Part 1
"…It's true. It looks like we've been swept pretty far away."
Toujou Jin said as he sighed in a dark cave. —While he was fighting against
Leohart, in order to save a teenage soldier, he carried him and fell into the
palace's moat. Since he could be prone to arrows or magic attacks if he
surfaced, Jin decided to leave the scene quickly. He waved his fist in the
water, opening a hole through a rock wall and drifted into a river — an
underground cave below the river gave in; thus the strong current generated
by the connection of the river moat and the cave swallowed Jin and the
teenaged soldier together, and they were swept into the depths of the
underground river in an instant.
"However, swimming down here may be to my benefit…"
Although he was swept quite a great distance away, Jin hadn't yet lost his
sense of direction. Looking at the area around the Demon Lord's palace, it
was only necessary to follow the flow of the water, and it should then be
possible escape from the area around the south's Dark Sea. So—
"—That's possible right, Fio?"
Toujou Jin turned to the other side of the campfire to ask, and a voice which
sounded reluctant replied
"It's up to you…is there a need to ask me?"
It was the teenaged soldier who was rescued from the palace. To prevent
getting a cold, Jin had taken off Fio's lightweight armour and uniform, then
lent him his coat. Seeing his reaction, Jin wryly smiled to himself. …His
mood should have calmed down a little. After all, when Fio woke up, he took
his sword out and came over to kill as soon as he saw Jin. This teenage
soldier was able to become a member of the palace guard at a very young
age, his skill really wasn't too bad, but he was no match for Jin as an
opponent; after experiencing the gap in their strength by crossing swords, he
gave up on resisting. It was just that Jin's actions to remove Fio's wet armour
and clothing were rough and hard — which made him react even more
exaggeratedly than before, loudly cursing [Hentai]. After which, Fio
maintained a high degree of vigilance, and when Jin asked his name or other
questions, he reluctantly murmured, but his replies were honest answers. Jin
asked Fio who was a member of the palace guard about some first-hand
information that was limited only to people within the palace. Of course, an
ordinary soldier like Fio wouldn't know about any political information, and
he wouldn't say it even if he knew. However, he replied about the Palace's
environment and Fio himself as well as his colleagues had great respect for
Leohart — he also made a few remarks without hesitation about the group in
opposition 'The Council' who were unsatisfied about Leohart taking the seat
of Demon Lord.
However…
According to what Jin overheard from the conversations of other soldiers
when he snuck into the Palace, recently the Demon's were excavating the
ruins of an ancient Demon God in the Western region. If they could find the
sleeping spirits of war and awaken them for battle, the dispute with the
Moderates Faction could soon come to an end. …That was somewhat bad.
The situation was gradually getting worse. If this continued, even the truce
between humans and the Demons could follow suit and collapse. Of course
the solution would be, but— …Well, how can you make everything go
smoothly? When Jin was thinking deeply about this—
"…Can you answer one question of mine? You're Jin Toujou right? You
went on a rampage in the Great War, and you're the War God of the Hero
Tribe right? So someone like you coming to kill His Majesty Leohart —
means that the Hero Faction wants to start a war with us again right?"
This was a question filled with unease. The Great War ended sixteen years
ago, peace and prosperity followed in the Demon Realm; but after the
previous Demon Lord Wilbert passed away, the Demon Realm became
divided into several forces, and they were killing each other. But there was no
doubt that, under such circumstances, Fio would be convinced that after the
current Demon Lord Faction and Moderates Faction end their dispute, peace
would be restored to the Demon Realm; but Jin infiltrated the Palace and
fought with Leohart, so it would make him feel as though the end of the war
was nowhere in sight and he would be filled with feelings of anxiety. So —
"Don't worry…I came to the Demon Realm completely of my own accord,
sneaking into the Palace was just incidental, the other Heroes won't be
coming over to fight."
"You said your fight with His Majesty was just incidental…so what did you
come to the Demon Realm for?"
Toujou Jin smiled as he said to Fio whose eyes were wide open in
astonishment
"Ah, that — I came here to look for someone important to me that I separated
with."
Part 2
Unexpectedly, even Kurumi had also succumbed the next morning. Besides
preparing breakfast, the people in the Toujou household began discussing a
certain topic. It was because they suddenly became rather busy after coming
home last night so they didn't have the chance to talk about it, about when
Basara had passed by at the station gates.
"Speaking of which, it's really quite strange…"
While making breakfast in the kitchen, Maria tilted her head. She used one
hand to crack the eggs into a large bowl, added milk and fresh cream, and
then used chopsticks to whisk it together as she said
"The current Demon Lord Faction should have found out a while ago that
we've had contact with the Moderates Faction. Lars-san said that he would
keep your ability a secret Basara-san, as when he was in the human realm, he
also reported to them about Zolgear's attempt to capture Mio-sama; so the
higher-ups should've warned those below them not to act rashly, and the
people from the Demon Faction shouldn't approach Mio-sama for now."
"…So it seems."
Basara who was beside Maria expressed his agreement as he was making a
salad dressing, following her recipe, he combined several types of vinegar
and olive oil together.
"Even if they aren't united, I also don't think that there'd be anyone stupid
enough to attack you at this point. However, since Zolgear was an irregular
presence, I certainly can't guarantee that there won't be another person who
does something like that."
"…Well, could the Moderates Faction be behind it?"
Contributing to the various possibilities was Mio who was placing cutlery
onto the table.
"If they are, we won't give Maria to them right? The Moderates Faction isn't
very cohesive, so it would be quite normal for some people to dislike us
right?"
Mio's tone of voice carried a sense of slight concern. She was like this even
last night, it seemed like she noticed that the danger was not only to herself,
but also to Basara as well.
"But, we defeated the Demon Faction's high-class devil Zolgear, so the
Moderates Faction would judge our strength very highly; furthermore, Miosama is also His Majesty Wilbert's only child, and there shouldn't be anyone
who would come to cause trouble with Basara-san right now, as they don't
want to lose Mio-sama's trust…"
After Maria had said that, Yuki opened the door and came into the living
room.
"…How did it go?"
Yuki, who had went to get Kurumi, shook her head and said
"She's wrapped in a blanket and doesn't want to come out, she said that she
doesn't want to eat breakfast."
"Oh, she shouldn't do that. Breakfast is an energy source for the day. For a
growing girl like Kurumi-san, breakfast is the most important meal of day."
"Please…it's still your fault alright, saying such things…"
Mio said as she sighed, her cheeks suddenly turned red. She seemed to be
thinking about what she did when she herself turned into a dog,
subconsciously holding her own body; Yuki's face was also slightly flushed,
and she looked at Basara with passionate eyes. Basara couldn't help but make
a small cough to clear his throat to say
"A-Anyway…no matter what the possibility might be, this attack is the result
of someone acting on their own."
