Editing Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha:Volume 4 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 3===

In the end — whoever seemed to be following Basara became more alert and pulled back, thus there were no longer any attacks. Due to the addition of extra-curricular work for the sports festival as part of the organising committee, these three people were always extremely busy, and it was as if the attack at the station never happened. —However, Toujou Basara did not let his guard down. Because since that day, he felt that someone was always watching him.

Currently—…they’re watching me again.

During gym class, among the boys of the two classes who were lined up in the schoolyard, Toujou Basara felt that someone was secretly watching him again, and his body tensed up slightly. It wasn’t like what Yuki did previously, or what Takigawa did to Mio, nor what Zest did to Basara; surveillance which avoided the victim from detecting it. It was unknown where it was coming from, and as if deliberately wanting Basara to know, it purposely emphasised its own existence. Of course, Basara was also trying to follow that feeling in order to find the other person, but it didn’t leave many traces of itself behind, and its identity remained unknown. With nothing to do against being watched, the days went by — but, Basara didn’t achieve nothing.

—Firstly, it should be correct that the opponent’s objective was Basara. By feeling watched, Basara could only deduce that the opponent didn’t want Mio who had inherited Wilbert’s power like previously, nor was it too likely that it was the third faction of the Demon Realm attempting to take Mio’s life. And…secondly — it was highly likely that it was someone related to Hijirigasaka Academy. That was because whenever Basara was in the school, he would always get the feeling of being watched only when there were other people all around watching him, thus he couldn’t make a move.

In order to avoid endangering innocent people, Basara was on high alert against anyone who might sneak into the school, but it came from close by within his surroundings. Thus, they were a member of this school to begin with. But—…was such a thing really possible? Within the school, Yuki and Takigawa had snuck in to observe Mio, and they often monitored the surroundings, paying attention to whether there were any threats. Of course, like Takigawa who had come to the school first, he wasn’t detected by Yuki, as those who came first had the upper hand over those who came later which made it a considerable advantage to have a hidden identity. If the opponent’s skill was so extraordinary that even Takigawa who defeated the high-class demon Zolgear couldn’t tell — what was happening now was unimaginable. Considering that there were no other students who transferred in after Basara, it wasn’t someone who was already at the school before Basara and the others came, but rather they disguised themselves as someone already at the school afterwards. —It’s just that they put so much emphasis on their own presence, which would inevitably cause Basara to be more alert; this way, it didn’t seem like they were interested in taking Basara’s life or [Banishing Shift].

So — as Maria said, the attack at the station was just a warning, and this current surveillance was a continuation of the warning, which should be more appropriate. But no matter how it was considered, even if the opponent was stupidly emitting their presence and watching within the school, there had to be some other meaning besides a warning. Could it be that as a long as they had the intention, they could involve innocent people at any time — and this time, students and teachers?

“………!”

Regardless of who it was, it was too low…while the PE teacher was marking the roll, Basara grinded his teeth. If this was only a provocation, that would be even more lowly. The opponent should know that the most effective way to provoke Basara would be to cause harm to innocent people. But — he definitely couldn’t let them do that. With the situation surrounding the Demons related to Mio and Maria, as well as looking at the Hero Tribe who had Yuki remain, followed by Kurumi; as soon as an irreparable situation occurred, he would be caught in a predicament. As Basara was clenching his fist, the presence watching him suddenly disappeared as if mocking him, allowing Basara to relax and sigh.

“Good, now work in pairs to do stretching exercises.”

After the PE teacher marked off the roll, he gave out instructions, and the students partnered up to begin their stretches, but only Toujou Basara stood there alone. It was such a depressing situation because his usual partner — Takigawa Yahiro had returned to the Demon Realm. It was already the later half of the second trimester, so the students already had fixed partners for physical education. For Basara who transferred to this school after the break, he couldn’t simply partner with anyone just because his partner Takigawa was away. There was nothing that could be done — he could only have the teacher as his partner today. But just before that —

“U-Uh, Toujou-kun…”

When Basara turned to look in the direction of the soft voice, he realised that an Angel was in front of him—no. Although he had a lovely slender figure, after wearing his sports uniform, he seemed as if he was a girl. But—

“……You’re Tachibana. Sorry.”

“Eh? …W-Why do you need to apologise?”

Basara went ‘Uh…’ as he scratched his face, and replied to the puzzled Tachibana who had approached

“Although we see each other every day in the organising committee, this is the first time I’ve seen you in your sports uniform — and I didn’t recognise you for a moment.”

“Ah, that’s no surprise. Umm, I…look good?”

