''attack'' little kitten."

Though her eyes burn with murder, Ayano steps forward. Perhaps reflecting her anger, Enraiha shines with a glaring glow unlike any before.

(Nee-sama, you can do it……)

Ren prays devoutly for the victory of the two.

He can only pray, since he does not possess the power to participate in their battle.

His inability to help deeply hurting his heart, Ren murmurs, ”If only I had more power……”

”No, no, your 'bit' of power is just right.”

”!?”

Ren turns in shock, and looks where there shouldn't be anyone.

“To break the seal placed upon our God, that bit of power is enough.”

The voice sounded like it had come from the opposite direction of just earlier. Ren turns his head once more, and calls out in a rising tone, “It…… it is you, Hyoue! Come out now!”

Shaaaaaaaaaaa, the sound of bushes rustling in the wind, this time from the left. Out of Ren's raised palm, fire begins to erupt in a rapid stream.

In short order, the withered plants catch fire and burn furiously, but there is no sign of Hyoue. Ren glances around frantically as Hyoue's coarse voice again sounds in his ears.

“It isn't that you lack strength. It's that you're still just a brat. Your technique is what's lacking!”

”Shut……Shut up!”

Flames emerge from Ren’s body. In order to prevent the enemy from moving behind him, he begins to search for Hyoue with a body wrapped in flame.

(I can’t find his presence!)

He has absolutely no idea where Hyoue may be. From the beginning, En-jutsushis are a bit unbalanced in their combat abilities. Though their attacking strength is the strongest, their detection abilities are among the weakest, let alone comparable to Fuu-jutsushis.

As an En-jutsushi, Ren was still inexperienced, and was unable to handle the jutsu that the experienced Fuu-jutsushi Hyoue was using to conceal himself.

“Still too immature. A flame of that level is unable to extinguish the hatred within me,” Hyoue whispers in his ear.

Though the direction from which Ren had heard Hyoue's voice was directly behind him, he could not sense his presence at all.

“Behind? Wh-Where?!”

He turned around several times, always failing to see Hyoue. No matter how swift his actions, the voice from behind never stopped.

“Over here!”

”Over here!”

”Over here!”

--Over here-- --Over here-- --Over here-- --Over here--

This line continues to repeat like an echo. The unease of being unable to see his enemy, and the rising fear and nervousness of fighting in actual combat, stretch Ren’s mind to its limit.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Driven by fear, he desires power. The power to eliminate the enemy. The power to destroy 'everything,' the power to rid himself of his fear...

In response to Ren’s scream, everywhere around, fires explode into existence. The fire spirits that had been released indefinitely, obeying only their own desires for survival and rampage, burn everything to ash.

Everything the flames touched was burnt. The forest becomes a sea of flame, with mighty pillars of fire that reach the heavens and shake the earth.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Ren, who is panicking after losing control, is attempting to create a Hell on Earth, [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Ren|just like his name]]. He continues to summon a massive amount of spirits, surpassing even the limits of his ability to control. The trees turn to ash in the extreme heat, and the already scorched earth begins to melt.

“Ahhhhhh……ah?”

But at precisely this moment, a cold gust of wind blows past his body, cooling his and and calming his madness in an instant. The youth, shocked, turns to look in the direction the wind originated from.

Kazuma was looking attentively at his brother. Basking in those clear eyes, Ren returns to normal.

(He is looking at me!)

Kazuma looks at him with boundless trust.

“Nii-“

(Nii-sama!)

Immediately after meeting Ren's eyes, Kazuma shifts his gaze away, focusing once more on the battle with Ryuuya.

Briefly disappointed, Ren remembers once more what he needs to do. Calming his breathing, he prepares to take on the enemy's assault.

"Your brother seems to have abandoned you.”

Hyoue’s voice rings mockingly from behind his ear. But Ren, his head clear once again, recognizes that his enemy isn't actually behind him. It was just a diversion, using his jutsu to mobilize the wind to carry his voice to Ren's ears. This was a very basic technique everyone in the Fuuga clan knew. Such a simple fact, and yet he hadn't noticed. Ren was ashamed at his immaturity.

"But he can't be blamed for doing so. Even working together, those two don't have a chance, let alone the luxury of taking time out to protect someone as useless as you."

Ho! Ho! Ho!

This time, hearing Hyoue's eerie laughter has no effect on Ren. He calmly searches out his presence, at the same time rejecting Hyoue's babbled nonsense.

"You're wrong."

”What is wrong?” Hyoue replies calmly.

Hyoue holds no doubts of his control of the situation. He might even think that this is not a fight, but a hunt, just a cat toying with a mouse before the kill. This is the weak point Ren grasped for.

“Nii-sama did not abandon me. It is because he believes in me, believes that I am more than enough to deal with scum like you.”

“What daring words. A little punk like you who can't even find me, how are you going to defeat me??”

Indeed, in terms of detection capability, En-jutsushi were far inferior to Fuu-jutsushi. Unlike fire, air was everywhere. One of the necessary conditions for a human to survive, and the one that occupies the most space, is air. The difference in amount of space occupied directly affects the amount of information obtainable.

(But, if it is now...)

The flames that Ren had released when berserk had burnt the trees in the area, and continued to burn fiercely. The density of fire spirits in the area had increased to a point that surpassed reason. With things like this, his abilities weren't less than any Fuu-jutsushi's. Ren closes his eyes, and opens his ears to listen to the voices of the spirits.

“What’s wrong? You want to beat someone like me, and yet you seem to be taking your time?”

Sounds of mockery come from every direction. A wind blade passes by his cheek, and flies straight on. Ren completely lets go of everything, and synchronizes himself with the spirits.

His five senses disappear, slowly replaced with the senses of the spirits. Relying neither on light, nor relying on sound, but instead relying on [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Theurgy|theurgy]] to view the world. Despite being faced with an abnormality which would drive a regular human insane, Ren adapts very easily.

(Gotcha!)

It should be said he didn't actually detect Hyoue's presence. Rather, within the areas he searched, only one refused the invasion of fire spirits. Hyoue had to be at this spot. Ren felt confident in his guess.

“Over there!”

Ren raises his palm to release a fireball. The divine power of purification slices through...

Empty space. Just empty space.

“You fool, where do you think you're aiming?……”

Seeing the flame travel in completely the wrong direction, Hyoue, concealed in a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Kekkai|''kekkai'']] of wind, reveals his scorn.

Only to change expressions immediately. He watches as the flames around him branch out and rain down in a curtain of flame, aimed directly at him.

“Wh-What!?”

Hyoue is so filled with shock his eyes almost pop out of his head. The fire rains down from all directions and all at once.

With every escape route cut off by the incoming flame, this was not a predicament that could be resolved by trickery. To defend himself, he has no choice but to force the flames aside with sheer power. But Hyoue does not possess such power. Judging by strength alone, Ren wins handily.

“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

As his kekkai is pierced by the rain of fire like so much paper, Hyoue gives off a pitiful scream.

“It...it worked……?” Sensing the kekkai's disappearance, Ren says quietly, staring into space.

The trick he used was really simple. There had been no need for him to create the attacking fire himself, as he had been surrounded by burning flames all along.

Ren had purposely loosed a flame at an empty spot to trick Hyoue into letting his guard down, and then had instead used the flames that were burning around Hyoue to attack.

Had Hyoue been fighting seriously, he might have seen through the trick. It was his overconfident attitude of seeing Ren as prey, and not as an enemy, that forced him to suffer such a dreadful attack.

“You……you are really something……Kid……”

”------!?”

A black shape, still roughly discernible as human, rolls just in front of Ren. No matter how you look at it, it was just so much charcoal, and yet it still moved somehow. Every time it moved, pieces of meat that had been turned to ash fell away, revealing pitch black skin below, skin that did not seem human.

“Hoho…… Watch closely…… This is the power I obtained by forming a contract with the youma - a power surpassing human ability! Do you get it now, kid? Your flames just won’t work against me. Hohoho…… Hahahahaha!!”

“You foolish thing.”

Ren's sudden speech, in a tone cold enough as to come from someone else, causes Hyoue's laughter to come to an abrupt halt.

“My flames, useless? How dare a piece of charcoal speak like a human being? Since you've already given up on being human, nothing more need be said. Because the Kannagi flames are purifying flames. A divine power bestowed for the destruction of inhuman monsters like you!”

A golden light cleanses away the dense youki. The rampaging flames appear to be absorbed into the purifying light. The fire weakens, and slowly disappears. The formerly uncontrolled fire spirits serve to make the golden light shine all the more brilliantly.

The flames that once expanded explosively now are beginning to shrink, and yet the temperature grows. Condensed into a high density semi-materialized flame, emitting a syrupy glow, it begins to revolve around Ren.

“I, as a member of Kannagi main family, declare! Hyoue Kazamaki: the many lives that you've taken away shall now be repaid with your own!” surrounded by that blurry glow, Ren says loudly.

Faced with tiny body that yet unleashes an immense pressure, Hyoue curls up in fear.

This is the descendant of a respected and powerful bloodline. The top of the En-jutsushis, a rightful son of the Kannagi.

A great power, formed of a thousand years of training, is about to awaken...

=== 2 ===

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Striking with all her might, Ayano chops Enraiha downwards.

Clang!

Ryuuya's claws make a clear sound as they deflect the blade.

(Even Enraiha cannot cut through, just what are those claws made of?)

Ayano immediately ignores the question that pops up in her mind. There's no time to think about this, I need to find some way to get past those claws...

Ayano increases the rate at which she strikes, including a number of feints in her attacks, to find a hole in Ryuuya’s defense. His defense, unfortunately, is impenetrable.

“What is that idiot doing……” Kazuma spits in disgust.

The fear of loss yet lingers in Ayano’s heart, causing her to forget her usual style. Adding those tricks to her attack was meaningless; she should focus on a single lethal strike instead.

At that moment, Enraiha finds its way into Ryuuya’s shoulder, cleanly severing his right arm.

(Now I've got him!)

Ayano strikes at his right side with all her strength. Because of this, she fails to notice his right arm, lurking behind her back, flying directly towards her.

“Behind you!”

Kazuma's voice and the attack come at almost the same time. Ayano jumps quickly, and the right arm speeds past her like a lance.

“That was close……”

The danger wasn't over though. Ryuuya suddenly appears in front of Ayano, still in mid-air, the claws on his remaining left arm glittering with deadly intent.

Dong!

Ayano somehow manages to block, but with her legs hanging in mid-air, she is unable to hold her position. Knocked away like a cannonball, with no way to stop herself, she slams into a nearby tree.

“Argh…… Ah……”

Perhaps feeling that it would be too easy, with her offering so little sport, Ryuuya opts not to pursue, instead leisurely reattaching his right arm. Wriggling muscle tissue and nerves extend from the severed arm as the same extend from the other end, merging together. After but moments, there is no hint of the injury - his arm was completely whole once more.

And yet Ryuuya still shows no sign of attacking. He lifts his head to stare at the sky, raising his arms as if to grasp the sky with his hands.

“------------!“

The instant he realizes what that gesture signifies, Kazuma sprints forward as fast as possible. Hugging Ayano's head to his chest, he forcefully slams her back onto the floor.

“Wah!”

With no time to pay it any mind, he ignores Ayano's strangled cry of protest. Lying as low to the ground as he can, he erects a kekkai of even greater density around them.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?” Ayano shouts, her nose glowing red from the pressure.

Kazuma immediately retorts at a volume twice her own, “You idiot! For what reason did you think it was necessary to engage in close combat? If you allow the enemy the time it needs to unleash such a powerful attack, all earlier effort would be rendered meaningless.”

Confronted with such a decisive answer that left no room for questions, Ayano is at a loss for words.

“……Huh……? Powerful attack……”

As she turns her head, as instructed by Kazuma, the scene revealing itself before her eyes leaves her at a loss for words. A spectacular pillar of wind connecting heaven and earth, a great vortex that tumbles as it spins, it is...

"What is...that?"

"What do you mean 'what is that?' As you can see, what 'they are' are tornadoes! Four, no five...by the way, what is the unit for tornadoes?"

Kazuma's randomly asked question does not register in Ayano's consciousness.

She gazes at the scene, as if spellbound. "Here is the roar of nature that hurls giant boulders and uproots giant trees" is all she can think about.

“……There's no way……”

”Ahhh? What did you say?”

”There's no way we can win!” Ayano turns her head to shout.

The eyes that had earlier been full of fight now carry tears. As if humbled, she falls to her feet beside Kazuma.

"It's impossible to win! Our enemy is 'that' kind of monster, just what do you expect me to do?! There's just no way to win!"

Ayano's eyes reveal an absolute despair transcending fear. "Eyes just like 'that' person's in the past" Kazuma thinks to himself.

<nowiki>--</nowiki> Did I not seek power because I hate seeing those eyes?

(Tsui-Ling...)

The weak girl that I was unable to protect in the past. No matter how difficult, no matter how painful, the girl who wanted to live on no matter what.

“I was not born into the world to be devoured by a devil.”

(Those eyes shone with the light of hope, and the one who erased that light was me.)

Because he had been weak, because he had had no power.

But things were different now. He had been defeated back then, and was helpless to do anything but watch as the girl he had sworn to protect had had her soul devoured...but things were different now.

Whether for self-fulfillment or to atone for the past, all he wanted now was to help the girl trembling before him.

Her eyes were filled with tears. Just before the first tears fall, Kazuma pokes her forehead with his finger.

Ayano leans back slightly, looking at him with wet eyes, as Kazuma smiles.

“Our jobs were clear from the start right? All you need to do is take that blade and slash Ryuuya. I'll deal with his wind.”

Ayano jabs her finger towards the tornadoes as she shrieks, “Deal with……? Tornadoes?"

Kazuma merely shrugs.

“Well, about that…… I'm sure there's a way. So, you just take care of him. Can you do that?”

She hesitates for a brief moment before nodding her head determinedly.

“Very good. Then let the match continue!”

Kazuma lifts Ayano, still sitting on him, with his arms and rises. Witnessing unbelievable arm and waist strength, Ayano's eyes widen, but even more shocking was what happened afterwards.

“……Wa……Ah……”

Before Ayano, a path opens. A path, surrounded by a kekkai of wind suppressing the tornadoes, straight to Ryuuya.

“Go!”

Receiving a gentle push from that voice, Ayano instinctively dashes forward.

“Okay, even though I said all that just now…… What should I do?”

After forcing an opening through the tornadoes, Kazuma grumbles to himself. Because he had boasted about it in front of someone else, he had no choice but to think of a way to take care of those five tornadoes...

"If only Ayano was of some use, then the enemy might not have the effort to spare to maintain those tornadoes...But an originally weak girl, now so scared witless she can barely walk, can't be of any use..."

The simplest method would be to create tornadoes of equal magnitude to cancel them out...

(……Nah, far too much trouble!)

Even the thought made him feel tired. There had to be an easier way...

“Wait a minute, a tornado is actually the upward flow of air right…… in that case…… Good, let’s do this.”

Kazuma lets the column of wind comprising the tornado rise even higher, raising the air to the lower stratosphere.

The air brought by the updraft cools rapidly, and the water particles it contains become tiny drops of ice that combine to form hailstones. As they fall once again, the hailstones melt, cooling the surrounding air even further, making the air heavy, and it drops down at a high speed. This great downward airflow is known as a "downburst."

The natural top speed of a downburst is comparable to a tornado, and Kazuma speeds it up even further. This section of air, pulled down from an extremely high altitude, easily surpasses the speed of sound.

The supersonic wind blade slices the tornadoes wide open, and the accompanying shock wave completely destroys what remains. Without any notable resistance, the raging winds easily erases any hint of the tornadoes, while directing all extra energy towards Ryuuya.

“Gwahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

In the midst of the thunder of destruction came a sharp scream, lacking of femininity.

(Gwah? Ohhh……)

Kazuma claps his hands as he realizes what happened.

“Darn, I completely forgot to avoid you. Sorry.”

”You idiot! Go to hell!” Ayano furiously shouts.

Yet for some reason, she is uninjured. Maybe the wind spirits had automatically avoided her?

Though Ayano continued to fuss, she quieted down as the dust settled and the scene slowly revealed itself to her.

The mountain view had changed. Originally a lush green forest, now uprooted trees lay scattered about, and the forest's surface had been dug up, forming a tract of empty land. All this due to Ryuuya's tornadoes and Kazuma's downburst.

(These guys are really monsters……)

Ayano gazes at Kazuma, struck with awe, but that flippant look of his betrays no sign of his magnificent power.

“Hey, this is a good opportunity! Ayano,” Kazuma hushes, no, tells her.

Even something like Ryuuya suffered tremendous damage from this assault. While his limbs were largely intact, deep cuts scored his body - wounds excreting a black mist instead of blood.

(When I cut him earlier, nothing like that came out……)

Though annoyed at the huge difference in power between her and Kazuma, now wasn't the time to worry about such things, and so Ayano took up Enraiha once more to stand before Ryuuya.

(Still alive - what a monster.)

Just as Ayano was facing off with Ryuuya, Kazuma’s expression grew more serious.

Kazuma could feel the end of the road looming.

Even when combining their powers, they had been unable to deliver Ryuuya a fatal blow. Though they currently appeared to hold the advantage, there was no way to win to in the long run.

There had never been a human that could exceed the youma in terms of physical stamina. This was because the youma possessed minds far surpassing their bodies, and could easily overcome their bodies limitations through sheer willpower.

(Should I use it? Even though I really don't want the Kannagi to learn of it, I guess there's no choice. And, I guess they'll hear it from Ren sooner or later, anyway. Either way, life is something irreplaceable.)

There was just one problem. Leaving breaking the seal aside, to gather enough power to truly destroy Ryuuya required a lot of preparation. During this time, Ayano would be left completely defenseless, and what would happen then has already been seen.

(So, what to do...)

He ponders deeply for a brief moment.

(So be it. This will be a test for her as well.)

Lions pushed their cubs off cliffs without hesitation. Kazuma would have to do the same for Ayano.

“Ayano! I am going to play my strongest card! Buy me some time!"

“Don’t shout it out loud like that! Idiot!” Ayano shouts in a pained voice.

She was seriously crying out to Kazuma.

As Kazuma had expected, Ryuuya struck instantly. In the blink of an eye, the defending and offensive parties had switched sides, as wind blades raced towards Ayano.

“Kazuma you big idiot! After I die, I will definitely come back to haunt you as a vengeful spirit! No matter how many times you change houses, I will burn them down and make sure the real estate agencies blacklist you!” Ayano shouts in a tone close to tears, as she tries her best to dodge the blades.

Regrettably, Kazuma was in a state of intense concentration by then, and Ayano's furious promise of eternal vengeance went unnoticed.

Sinking deep within his consciousness, he opens the “door” within himself. Within the “door” lay an azure sky as wide as the eye can see.

This place was a space that existed within “that being" - no, every corner of this space was filled with that being. This space was the being itself.

By opening the “door,” Kazuma and “that being” merged to form a single entity. Kazuma was reborn, becoming a human and the ruler of spirits at the same time, commanding all wind in existence as a high level jutsushi.

His consciousness expanded without limit. For as far as his mind could reach, an area of about a hundred kilometers in radius, all wind spirits located therein became Kazuma’s receptors, continuously transmitting an endless stream of information.

This immense amount of data - of which a human’s weak and fragile mind would be unable to handle the tiniest fraction - Kazuma controlled with his will. He picked out the necessary data from the scene in front of him, at the same time surveying the situation of everything within his domain. This was the viewpoint of a god - a power beyond human knowledge or understanding.

(Ren…… still alive. Very good.)

With his expanded perception, he can clearly see the battle between Ren and Hyoue, more than a kilometer away. It goes without saying, the same goes for Ayano’s battle...

Without Kazuma to cover for her, Ayano is forced into a one-sided defense. Unable to even think about retaliating, every thought, every action is devoted to dodging the incoming claws and blades of wind - to survival

(……Are you still not ready Kazuma?)

Glancing at Kazuma from time to time, Kazuma, focusing deeply, did not appear to notice. Despite her reluctance to admit it, the lack of attention filled her with unease.

She was scared, but Kazuma was not here to say something stupid to loosen her up, not now. He did not poke her head, or smile that disrespectful smile. For the first time, Ayano realizes how many times she has been saved by that flippant smile of his.

“Ahhh!”

A pitch black wind smashes into Ayano like a hammer. The powerful blow knocks her off her feet, throwing her backwards through the air. She lands on her back, but the force of the impact was so great she found herself rolling three times before slamming into a stone wall with a great crash.

(No more! I can’t hold on any longer……!)

Ayano turns pleadingly to Kazuma, desperate for help, and for a short-lived moment, she felt certain she had seen a smirk travel across his face.

Ryuuya took the opportunity to aim more wind blades at Ayano, who continued to lay there, unmoving. Even so, Ayano continued to stare at Kazuma.

(Ever since the moment when I saw him again yesterday, I've despised that guy.

Worse than Hyoue or Ryuuya, I refuse to even acknowledge his existence.

Because he is stronger than me? No, not just that.

Because of his flippant attitude? No, that's just a front, a facade of his.

The real him completely ignores my existence, does not care about me, and ''that'' is more unforgivable than anything else.

And so I resist, and so I quarrel with him, that he might acknowledge me.

But...he's given up on me.

"You will finish him" had become "buy me some time," "I will do everything," "I no longer have any expectations of you."

Even now, he is watching everything, mocking how pathetic I look.)

“A kitten is just a kitten,” she felt she could hear his condescending voice say.

“Don’t look down on me!”

An angry roar rocks the air, a furious flame consumes the blades of wind.

Ayano forces her swaying body to stand, her eyes focus on Ryuuya, but within, her mind continues to rail against Kazuma.

There was simply no way she would accept, or even tolerate, that she, the wielder of Enraiha, was believed to be useless.

She knew very well how to overturn this flawed belief completely. For a man like Kazuma, there was no point in further words.

The way to prove herself was with raw, overwhelming power.

"'Buy me some time'? Don’t joke around. I will finish him off myself, and you can just stand there until you die of boredom!”

Ayano raises Enraiha, and begins to gather ki. The flame that had always burned golden begins to flare red. This crimson flame continues to amass upon Enraiha.

Loosing a howl of pure rage, Ayano begins to run. Moving at an astonishing speed, which did not even leave an afterimage, she suddenly appears before Ryuuya, as if by teleportation, and swings downwards with all her might.

There were no tricks, just a single slice. Without time to dodge, Ryuuya crosses his arms to block the strike. That is, he tried to block it.

Burning with a crimson glow, Enraiha bore the divine flame to which there was no possible defense, severing all ten claws in one stroke, and with a quick turn, Ryuuya's left arm soon follows.

She slices at Ryuuya's now defenseless left side, but at this moment, the sliced off arm attacks Ayano from behind like the other arm had done previously.

This time, however, Ayano reverses her grip on Enraiha, and without even turning, stabs backwards. Enraiha mercilessly pierces through the arm that was flying through the air.

"Begone!"

Scorched from the inside-out, the arm was consumed in an instant. Never stopping, Ayano continued to chase after Ryuuya, who had begun a slow retreat. Again with that shocking speed, she easily caught Ryuuya once more.

The crimson blade flashes brightly, slicing Ryuuya from the shoulders to the legs. A quick turn of the blade and it continues to slice through the demonic body.

