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Chapter 1: Another Fake (Part 3)
For two months after that event, Yuki and I did all sorts of things together. Sometimes she begged me to teach her, and in return, I got biscuits. Occasionally, we even went to look for the sacred sword, but in the end, we found nothing.
While I was looking at the swaying water, reflecting the moon, I started to reminisce about all the things that had happened. These unexpected feelings aren’t really bad things; it’s that just I’ve felt like it was a little unbelievable. Also, if it weren’t for the house arrest, I wouldn’t have been able to get so close to Yuki. I also wouldn’t have gotten the chance to be able to see her in a swimsuit.
……Well, although I saw something way better than Yuki’s bikini…….
From the time when I saw her boobs till now, only thirty minutes had elapsed. I had already changed into my uniform, but Yuki, who was still in the locker room, didn’t seem like she wanted to come out.
“……Hey, Yuki. Wouldn’t it be bad if we don’t go back to the dormitory soon?”
Although we can’t see each other, I had made up my mind to call her out. After a while, the girl’s locker room’s door opened just a crack. From there, I could see Yuki’s face.
However, when our eyes met, she looked completely ashamed and immediately shrinked back in.
……What’s a good way to comfort her in this situation…….
“……I’ll start with the good part. I don’t feel shy at all.”
A brave voice said from the inside, while I was silently standing outside the gray door.
It’s rare to hear someone who would say such an obvious lie. I know because when I saw her eyes earlier, they were full of tears.
“I’m not lying. Also, even if I felt a little ashamed about having my boobs seen, I saw Ryu’s uncovered chest, which means we’re even, right?”
“……”
What should I do. I don’t understand what Yuki is saying at all.
However, I couldn’t just ignore her. I guess I’ll just go along with her.
“What you said seems pretty reasonable. Even though we’re at the swimming pool, having young men show their bare chests isn’t right, but I really was a little too bold. I didn’t only let you see my right nipple, but also the left one. I feel like I’ll die from shame.”
“——Hey, Ryu.”
“Hm? What’s up?”
“Can you just shut up?”
“……”
It seemed like I angered her. I just wanted to go along with what she was saying, how could this happen.
“And anyways, why is seeing the left nipple more shameful than seeing the right one! What kind of logic is that! Both the right and the left are the same! They’re both nipples! They’re equal!”
“Huh? Why did I just get scolded? Is it because I treated the right and left nipples differently?”
“That’s right. Give me an apology for not treating both nipples equally.”
“Hey——but think about it. Don’t people have a dominant hand? Isn’t the right hand more important than the left hand for right-handed people?”
“Even if that’s the case, it only applies to hands. Have you ever heard of something like that for nipples?”
“Are you sure? It even applies to the eyes and feet. It’s just that probably no one thought about it. Maybe it applies to nipples as well? For example, the one that’s closer to the heart gets the heart rate up faster or something of the sort. ——Oh yeah, how about starting from now we grope each others’ nipples to see which one is the dominant nipple?”
“Who would say such things!! This kind of invitation of yours already counts as harassment!! Also, starting from earlier, I’ve already said the word nipple too many times!!”
Yuki started to complain.
I didn’t know if it was because of her yell earlier, but Yuki finally came out of the locker room, wearing clothes, of course.
“……Um, uh. Well, it’s already pretty late. Do you want to go back?”
“……Yeah.”
Yuki nodded her head to my response, so we started preparing to go back to the dorms.
However, when we were jumping over the fence of the swimming pool, Yuki refused to hold my hand while using . It seemed like she was too shy to hold hands. It looks like the exposure earlier dealt a heavy blow to her.
So, I could only use . I just used the simple method of putting Ryuji on the other side of the fence and making the Ryuichi on this side disappear.
After leaving the pool, we didn’t talk at all while walking down the wide path from the campus to the dorms. It was a super awkward atmosphere.
However, I can understand why Yuki couldn’t go back to being her usual self. We’re both high schoolers, and she showed something so indecent in front of someone else. That’s why I looked up at the clouds covering the full moon, and silently walked towards the dorms ahead.
……Well, time will make everything go back to normal. I guess I’ll comfort Yuki tomorrow. I think up this plan while gazing at the faraway gate.
But at this moment, a flashlight, which came from the shadows in front of the school building, shone on us.
“Hey, you two!! What are you doing here!!”
From the silent campus, a male voice shouted. I was so shocked that I almost dropped my swimming bag.
The light was dazzling. For a moment, I couldn’t identify the person’s voice……However, it could only be the disciplinary committee patrolling.
I felt ashamed of our failure. I was so focused on thinking about how to fix my relationship with Yuki, I completely forgot that we were trying to sneak back into the dorms.
“Ryu, run!”
As she said this, Yuki quickly grabbed my hand and ran as fast as she could towards the swimming pool. Even though my feet weren’t listening to me, I still hurried to catch up to her.
But at the next moment, I saw a gigantic unknown object, that was five meters tall, on the edge my of vision.
When I looked closely, it turned out to be the disciplinary members we saw earlier. Starting from the right shoulder, the right arm started to abnormally become bigger. It must have been the use of an ability.
His right hand grew like this. His palm was about the size of a bicycle and it started extending to us at an incredible speed. I pushed Yuki aside to use myself as bait. I prepared to face off against the powerful arm heading towards at us.
But because I never planned a counterattack against the giant hand, I directly collided with it. The moment when I was grabbed, I felt a huge shock throughout my body.
After a moment of dizziness, I noted that all five fingers were firmly wrapped around my back and legs. His grip, constricted my chest, making it extremely difficult to breath.
I was grabbed by a hand with inhuman strength, and I became unable to get to the member of the discipline committee’s side. If this went on, wouldn’t I become an ingredient for a hot pot and be eaten?
——Don’t let it end like this!!
Unwillingly, I activated , I summoned Ryuji then I deactivated the Ryuichi captured by the discipline committee member. I had finally gotten away!
Finally restoring my original form, I swiftly changed directions and put some distance between the member of the disciplinary committee and me. If I repeatedly used , hopefully it would confuse him enough, for me to escape!
However, I looked back while running away. I noticed that the disciplinary committee member had no intention of chasing me. He just restored his right hand back to normal, and stood there eerily, looking as if he had given up on his duty.
——What’s happening? Why isn’t he making his hand big again? It couldn’t be that he hadn’t noticed that I escaped from his hand, right?