"Yes. Also, their motive is rather confusing. As soon as Kurumi-san
appeared, they immediately released the barrier and withdrew, so it could
probably just be some kind of warning."
"A warning huh…"
"—Maria, I have a question."
After Basara reflected about it for a while, Yuki came to the kitchen and said
"I want you to tell me if you have ever heard that the Demon Faction is not
only able to control normal people, but also able to allow them to use magic.
Of the demons that I've fought in the past, there wasn't a single one who was
capable of doing this."
"Hmm~ I also don't have any ideas…"
Maria worriedly said
"High-class demons are able to turn humans into their own kin and give them
demonic power, but that would be permanent…Whether or not if there is a
workaround for it, I do not know."
"...Indeed."
After Yuki replied softly, she mused about it silently, and seeing this, Basara
—
"This incident, is it possible that [The Village] will make a move?"
"…I don't think so. Looking at the way things are now, there's a high chance
that the Demon Faction will make a move, so it should continue like before
until the Demon Faction intends to fight Mio, just observing."
Yuki then said "but" before continuing
"For ordinary people with nothing to do with this to be manipulated, this is
already a sufficient reason for [The Village] to intervene. This time Kurumi
alone was sent to handle things, no one was injured, and also considering that
it was only a warning, they will probably just order me and Kurumi to be
more vigilant. But—"
"—If ordinary people are harmed, [The Village] will immediately take
further action."
[The Village] would take action for the purpose of assisting Yuki or Kurumi,
so there naturally wouldn't be any problems, and it would actually be a big
help; but they previously regarded Mio as a target for elimination, so even if
this time the person attacked was Basara, they might put the blame on Mio.
No matter whether it was for Mio, Yuki or Kurumi, they still needed to
prevent this from happening. It was also uncertain — whether the enemy was
targeting this. In this way —
"As a precaution, it would be best if we didn't go to school for a while…"
This enemy didn't care about the involvement of innocent civilians, and in a
place like a school where there were students and teachers, the surrounding
area was likely to be affected. But—
"No…when we don't know what the enemy's motive is, I think it's better if
you continue to attend school normally Basara-san. If those behind the attack
on you were Demons — it may also relate to the Moderates Faction, the
current Demon Lord Faction or another faction."
Maria continued
"They don't want the Moderates Faction and the current Demon Lord Faction
to continue expanding, whether the current Demon Lord Faction gains His
Majesty Wilbert's power, or the Moderates Faction take back Mio-sama,
they're trying to prevent that. In order to achieve that purpose, killing Miosama would be the quickest way. However, taking action directly would be
the same as declaring war against the two largest factions in the Demon
Realm—"
"So causing the casualties of ordinary people by my side, that won't be
solved by having the Hero Tribe with Mio right?"
"No…"
Basara explained the speculation that Maria made, and Mio quietly
whispered.
"Of course, that's only one possibility. The one attacked was Basara-san, not
Mio-sama; and when they also harmed ordinary people, that's when it started.
But—"
Maria spoke again
"We still don't know what the other side's objective is, so we should consider
various possibilities, and take necessary action. If the enemy is really going
after Mio-sama's life, the most effective way would be to take action with the
people most directly related to Mio-sama at school; if last night's attack was
an attempt to lure you, Basara-san, and you don't go to school but instead
stay inside the house because you're worried about involving ordinary
people, it will actually make it easier for the enemy to set traps. Moreover, if
something did happen at school, you wouldn't be able to take immediate
action. So we might as well maintain our current state, and at the same time
try to investigate the enemy's objective."
"…Understood. Until we know what our enemy's purpose is, we'll try our
best to maintain our normal routine."
Basara then followed that with a "but". In order not to cause damage to their
surroundings he forcefully said
"At school, we need to be more cautious than before, so we should definitely
go home together when school ends — do you understand?"
There were no objections to that, and everyone nodded firmly.
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 Toujoukun?"
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. Hasegawasensei, 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, Toujoukun…!"
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
[21]
!"
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."
Part 4
The concerns that there were 'too many people', and 'abnormal participation
by the third years', had become like a bomb. The sports festival organising
committee began operating with these two risk factors; fortunately, the
preparations had gone smoothly, so there wasn't any major confusion. The
majority of this was all thanks to the leadership of student council vicepresident, and organising committee president Kajiura Rikka. She tightly
controlled significantly more people than the previous years. Supervising and
coordinating each of the departments, she had turned the large organising
committee into an organisation that was manageable. As for the third year
students who were difficult to handle, also according to the original plan,
with Mio and Yuki as the leaders of their respective departments, those
people like Donoue and Hozumi were split into two departments, assigned to
helping the student council; the plan seemed to be effective, and it had
somehow succeeded in controlling them.
Basara also assisted the student council members like Kajiura and Tachibana
from the sidelines, and was responsible for negotiating with each department,
consulting with faculty staff, clubs, confirming that messages were conveyed;
he was always busy after school as the days went by.
"—Well I'm going now, thanks you all for your help."
After school on a certain day, Basara returned to the corridor after delivering
some documents to the news club and happened to meet one of his male
classmates, Shimada Taichi of the broadcasting club.
"Hmm, did you come for the news club Toujou?"
"Yeah, it was related to the sports festival organising committee…what about
you?"
"The senpai in the club asked me to borrow some publications from the news
club. As you know, we of the broadcasting club are responsible for the
commentary on the day of the sports festival, right? In order to liven the up
the atmosphere of the competition, we need to borrow some things from the
news club's previous reports to use."
During his job as a member of the sports festival organising committee,
Basara often had the opportunity to discuss the use and management of
equipment with the broadcasting club. As the opportunities for him to meet
Shimada outside the classroom increased, the two of them became more
familiar with each other. As with Tachibana, he was one of the people who
he became closer with since he joined the organising committee.
"After all, for the broadcasting club, events like the sports festival are even
more important than the cultural festival. For a literary/arts club like ours, this
is a very valuable practical experience, but we have very few members…just
assigning which members will broadcast what is really nerve-wracking, even
us first years have to broadcast a few things, so it really feels like total war."
Well, this kind of thing also makes people motivated
…Shimada said with a wry smile
"It doesn't seem like you're worried about being short on people. This year
seems to have an unexpectedly high number of people, so it should proceed
smoothly right?"
"...I guess so."
Due to the increase in the number of people in the organising committee,
along with Kajiura's serious and conscientious personality as the president,
the preparations for this year's sports festival were particularly thorough.
