It had been exactly 10 minutes since I freed myself from the guilt that had been weighing me down, soaring like a butterfly. But just as the clock struck 10, a strong wind named karma hit me again.
“…It’s getting closer.”
“Hehe, really? From now on, it’ll get even closer.”
“I see. Then I’ll say congratulations, Nagisa.”
“Yes. Thank you, Atsuko.”
“I’ve heard that there were concubines back in the old Kivotos.”
“…?”
“And among the past presidents of Arius, one had a ‘harem.’”
“…No way. I absolutely won’t allow that!”
This was the moment when the squad joined us as we walked away, hands linked.
“Leader, is that true?”
“Atsuko might know a thing or two, but… that…”
“Ha, there’s no way that could exist. Just look at it—it’s clearly something a princess made up.”
“I’m not sure, but for now, I think I’ll agree… If Mika-chan abandons us, then all the little relief we gained will go back to being the miserable bottom of life where we were just used by evil adults!”
Honestly, while it might not apply to the other kids, it’s not hard to accept that I had firmly planted my flag with the squad. I pulled them out of the mud and freed them from a life of being used by wicked adults; that’s a familiar story of salvation any way you look at it.
So when Atsuko would get a bit too attached or show her affection, I didn’t think it was that strange.
But there should be limits to it, right?
Including Azusa, still part of the squad, four of them were showing me affection or indirectly revealing their feelings. Thankfully, Misaki had outright said she wasn’t interested.
Wait, is that really fortunate? Whether it’s four or five, it’s still a crazy mess regardless!
Moreover, it wasn’t just the squad; Haruna, who openly kicked things off, and Hina, who jumped on board with her…
“I’ll make it clear here. Mika is mine. I have no intention of giving her to anyone—she’s my precious—”
“Then why not just take her away?”
“…Huh?”
“It’s simple. We’ve always been the ones getting taken from, so maybe it’s time we flip the script and start stealing.”
“…Then, do your best to resist, Atsuko. I’ll protect what’s mine by any means necessary.”
And seriously, why do you all speak as if I’m just some item you can play with…?
“Yeah, I don’t need to say it, it seems you’re thinking that way already. But remember this: The Arius Squad is a little family, you know? So I guess we’re at least a pair that shares a single bean.”
“Wait a minute, that’s unfair?!”
“I read somewhere that there’s no such thing as cowardice in love. There’s only winners and losers. Nagisa, I’m curious how many hands you’ll be able to fend off alone. If you had just agreed with the old ways, you’d have received a proper concubine treatment. Too bad.”
“…It doesn’t matter if there are ten or a hundred; I won’t give her up. So Atsuko, just give up early.”
“Heh. Nagisa, are you scared? How cute. I think I understand why Mika-nee chose you.”
Saying that, Atsuko approached from the side Nagisa wasn’t holding. Despite the unintended two-handed bouquet situation, I didn’t rush to stop it, causing Nagisa to glare at me with resentment as her nails lightly dug into the back of my hand.
“What are you doing, Mika? Why are you leaving that alone? Even so, from the very first day, it’s disappointing for me…”
“Hahaha, well… um, Atsuko-chan is my lifesaver…?”
“Is that the excuse this time…? Hah. I’ll be waiting to see what excuse you come up with next.”
We arrived at Trinity late at night. After that long time, their ongoing rivalry seemed to tire them both out, and they ended up leaning on me and falling asleep.
I realized this was only the beginning. Among the things Nagisa said to me today was, “I knew you were a person without resolve…” but looking at Atsuko today, I wondered just how long I could keep my loyalty to Nagisa. I didn’t even have confidence in that.
Everything seemed to be going well, but I alone had to bear the weight of unfinished karma. It was all self-inflicted.
*
Thus, the incident that could have sent shockwaves throughout Kivotos due to Haruna’s little flapping of wings seemed to be wrapping up.
While the aftermath wasn’t fully resolved yet… still, after a week had passed and with August approaching, I was able to iron out the schedule for handling related matters.
“Mika-sama, there’s an article about you from Kronos School…!”
“Hahaha, really? Just a moment! I’ll finish this up and check it out. Thanks for letting me know!”
“Well… I think you should check it out right away…”
“Hmm?”
What could it be? The only article Kronos would put out should be about the joint idol coverage from last time, right?