Just when I was starting to feel suspicious, I turned back to look at him again. His entire body began to grow at an amazing speed. Within a second, he had swollen to such a size that he looked like a human balloon, transforming into a giant that was several tens of meters tall.
His height was almost equal to that of the school buildings nearby, almost as if a four story tall building was built before my eyes. Although I had seen quite a few abilities within the last three months, I could confidently say that this ability has had the greatest impact.
—— It wasn’t until now that I realized which member of the discipline committee that I had met. Considering the ability he has, it should be Kito Kyosuke, a senior who was B ranked. According to what I remember, his ability should be called . I had heard that he could transform into a giant tens of meters tall, but I didn’t expect for him to be able to enlarge that part of himself too.
Kito bent his body forward to a running position and charged at me. His steps were incredibly large, easily as large as a house. Every time his feet touched the ground, the surrounding ground would rumble.
—— How am I supposed to hide when I’m playing hide and seek with someone like this!!
“Yuki! Go hide in the dormitory! He shouldn’t be able to catch up to you there in his current form!”
I quickly changed directions, and randomly found a classroom’s window, preparing to break in.
However, in an instant, a giant shadow eclipsed me, and the darkness became even darker. The speed of Kito’s Shadow was only one step ahead of Kito.
Small typhoons sprung up nearby, sending small particles of sand into my face and hands. It was difficult to even open my eyes.
In the middle of this chaotic situation, a gigantic arm came down from the sky——
“Ryu! Catch!”
I heard this unexpected cry, I instinctively turned towards the direction of Yuki and reached out with my right hand. After grabbing her hand, our bodies immediately flew high into the sky. Yuki activated her , creating a strong repulsive force towards the ground.
We used this method to jump to the second floor’s balcony of the school dormitory. Next, I would just need to activate to open the door from the inside——
However, I sensed danger. I immediately stopped my activation, turned to Yuki, and quickly pushed her down.
“R-Ryu, what are you doing?”
The sudden action made Yuki flinch, but after seeing the giant’s wrist above us, I shouldn’t have to explain myself anymore.
Kato’s high speed punch very easily broke through the two-layered glass window. Following a sharp sound, clear fragments of glass flew all over the place. Luckily, most of the broken glass had scattered inside the classroom, so Yuki and I had not suffered any major injuries.
“—— Yuki, could you use your ?”
Without waiting for her answer, I grabbed Yuki’s right hand and used it to touch Kato’s gigantic wrist. Yuki, in her fright, hadn’t opened her eyes, Even I thought that doing this was a bit tough, but we absolutely couldn’t miss this chance.
Sure enough, Kato quickly pulled his hand from the broken window. Honestly, Yuki didn’t even have the time to activate her ——
Yuki answered me with a smile. Starting from that moment, we were prepared to use in order to retaliate against Kato.
“Um, could you to use your on the unbroken windows?”
“Okay~”
Yuki understood what I planned to do just like that. While she straightened out the upper half of her body, she used right hand to touch the nearest window.
I got up at the same time, making use of the broken window to get into the classroom.
“——Hah, hah!!”
With an imposing roar, I broke the window that Yuki had touched. Then, the shattered fragments of the broken window, using ’s effect, flew towards Kito’s right hand.
“Ahhhhhhh!!”
The transparent shards of glass sunk into Kito’s arm just like I planned. A rugged moaning sound echoed through the school.
“Yuki! Take this chance to run away!”
“Ok!”
Yuki answered me with renewed vigor, then slipped into the pitch-black classroom.
“S-stop! —— dammit, how could I allow you to escape!”
Kato moaned, probably from the pain from his right wrist. He’s hesitating to keep attacking us for now.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, we sped through the hallway and headed towards the stairs without a shred of hesitation. When I looked back, it seemed that Kato stopped trying to catch us.
“It think we might have finally escaped!”
Yuki raised her voice and said that when we finally reached the stairs. Just as she was about to go down to the first floor, I grabbed her sleeve. My firm grip stopped her.
“Wait up, Yuki. We should go up first.”
“Huh? Why? Aren’t we going to escape from the main door?”
“Think about it, Kato still hasn’t caught up, maybe he’s planning to ambush us at the exit. Also, since you just yelled so loudly. It could have attracted quite a few disciplinary committee members here.”
“—— So it’s like this. If we went to the gate, it’s very likely we could encounter members of the disciplinary committee.”
“That’s right, so, we want to go towards the opposite direction. We should run upstairs to observe the situation a little.”
“Ok.”
Yuki nodded her head. While she was going up the stairs, she paid attention to not make too much noise.
We stopped at the platform that was between the third and fourth floors, crouching down and wiping off the dust that had stuck to our bodies. We carefully listened for any sounds coming from the lower floors. The school was silent. This meant that reinforcements hadn’t arrived yet.
“……. But, still I was really scared.”
Yuki whispered as she was kneeling on the ground and looking scared.
“Elena specially reminded me that the discipline committee does patrol every direction. I totally forgot about it”
Yuki suddenly mentioned our classmate Kujyo Elena’s name.
“Hm? Could you have gotten all that information about the disciplinary committee from Kujyo?
“Mhm. Elena sneaks into the school from time to time, so she investigated the disciplinary committee a little.”
“Huh? She sneaks into the school in the middle of the night? Could it be that Kujyo is looking for the sacred sword?”
“Hm——she told me she was doing something in the science classroom, but she didn’t tell me the details.”
“So it’s like this, it’s true that secrecy is kind of like Kujyo’s style. ……However in the science classroom, she should have a goal other than the sacred sword.”
Being in the science classroom late at night, could it be that she’s making things like bombs? ……When thought of this unrealistic idea, I suddenly realized that this person could definitely do it. I could not help but panic.
Thinking of Kujyo’s cold look, I couldn’t help but force a wry smile.
Kujyo is a First Year with a very rare B class ability. She’s a beautiful girl with long silver hair, and red pupils, but her personality is very harsh so it’s very hard to get close to her. Even during the summer, she would wear the long-sleeved uniform. Because of this, she is called 「Platina Queen」by some of the male students, and her many fanatic fans that support her.
“Ha…… . How long will these kinds of days continue.”
Yuki whispered appearing listless and nervous while holding her breath. Her body was already small, so doing this made her look like a little kid. Although it strongly stimulated my desire to protect her, I couldn’t encourage her when I’m a mere C class.
