BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 1

Illustrations

Prologue:Rebirth

Chapter 1: Contact

Chapter 2: Immortal

Chapter 3: Mitsurugi

Chapter 4: Secret

Chapter 5: Encounter

Chapter 6: Interlude

Epilogue

Afterword

BBBE Chapter 1: Contact

Part 1

Somewhere, far off into the distance, a piercing noise echoes. The sound fuels an impending sense of crisis, it's loud and jarring despite being muffled by various structures like how a wall act like a protective membrane to the actions of one's neighbor; despite such distance and protective membranes, the noise is still hard on the ears.

Rather than a crisis, this feeling is more akin to how your alarm clock disturbs would someone’s pleasant rest, screaming until you act to silence it, making you want to destroy it even. Who wouldn’t hate that noise? A certain boy here knows he can't stand it at least.

The boy immediately wanted to be freed from this sound that was offensive to the ear. Thus, Naoto Kurogane's arm unreluctantly leaves the warm cocoon of blankets atop the futon, reaching for the alarm clock switch above its head. The said clock is an elliptically shaped non-digital type.

"...stupid bastard..."

Following a light touch, the cruel cries cease from the alarm. He is left with a small satisfaction similar to smashing one of the world's greatest evils. Then, motivated by victory, Naoto slips into the warmth of his futon once again.

But shortly after accepting the lullaby of drowsiness' advances, the front-door’s bell beyond the bedroom door chimes. And it's not only once or twice, it rings over and over and doesn’t seem to stop.

It’s too loud... Despite lacking the strength to voice his irritation, he wraps the futon around his head in resistance to that noise. This act serves to muffle the disturbing noise for earlier even, making that old problem feel distant and irrelevant. However, soon after the doorbell goes silent, as if in response to Naoto's shallow and lazy act of resistance and soon the melodies of metallic mechanisms and tumblers enters the bedroom. It is the familiar sound of a key entering a lock and turning and is then followed by groaning sound of the door in the entrance.

(...again?)

Meanwhile, the sounds of someone entering his home reaches Naoto's ears. That familiar presence stirs Naoto, a look of resignation rather than confusion or annoyance on his face while he gives up in his rebellion, as he crawls out the warm confines of his cocoon. In a simple T-shirt jersey and night clothes, he performs an large awakening stretch as he rises from his bedding in the center of the purposely and simply furnished bedroom.

Naoto's apartment is described as a Japanese'1LDK' or an apartment with a single separated bedroom and another large, combined kitchen, dining room, and kitchen (includes a single bathroom). It takes Naoto only a few short steps from the bedroom to reach the front door. But as he slowly rubs his drooping eyelids in his drowsiness, the door to his bedroom swings open with excessive force.

"Oh my. He's already up..."

Standing in the doorway peaking at the drowsy boy, is a long-haired girl in a pleated skirt sailor uniform with a blue ribbon and white base color. She voices her thoughts, tinged with a faint, vibrant sound of disappointment, as her hair sways, there being a white hair clip to complete the refreshing, uniformed look. The intruding girl's name is Haruka Hayami. She is Naoto's childhood friend and a classmate attending the same high school. She also happens to be the daughter of the apartment building's owner where Naoto lives.

"With so many doorbell presses showing results, that makes me confident in one thing. I think we've finally found the sure-fire way to get you up, don't you agree?"

Although he did not intend to get up while the doorbell was ringing, he decides to avoid such a familiar scenario. Haruka lifted her shoulder mischievously, giggling as she entered Naoto's bedroom, with an overly familiar confidence, teasing her childhood friend.

"It's not like I was going to come over everyday. But I'm disappointed. Just like the childhood friends in Nao-kun's favorite games, I wanted to lovingly wake you up with a 'Nao-kun, wake-up~.' I thought that would help fill your affection meter."

"What are you saying, idiot? That's a template! A cliche trope! There's no way genuine childhood friends really do that! What respectable Japanese girl enters a man's room suggestively saying 'I don't like to be apart from you~<3~<3'! Seriou-...Wh-what game?"

Naoto only comprehended Haruka's earlier words just now, too rushed to contest her 'template' words and deeds to act with more discretion. At that moment, Naoto's drowsiness and clouded mind was grimly awoken by Haruka's words.

Wh-Why did Haruka suddenly bring up the topic of games and childhood friend templates? Before Naoto could contrive an answer, Haruka's eyes teasingly met his now alert gaze.

"Or, is 'Hurry and wake up, Onii-chan!~' your preferred route's heroine?"

"Th-that's not something I know about!"

"No, it's okay. You is a growing boy. It's not particularly weird or abnormal. Rather, having lots of girls come out just to suit a boy's fancy, isn't everyone satisfying their urges that way? I thought having just the game was a little lonesome..."