Tachibana was embarrassed to raise his eyes, and Basara couldn’t help but gasp.

…Uh, what am I nervous about…? I’m not a pervert, but looking at him closely, Tachibana really has the feeling of a bishoujo. He seems shy, innocent and cute, which when combined makes him a perfect traditional Japanese girl.

So—

“Ah, you’re really cute…no, you look really good, Tachibana.”

Oops, I accidentally said too much. In the end, Tachibana happily replied

“Hehehe…thank you. I-In fact, Toujou-san looks very handsome wearing that.”

“R-Really?”

Thanks, it’s rare to be praised like this by girls — but he’s not a girl.

“You’re saying…that you’re actually in class A?”

Class A was next to Basara’s class B, and those two classes did their PE lessons together.

…Strange?

Basara had never seen Tachibana before in physical education classes. Just because they were in the same PE class together, the majority of people wouldn’t remember the faces of all the male students in the class, but Basara was different. When he was young — while he was still in the Hero Tribe’s [Village], Basara had undergone strict training to develop the ability to never forget a face. So from the perspective of Basara, when Tachibana came to Basara during their work for the sports festival organising committee, it was the first time that the two of them had met, and they shouldn’t have had a PE class together yet. Seeing Basara’s puzzled frown —

“Ah, in fact…my body hasn’t been very good since I was young, and during the break, my condition became a bit worse, so I haven’t been to PE classes since school resumed. So—”

So, only now did he see Basara in class — Tachibana said with a lonesome smile. Basara looked at his slender body and white, near-transparent skin, and then replied

“……I see.”

Basara now understood why the PE teacher never called Tachibana’s name even when marking the roll. Knowing that he couldn’t attend class, even if the teacher bothered to call his name, the students repeatedly informed the teacher that ‘Tachibana isn’t here’. The teacher didn’t force him to watch from the side, probably because it happened too many times, so he didn’t want him to become depressed because he was always just watching.

“Ah, maybe I’m already a lot better now? So when I asked the teacher, he allowed me to attend class with everyone else from now on, after all, the sports festival is rather soon now. Probably because I rarely attended class, there was no one around to help me with stretching exercises…but it looked like Toujou-kun also didn’t have a partner, so I came over to ask.”

Then—

“I want to do stretching exercises together with you…c-can I?”

“! ——Sure, my usual partner is away today, so this is great.”

Seeing Tachibana who looked up at him with a pair of moist eyes, Basara couldn’t help diverting his gaze as he blushed.

…W-What is this…?

Indeed, Basara had girls like Mio, Yuki, Maria and Kurumi by his side, but not the weak, shy type like Tachibana, which actually seemed quite refreshing now that it was brought up. No matter how he looked at him, he still seemed like a girl, but in reality he was a male just like Basara, and he didn’t have that kind of interest anyway — so he hoped that this inexplicable increased heart rate was just a result of the bright autumn sun. But it was currently cloudy.

“Alright, let’s start doing some exercises — I’ll help you first.”

If this continued, things could head into a bad direction, so Basara starting the stretching exercises as soon as possible; he pressed against Tachibana’s back as he was sitting on the ground to help him bend forwards.

“…………”

Uh…it feels so soft. It isn’t just soft, it’s the sensation of Tachibana’s body.

“Umm…Toujou-kun, perhaps you could use a bit more force?”

“R-Really? Well, is this enough?”

The physical difference between Tachibana and Takigawa was quite large, and for a moment, Basara didn’t know how much force to use.

—Besides, that felt too soft, where did the muscles go? Tachibana, you need to eat more meat, you can’t be a picky eater.

Stretching exercises had to be done, so every time Basara used a bit more force on the shoulders, Tachibana breathed heavily with ‘Nnn! Nnn!’ noises continuously. Of course, he should be concentrating when doing stretching exercises—

“……………”

The sounds which were made were not as they seemed, and the atmosphere became more and more awkward. After spreading out his legs and stretching from side to side a few times, Tachibana had pretty much finished stretching, so—

“Okay, now it’s my turn to help you, Toujou-kun.”

Tachibana moved behind Basara, and pressed down against his back.

“Wow…Toujou-kun, do you participate in any sports clubs?”

“No, I don’t participate in any clubs.”

“But your body is quite strong…it’s not visible with your normal uniform though.”

I-Indeed.

Tachibana’s discovery caused Basara to nod ‘Uh…’ and then say

“I trained for a while in the past, and I’ve been training again recently.”

Basara didn’t have any more to say, he just skipped over the parts that he couldn’t say.

“So that’s how it was…right, I never got the chance to ask you, why did you want to be in the organising committee for the sports festival? From what Sakazaki-sensei said, you volunteered for it.”

