I was in chaos. Seriously, one wrong word or one wrong pull of the trigger could lead to a large-scale conflict among the three academies, and that situation was right in front of me. All of it had spiraled into a ridiculous size from a small(?) misunderstanding.
“Honestly, at first, I was more worried about Misono Mika’s safety than anything else. I mean, you were the one who got kidnapped! No one else but you, right? It’s impossible for Mika to be kidnapped when she’s the only one without an opponent here, besides the head of the Justice Realization Department in Trinity.”
“Aha, Kirihouji Nagisa? I can explain that! So, just calm down a bit…”
“No, there’s really no need for you to explain that part. Confirming is one thing, but unless you have a personal connection with that Gourmet Research Club from Gehenna, it would be impossible to explain this. So, naturally, the possibilities came down to two: a crime that took advantage of Mika’s connections or Mika’s voluntary companionship.”
Could it be that there were no CCTV cameras at the place I was kidnapped? Or at least a black box around? Then, it would truly mean that Haruna had meticulously planned something.
“If it was voluntary companionship, there wouldn’t be a need to leave so hastily without informing anyone. So, it was definitely the former. Plus, I confirmed that Mika does have a personal connection with the head of that Gourmet Research Club.”
“Huh? How do you know that?”
In response to my question, Nagisa silently held out my cell phone. With its pink case adorned with tiny angel wings on either side, it probably had a picture of Nagisa and me that we took on her birthday tucked behind it.
Fortunately, what Nagisa showed was the front. My expression in that photo wasn’t quite ready to be revealed to everyone yet…
“Well, you left this in the office, didn’t you? You silly! And that password… No, why do you keep setting it like that in the first place? You shouldn’t do that for security reasons…”
“Oh, I left that there! Yeah, I can’t argue with being called stupid… If I’d remembered not to leave it, I would have called you to say something. The password… Well, I thought it would be fine since it’s you, Nagisa?”
“…Anyway. The way I found out you were close with that terrorist was a little rude, I know… but I looked at Mika’s Momotalk.”
“Aha…? Hmm, Momotalk. Well, if it’s you, Nagisa, I guess it’s not a big deal.”
I usually don’t share anything sensitive or private in Momotalk. Except for Hanako, of course. I can only pray that she didn’t see that. I couldn’t come up with an excuse for that.
“That’s not something you can just dismiss so easily, right…? Hmm, that’s right. Anyway, I only checked the conversation history with the most likely suspect, Kurodate Haruna, and didn’t touch anything else afterward. She’s the only Gehenna student who could be close to Mika.”
“Oh, that’s not quite…”
Oops.
“…Are you saying that you might have additional Gehenna students you are close with, Mika?”
“Ahaha.”
If you strictly consider what’s stored in Momotalk, there are the three members of the Student Council and Iroha too. It’s just that the most recent conversation happened to be with Haruna. With so many conversation partners, if I don’t talk for a few days, the chat rooms get pushed down.
“Sigh… Not like it’s all that important, so let’s just move on. What really matters…”
Nagisa, with an annoyed finger, taps to open the chat room with Haruna. The moment suddenly made it all too clear why she had been looking at me with such cold eyes.
“This.”
There was a freshly taken photo posted less than an hour ago. A picture of me taken by Haruna and some odd picture of Haruna herself. I could feel my heart sinking realizing why Nagisa was looking at me that way.
“Looks like you were having fun? Meanwhile, I was worrying myself sick about you, Mika.”
Honestly, I didn’t have an entirely plausible excuse. If I hadn’t contacted anyone, it would be one thing, but I did leave a message in Momotalk using Haruna’s phone.
But judging by her reaction, it seems she was unaware of that. Did she see it and not believe it, or did she simply miss it? Nagisa’s not the type to doubt me, so it was probably the latter.
“Umm, Nagisa…? Just checking, but did you not see the Momotalk I sent?”
“…Huh?”
Seeing Nagisa blink in surprise made me realize it was indeed the latter.