"O-Okay! I admit I have those games, but I didn't buy them myself! Fukuda forced those games on me, okay!?"

Naoto exaggeratedly shakes his head in denial, but it can't be helped when it sounded like a shallow excuse for a undeniably truth.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. I'll get you a change of clothes and while you can go wash your face~.”

"That's the kind of thing you never do! And do not open the wardrobe without my permission! Noooo!!!”

Naoto hurriedly interrupted Haruka, who was reaching for the wardrobe in a motherly manner. He is not sure how to clear up this situation, but hopes that Haruka will understand regardless.

"I can get my clothes myself. Please, just go over there.”

"Yeah? Then I will prepare breakfast for you, but don’t fall asleep again.”

“I know…” he said after taking a deep sigh.

After seeing Haruka off with a light wry smile on her face, Naoto went to the bathroom as he was told. The wooden floor in the hallway and the bathroom are a little cool and the chill air made him stretch his back a bit.

This was Naoto's usual morning scenario. He is reluctant to get up, but Haruka would eventually unlock the door, enter his room, and forcefully waking him up. It's a scenario that has been going on for a while now, a scene that has been all too common for him at this point.

(Everything is still the same...)

Wiping off the cold water he had bathed in with a towel, Naoto looks up and sees his reflection in the mirror as he always did in the morning. His hair bounces back even when you stroke it carefully, and his eyes are bottoms up, lacking any sense of tension. He is not the strongest guy around, but he has a reasonably fit body.

In the mirror… a row of strange symbols that are floating above his head, are reflected. The symbols make up for a number. Though it’s a number, it isn’t the kind of number that people would perceive as one. Naoto understands these symbols as numbers. While he can see these strange numbers appearing above people's heads, they are only visible for him. He doesn’t know why, but that is simply a fact.

"’The Eye of the Hunter’… huh?”

He mutters that bitterly to himself, while he stares at the numbers that are above his head, as if they were a way too expensive price tag.

The number he can read from the symbols is '9810'. He doesn’t know if this is some accurate deciphering or not, but there is no way he could check the answer for that anyways. For a certain while now, Naoto's number has been static like this. What do they mean? Basically, these numbers show someone’s life force, their physical strength and health and so on. Depending on how person’s conditions are, the number can change. For example, martial artists and sportsmen have a relatively high one, while people with some kind of illnesses or physical handicaps are generally low. In addition, it can fluctuate in 100 up or down depending on how someone feels, so it becomes low if you are depressed or high if you are in a good mood.

But there is a reason why we can tell with certainty that it shows a living beings life force, even though he doesn’t know if the numbers he reads are always correct or not. Naoto has witnessed the moment when the value above someone’s head turns to '0'.

It was the moment when a person in front of him, ...his mother, died.

The moment she died the number said '0'.

He also remembers very well what happened after that...

"Naoto-kun, breakfast is ready!”

“Yeah, I'm coming!”

When he heard Haruka's voice from the living room, Naoto put his towel back on the towel rack and left the bathroom.

He went back to his room, took off his nightgown, hurriedly changed clothes and went into the living room and as soon as Naoto entered, he was greeted by a delicious smell that stimulated his empty stomach.

The person standing in the kitchen next to the small counter is, of course, Haruka. Dressed in her Shinkawahama High School uniform, she gripped a fry spatula and placed a freshly cooked bacon and egg on a white plate. Beside her, there was already a row of lightly browned toast, and a mini-salad with lettuce, tomatoes and broccoli was prepared on the table.

How she could prepare breakfast so efficiently in such a short time was still a mystery to Naoto, as it was every morning.

"Here, some milk. Eat quickly or you'll be late."

Haruka hurriedly placed her favorite mug on her usual seat, along with a plate of bacon and eggs and toast.

"You're looking good this morning..." He muttered to himself and hurried to the dining table.

As usual, he looked at the top of his childhood friend's head. There was a strange number floating that only Naoto could see. The number he sees is "10500". Her number is always higher than Naoto's, but this morning it was about 50 higher than yesterday. Haruka seems to be in good shape.

"Itadakimasu."

“Eat plenty.”

Since Naoto was woken up at the right time, he had plenty of time to enjoy his breakfast. After clasping his hands together and bowing lightly, Naoto gratefully reached for the hot, steamy meal. Spreading some margarine on a piece of toast and biting into it. It's his favorite thing to do every morning.

The fried egg attached to the crispy bacon was cooked to Naoto's liking, with a thin layer of half-boiled yolk and white meat. The lemon-scented dressing on the mini salad was also refreshing and tasty. But then he realized. He is sure there was nothing so lofty in their fridge.

"Hey, Haruka. Did you make this by any chance?"

When Naoto asked Haruka, who must have eaten breakfast at her house already, she nodded from her seat in front of him.

