Ariyama as pressing Odomura against the wall, with the little added detail that his hands were pressed firmly against her breasts.
Odomura was blushing profusely, looking like a tomato, and Ariyama stuttered his words out. He hopped back, removing his hands and impulsively wiped them against his shirt.
As if that'd do anything
"Oh, um… sorry, Airi."
Odomura shook her head quickly, still as red as a cherry. She seemed to get her breathing back to normal, fixing her posture and looking back up at Ariyama. Her eyes were still puffy from her recently-shed tears, but her quivering lip had been replaced with a smile of relief.
"But Ariyama, when did you get back? I… We were all so worried about you, when we were told what happened in the accident"
Oh, that's right. That night and the supernatural events had been covered up by saying it was an unnatural sinkhole that had killed the four students of Sasura Academy. Ariyama was curious as to who had done the coverup.
He thought, personally, that it was Matsune, who probably contacted those in power at the Pilgrims' Society to help. It probably hadn't boded well for her reputation, to have been involved in an attack with monsters she was probably trained to fight, and end with the deaths of four people.
But Ariyama wasn't an idiot; he knew there was probably some rule against letting information about Tributes or anything magic-related get out. The whole system of the Pilgrims' Society seemed to have been around for ages, so that was probably why they were able to stay discreet this whole time.
"Ariyama-kun?"
Ariyama snapped back to attention, looking down at Odomura again.
"Oh, um, what were you saying?"
"I was asking where you've been! We were all so worried, but I'm so glad you're OK."
She took his hand in hers and smiled sweetly.
"Yeah, I'm… glad to be back…"
Dammit, was that the right thing to say? Did Odomura think Ariyama was back for good now?
He cleared his throat, and tried to remove his hand from hers as nonchalantly as possible.
He still had to survey her for the rest of the day, even if he didn't think she was the culprit. It was what Matsune told him to do after all.
"Listen, Odomura, I know I was away for a while, and I'm sure you want to tell the others I'm back, yeah?"
Odomura tilted her head, blinking in confusion.
"I… suppose I was going to do that, yes."
"Alright, well, could you hold off on doing that?"
"What? Why?"
Ariyama shifted uncomfortably, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his blazer.
"I'm just… not ready to confront them yet, you know? I want to talk to them myself, without them knowing I'm just strolling around the school, acting like I don't know them. I want to let them know I'm OK, but just in my own time, when I'm ready. Is… that OK?"
Odomura nodded as she listened to his explanation. Once he was done with it, she just smiled again.
"Of course. I can tell you really want to do it yourself. You've never been very good at accepting help from others, have you? But that's OK. I believe in you."
Her face fell a slight bit.
"But, Ariyama-kun, if you ever need to talk to someone, you know I'm here, OK? I know we've only really had a personal conversation like this when we were walking home together that one day, but I hope you know you can rely on me."
Ariyama's heart twisted slightly. Wow, those were some kind words.
He didn't really know what to do with his hands anymore, so he took one out of his pocket and placed it on Odomura's shoulder.
"Thank you, Airi."
She nodded, then another smile broke out.
"And I see you've remembered to call me Airi."
"Yeah, well, it's still weird to call you that when you're still calling me Ariyama, but that's just how it is."
"And there's no need for it to be any different. So, I think that's everything. Good luck, Ariyama-kun."
He stepped into him and wrapped him in a weak but meaningful hug.
Ariyama breathed in the scent of her strawberry shampoo, which paired well with the hue of her pink hair.
As he pulled away, he gave her a wry smile. It didn't feel good lying to her. Especially since she was just so nice to him.
But it was either that or compromise the whole mission, and Ariyama didn't want Matsune getting into trouble with the Pilgrims' Society because of him, so it was obvious what his choice was.
"Good luck as well."
Ariyama spoke softly, trying to hide the quake in his voice. Odo fortunately just nodded at him one last time before heading back to the table where Kazura and Matsuragi sat.
Once the pink-haired girl was out of earshot, Ariyama let out an audible sigh, leaning back against the pillar.