“I borrowed Haruna’s phone and left a message in Momotalk. I didn’t have her number to call, and we couldn’t do a video call without being friends first…”
In other words, that meant I did my best. Truly.
“Wait a moment…”
I turned my gaze away from Nagisa, who was hastily pulling out her cell phone. I took in the sight of the Squad encircling her as protection.
Saoiri, glaring intensely at Neru with her gun drawn, didn’t even glance in my direction. Truly, once a mission begins, there’s no room for jokes.
Misaki, on the other hand, was ready to launch a missile at any moment while being more wary of the Gehenna Student Council than of Neru. Understanding how she was taught to hate Gehenna coming from Arius was totally justified.
I had no idea what expression Atsuko was making behind her gas mask, but seeing her nod in my direction indicated she must have been watching me all along. By the way, is she really planning to keep wearing that mask? As long as she likes it, I guess it’s fine…
As I looked at the distinct outfits of the Squad adorned with the Trinity emblem, a feeling of pride welled up within me. Separately, however, I wasn’t too happy with the fact that the Squad was involved in this mess.
I could understand why Nagisa was pushed to act because of my safety, but if it had stemmed from some trivial reason, I wouldn’t have let it slide easily. It was obvious that other factions would be eager to tear Nagisa apart. There would be no way I could manage that on my own.
For a brief moment, my eyes locked with Hina’s as she pressured Neru from the opposite side. I felt a little disappointed by her hasty movement, and it seemed my feelings were evident, as Hina’s expression hardened.
I don’t really want to blame others, including Hina, for this incident. The root cause is that I hadn’t given Haruna a proper answer.
However, I can’t help but feel uneasy that Hina—a person who usually wouldn’t do such things—has acted this way. She knows very well how significant the diplomatic friction this could lead to could be.
Sigh, whatever. Since things have gotten twisted like this, the one who can fix it is me. Although I have no idea how to, I’ll have to make it work.
“First of all, Neru, how about we agree to a temporary ceasefire?”
“Mika?!”
“…Mika, did you just incorrectly say surrender?”
To hear such responses from two of the four troublemaking sisters today was shocking. Is it distrust towards Neru or just caution towards a rival who was almost evenly matched with me? It’s natural to be cautious against someone who can take a shot from Hiyori to the temple and still keep going.
First of all, it doesn’t seem like Neru’s personality allows her to accept surrender easily. Even in a clearly unfavorable situation, if I act as if I’ve won, her rebellious spirit might explode.
The second reason connects to the first: I need to resolve the tangled situation as quickly as possible and move on to negotiation. It’s clear that any additional trouble would only complicate the process further.
In other words, it would just make my struggles deeper.
“Ugh? Don’t get all friendly casually, okay?!”
“Ahaha, isn’t it normal to become friends while fighting? Yeah, I’ve enjoyed it enough already. Hasn’t Neru-chan not yet found satisfaction?”
“…Tch. Seriously, how can such a naive person exist?”
With a click of her tongue, Neru opened her palm, causing two submachine guns to clatter to the ground, making a clang sound.
“Ugh, enough! What kind of ceasefire? It’s my mistake that caused this to happen, so I’m just surrendering. Why do these terrorists need stronger hostages to confuse people? Damn.”
Saying that, watching Neru casually lie down on the hood of a nearby car made me feel a great sense of cognitive dissonance. Is that how someone who’s surrendering behaves…?
Beeep
“Hey, this mission is a failure. You guys better hurry up and come out!”
With her eyes closed, Neru supported her head with one hand and transmitted orders. However, after a few seconds, there was no response.
“…What are you doing? Didn’t you hear me say to come out?!”
Neru radioed again, but still, the other members of C&C remained silent.
Just then, a figure emerged from the alley where the Burger Emperor used to be—Ichinose Asuna from C&C. Even those who don’t play Blue Archive have likely seen her bunny girl outfit at least once.