But even though his body has been chopped into four pieces, Ryuuya has yet to be destroyed. His listless eyes continue to gaze eerily at Ayano.

Ayano jumps backwards, but this time, not to run.

It all ends now!

“Namo, Sanmanduo, Warila Lan, Han!”

She chants the Acalanatha sutra. The chant itself possessed no power or meaning - it was just a string of keywords she had learned in her training. Having learned the mantra along with the complicated jutsu activation sequence, the two had become linked in her mind. For her, using the jutsu was a reflex when chanting the sutra.

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 269.jpg|thumb]]

As she lands, Ayano stabs Enraiha into the ground, activating the jutsu.

"Thrust of the Exorcising Supreme Flame!"

A crown of light burst forth from the ground with Ryuuya at its center, forming a hemispherical kekkai. The fire spirits within Enraiha darted through from beneath the ground, releasing all their heat within the barrier.

The earth under Ryuuya's feet instantly vaporized, and the spherical kekkai can now be seen in full view. The barrier efficiently reflected all heat inwards, focusing the energy at its center.

This was Ayano's strongest exorcism jutsu: to seal the youma in a kekkai, leaving nothing to escape but ashes.

"Hah! How's that?"

Ayano smiles proudly, about to look in Kazuma's direction, when she suddenly stops in her tracks, and stares at Ryuuya, caught within the kekkai.

Trapped in scorching plasma, Ryuuya had become nothing more than a piece of meat, having lost all signs of his previous appearance.

(He shouldn't have the power to resist anymore...but what is this youki?!)

Gurgle……Gurgle……Gurgle……

Right before Ayano eyes, the surface of the meat seemed to boil as one bubble after another began to appear. The eerie piece of meat did not appear to care that it was tens of thousands of degrees within the kekkai, and was multiplying at a high rate.

When the piece of meat had finished multiplying, the shape slowly changed. Sticks of meat stretched out from four areas, and a small sphere appeared at the top - the monster was complete.

It had probably intended to mimic human form, with hands and legs and head, body parts that could be recognized.

But that was it.

Like an ugly design a small child might make with meat colored clay, it was a likeness of the evil of mankind, an unforgivable insult to humanity.

The monster places its hands on the kekkai to force it open. That is to say, the sticks that passed for its hands did, and from the ugliness of its motions, it lacked any joints as well. If human arms were snakes, they would probably look like this!

“……This is not…… possible……?”

The monster easily dispels the kekkai, and steps out. It feels so ugly and evil that Ayano involuntarily takes a step back, tripping and losing her balance.

“Wah!”

Falling here means certain death. The premonition of death approaching gives her goosebumps.

But...the feeling on her back is not that of the cold, hard floor. Something warm had taken hold of this body, frozen with anxiety.

A strong hand caresses Ayano's head, and, as if whispering in her ear, a low, calm voice makes her ear twitch.

"That is enough. You did very well."

From the gentle, yet firm grip that enveloped her arm, Ayano feels an indescribable calm fall over her. Her tense body relaxes, bit by bit, entrusting everything to that wide chest behind her.

"You did very well."

That sentence repeats over and over in her mind. Those four mundane words make her happier than anything else in the world.

To be recognized by him makes her proud.

The man behind her talks in a comfortable tone that makes a shiver run down her back, and goes on to say...

"Very well done...for a kitten."

Pak!

Ayano pushes Kazuma's hand away with all her might. How is it possible that a moment ago she actually felt that this kind of guy's chest could possibly be comforting? Ayano felt whole-heartedly ashamed of herself.

“You're…… Huh……?”

Sensing something off in her surroundings, Ayano looks around and immediately understands.

The air shines with a blue glow.

The slow-flowing blue air holds an enormous amount of energy. Ryuuya's black winds are repelled by the azure glow, and compress around their master.

“This…… Impossible…… 'Purification'!?”

The secret power to destroy evil, bestowed only upon the Kannagi...and this magnitude!

"To surround the entire mountain with his winds? And such a massive amount of spirits, how did..." Ayano turns her head to ask, and is left speechless once more.

Knowing very well the reason for her shock, Kazuma smiles playfully, enjoying Ayano's stunned look.

“That…… What is…… Your eyes?”

“Oh these? They were marked by the Lord of Wind Spirits.”

Kazuma's blue eyes flash, as he calmly says something shocking.

“Spi……rit……Lord……?” Ayano dumbly repeats.

This fact that was beyond imagination had stopped all thought.

“………… N-No way----!?”

Bright as the azure sky, eyes that couldn't possibly be clearer - that was proof of the contract with the Lord of Wind Spirits. Ruling all the air on this planet, only a man bestowed with everything could be marked by this stigma.

Even in the legends, there had only been a few people with such a mark: the ancient King Solomon who governed the 72 demon lords and Moses who led the Hebrews and had contracted with Jehovah.

And after that would be the first chief of the Kannagi, who had been bestowed with Enraiha.

“Contractor.” Someone who had formed a contract with a supernatural existence. They called them “Contractors”.

But, to actually be confirmed, there is only one Contractor in history who has been proven to exist. "The first" Contractor was how he had come to be praised in modern legend.

“Come! It's about time you slept, Ryuuya!”

The azure wind begins to swirl like a maelstrom, with Ryuuya at its center. The maelstrom was, of course, Kazuma's creation, utilizing all the wind spirits at his command, and the area it spans can be seen even from outer space.

=== 3 ===

''Slice''

Hyoue's wind blades cut deeply into Ren's arms.

“Wahhhhhh-!”

Against the blades of wind, Ren can only dodge. The relentless assault does not even allow him to stand.

Hyoue cackles as he watches Ren. The scene of a jutsushi of the Kannagi main family, unable to even stand beneath his attacks, just couldn't get any funnier.

(Just you watch, Genma! Juugo! You're next! The humiliation we suffered, you shall receive ten thousand fold!)

A hysterical laughter shakes the air.

Hyoue looks down on Ren, who has finally managed to rise, and smugly shouts, full of pride, "Now do you understand the difference between us? You should just surrender before you get hurt further...If you're too heavily wounded, it might hinder the removal of the seal!"

Hahahaha……

Ren sends golden flame in the direction of the laughter, but while the flame may possess the power to destroy Hyoue, if it misses, it's simply a waste of effort.

“Wah!”

A sudden, violent shock wave strikes Ren's head, sending him reeling and leaving him feeling as though his brain were bouncing in his skull. For a few moments, he wavers on the edge of unconsciousness.

Just standing there, completely defenseless, has made Ren an easy target. But though there have been several such instances before, Hyoue has yet to finish him off. It can only be expected, though, as Hyoue does not want Ren's corpse; he needs him alive. Furthermore, there was still more fun to be had in his torment.

Hyoue, who has given up his humanity, now possesses a great power, incomparable to the past.

Of course, Ren is still far more powerful, but the gap in skill and experience is just too large. He is being toyed with, unable to show even half his power.

"Isn't it about time to give up? You know you can't win, right?"

Hyoue is slowly crucifying him, deliberately avoiding any fatal injuries. Time and again he tries to break Ren's will, targeting his weaknesses to force him to bow to despair, but Ren refuses to give in.

"I refuse! I promised Nii-sama that I would never give up, that I would live on no matter what! I will never obey you, never be used by you, and will never let you kill again!"

Despite cuts which run all over his body, blood that pours down his face and drenches his clothes, Ren's eyes never lose their shine. Faced with this proud and majestic vision, even Hyoue, who undoubtedly holds the advantage, cannot help but be wary.

"Hmph. In that case, let's test the limits of that pride!" he spits, as he prepares to unleash more wind blades-

“Wha!?”

Hyoue gives off a strangled cry, stretching his arms to hug his body. Hidden beneath his arms, something seems to be wriggling. Hyoue tightens his grip, intending to suppress whatever it is, but the eerie wriggling only spreads to his arms.

His entire body is wracked with convulsions. His muscles seize violently, before eventually bursting.

Hyoue had been surrounded by Kazuma's purifying winds. A great power had severed his connection to Ryuuya. Losing Ryuuya's protection, the demonic powers within Hyoue had begun to rampage.

Ren does not waste the opportunity, and races towards him.

“Ki……Kid…… Wahhhhh!”

As Hyoue attempts to defend himself, his raging body only grows worse. He is now forced to use his full power simply to restrain his now uncontrollable body.

Ren does not slow. Knocking into Hyoue at full speed, he hooks his arms around Hyoue's knees, and gives a mighty pull.

The powerful tackle leaves the two of them tangled on the ground. Ren hugs Hyoue tightly, and softly whispers...

"I won't miss at this distance."

“You……You fool! Let me go!“

No longer concerned about losing control, Hyoue releases his blades of wind.

But Ren is quicker. Hugging the shaking body, he shouts hoarsely.

"'''BURN!'''"

A brilliant golden pillar of flame roars into the sky. The purifying pillar of fire leaves no trace of the tainted body and even more tainted soul of the old man who had fallen into darkness.

“----------------------------------------------!!”

It even swallows his dying scream.

Ryuuya has lost control of his black wind. The strong, azure wind separates the berserk spirits from their dark master, absorbing them.

“Ryuuya's wind is………being consumed?” Ayano whispers in shock.

"Terrifying power" is not enough to describe the scene before her. Though there have been a number of logic-defying events today, this is by far the most ridiculous.

The wind surrounding Ryuuya releases the frenzied spirits before absorbing them, further increasing its power.

Even so, Ryuuya still isn't defeated and continues to release his dark, corrupt youki to defend against the purifying winds. However, he is unable to negate the purification completely, and as the azure wind closes on him, the surface of his body begins to boil and bubble. Slowly, very slowly, but surely, his body is being dismantled, piece by piece.

(Almost like a final battle between monsters.)

This unseemly thought running through her mind, Ayano begins to move. Although her power is by far the weakest of the three, she is still a participant, nor can her power be ignored, for she possesses the power to end the stalemate, and she knows her duty well.

-- You will finish him off, can you do it? --

“I'll show you!”

Ryuuya ''leaps'' backwards, intending to escape Ayano. His movements had slowed significantly, and he no longer had the means to dodge her attacks.

But Ayano chases after him, focused only on delivering the final strike! Ryuuya changes the tip of his arms into blades as a last ditch defense. The meat colored blades he raised above his head radiated a hard light.

“That won't save you now!”

Ayano furiously swings Enraiha downwards, no thought to defense. She instinctively realizes that this is the deciding moment. Kazuma has no power to spare to aid her and if she is blocked again, they are sure to lose.

The crimson glow arcs downwards without encountering any resistance, as if slicing through air.

The cloven meat blades that serve for Ryuuya's arms dissolve into the azure air as Enraiha carves its way into the top of his head, stopping at his heart. She takes a risk not cutting Ryuuya in two, choosing instead to call forth fire spirits from Enraiha directly within the wound...and igniting them.

Ryuuya's body explodes. Pieces of scattered meat are blown away by the flame, carried away by the wind and swallowed by the azure light. In the end, every trace of his existence had been erased.

This was the end of Ryuuya, no, the end of the unnamed youma who had founded the Fuuga clan.

The azure winds slowly fade, their power of purification weakening as they spread in all directions, probably to continue restoration of this youki polluted world.

Watching the wind spirits leave, Ayano is captivated by the scene.

“Damn it, just pennies for such hard work. I'll never take any jobs from the Kannagi again.”

And again, a line that completely disregarded the mood spoiled everything. Ayano turns angrily, to see Kazuma lying spread-eagled on the floor. Walking over to him, he doesn't move. He appears to be completely drained.

(No matter how strong he might be, he is still human.)

"After all he almost single-handedly handed Ryuuya defeat. I think I can forgive him one or two rude lines!" Ayano thinks generously.

“Great work,” she thanks him.

Kazuma does not reply, and merely sniffs.

She kneels down beside him.

“Hey, Kazuma?”

Neither expecting an answer, nor receiving one, she continues.

"Even if you'd been alone, you could've won anyway, couldn't you?"

“That's pushing it.”

This time, Kazuma finally reacts. His eyes, having regained their original black luster, turn to Ayano.

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 281.jpg|thumb]]

"A contract with a Lord of Spirits does not mean I am omnipotent. Though I may have limitless power at my disposal, I am limited by what I can control. I am still subject to human limitations, after all."

"Hmm? Maybe so. Besides, you still need time to prepare. You would definitely have been attacked by then, right?"

"...Yep. That's right."

Though outwardly he answers without hesitation, Ayano didn't miss a brief shift in his gaze.

“Kazuma?”

”Yes?”

His poker face is flawless, but it is already too late.

Ayano flops down on top of him, grabbing him by his collar, as if ready to strangle him. Kazuma can offer no resistance, and he remains spread-eagled on the floor.

"To push a man down like this - what a shameless girl. The Soushu would cry if he saw this."

Belying his exhausted state, his mouth is still at 100%.

“Don’t joke around, now answer me. When were you ready?”

Despite Ayano’s grip growing more forceful by the second, Kazuma replies carelessly.

“Right about the moment when you were blown away?”

“Then, why didn't you do anything earlier!?”

By now, Ayano's full strength was concentrated in her hands, and yet Kazuma replies calmly, as if nothing was happening.

“You're wrong to blame me. It was for your own good that I waited.”

”Which part!?”

Ayano is bristling, on the edge of exploding. If Kazuma does not provide a legitimate reason here, she intends to stab him with Enraiha.

"From the way things looked, if I'd ended it without you being able to land a single blow, you would have been doomed to be a loser for the rest of your life."

“Ugh……”

His dead-on remark hits her squarely, leaving her momentarily speechless. Indeed, if all she had done back then was escape from Ryuuya's attacks, leaving everything to Kazuma, she might never have regained the courage to fight again. Someone unable to overcome her fear, a jutsushi that could only fight enemies weaker than herself, simply could not be relied upon, no matter how strong.

"When I saw that you had finally managed to gather your courage, I decided to watch for a bit. Your performance wasn't half bad until about midway through. If he hadn't escaped right then, you probably would even have won!"

"Eh? You mean to say that my jutsu worked?"

"No. That was absolutely worthless."

Kazuma continues straightforwardly, “You are the wielder of Enraiha. There is no need to resort to tricks or lousy jutsu. If cutting him in four doesn't kill him, then just keep cutting until there's nothing left."

“…… Sorry for being 'lousy.'”

”That's not what you should be sorry for.”

Kazuma continues his ruthless criticism.

"You need to practice your swordsmanship. The way things are, there's no point in you having Enraiha."

”I know……”

"But...that last strike was pretty good. It skillfully used the characteristics of Enraiha as both a sword and a magical artifact."

Hearing the unexpected praise, Ayano blushes. She is suddenly filled with pleasure. In spite of the countless flaws in his personality, and the disgust she feels as she realizes she is dancing in the palm of his hand, the throbbing in her chest is undeniable.

“You…… Like you're so great. Just what do you know about Enraiha?”

Despite speaking harshly in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, her ploy had obviously failed. Kazuma smiles at Ayano, with a look that seems to see through it all.

"Oh. One more thing. It's best not to sit on a man dressed like that."

“……Huh?”

"Even if you ''are'' a little girl with neither breasts nor sensuality, other people might misunderstand!"

Ayano inadvertently glances at herself...and freezes. Unable to withstand the strenuous battle, her uniform is completely shredded. Even her underwear is partly torn, almost to the point where it failed to cover her body.

Seeing Kazuma's eyes that "seem to see through it all," Ayano blushes up to her ears.

“Id……Idiot------------!!”

A scream reverberates through the uninhabited forest.

“Nii-sama!”

Recognizing the ones approaching as Kazuma and Ayano, Ren cries out with joy, as he tries to run towards them, but his body, weak from injury, does not allow him to do so.

“Wah……”

A gust of wind gently carries Ren, who had tripped and was about to fall, right into his brother's arms. Kazuma hugs him tightly, patting his head. Ren hugs his brother back, never intending to let go.

“You did very well, Ren. A fine job.”

”Thank you, Nii-sama……?”

Their conversation suddenly ends as Ren stretches his hand to Kazuma's cheek, where there lies a very clear, very red, hand-print.

Faced with the silent question, Kazuma smiles and replies, "Well, just now, after defeating Ryuuya, I met an even more vicious enemy. I almost died."

Having said this, he turns in Ayano's direction. Ayano, now covered by Kazuma's jacket, turns away in anger, ignoring him.

“Ah...Hmm...”

Ren somewhat understands, but he has the unshakable feeling that to speak those words would be to endanger his life. Desperately, he tries to change the topic.

"Ryu-Ryuuya has also been defeated, so it's finally over!"

Trying his best to show an innocent smile, Ren laments his pitifulness.

“That's right. Let's go home! Ayano, how's the car?”

"It burned up," Ayano immediately replies, as Kazuma eyes her with suspicion.

“It……It wasn’t me! It was blown away by Ryuuya’s wind, and when it smashed into the ground it caught on fire.”

Ayano tries to explain, but even so, Kazuma’s eyes remain full of suspicion.

Lifting his head to gaze into the clear night sky, Kazuma tells Ren, "Never mind. Taking a moonlight stroll through the mountains isn't too bad now and again."

"...if we don't meet with an accident," hearing Kazuma's words that seem to be avoiding reality, Ayano interjects calmly.

"Oh? Did the root of all evil just say something?"

“What?! You were the one who abandoned me! It's ''your'' fault this happened!”

“…… Please stop arguing, the two of you.”

Ren's tired voice tries to pacify the pair, but they don't appear to notice, and only continue to energetically accuse each other.

Looking up at the moon, so much like a silver plate, Ren ponders the cruel reality of life. Ryuuya and Hyoue have both been eliminated, the Fuuga's ambitions smashed to pieces. Everything was perfectly settled, so why is a happy ending still out of reach?

With no end to the bickering in sight, and no longer with the strength to stop them, Ren leans against his brother's chest, and slowly gives in to his drowsiness, taking the pleasing sounds of his beloved brother and sister as a lullaby.

<noinclude>
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| Return to [[Kaze_no_Stigma|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Forward to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Kaze no Stigma:Volume1 Chapter5

2009-07-30T23:56:56Z

Dagger: /* 2 */

== Chapter Five - Rescue ==
=== 1 ===

Riding the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinkansen Shinkansen] headed for Kyoto, Kazuma and Ayano were sitting on a wide seat within a side-room, quietly waiting for their arrival.

The air conditioning was very cooling, and it was an extremely cozy environment; however, most people would have rather chosen to squeeze in the over-congested train chambers than sit in the same room as these two.

There was a kind of unpleasant atmosphere that made it hard for one to stay within the room.

This is infuriating.

This is so infuriating!

Ayano’s eyes were filled with murderous desires, staring straight at Kazuma, who was sitting diagonally from her.

Even though it was impossible not to notice her, Kazuma did not even look at Ayano. He shook his leg comfortably as he skimmed through a magazine he bought from a stall.

Ayano shifted her view back towards the scenery outside once more.

Her current mood was the worst in her life so far; to have to work together with Kazuma made her very unhappy. And her father, Juugo, seemed to have more faith in Kazuma’s abilities rather than Ayano’s, which made her feel even more unhappy.

She stubbornly forced her head to face the window while glancing at Kazuma. From the looks of it, he was completely different from the way he was four years ago. His appearance did not seem much different, but in her heart, he had already jumped up several levels.

She hated Kazuma very much; she could even guarantee that while hitting on her chest. But--- her eyes just could not divert from him. Unknowingly, she had begun to go in pursuit of Kazuma, observing his every move. Ayano would not tolerate such actions.

(Speaking of which, this is totally unbelievable! How did he become so strong in just four years?)

Kazuma four years ago was just like a stone by the roadside. This was not considered bullying or looking down on him, more of removing him from sight, automatically and naturally.

It was the same even during the “Successor Ceremony”. Kazuma joined the ceremony only because Genma forced him to. Between Ayano, and Kazuma, who could not even use En-Jutsu, there should not have even been a fight. This was because even before the fight, everyone knew the outcome.

(But I heard that his fighting skills and other Jutsus were rather good…… No! Why should I be trying to spot his good points!?)

Ayano shook her head hard, removing all unpleasant thoughts from her mind. She organized her breathing and raised her head. At this moment, her eyes met those of Kazuma’s.

“…… You seem very happy.”

Kazuma was not mocking her, but was simply speaking in a surprised tone.

“Who…… Who would be happy! Just the fact that I am being with you makes me feel unhappy to the max!”

”Oh Really?!.”

Rebutting the agitated Ayano, Kazuma replied lightly. He took out a cigarette from a hidden pocket in his jacket as though nothing had happened.

“Hey! Don’t smoke in this kind of small room!”

(----Here we go again.)

As she was shouting in complaint, Ayano began to have doubts about her uncontrollable emotions. As long as Kazuma was in front of her, she seemed to turn aggressive subconsciously.

These types of emotions could not be explained clearly with just the reason: “because of hate”. After all, Ayano is the type to totally ignore those she dislikes. It would be impossible for her to even lift her head to talk to them.

(So I guess this means I don’t just hate him, I hate him very very very much!)

She used such a farfetched logic to sooth the unpleasantness in her heart. But, looking at that super detestable guy chewing his cigarette and taking out a lighter, Ayano went on a rage once more.

“Are you deaf? I told you not to smoke!”

Kazuma filled his lungs with smoke and released it slowly; the air between the two of them became thick with the smoke. After repeating the same actions once more, he looked into Ayano’s angry stare.

“------I heard you.”

The voice reached Ayano’s seat together with the smoke. Watching Ayano as she was getting choked by the smoke, Kazuma continued to pollute the air with second hand smoke.

“---- You imbecile!”

Ayano stared at Kazuma’s mouth. The spirits quickly responded to the will of the master of flame’s descendent.

Bang!

The sound of an explosion sounded off; the cigarette that Kazuma was chewing on was burnt to the head instantly. If Kazuma was any slower in spitting it out, his own mouth would have been burnt by it.

“Heh heh!”

Ignoring Ayano, who seemed so proud and pleased with herself, Kazuma took out another cigarette. This time he set up a kekkai around him, sealing off any flame spirits that may try to get out of control.

Ayano furiously stared once more at Kazuma, who began to produce more smoke. And what was even more detestable, was that the smoke went through the kekkai and began to taint her surroundings with its white fumes.

“Stop playing such stupid tricks, how about we discuss on our plans for the mission?”

Ayano fought hard to keep her desire to burn the whole train sector down and instead proposed a plan for the cooperation. It seems that having been scolded to be brainless by her father was a very shocking matter.

In the process of Ayano’s growth, all of her emotional expressions could be said to have been developed according to Juugo. Kazuma now gave a very calm reaction.

“The two of us working together requires no plan. You go ahead and fight with Ryuuya, I will stay in the back and cover you. Is there any other way?”

”……Why do I get the feeling my job is much more dangerous?”

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 185.jpg|thumb]]

Ayano knew that this was the most efficient way too, but she just felt that something was not right. This was because she did not completely trust Kazuma and thus was always getting the feeling that she was being set up.

“This is your family’s problem! Shouldn’t you work harder for it?”

”For someone who is getting paid to do the job, you sure sound proud. Mercenaries should fight at the front line! You are obligated to protect me.”

”Are you that weak?”

Kazuma gave a snort of contempt and says, “You cannot survive without someone protecting you?”