"Of course. Nao-kun, you saw me frying an egg earlier, didn't you?

"No, that's not it. I meant the dressing for the salad.”

“This.” Naoto said, indicating with his fork to a small plate that had been turned into a salad bowl. Haruka nodded again, this time smiling.

"Oh, you mean that? Yeah, because the only thing that looks like that in your fridge is mayonnaise."

"Well, if it is... then why don't you just put mayonnaise on it?"

"It's not that big of a deal. Oh, maybe it doesn't taste so good?”

"No, it's really good. I'm impressed actually."

"Haha... that's good."

"What's with the weird laugh?"

Was it embarrassment or pride? Smiling at Haruka's distracting laughter, Naoto stabbed a tomato with his fork with a renewed sense of gratitude.

As always, I take my hat off to my childhood friend for her cooking skills. No, not only in cooking, but also in housework in general, her abilities are something to behold. This is why Naoto can't get Haruka out of his head.

Haruka's mother, Yuki Hayami, who owns this apartment, is actually renting this place to him for free considering their relationship as aunt and nephew. In addition, Haruka not only comes to wake Naoto up every morning, but also cooks dinner and cleans his room, taking great care of him.

After several years of living away from home, Naoto's life would not have been possible without Hayami and her daughter.

(I'm spoiled, aren't I?)

Naoto sighed lightly in his chest as he took the last bite of his toast.

Before he knew it, he began to eat the breakfast Haruka prepared for me without any suspicion and the attitude of looking at it as a problem, like being spoiled, became just a distant feeling.

After all, it was very comfortable knowing that Haruka and her mother, Yuki, gave him a peaceful life.

When Naoto thinks about it, he feels grateful from the bottom of his heart, but at the same time, he feels ashamed of himself for being this naive. However, it would be a shame to let go of this warm breakfast atmosphere, so Naoto chewed on the second slice of a tomato as the calm feeling flowed through the dining room.

It usually takes about 30 minutes to walk from the apartment building where Naoto and Haruka live to Shinkawahama First High School, which they attend. If they were to take the bus, they could relax at home until later, but Naoto, who dislikes crowded buses and prefers the busy downtown area, normally choses to walk to school. Naturally, Haruka walks with him to their school together.

Naoto has told her several times that she should just take the bus instead, since she doesn't have to do anything more for him than already, but everytime she does it regardless. Haruka would then laugh and follow him, saying it's good for her own health. However, when she can't go home with him, such as when she leaves for school, she takes the bus without hesitation, so it seems that her definition of "healthy" has a lot of flexibility.

Passing through a residential area with many apartment buildings, they waited for green light in front of a crosswalk.

It is the beginning of October. The remnants of the summer season that had been here a few days ago had almost completely faded away and the cool morning temperature was just right for Naoto's new uniform.

The sky was clear as day, with thin white clouds hanging over it, and when he looked up, Naoto felt a sense of peacefulness. As he was chewing down a sigh of relief from this peaceful feeling, Haruka, who had been acting strangely nervous for a while, peeked up at me.

"You know what? Back to the topic at hand, Nao-kun. Do you like that kind of stuff...?”

"What 'that kind of stuff'?"

Not knowing what she was talking about, Naoto rubbed the corners of his eyes with his thumbs and asked.

Haruka's eyes immediately wandered from side to side as if she was in panic.

"So, um, you know, like that... that game where the girl with the pink hair was giving the m-main character… i-in the bathroom─"

Haruka's words, while puzzling they are, caused Naoto's blood to run cold.

The traffic light turned green at this point. However, he couldn't get his foot out of his mouth.

"What did you mean by that... Haruka-san?"

"Oh, Nao-kun, it's green."

Without giving Naoto's distoreded feelings any attention, Haruka joyfully pulls on Naoto's sleeves. After being pushed by her, he managed to move his feet and awkwardly crossed the crosswalk, being sure that he is not in the condition right now, where he should do even a simply action like this.

After they were on the other side of the street, Naoto awkwardly turns to Haruka as if he had been shot by a bullet.

"What the hell?! How do you know about all these details!?”

"AH! God, you scared me! I was just wondering what kind of things you are into and since there were so many of ‘them’, I thought one would be alright at least..."

Her shoulders jumped up from Naoto's comment and Haruka defended herself as she crossed and untied her index fingers in front of her chest.

She feels a little embarrassed. However, it is not necessary to confirm the fact that she has touched Naoto's personal belongings without permission, but rather the fact that she has threatened Naoto's heart with her earlier comments.

"You see, I have a mission to know all about Nao-kun's daily activities and what he is interested in."

"What kind of mission is that?! I mean, why are you suddenly speaking so formal?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that. In any case, that one game is about the secret of a young maiden’s life... Oh yeah, if you're a fan of ‘Love Love School Paradise’, the girl with blue hair is cute and adorable. If you ask me about the ‘It's with My Sister!’ game, then the heroine would be..."