“….We have to endure all this till the third years lose their abilities in April next year. It’s already been two months since this game began, but I haven’t seen a single person try to fight a dominator, yet.“……
“Um, yesterday, there were a few B class second year students who went to challenge the library chairman, but I heard that their attacks didn’t even scratch him.”
“Hmm…… they’re really desperate, huh….”
Librarian chairman Igarashi Alice is A ranked. If we can’t even defeat her, then wanting to defeat someone with a S class ability would be insane.
“……Um, Ryu, I wanted to ask you this a long time ago, but why don’t you ever go challenge the dominators?”
Yuki timidly asked this as she changed from hugging her knees to leaning against the wall. If i wanted to, it wouldn’t take much to see her panties. I laughed self-deprecatingly.
“I don’t fight enemies that I don’t have the capability to beat. Even a B class can’t beat them, so there’s no way a C class like me could.”
“But, didn’t Ryu easily defeat the C class Samejima earlier? It looks like in the ranks of the C classes, you would be one of the top. If you want to defeat people with higher ranks, it isn’t impossible.”
Yuki spoke while changing to a crawling position on the floor, approaching me with a serious expression. Being given strange expectations, made me feel ashamed.
“That was just because works well against . I’m not very high ranked within the C rankers.”
“But……”
“Well, we’re going to have to end this conversation. We need to think about to escape from here first.”
I found a random reason for Yuki to stop pursuing these questions, then I gathered my concentration on listening to movements downstairs. It was just as quiet and still.
We already stayed here for about twenty minutes. We should be able to start moving now.
“Okay, Yuki, we should go back to the dorm.”
“——Huh? We’re going to go back just like that?”
I don’t know why Yuki looked so surprise while asking me that.
“B-but, the discipline committee could still be patrolling, so wouldn’t it be dangerous? I think we should stay here a little longer.”
“Really?”
“I’m sure it’s better that way. It’s definitely better.”
Yuki clasped her hands and nodded with a sparkle in her eyes
“……. Hey, why do you look so happy?”
“I-I’m not happy.”
“Seriously? We can’t keep playing hide and seek.”
“I-I obviously know that. ……… ah~ being caught by the disciplinary committee members is so scary~”
“Why are you being so dramatic?”
“I’m not being dramatic at all~ but I was thinking that it would be better to stay here until daylight~ obviously, Ryu needs to be with me~”
“We shouldn’t need to… I think you’re worrying too much. Also, the floor here is so hard that there’s no way we could sleep at all.”
“Ah~ then why don’t we go to the sports warehouse? There are mats there. We could lie there and talk until morning.”
“What are you saying? We’re in the middle of escaping. Also, compared to the sports warehouse, going back to the dormitory would be faster.”
“You’re right….. Hmph. Ryu really doesn’t understand people’s feelings at all.”
Yuki pouted unhappily.
“Huh, what do you mean? Did I say something wrong?”
“Nothing. Since Ryu wants to go back so much, then we’ll follow your wishes and quickly go back to the dormitory, okay?”
“……I don’t know why you’re suddenly using honorifics, but you can feel free to do so. ——Ah, before we go back, let’s go to the science room to see Kujyo.”
“Why!? Do you care that much about what Elena is doing!?”
Despite only giving her some advice, Yuki showed an extreme response.
“It’s not really being worried about Kujyo. It’s more being interested in what she’s doing at night in the science classroom.”
“Um……I can’t say I’m not concerned……”
“Right? Also, if she really is in the school, she should have heard the glass shattering just now. We better go explain to her what had happened. If she doesn’t understand the situation, then she shouldn’t act too freely.”
“…… Ryu really cares for other people…..”
“I’m just a worrywart. Come on, let’s go.”
“Okay…..”
Although Yuki looked unsatisfied, she obediently followed me when I stood up and walked out.
It was quiet in the school yard, but there should be members of the disciplinary committee hidden in the darkness. In order to be able to respond to an encounter at any time, I was alert to the surrounding darkness while creeping down the stairs.
Finally arriving in front of the science room, we tried our best not to make any noise while slowly putting our hands on the door handle.
However, no matter how hard to pulled it, the door did not move an inch. It seemed that it was locked.
—-Maybe Kujyo didn’t come today.
As I was thinking that, I heard something move from inside the classroom.
Because we couldn’t yell in the corridor, I decided to use my ability to get inside the classroom. Because I could decide between sending Ryuichi and Ryuji, this time i sent Ryuichi inside.
“Kujyo, are you is that you?”
After I putting down my swimming bag on the table, I used and made a copy of myself inside the room using it to call Kujyo.
“……What? Oh, it’s Yagumo.”
I turned my head to the direction of the sound. From the faint light of the window, I saw the beautiful girl with a black tie on her silver hair. She was staring at me with her sharp red eyes. It was definitely Kujyo Elena.
“I thought you were you of the disciplinary committee that came. I was almost going to attack you.”
“……Then it seems I dodged a bullet.”
If B class Kujyo attacked, I would have definitely been unable to leave.
“So, Kujyo, what are you doing here? I heard Nanami say that you’ll be going to the pool, but I haven’t heard anything about you coming to the science room? Also, the sound of shattering glass from approximately thirty minutes ago , did you two destroy it for fun?”
“No, that should have been the disciplinary committee.”
While I went to open the door, I told her about what had happened. The door slowly opened. From the door that only fits one person at a time, Yuki and Ryuji finally got inside.
“……That’s outrageous.”
After hearing what had happened, Kujyo replied that to me while looking at me with a shocked expression.
“If you could use to fight back, why didn’t you just kill him.”
“How could we do that. What’s worse is that we came out of the school in the middle of the night.”
“Hmph. So, starting from two months ago, the school had already become a 「ability ranked」 school system? In short, it’s basically 「the strong can do anything」, which everyone had to acquiesce. Therefore, the problem wasn’t that you sneaked into the school, but rather that you didn’t beat Kito. How weak are you going to be?”
“……The things like the strong rule was all determined by the third-years.”
“That’s true. However, aren’t the constitution and laws determined by our predecessors? If someone who stands at the top changes, then the rules would also change. The people that can’t adapt will become extinct. Unfortunately, that’s how the world works, so before you whine about it, become stronger.”