”You-----“

At the face of the furious Ayano who was so angry she was at a loss for words, Kazuma said something even ruder,

“Listen well, and remember it. I have no energy to spare to protect you. Ryuuya is very strong; stronger than me, and of course even stronger than you. We must both use our powers to the limit; only under such circumstances do we stand a chance to win. Even if you don’t trust me, at least try to unconditionally trust me for today! If you cannot do that, we are just going to die.”

Kazuma put it all out so plainly and spoke in such a calm manner that Ayano was unable to rebut. She knew that she was losing her momentum. A strong “ki” was restraining her; she could not even move a finger.

“I……I got it already……”

The only resistance she could put up was a tone that sounded as though she was fighting back, because it felt that if she did not make such an attempt to resist, she would have been conquered both physically and mentally, and would be unable to resist ever again.

“But it’s just for today…… If it weren’t for a time like this, I would never……”

She tried her best to rebut, but Kazuma did not reply. His presence earlier seemed to have vanished without a trace, as though it was just a dream. Kazuma relaxed his whole body, and fiddled with his cigarette in a lazy posture. Ayano thought to herself, he’s just like a poisonous bug.

(------What a mean person.)

She scolded in her heart. How come I am so afraid of this self-degrading nicotine addict? What an embarrassment.

“I am going to sleep.”

She left this line, and shut her eyes; then opened them once more to stare at Kazuma.

“If you try anything funny, I will burn you!”

”Don’t worry! I am not interested in creatures that have yet to become a woman.”

“--------------!”

After hearing such a rude reply, Ayano held her fist and stood up. But Kazuma just continued to read his magazine, without bothering with her actions. Just as he had said that he was “not interested”, Kazuma proves it through his actions in a very natural manner.

In an instant, Ayano’s expression seemed like she was about to cry. She blinked her eyes, which became wet without a proper reason, and then returned back to her seat and closed her eyes.

In her mind, her uncertain feelings became a whirlpool. She could no longer be sure if she was angry or sad anymore.

(Why should I even bother myself with that guy……?)

Unable to verify her own feelings, Ayano locked her confused thoughts into the depths of her consciousness. After that, she gave an order to her brain, to focus her consciousness on sleeping. Within a few seconds, Ayano forgot all about her unhappiness and gave off peaceful breathing sounds.

After confirming that Ayano was asleep already, Kazuma purified the air in the room. The originally corrupted air became clean in a second.

After telling the spirits to constantly purify, Kazuma focused his mind on the security of his surroundings; he let his senses become synchronized with the wind spirits.

His consciousness fused with the wind, his body, which became an empty shell, showed a tired smile that would have been looked down upon by Ayano.

(Gee, this girl can really sleep.)

Having thought about the possibility of being attacked while on the move, Kazuma found it hard to relax. Even though his search radius is ten kilometers wide, but while moving at three hundred kilometers per hour, one could never let his guard down since that monster could easily attack from more than twenty kilometers away if it wishes to.

Even though this was only to make himself feel more secure, Kazuma continued to keep his guard up. Even if he was able to sense an attack, it should be good to just be able to block the first hit. The enemy has no reason to focus on Kazuma, as simply destroying the whole cabin would allow him to meet his objective.

(After the first strike, I need to escape quickly before the second hit…… And on top of that, to bring along a burden, can that be done?)

Looking at the “burden” that was sleeping soundly, Kazuma mumbled to himself.

(I guess have got no choice, but to just do it……)

No matter how bad the whole situation seems, the only way out of the mess is to take action proactively. Everything would be finished if I only just wait for a chance

In the end, all of the precautions were too late. The Fuuga clan disappeared without a trace and was yet to be found. They were probably on their way to the sacred grounds; they might even have arrived already!

He did not intend to let the Fuuga clan’s ambitions to be fulfilled. Even though one reason was to save his cute brother, but Kazuma had decided long ago that “anyone that uses a human as a tribute must die”.

<nowiki>------</nowiki> Maybe not all of the Fuuga clan participated with the revolt, so some way to take care of these people would be required-----

Remembering the words of the clan chief, Kazuma showed an evil smile.

(Let me help you save some energy!)

I guess Juugo does not need to ponder about what to do with the Fuuga clan. This was because Kazuma had already decided on the death penalty for anyone in the clan.

The journey after getting off the train requires a car. After exiting the train station, the two headed to the car park as instructed.

Because of the possibility of having to go all around the whole mountain, a four wheel drive RANGE ROVER was prepared. Kazuma placed the key he obtained from Juugo into the ignition and switched on the GPS before starting the engine.

Ayano came in from the door at the other side and sat down; perhaps she was wary of Kazuma’s driving capabilities because she took up the seat belt immediately.

“Don’t put on the seat belt.”

Kazuma said as he was looking at the GPS.

“Why?”

”Ryuuya is much scarier than a car accident. Be prepared to jump out of the vehicle at any time.”

“-------Understood.”

“Then let’s go!”

Kazuma pressed on the accelerator pedal with ease.

The RANGE ROVER did not meet much interference and went swiftly down the road. After leaving the town zone, they took a scenic route, and went around to the back of the mountain.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What?”

“You mentioned earlier, Ryuuya’s wind is in berserk mode right? Won’t the spirits you control go berserk as well?”

”Well, if it is just attacking, it should be fine. But I dare not guarantee it will stay that way in the long run.”

”Are you sure it is going to be okay?”

Ayano asked in doubt.

“Believe me! Well in that case, why don’t I just test it out------ Incoming!”

Kazuma’s wind retaliated the black wind that came from above. A furious gale was created from the power of the two waves and even the heavy weighted RANGE ROVER began to shake vigorously.

“Jump out of the car!”

As if pushed out by Kazuma’s voice, Ayano kicked the car door down and jumped out. But after the jump, she remembered that it was Kazuma who ordered her earlier and she became angry because of that.

“Don’t order me around------“

She stared at the driver seat as she was making a fuss, but there was no one there anymore.

Unsure when it happened, Kazuma quietly jumped out of the car. From the closed car door, there was no way to imagine how he jumped out as, logically speaking, he should have gotten into action after Ayano.

“Wait------“

Once again speaking ahead before Ayano, Kazuma raised his finger and pointed slightly upwards; Ayano’s eyes reflexively followed this action.

(Dammit------!)

Kazuma was in control, and she was being played by his hand; it was like she was unable to move by her own will.

She was so angry she wanted to kill him, but apparently there was no time for that. At the tip of where Kazuma pointed, a shadow came from the skies and into the centre of Ayano’s vision.

A corrupted youki, even darker and duller than the black suit, with thin lips, a straight nose, and a proper face that could even have been it was handsome; but, the face was paler than a mask.

“Ryuuya……? I never noticed at all……”

If it wasn’t for Kazuma, she would have been killed without even seeing Ryuuya. A chill went down Ayano’s spine.

“Don’t take him to be same as the Fuuga clan. If a first rate Fu-Jutsushi was hiding himself, an En-Jutsushi would never be able to find him. Once you get into a melee battle, don’t leave the enemy, no matter what happens.”

Seeing Ayano who froze from the tense situation, Kazuma gave a fearless smile.

“So------Are you ready?”

”Don’t order me around. Just do your job and cover me!”

After throwing down that sentence, Ayano dashed out. As she was running, she pulled out Enraiha, and shot a fireball to show her might.

“I told you, that won’t work!”

Kazuma grumbled in shock because of Ayano’s stupidity.

Ryuuya quietly stood before the approaching fireball. The scorching flames attacked Ryuuya, who did not take any defensive actions at all, staying motionless.

<nowiki>------</nowiki>Kaboom!!

”That is not enough! Continue and strike!!”

Observing Ryuuya who was surrounded by flames, Kazuma shouted.

“I know! I told you not to order me!!”

Ayano waved her Enraiha as she replied. She did not expect a fire of that level to deal any damage against their opponent; it would have been good enough to just successfully divert his attention.

(However------ There is nothing that Enraiha cannot destroy!)

But------

Thang!

A swing with her utmost confidence was repelled by a clear sound.

“What------“

Ryuuya cleared away the flames, and closed in at Ayano who gave a gasp. She could clearly see those pitch black claws, about thirty centimeters long, coming out of those pair of bending curves.

Did the opponent use this to block Enraiha------ Ayano did not even have time to think about this.

She used the red blade to block off the claws that sliced in from the left and right, and as she was just about to retaliate, the opponent already vanished from sight.

(Behind------!?)

Instinctively, she swung her blade, and coincidentally caught Ryuuya. The pitch black claws blocked Enraiha, and were making screeching sounds.

Their weapons hit, but in terms of size and arm power, Ayano was at a disadvantage. Ayano pushed out her blade forcefully, and jumped back with the rebounding force to the back, pulling a distance between them.

“What the hell have you been covering, Kazuma!!”

Ayano did not shift her vision from Ryuuya and was furiously scolding her partner who did nothing. But she did not get a reply, no matter how long she waited.

“…… Hey, Kazuma?”

Under a very unpleasant premonition, she called to Kazuma with insecurity. This time she finally got a reply------ in the form of a far away voice transmitted by Fu-Jutsu.

“I shall be making a move first; I leave the rest to you------ Good luck!”

Hearing the playful words from the wind made Ayano dumbfounded where she stood for ten seconds.

“……………………”

Ayano, who stood there with her head bowed down originally, had golden flames suddenly burst out of her body. Maybe because she was holding the sword handle tightly, the tip of Enraiha was shivering slightly.

Ayano raised her head, and used sharp eyes to look straight ahead. Her eyes glared past Ryuuya, who stood before her, as though she could see that despicable fellow who had slipped away to further back long ago.

Ayano shouted in a trembling and furious voice.

”You…… You big traitor!! Watch it! After I get this guy, the next one is you------!!”

Her shout echoed in the empty mountains.

=== 2 ===

At that same moment, Kazuma was thirty meters in the air, gliding.

“That girl sure is energetic. Anyways, take care not to die off, and try to buy me some time!”

As he muttered something that would make Ayano furious if she heard it, Kazuma began his search for the place for the seal.

“Is that it------“

There was no need to even search; it was spotted instantly since the target was the Samadhi Flame. With Kazuma’s spiritual eyes, finding that bright, shining flame was just as simple as looking for the sun.

Kazuma temporarily descended on to the ground, and called the wind for one final jump. This jump was far higher than any of the previous jumps and he easily went above a hundred meters. It could be more appropriate to call this flying!

He almost lost no altitude as he directly flew to just above the seal and observed the situation below him.

“Hmph------ Found my brother.”

Looking from the sky, the situation of the sealing grounds could not be more obvious. Maybe for the sake of concealment, the sealing altar was smaller than expected.

At one corner, Hyoue and Ren could be seen and there were about twenty people surrounding the two. Unlike Juugo’s prediction, it seemed that all of the Fuuga clan participated in the revolt.

Kazuma stopped the wind; and as though he was walking down stairs, he descended from a hundred meters above the ground with ease. As he came closer to the surface, when there was about ten meters of distance left, Hyoue raised his head------

“Too slow!!”

Kazuma placed a gush of wind between Ren and Hyoue. As he blew Hyoue away, he reached out for Ren.

“Ren------!!”

He seemed to still be conscious; Ren reached out as far as he could, and grabbed onto Kazuma’s hand.

Kazuma pulled the tiny body to his chest and hugged him tightly; following that, they glided a distance on the surface before landing softly.

“Ren, are you okay?”

With such a gentle voice asking this question, it makes it hard to believe that this was the beast that cruelly left Ayano.

“Ye……Yes……”

”Very good------ Good boy.”

Kazuma let Ren down, and relaxingly looked down at Hyoue.

Hyoue, who had finally managed to get up, stared back at Kazuma with hatred.

“You…… How did you…… So that’s what happened, you used Ayano as bait, and infiltrated here by yourself? To sacrifice a girl, what a despicable man you are.”

”You have no right to say that about me do you, damn old man who offered your son to the devil. What can you say about yourself? Ryuya’s consciousness should be gone without a trace by now!”

“So what of it?”

Hyoue replied without a care, putting up a fearless front. Obviously, he had never introspected or regretted it.

“Why don’t you talk about this instead? If the flames of Kannagi are “Purifying Flames”, the winds of Fuuga are “Winds of corruption”! To corrupt the world, and to fulfill our own desires, that would be our justice! And for that justice, sacrificing one or two sons are nothing in comparison.”

If Ayano heard this line, she would be sure to think that Hyoue was mad! However, Kazuma understood Hyoue’s thinking very well.

When failure is not allowed, only the strong can fight righteously. If someone with insufficient power still hopes to win, then he could only seek to give up on the rules of a normal person.

The mentality to wish to seek his personal desires, even if it meant to be looked down upon, or even to be blamed by the whole world, it is all too familiar to Kazuma------ Even so, he did not intend to let Hyoue off.

“But everything is over now, have you played enough?”

”Not yet! It is not over yet!”

Hyoue laughed fearlessly, his bloodshot eyes still did not show any sign of despair.

“If you think you have won like this, you are so wrong.”

“Is that so? Anyways, just feel free to give it your all!”

Kazuma used a tone that completely enrages the opponent to reply. Ren, who was hiding behind him, laughed as well. But the normal Ren would never give off a smile that would emit such evilness.

Ren pulled out a dagger that he kept secretly, and slowly stabbed it into Kazuma’s waist area.

Kazuma’s body shook lightly, his eyes widened.

“Ho……hohahahahaha! Fool! You shall die in the hands of your own brother!”

Hyoue laughed loudly, but his eyes narrowed[瞇] with doubt soon after.

Not just Kazuma, even Ren stopped moving. No, Ren was trying to pull the dagger out, but the dagger did not budge.

“What are you doing, “Ren”! Kill him quickly!”

“I think that would be very difficult!”

Kazuma suddenly stretched his left hand forward, and the thing he was holding at the tip of his hand was the blade of the dagger that was supposed to originally be in Ren’s hand.

“You……How did you……”

“Ren” gave a moan. Kazuma threw the dagger away and turned to face the back.

“With youki being given off so vigorously, did you think I would not notice this?”

Kazuma said, as he opened his hands widen to grab “Ren”’s face.

“Ren” struggled painfully. Kazuma fought back the resistance easily, and began to gather “ki”.

“I don’t know what you placed inside, but this is Ren’s body.”

After saying that, Kazuma released the “ki”.

“Go back to Hell!”

A strong “ki” instantly vanquished the youma that was in Ren, giving no chance for it to escape. Holding his weak body, Kazuma waited for Ren to wake up.

“Argh……Ah……Nii-sama……?”

“Oh, you got up, brother.”

Kazuma’s voice sounds calm, as if all the tragic events that happened at the hotel were all just a dream.

“Nii……Nii……Nii-sama!”

Ren remembers everything, and was just about to run up to hug his brother when Kazuma raised his hand to block him off.

“Nii……Nii-sama?”

He had an unpleasant premonition from his brother’s smile, and hurriedly tried to retreat------ But it was too late, Kazuma’s hands grabbed Ren’s two cheeks, and pressed hard into them.

“It……It hurts……”

Kazuma ignored Ren’s cries, and while still putting up a smiling expression, strethed the two cheeks to the sides.

“Why were you caught so easily and suddenly? You are a guy, did you think you have the right to play the “damsel in distress”? Why do I have to come all the way to Kyoto in order to rescue you rascal?”

“Aii…… Aii errm soo soilry, iisma(I……I am so sorry, Nii-sama)!”

Ren waved his hands and legs nervously, shedding tears and begging for his brother’s forgiveness. Maybe after he saw this scene, he could no longer be angry at his brother, so Kazuma loosened his fingers.

“That…… That was so mean, brother……”

“You idiot, if it was not you, I would have beaten the hell out of you.”

Pressing on his painful red cheeks, Ren raised his head up with watery eyes. That cute gesture could almost knock out big sisters with strange interests in one hit. But it didn’t work on Kazuma. He pushed Ren away coldly, and faced Hyoue once more.

“We fooled around enough I guess, shall I make my move now?”

“Hmmm……”

Hyoue gave off a groan. Kazuma’s presence was totally out of his calculations, not only did he possess great power, his techniques were overly eminent too.

That special way of exorcism, Hyoue had never seen anything like it. It looked easy, but in reality, it might have been a very sophisticated and delicate technique; to be able to activate it in an instant, it was very extraordinary.

“It seems like wanting to use you was the biggest mistake I made.”

“Yes, I think so too. If not for all these petty tricks, maybe the Kannagi clan would have perished by now!”

The reason why Kazuma agreed so readily was because he knew that this would deal another blow to Hyoue. Kazuma was never stingy on anything that can make another person feel unhappy.

“But, why!? Why do you try to stop me!? You should know very well the kind of hatred someone who was bullied has in them; the humiliation being forced to kneel before others. You should have experienced them, felt them too!

You hate the Kannagi too right? You despise them right? Aren’t we all the same? You should be on our side!!”

Ren lifted his head to look at his brother’s expression. As Hyoue had said, Kazuma had been through situations very similar to the Fuuga clan. Even though he said that he “no longer hates the Kannagi clan”, but Hyoue’s words… won’t they remind him of his hatred once more?

“Yeah, that’s right. My feelings are very similar to yours. Even if the Kannagi clan dies out, I would not even feel sad.”

“Nii-sama------!?”

Ren’s expression changed immediately as he grabbed Kazuma’s hand.

After seeing this scene, Hyoue smirked. If he could get Kazuma on his side, the battle situation would be turned around instantly. Even if Kazuma did not join him, as long as he no longer interferes------

“In that case, we have no reason to fight anymore, do we? I am not asking you to help, but just stop interfering with what we do, as destroying the Kannagi clan is our wish.

These three hundred years, we were controlled by the Kannagi clan as slaves. Three hundred years! Our ancestors did commit a sin in the past. But just how long must we pay to redeem ourselves!? When will we ever be forgiven!?”

Kazuma silently watched Hyoue, who said everything in one go with such passion and emotions. He took out a cigarette from a hidden pocket, and lit it with a lighter.

“Besides, why do we have to pay for the sins our ancestors committed? Why must we be used and humiliated like slaves? What crimes did we commit? No! No! No! I cannot accept this! I will never acknowledge the Kannagi’s arrogance! This is a justified revenge! I have every right to destroy the Kannagi clan!”

“……Are you done talking?”

Stepping on the cigarette ashes with his foot, Kazuma asked, “So you have nothing else left to say?”

After understanding the true meaning of that sentence, Hyoue widened his eyes in shock.

“You…… Still want to go against me…… Why? Why do you try so hard to please the Kannagi clan? You have such magnificent powers with you, why?”

“Because the clan chief is willingly to offer 100 million yen to hire me.”

Kazuma said straightly. Hyoue became dumb-founded with his mouth open, unable to say anything.

“Nii-sama------?”

Ren raised his tone at the end of his speech and asked in an obviously suspicious manner,

“So that means, Nii-sama came here to work? Not to save me in particular.”

“My belief is to take whatever you can. This is called killing two birds with one stone!”

After hearing Kazuma’s explanation, Ren’s doubts were still not erased. Kazuma faced his brother, who was looking at him with blaming eyes, and smiled bitterly, saying,

“It is not easy to just be alive. One day you will come to understand that too------ Hey. Where do you think you are going, old man?”

Kazuma, with his sharp eyes, spotted Hyoue, who tried to escape while the two were chatting and was halted by Kazuma’s words.

“So are you finished praying? What a coincidence that your God seems to be in the area too.”

Hehehehehe. Kazuma purposely made noise to mock his opponent.

“……Don’t think you have won just yet!”

Hyoue, whose face grew red with anger. He gave a signal and about ten people, both males and females, came out. Kazuma looked at the daggers and clubs that they were holding without a care.

“No matter how many of such people from the Fuuga clan come out…… Hey wait… old man, what did you do to these people?”

Unfocused pupils and staggered steps, these Jutsushis were obviously without consciousness.

“These people, they forgot the pride of the Fuuga clan, and are dumb fools who were willingly to be slaves of the Kannagi. They should think about who they are, to try to persuade and stop me. So I took away their consciousness, and they are now puppets. Hahahahaha……”

Hyoue used an ear-piercing voice to laugh. The look of that obdurate old man was ugly to the limit.

“So how about it, Kazuma? These people are loyal to the Kannagi, they are Jutsushis who are righteous and respectable! To you, who is a follower of the Kannagi, you should not be able to kill them right? So tell me, what are you going to do------? “

“Just like this.”

Kazuma stopped Hyoue’s self-speech and cut off the Jutsushis’ heads all at the same time. As if it was a joke, ten heads flew up into the sky at the same time, and fell down onto the ground one by one.

“You……You bastard! Against innocent people who are merely being controlled…… Are you even human?”

“Don’t you keep talking about me. Did you think I am some hero of justice? Who cares whether they were controlled or blackmailed; whoever points a knife at me is my enemy. A little girl would be no exception.”

Hearing such a cold-blooded declaration, Hyoue was at a loss for words. And at this moment------

“Da……Damn!”

One man ran out of the human wall that decreased by half. His wife was killed by Kazuma just now. Since his wife was unable to accept Hyoue’s ambitions, her consciousness was taken away. But, if the Kannagi was destroyed, she would have been turned back to normal, and they could live on like they used to, no, even more happily than before.

“Woahhhhhhh!!”

The man released wind blades. But compared to Kazuma’s wind, they were small sized wind blades worthy of pity.

The control of the small sized wind blades was taken by Kazuma, and he chopped off the caster’s head in return. The man’s head rolled on the floor and eventually stopped by the side of his wife’s head.

No one in the area dared to move. The look of a person fully wrapped by northern-most winds, bringing down heartless punishment, was just like a god of death descending upon the real world------

“Ah ah…… Speaking of which, how many people are left?”

”Wa……Wahhhhhhhh!”

That lazy speech was just like a signal. The Fuuga clan began to lose control, and scattered away in an unorganized manner.

“Stay…… Stay there!”

No one listened to Hyoue’s orders. Even if it was just one step further, everyone ran from Kazuma as if their lives depended on it. A fear that surpassed the teachings of the Fuuga clan has controlled their hearts.

By now, the Fuuga clan was but no more. But to Kazuma, the real problem begins only now.

“Nii……Nii-sama, you really overdid it! There was no need to kill those people who were controlled, was there!?”

Kazuma had to comfort Ren, who was gleaming with tears while interrogating Kazuma.

“Oh? Is……Is that so?”

By Kazuma’s standards, what he did already had Ren’s feelings in mind, by trying to prevent unnecessary killings……

“Let’s…… Let’s put this aside for now and take care of that old man first!”

Kazuma used Hyoue as a shield to change the topic.

“Sorry to make you wait. Are you ready?”

“Damn……Kid……”

Looking angrily at Kazuma, who was never shy with his words, Hyoue spewed out infinite curses. Having been abandoned by his subordinates, Hyoue was now alone.

Of course, he had tried to escape several times already. But each time Kazuma stopped him, so he was unable to get away successfully.

Even if he turned around, even if he was busy trying to comfort Ren, Kazuma’s eyes never left Hyoue.

“However, it is not over. Everything has not come to an end yet…… Bastard! Did you think that without Ryuuya beside me, I am just a useless old man?”

Kazuma kept quiet. This sentence was not fit enough for him to even reply to.

“If that is what you think, you are so wrong! Ryuuya was not the only one who obtained power from the contract!”

“Ryuuya got nothing.”

Kazuma corrected him coldly.

“That guy just lost everything.”

“Hmph, that is but a small problem.”