"It's not just one game, it's a full series! And don't change the subject! This shouldn’t even be a topic!"

The tone of Naoto's voice, as he interrupted Haruka's talking to give him detailed advice, was as if he was begging her to give him a break and not continue any further. What’s so sad about this is, that he had to ask his childhood friend, who was like family to him, to stop giving him advice for games he had, for good reasons, hidden away from her.

But whether she knew about Naoto's intentions or not, Haruka narrowed her shoulders and looked up at him with a strangely relaxed expression.

"Well, you see. I'm not even really interested in that kind of stuff, but if Nao-kun is, then I don’t mind trying it out..."

"Can you not call it 'that kind of stuff' all the time, Haruka? Also, I'll say it again, it's only a game-" He was just about to shout: "Why are we still talking about this subject?!", but then... Naoto got stuck on what he was about to say.

His panicked gaze was not on Haruka's eyes, which peered out to him, but instead slightly above her head where Naoto could see a strange row of symbols. The numbers there moved, rising to 12. Naoto felt an uncomfortable feeling at that slight change.

The number above her head represents her life-force. In the past year or so, Naoto learned that it fluctuates slightly depending on someone’s emotional state as well as their physical condition.

The number above her head represents her life-force. In the past years or so, Naoto learned that it fluctuates slightly depending on someone’s emotional state as well as their physical condition. It's sadness, grief, hatred, despair, and pain that bring someone down. The only thing that raises it would be feelings like joy, goodwill and happiness, sometimes rage and irritation, and... shame.

He tries to be as unconcerned and unaware as possible. But even so, Naoto can't help but to look at them. It's irritating.

Naoto turned away from Haruka as if to escape her sight, her number.

Despite of his ability, he has never been good at reading the feelings of others. He's more of a slow thinker.

So, if he wants to know how a person's feelings are right now, he could just look at these strange numbers... However, Naoto doesn't want to do that.

The route they took had reached a busy downtown area near the train station, that is located somewhat between his apartment and the school, by now.

As the two walked along the street, the crowd of people gradually increased, and eventually, when they came to a large intersection, it became so crowded that it was difficult for them to walk side by side.

Naoto stepped in front of Haruka as he always does. Haruka follows by stepping back and lightly grasping the bag that Naoto carries on his shoulder to prevent them from getting separated.

He feels a little extra weight on his shoulder. This is the signal for him that Haruka was properly following behind his back.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He looks back once to make sure he hadn't left Haruka behind, like he always does. Seeing her behind him, she looks up at Naoto and nods her head in response at him.

After five minutes of walking, the crowd finally calms down. They couldn’t talk about any silly subjects, like earlier, during these five minutes at all. But as he crossed the roadway and passed the intersection, Naoto suddenly loses the small extra weight that he had felt on his shoulder just a moment ago.

"Huh? What is it?"

He thought that she had taken her hand off his bag, but when Naoto turned around wondering why she just tagged off, he sees that Haruka isn’t there. No, it wasn't just Haruka that was gone.

No one was there.

The crowds of people, the cars waiting for the traffic light to change and even the crows on the wires had disappeared, leaving an empty downtown that was devoid of all life. It was as if Naoto had been left behind in a movie set, all alone.

"...H-hey? Haruka?"

The word "daydreaming" pops into Naoto's head.

He wonders what the hell is going on here. There was no way he could have fallen asleep while walking through this large crowd of people that were just here a moment ago. On the other hand, there was no way he could have been in such a ridiculous scenario, for real, where he turns around and suddenly finds out that all the people had disappeared while he was left behind.

If this was a movie set, the genre would probably be horror, if you would ask Naoto. With this in mind, Naoto carefully looked around, feeling a sweaty tension on his back. As he observes the scenery, he slowly looks behind his back.

In that moment, he stopped breathing.

In this empty, uninhabited downtown area, a girl was standing on the other end of it. It would be a perfect performance if this were from an actual horror movie.

Naoto was dazed, unable to understand what was going on, but he couldn't take his eyes off the girl, as if he was sewn to her.

Naoto can’t see the details of her figure clearly. The distance between them is too big to make anything out of her looks, but what was hindering his view even more was this strange light coming from the other side where that girl stands.

But she has long, beautiful blond hair that is tied up on both sides and is dressed in a generous black dress. She looks about twelve years old. The girl has a unique atmosphere that doesn't match with her age.

Her skin is as white as if it’s transparent and her eyes are as red as blood as she looks at him. What beautiful eyes. Naoto thought so immediately.

But what drew Naoto's attention more than anything else were the ribbons that tied up her long hair. The big black ribbons stand up straight, making the girl's silhouette look like that of a rabbit.