Minor unnecessary things were removed, everyone's workload was reduced,
and majority of the students who volunteered for the organising committee
had given mostly positive feedback. However, where there was light, there
would also be shadows, some people felt that Kajiura's streamlined method
was boring — that was Donoue of the Mio faction.
Like Hozumi, the male students who came to assist Yuki were placed into the
accounting department and there were only a few who were unsatisfied; but
those guys from Donoue's group wanted to have fun with Mio on the 'stage
of the organising committee'. Among those people who thought that they
could do whatever they wanted, the majority of them thought that the general
auxiliary department was too boring, and Kajiura's strict supervision was
even more of a reason for them to complain. Although Kajiura knew about
the dissatisfaction of Donoue's group, she didn't agree to the unreasonable
requests such as 'let the people from different years also join Mio's faction',
or 'the establishment of competitions which are open regardless of year or
gender', which would turn the sports festival into a mess.
"It's best if there's no trouble…"
Basara murmured after separating from Shimada and walking down the
corridor. That group worked diligently in front of Mio, but were clearly full
of resentment behind her back. The flame that was always beside the bomb in
the sports festival organising committee was constantly burning.
Part 5
As the days went by, the operations of the organising committee gradually
became more chaotic. The cause was the inter-class girls cheerleading
completion — in order to rehearse their routines, Mio and Yuki often
couldn't attend the organising committee on time, and the days that they had
to take off gradually increased. Thus, the people in the Mio faction and Yuki
faction of the committee began to skip work. Yuki's faction was fine.
Although they would leave when they knew that Yuki wasn't coming, they
were still people who were willing to do things, and at the least, they would
finish their assigned jobs according to the schedule.
—The problem stemmed from Donoue's group who were in the general
auxiliary department. They often hung out together, and would simply gather
in the audiovisual room and become rowdy, not doing any of their work. If it
was only up to this level, then things were still fine. Although there began to
be delays in work, Kajiura was able to reorganise people from other
departments to help out, and then transition Basara or Tachibana to assist the
student council. The jobs and schedule would then be changed, so that the
troublesome jobs could be completed successfully.
However, on a certain day one week before the sports festival.
"—What the hell is this!"
After school, the roar of Kajiura Rikka's voice echoed within the AV
classroom which had become the headquarters of the sports festival
organising committee. She slammed a piece of paper onto the desk, as she
angrily glared at the leader of the Mio faction, Donoue. In fact, today the
people of the Mio faction were being noisy and fooling around because Mio
was absent, but now the attention of the entire classroom was focused over
here.
"S-Senpai…"
said Tachibana worriedly as he followed behind her. Because Sakazaki, who
was responsible for supervision was absent from the classroom due to staff
meetings, he was afraid that there would be a conflict between Kajiura and
the third year Donoue in the classroom.
"Ah? Why are you yelling for no good reason, Vice-President?"
Donoue asked after he looked up from his phone's LCD as he was playing
games with his friends on their phones.
"I'm asking you what this debit invoice is!"
What Kajiura had brought over was a purchase debit invoice that didn't exist
in the records of the accounting department. It had suddenly appeared in the
mail today.
"I just called on the phone to ask, it was your purchase, Donoue-senpai."
That debit invoice was from a fireworks shop — every year, the school used
a well-known supplier of fireworks. In order to purchase materials for the
sports festival, the person first needed to consult with the accounting
department beforehand, and then after getting a receipt for the purchase, they
would present the receipt to finish the procedure. If it wasn't urgent, not even
one Yen couldn't be spent without permission. Thus, since Donoue didn't get
permission from the accounting department, it was already a major violation,
and —
"Two hundred thousand… using that much money to buy fireworks, what
were you thinking!"
Kajiura's voice was trembling with anger, yet Donoue still lazily smiled as he
said
"I was surprised, I didn't expect that fireworks were that expensive. But we
fire off several fireworks at the evening party after the sports festival every
year anyway, so buying a little more for us doesn't matter, right?"
"Stop saying such stupid things! The fireworks at the evening party have
always been the responsibility of a factory which has a long relationship with
our school; they sell us their remaining stock from the summer fireworks
season at a lower price!"
"Ah? I didn't know about that thing…since it's so important, why didn't you
say so earlier?"
"! …In short, please take this invoice and cancel everything immediately!"
"It can't be cancelled. That shop's jisan said that it can't be cancelled."
"W-Why can't it be cancelled?"
"Because their shaped fireworks are completely custom-made per order. He
said that the kanji for [Mio (漆)] was too complicated, so it needed to be
changed to [MIO]; it looks like that famous old shop had nothing that they
couldn't do. They had time to say that they were some pure fireworks
masters, so how couldn't I help myself from trying to make some progress?"
Seeing Donoue in front of her, smiling with contempt, Kajiura's anger flared
up again, and she shouted
"Don't fuck around! Since you can't cancel it, you, senpai, will be
responsible for paying for it!" "Huh? What kind of reasoning is that…I didn't
understand it at all?"
Donoue stood up, and unrelentingly stared into Kajiura's eyes as she shrunk
back while he said
"Right now, shouldn't the organising committee president be responsible? I
bought it with the good intention of making the sports festival more fun, and
yet you're evading responsibility already? In order to help you prepare this
super boring sports festival that you wanted, we've stayed back every day for
a significant amount of time, put up with your little tantrums, and helped you
do your work, ok? Also, this the last sports festival for us third years, so if the
result isn't ok, then it isn't ok; whatever I say, you disagree to…aren't you
second years too authoritative? Just because you're a part of the student
council, it doesn't mean all these school activities are for yourselves."
Donoue's words, which Kajiura couldn't understand momentarily, left her
stunned speechless. …For ourselves…? As the vice-president, and president
of the organising committee, she had to make sure that it was a successful
sports festival — Kajiura thought that she was always dedicated and
hardworking with this kind of passion, but Donoue's words completely
denied her efforts and passion. Kajiura really wanted to retort, but was unable
to speak. It was because she was afraid that it wouldn't be words which left
her mouth, but whimpers. But at that time —
"—Excuse me senpai, can you take back what you just said?"
It was a quiet voice, spoken towards Donoue in Kajiura's place — the owner
of the voice, was already standing in front of Donoue.
Toujou Basara regretted his own judgement. Kajiura had hoped that aside
from when he would interact with Mio or Yuki, he would avoid having to get
close to Donoue or Hozumi, so as to avoid unnecessary problems. As for this
matter, the organising committee president who was responsible for the
sports festival should have stepped forward to restrain them, but Kajiura
herself had spent a lot of effort just to deal with the third year Donoue, so
Basara had held himself back as he observed the situation.