[Gunfight breaks out in the streets of Millennium! The truth behind it is a massive idol group’s declaration?!]
Oh, yeah, that’s all true. We decided to conquer Kivotos through the idol business.
Nodding along to the predicted content, I was about to question why it was such a fuss when another article caught my eye.
[Trinity T-party host’s secret private life revealed!!!]
Huh?
“Wow—oh?”
As I hurriedly clicked on the article, the first thing that caught my eye was a completely unexpected photo.
[A photo that was posted back in April in the Trinity Bamboo Grove has recently gone viral, revealing the identity of the Trinity T-party host. One of the two students in the photo has been identified as Misono Mika (16), leading to a deeper investigation of the relationship between the other student and the T-party host.]
“No way, this is an invasion of privacy…”
Of course, Nagisa and I both knew of the Bamboo Grove’s existence, but with little free time, I hadn’t realized such a thing had been posted.
“Um, that this photo was posted on the Bamboo Grove, you guys knew that even before the article came out, right?”
“…I’m sorry. I… knew.”
“Hahaha, really? Then why wasn’t this reported to us?”
“…”
“Hey, why don’t you speak? Hmm? When that photo was posted, I hadn’t revealed my identity clearly, so it might not have been a big problem back then. But now, that’s not the case, right? So why wasn’t there a report? This seems a bit strange.”
If they had just been entirely oblivious, I might have thought, “Guess they’re slacking off,” but hearing that they knew only made me feel a bit irritated.
Well, there’s no way they secretly stored that photo from us, right? That wouldn’t make sense. If that’s the case, it also means Nagisa’s identity would be unveiled too…
“Hmm… Is there really a need to go through that much effort to cover it up? Why don’t we just say we have a personal friendship, that I’m just a 2nd-year official belonging to the T-party☆ There’s no need to reveal that Nagisa is the student council president, right?”
“Yes, yes. Of course. We’ll handle it just as Mika-sama said!”
Since this mess was now in clear view, my friendship with Nagisa would inevitably come to light. Witness accounts would pop up like mushrooms after rain. I wasn’t exactly hiding my appearance when hanging out with Nagisa, unlike when I was with Hina.
In summary, my companionship with Nagisa within Trinity was rather familiar, but to Kronos School, it probably looked like nothing more than a tasty news nugget.
However, the article wasn’t finished yet.
…What?!
Suddenly feeling an ominous sensation prickling the back of my mind, I scrolled down, desperately hoping the photo I had just seen was merely a hallucination. This shouldn’t be happening. It couldn’t be revealed like this…
[What shocked this journalist was that the T-party host’s secret private life wasn’t limited to just this. Recently, several photos received by Kronos School showed, surprisingly, that the T-party host was seen strolling around D.U. with a student with whom she had a secret relationship dating back to May.]
No wait, why on earth did they take a picture of that? And why now, are they reporting it to Kronos School?!
[The journalist collaborated with Millennium Science School to confirm that the student from Trinity featured in that photo is indeed the T-party host. The next question arises—the identity of the other student in the photo, which, though obscured, was identified by the journalist as Gehenna’s Student Council Vice President, Sorasaki Hina (16).]
Oh no, it’s ruined. My cover is completely blown…!
[As it has been revealed that the notorious rivalry between Trinity General Academy and Gehenna Academy’s student council president and vice president has continued since before the Millennium Idol incident, all eyes are on where the relationship between the two academies will go from here——]
Bang bang bang!
“Mika-sama! Our Pater demands explanations regarding this matter! How dare you have personal connections with that Gehenna horned girl!”
The ones bursting into my office were the more extreme students from Pater, notably firm against Gehenna. I suspected they probably led the charge to assault Mika in the original story.
Oh, should I just throw in the towel…
By the way, how do they have the nerve to act like this?
“Tell me something. Is that the opinion of the entire Pater? Or just yours?”
“…It’s of course the entire Pater! We will absolutely not permit coexistence with Gehenna!”
“Hahaha, really? That’s amusing. But why is it that only you guys are visible to me now? Where have all those other Pater kids gone? Just you lot, the most radical ones?”
“Th-That’s…”
It isn’t like all the hardliners from Pater are just screaming “Absolute war!!!” on repeat. There are students who simply refuse to be friendly with Gehenna, and a few who are indifferent, but it’s not a complete consensus.