The rabbit girl has a very sad expression on her face. She looks as if she is grieving for someone's future or remembering someone's face... That kind of look.

With a look that could only be described as sadness or grief, the girl looks straight at Naoto with her crimson eyes.

Who are you?

Naoto wanted to ask that, but he couldn't speak. He couldn't even move his body, but he had a feeling that he saw this girl somewhere before.

It was a feeling that was so distant and thin that it seemed as if it would fade away at any moment, a feeling of déjà vu that was too vague to search his memories for where they had met.

(But I think I know... this girl, don't I?)

Who are you?

He tried to ask again. But as if to interrupt him, the girl's small lips moved.

She seemed to have muttered something. The short words that sounded like a sigh which never reached Naoto, made it impossible for him to hear what she said. However, it seemed to be a very important message, so Naoto tried to lean forward, but he still couldn't hear her well.

Please say it again. He tried to say so, but... With a thud, something hit his back with a quiet noise.

"Ah-!"

He heard a voice close by, which made him gasp. In that instant, the crowd returned to Naoto's surroundings. Or perhaps you could say that Naoto's consciousness came back to the crowd.

The next thing he knew, his surroundings were filled with people passing by, leaving Naoto standing there dumbfounded.

A few adults gave him suspicious glances as the boy suddenly stopped in his tracks, and then walked past him as if they didn't care after all.

Haruka, who was right behind him again, peeked at Naoto, who was standing there with his mouth half open, her eyebrows raised in concern.

"What's the matter? You suddenly stopped so abruptly."

She must have bumped into Naoto's back earlier because she is rubbing her forehead lightly.

Looking back at her round, somewhat animal-like eyes, Naoto shoved a hand into her hair and brushed her head as if to confirm that she was here.

"Huh?"

Wasn't there a girl just now?! Naoto was about to ask that, but immediately stopped. Of course, there was a girl just now, but there was no way Naoto could explain the unusual phenomenon that he had just experienced in any words, let alone about that rabbit girl.

A man in a suit must have been walking right behind them as he hurried past them, looking at Naoto with annoyance that he suddenly stopped in the moving crowd.

The entire area had become completely normal. No one seems to know that anything was amiss moments ago.

"It's nothing..."

Yeah, it was nothing. It was just a little girl looking at him after all. It's not like there was anything crazy happening. Nothing to be concerned about. Nothing.

After telling himself that several times, Naoto takes a single breath.

"Let's go, Haruka."

"Are you really okay to go... You're not sick or anything, are you?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just that I suddenly got kinda drowsy, so I almost fell asleep."

He is unsure what to say but knows what he needs to do. The last thing Naoto wants is making Haruka feel worried, no matter what the situation might be.

"You were about to fall asleep while walking? That is not fine at all, Nao-kun, that is dangerous."

"I know, I know. Look, I am already fully awake again."

"That's not the point. I'm really worried about you this morning, Nao-kun..."

Naoto is sure that she would be happy to know that he is not the only one who's a little worried.

"You know... you're like my mother."

In truth, he is more worried about the fact that Haruka would take such a crude lie seriously. However, he is still not sure what to say, so he will keep his real thoughts to himself for now. It would only make Haruka worry about him more if he did otherwise.

"Well, being your mother is not really what I want."

"What did you say? Now, come on, let's go."

With a somewhat displeased look on her face, he waited for Haruka to grab his bag again and once again, Naoto pushed his way through the crowd. As he takes his first step, he suddenly realized.

That young girl. Something was awfully strange about her...

(There were no numbers.)

A number above a person's head reveals their life force.

There has never been a time where Naoto couldn't see someone's number. If anything... it only happens in his dreams.

(So, I really was asleep?)

It's true that he is weak to early mornings, but he didn't expect it to be this severe that he would daydream in the middle of a crowd. Naoto scratched his head again and sighed instead of blurting out any comments.

If it was a dream, so be it. In a dream, anything is possible, no matter how unexplainable it might be.

The boy has been trying to put it behind with the excuse that he was sleepwalking, but even though he had been trying for some time now, Naoto's mind was still replaying the image of that girl from earlier.

Part 2

As the sun rises and noon approaches, the classrooms at Shinkawahama High School are filled with a heat that could remind one of summer, even though it's already autumn. It was break time after the end of the second period of modern literature class. As the boy listened to the refreshing sound of someone opening a soda bottle at the front of the classroom, Naoto took off his jacket because it was indeed very hot. As he rested it on the back of his chair, he saw a man casually approaching him.

"Oi, Kurogane-kun. Can I have you for a moment?"

The person who came right up to Naoto's seat and started the conversation with a delicate cough was his classmate and friend from junior high school, Shinnosuke Fukuda.