…But I was wrong. I should have known that this would happen; when we
were behind the school building before, I should've taught them a lesson. If I
could've stopped them from giving Mio bad ideas back then, Donoue
wouldn't have joined the organising committee, and Kajiura wouldn't have
had to suffer from these hateful insults.
Moreover…Donoue's stupidity made it difficult not to doubt his mental state.
If he really was being manipulated, it could be related to the attack from the
other day. The enemy had the ability to manipulate the consciousness of
others, and there was also a possibility that they were someone related to
Hijirigasaka Academy. Although they only used surveillance to signify their
presence since that day, there was no guarantee that they weren't using
Donoue as a trap or to stir up trouble. —Of course, the enemy could also be
Donoue. Hasegawa had mentioned before; human jealousy — especially
men, could be complicated enough to cause problems. Their favourite Mio
was living together with Basara, which was already enough to turn their
jealousy into hatred, and they wanted to cause harm to Basara. In any case, in
his mind, there was undoubtedly a malice which couldn't be ignored. So —
"Hey…what kind of nonsense are you saying out of nowhere?"
Basara faced Donoue's fierce, intimidating glare and said
"Didn't you hear it properly? — I told you take back what you just said to
Kajiura-senpai."
This caused both Kajiura and Tachibana to gasp, as the atmosphere within the
AV classroom suddenly tensed up. While the followers of the Mio faction
were all stunned in silence, the sound of laughter erupted within the
classroom — it was from Donoue.
"Ha! Haha! Hahahahahaha! Ah, so that's what it was—"
Donoue suddenly swung his right fist out across the desk. He seemed to have
some fighting experience, and planned to strike first, as he aimed a surprise
attack at Basara's face. But—
"!——?"
Basara caught his fist with his left hand, and Donoue's expression was frozen
in surprise. Basara then narrowed his eyes, as he silently gripped Donoue's
fist.
"Uh! Aaahhh! Y-You guys…!"
Donoue's face suddenly went pale as he groaned in pain, but Basara didn't
loosen his grip, then —
"This damn guy…!" "Very well, Toujou!"
Two people from the Mio faction came at him from the left and right. Basara
relaxed his upper body, then evaded the punch coming from his right and
swept his foot out — that person instantly tripped past Basara as he flipped
around in the air.
"—Ah!"
"Kuhh!"
Then his heel slammed into the shoulder of the person on his left, and the two
of them fell onto the ground together. A crowd gathered from all over the
place to find out what had happened, and in the process of all this, Toujou
Basara's ice cold eyes didn't leave Donoue for even a moment. Finally, he
said in a low, but clear voice
"—Take it back."
"Hm…bastard…"
Although his face had reddened from his fist which was being clenched,
Donoue still didn't back down. Suddenly, Sakazaki, who seemed to have
finished his meeting, opened the door and walked into the AV classroom.
"Hm — what are you guys doing?"
"...Nothing."
After saying that, Basara slowly released his hand, with his eyes still fixed on
Donoue.
"——!"
Donoue then withdrew his right hand as he glared furiously at Basara, but he
didn't dare to cause trouble in front of Sakazaki, and very quickly led the
group of people from the Mio faction out of the AV classroom. Watching
them, Sakazaki sighed helplessly, and then reverted to his cheerful smile to
say
"All right, quickly get back to work. The sports festival is only in one week,
so there's no time to play!"
This caused the people who were watching on the sidelines to disperse and
return to doing their own thing. Sakazaki should have known about what
happened, so he turned around —
"Ah…Toujou, could you come over with me?"
With a wry smile, he called Basara.
After exiting the AV classroom, Basara followed Sakazaki up to the rooftop.
"Autumn really has arrived…"
Sakazaki said while his back was against the railing as he turned his head to
look out at the distant scenery. In the park next to the school, the maple
leaves bathed in the soft light of the setting sun appeared a brighter shade of
red. Gazing downwards, the various sports clubs could be seen exercising in
each corner of the school, working up a sweat.
—Before leaving the AV classroom, Basara apologised to Kajiura in the stiff
atmosphere of the room. Her reply was "Nevermind…" However, Donoue's
words would have been no small blow to her; her expression was miserable,
and tears could be seen from the corners of her eyes. Seeing Basara with his
head lowered in silence since he came to the rooftop, Sakazaki said with a
wry smile
"I didn't call you over to yell at you. I just saw that you weren't calm like
you usually are, so I wanted to ask why. Did you want to use the opportunity
of an argument with Donoue — to sacrifice yourself, and also expel them
from the organising committee?"
Basara didn't have a reply; he remained silent, which caused Sakazaki to
sigh.
"Last time when you were surrounded by Donoue and Hozumi in the
schoolyard, you remained calm, why did you get fired up this time?"
"I'm sorry…I knew that senpai disliked me, but—"
Basara looked down as he said
"This time, it wasn't directed against me, but towards other people and the
work of the organising committee…although it just looks like another insult
at Kajiura-senpai, I couldn't stand it."
"Even if that was the case, letting it out like that isn't the way."
"It's because I think that Donoue-senpai and the others won't understand so
easily…"
That's right, Hasegawa had told me before.
Basara recalled it as he said
"Everything has a limit…there is a line that cannot be crossed. The sports
festival is almost here, if they're allowed to do as they like at such an
important time, everyone will just be dragged down by them. Does sensei
want me to silently allow them to cause havoc?"
Hearing that, Sakazaki couldn't help shaking his head and saying
"I'm not saying that, but a confrontation may not necessarily resolve the
situation. You stepped forward to help Kajiura, you have a heart which cares
for others, and that really should be encouraged, I can't say that it's wrong —
but under these circumstances, I can't say what the most correct approach is."
You can't?
"If you really fought, a lot of people would have been suspended, including
you; if someone was seriously injured, the sports festival may have even been
postponed."
"But I…"
Even if he said that he calculated things very carefully, and things like that
wouldn't happen, he wouldn't believe it. So—
"…Then what should I have done?"
Sakazaki replied to Basara's question with a calm expression
"Let them participate, that's my decision as a teacher. School doesn't just
focus on an individual's education, it also needs to teach students the
importance of community activities; so the matter with Donoue's custommade fireworks this time, it's something that we teachers didn't supervise
well, so neither you nor Kajiura are responsible, and you shouldn't blame
yourselves for it. Using your own ability to resolve problems aren't a bad
thing, but things which are inconvenient for a student to do should be handled
by a teacher…teachers exist for the sake of helping students."