Hyoue said that, and then said at the top of his voice.

“Watch closely! This is the “Power” that I obtained!”

As he made his declaration, an abnormal youki began spreading everywhere. The dimension was sliced open, and from a world which no one knows where it lies, it------ they------ appeared.

“Wahhhhhh!?”

Ren screamed loudly. This could not be blamed, as the two of them were surrounded by all kinds of youma, which was so packed that even water might not even be able to get through. Their numbers were perhaps over a hundred.

At the back of this scene of over a hundred youma, Hyoue mocked out loudly.


“So how is that, shocked? This is my power!”

“……and how is this “your” power?”

Kazuma mocked back lazily. The power that Hyoue was so proud of was nothing more than low level youma borrowed from the one that possessed Ryuya. To borrow something that was borrowed. Having something that has been borrowed twice, Hyoue himself possesses no power.

“Small issue.”

But Hyoue did not seem to care.

“Before I meet up with Ryuuya, why don’t you stay and play with these guys!”

Upon saying that, Hyoue mixed into the large group of youma and disappeared.

The remaining two people were surrounded by the youma. It seemed like there was no way out of this. In fact, Ren’s expression became tense due to fear.

“Nii……Nii-sama……I shall take care of those at the back……”

“Don’t move, I am going to take care of this in one go.”

As Kazuma had said, it was something that happened in the blink of an eye. A sped-up wind became a metal hammer and came straight down from the skies high above, smashing onto the surface. Under such tremendous force, all of the youma were ripped and crushed.

(How……How powerful……)

Ren held his breathe as he watched all these happen. What a scary power; if it was this power, it is not hard to understand how Genma was defeated.

“What are you waiting for? Go after that old man quickly!”

Just as Kazuma grabbed Ren, who was just standing there, in order to fly off,

“------Ahhh?”

Ren suddenly turned back, and asked.

“What's wrong?”

After Hearing Ren’s question, Kazuma hesitated before asking him back.

“------Ayano came here too, can you feel it?”

“Huh------ No, nothing.”

Ren continued to try to detect a presence------ But he could feel nothing.

“But, we En-Jutsushis are not good at detecting presence in the first place……”

“But that is not be to the extent that you are unable to detect an Enraiha in battle------ It appears she lost.”

“How can that be?! Impossible!”

Ren declared very directly, his expression shows no doubt.

This was a sign of absolute trust. For the wielder of Enraiha to lose, that is the same as turning heaven and earth around, both are impossible.

“If nee-sama’s “ki” became quiet that means nee-sama has already won. There can be no other possibility!”

“It would be good if that was so. That would save a lot of effort.”

Kazuma played along with the confident Ren, and once again picked him up like an object.

“Let’s meet up with Ayano first! It would be troublesome if she died.”

“Is it okay to not chase after Hyoue?”

“We have plenty of chances to kill that old man------ Let's go!”

Kazuma leaped out with that shout.

=== 3 ===

The wind was very gentle, yet at the same time took them up to the skies with force. They were overcoming gravity easily, flying past tree branches, to an even higher place------

“Wow……This is great…… What a magnificent view!”

Perhaps he was used to the second time of high altitude flying as Ren began to enjoy the spectacular view from above. Even though Kazuma wanted to let him watch longer, he had increased their speed.

“Huh, is it over already?”

Ren said sadly as he realized they were beginning to descend.

“When this is over, you can see for as long as you want. Just bear with it for now!”

The two of them landed on a small empty piece of land.

“She’s here------ You see, I was right after all.”

”Nee……Nee-sama!?”

Ren began to suspect his eyes, Ayano was tainted with blood all over and was coming towards them. She was dragging with staggered steps that seem about to fall down anytime.

Enraiha was barely hanging from the tip of her powerless drooping right arm. The tip of the blade was being dragged across the surface and produced an exceptionally ear-piercing sound.

Ayano stopped before the two of them. Having wounds all over her, she used those eyes of hers that seem to still have some strength in them to glare at Kazuma furiously. Her eyes seemed as though fire was about to burst out from them, and they were aimed straight between Kazuma’s eyebrows.

“You lost completely!”

Even though it was impossible for Kazuma not to notice that strong murderous intent, his attitude did not seem to care, and his cold words did not seem to carry any guilt of leaving Ayano as bait.

“You asshole……”

Ayano squeezed out the last of her strength, and raised her Enraiha against this despicable traitor before her; a beautiful shining flame surrounded the red blade.

However, she no longer had any strength to swing the blade. Kazuma safely hugged Ayano, who fell from her loss of strength. Enraiha lost its shine and slipped from her hand and rolled onto the floor.

The divine sword that fell to the ground began to disappear as if it merged with the air.

“This idiot. To try to swing that kind of divine sword with a body that is almost dead, of course she would overexert herself and run out of strength.”

Kazuma’s heartless words never reached Ayano’s ears. She had lost consciousness completely. Her face was way beyond paleness; it is as white as a corpse.

“Nee-sama! Ayano nee-sama !”

“You are so noisy, shut up.”

Kazuma, without even turning his head, ordered his brother, who was screaming in pain and sadness at one side to be quiet. He grabbed Ayano’s hair to lift her face up. On the surface it seemed like he was checking her body condition, but such actions would have seemed rough to anyone, and he did not seem to be worried about Ayano.

After over several tens of seconds, the worried Ren asked, looking flustered.

“Nii-sama, Ayano nee-sama is going to be fine right……?”

“Nope, she is dead meat.”

Kazuma crushed Ren’s expectations without mercy.

“How……How can that……”

“The wounds themselves were nothing much, the problem was the youki that entered her body through them. She was only one step away from having her body be completely overrun by youki.”

He was just like a doctor, but for him to say it that way, the doctors would most probably complain about it! Kazuma used a very calm yet cold-blooded way to make such a declaration.

“But, what kind of youki could freeze a divine child of the flames, and Enraiha together with her? Just where did that old man Hyoue find a youma like that?”

“Now is not the time to discuss that problem right? If you don’t save nee-sama Ayano soon……”

“Ren, catch.”

Kazuma suddenly tossed Ayano’s body at Ren.

“Wah!”

Even though Ayano was slim, and completely out of strength, to a twelve year old youth she was still too heavy and so the both of them fell onto the floor together.

“Wha……What……”

Ren who wanted to make a fuss at first, realized how cold Ayano’s body was. Even though she was still breathing, she was no different from a corpse. The “freeze” Kazuma used in his words was not a metaphor, but was literally describing the truth.

Ren, as an En-Jutsushi, could sense clearly, that the flame of life in Ayano was burning out with every second.

“Is……Is there no way to save Nee-sama, Nii-sama!?”

“Hmm------ It is not that there is no way, but……”

“But what!?”

“It would be a waste.”

An indescribable silence filled the scene. Ren was just like a puppet, looking at Kazuma with a frozen expression.

Kazuma watched Ren silently as well.

“------What did you say?”

Ren broke the silence, and asked in a voice that sounded exceptionally dull.

“It would be a waste.”

Kazuma repeated it calmly once more. His tone sounded as though there was nothing strange with what he said, almost like he was just stating an obvious fact.

“It is a really valuable medicine, and I probably will not get another one like it ever again.”

He shrugged his shoulders, as though saying there is nothing I can do about it?

Ren could not believe this, for someone to say that a medicine is more important than a human life, and that person to be his own brother. His shocked feelings were expressed out in words.

“The problem doesn’t lie there does it? If this continues, Nee-sama will die, and to say that using medicine is too wasteful…… That cannot be true, right?”

“It is not a big deal even if Ayano dies! It is not like the direct family bloodstream dies off completely, you can just inherit the Enraiha. Our old man would be very happy too then.”

This was the first time Ren had ever heard such inhumane words. The blood in his body grew hot, as though it was boiling, and the flame spirits gave off a cheerful sound as though they felt that a battle was about to begin.

“What’s wrong?”

Kazuma looked upon his brother, who bowed down in silence, with caring eyes.

“Don’t ……”

“Don’t ……?”

“Don’t joke around with me------!!“

Ren’s roar became a physical shockwave, hitting Kazuma. Kazuma used “ki” to perform the lowest level of defense, and let the opponent hit him while at the same time, smirking.

Only Kazuma could understand that this phenomenon was the result of the spirits responding to Ren’s rage.

(Yes, that is the way.)

The characteristic of flames is “aggressive flames”. A strong rage is the key factor to synchronize with flame spirits. To a human who is usually calm and timid, they will not lend them their fullest powers.

To be able to both possess great rage while controlling that rage, only then can one be a first rate En-Jutsushi.

With a heat so hot it seemed like a metal smelting furnace surrounded the area, the flame spirits responded to Ren’s rage and continued to gather.

“Give me the medicine.”

Ren ordered softly. He had no need to roar now, as he knew very well what he needed to do. If the opponent resists, he will have to get the medicine even if he might die in order to get it. Whether he succeeds or not is not a problem; this is something he must do.

“OK------ I got it, don’t threaten me anymore.”

Raising his hands to surrender, Kazuma was unable to keep the smile at his mouth. Calm fighting spirit and the mental energy to control it, Ren has already begun his journey to become a first class Jutsushi.

Going past Ren’s side, Kazuma walked to Ayano who was lying on the floor. Looking down at the motionless Ayano, he toyed with a bottle he took out from his hidden pocket.

To say that he did it without hesitation would definitely be a lie. This was an extremely rare and valuable medicine; even so, as long as it was for Ren’s growth, he did not mind paying such a price since this thing did not cost him a single cent in the first place.

He kneeled by Ayano’s side, and planned to place the mouth of the bottle right against the pale lips of Ayano------ but gave up in the end. She did not seem to have the strength to even drink it, and to spill the medicine would really be a waste.

Kazuma stretched his hand behind Ayano, and lifted her upper body straight up. He drank the medicine himself, and their lips closed together as though his whole body fell on Ayano.

“Wah!”

From the excess light at the edge of his eyes he could see Ren who was by the side, with his face flushed red yet mesmerized at the same time, as Kazuma poured the medicine into Ayano’s mouth by the mouth-to-mouth method.

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 219.jpg|thumb]]
(Hmmm…………)

Ayano first felt warmth; something seems to be removing the youki that has invaded her body quickly. Heat------life came back bit by bit.

She slowly began to be able to detect the situation outside her. She knew she was being surrounded by a powerful force and that a warm healing spiritual energy was coming in from her lips.

Ayano felt that this was someone who had just pulled her back from the gates of death lightly, yet strongly at the same time.

She opened her eyes slowly, and at such a close distance that her focal point was about to focus, the one who appeared before her eyes was------

"<nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki>!"

Her consciousness became awake in an instant and Ayano used all her strength to push Kazuma away.

Kazuma moved away unhurriedly, as if he saw through the cute reaction that Ayano gives when she is nervous, and stood up in a steady manner.

(I……I was kissed……? Why……?)

Ayano used her left hand to press on her lips. Her right hand was tightly hugging her own body, and just like a weak girl who had just been assaulted by a rapist, she closed her legs tightly and contracted her body.

(What’s going on……?)

Not knowing what was going on, it was impossible to understand the situation.

Maybe it was due to the youki that invaded her, as her memories did not seem to be able to link up. Not only the situation of how she wanted to cut Kazuma with her sword, she could not even remember how they met up in the first place.

She lifted her head to look at Kazuma suspiciously, who, in turn looked back with a calm stare as though he was observing some animal in an experiment. Actually, he was observing how efficient the medicine was, but it was impossible for Ayano to know that.

Anger began to grow within her. After taking a girl’s kiss----a first kiss at that------ away, the other party did not even seem to have a shred of guilt. She could not accept this kind of thing happening at all.

“What the hell were you doing------!!”

“Is that how you talk to your benefactor?”

“Huh……”

The cold reply weakened Ayano’s attitude. Ren ran over at this time with wet eyes and raised his head to look at Ayano, fighting back his tears.

“Nee……Nee-sama……”

The revived Ayano with her body brimming with energy makes it hard to imagine the way she looked when she was about to die earlier. Even her wounds and blood traces disappeared.

“Nee-sama! Nee-sama! Nee-sama!”

Ren was very happy. He was tightly hugging his beloved “sister” as his tears began to fall. As if he was trying to confirm that this was not a dream, he hugged Ayano with all his might and kept on calling her.

Even if he is just a kid, a twelve year old still has some arm power. Even though she felt uncomfortable, Ayano still insisted on rubbing Ren’s head gently.

“Ren, calm down…… Everything is fine, I will protect you, so don’t be afraid……”

“Idiot.”

Hearing Ayano’s big mistake, Kazuma rebutted without mercy. He ignored the murderous intent that was shot at him and continued to say.

“Ren is worried about you. You were totally thrashed by Ryuya earlier, and almost died. By the way, the one who saved you is me, so be grateful.”

This speech made by someone who claims to be her benefactor made Ayano’s temple entangle together. Faced with a strong atmosphere that could make a crying child become quiet, Ren stopped his tears and his expression froze instantly.

Ayano suddenly lowered her head and looked at Ren. She grabbed Ren, who sub-consciously decided to run away and pressed on his shoulder, asking with a scary expression,

“Is that true?”

“Huh…… Huh……”

Ren felt troubled, unsure of what was the meaning of the question. Ayano closed in, and repeated once more.

“That guy said he saved me, is that true?”

Ren answered in a soft and delicate voice as he shivered.

“It…… It is true. Nii-sama, he took the medicine…… then…… mouth-to-mouth……”

“Forget about this.”

Ayano stopped Ren’s reply softly. The hand that was pressed on his shoulder became more forceful, as if she was looking at Ren from just above. Seeing that expression that only has her mouth smiling, Ren was so scared his legs went limp.

“You saw nothing, you understand?”

Ren did not make a sound, only nodding continuously.

“Oh yeah, what did you make me drink? It is not something with some weird side effects right?”

Ayano asked in a suspicious tone. She knew that she almost died just now, and towards something so suspicious as to be able to completely cure her in a few minutes, she could not trust it one bit.

“Elixir.”

Kazuma replied in a very simple and clear manner.

“Elixir? You don’t mean that, what is it called, “Water of Life”!?”

“Ehhhhhhhhhh------!?”

Not just Ayano, but even Ren, who was about to cry, gave off sounds of surprise. This was normal, as what is known as the “Water of Life” is a miracle drug made with the essence of alchemy with tremendous effects. It is said to be able to even revive the dead. This type of miracle drug, not to mention its production method, but whether it even exists in the first place is uncertain.

“That kind of thing, where did you get it……”

“Before that, don’t you have something to say?”

Compared to the shocked Ayano, Kazuma seemed very calm since the beginning. Noticing what Kazuma meant by his words, Ayano reluctantly thanked him…

“……Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I will just add extra charges to my service as necessary expenses. About a hundred million will do.”

“You……You bastard! Can’t you just ignore some losses and help someone!? Someone who measures everything with money, won’t that be too low for a human!?”

“You think this is something that can be bought with money!?”

“Argh…………”

Kazuma raised his voice and gave off an imposing presence and Ayano became speechless instantly. This was the first time Kazuma became so emotional, it seemed that his precious medicine being used has made him feel very unhappy.

Indeed, something like an elixir cannot be bought with money. It is something that can even revive the dead. It is not hard to believe that many people would want to get it even if they would become bankrupt in the process and to sell this kind of thing for just a hundred million is more outrageous than a great sale.

Even so, Kazuma was still able to change his mood with just one sigh.

“Nevermind. Let’s forget what happened in the past! Oh yeah, Ayano, so why did you lose?”

“……Why are you asking such a thing?”

Faced with a question that shattered her pride, Ayano could only put on a bitter expression.

“Of course I must ask. I always thought of your Enraiha as the ultimate weapon. If it is of no use, the whole battle plan must be thought over once more. So tell me, what is going on? Is it that Enraiha cannot burn him even if it cuts into Ryuya?”

“Huh……Errr…… That is……”

Looking at the tongue-tied Ayano, Kazuma’s eyes began to lower its temperature. Ayano did not dare to look into those cold eyes; her eyes began to shift about randomly.

“That is to say, you did not even hit him once? All of your attacks were predicted.”

“Hmm…………”

“And then, all of the En-Jutsu you released in anxiety was all blocked down by wind.”

”Errm errr………….”

“After suffering the enemy’s single sided vigorous attacks, your injuries kept on increasing.”

“………………………..”

“And you managed to escape somehow in the end. As this type of content is too embarrassing, perhaps I should praise you on your abilities to run away?”

“Wha……What! How can you say such a thing!?”

After hearing such cruel and heartless comments, Ayano finally lost her temper.

“After saying “trust me” so proudly earlier, in the end you just ran off and left me behind in a few words! And for someone who left the most problematic things to someone else, what rights does you have to say such a thing!!”

“Oh, I am sorry.”

“……Huh?”

Hearing this unexpected reply, Ayano widened her eyes. She had expected him to mock her back vigorously in return; it was unimaginable for him to apologize so honestly.

As if he could not let it go, Kazuma continues to say,

“I never expected you to be that weak.”

Ba-doom!!

An unusual noise came from her heart. The space around Ayano began to make crackling sounds. Ren quickly retreated from Ayano’s side as if he was bounced off.

“I thought that before I rescued Ren, you would at least be able to buy more time but it seems that it was too hard on you after all. I am so sorry.”

Gathering all of her strength, Ayano grabbed the handle of Enraiha tightly. Her fighting spirit went all over her body and the fallen leaves by her legs started dancing in the air. In the night of autumn, the temperature went up quickly; it was hotter than a sunny day, and while being roasted by the hot air Ren’s expression became tense.

“The last time you tried to cut me with your blade…… Back then I thought that you were taking it easy on me, thinking that I am of your family after all, but I failed to notice that you were serious, I totally did not realize that, sor……”

Ayano moved her hand to make Kazuma shut up. She used a serious attitude without any other thoughts in mind and, without hesitation, began to mercilessly swing the Enraiha.

“Oh oh!”

Her eyes went in pursuit of Kazuma who shifted his body with ease to dodge. Ayano swung the Enraiha upwards to cut him. Up against this slanted upward cut, Kazuma went toward the left side to escape.

(Don’t even think of escaping!)

Ayano twisted her hand, and pulled Enraiha back. The tip of the sword pointed at Kazuma, and she stepped out forcefully in preparation for a stab------

“Nee-sama!”

A guaranteed stab, but because Ren rushed over and hugged her waist tightly, it missed its target.

“What are you doing, Ren! Get away now!!”

“No! Now is not the time to be doing this, is it!?”

To be pointed out by a boy four years younger than her, Ayano was speechless.

"Nii-sama too! Why did you do something so detestable!?"

Ren pointed the arrowhead to Kazuma at the same time. The youth had gotten his responsibility up by now, thinking that if he left these two people who are older than him to do as they wish, nothing good will come out from it.

“I did not annoy her.”

“So, why did you say those words?”

Ren continued to ask Kazuma who replied randomly. A feeling of mistrust came out from all over him.

“Just relieving some stress that’s all.”

“……………………………”

“The one, who was expected to be the final weapon, is in fact like a little kitten. It would make anyone want to say something about it, wouldn’t it?”

“Nee……Nee-sama……Calm down……”

Ren tried his best to comfort Ayano who seemed ready to explode.

“……I know. I won’t be angry anymore, you can let go now.”

After being greatly weakened by Ren who seemed ready to cry, Ayano said that with some shades of calmness. She breathed out, as if letting all the air from her lungs go, while at the same time releasing her rage.

“By the way, you should have taken care of Hyoue haven’t you?”

“Nope, he escaped.”

”……What?”

Ayano suddenly shouted back. No matter what she says, she had deep faith in Kazuma’s capabilities. And this Kazuma was actually unable to finish someone like Hyoue off------

“------ What happened?”

“That old man summoned over a hundred youma at one go. I was busy taking care of that when he took the chance to slip off.”

“Over a hundred?”

Seeing the doubtful Ayano, Ren confirmed Kazuma’s words.

“It is true, Nee-sama. Youma that filled one’s vision, Nii-sama used almost one move to get rid of all of them. The reason why we failed to catch Hyoue was……”

(To save sister……)

Just as he was about to complete the sentence, Kazuma stopped him. Kazuma’s fingertip was pressed against his lips so Ren awkwardly became silent.

“What are you trying to hide?”

“Nothing important, the biggest problem now is Ryuuya. The next time this happens we are sure to die.”

“…… You still intend to fight?”

Seeing the cowardly Ayano, Kazuma placed judging eyes on her.

(I never expected her to be so weak mentally.)

But, now is definitely not the time to let her to continue to be down. He had intentions of fighting against that kind of monster alone, but the suffering and the efforts must be shared by everyone. That is Kazuma’s belief.

“Why, are you scared? Well I won’t blame you; after all you lost so miserably earlier on. The next time you are caught by the enemy, I promise not to laugh at you again.”

After being totally looked-down upon and being humiliated like this, Ayano’s cheeks were so red she put on blushers.

“Even if I cannot win, at least I can suicide before the enemy catches me! I won’t even leave a cell to those guys. I have that kind of determination, don’t look down on me!”

She rebutted angrily. This spirit was enough, but the content was unacceptable.

Not sure how to take that line, Kazuma’s eyebrows creased together and Ayano continued to say,

“What I meant was whether we should head back and reorganize our fighting force. Since Ren is already rescued, there should be no risk that the seal will be broken, so……”

“Rejected.”

Kazuma refused Ayano’s suggestion very simply.

“To be attacked while on the move, that situation is very bad. In the case of the whole transport vehicle being destroyed, are you confident of escaping?”

“But, they won’t be so dumb as to even kill Ren, would they? If they do that, they cannot break the seal.”

“Hyoue’s goal is to destroy the Kannagi clan. From the looks of it, he hates the Kannagi clan to the core. To release the seal placed upon their god, is probably just one method of doing so.”

Even though he used the word “probably”, Kazuma was actually very certain. If she saw that insane hatred with her own eyes, perhaps Ayano would be able to understand!

To Hyoue, God or Devil is nothing but “power”. In his heart, he only thinks about how to use them. Now, Hyoue has gotten Ryuuya, who could be used to destroy the Kannagi clan. So in this case, he does not need to be so obsessed with breaking the seal of their god.

“Besides, in this situation, killing us would mean they have won. Because my old man is now with heavy injuries------“

“That was done by you!”

“Don’t talk about that for now. No matter how powerful the clan chief may be, his body is unable to fight. Those in the branch family are all useless. In other words, if we die, it means the end of the Kannagi clan. Got it?”

After hearing the logical analysis, Ayano had no way of rebutting. Even though she knew that Kazuma was right, but for her to have to fight with Ryuya once more, her body naturally rejected the idea.

But before Ayano could get into the right mindset, the situation changed. Kazuma raised his head to look into the sky suddenly.

“No time to hesitate------ We have been spotted.”

“------? Didn’t you set up a kekkai?”

“Yeah, but after the thing the two of you did, I doubt it would last long.”

“……I am so sorry.”

“It is okay------ by the way, Ren.”

“Ah, yes?”

Ren was called upon suddenly and replied in a rising voice. Kazuma then made a cruel declaration.

“Hyoue is sure to make you his target because to be able to get the power of a God as well is most desirable. But since we will be struggling just to take care of Ryuya, we have no capabilities to protect you as well, so you must handle your own problems yourself.”