The girls in his class thought that his short haircut made him look pretty, while others say it made him look silly. Naoto has a rather casual attitude and in comparison to Shinnosuke, this trait is emphasized even more by his overflowing cheerful personality.

He is about the same size as Naoto. They have similar grades, and their interests are about the same. Overall, they are good friends.

Naoto recalled that the bond they had formed as best friends years ago had led to a troubling incident this morning.

"Damn you, Shinnosuke. You made me get into a terrible mess there..."

Why should his childhood friend, who is like family to him, investigate his preferences in visual novel heroin’s?!

"What's wrong? Whatever."

Shinnosuke looks at Naoto with a resentful look at first, but he doesn't seem to take offense in the slightest, instead he looks back at him with a pleased smile. For a moment, Naoto thought about explaining it to him to scold him. However, such thoughts quickly disappeared. He would only be laughed at. Furthermore, it will only result in exposing his own pettiness.

"It's nothing, ...I don't want to talk about it."

"Is that so? Well, that's all right. How did you like the learning 'material' I lent you? Did it help you?"

It's ‘learning material’, huh? A dry laugh escaped from Naoto's mouth.

"No, not at all."

If anything, he thinks it may have been Haruka, not him, who learned something from the game that was forced upon him. But he won't reveal that.

"You do realize these games are just fantasy, right?"

When Naoto shakes his head reluctant to accompany his take, Shinnosuke's eyes widen in disappointment.

"What are you saying? You're the one who is living that fantasy life."

“WHA-? Hey, you're the one who's talking."

"Are you out of your mind now?! Your childhood friend, who is also your cousin, wakes you up every morning and makes you breakfast every day, and when you come home, you eat dinner together every afternoon in the apartment that you live alone in. ...Now, what part of that doesn't sound like fantasy to you, chap?!"

"Stop calling me that! You'll take responsibility if it sticks as a nickname!"

Shinnosuke leaned forward and clenched his fists when he made his impassioned speech. Naoto, striking back, also said that he was out of his mind. But Shinnosuke is not the kind of man who will back down against such little resistance. He grabbed Naoto's head with both of his hands and forcefully pushed it in the other direction. This is a great way to get the most out of your free time in the usually boring classroom.

"…What?"

"Look closely, Naoto."

He directed Naoto's head to the front of the classroom.

Shinnosuke was in a rather serious mood. They turned to look at Haruka, who was sitting in the front seat chatting with her friends. While grabbing Naoto's head, Shinnosuke continued in a low voice with a strong tone.

"She has a kind and gentle personality, is popular enough to be elected to the student council and always has the ability to be very approachable. In addition, she is good at housework, especially at cooking, which is extremely delicious. She is not the most beautiful girl, but she is cute and pretty. She has above-average boobs too...!"

"Hey you... Where are you looking at?"

"On top of that, her mother is a wealthy woman who owns an entire mansion and she's also an incredibly beauty with big tits! There is no way you can't make a mistake with that! A win-win!"

"Hey! You’re too loud!!"

Shaking off Shinnosuke, who shouted in his ear, Naoto hurriedly covered his friend's dirty mouth.

As expected, Haruka, who seemed to have heard the voice, turned around and tilted her head. As expected, Haruka, who seemed to have heard Shinnosuke's voice, turned around and tilted her head. As soon as she did, she waved her hand and Naoto conveyed a message with a gesture. She nodded in agreement and returned to chatting with her friend. After witnessing this, Naoto released Shinnosuke's breath.

"Ha... ha... shit..."

Apparently, it was really hindering his breathing. Naoto simply apologized to Shinnosuke, who was looking a bit more grim than usual. "Oh, anyway. I think you should be a little more aware of your own privileged circumstances. One of these days you're going to get beaten up by some less fortunate boys."

"Like you, for instance?"

"Oh, I wish."

Shinnosuke's eyes were unexpectedly serious as he turned and looked down at him. Naoto immediately withdrew his mischievous smile.

Naoto put a hand on his cheek and gazed at Haruka again. It seemed that they were having a lot of fun talking about various cheerful topics, making it a little difficult for high school boys to approach them.

Haruka was smiling happily, and she certainly had a rather nice appearance. According to what Shinnosuke told him before, she is known as a cute girl not only among her classmates but also among her seniors and juniors. Some of them are even seriously trying to become her boyfriend. However, Naoto was still unable to understand why Haruka was so popular.

(Is it really, because she’s cute...? )

For Naoto, the feeling of meddling, nagging, not being able to leave him alone, filled his mind when thinking about her instead of how cute she is. Haruka, for Naoto, acted more like a mother than a girl of her age after all.

There is no such thing as a "mistake" to be made with Haruka, as Shinnosuke said, but in the first place, he had never even considered such a thing.