That didn't go as planned.
But due to Odomura's sincerity, he dodged a bullet and got off Scot free, even when he really shouldn't have.
Now, it was time to continue.
He knew it was going to be difficult, especially now that Odomura knew of his existence. He'd just have to be extra cautious for the rest of the day.
And that's just what he did.
For the rest of the school day, Ariyama continued on with the same practices, only with an additional helping of caution. He watched Odomura – as intently as he could – when she walked to class, or went to the bathroom, or headed to the cafeteria for their second lunch break.
Really, he was just admiring her from a distance, as opposed to properly surveying her for any behavioral errors. He genuinely didn't think it was her, and he didn't intend for Matsune to change his mind.
Hell, he'd even managed to pull off a feeble mana detection while on the fly.
Instead, if he'd been cross-legged and concentrating harder, he would hopefully be able to interact with vibrant and visible blue sparks, among the mist of red like it's spraying blood.
But when he activated it manually while on the go, the thick mist left more like a red-ish vapor surrounding him, with dim blue lights all around. It wasn't nearly as saturated, but there was definitely progress to be seen there.
And sure enough, using this lesser version of his mana detection on objects Odomura had touched, or spaces she had gone to, came up with nothing.
So that was it.
Odomura Airi wasn't the unregistered Tribute.
Of course, Ariyama didn't actually ever think it was her, but he still felt oddly relieved when he confirmed his beliefs. It was almost as if there had been a small space in the back of his mind where he did think of the possibility of it being her.
No, no, that couldn't be true.
Wincing in annoyance at his own thoughts, Ariyama decided to just wait till the end of the day, when he'd rendezvous with Matsune and discuss their findings.
At first, Ariyama thought he'd be a much bigger help in Matsune's investigation. But as it turned out, he only confirmed the innocence of one student. One student, out of hundreds.
Then again, he supposed that Matsune didn't expect him to make great progress so quickly. It was his first day, after all.
And it was Odomura, Masturagi and Kazura, for crying out loud.
Ariyama wasn't sure who Matsune had close connections with in the school, if any, but they both knew that those three were people he cared about.
Kazura was his friend for so many years, and while he hadn't known Matsuragi or Odomura until he graduated to Sasura highschool, he cares about them too.
Odomura was so nurturing and sweet, and even the sound of her voice made his heart flutter with adoration. And he found Matsuragi's no-nonsense yet easily-flustered personality endearing.
All in all, he reckoned that investigating just one of those three equaled the determination required for twenty random students who you may have seen in the hallway once, at most.
Was that true, though? Or was that just Ariyama trying to justify his feelings. Maybe he really was being too naive in all this.
After all, since his friends had died, he felt off about himself, even at random moments in the day, when he was alone with his thoughts.
As the day ended, Ariyama watched from behind one of the white pillars of the academy – in the least-creepy way he could manage – as Odomura left the building for the day. He bit his lip with regret as he watched Odomura leave through the shimmering iron gates alone.
But hadn't she said before that he often had club practice right after school, which was why they had only walked home together – at least halfway there – only once?
So, either club practice was canceled again, which was unlikely, or something was up.
Ariyama suddenly raced with panic.
Shit, did she somehow find out about what was going on? Maybe she already knew beforehand?
It wasn't a requirement to have an Enchanted Tool to be well-versed in the world of the Pilgrims, was it?
Crap. Was it possible for a regular human to know about the secret world? Sure, maybe Odomura wasn't the unregistered Tribute herself, but maybe she was in league with them? Maybe working as their confidant? Their inside woman?
Wait, wait. Stop. Where was all this coming from?
Ariyama was already chastising the internal part of him who believed Odomura could've been the culprit, and now he was letting those thoughts actively take over his brain?
He wanted to smack himself, more than anything.
But before he could inflict any self-harm upon his person, he felt a slight hand touching his shoulder.
The contact nearly made him jump out of his skin, but instead he turned around as Matsune Sasya smiled up at him.
"I hope you've done your part in all this. So, shall we debrief, Ariyama-kun?"