This sentence seemed to have the hidden meaning of “you might as well go die if you are a nuisance”, so Ren’s expression grew tense. But he recovered in a while, and looked back at his brother with determined eyes.

“I…… I got it. Against someone like Hyoue, I alone can handle him. If I lose, I shall kill myself before I get caught, I won’t cause any trouble for Nii-sama, will that do?”

Ren said abruptly with a pale face.

Kazuma, unsure whether to laugh or cry, looked at Ren and then turned his head to Ayano.

“What to do, because you said such dumb words, now even Ren does not know what he is fighting so hard for.”

“What idiotic words? As the main family of the Kannagi clan, this kind of determination is only natural!”

Kazuma no longer talked to Ayano, but instead turned his head to Ren. Then he grabbed the tiny head that stood before his chest.

“Wha……What’s the matter, Nii-sama?”

“Ren, let me tell you the rules of this game. “The winner is the one who lives”. Simple?”

Ren was at a loss due to the sudden rough actions, but Kazuma continues to talk without caring.

“Someone without the will to live is sure to lose. This is a rule that will never change in a fight. Remember that.

Listen well. You are just a kid, just a newbie; no one thinks that you are of much use. So, just doing what you can do will be enough.”

“What I can do……?”

“That is “to live”. Don’t try to beautify death with the terms like self-sacrifice.

Death is the end of everything. Anything in the past, present and future will lose their meaning in an instant. That is death. There is no way to start over. It is the absolute end.”

Unable to lose, unable to sacrifice, he could not accept using the future of a twelve year old in exchange for peace.

Kazuma did not want to lose anything important anymore.

“But as long as you are still alive, there will be a chance to turn the tables around; so, even if your teeth are broken off, you must swallow them back with your blood, no matter how pathetic, how shameful it seems, never give up on surviving. Even if you must struggle to the very last moment, this is your battle, can you do it?”

Kazuma looked at Ren closely, and Ren looked back at Kazuma just the same way.

Never give up, never throw hope away, these are the determinations required to win. Ren learned this from Kazuma. His pale face regained its natural color; the light of being pushed to a dead-end in his eyes seems to be fading away.

(I am not alone.)

There are people who protect me, people who support me, so all I need to do is to finish whatever I can. Because this is the best way to make the me, who is still immature, now useful.

“Yes!”

Hearing such an energetic reply, Kazuma gave off a gentle smile. The feeling of his head being rubbed in a rough manner was making Ren feel very comfortable.

“So then...”

Kazuma pushed Ren backwards lightly and told Ayano without shifting his eyes,

“------He’s here.”

Ayano raised her head to look into the sky. As if the blue sky was sliced open, a black shadow even darker than darkness itself was pasted on one point of the sky. Following that, the shadow expanded quickly, and its face could be seen more clearly.

“So he is here……”

Ayano mumbled in a trempling voice after seeing a clear human shadow being formed.

The black shadow that seems to absorb all light by opening its arms like wings, landed on the ground. Up against a demonic opponent that stood there silently, Kazuma’s face showed an evil smile.

“Come on, let round two begin------“

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| Return to [[Kaze_no_Stigma|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
| Forward to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
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</noinclude>

Kaze no Stigma:Volume1 Chapter6

2009-07-30T23:54:57Z

Dagger: /* 2 */

== Chapter Six - Decisive Battle ==

=== 1 ===
Ksssshaaaaaaaaaaaa…….

The forest rustled with unease. Such were the sounds made by the forest inhabitants, which had run away with all their might upon feeling the immense [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Youki|''youki'']]. The bugs, which had no means of sensing the danger, were unable to withstand the abnormal pressure and disappeared without a trace. Even animals, unable to escape, had come in contact with the youki and instantly perished. The sound of their corpses raining out of the trees and littering the forest floor could be heard. Though there were no external injuries, nonetheless they had all died instantly.

Then, all sound ceased. All the youki within Ryuuya was released, and its mere existence had spread death around the world.

Facing Ryuuya, who stood there silently, Ayano took up Enraiha. Unable to take even a single step in his direction, simply lifting it was all she could do. The youki, which felt as though it would freeze her blood, rendered her unable to move. And no matter what she tried, she could not stop her knees from trembling.

An immense fear had gripped Ayano’s soul. It was difficult enough to just force herself to stand there without running away; to advance would have been impossible.

Ayano had inherited Enraiha at the age of twelve, when she was still young. It might have been a mistake. Because of this, Ayano had never fought an enemy more powerful than herself. For someone who always defeated her enemies with brute strength, there was no way for her to make confident combat decisions when she was the one at a disadvantage.

To put it simply, after suffering her first defeat, Ayano had not been able to find the courage to go up against Ryuuya.

“What are you doing? Go on!” Kazuma said to the trembling Ayano.

“Don’t worry! I am with you.”

”How can I not worry?!” Ayano retorted angrily.

"How dare he say 'don’t worry' so simply?"

“There is no reason to run, now is there? Therefore, I won't run this time. Trust me.”

Who could trust someone who had just said “he would run if there was a reason”? Ayano stared back to see Kazuma smiling deviously.

“This…… This is the last time. If you dare to betray me again, before I die, I will kill you!”

“No problem, I swear to God.”

“……God? Which one?”

Ayano gave him an undisguisedly suspicious look, but Kazuma only continued to show that smile that couldn't be trusted and replied, ”Who knows? Which God I pray to doesn’t matter! I am an unbeliever after all.”

Ayano no longer had the strength to remain angry at this and murmured with her voice heavy in resignation, ”……Enough. I'll leave the support to you.”

”Leave it to me.”

Ignoring Kazuma’s mocking salute, Ayano dashed forward. Though she doesn't - and probably wouldn't ever - realize it, the fear which had gripped her has been greatly reduced by this meaningless chat.

Ayano rans towards Ryuuya, but when her target was just a few steps away, Ryuuya suddenly took to the air.

“……Huh?”

Looking at Ryuuya, who flew past her, Ayano gave a sound of shock.

“Idiot! Don’t get outmaneuvered so easily!”

”You…… Even if you say that……”

Completely ignoring Ayano, Ryuuya aimed straight for Kazuma, and as he descended he released wind blades at a rapid speed. Kazuma createed a strong upflow of air to cancel out the black winds.

But this is just a feint, the true attack uses a strength beyond human limits. A slice executed by claws. Raised high above his head, the originally hidden right claw suddenly lashes out.

That attack could easily rip through a human body as though it was cutting a piece of tofu. Kazuma, moving forward at an angle, dodges it barely. At the same time, he places his hand lightly on the back of the enemy’s right arm, and slightly diverts its path.

His attack hitting nothing but empty air causes Ryuuya to lose his balance and Kazuma immediately takes the opportunity to use his knee to strike at the side of his enemy’s abdomen, aiming for the liver. The force of Ryuuya's own momentum, together with a strong explosion of Kazuma's [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#ki|''ki'']], focused at a single point, makes Ryuuya’s body arc like a bow and throws him back into the air. Following the flying body closely, Kazuma strikes his enemy’s chin with his elbow, moments before it would have touched the ground. Ryuuya’s head is thrown so far backwards he can almost see his own back.

Had Ryuuya been a normal person, no, even someone as powerful as a wrestler, he would yet have instantly died from such a violent attack. However, to the demonized Ryuuya, it barely does any damage.

Instead, in mid-flight, Ryuuya uses his momentum and raises his right knee to aim straight for Kazuma’s jaw.

Even though the attack came from what should have been a blind spot, to Kazuma, who is synchronized with the wind spirits, there is no such thing. He steps forward, leaning to the left to avoid Ryuuya's knee, grabs the front of Ryuuya’s shirt, at the same time sweeping his left leg horizontally.

In a masterful example of judo, Ryuuya’s body is flipped. With Ryuuya's head about to fall flat on the ground, Kazuma strikes with his palm. Not to punch downwards, but to press. He bends down to push the enemy’s head straight into the ground, and a comfortable reaction is sent through his shoulder.

However, Kazuma did not feel Ryuuya’s skull crack. Realizing instantly that he has not given his enemy a fatal blow, Kazuma uses his foot to crush Ryuuya’s head, who lay on the ground facing the sky. The kick instead lands on Ryuuya's crossed arms, as he blocks Kazuma's attack.

”Chut!”

Kazuma quickly kicks away the arm that is about to grab his other leg, and jumps backwards to put some distance between them.

(To not even faint after such a fierce attack, does attacking the brain have no effect on him? To just what extent has he been transformed to a demon?……) Kazuma grumbles unhappily.

As though beating up a steel statue, he feels as if he has accomplished nothing. Ryuuya's body quickly swings back up, directly from his lying down position. This simple action is far beyond what a human can achieve, almost like a zombie from the movies.

Ryuuya releases countless wind blades as he gets up, and then, at a speed even faster than the wind blades, strikes at Kazuma. The wind blades and his claws reach Kazuma at the same time.

“Guahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

At the same time as the shout, Kazuma forcefully stretches his hand out towards the right arm that was swung at him. The wind forms a rapidly spinning whirlpool, as if that hand had squeezed them out. The rapid flow of air becomes a shockwave, destroying the wind blades, and Ryuuya is blown back into the air like a puppet.

It seems for a moment that he is unable to take this blow, but only for a moment, as Ryuuya adjusts his posture in the air and hovers at a fixed altitude, beginning to slowly retreat.

“Don’t even think about escaping!”

Kazuma knocks the air above Ryuuya downwards. The figure that was originally gliding away slowly, suddenly flew downwards at a sharp angle, as if swatted by something, and with a speed way beyond a free-falling object, hits the ground. Ryuuya was just able to land on his two feet, his body unable to move, stuck to the ground due to the great air pressure.

As Ryuuya stands there paralyzed, Kazuma quickly closes the distance.

The wind that was forcefully blowing downwards doesn't seem to lay a finger on Kazuma. Kazuma instead seems as though drawn into it, and runs quickly inside the raging winds without hindrance.

“How…… powerful, that guy is actually so powerful……”

Ayano is totally taken in by the scene in front of her eyes, completely mesmerized by the sight of Kazuma fighting. She had been unable to land even a single hit upon Ryuuya, and yet Kazuma could fight on an even level with or an even higher level than Ryuuya. Skillfully avoiding the attacks of the opponent, retaliating with perfectly timed counters, and slowly accumulating damage. This is, she realizes, what it means to be “an experienced fighter."

Forgetting that she is part of the fight as well, Ayano stands there enraptured, her eyes focused solely on Kazuma.

“------------------------------!”

When Kazuma is just a few steps away, Ryuuya, who is still trapped on the ground, looses a silent roar. Black wind begins to rampage, breaking the bonds that had restrained him just moments before.

In the same movement with which he straightens his knees, he stretches his claws out towards the incoming Kazuma, who is running directly at him, and aims directly for the throat, executing an insane counterattack.

Kazuma, however, does not stop. Instead, as he takes his last step, he bends down as much as possible. Reaching to the far ends of his consciousness to dodge the pitch black claws passing before him, he places his palm on Ryuuya's [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#tanden|''tanden'']].

Kazuma steps onto the ground firmly. From there, gathering power which goes past his knees straight to his waist, and from the waist to his shoulders, like a spiral, and continues to become stronger as it continued to be transmitted. From his shoulder to the front of his arm, after all the energy in his body has gathered, it is released from his palm. An immense ki is released from his body through his palm, dense enough that it feels as if it could pierce through the enemy.

“Hah!”

Accompanying his shout, a force great enough to blow even an African elephant to pieces exploded right into Ryuuya’s tanden, the core of a human’s central nervous system. Ryuuya’s body was blown away with such power he ended up embedded in a stone wall.

The ki of a person circulated around the body, originating in the tanden. Therefore, this place was the most vital of all vital areas for a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Practitioner|''jutsushi'']]. Once the flow of ki has been disrupted, no matter how powerful a jutsushi might be, he would be left unable to use any [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Jutsu|''jutsu'']] for some time. Or that would have been the case, had Ryuuya been a human being.

Huuuuu!!

“Muah!”

Ryuuya doesn't even look injured as he rapidly releases the blades of wind once more. Kazuma barely dodges in the nick of time, and hurriedly places some distance between them.

“Damn! Bastard! That didn’t work! That guy really, whole-heartedly doesn’t want to be human anymore!”

“…… whole-heartedly…… What kind of description is that……”

Hearing Ayano’s subconscious remark, Kazuma shouts out loud, “Don’t just stand there and watch the show! You're supposed to be the attacker, aren't you? So why don’t you grab your big torch and go beat him up!”

“Big……”

(Big torch?)

To use such a crude description of the treasure of the Kannagi clan?!

“You, I'll have a talk with you about this once this is over!”

Ignoring Ayano’s furious look, Kazuma waves his hand to hush her, “Don’t talk so much, ''attack'' little kitten."

Though her eyes burn with murder, Ayano steps forward. Perhaps reflecting her anger, Enraiha shines with a glaring glow unlike any before.

(Nee-sama, you can do it……)

Ren prays devoutly for the victory of the two.

He can only pray, since he does not possess the power to participate in their battle.

His inability to help deeply hurting his heart, Ren murmurs, ”If only I had more power……”

”No, no, your 'bit' of power is just right.”

”!?”

Ren turns in shock, and looks where there shouldn't be anyone.

“To break the seal placed upon our God, that bit of power is enough.”

The voice sounded like it had come from the opposite direction of just earlier. Ren turns his head once more, and calls out in a rising tone, “It…… it is you, Hyoue! Come out now!”

Shaaaaaaaaaaa, the sound of bushes rustling in the wind, this time from the left. Out of Ren's raised palm, fire begins to erupt in a rapid stream.

In short order, the withered plants catch fire and burn furiously, but there is no sign of Hyoue. Ren glances around frantically as Hyoue's coarse voice again sounds in his ears.

“It isn't that you lack strength. It's that you're still just a brat. Your technique is what's lacking!”

”Shut……Shut up!”

Flames emerge from Ren’s body. In order to prevent the enemy from moving behind him, he begins to search for Hyoue with a body wrapped in flame.

(I can’t find his presence!)

He has absolutely no idea where Hyoue may be. From the beginning, En-jutsushis are a bit unbalanced in their combat abilities. Though their attacking strength is the strongest, their detection abilities are among the weakest, let alone comparable to Fuu-jutsushis.

As an En-jutsushi, Ren was still inexperienced, and was unable to handle the jutsu that the experienced Fuu-jutsushi Hyoue was using to conceal himself.

“Still too immature. A flame of that level is unable to extinguish the hatred within me,” Hyoue whispers in his ear.

Though the direction from which Ren had heard Hyoue's voice was directly behind him, he could not sense his presence at all.

“Behind? Wh-Where?!”

He turned around several times, always failing to see Hyoue. No matter how swift his actions, the voice from behind never stopped.

“Over here!”

”Over here!”

”Over here!”

--Over here-- --Over here-- --Over here-- --Over here--

This line continues to repeat like an echo. The unease of being unable to see his enemy, and the rising fear and nervousness of fighting in actual combat, stretch Ren’s mind to its limit.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Driven by fear, he desires power. The power to eliminate the enemy. The power to destroy 'everything,' the power to rid himself of his fear...

In response to Ren’s scream, everywhere around, fires explode into existence. The fire spirits that had been released indefinitely, obeying only their own desires for survival and rampage, burn everything to ash.

Everything the flames touched was burnt. The forest becomes a sea of flame, with mighty pillars of fire that reach the heavens and shake the earth.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Ren, who is panicking after losing control, is attempting to create a Hell on Earth, [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Ren|just like his name]]. He continues to summon a massive amount of spirits, surpassing even the limits of his ability to control. The trees turn to ash in the extreme heat, and the already scorched earth begins to melt.

“Ahhhhhh……ah?”

But at precisely this moment, a cold gust of wind blows past his body, cooling his and and calming his madness in an instant. The youth, shocked, turns to look in the direction the wind originated from.

Kazuma was looking attentively at his brother. Basking in those clear eyes, Ren returns to normal.

(He is looking at me!)

Kazuma looks at him with boundless trust.

“Nii-“

(Nii-sama!)

Immediately after meeting Ren's eyes, Kazuma shifts his gaze away, focusing once more on the battle with Ryuuya.

Briefly disappointed, Ren remembers once more what he needs to do. Calming his breathing, he prepares to take on the enemy's assault.

"Your brother seems to have abandoned you.”

Hyoue’s voice rings mockingly from behind his ear. But Ren, his head clear once again, recognizes that his enemy isn't actually behind him. It was just a diversion, using his jutsu to mobilize the wind to carry his voice to Ren's ears. This was a very basic technique everyone in the Fuuga clan knew. Such a simple fact, and yet he hadn't noticed. Ren was ashamed at his immaturity.

"But he can't be blamed for doing so. Even working together, those two don't have a chance, let alone the luxury of taking time out to protect someone as useless as you."

Ho! Ho! Ho!

This time, hearing Hyoue's eerie laughter has no effect on Ren. He calmly searches out his presence, at the same time rejecting Hyoue's babbled nonsense.

"You're wrong."

”What is wrong?” Hyoue replies calmly.

Hyoue holds no doubts of his control of the situation. He might even think that this is not a fight, but a hunt, just a cat toying with a mouse before the kill. This is the weak point Ren grasped for.

“Nii-sama did not abandon me. It is because he believes in me, believes that I am more than enough to deal with scum like you.”

“What daring words. A little punk like you who can't even find me, how are you going to defeat me??”

Indeed, in terms of detection capability, En-jutsushi were far inferior to Fuu-jutsushi. Unlike fire, air was everywhere. One of the necessary conditions for a human to survive, and the one that occupies the most space, is air. The difference in amount of space occupied directly affects the amount of information obtainable.

(But, if it is now...)

The flames that Ren had released when berserk had burnt the trees in the area, and continued to burn fiercely. The density of fire spirits in the area had increased to a point that surpassed reason. With things like this, his abilities weren't less than any Fuu-jutsushi's. Ren closes his eyes, and opens his ears to listen to the voices of the spirits.

“What’s wrong? You want to beat someone like me, and yet you seem to be taking your time?”

Sounds of mockery come from every direction. A wind blade passes by his cheek, and flies straight on. Ren completely lets go of everything, and synchronizes himself with the spirits.

His five senses disappear, slowly replaced with the senses of the spirits. Relying neither on light, nor relying on sound, but instead relying on [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Theurgy|theurgy]] to view the world. Despite being faced with an abnormality which would drive a regular human insane, Ren adapts very easily.

(Gotcha!)

It should be said he didn't actually detect Hyoue's presence. Rather, within the areas he searched, only one refused the invasion of fire spirits. Hyoue had to be at this spot. Ren felt confident in his guess.

“Over there!”

Ren raises his palm to release a fireball. The divine power of purification slices through...

Empty space. Just empty space.

“You fool, where do you think you're aiming?……”

Seeing the flame travel in completely the wrong direction, Hyoue, concealed in a [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes#Kekkai|''kekkai'']] of wind, reveals his scorn.

Only to change expressions immediately. He watches as the flames around him branch out and rain down in a curtain of flame, aimed directly at him.

“Wh-What!?”

Hyoue is so filled with shock his eyes almost pop out of his head. The fire rains down from all directions and all at once.

With every escape route cut off by the incoming flame, this was not a predicament that could be resolved by trickery. To defend himself, he has no choice but to force the flames aside with sheer power. But Hyoue does not possess such power. Judging by strength alone, Ren wins handily.

“Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!?”

As his kekkai is pierced by the rain of fire like so much paper, Hyoue gives off a pitiful scream.

“It...it worked……?” Sensing the kekkai's disappearance, Ren says quietly, staring into space.

The trick he used was really simple. There had been no need for him to create the attacking fire himself, as he had been surrounded by burning flames all along.

Ren had purposely loosed a flame at an empty spot to trick Hyoue into letting his guard down, and then had instead used the flames that were burning around Hyoue to attack.

Had Hyoue been fighting seriously, he might have seen through the trick. It was his overconfident attitude of seeing Ren as prey, and not as an enemy, that forced him to suffer such a dreadful attack.

“You……you are really something……Kid……”

”------!?”

A black shape, still roughly discernible as human, rolls just in front of Ren. No matter how you look at it, it was just so much charcoal, and yet it still moved somehow. Every time it moved, pieces of meat that had been turned to ash fell away, revealing pitch black skin below, skin that did not seem human.

“Hoho…… Watch closely…… This is the power I obtained by forming a contract with the youma - a power surpassing human ability! Do you get it now, kid? Your flames just won’t work against me. Hohoho…… Hahahahaha!!”

“You foolish thing.”

Ren's sudden speech, in a tone cold enough as to come from someone else, causes Hyoue's laughter to come to an abrupt halt.

“My flames, useless? How dare a piece of charcoal speak like a human being? Since you've already given up on being human, nothing more need be said. Because the Kannagi flames are purifying flames. A divine power bestowed for the destruction of inhuman monsters like you!”

A golden light cleanses away the dense youki. The rampaging flames appear to be absorbed into the purifying light. The fire weakens, and slowly disappears. The formerly uncontrolled fire spirits serve to make the golden light shine all the more brilliantly.

The flames that once expanded explosively now are beginning to shrink, and yet the temperature grows. Condensed into a high density semi-materialized flame, emitting a syrupy glow, it begins to revolve around Ren.

“I, as a member of Kannagi main family, declare! Hyoue Kazamaki: the many lives that you've taken away shall now be repaid with your own!” surrounded by that blurry glow, Ren says loudly.

Faced with tiny body that yet unleashes an immense pressure, Hyoue curls up in fear.

This is the descendant of a respected and powerful bloodline. The top of the En-jutsushis, a rightful son of the Kannagi.

A great power, formed of a thousand years of training, is about to awaken...

=== 2 ===

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

Striking with all her might, Ayano chops Enraiha downwards.

Clang!

Ryuuya's claws make a clear sound as they deflect the blade.

(Even Enraiha cannot cut through, just what are those claws made of?)

Ayano immediately ignores the question that pops up in her mind. There's no time to think about this, I need to find some way to get past those claws...

Ayano increases the rate at which she strikes, including a number of feints in her attacks, to find a hole in Ryuuya’s defense. His defense, unfortunately, is impenetrable.

“What is that idiot doing……” Kazuma spits in disgust.

The fear of loss yet lingers in Ayano’s heart, causing her to forget her usual style. Adding those tricks to her attack was meaningless; she should focus on a single lethal strike instead.

At that moment, Enraiha finds its way into Ryuuya’s shoulder, cleanly severing his right arm.

(Now I've got him!)

Ayano strikes at his right side with all her strength. Because of this, she fails to notice his right arm, lurking behind her back, flying directly towards her.

“Behind you!”

Kazuma's voice and the attack come at almost the same time. Ayano jumps quickly, and the right arm speeds past her like a lance.

“That was close……”

The danger wasn't over though. Ryuuya suddenly appears in front of Ayano, still in mid-air, the claws on his remaining left arm glittering with deadly intent.

Dong!

Ayano somehow manages to block, but with her legs hanging in mid-air, she is unable to hold her position. Knocked away like a cannonball, with no way to stop herself, she slams into a nearby tree.

“Argh…… Ah……”

Perhaps feeling that it would be too easy, with her offering so little sport, Ryuuya opts not to pursue, instead leisurely reattaching his right arm. Wriggling muscle tissue and nerves extend from the severed arm as the same extend from the other end, merging together. After but moments, there is no hint of the injury - his arm was completely whole once more.