(Come to think of it, Yuki says it all the time, too.)

Naoto's eyebrows wrinkle with mixed feelings as he remembers.

Yuki, Haruka's mother, is the one person Naoto can't get over more than Haruka. She is very busy with her work and rarely comes home, so they only see each other occasionally, but every time they do, she approaches Naoto with a suggestive smile on her face.

'When are you going to get your hands on Haruka?' 'You're a man, right?' And so on.

(What is wrong with them anyway? I mean, Yuki-san is her mother, right? A normal mother wouldn't tell some guy to go and make the move on her own daughter. I really don't know what she's thinking at all sometimes.)

As he was mumbling to himself, Shinnosuke, who stands beside him gave a short "Oh". At the sound of his voice, Naoto also noticed. The bell was ringing, announcing the end of break time. Haruka also checked her watch, cut off her conversation and went back to her seat. As she did, she looked at Naoto, smiled friendly and waved lightly. He has no bad feeling about it. When Naoto smiled back, Shinnosuke was looking at him with a hint of envy in his eyes.

But before Shinnosuke could say anything, the door to the classroom was opened exactly on time. The person who came in was Tadayuki Isa, the teacher in charge of the next class, Geology.

He was not tall, but he had a sturdy build, and his round, chubby face always had a serious frown on it. He was in his mid-forties, Naoto believes. He wears square glasses of an old-fashioned design, always wears the same kind of clothes, and is not the type of person who cares much about his appearance. In addition to geology, he is also in charge of life guidance, but his nagging and critical nature has made him into a teacher who is getting a bad reputation among the students at many times.

Shinnosuke is another one who has a hard time with Isa. As soon as he caught sight of him, he turned around and went back to his seat, not wanting to be spotted.

He glances over his slack eyelids at each of the students as if to confirm that they are in a hurry to straighten up their appearance, and then he roughly places the attendance book and textbook on the teacher's table.

It was not an unusual sight. It was the beginning of another depressing class that came around twice a week.

But Naoto was struck by the second... surprise of his day.

(What is... that number?)

He blinked multiple times to make sure he wasn't looking at some wrong number, but the number remained unchanged like a label above the wrinkled, middle-aged man's head.

"925". You don't see this kind of number every day. It's just too low…

"Kurogane! How dare you did not take out your textbooks and notebooks! Class has already started!"

"Huh... Ah, yes, sorry!"

Naoto came back to his senses when the thick finger of a shouting man pointed at him. He pulled his textbook out of his bag and spread it out on the desk. After seeing that, Isa gave a lecture on how foolish it is not to be well prepared for anything, and then began his lesson in a heavy, pompous tone.

Holding the textbook in his hand, he writes hard-to-read characters with such strong pressure that the tip of the white chalk cracks. He often took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead, as if he was hot. Actually, there was nothing particularly unusual about this scene. But Naoto's heart was in a buzz. The classes were never very interesting to begin with, but today he couldn't listen to Isa's at all, because…

(925? Are you kidding me...? Even patients at a university hospital have more decent numbers.)

He wondered if there was something wrong with his eyes. But when he looked around the classroom, there was no one other than Isa who was showing abnormal readings. How can it be possible that only a particular person's values are not normal?

(What is going on with him...?)

Naoto covered his eyes with the palms of his hands. Turns out that that was a bad idea.

"Kurogane!!"

The whole classroom tensed up at the angry voice that came again. When Naoto looked up to see what was going on, he saw Isa glaring at him from in front of the teacher's table with a terrifying expression.

"You've got some nerve to fall asleep in my class..."

"No, I wasn't sleeping..."

"Don't you dare to talk back to me!"

Isa's voice came at him with even more force. Naoto knew that he had made a mistake. When he's in a bad mood, Isa hates it when a student says something he doesn't agree with. You could even say that he hates the students.

Today, Isa seemed to be in a worse mood than ever before. He slammed the textbook he was clutching in his thick hands onto the table and pointed at Naoto with his hand.

"Answer the question I just asked you. You would know if you weren't asleep."

(Ugh…)

Naoto was at a loss for words. He hadn't been sleeping, but he also didn't listen to anything Isa had said, so naturally, the helpless boy didn't know what the question was.

"I'm sorry, I don't know."

It's not like he can just admit that he didn't hear it, so he tried to keep his emotions in check and answered calmly. As soon as he did, Isa's mouth twisted up and he looked at him with both rage and dominance in his eyes.

"There you go. This is why you shouldn't sleep. Hayami... Answer me instead."

"Y-Yes."

When Haruka replied with a hint of surprise, Naoto reflexively raised his eyebrows. He is sure it wasn't intentional that Haruka was picked instead, but he feels guilty that he caused this fire to start.

"It's from volcanic activity..."

"That's right. You are indeed studying well, Hayami. You may sit down."