“Are there really very few people who would volunteer?”

“There aren’t none, it’s just very few people…based on what the senpais said, the classes each year could only produce one male and one female, which is the minimum requirement by the school. Compared to the cultural festival, doesn’t it feel like the members of the sports festival organising committee have to do more work? So as long as there are enough people, the other people don’t particularly want to participate.”

But—

“It just seems like there’s a bit of an exception this year…”

“—I’m sorry, to give you so much trouble.”

Seeing Basara in front who had bowed with an apology, Tachibana quickly pushed him back up.

“I-It’s not the fault of Toujou-kun’s and the others, it’s just that there’s no helping it…”

However—

“Naruse-san and Nonaka-san are really popular…ah, you wouldn’t have come because of them as well right?”

“—Well, that could be. Originally, no one in my class B wanted to do it, so the three of us decided to do it.”

“I see…because the three of you live together. So you did it for the sake of the entire class?”

In response to Tachibana, Basara replied

“No, I don’t really have that kind of sentiment.”

“In fact…I’m ashamed to say it, but I stirred up some things on the first day that I transferred over to this school—”

“Ah…I know about that. That is, you were hugging Nonaka-san while you loudly declared that you were living with Naruse-san?”

“Hold on — I never did such a bad thing.”

Did it turn into this after the rumours spread to the other classes? No wonder people come to take a look during and after class.

“There was actually this kind of misunderstanding…so when I wanted to do something for the class, I was hoping to restore my reputation. And after I joined the organising committee, I would also be able to get to know the students from other classes.”

Since I don’t have any friends in my class other than Takigawa, it would also be important to look outside the class.

“Because of that, I’m currently able to talk to you like this…it seems like that was a good decision.”

“It’s not just you who feels that way, Toujou-kun. In fact…to be able to be your friend, I’m also very happy.”

“…Indeed. Tachibana, thank you.”

But can you not blush? It’ll make people nervous.

…However, it wasn’t just for this reason. Basara didn’t lie, he really did want to take this opportunity to make a few more friends, but that was only one of the reasons that he wanted to join the sports festival organising committee. He also wanted to fully enjoy the fun of the sports festival. In reality, for Basara whose strength exceeded that of a normal person’s, he couldn’t find any enjoyment in the sports festival’s events which relied on reaction time and physical ability. He always had to pretend to be an ordinary person and thus could never be serious, so as not to cause any trouble. So if Basara wanted to get a greater sense of participation in the sports festival, the only way was for him to become one of the behind the scenes staff. As a result, he didn’t have worry about his physical ability which had been honed by fighting since he was young, he would just be an ordinary member of the class with the identity of an ordinary high school student attending a sports festival. So after discussing this with Mio and Yuki, they decided that the three of them would join the organising committee given that the circumstances were permitting. Also…for ‘a certain reason’, Basara also wanted to join the organising committee.

It’s probably just a bit for my personal satisfaction, and I didn’t mention it to Mio or Yuki.

“……Toujou-kun?”

Not knowing why Basara suddenly became silent, Tachibana asked.

“Ah, sorry…anyway, that’s why I volunteered. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”

There was nothing surprising nor special about it, and Basara then said

“On the other hand, it’s actually surprising to me that you joined the student council. Although it’s the general affairs department, it’s really like a student council member, always having to do this and that, doing things as a leader.”

Considering Tachibana’s personality, he didn’t seem like he would voluntarily do such things; even if he was invited to join, people like him would most likely decline.

“…Toujou-kun, do you find it strange that the student council has someone like me?”

“Uh, it’s not really that strange…”

Hearing Tachibana’s tone drop a little, it caused Basara become anxious as he wondered whether he may have said the wrong thing.

“It’s okay, I myself also find it quite strange.”

Tachibana smiled as he said

“I said before…my body is quite weak, and I often had to take days off; and even if I came to school, I would often spend most of the day on a bed in the school infirmary. There was no way for me to attend class, and of course I wasn’t able to participate in extracurricular activities either. One day, Hasegawa-sensei gave me a suggestion…”

“—Hasegawa-sensei?”

The name which suddenly came up surprised Basara.

“Mmm, she said ‘people like me should be in the student council’. It was different from normal extracurricular activities, and the other members would help me; even if I was only able to do a few chores, it was very useful work; so as long as I helped out a bit as one of the student council members, the school would be able to provide me with an active student life…sensei helped me talk with the student council, and in the end, the third year organising committee senpai and second year Kajiura-senpai really agreed to me join the student council.”