And yet Ryuuya still shows no sign of attacking. He lifts his head to stare at the sky, raising his arms as if to grasp the sky with his hands.

“------------!“

The instant he realizes what that gesture signifies, Kazuma sprints forward as fast as possible. Hugging Ayano's head to his chest, he forcefully slams her back onto the floor.

“Wah!”

With no time to pay it any mind, he ignores Ayano's strangled cry of protest. Lying as low to the ground as he can, he erects a kekkai of even greater density around them.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?” Ayano shouts, her nose glowing red from the pressure.

Kazuma immediately retorts at a volume twice her own, “You idiot! For what reason did you think it was necessary to engage in close combat? If you allow the enemy the time it needs to unleash such a powerful attack, all earlier effort would be rendered meaningless.”

Confronted with such a decisive answer that left no room for questions, Ayano is at a loss for words.

“……Huh……? Powerful attack……”

As she turns her head, as instructed by Kazuma, the scene revealing itself before her eyes leaves her at a loss for words. A spectacular pillar of wind connecting heaven and earth, a great vortex that tumbles as it spins, it is...

"What is...that?"

"What do you mean 'what is that?' As you can see, what 'they are' are tornadoes! Four, no five...by the way, what is the unit for tornadoes?"

Kazuma's randomly asked question does not register in Ayano's consciousness.

She gazes at the scene, as if spellbound. "Here is the roar of nature that hurls giant boulders and uproots giant trees" is all she can think about.

“……There's no way……”

”Ahhh? What did you say?”

”There's no way we can win!” Ayano turns her head to shout.

The eyes that had earlier been full of fight now carry tears. As if humbled, she falls to her feet beside Kazuma.

"It's impossible to win! Our enemy is 'that' kind of monster, just what do you expect me to do?! There's just no way to win!"

Ayano's eyes reveal an absolute despair transcending fear. "Eyes just like 'that' person's in the past" Kazuma thinks to himself.

<nowiki>--</nowiki> Did I not seek power because I hate seeing those eyes?

(Tsui-Ling...)

The weak girl that I was unable to protect in the past. No matter how difficult, no matter how painful, the girl who wanted to live on no matter what.

“I was not born into the world to be devoured by a devil.”

(Those eyes shone with the light of hope, and the one who erased that light was me.)

Because he had been weak, because he had had no power.

But things were different now. He had been defeated back then, and was helpless to do anything but watch as the girl he had sworn to protect had had her soul devoured...but things were different now.

Whether for self-fulfillment or to atone for the past, all he wanted now was to help the girl trembling before him.

Her eyes were filled with tears. Just before the first tears fall, Kazuma pokes her forehead with his finger.

Ayano leans back slightly, looking at him with wet eyes, as Kazuma smiles.

“Our jobs were clear from the start right? All you need to do is take that blade and slash Ryuuya. I'll deal his wind.”

Ayano jabs her finger towards the tornadoes as she shrieks, “Deal with……? Tornadoes?"

Kazuma merely shrugs.

“Well, about that…… I'm sure there's a way. So, you just take care of him. Can you do that?”

She hesitates for a brief moment before nodding her head determinedly.

“Very good. Then let the match continue!”

Kazuma lifts Ayano, still sitting on him, with his arms and rises. Witnessing unbelievable arm and waist strength, Ayano's eyes widen, but even more shocking was what happened afterwards.

“……Wa……Ah……”

Before Ayano, a path opens. A path, surrounded by a kekkai of wind suppressing the tornadoes, straight to Ryuuya.

“Go!”

Receiving a gentle push from that voice, Ayano instinctively dashes forward.

“Okay, even though I said all that just now…… What should I do?”

After forcing an opening through the tornadoes, Kazuma grumbles to himself. Because he had boasted about it in front of someone else, he had no choice but to think of a way to take care of those five tornadoes...

"If only Ayano was of some use, then the enemy might not have the effort to spare to maintain those tornadoes...But an originally weak girl, now so scared witless she can barely walk, can't be of any use..."

The simplest method would be to create tornadoes of equal magnitude to cancel them out...

(……Nah, far too much trouble!)

Even the thought made him feel tired. There had to be an easier way...

“Wait a minute, a tornado is actually the upward flow of air right…… in that case…… Good, let’s do this.”

Kazuma lets the column of wind comprising the tornado rise even higher, raising the air to the lower stratosphere.

The air brought by the updraft cools rapidly, and the water particles it contains become tiny drops of ice that combine to form hailstones. As they fall once again, the hailstones melt, cooling the surrounding air even further, making the air heavy, and it drops down at a high speed. This great downward airflow is known as a "downburst."

The natural top speed of a downburst is comparable to a tornado, and Kazuma speeds it up even further. This section of air, pulled down from an extremely high altitude, easily surpasses the speed of sound.

The supersonic wind blade slices the tornadoes wide open, and the accompanying shock wave completely destroys what remains. Without any notable resistance, the raging winds easily erases any hint of the tornadoes, while directing all extra energy towards Ryuuya.

“Gwahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!”

In the midst of the thunder of destruction came a sharp scream, lacking of femininity.

(Gwah? Ohhh……)

Kazuma claps his hands as he realizes what happened.

“Darn, I completely forgot to avoid you. Sorry.”

”You idiot! Go to hell!” Ayano furiously shouts.

Yet for some reason, she is uninjured. Maybe the wind spirits had automatically avoided her?

Though Ayano continued to fuss, she quieted down as the dust settled and the scene slowly revealed itself to her.

The mountain view had changed. Originally a lush green forest, now uprooted trees lay scattered about, and the forest's surface had been dug up, forming a tract of empty land. All this due to Ryuuya's tornadoes and Kazuma's downburst.

(These guys are really monsters……)

Ayano gazes at Kazuma, struck with awe, but that flippant look of his betrays no sign of his magnificent power.

“Hey, this is a good opportunity! Ayano,” Kazuma hushes, no, tells her.

Even something like Ryuuya suffered tremendous damage from this assault. While his limbs were largely intact, deep cuts scored his body - wounds excreting a black mist instead of blood.

(When I cut him earlier, nothing like that came out……)

Though annoyed at the huge difference in power between her and Kazuma, now wasn't the time to worry about such things, and so Ayano took up Enraiha once more to stand before Ryuuya.

(Still alive - what a monster.)

Just as Ayano was facing off with Ryuuya, Kazuma’s expression grew more serious.

Kazuma could feel the end of the road looming.

Even when combining their powers, they had been unable to deliver Ryuuya a fatal blow. Though they currently appeared to hold the advantage, there was no way to win to in the long run.

There had never been a human that could exceed the youma in terms of physical stamina. This was because the youma possessed minds far surpassing their bodies, and could easily overcome their bodies limitations through sheer willpower.

(Should I use it? Even though I really don't want the Kannagi to learn of it, I guess there's no choice. And, I guess they'll hear it from Ren sooner or later, anyway. Either way, life is something irreplaceable.)

There was just one problem. Leaving breaking the seal aside, to gather enough power to truly destroy Ryuuya required a lot of preparation. During this time, Ayano would be left completely defenseless, and what would happen then has already been seen.

(So, what to do...)

He ponders deeply for a brief moment.

(So be it. This will be a test for her as well.)

Lions pushed their cubs off cliffs without hesitation. Kazuma would have to do the same for Ayano.

“Ayano! I am going to play my strongest card! Buy me some time!"

“Don’t shout it out loud like that! Idiot!” Ayano shouts in a pained voice.

She was seriously crying out to Kazuma.

As Kazuma had expected, Ryuuya struck instantly. In the blink of an eye, the defending and offensive parties had switched sides, as wind blades raced towards Ayano.

“Kazuma you big idiot! After I die, I will definitely come back to haunt you as a vengeful spirit! No matter how many times you change houses, I will burn them down and make sure the real estate agencies blacklist you!” Ayano shouts in a tone close to tears, as she tries her best to dodge the blades.

Regrettably, Kazuma was in a state of intense concentration by then, and Ayano's furious promise of eternal vengeance went unnoticed.

Sinking deep within his consciousness, he opens the “door” within himself. Within the “door” lay an azure sky as wide as the eye can see.

This place was a space that existed within “that being" - no, every corner of this space was filled with that being. This space was the being itself.

By opening the “door,” Kazuma and “that being” merged to form a single entity. Kazuma was reborn, becoming a human and the ruler of spirits at the same time, commanding all wind in existence as a high level jutsushi.

His consciousness expanded without limit. For as far as his mind could reach, an area of about a hundred kilometers in radius, all wind spirits located therein became Kazuma’s receptors, continuously transmitting an endless stream of information.

This immense amount of data - of which a human’s weak and fragile mind would be unable to handle the tiniest fraction - Kazuma controlled with his will. He picked out the necessary data from the scene in front of him, at the same time surveying the situation of everything within his domain. This was the viewpoint of a god - a power beyond human knowledge or understanding.

(Ren…… still alive. Very good.)

With his expanded perception, he can clearly see the battle between Ren and Hyoue, more than a kilometer away. It goes without saying, the same goes for Ayano’s battle...

Without Kazuma to cover for her, Ayano is forced into a one-sided defense. Unable to even think about retaliating, every thought, every action is devoted to dodging the incoming claws and blades of wind - to survival

(……Are you still not ready Kazuma?)

Glancing at Kazuma from time to time, Kazuma, focusing deeply, did not appear to notice. Despite her reluctance to admit it, the lack of attention filled her with unease.

She was scared, but Kazuma was not here to say something stupid to loosen her up, not now. He did not poke her head, or smile that disrespectful smile. For the first time, Ayano realizes how many times she has been saved by that flippant smile of his.

“Ahhh!”

A pitch black wind smashes into Ayano like a hammer. The powerful blow knocks her off her feet, throwing her backwards through the air. She lands on her back, but the force of the impact was so great she found herself rolling three times before slamming into a stone wall with a great crash.

(No more! I can’t hold on any longer……!)

Ayano turns pleadingly to Kazuma, desperate for help, and for a short-lived moment, she felt certain she had seen a smirk travel across his face.

Ryuuya took the opportunity to aim more wind blades at Ayano, who continued to lay there, unmoving. Even so, Ayano continued to stare at Kazuma.

(Ever since the moment when I saw him again yesterday, I've despised that guy.

Worse than Hyoue or Ryuuya, I refuse to even acknowledge his existence.

Because he is stronger than me? No, not just that.

Because of his flippant attitude? No, that's just a front, a facade of his.

The real him completely ignores my existence, does not care about me, and ''that'' is more unforgivable than anything else.

And so I resist, and so I quarrel with him, that he might acknowledge me.

But...he's given up on me.

"You will finish him" had become "buy me some time," "I will do everything," "I no longer have any expectations of you."

Even now, he is watching everything, mocking how pathetic I look.)

“A kitten is just a kitten,” she felt she could hear his condescending voice say.

“Don’t look down on me!”

An angry roar rocks the air, a furious flame consumes the blades of wind.

Ayano forces her swaying body to stand, her eyes focus on Ryuuya, but within, her mind continues to rail against Kazuma.

There was simply no way she would accept, or even tolerate, that she, the wielder of Enraiha, was believed to be useless.

She knew very well how to overturn this flawed belief completely. For a man like Kazuma, there was no point in further words.

The way to prove herself was with raw, overwhelming power.

"'Buy me some time'? Don’t joke around. I will finish him off myself, and you can just stand there until you die of boredom!”

Ayano raises Enraiha, and begins to gather ki. The flame that had always burned golden begins to flare red. This crimson flame continues to amass upon Enraiha.

Loosing a howl of pure rage, Ayano begins to run. Moving at an astonishing speed, which did not even leave an afterimage, she suddenly appears before Ryuuya, as if by teleportation, and swings downwards with all her might.

There were no tricks, just a single slice. Without time to dodge, Ryuuya crosses his arms to block the strike. That is, he tried to block it.

Burning with a crimson glow, Enraiha bore the divine flame to which there was no possible defense, severing all ten claws in one stroke, and with a quick turn, Ryuuya's left arm soon follows.

She slices at Ryuuya's now defenseless left side, but at this moment, the sliced off arm attacks Ayano from behind like the other arm had done previously.

This time, however, Ayano reverses her grip on Enraiha, and without even turning, stabs backwards. Enraiha mercilessly pierces through the arm that was flying through the air.

"Begone!"

Scorched from the inside-out, the arm was consumed in an instant. Never stopping, Ayano continued to chase after Ryuuya, who had begun a slow retreat. Again with that shocking speed, she easily caught Ryuuya once more.

The crimson blade flashes brightly, slicing Ryuuya from the shoulders to the legs. A quick turn of the blade and it continues to slice through the demonic body.

But even though his body has been chopped into four pieces, Ryuuya has yet to be destroyed. His listless eyes continue to gaze eerily at Ayano.

Ayano jumps backwards, but this time, not to run.

It all ends now!

“Namo, Sanmanduo, Warila Lan, Han!”

She chants the Acalanatha sutra. The chant itself possessed no power or meaning - it was just a string of keywords she had learned in her training. Having learned the mantra along with the complicated jutsu activation sequence, the two had become linked in her mind. For her, using the jutsu was a reflex when chanting the sutra.

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 269.jpg|thumb]]

As she lands, Ayano stabs Enraiha into the ground, activating the jutsu.

"Thrust of the Exorcising Supreme Flame!"

A crown of light burst forth from the ground with Ryuuya at its center, forming a hemispherical kekkai. The fire spirits within Enraiha darted through from beneath the ground, releasing all their heat within the barrier.

The earth under Ryuuya's feet instantly vaporized, and the spherical kekkai can now be seen in full view. The barrier efficiently reflected all heat inwards, focusing the energy at its center.

This was Ayano's strongest exorcism jutsu: to seal the youma in a kekkai, leaving nothing to escape but ashes.

"Hah! How's that?"

Ayano smiles proudly, about to look in Kazuma's direction, when she suddenly stops in her tracks, and stares at Ryuuya, caught within the kekkai.

Trapped in scorching plasma, Ryuuya had become nothing more than a piece of meat, having lost all signs of his previous appearance.

(He shouldn't have the power to resist anymore...but what is this youki?!)

Gurgle……Gurgle……Gurgle……

Right before Ayano eyes, the surface of the meat seemed to boil as one bubble after another began to appear. The eerie piece of meat did not appear to care that it was tens of thousands of degrees within the kekkai, and was multiplying at a high rate.

When the piece of meat had finished multiplying, the shape slowly changed. Sticks of meat stretched out from four areas, and a small sphere appeared at the top - the monster was complete.

It had probably intended to mimic human form, with hands and legs and head, body parts that could be recognized.

But that was it.

Like an ugly design a small child might make with meat colored clay, it was a likeness of the evil of mankind, an unforgivable insult to humanity.

The monster places its hands on the kekkai to force it open. That is to say, the sticks that passed for its hands did, and from the ugliness of its motions, it lacked any joints as well. If human arms were snakes, they would probably look like this!

“……This is not…… possible……?”

The monster easily dispels the kekkai, and steps out. It feels so ugly and evil that Ayano involuntarily takes a step back, tripping and losing her balance.

“Wah!”

Falling here means certain death. The premonition of death approaching gives her goosebumps.

But...the feeling on her back is not that of the cold, hard floor. Something warm had taken hold of this body, frozen with anxiety.

A strong hand caresses Ayano's head, and, as if whispering in her ear, a low, calm voice makes her ear twitch.

"That is enough. You did very well."

From the gentle, yet firm grip that enveloped her arm, Ayano feels an indescribable calm fall over her. Her tense body relaxes, bit by bit, entrusting everything to that wide chest behind her.

"You did very well."

That sentence repeats over and over in her mind. Those four mundane words make her happier than anything else in the world.

To be recognized by him makes her proud.

The man behind her talks in a comfortable tone that makes a shiver run down her back, and goes on to say...

"Very well done...for a kitten."

Pak!

Ayano pushes Kazuma's hand away with all her might. How is it possible that a moment ago she actually felt that this kind of guy's chest could possibly be comforting? Ayano felt whole-heartedly ashamed of herself.

“You're…… Huh……?”

Sensing something off in her surroundings, Ayano looks around and immediately understands.

The air shines with a blue glow.

The slow-flowing blue air holds an enormous amount of energy. Ryuuya's black winds are repelled by the azure glow, and compress around their master.

“This…… Impossible…… 'Purification'!?”

The secret power to destroy evil, bestowed only upon the Kannagi...and this magnitude!

"To surround the entire mountain with his winds? And such a massive amount of spirits, how did..." Ayano turns her head to ask, and is left speechless once more.

Knowing very well the reason for her shock, Kazuma smiles playfully, enjoying Ayano's stunned look.

“That…… What is…… Your eyes?”

“Oh these? They were marked by the Lord of Wind Spirits.”

Kazuma's blue eyes flash, as he calmly says something shocking.

“Spi……rit……Lord……?” Ayano dumbly repeats.

This fact that was beyond imagination had stopped all thought.

“………… N-No way----!?”

Bright as the azure sky, eyes that couldn't possibly be clearer - that was proof of the contract with the Lord of Wind Spirits. Ruling all the air on this planet, only a man bestowed with everything could be marked by this stigma.

Even in the legends, there had only been a few people with such a mark: the ancient King Solomon who governed the 72 demon lords and Moses who led the Hebrews and had contracted with Jehovah.

And after that would be the first chief of the Kannagi, who had been bestowed with Enraiha.

“Contractor.” Someone who had formed a contract with a supernatural existence. They called them “Contractors”.

But, to actually be confirmed, there is only one Contractor in history who has been proven to exist. "The first" Contractor was how he had come to be praised in modern legend.

“Come! It's about time you slept, Ryuuya!”

The azure wind begins to swirl like a maelstrom, with Ryuuya at its center. The maelstrom was, of course, Kazuma's creation, utilizing all the wind spirits at his command, and the area it spans can be seen even from outer space.

=== 3 ===

''Slice''

Hyoue's wind blades cut deeply into Ren's arms.

“Wahhhhhh-!”

Against the blades of wind, Ren can only dodge. The relentless assault does not even allow him to stand.

Hyoue cackles as he watches Ren. The scene of a jutsushi of the Kannagi main family, unable to even stand beneath his attacks, just couldn't get any funnier.

(Just you watch, Genma! Juugo! You're next! The humiliation we suffered, you shall receive ten thousand fold!)

A hysterical laughter shakes the air.

Hyoue looks down on Ren, who has finally managed to rise, and smugly shouts, full of pride, "Now do you understand the difference between us? You should just surrender before you get hurt further...If you're too heavily wounded, it might hinder the removal of the seal!"

Hahahaha……

Ren sends golden flame in the direction of the laughter, but while the flame may possess the power to destroy Hyoue, if it misses, it's simply a waste of effort.

“Wah!”

A sudden, violent shock wave strikes Ren's head, sending him reeling and leaving him feeling as though his brain were bouncing in his skull. For a few moments, he wavers on the edge of unconsciousness.

Just standing there, completely defenseless, has made Ren an easy target. But though there have been several such instances before, Hyoue has yet to finish him off. It can only be expected, though, as Hyoue does not want Ren's corpse; he needs him alive. Furthermore, there was still more fun to be had in his torment.

Hyoue, who has given up his humanity, now possesses a great power, incomparable to the past.

Of course, Ren is still far more powerful, but the gap in skill and experience is just too large. He is being toyed with, unable to show even half his power.

"Isn't it about time to give up? You know you can't win, right?"

Hyoue is slowly crucifying him, deliberately avoiding any fatal injuries. Time and again he tries to break Ren's will, targeting his weaknesses to force him to bow to despair, but Ren refuses to give in.

"I refuse! I promised Nii-sama that I would never give up, that I would live on no matter what! I will never obey you, never be used by you, and will never let you kill again!"

Despite cuts which run all over his body, blood that pours down his face and drenches his clothes, Ren's eyes never lose their shine. Faced with this proud and majestic vision, even Hyoue, who undoubtedly holds the advantage, cannot help but be wary.

"Hmph. In that case, let's test the limits of that pride!" he spits, as he prepares to unleash more wind blades-

“Wha!?”

Hyoue gives off a strangled cry, stretching his arms to hug his body. Hidden beneath his arms, something seems to be wriggling. Hyoue tightens his grip, intending to suppress whatever it is, but the eerie wriggling only spreads to his arms.

His entire body is wracked with convulsions. His muscles seize violently, before eventually bursting.

Hyoue had been surrounded by Kazuma's purifying winds. A great power had severed his connection to Ryuuya. Losing Ryuuya's protection, the demonic powers within Hyoue had begun to rampage.

Ren does not waste the opportunity, and races towards him.

“Ki……Kid…… Wahhhhh!”

As Hyoue attempts to defend himself, his raging body only grows worse. He is now forced to use his full power simply to restrain his now uncontrollable body.

Ren does not slow. Knocking into Hyoue at full speed, he hooks his arms around Hyoue's knees, and gives a mighty pull.

The powerful tackle leaves the two of them tangled on the ground. Ren hugs Hyoue tightly, and softly whispers...

"I won't miss at this distance."

“You……You fool! Let me go!“

No longer concerned about losing control, Hyoue releases his blades of wind.

But Ren is quicker. Hugging the shaking body, he shouts hoarsely.

"'''BURN!'''"

A brilliant golden pillar of flame roars into the sky. The purifying pillar of fire leaves no trace of the tainted body and even more tainted soul of the old man who had fallen into darkness.

“----------------------------------------------!!”

It even swallows his dying scream.

Ryuuya has lost control of his black wind. The strong, azure wind separates the berserk spirits from their dark master, absorbing them.

“Ryuuya's wind is………being consumed?” Ayano whispers in shock.

"Terrifying power" is not enough to describe the scene before her. Though there have been a number of logic-defying events today, this is by far the most ridiculous.

The wind surrounding Ryuuya releases the frenzied spirits before absorbing them, further increasing its power.

Even so, Ryuuya still isn't defeated and continues to release his dark, corrupt youki to defend against the purifying winds. However, he is unable to negate the purification completely, and as the azure wind closes on him, the surface of his body begins to boil and bubble. Slowly, very slowly, but surely, his body is being dismantled, piece by piece.

(Almost like a final battle between monsters.)

This unseemly thought running through her mind, Ayano begins to move. Although her power is by far the weakest of the three, she is still a participant, nor can her power be ignored, for she possesses the power to end the stalemate, and she knows her duty well.

-- You will finish him off, can you do it? --

“I'll show you!”

Ryuuya ''leaps'' backwards, intending to escape Ayano. His movements had slowed significantly, and he no longer had the means to dodge her attacks.

But Ayano chases after him, focused only on delivering the final strike! Ryuuya changes the tip of his arms into blades as a last ditch defense. The meat colored blades he raised above his head radiated a hard light.

“That won't save you now!”

Ayano furiously swings Enraiha downwards, no thought to defense. She instinctively realizes that this is the deciding moment. Kazuma has no power to spare to aid her and if she is blocked again, they are sure to lose.

The crimson glow arcs downwards without encountering any resistance, as if slicing through air.

The cloven meat blades that serve for Ryuuya's arms dissolve into the azure air as Enraiha carves its way into the top of his head, stopping at his heart. She takes a risk not cutting Ryuuya in two, choosing instead to call forth fire spirits from Enraiha directly within the wound...and igniting them.