Sakazaki's words caused Basara to become silent again. Indeed, he may have
lost the composure that he should have had at that time. The attack at the
station the other day — the target may have been Basara, and it showed that
the people near Basara were at risk of getting caught up in it at any time. Also
—
…I still haven't found out who the culprit is.
Under these circumstances, even if the other party really was taking
advantage of the fact that Basara was at school or planned take action when
the nearby residents would be around for the sports festival, the magnitude of
the casualties that would be caused was unknown.
When Basara thought of the worst possible scenario and felt a moment of
extreme anxiety —
"—There's one thing I've always been quite concerned about. Toujou, have
you been affected by [her]?"
He suddenly heard Sakazaki's low voice.
"Her…who do you mean, sensei?"
As his thoughts returned to Basara who had replied in front of him, Sakazaki
sighed, and quietly said
"You often go to the infirmary. Toujou…be careful of that woman,
Hasegawa Chisato."
"Eh…be careful of Hasegawa-sensei? What do you mean…?"
The unexpected name aroused Basara's doubts.
"With the position of the infirmary sensei, it often gives her the opportunity
to answer the students' concerns. She has a calm atmosphere, and is also
beautiful; there are a lot of people that have been affected by her words…
have you ever talked to her about your problems, sought her advice, or
anything like that?"
"Hm, I have…"
…Indeed.
Seeing Basara nod, Sakazaki sighed as he said
"Her advice has a very strong influence…it's already more than helping
people solve problems or counselling, it's strong to a point that it's almost
like hypnosis or brainwashing."
"That's too exaggerated…"
Sakazaki immediately replied to Basara who didn't believe so.
"No, it's really not an exaggeration. Of the students who have gone to her for
advice, some of them have completely changed their personalities, and some
of their parents have even asked the school what happened."
"That…after having their troubles resolved, they became more confident and
cheerful; there's nothing strange about that is there?"
Basara refuted Sakazaki's words with a slightly dissatisfied tone. —Till now,
there were already several occasions where Basara had listened to
Hasegawa's advice and felt more at ease as a result. Thanks to her advice, he
was able to protect Mio and Yuki, and in several difficult fights, she was the
reason why Basara was able to survive. So speaking ill of Hasegawa really
made people feel unpleasant, but…
"If it was a positive change, then parents wouldn't be so worried that they'd
call the school up, right? The students which have made their parents worry
all have a few things in common; such as being extremely over-confident,
justifying their own actions, trying to do everything on their own, and
completely ignoring the words of their family—"
Or—
"—Ignoring everyone around them, and showing an abnormal obsession for
some people."
"Obsession…that still doesn't mean…"
"Correct…this is something that happened before you transferred here.
Donoue and Hozumi have both approached Hasegawa-sensei and asked her
for advice. They call Naruse or Nonaka [Princess], and have made an idol
group fan club in recent years, which only happened after that."
"There was such a thing…"
Basara couldn't help saying that as he was shocked.
"Let me ask you…the previous times that you've spoken to her, has anything
backfired or been unacceptable? If my guess is correct, I'm afraid there's
none, right?"
Basara answered Sakazaki's question with silence. The answer was certain.
Indeed, for all of Hasegawa's advice so far, Basara never refused it, and tried
it out. Sakazaki then said with a serious tone
"So far, you've naturally done as she's said…which is very strange. No
matter how popular a teacher is, they'll still have experience in dealing with
students' problems, this is a teacher's fate. After all, our school has so many
students, so there'll definitely be some personality conflicts, and it's
impossible to satisfy everyone."
Sakazaki continued
"But only Haswgawa-sensei doesn't have any negative complaints or gossip.
Of course, there are actually some people who are loved by everyone, but her
beauty is incredible, and her body is good as well…someone as striking as
her will surely attract a group of fanatical admirers, and at the same time will
also generate a lot of criticism by others, right?"
A god with absolute authority; although each religion worshipped differently,
it was impossible for someone to obtain everyone's favour.
"She's a little older than you, so she should be quite attractive in your eyes.
Attraction in that regard can very easily lead to problems between students
and teachers, but Hasegawa-sensei hasn't had any of these problems.
Everyone thinks that she's a peerless beauty, and also a kind woman who's
willing to help students with their problems; but it doesn't seem like there's
anyone who has any strong feelings against her."
Sakazaki adjusted his voice, a continued
"Toujou, the biggest problem is…no one feels that there's anything strange;
it's almost as if she's using some kind of magic to prevent anything
disadvantageous from happening to herself."
Basara couldn't help but gasp. Not allowing anything disadvantageous to
happen to Hasegawa — if that was true, he needed to avoid letting the
incident where the two of them crossed the boundary between student and
teacher at her house from being exposed, as that would prevent her from
teaching; Basara would be the problem that she would eliminate first. Also —
it was after leaving Hasegawa's house that day that Basara was attacked.
"...…"
Seeing Basara's face turn pale, Sakazaki scratched his cheek with a wry smile
as he said
"Ah, sorry…I didn't mean to scare you. I carelessly took it too far."
"...It doesn't matter. I just did something that made sensei worry, I'm
sorry."
Basara managed to squeeze out a quiet voice as he lowered his head to
apologise.
"You don't need to apologise — it's just that, Toujou, you're one of the
students in my class; so I want to protect you as a teacher, and I don't want to
see you getting into any unnecessary trouble. I hope you can understand."
Sakazaki's hand went *pyak* as he put his hand on the silent Basara's
shoulder, then said
"Leave Donoue and the others to me for now — I definitely won't let them
mess around."
After saying that, Sakazaki cheerfully smiled again.
Part 6
Following the argument involving Kajiura Rikka and Toujou Basara, the rest
of the members of the Mio faction left the AV classroom. The figure of
Donoue Shouhei appeared inside the gaming centre in front of the station,
along with two of his buddies, playing a fruit bowl game in a familiar corner.
"...…Damn it."
Even after numerous tries, he couldn't get a pattern right, the LCD display
showed his points quickly dropping down to zero, and Donoue angrily kicked
the bottom of the machine. …Normally Donoue would have fun when
playing, but today he was rather agitated. That was because not long ago, he
was unbearably humiliated by Toujou Basara.
Donoue tightly clenched his right fist, and that strength still caused his hand
to tremble with pain. Looking down, he saw that the area which was gripped
by Basara had a clear red handprint. It was truly an incredible grip strength.