Kujyo looked at me unmercifully while relentlessly critiquing me. Not even talking about how the world works, this kind of idea in human society is already wrong. However, in this kind of place, I couldn’t think of anything to refute her.
……Well, it’s pointless to keep on arguing with Kujyo. It would be better to show my mature side and sincerely apologize.
“——Even if you’re right, it’s hard to imagine doing this kind of thing to the third years.”
Before my words of apology were even been said, the Ryuji behind me became nosy.
“What can a C class like me do when even B class Exceeds can’t beat them.”
“Hmph. That’s just an excuse. Even if your opponent is stronger than you, that doesn’t mean you’re definitely going to lose. If you just think of something like a strategy, then there would definitely be a way to win.”
“I wouldn’t even try to think of something like a strategy. Kujyo, you don’t understand the mindset of the weak.”
“Really. So, even though you don’t agree with the status quo, you would obediently endure it?”
“Right. Even if we think of a way to defeat a B class, we would still have a long way to go to before we could beat an S class. No matter how much effort we put in, it’s still impossible to defeat a S class Exceed.”
“——Huh?”
Kujyo looked like she was in a bad mood, and made smacking sounds with her mouth. She grasped Ryuji’s tie and pulled him towards her.
“You can’t win against an S class no matter how hard you work? Shouldn’t you say that after working to death?”
“——!?”
“I think you’re just trying to run away by saying what you said earlier. I’ll tell you right now. That phrase 「I will not fight what I can’t beat」 is really lame. You only said it in a more pleasant way. Basically, you want to get results without working. Comparing people like you who pretend to be strong with the people who work to death but still lose like crap. The people who work are a hundreds times cooler than you.”
“……!!”
I was speechless. Everything was as Kujyo said.
I was being treated unfairly by third-years. However, among the people who faced the same situation as me, there are plenty of people who were trying to break through the status quo. Compared to them, I did feel a little ashamed.
Ryuji, who was being scolded, had the same dumbfounded expression as I did. It would be better to say he was relentlessly scolded, he probably felt a greater shock than I did. Because of what Kujyo said, he was in disarray. His heart was struck deeply by her blunt gaze.
——After analyzing Ryuji’s situation, Ryuji’s body trembled as he said these affectionate words to Kujyo as she restrained him.:
“Listen to me, Kujyo! Right now, I really want to do naughty things with you!”
“…………………”
The room went completely silent.
What Ryuji said made Kujyo flush. She opened and closed her mouth several times. On the other hand, Yuki stared blankly with rounded eyes.
I tried hard to understand what was going on because I wasn’t sure what had happened. Even Ryuji didn’t know what exactly was happening.
“……Um, wait a second. You said words of sexual harassment as I was scolding you. What kind of retaliation is this?”
After a few seconds, Kujyo, who recovered from the shock, immediately asked the question on her mind.
In contrast, Ryuji hadn’t calmed down from his excited state, yet. He replied with a crazed tone.
“What Kujyo told me earlier made me realize that I really have been a pussy.”
“……Mhm, that I can understand.”
“I have this feeling that I, who hasn’t worked at all, could never understand the people who have challenged the dominators many times.”
“Yes, that’s right, too.”
“So, I can’t suppress the desire to you pursue, Kujyo.”
“It’s that!”
Kujyo lifted her right hand and pointed at Ryuji’s nose.
“That kind of thinking is going too far. Why do you suddenly want my body?”
“Do I even have to explain myself? It’s obviously so Kujyo can have my kids.”
“How’re you so serious when you’re saying something so crude!?”
Showing lament, Kujyo immediately increased the distance between them.
“I obviously didn’t think you would understand me. However, you have no chance of winning. I intend to convey all my feelings for you.”
While sexual harrassing her, Ryuji’s expression was sincere. Across from me, this strong-willed fool doesn’t even care about having a good impression on Kujyo. In his head, the only thing he cares about now is how to get together with Kujyo.
“Kujyo, I’m serious! I’m a changed man! So if it’s possible, I hope you could be by my side! One day you’ll come to love me and become my woman!”
“……What is this boring jokester doing……”
Kujyo mumbled this quietly and shyly put her head down. At first glance, it seemed like Ryuji actually had a chance to get her. He’s really good.
——Ok, we should be able to stop now. If I keep letting Ryuji go on like this, I would close myself in because of my self-loathing.
Also, Yuki, who was on the side, had unimaginable expression of despair rarely seen on this world. She started chanting Amitabha. If I don’t end this kind of ambience, then it could become a problem.
I stepped in between the two of them. I then pointed at Ryuji and apologized for him.
“Sorry, Kujyo. This guy isn’t normal. Please think about what happened earlier as a nightmare and forget about it.”
Kujyo looked at me with contempt.
“Then don’t say these kinds of things so casually. How could I forget about it so easily after being openly sexually harassed?”
……That’s true.
“Besides, he’s a part of you. You actually said 「that me」 like you didn’t have anything to do with it. Isn’t that way too weird?”
“Ah, no it’s not. There’s actually a reason for this……”
Wearing a stiff smile, I started explaining .
“Actually, when I use I split into two. Although our appearances are the same, our personalities are completely different.”
“——Different personalities?”
“Yes. ……Although it’s somewhat difficult to explain, basically, I’m the normal one and that part of Ryuji is the stupid copy.”
“Huh? Ryuichi, you’re okay with calling yourself stupid?”
“Ryuji you don’t have the right to call anyone stupid. You’re annoying. Be quiet for me.”
After Kujyo used a stern tone to order him to shut up, I continued my explanation. ……However, because it’s was so troublesome, I started to get a headache. To use appropriate words to describe the two mes of is really difficult.
If I were to describe Ryuji by personality, he’s pretty simple. He’s basically a real person, but he’s the kind that acts on instincts and feels that only enjoying yourself in the moment matters.
Compared to him, I’m very black bellied. I’m always suspicious. Compared to the social group, I’m more like a lone wolf. My motto is 「lying is expedient」, and I’m always worried about my future.
If a girl wearing a miniskirt appears before Ryuji and me, we would both immediately think of ways to try and peek at her underwear. During this time, the obviously perverted Ryuji would immediately give up, unable to bear the guilt. On the other hand, I would try to take a closer look, without feeling any guilt at all. This is because I think that if you want to wear a miniskirt, you should be able to bear the risk of being peeped at.
