Then, his mind wandered to something else, something that made his eyes go wide.
"Machi. Is she…"
Matsune nodded with clear relief.
"She's fine. As a result of her being exposed to the secret world, due to your actions, she is being brought in as a member of the Society. Well, either that or her mind gets wiped."
"Huh? Her mind gets wiped? I'm not letting that happen. Over my dead body!"
Matsune's face flickered with sternness.
"It's not your decision to make. While, yes, it is your fault that she's in this predicament now, we're giving her a choice. A choice only she can decide herself."
"Damn. You know, you really are beating me over the head with the fact it's my fault, huh? But is it? Genichirou was the culprit and he was standing right there with us!"
"I promised myself to always be honest with you, Ariyama. After all you've been through, you deserve at least that. And anyways, did you actually have to fight him with Kazura around?"
"Sorry? He was probably going to hurt her, or worse. I had to protect her–"
"You're not listening to my question, Ariyama-kun. He didn't do anything to you two when you three were all alone, right? But once you pieced together that he was the unregistered Tribute – which I have to admire – you instantly attacked him, no? From my perspective, Ariyama-kun, it seems that you panicked – as you said you did – and engaged in a battle, where you could've waited until the ample time. The best option was to call me with the info, and I'd have sent out someone to assist you, but no. No, you lost your logical thinking and engaged him without considering the lasting side-effects. One, Kazura-chan would be exposed to it. And two, it was in the middle of your school, where any damage done would raise a lot of suspicion."
With Ariyama wholly beaten down, hung his head in defeat. In retrospect, he really had been an idiot, huh?
Because of his spur-of-the-moment actions, now Kazura was going to have to make a tough choice: get her memories of all this wiped, or be involved in the Pilgrims' Society from now on.
Not only that, but also he'd messed up the mission Matsune had left in his hands. If only he'd been less of an idiot and actually thought it through, then he wouldn't have caused such damage. On an unrelated note, the destruction at the school probably meant it was going to be closed for the rest of the year. But school wasn't a priority in his mind right now.
"So, um, what's going to happen to me? Am I gonna be incarcerated or something?"
Matsune leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms. While she wore that old-school gray cloak, she seemed like a totally different person. But this was the real her, right? This is how she really acted. Everything at school was a fabrication. She was raised to be part of the secret world, and now she was showing him the fruits of that type of childhood. She was still as kind and caring as ever, but there was an air of confidence and seriousness that was kept under lock while at school.
Matsune seemed to think about Ariyama's question, then fixed him with a meaningful look
"Under regular circumstances, yes. But fortunately, I've… been able to pull some strings in order for the director to not immediately throw you into a jail cell. Instead, however, he requested a one-on-one meeting with you."
"With me? What would the director want with me?"
"Knowledge, simply. Kazura-chan is still recovering, so for the time being, you're the only one who was there that night, and as a result, the only one capable of giving a reliable story. Oh, yes, and one other thing: don't lie to the director, OK? I'm not sure how he does it, but he can tell when someone lies."
"Seriously? Is that the power of his Enchanted Tool or something?"
"It doesn't sound like the type of ability a Tool would give, but perhaps that is the case. Look, for now, I need you to get dressed and to go see him, OK? Technically, up until now, you've been unregistered yourself, which was my blunder. I should've gotten you integrated into the Society as soon as possible. But I've already signed all the necessary documentation."
Ariyama's jaw hung in surprise. He stuttered with his words as his brain tried to catch up to his tongue.
"W-wait, so you're saying that I'm an official, registered Tribute now?"
"You are. I'm sorry if I did it without your consent, but I did say I would make sure you become one before. And right now, you're in too much trouble to have a say in the matter, I'm afraid."
Ariyama's chest thumped with anxiousness as the weight of his actions pressed down on him. He just hoped this director guy was going to be even half as nice as Matsune was.
"And Ariyama-kun? One last thing."
He glanced at her and nearly flinched back at the look on her face. Her features were contorted into sadness, her lip quivering and her fists bunched in the fabric of her cloak.
"We both know you've made some critical errors, which you will need to answer for in the future. But for now, I just wanted to say… I'm just really glad you're alive…"
She wiped something from her eye, and then leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face into his shoulder. The sudden contact made parts of his body go haywire, feeling Matsune's calm warm breath on the bare skin of his shoulder. But Ariyama steeled himself and plastered a soft smile onto his face, as he also wrapped his arms around Matsune, patting her back supportively. She didn't know anything about the pain he'd gone through, about the bone-cracking anguish he felt when stabbed by Genichirou's knives.
But Ariyama smiled anyway, because he was starting to believe that Matsune was someone who liked him, not for his wealth, but for who he was. And he was just happy he had someone who cared for him.