Ryuuya's body explodes. Pieces of scattered meat are blown away by the flame, carried away by the wind and swallowed by the azure light. In the end, every trace of his existence had been erased.

This was the end of Ryuuya, no, the end of the unnamed youma who had founded the Fuuga clan.

The azure winds slowly fade, their power of purification weakening as they spread in all directions, probably to continue restoration of this youki polluted world.

Watching the wind spirits leave, Ayano is captivated by the scene.

“Damn it, just pennies for such hard work. I'll never take any jobs from the Kannagi again.”

And again, a line that completely disregarded the mood spoiled everything. Ayano turns angrily, to see Kazuma lying spread-eagled on the floor. Walking over to him, he doesn't move. He appears to be completely drained.

(No matter how strong he might be, he is still human.)

"After all he almost single-handedly handed Ryuuya defeat. I think I can forgive him one or two rude lines!" Ayano thinks generously.

“Great work,” she thanks him.

Kazuma does not reply, and merely sniffs.

She kneels down beside him.

“Hey, Kazuma?”

Neither expecting an answer, nor receiving one, she continues.

"Even if you'd been alone, you could've won anyway, couldn't you?"

“That's pushing it.”

This time, Kazuma finally reacts. His eyes, having regained their original black luster, turn to Ayano.

[[Image:Kaze no Stigma vol 01 281.jpg|thumb]]

"A contract with a Lord of Spirits does not mean I am omnipotent. Though I may have limitless power at my disposal, I am limited by what I can control. I am still subject to human limitations, after all."

"Hmm? Maybe so. Besides, you still need time to prepare. You would definitely have been attacked by then, right?"

"...Yep. That's right."

Though outwardly he answers without hesitation, Ayano didn't miss a brief shift in his gaze.

“Kazuma?”

”Yes?”

His poker face is flawless, but it is already too late.

Ayano flops down on top of him, grabbing him by his collar, as if ready to strangle him. Kazuma can offer no resistance, and he remains spread-eagled on the floor.

"To push a man down like this - what a shameless girl. The Soushu would cry if he saw this."

Belying his exhausted state, his mouth is still at 100%.

“Don’t joke around, now answer me. When were you ready?”

Despite Ayano’s grip growing more forceful by the second, Kazuma replies carelessly.

“Right about the moment when you were blown away?”

“Then, why didn't you do anything earlier!?”

By now, Ayano's full strength was concentrated in her hands, and yet Kazuma replies calmly, as if nothing was happening.

“You're wrong to blame me. It was for your own good that I waited.”

”Which part!?”

Ayano is bristling, on the edge of exploding. If Kazuma does not provide a legitimate reason here, she intends to stab him with Enraiha.

"From the way things looked, if I'd ended it without you being able to land a single blow, you would have been doomed to be a loser for the rest of your life."

“Ugh……”

His dead-on remark hits her squarely, leaving her momentarily speechless. Indeed, if all she had done back then was escape from Ryuuya's attacks, leaving everything to Kazuma, she might never have regained the courage to fight again. Someone unable to overcome her fear, a jutsushi that could only fight enemies weaker than herself, simply could not be relied upon, no matter how strong.

"When I saw that you had finally managed to gather your courage, I decided to watch for a bit. Your performance wasn't half bad until about midway through. If he hadn't escaped right then, you probably would even have won!"

"Eh? You mean to say that my jutsu worked?"

"No. That was absolutely worthless."

Kazuma continues straightforwardly, “You are the wielder of Enraiha. There is no need to resort to tricks or lousy jutsu. If cutting him in four doesn't kill him, then just keep cutting until there's nothing left."

“…… Sorry for being 'lousy.'”

”That's not what you should be sorry for.”

Kazuma continues his ruthless criticism.

"You need to practice your swordsmanship. The way things are, there's no point in you having Enraiha."

”I know……”

"But...that last strike was pretty good. It skillfully used the characteristics of Enraiha as both a sword and a magical artifact."

Hearing the unexpected praise, Ayano blushes. She is suddenly filled with pleasure. In spite of the countless flaws in his personality, and the disgust she feels as she realizes she is dancing in the palm of his hand, the throbbing in her chest is undeniable.

“You…… Like you're so great. Just what do you know about Enraiha?”

Despite speaking harshly in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, her ploy had obviously failed. Kazuma smiles at Ayano, with a look that seems to see through it all.

"Oh. One more thing. It's best not to sit on a man dressed like that."

“……Huh?”

"Even if you ''are'' a little girl with neither breasts nor sensuality, other people might misunderstand!"

Ayano inadvertently glances at herself...and freezes. Unable to withstand the strenuous battle, her uniform is completely shredded. Even her underwear is partly torn, almost to the point where it failed to cover her body.

Seeing Kazuma's eyes that "seem to see through it all," Ayano blushes up to her ears.

“Id……Idiot------------!!”

A scream reverberates through the uninhabited forest.

“Nii-sama!”

Recognizing the ones approaching as Kazuma and Ayano, Ren cries out with joy, as he tries to run towards them, but his body, weak from injury, does not allow him to do so.

“Wah……”

A gust of wind gently carries Ren, who had tripped and was about to fall, right into his brother's arms. Kazuma hugs him tightly, patting his head. Ren hugs his brother back, never intending to let go.

“You did very well, Ren. A fine job.”

”Thank you, Nii-sama……?”

Their conversation suddenly ends as Ren stretches his hand to Kazuma's cheek, where there lies a very clear, very red, hand-print.

Faced with the silent question, Kazuma smiles and replies, "Well, just now, after defeating Ryuuya, I met an even more vicious enemy. I almost died."

Having said this, he turns in Ayano's direction. Ayano, now covered by Kazuma's jacket, turns away in anger, ignoring him.

“Ah...Hmm...”

Ren somewhat understands, but he has the unshakable feeling that to speak those words would be to endanger his life. Desperately, he tries to change the topic.

"Ryu-Ryuuya has also been defeated, so it's finally over!"

Trying his best to show an innocent smile, Ren laments his pitifulness.

“That's right. Let's go home! Ayano, how's the car?”

"It burned up," Ayano immediately replies, as Kazuma eyes her with suspicion.

“It……It wasn’t me! It was blown away by Ryuuya’s wind, and when it smashed into the ground it caught on fire.”

Ayano tries to explain, but even so, Kazuma’s eyes remain full of suspicion.

Lifting his head to gaze into the clear night sky, Kazuma tells Ren, "Never mind. Taking a moonlight stroll through the mountains isn't too bad now and again."

"...if we don't meet with an accident," hearing Kazuma's words that seem to be avoiding reality, Ayano interjects calmly.

"Oh? Did the root of all evil just say something?"

“What?! You were the one who abandoned me! It's ''your'' fault this happened!”

“…… Please stop arguing, the two of you.”

Ren's tired voice tries to pacify the pair, but they don't appear to notice, and only continue to energetically accuse each other.

Looking up at the moon, so much like a silver plate, Ren ponders the cruel reality of life. Ryuuya and Hyoue have both been eliminated, the Fuuga's ambitions smashed to pieces. Everything was perfectly settled, so why is a happy ending still out of reach?

With no end to the bickering in sight, and no longer with the strength to stop them, Ren leans against his brother's chest, and slowly gives in to his drowsiness, taking the pleasing sounds of his beloved brother and sister as a lullaby.

<noinclude>
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| Return to [[Kaze_no_Stigma|Main Page]]
| Back to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
| Forward to [[Kaze_no_Stigma:Volume1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter2

2008-11-17T01:31:08Z

Dagger: you're != your

'''Chapter 2: The Treasure of Solomon'''

In the dorm room the next morning, Jin donned his uniform in a refreshed mood.

With a large smile, he happily scanned the room. Not since moving in had the room been so clean.

"Aaaah, what refreshing weather."

Looking out the window, he gave a big stretch. The morning's breakfast had also been quite wonderfully delicious. Yuuya was also in a good mood, listening to music with his headphones.

"You organized the room pretty quickly. Sorry about yesterday, blood just rushed to my head is all."

Yuuya apologized to Jin, moving his headphones down to his neck and letting the sound spill out.

"Everybody makes mistakes. Don't worry about it."

"Hey, what's with that high and mighty way of speaking?"

Despite all the trouble Sierra had brought upon Jin, it was still thanks to her that all the boxes were gone. It would have been troublesome for the Genie of the Lamp to have helped out...at least that's what he thought.

''I really should have shown more thanks for yesterday. Because I can't call her again.''

The lamp had been put in a box, and then sealed into the deep recesses of a desk. This was for safety. That way Sierra wouldn't be called out from the lamp being accidentally rubbed. It solved everything.

When it came time to go to school, the two left the room. The smell of sweat and mold were a unique part of the inside of the men's dormitory, but for some reason there was a new unique fresh scent in the air. Yuuya wriggled his nose, sniffing.

"This smell...where have I smelt it before."

"I wonder if it's incense."

Jin replied while his nose sniffed the air as well. Yuuya shook his head.

"An incense stick doesn't have this kind of scent."

"That's not what I meant, here. It's kind of like the smell of an old lady using a folding fan."

"Ah, I see. It's like the smell of an old lady."

Yuuya laughed aloud, while over his back something taller than him cast its long shadow.

"This incense is a type of citrus fruit. Calling an upperclassman an old lady, the first years this year sure have a lot of courage."

In shock, the two could only shake. A tall slender figure wearing a traditional [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/41/G_Blaize_Kokiu_Nague_2.JPG Kendo Gi and Hakama] was holding a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinai Shinai]. With long hanging hair, the young man stared down with cold, strict eyes. Behind him, and wearing their school uniforms, were four members of the Skinhead group. They were the dorm head's right hand guardsmen, subordinates under his direct control, and all were third year students at the dorm.

The scent had risen from the Kendo Gi which Ukyou was wearing. Incense used to be burned in the Heian Period to provide kimono's with a pleasant smell, and it seemed Ukyou had these traditional hobbies.

“No way dormitory head, that is......no.”

Yuuya's face was becoming a shade of pale green. Ukyou took Yuuya's music-blaring headphones from around his neck, slamming them into a nearby wall.

“You're a Japanese man, yet here you are indulging in the Western Music Culture, how weak!”

Ukyou was the head of the Kendo club. He was pale from practicing indoors all the time, and as time continued that feature began to grow more and more pronounced. Yuuya shook from his uncontrollable fear of him.

“S, sorry, please forgive me.”

“You trash, well, it's true you're in the Light Music Club. For the sake of winning the girls you buzz around like a mole cricket! If you keep up the flirting, I'm going to beat you up!”

Ukyou thrust against Yuuya's shoulder with the bamboo sword. Terrified, Yuuya stood unsteadily as his legs wobbled. Watching this, Jin blocked the way.

“Wait a minute! The first one to say you smelled like an old lady, was me!”

Ukyou lifted his thin eyebrow in response. The surrounding protection squad moved to stand in front of Jin.

“First year kid! Watch what comes out of your mouth when speaking to the dorm head!”

“Yeah, well I haven't broken any of Tachibana Dorm's rules yet! You just want to get to the punishing!”

“J, Jin, hurry up and apologize!”

Yuuya was being encircled by the protection squad. However Jin had leapt out powerfully like a bunny, evading capture.

“I don't think there's anything to apologize for though. I just said what I was thinking that's all.”

“What the, you first year brat!”

“Anyway, wait a minute.”

With that, Ukyou raised his hand, restraining his protection squad. He had an icy composure as he reigned them in.

“If I remember correctly, you're Araki Jin. To not be afraid of these guys, you're pretty gutsy. But with the authority I hold, it's not good for you to mouth off.”

Ukyou gripped Jin's chest, pulling him close. The smell of tachibana incense filled the air.

“We protect the rules and order of the dorm, so show some more respect to your upperclassmen. This is an order from your senior, and you aren't allowed to speak out against it. Araki Jin, essentially you would be sent off to be punished but......since you're a new student, we'll just take away your meals.”

“T, take away my meals?”

Jin's raised voice held a bit of hysteria.

“That's right. There will be no lunch or dinner for you today.”

Jin was astonished at Ukyou's cold words. Suddenly a member of the protection squad spoke up.

“Dorm head, it's about time to attend school. The morning patrol in the neighborhood......”

“Okay. Just let me change my clothes.”

Ukyou and his protection squad withdrew, leaving a chilling wind over their shoulders. Yuuya grabbed ahold of Jin.

“For saying all that, it's kind of good you got off so easy.”

“Where does it say they can take away meals?”

Dinner at the dormitory started at six, and unless everyone was there no one could start eating. Also, that time was closing time for the dorm, so from that point on no one was permitted to go out. Those were the rules for meals, so outside food couldn't be brought in later. Consequently, withholding meals actually meant that until the next day's breakfast, there would be nothing to eat. Yuuya pressed his forehead in shock.

“In this situation what are you going to do for food! Why didn't guys with the dorm head say anything about him taking food from you?”

“I know, meals are the basis for human life after all.”

“With all this talking about human life and all, we don't have anymore time, but......geez it's because you transferred from another school that you don't understand yet how scary the dorm head is. When he's in a bad mood, do you have any idea how lucky it is to get off with only a few meals taken away?”

“Even though you said that yesterday too, he really wasn't in that bad a mood. Still, what an obstinate guy.”

“Shhhh! You may think it's fine to say stuff like that, but that's what lost you your food! Back when I was in my second year of junior high, I stepped on his shadow, and did you know I got punished just for that?”

“Sounds like anachronism.”

“His entire household is extremely old fashioned, they're like nobles. Especially from the weak position of a second year junior high student.”

A stand was put out in front of the dorm's entrance hall, with packages of onigiri stacked up. They were bentous for the boarding students. There were five second year junior high school boarding students distributing, bowing their heads each time they handed one out.

Because of their weak position as underclassmen, their job as second years was to prepare the meals. Shopping, breakfast, lunch and bentous, and also dinner, each of the three meals had a system made for it. There was also the dish washing group. It had been arranged so that there would always be around ten first year high school students, with thirty junior high second years, so that there would always be people to take care of the work.

Jin and Yuuya both reached out their hands towards the bundles, when a boy on duty shook his head. The first year student had a serious expression on his face.

“I'm sorry. But the dorm head said that Araki doesn't get any.”

“You don't have to be so uptight. What if there are extras?”

“It's alright. Anybody that wants seconds can have as much as they'd like.”

“So you're listening to an upperclassman's orders then?””

“The dorm head's orders are absolute.”

The boy cut the conversation coldly. Stout hearted and with the appearance of a kid, he really didn't seem to be a primary school student. It was starting to look like he wouldn't be getting anything to eat......Jin dropped his shoulders in defeat.

“Let's get going, Jin. It'll be bad if the dorm head finds you here, you might end up losing breakfast tomorrow as well.”

With that Yuuya began pulling him away by his shirt's collar. Jin reluctantly moved out into the entrance hall, waving goodbye to the onigiri he was unable to obtain.

<center>* * *</center>

Turning towards the school and walking along the embankment, Jin asked Yuuya for help.

“Hey, Yuuya. Is there any way you'll split your lunch with me?”

“Don't joke around. If I don't eat my blood sugar will decrease.”

“Ah! I forgot the book I borrowed from the library.”

“Come on! Listen when people are talking to you. Can't you go to a convenience store and buy something?”

“It's the end of the month already, so I'm kinda out of money. Let me borrow some.”

“Don't give me any of that. I'm also running out of money. But I can manage to lend you thirty-eight yen.”

“Together with my eighty-five yen......there's not even enough to buy bread.”

“If it's 'Alf Lyla', they use tabs.”

“'Alf Lyla'?”

A thousand nights......that's what it means in Arabic. It was a phrase found in Arabian Nights, where it was used as 'One Thousand and One Nights'.

“We're at the back of the place. The food is cheap yet delicious. You've never been?”

“No. I haven't been yet......”

Jin looked to his side, as just then Yuuya had laughed.

“Then, just follow me. Since it's your first time, you can't put the meal on a tab yet. There's a shop girl who's ridiculously cute. But not at Zadou's level. Zadou climbed up to the first rank, so she's in a totally different world.”

Ignoring Yuuya's words while he was in dream mode, Jin remembered yesterday's escapade with Sierra, wondering what was so good about her......he couldn't comprehend the mystery. Of course, saying something like that to Yuuya who had entered a worship group from his love of her, would cast him out as a traitor, he would become a demon for having spoken his mind.

<center>* * *</center>

As they continued walking along the embankment, sounds approached from the back that sounded like the pattering of a small deer's footsteps.

“Onii-cha~n!”

Jin was being waved down. A small girl was running towards him with bobbing hair, as her face was blushing deep red. She seemed to be a lot like a small mouse, especially with her large eyes. Yuuya tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Jin, you know her? Which kindergarten is she from?”

“......Ai, Aika?”

Jin was surprised for a moment, when the girl......Kasumi Aika, suddenly fell on her face. With both hands thrown out in front of her, it looked as though she had dove for home base. Jin rushed over to her side.

“Aika! A, are you alright?”

“Just now......there was nothing that would make someone fall...”

Yuuya muttered with stiff eyes. Aika picked herself up, and turned to face Jin.

“Onii-chan, we finally meet!”

Jin's body was hugged tightly. The other person's body was slender, and seemed as though it might break easily. That body like a matchstick was wearing the Harusha Middle School Academy's uniform. Surprised, Jin asked Aika about it.

“You, why are you wearing that uniform?”

“Huh. That girl, she's from yesterday's......”

Yuuya pointed at Aika. That time yesterday when they had seen Sierra's car along the embankment, this was the girl that had been sitting next to her. He turned an amazed look towards Jin.

“How do you know Aika?”

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_069.jpg|200px|thumb]]

“Wasn't she in Zadou Sierra's car yesterday? I thought she was in kindergarten, but could it be she's in middle school?”

After Yuuya's question, Aika was embarrassedly hiding behind Jin's back.

“Wa, wait, why are you hiding?”

“Don't get too close. She's not very immunized against guys.”

“Immunized, what, do you think I'm some kind of infectious bacteria?”

Disregarding an upset Yuuya, Jin turned to ask Aika a question.

“You were in her car?”

“Yeah. On my way home I hurt my leg, and she helped me by taking me back to the dormitory.”

“......You probably, just fell onto the level ground like you did just now.”

“Being able to ride in Sierra's car, was like a dream. Because of my nervousness, I was being careful about what we were talking about.”

“Hmmm...... It's nice that such a selfish girl can show some kindness.”

Slightly surprised, Jin brushed his forehead with his index finger.

“Dormitory?”

“Yeah. Sakura Dormitory.”

“Wait a minute. Why did you transfer from the all girls elementary school? Actually, why did your parents say 'okay' to you living in a dorm when here you are tripping over nothing?”

“That's because, Onii-chan moved here so suddenly.”

Aika puffed out her cheek.

“I asked auntie if I could transfer to this school, and she said if there's a vacancy in the new students entrance exam it would be okay.”

“That's right......in spite of your slowness, you must have done pretty well.”

“Geez! Onii-chan! Don't call me slow!”

Angrily Aika closed both hands into fists. But slamming into Jin's stomach was instead, Yuuya's elbow.

“She's pretty cute. Your [[PuiPui:Volume1_Translator%27s_Notes|little sister]] that is.”

“She's not my sister. She's a friend from my old neighborhood.”

“Uhm, Onii-chan. Can we go to school together?”

Looking out to make sure Yuuya wasn't getting any closer, Aika was shimmying around Jin.

“Sorry, Yuuya. I'll meet you in the classroom.”

“Why are you suddenly so cold-hearted? My my, I never noticed.”

After finishing his sarcasm and slowly increasing his pace, he paused suddenly.

“Wait a minute. Did you say Sierra was a selfish girl?”

“Well I didn't have a more appropriate adjective. Evil maybe, or brutal.”

“Don't say something you don't understand. Since it's me, it's okay, but if anyone else heard you talk about her like that, I don't think it would be good. You'll probably be attacked in the back of the head.”

Yuuya walked off first, as Aika latched herself onto Jin's shoulder.

“That guy weaves when he speaks, Onii-chan. Sierra-sama, who's such a beautiful and kind person, even if we're in middle school, and even if we're younger, we all still want to be like her.”

“......I didn't think you would think of her the same way the others do.”

Thinking about how Sierra had appeared from the lamp yesterday, Jin crossed his arms.

''There's no way that person is different from who we're talking about now is there......?''

“She brought me back yesterday. In reality Sierra-sama, even though she is a beautiful person with a lot of money, she's really kind, and I'm becoming more and more of a fan of hers.”

“Well......according to Yuuya, it's rare for a guy to not be entranced by her.”

Jin didn't really understand. Aika tried to reign in her laughter.

“Is that true. I think everyone's the same, that they all really like her a lot. But, I was the only one she had a heartfelt conversation with.”

“What's that?”

“Well, it looks like there's someone who dislikes Sierra. The other day, someone put a green caterpillar on a twig, into her shoe locker.”

“Seriously?”

Jin thought Sierra was certainly selfish......but after listening to those cruel words, his stomach began to get a little upset.

“What kind of idiot would do something like that.”

“I don't know but......after asking the boy next to her about it, he just said it was a really bad thing for someone to have done. That's why I encouraged Sierra-sama, and she thanked me, so then we talked about all kinds of things. If everyone in class knew this, then they'd be burning with jealousy. Tehehe.”

“I guess it must be pretty troublesome, for her to stand out so much.”

“Ah, that's right. Onii-chan, Are you free for lunch break today?”

Aika asked, with her head tilted to the side. Performing that motion her hair shifted over her face. With that, Jin remembered he didn't have his bento, at the same time his stomach rumbled loudly.

“A, ah. I didn't have any plans......I don't have a bento to eat......”

Hearing that, Aika happily clapped her hands together, followed by grabbing onto Jin's arm.

“Yay! Today, third, fourth period is home economics. We're making cupcakes, so I'll bring some extras to outside the staff room. Onii-chan, would you eat them?”

Aika brought her flushed face up to look at Jin. It was a sight for the gods......but because of how it looked to have Aika plastered to his arm, he was growing more nervous as he furrowed his eyebrows.

“Ah, nah......it's fine if you don't make it. Back when I was in elementary school, I cut my finger, and you don't want to get any new cuts. Even like just now, coming here you got hurt.”

“Geez it's fine. Because ever since entering the school till now while searching for you, I've always been on cooking duty at the dorm but......even though I got hurt, I got better and better.”

“Hmm. I thought it would be impossible for you to live as a boarding student, but it seems your doing okay.”

“Geez, I'm in middle school after all. I'm not a kid anymore.”

In a provoking gesture, Aika placed a fist on her hip, while sticking out her tongue and making a “blaah” sound.

“Yeah, I guess you've really grown up from that time when you were just like a baby. I guess you don't use diapers anymore then huh.”

“D, DIAPERS WHAT THE HECK'S WITH THAT!?”

“You don't wear pampers now do you?”

“Geez! I hate you! You're not getting any cake!”

Aika quickly turned her face away. If this continued he would end up losing his meal.

“Sorry. I apologized, so please don't take my cake away.”

“A cake?”

“That's right. A cake.”

“......Geez!”

Shocked, Aika began laughing. It was a bright, rolling laugh. Because they had both lived in the same neighborhood, Jin had known her since the time she had worn diapers. Having been raised in a warm, loving family, Aika had been quite obedient. Her name had come from her white body, which reminded the parents of a white bridal rose, symbolizing happiness and love. Her name literally meant “love” and “flower”. And the laugh, showed the light from her soul.