—Thus

“Although I was rather depressed…everyone agreed, so I gathered up the courage to give it a try.”

“I see…”

If joining the Student Council was Tachibana’s own decision, it would have been quite surprising, but it was more reasonable given that Hasegawa was involved. Not only treating wounds or colds, she sincerely listened to the students’ concerns, and guided them towards a solution — this was the true skill of Chisato Hasegawa. She wanted to open up another world for Tachibana outside the infirmary, but because what happened after dinner at her house was too stimulating, Basara was too embarrassed to enter the infirmary again, and he didn’t thank her for the meal. But since the theme of the sports festival was exercise, he would inevitably require the assistance of the school nurse. When he needed to speak to her or ask for her assistance as a member of the organising committee in the coming days, he intended to go together with Tachibana, and thank her for her past advice while he was there. Since it was rather odd for him to be invited to her home, he wanted to thank her while he was accompanied by someone else.

—But he didn’t imagine that this opportunity would come so soon. For the upcoming sports festival, the focus of that day’s PE lesson was practice for relay races and baton passing. After class, Basara and Tachibana returned to the school building one after the other, following the other students, and changed their shoes at the student entrance. At that time —

“—Ah, Hasegawa-sensei.”

Looking around after hearing Tachibana’s voice, he noticed that Hasegawa had just walked out of the cafeteria which was next to the student entrance; she had also noticed them, so she walked towards them.

“! —”

Basara swallowed his breath, and his face reddened. He had clearly been looking for an opportunity to thank her, but in the end, just seeing her face to face made it impossible. The promiscuous image of Hasegawa’s naked body was still vividly embedded in Basara’s mind. Hasegawa glanced at Basara who was blushing as he looked down, and then asked Tachibana

“It looks like there’s no problems…you haven’t been to PE classes for a long time. How do you feel, Tachibana?”

“Ah, yes…thank you for your care sensei, this PE class went quite well. So, umm…”

After Tachibana nodded in response, he peeked at Hasegawa’s face; Hasegawa gently laughed and said

“Were you talking about swimming classes? Looking at your appearance, you should be fine. I should also get ready.”

To Basara, these words caused him to recall certain memories as he asked Tachibana

“So your body condition isn’t very good, which is why you’re the student that sensei needs to supervise during swimming classes?”

“Hmm, that’s me… —but that’s strange, how did you know about it Toujou-kun?”

In that moment, Basara could only vaguely answer ‘Uhh, umm…’ He simply couldn’t speak about the incident where he forcibly removed Hasegawa’s swimsuit in the infirmary. While Basara was troubled over how to answer Tachibana’s question —

“Don’t worry about it — Toujou, I have something to say to you.”

“Eh…s-something to say to me?”

In response to Basara’s sudden reply, Hasegawa said ‘Yes’ as she nodded her head

“I’ve been waiting for you to come — you haven’t come over to the infirmary since that day, why is that?”

“! —No, I…!”

Hasegawa’s slightly resentful tone of questioning caused Basara to sweat anxiously. Not just Tachibana was around him, a bunch of his classmates were also nearby. But Hasegawa seemed not to care, and said

“Also…whenever we encountered each other in the corridor, you seemed to be avoiding me. Have you thought about how I feel when you use that attitude towards me?”

No matter what, this kind of responsibility problem was entirely the conversation between a man and a woman. So—

“U-Uhh…?”

“S-Sorry, Tachibana, wait for me. Sensei, come over here!”

Basara’s entire face was red, and after saying that to Tachibana who was looking on curiously at him and Hasegawa, he pulled Hasegawa’s arm along as he walked all the way to the other end of the corridor, turned a corner to a place that was devoid of people and then said

“T-There are a lot of people over there, what are you trying to do, sensei?”

“…I just wanted to ask you.”

Hasegawa discontentedly replied, before approaching Basara and hugging him. Their bodies pressed against each other, causing her large breasts to be squeezed into a lewd shape, and her legs entwined around him.

“T-This isn’t good here…!”

“You’re just naughty. After selfishly doing that to my body, you pretended as if nothing happened…it’s the same as regretting what we did together that night.”

“N-No, it’s not regret…it’s just that I didn’t know what to do…”

Eventually Hasegawa replied ‘what to do…’ She smiled as her face moved so close that her breath could be felt —

“Didn’t I say before — you know, having the love of an older woman is something you should be very happy about.”

She then took Basara’s left hand and placed it on top of her large breasts, and pressed her lips onto Basara’s mouth. With the soft feeling spreading through his mouth and hand, as well as the sweet fragrance which enveloped him, his resistance was instantly taken away. Hasegawa passionately kissed for some time, until she was finally willing to let go of Basara’s lips, and then said

“Kissing like this was what you taught me.”