——If I had actually said this, however, I would be looked at in a negative light. So, I decided to use some more proper examples to explain.
“For example, using will create two mes, under the same environment, you would only need two weeks of time to clearly see the difference. Ryuji might have a lot of friends by his side. Every weekend, he might go karaoking with his friends or go biking at the beach. In contrast, I, Ryuichi, would rather be alone. I wouldn’t have many people close to me. On the weekends, I would close myself in at home, watch television or read a book.”
“W-wait. You two were originally one person, so why is there such a big difference?”
Kujyo folded her arms, seemingly unable to understand.
“No matter how you think about it, that’s too extreme. Maybe you actually have split personality, and after splitting, you each got your own body?”
“Hey……. even if it’s not a split personality, doesn’t everyone have many different sides to themselves? Think about it, aren’t people who are normally very honest, violent when they’re drunk? This is the same concept, Ryuji is the part that relies solely on emotion and action, and I am the part that utilizes reasoning. It’s that kind of thing.”
“Ah…… the original Yagumo would be dominated by emotions, and his sexual desire would erupt.”
“What?”
This statement is actually true. I can’t refute it at all.
“…… Forget it. I’ll reluctantly accept your explanation.”
Satisfied from seeing my speechless look, Kujyo showed a faint smile.
“So, the Ryuji who sexually harassed me, are you planning to use the drunk man excuse to write it off?”
“Ah, I wouldn’t be so deceptive. I apologize if you thought I was being distasteful.”
Deactivating , I merged back together and bowed.
“The words that I said earlier were very stupid. I’m really sorry.”
“No problem, Yagumo. You don’t need to apologize.”
Being urged to raise my head, I stood up straight. As soon as I did, I saw Kujyo’s malicious smile.
“Apologizing is very simple, you only have to say it. However, if you want me to forget about what happened today, that would depend on your attitude in the future. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“…………..”
Basically, it seems that her meaning was that this time, resistance was futile. Although I deserved it, it would be closer to the truth that this formidable opponent grasped my weakness.
“But, then again.”
While peering at the face of Yuki, who was still rambling, Kujyo shyly touched her cheek. Just as I was thinking about what to do, she grabbed my right hand.
“Come with me for a bit.”
She pulled me to the corner of the room, and put her face close to my ear, then asked me in a whisper.
“…….Hey, is there no problem with you sexually harassing me in front of Nanami? I think Nanami——”
“Huh? What are you talking about, Kujyo? Even if Yuki wasn’t there, sexual harassment is still a problem. Don’t you know that?”
“——The person who did the harassing has no right to say that!!”
At the same time as shouted that, she punched me on the left left cheek.
If I were to make a straight man comment, it would be that she used a bit too much force there.
“…….Whatever. I’m too lazy to meddle with your problems.”
“Huh? Our problems?”
“Nothing. I just think that it isn’t easy for Yuki. It makes me feel a bit sympathetic for her.”
“………..? What do you mean?”
However, Kujyo didn’t answer my question. She shrugged and returned to where she was before. Confused, I just followed her.
“Right, what were you doing in the science lab so late?”
I finally asked her for the reason why she had come to the science room.
“I heard from Yuki that you would often sneak into school.”
“Hmph, that’s a really stupid question. There would only be one reason for someone to sneak into a school. It’s so that other people wouldn’t know.”
“Could it be something dangerous?”
“Something dangerous? What are you referring to?”
“For example, making bombs.”
“….. Bombs, huh…. That’s not a bad suggestion…”
Kujyo stroked a silver strand her hair and sneered.
“No, no, I wasn’t trying to give you any suggestions……”
“But it’s really unfortunate, I don’t really know how to make bombs. Because we can’t use the internet, I have no way of researching it either.”
“Could you not consider this so seriously?”
If Kujyo really managed to get her on hands on some bombs, she definitely wouldn’t hesitate to use them to beat the third-years. She’s so scary.
“—-By the way Yagumo, are you able to represent the name [Tachibana Sogo] in numbers? Perhaps with just the surname, or the first name as numbers.”
“Huh? Representing the first name into numbers? What’s that, a riddle?”
“Something like that. To put it simply, Tachibana Sogo, a self-proclaimed god, has seemingly used his name as his password. But I have been struggling to figure out the answer.”
“Oh~”
After I looking around a little, I answered.
“Using numbers to represent hiragana, it’s usually in the order of the japanese syllabary. If it’s 「Tachibana], 「ta」 is 16, 「chi」 is 17,「ha」 is 26, and「na」 is 21, so it should be 16172621? However, I don’t know what to do with 「ba].
“Unfortunately, it’s not that. If it was that easy,I would’ve cracked it already. No matter what order I put the kana in, and I’ve tried them all, none of them are correct. I even tried using english names and letters a few times.”
“Oh——maybe we should look at in a different light way we’re looking at it……”
While talking to myself in a low voice, I changed my way of looking at the problem.
“Oh, have you tried binary codes? For example [0000] or [0001].”
“I don’t how many digits the password has, only that it’s at most ten. It might be three or ten. And if you happen to make three mistakes in a single day, you have to wait until the next day to try again.”
“How about directly hacking it?”
“Without both phones and computers, how do you expect me to do something so difficult? However, if the other side put in some kind of firewall. Then the instant we connect to it with a device, the entire system could be destroyed.”
“It really has a tight security system…….”
What’s going to happen even if we do crack the password. Although I’m very interested, it looks like Kujyo doesn’t intend to tell me.
“By the way, I just translated [宗吾] into english, and it turned out to be [Sogo]. I thought that the letters and 5090 were very similar. Try typing it in and see if it works or not.”
“Ah, they really are similar….. Tachibana…..Sogo…..
I folded my arms across my chest and paced back and forth, thinking about the question nonstop. The whole room once again went quiet. The only sounds were from Yuki quietly chanting Amitabha. ………She’s still doing it.
While doing a straight man act, I kept on pacing. My eyes inadvertently swept onto the Periodic Table on the wall.
“——!!”
I saw all the atomic numbers before me, and suddenly, I had an idea.
“Hey, Kujyo. 「Tachibana」 in Roman is 「Tatibana」, right?”
“No, if we use roman words to spell it, the correct way to write it would be [Chi]. Although, you can also type [Ti] on the computer.”