“If you want forgiveness, will you say ChiChinPuiPui?”

“ChiChinPuiPui?”

Remembering something, Jin's eyebrows were knit tightly. Clinging to Jin, Aika showed him her knee.

“This is yesterday's injury. Onii-chan, didn't you say whenever I have an injury, you'll say ChiChinPuiPui?”

Like a baby deer she was looking up at Jin with her eyes and long eyelashes. Saying “Ahh,” Jin brought himself towards Aika's knee, making his finger act like a dragonfly as it came closer.

“♪ChiChinPuiPui, pain pain, hurry up and fly to the mountain top.♪”

"Having often done the spell for her when she was younger, even though it was the same chant, he didn't feel the same sort of embarrassment with Aika. Jin thought nothing of it as he finished the incantation."

“Ehe. Onii-chan look, it's being effective.”

“It's just your mood that's all. It's just a superstition after all.”

“Hey. Are you still searching for that treasure thing?”

“Nn......more or less.”

Jin turned his face. Aika was grinning.

“It's confusing for me, but......Onii-chan, you'll definitely find it. When you do, show it to me, k?

At the same time, the problem of Sierra was revolving in Jin's head. A smiling face like this came to mind. A beautiful girl with money and an excellence record, and one day could suddenly use magic......what kind of wish could be granted, and why, did she sometimes appear sad.

Even though it was fun to go together with Aika, Jin was feeling heavy. Wondering what to do, he still had no idea.

<center>* * *</center>

After parting with Aika and entering Class 1-B, his eyes focused abruptly on Sierra. Up till now, Jin had never even noticed her before. Always buried deep in an archeology book, he had never paid attention to who was in his class.

Finally realizing this, he noticed that out of everyone in class, she really did stand out. Anyway, who knows how many people were circled around her. With a bright smile, she was speaking elegantly. As though they were attendants, they surrounded the Ojou-sama. If Sierra was compared to others, in terms of kindness, certainly he was starting to see what Yuuya and Aika were talking about.

''This is strange......what I saw yesterday, did I mistake her selfishness?''

Looking at Sierra's surroundings, he noticed all the boys were staring at her with burning eyes.

Upon Jin entering the classroom, Sierra turned her eyes towards him. Jin was taken aback. Prepared for something like what happened yesterday, he put himself on guard, but instead Sierra returned to talking with the other girls, taking no notice of him.

''Hah?''

Receiving a tap on his shoulder, Jin blinked his eyes in surprise. Yuuya was taking his seat, with his thread thin eyes turned towards Jin.

“Despite what you said before, you seem fascinated by Zadou.”

“No, it's not like I'm fascinated.”

“Everyone's fascinated by her.”

“Even if they are, it doesn't seem like any body is talking to her though.”

“Well, everyone knows they can't catch her, so all they can do is watch her in awe. Someone that would talk to her with their own voice, doesn't exist right?”

Thinking about the Sierra from yesterday, he didn't think that was so. But, looking at the Sierra of now, he could understand Yuuya's desire to get closer.

''Are all the guys in class like that?''

Inundated with such complex questions, Jin hugged his chest. Not wanting to speak up and instead keeping silent, he had one thing that he wanted to ask. After Sierra had left his room, he was wondering what had happened to all those cardboard boxes.

''I don't even know her phone number......but calling out now wouldn't be right.''

Sierra as well, seemed to want to keep yesterday a secret, so she probably hadn't told anybody anything. Looking for a suitable time to voice his thoughts, Jin patiently waited for the right moment.

She had definitely seen him, having turned her gaze to stare right at him, but paying no heed, she continued to ignore him.

<center>* * *</center>

However, with the coming of lunch break......the middle school girls entered Class 1-B with cupcakes, and the situation began to change.

“Onii-chan, I got them!”

Aika handed Jin a paper bag stuffed with cupcakes. With his stomach already rumbling, Jin took the cupcakes, feeling relieved.

“Thanks. You really saved me.”

From behind Aika, around another ten middle school girls entered, carrying cake boxes. They were all heading for Sierra. As all the other girls gathered to Sierra's desk, she had to hold her small lunch box in her palm.

“Sierra-sama, I made cupcakes in home economics, please eat them!”

“Please take mine as well!”

The middle school girls were surrounding Sierra nervously with high tension. Saying, “Eeh, Thank you” and, “well then, let's all eat together,” a kind smile had risen on her face, which showed her ability to cope while remaining courteous, while at the same time Jin and Aika were intermittently turning their gaze in her direction.

The cupcakes Aika had given, had risen when baked to resemble the color of a fox, while they gave off a sweet vanilla scent. Holding them, they were steamy and warm. Jin admired how well done the cupcakes were.

“These, you really made them?”

“Heh heh, great aren't they?”

Standing next to Jin's desk, Aika had both her hands wrapped around to her back, hugging herself with pride.

“Yeah, they really look great. It's like you bought them from a store.”

“Don't just look at them, praise their taste too.”

Placing a hand on top of Jin's desk, Aika brought her face in close to Jin's.

“You, don't want to eat?”

“We're not supposed to eat in the middle of home economics. Come on and show some discretion when you eat!”

Trembling nervously, Aika urged Jin on. Picking one out to test, Jin ate it, and suddenly the sweet scent of milk and eggs expanded inside his mouth, as it's light texture melted in his mouth.

“Woah. These are actually pretty good.”

“Really? Yes!”

Aika struck a victory pose. Extremely hungry, Jin crammed two to three into his mouth, his cheeks giving away his furious chomping.

“Yah......preddy good.”

“You tried them again?”

“Yeah. I was thinking you were going to feed me mud pies again.”

“Th......that was back in kindergarten!”

In her anger Aika turned scarlet. Aika always tended to show her emotions on her face instantly, as she always had since they had known each other as kids, so they could chat leisurely without worries. In comparison with the stressful situation he was in with Sierra yesterday, Jin really felt much more relaxed and at ease now.

Watching Aika attentively, Jin dropped cupcake after cupcake into his stomach, when Yuuya and some other boys voices cut through.

“Hey. It's obvious none of us should have received anything, but why is it you're the only one who gets cupcakes!”

“Because we were in the same neighborhood as kids.”

As Jin was stuffing his face with cake, that blunt reply was all he could manage. And as all the high school boys started to gather around, Aika ducked behind Jin. Even though she was energetic when around Jin, around other guys she was really quite shy. Sierra as well, had a different attitude in the classroom than she had had in Jin's room. ''I just don't understand girls.'' Jin was becoming more confused.

“Jin-kun. It's not good for you to horde. Aren't we your friends?”

While clinging to Jin, Yuuya spoke with a voice like a cat. With the cake box, Jin separated from Yuuya.

“Aika's upset, so quit getting so close.”

“If you give us cake, we'll go away.”

“Who'd believe that. You didn't freaking give me any Onigiri this morning.”

“Forget about stuff in the past.”

“It's a super sweet cupcake isn't it?”

“Jin-kun, please. Give us some cupcakes.”

All the other guys were coming up one after the other, clinging to Jin, all for the sake of the cupcakes. Jin raised his voice into a yell.

“It hurts, it HURTS! I'll smash 'em! I'm smashing the cakes!”

Aika was completely flustered. Suddenly, Sierra was right beside Jin and the others.

“Could I please have a moment.”

“Za......Zadou!”

All of the boys stopped moving at once. Always surrounded by girls, Sierra had moved after hearing the voices from the boys. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Sierra, the unattainable flower, someone who was only admired from afar by the boys, had actually come over so suddenly, it was as rare as a baby eating [[PuiPui:Volume1_Translator's_Notes|yakiniku]]. Not knowing what to do, they all just stiffened in panic.

“I have received so many cakes, and I am unable to eat them all by myself......so I asked the middle school girls, and they have said that it would be okay if I split them, so if you'd like you may eat some.”

Smiling in a friendly manner, the boys couldn't help but be excited.

“I, Itadakimasu, Itadakimasu!”

In a moment, all the boys were separated from Jin, and like hyena's, they madly snatched the cupcakes stacked at Sierra's seat. After the guys had left, Aika emerged from behind Jin's back.

“Sierra-sama, thank you very much for yesterday.”

Straightening herself out with both hands, Aika seemed to gain strength. Sierra was smiling, but Jin could only remember her other face. There was no one else who had noticed but, for some reason there seemed to be something wrong with her smile.

“Is your injury healed yet?”

“Yes! Ah, sorry. If you'd like, I've also made some cupcakes for Sierra-sama.”

“No, it's fine. I've received a lot from other friends already, so it's okay.”

“But, that Onii-chan was in the same class as you, like I heard yesterday......”

Trying to apologize, Aika's shoulders had dropped. Jin remembered something.

''That means Aika heard something about me yesterday? Did this all happen before I got home yesterday, on that road?''

With a poker-face smile, Sierra turned to Jin.

“I didn't know. You two have already met.”

“We were in the same neighborhood. Onii-chan was really nice, and helped teach me how to study!”

Aika boasted of this, as her eyes twinkled with pride. Sierra turned her gaze towards Jin. She seemed to be smiling nicely, but under it Jin could sense something as though she were telling him “freakin' explain!”

“Well, Araki-kun is so excellent after all.”

“Onii-chan knows everything there is to know about history. Auntie and uncle are both archaeologists.”

“Is that so. Well, in my house there are mountains of lithographs and earthenware, so it would be wonderful if someone could come and explain it to me.”

Sierra pointed towards the corridor. Jin stepped back, realizing what this was about. Yesterday, he had thrown a bunch of cardboard boxes and their contents into the bright gate. Flawlessly, Sierra's eyes were flashing hidden anger.

“Onii-chan, amazing! Sierra-sama is actually asking for your help!”

Hugging both hands to her chest, Aika looked at Jin in admiration. Meanwhile, Sierra's face muscles twitched as she struggled to maintain a smiling face.

“Uhm, is it alright if I come too?”

“No. It's going to be a tough discussion, and I want focus, so it's just for one person. I'm sorry.”

Sierra gently refused Aika's request. Jin's stomach was starting to feel heavy. Yesterday the same situation had unfolded......

“Ah-no, It's fine Aika! Just wait here with everyone.”

Aika drew back obediently. Yet as the two left, Jin's eyes turned to Aika. They seemed to be saying “Help me!”......even though Sierra looked like a wonderful Ojou-sama, she really was more like a demon.

“Well then, over there's fine.....”

Amidst her smiling face, she seemed to be saying, “If you say no, I'll eat you,” as they moved out into the corridor. Finished with the cupcakes, the boys had taken notice and were raising their upset voices.

“Ah! Zadou's called out Jin!”

“Dang it that Araki, so conceited!”

Upset, Aika cried out at the boys,

“Don't say mean things about Onii-chan!”

Unintentionally she had yelled out in a loud voice. Before Aika had been really shy, so suddenly snapping out like she had really startled the guys, stopping them in place. Aika was just as surprised with herself, turning beet red and covering her mouth with her hand.

<center>* * *</center>

Reaching a stopping point, Sierra had lead Jin around to the back of the gymnasium. There were no windows, and it was in the blindspot of a fence, so no body would be able to see.

“Well then, here is fine.”

Standing before him, Sierra was shaking. The smiling mask from earlier was off, revealing her true anger. Having confirmed his expectations, Jin slumped his shoulders dejectedly.

“You've done well to turn my place into a trash mansion, commoner!”

Sierra jabbed her index finger into Jin's chest. Transfigured in her anger, Jin was pushed by her two hands.

“You're, just completely different from how you were before!”

“In front of you isn't it useless to act cat-like? But you know my embarrassing secret, so you'll have to go away.”

“You're still like a cat, with those offensive claws you have.”

“There's no way I'll act like a cat for someone that turns people's mansions into trash dumps!”

“It couldn't be helped. But I really owe you my thanks, because it kept me from getting kicked out.”

“Well being thankful after I'd left didn't make the satisfaction gauge go up! Useless.”

“That's why, act a little more like a cat for me.”

Letting out his breath, Jin all of a sudden started to worry about his things. Sierra didn't seem as angry, causing Jin to think maybe she might have thrown out all the items.

“Then......what happened to all the stuff?”

Showing her teeth as she turned to answer Jin's question,

“Who knows.”

“No way you threw them out?”

“What would you do if I did throw them away?”

“You threw them away?”

Jin placed his head in his hands. Pouting, Sierra took his arm.

“After that spider came out of that filthy junk, did you think I would just let the stuff lie around in my beautiful room?”

[[Image:Puipui_vol01_087.jpg|200px|thumb]]

“Hey hey hey, what did you do?”

“Thank junk, you don't need it.”

“Those were my dad and his friend's books!”

Jin shouted. Sierra just gave him a sidelong glance.

“I guess you did say yesterday they were excavated or something. What do your parents do?”

“Why do I have to tell you that.”

“Don't you know the embarrassing secret of me being a Genie of the Lamp? You know my mother and father a bit as well. But since I don't know anything about you, it's not even.”

“Things like equality, that's the problem! Where'd you throw the stuff away?”

“If you don't talk, I won't tell.”

“It's definitely not an interesting story or anything.”

“What are you trying to hide?”

“Not hiding anything......!!”

Jin had raised his voice. After spontaneously spitting that out, Jin covered his mouth. Sierra simply smiled.

“You're really touchy after all. I'm wanting to hear this more and more.”

“M, my parents story is actually kind of annoying. They're just University Professors. They're both archaeologists studying......”

“Well well. For an impertinent commoner, it seems your household is pretty elite.”

“I don't know about elite but, the research subsidiary from the country wasn't enough, they had to cover the left over expenses on their own. They're searching for the Treasure of Solomon.”

“Treasure of Solomon?”

Sierra's eyes widened.

“Last year, there was a rumor of it's whereabouts, so to pay for the dig, we ended up selling our house where we lived. Because of the excavation, we lost our home and I ended up having to transfer to this school because they have a dorm for the students. Then they gathered up all the junk in the house, and sent it to the dorm.....geez! There's no money to even rent a storage shed.”

Jin seemed to be spitting as he spoke. Listening intently to that story, Sierra's eyes were sparkling, as she moved in on Jin.

“Your problems don't matter. However, about that Treasure of Solomon....”

“I said all this against my will, but what do you mean none of my problems matter?”

“That, it could be a huge treasure right? If it was exchanged in todays market, it could be worth like one-trillion yen right?”

“What's with those stars flying around inside your eyes.”

“Afterwards I can leisurely level up as the Genie of the Lamp, and get all the money I want.”

“As for money, sweat from your forehead is in your hands, it seems like it's really valuable huh?”

“That's a commoner's logic.”

“Well I just think people going 'money money money' are a bit greedy.”

“That's a good thing you've said but, I'm not interested in arguing the point. So, where is this Solomon's Treasure then?”

“Don't know, that's why it's being searched for.”

Upset with the greedy Sierra, that was all Jin replied with. Looking for his true meaning, Sierra was searching his face. Jin noticed how the miniskirt from the maid uniform suited her well, but the school uniform's skirt suited her just as much. If her outward appearance was this graceful, then why......was her inside like a curse from heaven?

“Really? I'll get a cut of whats taken, you're not deceiving me?”

“It's too late, as it's a bit hazy about what happens after it's found.”

“You're always reading archeology books so, you must be searching for it as well, right?”

“How the heck do you know that I'm always reading archeology books?”

Surprised at Jin's questioning, Sierra shut her mouth, and becoming red, turned away.

“Th, that's uhm, I hear a lot of gossip from people. All day, people talk about a weird guy that just reads books all the time.”

“Well sorry for being weird.”

Jin crossed his arms, becoming sullen. It was the first time he had heard it said.

“Solomon was the third king of the people of Israel, around the year 1000 BC. His father was the second king, David.”

“David...David as in the statue of David?”

Like how it is found in many textbooks, Sierra was mimicking the pose of Michaelangelo's statue of David. The pose of David against the Philistines was heroic and soul-stirring, but when Sierra did the pose, she instead looked pretty cute. At a loss as to why he would think this, Jin pushed it from his mind, continuing on with his story.

“David unified Israel, overcame the surrounding countries, established the Capitol of Jerusalem, and amassed wealth for the kingdom of Israel.”

“If that was the second king, then what about the one from the first generation?”

“At the time after Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, they wanted to have their own king, so the leader then, Samuel, anointed Saul to rule as the first king. David was a servant to Saul but, after killing a hostile nations great warrior, Goliath, he became famous, later becoming king after Saul's death. And then to house the ten commandments given by God to Moses, a temple in Jerusalem was built by David's son, Solomon.”

“That came out pretty well. You're like a global history teacher.”

Sierra complimented Jin after listening to his story. For the normally selfish Sierra to show this attitude, Jin was perplexed.

“Pretty much everyone calls you a weirdo because of that book you're always reading though.”

And, increasing her sarcastic comments, Sierra returned to her usual self.

“What is it. I even spoke nice things to a commoner like you.”

“Solomon received wisdom from God, which led the country to prosperity, with a large palace and loads of acquired treasures.”

“You're being extremely rude by just cutting through what I just said.”

“However, having built the temple small, and bringing in pagan practices and having many concubines and wives, Solomon invited in the wrath of the people, and after his death, Israel divided into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.”

“So with a small temple and what Solomon gave to God, it wasn't enough? So, giving thanks is important after all, like as we learned from history. You have to show more gratitude to me, commoner.”

“Don't just go along with something to suit your own convenience.”

"Oh? But isn't using history for one's own convenience a common political strategy?"

“How can you say it's so obvious?”

“Well, it's because I'm a person on the side of authority.”

“To separate people into winners and losers, there's so much wrong with that.”

Letting out a tired breath, Jin continued his explanation.

“After the kingdom of Israel divided, the northern kingdom was invaded by Assyria, and the southern kingdom, Judah, was invaded by Babylon, and the citizens were taken as captives. Some time later, they returned from captivity and rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem but, after that, the kingdom of Rome came and destroyed it, scattering the people, then World War II, and until Israel was re-founded as it is today, the people wandered as vagrants. In other words, things like Solomon's Treasure, the 10 Commandments that were kept in the temple, was either taken away by Assyria, Babylon, or the Roman Kingdom, or else it was hidden by the exiled Israelites, and it's the location of that hiding place we don't know. Also, for a long time people have also been searching for the 10 Commandments.”

“The 10 Commandments were lithographed weren't they. So they're just stone, I don't care about that.”

“You have the Roman history's comprehension, so I must look pretty good.”

“Forget that, going back to Solomon's treasure, what kind of stuff is it? Things like money and jewels?”

With her eyes opened wide and sparking, Sierra brought forth a feverish appearance.

“In the palace, golden tableware was used, and also......Solomon's ring is really famous.”

“Solomon's ring?”

“Written in “Solomon's Collarbone,” and also found documented in the text in Arabian Nights, it was the rarest of all the treasures Solomon possessed. With it one could obtain “Kenryoku.””

“What's Kenryoku?”

“If a person stamped something with it, those orders would be followed, that's it's powerful meaning. That's the duty of a seal on a ring. In the old days, when an envelope was sealed, wouldn't the hanko be pushed into candle wax, sealing it? To prevent loss, people in the past would put the hanko into a ring. Using this kind of sealing ring, King Solomon could seal spirits into jars, by closing the jar and stamping it with the hanko, and if he wanted he could even make the spirit serve him.”

“Serve him, could that mean......my ancestor was sealed into that lamp by Solomon?”

“My Dad and Mom think Solomon's Treasure is somewhere in the Middle East, and are continuing to search there. But......the way I see it, there's a strong line to the treasure being somewhere in Babylonia. Later though, Babylonia flourished into Mesopotamia, which is now current day Iraq, and Mesopotamia's capitol of commerce is today's bustling center in Baghdad. The original Kugo Harp from there is stored here in the Shōsōin Institute.”

The Shōsōin Institue is a building located in Nara near a place known as the Todaiji Temple, a wooden building on stilts. There is a Buddhist statue of an Emperor of Japan and other such things, taken from the Tenpyou Era of the arts.

“In other words, both Babylon and Japan were part of the Silk Road. Iraq and it's neighbor Iran, have glass bowls handed down from ancient day Persia, and the Shōsōin Institute also has the same type of cut-glass bowl recovered from an emperor's tomb. So I think Solomon's Treasure could also have made it to Japan in the same way but......my father and his team won't even listen to my opinion. What do children know, that a specialist couldn't have already figured out through research, is what they think.”

“Well, the Tokugawa buried treasure is pretty pathetic.”

“I thought so too when I was little, until I started to read the books my dad would bring back and began studying archeology. If it was just information, my dad and his team wouldn't lose. That's why, when I started looking for the treasure myself, I was able to discern the information through what my dad and his team had.”

After explaining this much to Sierra, Jin sank back into his own thoughts. As Sierra watched him lost in his own thoughts, he seemed to be lost in imagination. His eyes were searching a time and place far from here. Sierra also couldn't begin to guess at that far distant world, yet he lifted the palm of his hand up, looking out over the vivid landscape as if he could see it.

Sierra was looking around absent-mindedly, when she noticed Jin jump out of his thoughts.

“Crap, I was flying around inside my own thoughts again.”

“I see......something like that, it's no wonder you never noticed me.”

Unsure why Sierra was relieved with her hand on her chest, and having not heard properly, Jin asked again.

“What did you say again?”

“Ah, it's nothing. For now, it seems like Solomon's Treasure might be in Japan?”

Flustered, Sierra changed the subject.

“I'll help too so, lets go searching! With all the money left in the house we'll hire people, then using infiltration tactics we'll dig, and find it quickly. As for division, I'll get 80% and you can have 20%.”

“Wha, don't go deciding stuff to suit yourself!”

“Ownership over lost property, isn't it after half a year whoever finds it keeps it? Solomon never took back his treasure so, it's fine if I find it.”

“It's different if someone owns the land, in that case whoever that person is has rights to whatever is dug up.”

“Then, we just have to keep the secret from the owner of the land, then go ahead and buy the land. After we get Solomon's Treasure, I won't have to be a maid again!”

“If you could do that, I'd be really grateful too.”

“What's with that! I even came as a maid for you, and that's all you got? How rude!”

“You want to be a maid, you don't want to be a maid, which is it!”

After being yelled at by Jin, Sierra stopped her snarling, and shut her mouth.

“Th, that's......it's obvious I don't want to.”

“But, if you stop being a maid, the magic book will be wiped blank again.”

“The abilities of the genie are handed down to the kids right? If I can be comfortable, I'll just give the Genie of the Lamp to some kid who's pursuing that kind of thing, and leave it in a field or a mountain or something.”

“Your character is just like that of the personality of a Genie.”

“Then it's decided, let's go search for Solomon's Treasure!”

Cheerfully Sierra seemed to be floating while walking, without touching the ground. Jin could only shake his head to the side.

“It's not that simple to find, I've been looking already. Ever since I was in Junior High, I was going everywhere during breaks and vacations searching, but there's still nothing to show. Even if we used infiltration tactics, where would you even start.”

“So after all a commoner is pretty unintelligent.”

“What's that!”

“But the magic lamp, hasn't it already crossed the Silk Road? So in other words, Solomon's Treasure should have taken the same route. If we know where the magic lamp came from, we just need to retrace right?”

“Ah.”

Jin looked at Sierra in wonder.