Also — it wasn't just Donoue, Basara had easily flipped over the two people
who tried to help him at the same time. At some point, the other first and
second year members of the Mio faction might have been intimidated by
Basara, or perhaps they thought that Donoue had gone too far. They still
followed him to leave the AV classroom, but on the way to the video game
centre, they all made excuses and left one after the other. …It was all that
guy's fault. Living alone together with Mio was unforgivable. He was also so
arrogant — he wanted to give him a piece of his mind, but he instead ended
up like this in reverse and everyone scattered.
Seeing Donoue angrily gritting his teeth, his classmate who was sitting beside
him said
"Don't worry about it, Donoue. Just by looking at Toujou…he's definitely
learnt martial arts or something."
"…What? Don't worry about it? But—"
Donoue stared with hatred at the LCD display as he said
"Toujou and Kajiura both look down on me, I won't forgive either of them —
I'll definitely make them regret it, definitely."
"You want them to regret it…how are you going to do it?"
Hearing the other person ask that, Donoue laughed 'Ha!'.
"I need to destroy them — I'm going to ruin the shitty sports festival that
they spent so much time preparing for."
There was a method to do it discretely. It seemed like they just had to destroy
the equipment that was set up at night, or order a truckload of unnecessary
things to undermine the budget, or send anonymous blackmail letters to the
school; two or three of those would cause the sports festival to be cancelled.
While Donoue was thinking of those things—
"U-Um, Donoue-senpai…"
A girl suddenly called out to him from the side. No, it wasn't a girl. Standing
beside him was a boy who was wearing the same uniform as them. He
managed the organising committee along with Kajiura, an executive of the
student council, a first year student called Tachibana. Looking at his timid
appearance, Donoue couldn't help saying to Tachibana, who had fear written
all over his face
"Can you not make your voice sound like neither a boy nor a girl? —What
did you come here for?"
"I just…hoped that senpai could return…and then…"
"Ha! …So that's what it is, you don't want me to go back and apologise, do
you?"
Donoue stood up, and Tachibana shrank back in fear. When he said that he
was going to destroy the sports festival, it may have been heard by him, so he
needed to shut his mouth up. Tachibana's body was as petite as a girl's, and
his personality was also quite effeminate, so he thought threatening him a bit
here would cause him to do anything. Donoue suddenly pulled Tachibana up
by his collar, and forcibly pushed him into the wall, knocking his glasses off
in the process — they then saw that Tachibana's pupils shone bright red.
"You-You're eyes are like that…?"
A momentary inexplicable feeling caused Donoue to gulp.
"......…Sorry."
Tachibana said gently — his eyes which were redder than blood stared into
Donoue's eyes.
Part 7
Basara returned to the AV classroom from the rooftop. The classroom was
quiet, and everyone was expressionlessly doing their own work. It should be
due to the trouble that Donoue provoked, and Basara's conflict against him
which affected everyone's mood. Basara also felt that his own presence
caused the atmosphere of the classroom to tense up a bit. He quietly walked
towards his own seat, and arrived in front of Kajiura, who was working at the
same long desk —
"I'm sorry, Kajiura-senpai…"
He apologised for his conflict with Donoue that had happened before he left
the room.
"Didn't I say it before…it's not your fault Toujou-kun, you don't need to
apologise to me."
Kajiura lifted her head and smiled as she replied. It seemed like she had
already calmed down during that time.
"Ah, Toujou-kun. On your way back, did you see Tachibana?"
"No, I didn't see him…has he gone missing?"
"Yeah…I don't know where that boy would go."
After Kajiura sighed lightly, she returned to checking through her documents,
and Basara then returned to his seat to continue doing his work — after about
an hour, the organising committee meeting for that day came to an end. After
tidying up, Basara looked at Tachibana's empty seat and said
"In the end, that guy didn't come back…do you need help finding him?"
"No need, I'll just wait for a little longer and send him a message on my
phone. Thanks — see you tomorrow."
"You as well, see you tomorrow."
Basara bowed as a respectful courtesy to Kajiura, and then returned to the
first year class B classroom to meet Mio and Yuki, finding that there were
also some other female students who had stayed back in the classroom. It was
probably to discuss the cheerleading competition's dance that they stayed
until now. Sakaki and Aikawa were also present, and everyone was laughing
and talking.
"Basara…has today's organising committee meeting finished already?"
"Yeah, that's about it for today."
Basara nodded in the doorway of the classroom, and after replying, he
realised that the person who asked was Yuki.
"Well, this is where we'll stop today, we'll be going now."
After saying that, Mio and Yuki left their seats together.
"Okay, bye bye~"
"See you, Mio, Yuki, and Toujou-kun."
Basara then left like that with Mio and Yuki, and stepped into the corridor
under the gaze of Aikawa and Sakaki.
"You guys were talking quite happily…"
"It was okay. Today we were discussing what kind of costume we were going
to wear for the cheerleading competition; we heard that Aikawa-san's oneesan had connections, and that they could rent us some nice costumes for a
low price. Look forward to it."
Mio then said
"You need to keep this a secret from the other boys — if things go smoothly,
we'll definitely be the champions."
"Basara will definitely like it."
"I see…then I'll wait till for you to wear it at the sports festival for me to
see."
Basara was also infected by their confidence, and they laughed together. Just
when they were about to reach the student entrance —
"Basara, how are things with the committee?"
"Donoue-senpai was causing a ruckus again…sorry, we'll definitely go over
there tomorrow."
As soon as Mio and Yuki asked about the organising committee's situation,
Basara's expression became slightly stiff.
"...Basara?"
Yuki curiously looked at Basara, so—
"...…Actually—"
Basara decided to tell them what happened at the organising committee —
but at that time
"—What's the matter? You guys still haven't gone home yet?"
The voice which came from the other end of the corridor caused Basara to
become speechless. Turning his head around, as if slowly emerging from the
school building which was gradually darkening, it emphasised her beautiful
white presence. Hasegawa Chisato walked towards them.
"I almost forgot, you guys are also members of the sports festival organising
committee…I know that the accounting department will be especially busy,
but staying too late isn't good."
"Yes~"
"…Sorry."
Mio and Yuki both replied.
"......"
Basara could only stare silently at Hasegawa.
"? What is it, Toujou…your face doesn't look too good."
Hasegawa seemed to have noticed that something was wrong with Basara,
and slightly worried, she reached out to him, but —
"I'm fine, really — thank you sensei."
Basara said politely, and naturally avoided her hand.
"...I see, that's good."
Hasegawa returned her hand which had lost its place to go, and as if nothing
happened, she said
"Say, sometimes you guys seem to get too serious…I don't want you to slow
down, but be careful so that you don't push yourselves too hard."
After listening to her advice—
"...I know, I'll keep it in mind."
Basara lightly nodded. That was from his heart.