“Then let’s say it’s written as 「Ti」. Next, let’s separate the letters of 「Tatibana」 into pairs and match them with the atomic number.”
“Huh?……Ah!!”
“Right? 「Ta」 is Tantalum with an atomic number of 73, 「Ti」 is 22 for Titanium ,「Ba」 is 56 for Barium, and「Na」 is 11 for Sodium. If you put them all together, then the number is 73225611.”
After hearing my deduction, Kujyo rushed towards the periodic table like a bullet, and studied every atomic number as she did this her expression became much warmer. While I was thinking this, she had already rushed to the room’s cabinet and opened the bottom drawer.
Just as I was wondering what she was doing, she had already started concentrating on moving a large amounts of textbooks. If you crouched down a little, you could see that a control panel was fixed onto the wall.
Kujyo turned on the control panel, and asked me to input the eight numbers. Immediately after, a loud ‘click’ sound came from the center of the science room. Surprised, I immediately looked towards the source of the sound, and discovered that something similar to four square shaped floorboards had slowly popped out. It was about the height of my ankle.
Kujyo immediately rushed forward, and shoved her finger into the gap, opening the thick floorboards. A small tunnel that could fit a single person had been unveiled.
“Amazing…….. It looks like you guessed right”
Surprised, Kujyo said as she cautiously looked at me with her rounded eyes.
“I had spent so many days on this and I still couldn’t figure it out!”
“Well, this kind of mind game needs someone with a good sense. Also, my luck in this science room could be considered ‘good’.”
“Even if it’s like that, you’re still incredible. I always thought that Yagumo was a retard. I guess God really does give everyone a bit of talent. Although you have the talent to crack codes, it’s completely useless in your daily life, God really is great.”
“Say, Kujyo. Can you stop complimenting me so sarcastically, also isn’t it about time for you to explain to us, what’s happening? Could this be a secret passageway?”
“That should be right. From my deductions, it should lead to a certain place.”
“A certain place?”
“The laboratory of the man called Tachibana Sogo.”
This was completely different from last time, this time Kujyo answered my questions directly. Since we had already got the answer, it looked like we could finally know her reason for sneaking into the school.
“Do you know about the legend of the two swords hidden in the school? This was the Exceed ability of Tachibana Sogo, who created the sacred sword and demonic blade.”
Yuki and I couldn’t help but look at each other for a moment.
“We’ve heard of this legend as well, but we’ve only heard about the sacred sword.”
“Then the source should be the same. Originally, I was the one who investigated it in detail by reading many books in the library.”
Kujyo proudly puffed out her thin chest and then continued to explain.
“A few years ago, I learnt about Tachibana Sogo who had used his power to create the sacred sword and demonic blade at this school. The sacred sword was also known as the 「Sacred Dragon’s Claw」, and the demonic blade was also known as the 「Demonic Dragon’s Fang」. The sacred dragon’s claw could cut anything apart, and the demonic dragon’s fang could consume anything…….. However, the weapons were said to be too strong. So, Tachibana Sogo used a mechanism to seal both swords together.”
“The sacred dragon’s claw and the demonic dragon’s fang….. It feels like a very abstract ability..”
“But the legends said it was like this.”
“So, what you’re saying is that if the legends are true, then the two swords are hidden in this hole?”
“Of course I can’t say I’m completely sure about this, but if we want to defeat a S ranked Exceed, then we can only hope that this kind of ethereal thing actually exists. After deciding upon my objective in May, I started reading all kinds of books in library for information to find out the location of the sacred sword and demonic blade.”
“Ah……. In the end, you found it in the science classroom, and every time you thought of a password, you would sneak in here to try it out.”
“In simple terms, that’s correct.”
While Kujyo was explaining the situation, she crouched down by the entrance of the cave and shone her flashlight into the hole. The hole was approximately two meters deep and had an ancient entrance at in its innermost recesses, extending towards the direction of the corridor. Because the length of the bridge wasn’t very close, we couldn’t see where the ancient entrance led.
“Hey, Yagumo. Don’t you have any interest to go explore where this tunnel leads?”
“—Huh? Wait a second. Why don’t you go by yourself?”
“There might be traps inside. I don’t want to act rashly when I can’t guarantee my own safety.There’s a saying, a smart man doesn’t stand under a collapsing wall.”
“……Ohhh, so you’re going to make me the victim instead.”
What a cruel woman.
“Besides, isn’t perfect for this job? All you have to do is split into Ryuichi and Ryuji, and make one of them go in the hole. Even if there’s some sort of danger, you could immediately get out by deactivating your ability.”
“……I see. You do have a point.”
Although I felt like I was being tricked, she did sound pretty convincing.
However, a good plan and whether or not it could be carried out were two different things. This kind of job that requires thinking is best left to Ryuichi, but because of what had happened earlier, I didn’t really want to leave Ryuji here. If it doesn’t go well, Kujyo would scold me.
“……Um, could I go with Ryuji?”
Immediately after I was thinking about who to send into the tunnel, Yuki broke the silence by volunteering.
“What? Yuki, you want to go into this worrisome hole?”
“It’s not that I want to go in……It’s just that I have some things I want to talk to you about. It’s for the best if it’s just the two of us.”
“You want to be alone with me? Isn’t it a little inconvenient inside a cave, though?”
“T-that’s true, but……”
“——Yagumo, stop wasting time. Since Nanami asked you, just quickly get down there.”
Kujyo suddenly said with a commanding tone. Then, she threw me the flashlight from behind.
“If you dare refuse, I will spread that stupid thing that you did everywhere.”
“………..”
Since she said it like that, I couldn’t do anything about it. I could only give up and agree to investigate the hidden passage.
After pondering about it, I decided not to directly use to go inside. Nevertheless, if there is any trouble, then it would be problematic. That’s why I would lead the way. That way, even if I couldn’t move, I could use to get out.
After we went down the hole, we laid down and turned into the entrance next to us. The passage seemed to go very far, so I could only use my teeth to clench onto the flashlight to light our way. We slowly crawled through the narrow hole. It was okay that our uniforms were covered by sand, but there was a lot of spider webs. They stuck to our faces. It was disgusting. However, I should be glad. Other than the cobwebs, there wasn’t any traps to prevent intruders.
“That’s right, Yuki. You said that you wanted to tell me something. What is it?”