After she said that, Hasegawa held Basara’s head with both hands — and continued kissing. Despite knowing that they shouldn’t, Hasegawa’s kiss was intoxicatingly sweet; after realising that, their tongues were already intertwined together.

“Chu…mmm, fu, chu…mmm……!”

The sound of two people passionately kissing had started in a corridor of the school. Then—

[Hasegawa-sensei, please immediately head to the faculty room. Hasegawa-sensei, please immediately head—]

“……That call is really at a bad time.”

The school-wide broadcast caused both of them to separate their lips, after which Hasegawa said

“Toujou — you know what to do now, right?”

“! …I know, completely.”

Basara moaned.

Damn it, there really is no way to deal with this person.

After Hasegawa lightly kissed Basara’s bright red cheek, she walked towards the faculty room with a satisfied smile.

—Afterwards, Basara and Tachibana returned to the boys’ locker room, which was already empty. PE class was in fourth period, so everyone had already changed quickly and headed off to lunch. However, Hasegawa’s surprising outburst created a rather awkward silence between the two people as they changed. Basara turned his head to glance over at Tachibana who was changing with his back turned to him. His pale skin and the curves of his hips under that tight, low fitting underwear was really quite feminine —

…Damn, it’s because of Hasegawa-sensei.

Doing such a thing in that place, it caused his heart to race even now, and even his thoughts seemed to have been infected. Basara felt that it would be dangerous so he quickly turned back around to continue changing, but Tachibana was unable to bear the silence any longer —

“……U-Umm, Toujou-kun.”

“W-What is it, Tachibana…—?”

Basara asked after preparing his resolve, before turning around to find Tachibana in front of him.

“I-I’m sorry…to say such a thing, I’m also really embarassed…”

“…What is it?”

The combination of his unbuttoned shirt and tight fitting underwear really didn’t make him seem like a boy. Then, with moist eyes like a puppy, Tachibana said

“…Y-Your face has lipstick marks…?”

“—!”

Basara hastily covered his own mouth, which made Tachibana blush even more.

“! —Not that side…that, I mean your cheek…”

“……………”

“……………”

Ah, I’m digging my own grave…I’m dead. I look so embarrassed.

At that time —

“D-Don’t worry…I’m actually very good at keeping secrets. Really, Toujou-kun…!”

Tachibana quickly showed his sincerity, comforting the dejected Basara who seemed as though he had stepped on a landmine.

“Umm…this thing, it’s better if Naruse-san and Nonaka-san don’t know about it, right?”

“………You can really help me keep this secret?”

Many things in various different aspects would otherwise become quite dangerous — the actual situation really couldn’t be spoken about. Just as Basara dropped his shoulders in disappointment, a soft piece of cloth had suddenly been pressed onto his cheek. At some point, Tachibana had taken out his handkerchief and was gently wiping Basara’s cheek.

“Don’t move…I’ll help you clean it off.”

“! …S-Sorry for the trouble.”

Before his eyes was Tachibana’s chest and dangerous underwear, which caused Basara to avert his eyes when he replied. Not long afterwards —

“…Hmm, its clean now, it looks fine.”

“I’m saved…thank you, Tachibana.”

Tachibana took a step back after wiping it off, after which Basara thanked him.

“D-Don’t worry about it, this is nothing…we’re friends, right?”

This is the worst way to reaffirm friendship: while lipstick is being wiped off.

Seeing that Basara was becoming more gloomy, Tachibana raised both of his fists with his elbows bent and said

“…T-Toujou-kun, don’t mind<ref>This is spoken in English.</ref>!”

With a wide smile on his reddened face, Basara was given encouragement. With a radiant smile on his face, Tachibana seemed like the incarnation of an angel, which almost caused Basara to become his follower. So —

“Tachibana — I will definitely work hard to fulfil my role as a member of the organising committee, so that we can have a successful sports festival.”

After Basara said that as he wanted to help his friend Tachibana, Tachibana blinked in surprise, then replied

“Mmm…I will also work hard. Toujou-kun and a lot of the other organising committee members have been working hard to help me, so won’t we be able to have a sports festival where we can proudly think ‘it was good to be part of the preparations’?”

A natural smile finally returned to my face.

“Although I’m not as good as Kajiura-senpai at handling a lot of work, and I’m just a half-baked general affairs member, but—”

Tachibana’s gentle eyes were filled with determination as he said

“As a member of the Student Council and organising committee for the sports festival — I will definitely do my best.”