"If there's anything you need, feel free to find me in the infirmary…at any
time."
After saying that, with the hem of her white coat fluttering in the air as she
turned, Hasegawa walked off towards the other side of the corridor.
Part 8
When Naruse Mio, Basara and Yuki returned to the front door of their house
together, it was already past 8pm.
"We're home~"
After Mio opened the door and announced that they were home safely, the
living room door suddenly opened.
I thought that it would definitely be Maria, but it seems that I'm wrong.
The person who rushed out to the corridor was —
"Kurumi-chan…?" Seeing Kurumi's face blushing bright red, Mio held her
as she called her name, and in the end —
"——!"
When Kurumi saw Mio and the others, her face became even redder.
"…W-What is it?"
"! — I-It's nothing…you don't need to worry about me!"
After Kurumi cried that out loud, she quickly rushed up the stairs.
"…Don't worry about it, I'll go see."
Yuki took her shoes off, and then followed Kurumi upstairs.
How is she doing?
—The day after Basara and Yuki forced her to submit, Kurumi shut herself
inside her room; but at night she reluctantly came out of the room after being
persuaded by two people, and seemed to act rather normal recently. Because
she was monitoring Mio, who was the former Demon Lord's daughter and
Maria was Mio's follower, Kurumi maintained her distance towards her; but
since they lived under the same roof, they inevitably saw each other every
day, and they also spoke to each other every day. But like this, it had
basically reverted to how it was that day. At that time—
"Oya oya, welcome home, everyone."
Seeing Maria come out of the living room, Mio narrowed her eyes. That was
because Maria seemed to be laughing about something in a corner of her
mouth.
"Maria…you didn't do anything to Kurumi-chan while we were gone did
you?"
"I didn't do anything special…I just invited her to have a bath together, and
she also agreed."
"Having a bath together…how would she agree?"
Maria couldn't help smiling as she said
"Of course she would. While Mio-sama was busy attending school, Kurumisan and I had already become good friends."
"…You didn't threaten her with anything weird, right?"
"How would I…it was absolutely mutual. Kurumi-san is a lot cuter than I
imagined, and surprisingly straightforward."
Maria playfully giggled as she said
"—Just then, we were happily watching a video together."
"Video…uh, could it be…!"
With a nervous sense of foreboding, Mio pushed Maria aside, and stood in
the doorway of the living room.
"...I knew it."
Seeing the image displayed on the TV, Mio sighed as her shoulders dropped.
The large LCD screen was currently playing a video of Basara and Yuki
carving an immense pleasure onto Kurumi's body; it was an image of her
first experience of female pleasure and ecstasy. After being seen by Kurumi
in her dog cosplay, Mio barricaded herself in her own room upstairs;
although she heard the occasional cries of Yuki and Kurumi from downstairs,
and asked what happened the next day…but she didn't expect it to be so
intense. Maria, who followed her into the living room, said with a glittering
tone
"Look, Kurumi-san is really gifted. These days, sisters who have such a close
relationship with each other that they're able to make such incredible movies
are really rare. Ah, this makes it really hard for me suppress the feelings in
my heart, even my tears are going to flow out…"
"I really can't supress the feeling of sympathy in my heart…"
Mio didn't even have the energy to get angry. Truly pitiful — even for Mio,
who was the first to make the master-servant contract with Basara, she
pondered in her mind about the how chaotic the shameless relationship
between her and Basara had become; Kurumi only had the experience of that
night, but engraved in her mind and body, it was probably a new, and
extremely intense pleasure.
"This isn't any good, now she'll stay in her room for a while again…"
After Mio helplessly murmured that, Maria suddenly realised—
"Strange, where's Basara-san?"
Mio also turned around to look — but at some point unbeknownst to them,
Basara had disappeared from the entrance.
Basara returned to his own room, and then after placing his bag onto the
desk, he lied down on his bed. While staring at the ceiling, he thought about
the all the connections between the information that he had received until
now, and the current situation.
The current scope had already been narrowed down; it was determined that
the target was Basara, and that it was someone related to Hijirigasaka
Academy. It could be inferred that regardless of whether that attack was a
warning, or if it had any other significance, there was definitely a reason
behind it, and that would be an opportunity for the enemy to take action.
Firstly…the first probability was that the reason behind the attack and the
cause for it were initiated simultaneously at that time. The day that Basara
was attacked at the station, two unusual things had occurred. The first was
that it was his first time attending the sports festival organising committee,
and the second was that he visited Hasegawa Chisato's house. Currently —
the possibility of that incident being related to the sports festival organising
committee was higher. That attack could have been a warning to Basara to
withdraw from the sports festival organising committee.
—The ones who hoped that Basara would withdraw from the organising
committee consisted of two factions. One of those factions wanted the sports
festival to be successful — in other words, the people who were dissatisfied
because they saw that there were problems due to there being too many
people in the organising committee. Of the leaders, most of them had tried to
encourage Kajiura and other student council members to reject Basara.
Although reluctant to think so, in their position, rejecting Basara and a few
others was rather normal. But the ones who wanted the sports festival to
succeed didn't just include the few who were members of the student council;
so not only students, but also teachers could be suspected.
The other faction had nothing to do with the sports festival, as they simply
wanted to exclude Basara — the faction who just wanted to get rid of Basara.
This faction naturally consisted of the fans of Mio and Yuki who were led by
Donoue and Hozumi. The one whose hostility towards Basara was the easiest
to understand was Donoue of the Mio Faction. Ever since the attack at the
station, looking at the enemy's selfish attitude that involving innocent people
didn't matter, unlike the people who wanted the sports festival to succeed like
Kajiura, Donoue seemed closer to that. Although, at the time when Donoue
and a few others took Basara behind the school building, Sakazaki
interrupted to break it up, and nothing had happened since then; but since the
very first organising committee meeting when he saw Mio next to Basara,
there was no guarantee that his hostility wouldn't resurge. The problem was
— Basara living together with Mio and Yuki was something which was long
known by the entire school, on the other hand, it was unlikely that Donoue
would organise such an attack just because they were attending the
organising committee together; but by explaining Donoue's out of control
behaviour being 'caused by the manipulation of that attack', it would be more
reasonable.