He looked strangely pleased and then Isa moved his head in a big vertical motion. Naoto had to wrinkle his brow again at the sight of him.

(The numbers are...)

It increased.

It increased to more than 70 at once. It was way too big of a change for Naoto to be happy that his classmates were able to answer his questions.

"On the other hand, you, Kurogane..."

With a harsh tone, Isa turned to look at Naoto again. The number on his head increased again. This time, the number rose to 37. The fluctuations are quite large. This is not a normal change at all.

Isa pointed at Naoto and glared at him, his thick lips moving rapidly as he talked about how hopeless he was. Normally, he would be frustrated and uncomfortable with this one-sided argument, but he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut because it would make the conversation even longer. Naoto is listening to the teacher's words but is not paying any attention. He just keeps staring at the value above his head, continuously increasing and decreasing by one or two.

It's so strange. He had no idea why this was happening and this uncomfortable feeling that is sticking around inside of him. He can't stand it, so Naoto opened his mouth.

"Isa-sensei. Is there something wrong with you?"

For a moment, the classroom fell silent. He found that everyone who had been holding their breath during Isa's lecture had stopped breathing completely. Eventually, Isa's face turned red with anger as he shook his fists on the table. He did it. Naoto couldn't help but clutch his head at the regret that had come so late.

Isa roughly banged on the teaching table with his clenched fist.

"You brought this on yourself, Kurogane!!"

The air around Isa was numbed by the outrage in his voice. The boy thought he was going to be hit by his teacher, but Naoto's ears picked up a strange sound as he lifted his shoulders in a shrug.

'-thung’

It was like the sound of a coil being wound. But it was a more unpleasant, biological sound. The instinctive disgust he felt gave Naoto goosebumps for a moment. Is something in there? Naoto frowned, horrified by the disgusting presence, and then...

The bell rang, signaling the end of class.

"By next week, each of you should have researched at least two different things that volcanic activity can bring about. I'll ask you about them in the next class."

After saying that, Isa hurried out of the classroom.

Just before Isa disappeared behind the door of the classroom, Naoto finally saw that his number was 1007. It was still far too low for someone who could walk on his own feet.

"Puh..."

The stifling atmosphere that had been present in the classroom earlier came to an end with Isa's departure. As Naoto listened to the voices of his classmates, who had faintly returned to their normal routines, he propped himself up on his desk and exhaled deeply.

His head was full of inexplicable thoughts and couldn't quite put his finger on this experience. He dug his hands into his spiky hair and roughly brushed it around. It was an old habit of Naoto's that he tended to do when he was feeling embarrassed.

"I can't believe you interrupted Isa while he was in his preaching mode. He was totally on to you."

Shinnosuke came running up to Naoto as soon as Isa left the classroom and said that with a dumbfounded look on his face. He was somewhat unhappy, probably because he had been given an extra task as collateral damage thanks to Naoto. Naoto had no choice but to apologize for that.

Naoto looks up with his hands still in his hair. And beside Shinnosuke stood Haruka with a worried expression on her face.

"Nao-kun, are you still feeling a little woozy this morning? Lack of sleep, maybe?"

"No, it's not that, but... well..."

He couldn't say thing. Naoto was at a loss for words. Neither Haruka nor Shinnosuke knew about this mysterious eye of Naoto's – ‘the eye of the hunter’.

Of course, he wasn't going to talk about it. So how could he say anything about the numbers, that represent the life-force of someone? Naoto couldn't help but be curious, so he asked the two in front of him as if he was checking on something.

"Hey, you two. Wasn't there something off about Isa today?"

"Yeah? Nothing out of the ordinary if you ask me. Just the usual Mr. Isa stuff."

Shinnosuke's answer came back to him immediately and it was a simple one. Naoto smiled out of the corner of his mouth. In the first place, Shinnosuke must not even remember the content of the class, let alone Isa's condition. This boy is very much like himself in many ways.

To be fair, he didn't expect much from his best bad friend. Naoto looked at Haruka who had a troubled look on her face and turned her finger on her small chin as if she was thinking.

"...Although it wasn't that that strange. When I was called after Nao-kun didn't answer, Isa-sensei's eyes were kind of flashing."

"Is that so...?"

"Yeah. He would stare at me and then suddenly look away and then right back at me again. And although his eyes were looking at me, they weren't really focused. I thought it was a little strange."

Even Haruka, who could not see the numbers, felt Isa's discomfort. It could be wrong observation. It could be a misunderstanding. If anything, it seemed perfectly natural to think that way.

But this uncomfortable feeling was like an ominous chest pounding, making Naoto's nerves tingle with annoyance.

Part 3

After school was over, Naoto was walking alone on his way home from Shinkawahama First High School to his apartment.

...

Part 5

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