“Yaho~! I’m here, boss! What’s going on? You said the mission failed! But looking at you now, it doesn’t seem like a failure; it looks like a big success?!”
“Eh? Since I surrendered, you better come kneel or something… Wait, where have you been until now?”
“Huh? I was protecting our cute Seminar underclassmen! Why? But hey, boss! I did well, right? I’m the best, right?!”
“…”
Neru, who had half-spiraled up, then switched her hand from behind her head to rubbing her neck. Hmm, I somewhat understand that feeling. I’d be relieved not being the one under her.
“Ahem! I talked briefly earlier with the T-party host. I am Hayase Yuuka, in charge of the seminar’s accounting.”
“Ahaha. Hello, Yuuka-chan. I heard your shop was completely crushed, but I’m glad you and Noa-chan managed to escape safely. That’s a relief☆”
“That’s because Asuna-senpai dragged us out, saying let’s go watch the fight, but that’s not important right now. T-party host, as a member of the Student Council, I have the obligation to grasp the current situation in detail. So, I’ll take the liberty to ask you.”
“Sure. I’ll answer what I know because this is truly important.”
I answered Yuuka’s question to the best of my knowledge about the current situation. In that process, I sorted out my thoughts as much as possible.
“In summary, this entire situation stemmed from a small misunderstanding. Our C&C committed a faux pas against the T-party host, and the Trinity and Gehenna academies completely disregarded our Millennium’s autonomy…”
“Just… calm down, Yuuka-chan. It’s still not impossible to settle this, is it?”
I gently patted Yuuka’s shoulder while she sighed and rubbed her forehead, and the friendly smile from Noa next to her brought some comfort. But there was something about that smile that felt a bit scheming.
Still, I felt relief that the situation was being somewhat resolved. After seeing off the two from the seminar headed to talk with Hina, I slowly approached Nagisa, who was still examining her cell phone.
“Nagi-chan, so you really didn’t see the Momotalk I sent?”
“…Mika, based on when you sent the Momotalk, we’d already entered the Millennium.”
“Right, and?”
Nagisa’s shoulders drooped as she hesitated. Eventually, she bowed her head and apologized.
“…I’m sorry, Mika. I was so tense that I didn’t even think about looking at my phone.”
“Ahaha! I never thought I would see such a day where Nagi-chan would mess up like this. Now, I’m not sure if I can trust you with the host position next year!”
…What’s this? Why is she making such a strange expression upon hearing my words? Is she suddenly feeling guilty…?
“By the way, did you hear anything from Seiya-chan? She didn’t try to dissuade you from causing this kind of trouble?”
“…When it came to Seiya, she actually encouraged me, saying I would regret it if I didn’t go.”
“Wow—oh?”
Seiya. Why on earth would you not only fail to stop this but instead urge her on? What kind of prophetic dream did you have? You are truly an enigma to me.
“I’m really sorry. I just worried about you, Mika…”
“Yeah, I understand that feeling. If the situation were reversed, I’d probably freak out just the same. I might have even caused a bigger scene, to be honest. So I won’t blame you for that part, Nagi-chan.”
Considering what actions I took when the squad was in danger, I wasn’t above taking any risks. It’s been hard for me to lecture Nagisa because I’ve been caught in my own messes more than a few times.
“I’m sorry for making you worry, Nagi-chan. I’ll try my best to sort this out, so don’t be too hard on yourself. After all, that’s not the kind of person you are, right?”
“…I’m sorry.”
At least she recognizes her mistakes, so that’s a relief. That alone puts her in the top 10% of normal people in Kivotos. However, her continued apologies were starting to weigh on my heart.
Anyway, since it all started because of my mistake, it’s my responsibility to sort it all out. I wonder how well I will communicate with Rion.
As I saw white-colored robot troops slowly revealing themselves in the distance… I couldn’t help but think of something.
Is this what avant-garde looks like…? The design is like a complete frog. It’s even uglier than the original…!