I took the flashlight out of my mouth, and asked Yuki, who was behind me. However, she didn’t reply. There was only the sound of friction from crawling.
……I wasn’t sure what she was hinting at. Did she want me to move forward a little longer or did she want to talk about it later?
After going forward a little longer, we reached the end. It was about thirty meters away from the entrance.
I used the flashlight to light up and carefully examine our surroundings. I found a button buried. It was under a large amount of sand. There was no way to tell at first glance.
“Hey, Ryu. Did you find something?”
“Mhm. Although there’s no path from here, I found a very small button.”
“A button? If you press it, could we keep moving forward?”
“It’s possible, but if you turn that statement around, it could be a trap. ……Should I just push it, or should we stay on the safe side and go back…….”
The part of me that’s always suspicious of danger started to take over. Yuki, who was behind me, in a dependable tone said to me,
“Let’s try and click it. Even if something happens, I could use to support you from behind.”
“Is there really no problem with this? If this doesn’t go well even you could be in danger, you know?”
“No problem! Because our fates are intertwined together!”
“Huh? I think this is the first time I’ve heard that.”
“We’re soul mates!! Ever since school started, we’ve always been together and we’re friends with a strong bond!!”
“No, no. What are you talking about always being together? Didn’t we just meet three months ago?”
“Then it’s soul food!!”
“Even if you want to use an imposing manner to convince me, it’s still not soul food.”
Things that could be regarded as soul food are the Japaneses’ miso soup or the Indians’ curry. No matter how far-fetched the explanation, it still shouldn’t be used to describe relationships.
“……However, since you told me to, I guess I’ll just try pressing it down.”
“Yeah, be careful.”
After hearing Yuki’s response, I gently wiped off the dirt on top of it, determined to press it down.
“——Wahhh!?”
“Ah!!”
The floor underneath us suddenly disappeared. We fell for about two meters and then landed on something bouncy.
“That scared me……I didn’t think that the floor would suddenly disappear.”
I immediately got up and surveyed our surroundings. However, everything was shrouded in darkness. I couldn’t see anything.
“Ryu, it’s so dark——where’s the flashlight?”
Yuki, who fell down with me, sounded very disturbed as she asked me that question.
“Sorry, I was too surprised, so I couldn’t hold it properly. Also, it looks like the battery fell out when it hit the ground.”
While explaining, I tried to feel the ground for the flashlight. It shouldn’t have rolled very far——
While I was feeling for it in the dark, I suddenly felt something incredibly soft on the palm of my right hand. To confirm what it was, I tried squeezing it a few times.
“Ah!! Ryu, you pervert!!”
“Huh?——Ah!! Sorry!!”
“Ah!! That place is off limits!!”
“Off limits!? Where did I actually touch?”
Even I couldn’t help but sound regretful as I quickly distanced myself from that place.
“Sorry, Yuki! Forgive me! It really wasn’t on purpose!”
“……Really? It really wasn’t on purpose?”
“Of course! I swear it wasn’t on purpose! It was completely unintentional!”
“Boo——”
Yuki seemed to have made a dissatisfied moan. After that, she didn’t talk anymore.
Then, after going through lots of hardship, I found the flashlight. I put the batteries back in and then turned it on. I shone it around me and got face to face with Yuki, who was completely red to the ears.
“……Seriously! Ryu did many things to my chest that shouldn’t be done!”
Yuki complained while pressing my chest with her hands. She’s really someone who gets mad easily.
That aside, Yuki’s tits was incredibly soft. My palms still had that warm feeling. Even with her clothes on, it was already this soft. I wonder what it would feel like if I touched them directly. Everytime I thought back to this point, I remembered the scene I had seen at the swimming pool——
“You can’t remember that!!”
“Yes! I’m very sorry!”
As I tried to get those two incidents out of my mind, I shone the flashlight around my surroundings.
It seemed like a secret room had been built underground. It was approximately the size of an ordinary classroom. All the walls and floorboards were made of rocks. However, the place where we had fallen down onto had been coated with something soft.
……. If he had the time to prepare something like that, why didn’t he think of another way to enter this place……
I used my phone as a flashlight in order to illuminate the ceiling, there were many lights lined up. There was only one place like a cardboard lid separating the middle. Could it have been that when the button was pressed, that that would open up.
“By looking at the direction that we came from, this should be the underground floor, right?”
“That should be correct. Although, the City of God Academy shouldn’t have an underground floor, right?”
“Then this part of the Academy wasn’t recorded in the construction blueprints, so shouldn’t this room be a「room that shouldn’t exist」?”
I shone my light on every corner and finally found a switch on the wall. It looked exactly like the classroom’s light switch.
Although I had a bad feeling because we fell for the trap earlier, using a flashlight to investigate is very arduous. After being pressured to turn it on by Yuki, I gingerly pushed the ON switch.
Suddenly, all the lights on the ceiling turned on, making the entire room shine as bright as day. It seemed as if electricity was still connected to it.
Because the entire room lit up, we could not only see the desks, chairs, and refrigerator, but also an enormous bookshelf and everyday furniture like a large cabinet. There were a lot of resources stored in the bookshelf, and there was also a silver laptop on the desk.
Walking in front of the desk, we found the laptop’s cover had a gigantic dragon sticker stuck onto it. To have called the sacred sword ‘the sacred dragon’s claw’ and the evil blade ‘The demonic dragon’s fang’, the person named Tachibana must have really liked dragons.
There was no response when we pressed the laptop’s power button. I thought that was a bit suspicious, so we checked it out. I found out that there was no power cable. Without a power source, this computer might as well be a decoration.
We then retrieved some random files from the bookshelf to look at. Those were all sealed with dragon stickers, too. To like dragons to this extent, would make some people feel a bit irritated. When we casually opened up one of the files, inside was filled with bound volumes of data on things like experiments. It had just been as Kujyo had guessed. This really was Tachibana’s laboratory.
“Hey, Ryu. Isn’t this the sword that Elena was talking about?”
Opening the closet’s highest drawer, Yuki pointed at the sword inside and asked me.
I threw down the documents that I had in my hands, quickly walked to the cabinet, and peaked inside.
“……. I feel like hiding the sacred sword and the demonic blade here is a little careless.”
Although it was still in its sheath, it wasn’t being placed in a decent pedestal, nor was it wrapped in something luxurious, it looked as if it was placed here on a whim.