…However. If the enemy always had ill intentions to Basara — attacking
Basara at that time was really a good choice. That was because the intelligent
Takigawa had returned to the Demon Realm. When Takigawa returned to the
Demon Realm, it was just a few hours before Basara was attacked — just
after he was advised by Mio and Yuki that they had finished shopping at the
supermarket. It was the day after the attack that Basara began to feel that he
was being watched at school, it could be said that all of this happened after
Takigawa took leave from the school. …Also, [The Village] had now sent
Kurumi over. If the enemy knew about this information beforehand, it was
possible that it was an attempt to make the [Village] believe that Basara had
the risk of involving innocent people, thus they timed their attack so that
Kurumi would make it there in time. As soon as [The Village] determined
that the situation was too serious, simply leaving the organising committee
wouldn't be enough to resolve things, and he would quickly have to face the
fate of either leaving Mio or Yuki.
—However, up until now, it still lacked any decisive evidence. So today,
Basara changed the passive stance that he had adopted until now, and tried an
active stance — using the conflict with Donoue and the others as a reason; if
he used that opportunity to amplify the situation, it would also force them to
leave the organising committee together. At the time, Mio and Yuki were
absent because they were rehearsing for the cheerleading competition, so if
they decided to attack Basara out of jealousy, it would provide an excellent
opportunity for them to reveal themselves. Also — Basara had thought about
it, in the slight chance that the faction which wanted him out of the
organising committee so that the sports festival would succeed really didn't
exist, then it was possible that they were the culprits. Under such
circumstances, Basara's departure would appease their discontent; in the
process, he would also be able to remove Donoue, who had purchased
expensive fireworks and wasted two hundred thousand. In addition to
achieving this compensation effect, it could also be considered his final
contribution to the sports festival organising committee. But — due to
Sakazaki's appearance, he wasn't able to successfully lure the other side into
making their next move, so it was a failure in the end.
For Basara, time was of the essence, and he needed to immediately find a
method to discover the enemy's true motive — But he didn't think that…
with what he heard from Sakazaki, the situation was once again plunged into
a mysterious fog.
"...Be careful of Hasegawa Chisato?"
If Sakazaki hadn't said so, Basara really wouldn't have realised that he had
been influenced by her ever since he met her; after faithfully trusting her
advice, it was almost to the extent that he blindly followed it — but that itself
was a strange phenomenon. The biggest taboo in combat or a mission was
[belief]. An overly strong subjective sense would undermine composure,
narrow one's vision, and prevent people from making correct judgements.
That was why Basara underwent extremely rigorous training while he was in
[The Village], and fought battles in which he didn't think that he would be
able to win so that he could develop the habit of seeing things from different
perspectives.Therefore, he was able to discover Takigawa's true identity, and
was also able to find an unexpected way to put an end to Zolgear. Given that
he was like that, why did he fully trust only Hasegawa — or rather, why
didn't he suspect her? This enemy was able to create powerful barriers, and
was also able to control people's minds. As Sakazaki said, the situation
around Hasegawa was quite unusual, and even Takigawa had never
mentioned anything against her. It seemed as though everything around
Hasegawa would change according to her needs.
But — around Hasegawa, two irregular people had appeared. One of them
was Basara himself. Obviously, Hasegawa got closer to Basara on her own. If
she was behind the attack, the time when he treated Takigawa to yakiniku
and met her probably wasn't a coincidence, and she had an ulterior motive to
inviting him over to her house. It was frightening…in the case that Hasegawa
was the culprit, the reason why she was so interested in Basara was —
[Banishing Shift]. Supposing that Hasegawa was able to control the minds of
everyone around her — perhaps in some way, since Basara was able to
eliminate any physical or magical attack, it may have caught her interested or
posed a threat her, so she wanted to know if it was possible for him to
eliminate her mind control. Thus, she designed various experiments, such as
taking her swimsuit off in the infirmary and eating or bathing at her own
house in an attempt to cloud Basara's emotional judgement, and when she
finally saw Basara as a threat, she attacked when Basara left — thinking
about it that way, it seemed far more reasonable than Donoue attacking out of
jealousy.
But…she didn't deal with the problem that she couldn't ignore — that was
the other irregular person, Sakazaki. Neither Basara, Yuki nor Takigawa
detected anything wrong with Hasegawa, yet Sakazaki did. Supposing that
Hasegawa eliminated those that were aware of her by manipulation, Sakazaki
should have been before Basara. Also, Sakazaki chose that time to tell Basara
about the problem with Hasegawa — what was the reason behind that?
Sakazaki said that he saw Basara under the influence of Hasegawa, did he tell
that to Basara just so that Hasegawa would know about Sakazaki's
suspicions? Could it be that this was the other side's trap? What Sakazaki
said, could it just have been a made-up story so that Basara's focus would be
directed towards Hasegawa who was unrelated to everything, and he would
then show an opening? That way, Sakazaki didn't intentionally say that, but
was instead subjected to the manipulation of the true culprit. …No. At the
least, Basara's trust towards Hasegawa was an undisputable fact.
I don't think it was all a lie.
It's just that — regardless of whether he believed Hasegawa or Sakazaki to
be the suspect, the clues he currently possessed were not enough to decide,
and he didn't know who among Donoue, Hozumi, Tachibana, or Kajiura was
the attacker, or being manipulated — no, even if the attacker was one of
them, it was impossible to determine whether they were being manipulated.
Under these circumstances, determining the next move was —
"…! No, how can I think like that…!"
Toujou Basara sat up on the bed, and looked straight ahead.
What am I worried about?
After he cheered himself up, he calmed down a bit.
Discard prejudice, and suspect every possibility. And then — come up with a
countermeasure for each possibility. …It should be fine, because…
He himself had the ability to be sure of things. At that time, someone
knocked on the door.
"Basara…?"
It was a person that he could definitely be sure of — Naruse Mio asked from
outside
"Ever since we walked home from school, you've been acting a bit strange…
is there anything wrong?"
Her voice indicated that she was concerned for Basara.
Really, I made her worry.
So Basara took a deep breath, and said
"Sorry…I'm just a bit disturbed, I'll think of a way to deal with it."
But, I'm already fine.
"Help me call everyone to the living room, I'll tell everyone about what I
encountered today, and also everything that I've understood recently. Also
—"
Toujou Basara continued
"For an enemy whose identity and motive is unknown — this is how we
should deal with it."
There were still far too many suspects at the moment; the people he had
suspicions about couldn't be counted on one hand. But the knowledge they
possessed was not zero. The enemy's objective was Basara, and they didn't
care about bringing chaos to the surroundings. They couldn't lose to such a
despicable enemy. That was enough. Hence, they would start with what they
had available. Perhaps the sports festival would be an important key. The
outcome would decide whether they could get through that day. If they had to
fight, then so be it. Although he was reluctant to suspect his classmates or
teachers, they didn't have a choice right now. Regardless of what torment the
heart suffered — they needed to fight right now so that they could believe in
everything once again.