Generally, the loudest voices in a group shape its direction. When it comes to politics, it’s a different story, but not all Pater kids are politically inclined. Pater was once a branch school but has now turned into a faction, so calling it a proper party is a stretch.
After all, these kids aren’t seasoned politicos with decades of experience; they’re just kids under twenty gathering together—how serious can they really be about forming a political party? The politics that happen among the leaders of each faction is, from my perspective as a mere 20-something, quite high-level. I can’t deny that.
But using them as a standard, my expectations get lowered drastically.
While their higher-ups might battle it out with words and pens, the lower tier shows nothing beyond merely raising their voices.
“More importantly, do you see me as someone easy to mess with? If that’s not it, what in the world gives you that confidence to be waving those guns around? Now, if you keep this up, you all need to know that you’re tiptoeing into the territory of a coup, right?”
“…Ugh, but you were the one who betrayed us first, Mika! You said you’d rather die than have personal ties to the Gehenna hornhead! How could you have a close relationship with the vice president of Gehenna?! You traitor!”
“Hah… Can you lower those guns? I don’t want my office turned into a battlefield. Nagisa would be sad. And when she’s sad, I’ll naturally get a bit angry with you too.”
Lately, Nagisa’s belongings had been slowly multiplying in my office. Hence, a fight breaking out here was not desirable. I wanted to resolve this through conversation if possible, but would I truly be able to convince such radical students?
“I don’t entirely disagree with your notion of betrayal, though I don’t think it’s entirely justified either. Given the circumstances, it’s understandably perceived that way.”
“So, what about the responsibilities that come with it—”
“Really now, could you refrain from interrupting while I’m talking? Going that route is just wasting our time, you know? So will you just listen to what I have to say until the end?”
Seeing their disappointed faces and those eyes brimming with feelings of betrayal made my head throb. I almost wanted to replace them all with Arius students instead.
“You see, I believe that the animosity our Pater holds against Gehenna is a meaningless and unnecessary sentiment. Given Trinity’s power structure, we can’t declare war on Gehenna, no matter how hard we try. If you want to completely overthrow the power structure and establish a military government under Pater’s rule, I’m not interested in cooperating with that.”
“…”
“Ah, looks like you were hoping for that to happen? But do you really think the Student Council would just sit back and let a war break out between us and Gehenna? Just recently, the Student Council President even proposed a peace treaty with them. There’s barely a chance of that happening.”
“A p-peace treaty with those Gehenna hornheads…? There’s no way we’d agree to something so absurd!”
“The point isn’t that. What matters is that the Student Council has shown its intention to intervene in the conflict between us and Gehenna. Whatever you do, unless I’m leading it myself, you’re not reversing this trend. I have no intention of doing that. That’s why I arranged a seat for you all, right?”
“If you’re referring to that childish tournament—”
“Hahaha! What are you saying, seriously? Are you challenging me to a joke right now? Huh, childish games? We’re not even adults yet, so what’s wrong with competing in what you call childish games? I set the table for you. If you can’t even show a thorough crushing of Gehenna there, then your level is just that, I suppose. Fighting a war with kids who can’t even win in childish games is laughable as it is☆”
“…Mika-sama, I think we’ve digressed from the issue at hand, so I’ll reiterate once more. Please provide a clear explanation regarding your personal relationship with the Gehenna vice president.”
The student who seemed to be the initiator sighed softly and, with a calmer tone, pointed at me. I suppose they could still make a limited effort since they were students of Trinity.
“I inadvertently made friends with someone who has many hardships. Is that explanation not enough? Anyway, my host term doesn’t have much time left. It would be a misstep for you to impeach me over such trivial reasons. Once I finish my term, I’ll step down from my position and withdraw from Pater. That should settle things for you, right?”
“…You really don’t understand that this is not a simple matter, do you, Mika? There’s been an agreement to hand over the upcoming host term to us. In support of your reelection! You can’t say you don’t know that!”
“Wow—oh…?”
What kind of wild trick is this? Abandon the host term? My reelection?
“…Someone, go fetch Seiya-chan for me. Meanwhile, the rest of you should just keep quiet. If you keep talking back, you’d better be ready for the consequences☆”
Let’s see, if you try and make an excuse not to come, I’ll make you think that being caught in a Halo bomb would be more pleasant than the future I have in store for you.