“However, it doesn’t look like it’s been sealed. It’s hard to believe that this was the sacred sword or the demonic blade.”
“Is this to make us let our guard down? If it was discovered by some random person who fell down here, even they wouldn’t think that this is a very powerful weapon.”
“If you want to enter that secret passageway, you would need to crack that code. Would there really be people falling in here randomly?”
“Ah, that’s true. Then, is it something like: although it might look like a normal sword, only a true hero could pull it out?”
“Ahem, ahem. Saying that to someone like me, who really likes RPGs is getting me really pumped up.”
I got excited by Yuki’s words, so I grabbed the sword with both hands. Originally wanting to pull the sword out in one go, it turned out that the sword easily came out of its sheath without even needing to use any strength.
“…….. I didn’t expect to pull it out so easily.”
“Does that mean Ryu is the hero that was chosen by the heavens!?!?”
“How could that be possible. Yuki, you try, too.”
After putting the sword back into its sheath, I handed the sword to Yuki. It turned out that anyone could pull the sword out, Yuki pulled the sword out and put it back in several times to make sure.
We carefully examined the sword. No matter from which angle we looked at it from, it still just looked like a normal sword.
“We should be able to conclude that the sword is neither the sacred sword nor the demonic blade.”
“B-but, maybe knowledgeable people can see that it’s a powerful weapon? You see, on this world, something may just look like graffiti to us, but it’s actually a painting worth millions of yen?”
“Yuki, I think you’re just being too hopeful……Besides, aren’t two swords being sealed? Other than this, we didn’t see anything else, right?”
We opened the rest of the drawers, but only the top drawer held anything.
……At least, it was better than nothing. Although, it seemed like this was nothing but an ordinary sword.
We were fascinated by the mysterious sword, which led us to being confused. We decided to go back to the science room. After turning off the lights, we used the ladder to climb back up through the ceiling, then we crawled forward in the dark and cramped tunnel. Because we had already cleared all the spiderwebs when we entered earlier, it was a lot easier compared to then.
“——Ah, you’re finally back. You guys are way too slow.”
The moment that our heads peeped through the opening, Kujyo ran over. She looked quite impatient, and didn’t pay too much attention. Thanks to this, I was able to see her with her legs crossed from a downwards perspective.
Also, the flashlight that I bit on had the light on, and coincidentally shone under Kujyo’s skirt.
“——Ah!! No!!”
Kujyo noticed her blunder a second too late, and let out a cute moaning sound. At the same time, she held down her skirt.
However, it was too late. I had already confirmed the secret color hidden under Kujyo’s skirt. It was white with blue stripes.
“——Now, Yagumo. Do you want to try hibernating right now? If you sleep for maybe about a hundred years, you should forget about anything unneeded.”
“W-wait a moment! I’ve already found the sword, so please forgive me!”
The moment I begged her forgiveness by quickly pulling out the sword, Kujyo immediately darted towards me.
However, after inspecting all of the unknown sword that had been pulled out from its sheath. Kujyo’s expression became gloomy.
“Ah….. Unfortunately, it seems that this is neither the sacred sword nor the demonic blade.”
“Huh, really?”
“Yes. The books inside the library recorded that 「The sacred sword and demonic blade, upon contact, would feel different from other blades, they’re weapons that surpass imagination」. However, this sword has no reaction no matter how I wield it. That is to say, we found ourselves a fake. …… Damn, to do something so annoying.”
Kujyo disappointedly put the sword back into its sheath, then tossed it at the me who had just climbed out from the cave.
“Yagumo cracked the code, so you’re responsible for disposing it.”
“I’m being forced to dispose it as well!?”
“What did you say, Yagumo, you can’t decide that the sword is fake so quickly. Maybe it might provide a clue to where the sacred sword and demonic blade’s really buried. Therefore, before the necessary time comes, I hope you’ll keep it safe.”
“There’s no way you were thinking that right!? You just said 「you have to take responsibility and dispose of it」. These words had already exposed your intentions!”
Kujyo really was going overboard…… Whatever, I did accidently see her underwear earlier, so it’s alright.
“Hey, Ryu. Do you want me to throw it away? Although I don’t know what kind of sword this is.”
“Ah, probably dangerous stuff.”
After answering, an idea suddenly sprouted within my brain.
“——No, actually, I won’t throw it away. I’ll use this sword to figure out a plan to defeat S ranks!”
After saying that, I gripped the sword tightly. A major reason why wasn’t suitable for combat was because it had no offensive skills. Even if it was a normal sword, if I used it in the right way, and maybe I could defeat a superior opponent.
“Because Kujyo once said, 「don’t fight a battle where you don’t have the capability」, it really suck, ah…”
“——Hmph, that’s really frank.”
Kujyo said with a smile.
“I have no interest in this kind of ordinary sword anyways. Tomorrow, I’ll be looking for the real location the sacred sword and demonic blade are hidden.”
“If you encounter another unbreakable code, remember to ask me for help.”
“That’s true. Although I don’t really want to, you’re much better than me or Yuki at solving these kinds of puzzles.”
Kujyo began insulting me again. I couldn’t help but smile a bit.
“Maybe next time we’ll be tricked again by false information, and we’ll find a hammer.”
“To be able to find a few weapons isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Also, the truth is that since the underground room exists, that means that the authenticity of the sacred sword and demonic blade also increases. Don’t you think that this also counts as getting closer to our target?”
“True. However, I’m afraid that wherever they’re true location, might be, it’ll be filled with really scary traps waiting for us.”
“Yes. And at that time, we’ll have to rely on you, trap master Yagumo.”
“Wait a minute, what kind of nickname is that? I haven’t learned anything about disarming traps.”
“No, no, no, you were able to successfully get through a tunnel that’s not long at all, and successfully retrieve a sword that’s basically useless. If you’re not a master, then what are you.”
“Aren’t you treating me as an idiot again? Kujyo, do you really need to treat people like they’re stupid?”
After bantering a bit with Kujyo, I suddenly recalled something. In the end, I wasn’t able to ask Yuki what she was the 「only for us two wanted」 she wanted to tell me.
……. Forget it. Too much had happened today, I was already tired enough. After tomorrow, there are still the chances to be alone with her, I’ll ask her again when there’s time.
Our late-night adventure had finally ended, and we decided to return to the dormitories.
