Something was odd.
Four weeks had pa.s.sed since Mutsuki noticedhis body’s abnormality.
He had a very young sister back home, so hewas more sensitive than most to signs of poor health. If he felt even a little ill,he would take his temperature and some medicine. He put in an effort to notspread anything to his family. That had not changed once the angels beganprotecting him, so he had been worried about a cold for four weeks now.
But this abnormality was not an issue ofpoor health.
In fact…
“What is it, Avalon?”
It was caused by this dream.
Or so it seemed.
He had no proof and a dream was just adream.
For the past four weeks, every dream heremembered was this one. It was all the same dream.
The dream was probably causing theabnormality.
“Aaavaaalon. What is it?”
“It’s nothing, Lucya.”
Mutsuki smiled back at the girl who curledup her back like a kitten to peer down at his face.
Technically, it was a boy named Avalon whoMutsuki’s mind resided within.
The scarlet of sunset dyed a gra.s.sy field.The isolated location was surrounded by trees and gave a view of a distantvillage. There he played with a girl named Lucya.
They were sitting on a bed made from reapedstraw, so the sweet aroma of wheat hung in the air.
They were a little too close together. Hisheart pounded because he could smell the sweat of the girl whose skin wasdarker than the wheat.
They would chat or play by chasing aftereach other. They were always together in the dream.
“Look, look. I took this from the old man’sorchard♡”
And sometimes, they were mischievous. Thegirl pulled out a single red apple and grinned.
“Took it? …Not again. He’s going to bemad.”
“Who cares. We take him wheat, so this justa little reward.”
Lucya narrowed her feline eyes and the boysmiled bitterly.
He chopped it in two using the stone knifein his boot.
“Eh heh heh~”
Lucya did not hesitate to take the biggerhalf.
She took a big bite and began chewinghappily, but she seemed to have taken too big a bite and gotten some seeds. Shebegan rudely spitting them out.
The boy took a bite too.
“I invited Lilith, but she didn’t come yetagain.”
“Nn…”
It must not have been ripe because a strongsour flavor spread through his mouth.
“Why is it always like that recently? Thethree of us used to always be together.”
She gave a displeased look toward thevillage. No, toward a garden a short distance away from it.
A few people could still be seen workingbetween the trees bearing apples, grapes, and figs.
They seemed to be collecting the past-ripegrapes, probably to make wine.
Among them, they spotted a girl with verylong blonde hair.
A sourness even stronger than the applequickly spread through the boy’s chest…
Mutsuki opened his eyes.
It was a pleasantly fresh awakening, but healso felt a sense of loss at being driven from the dream world.
It was always like that when he had thisdream. He stayed there lying on his side.
He would wake up with not a hint ofsleepiness remaining, but he hated that he could not see more of the dream. Hetried shutting his eyes, but the sleepiness would not return.
“Tch.”
It was not enough. He sighed and got up.
This moment was the abnormality.
He felt as great as he would if he hadslept for ten hours. There was no hint of sleepiness and his body was br.i.m.m.i.n.gwith energy.
“Nn… Oh, you’re up? Morning.”
“Good morning, Micha-san.”
Micha was in the same bed and she woke uptoo. The sheets stirred and the tissues scattered across the bed fell down.
She looked quite sleepy and had not gottenher eyes fully opened yet.
“Yawn… Seven o’clock? You didn’t even sleepfour hours.”
“Yes. I’ll be going to school, but whatwill you do about breakfast?”
“I’ll eat it later, so make one for me.”
Her voice sounded like sleepiness itself and she curled back up in the sheets.
Just as Micha had said, he had only sleptfor four hours.
As the scattered tissues suggested, theyhad been up until three in the morning having wild s.e.x. He should have beenboth sleep-deprived and exhausted.
And yet he had never felt better. Micha wasa top-tier angel and she should have had more stamina than the boy, but evenshe was down.
Lately, s.e.x was not wearing him out at all.
No matter what kind of wild s.e.x he had, anunlimited supply of energy welled up within him.
(Is this a side effect of the Serpent’sEye?)
It had been five months now. While thinkingabout that greatest abnormality of his body, he smiled bitterly and got out ofbed.
He started cleaning up the tissues beforeleaving the room, but…
“Nnn.”
Micha rolled over to go back to sleep andthe sheet fell away.
She was not wearing any clothes and herdefenseless b.u.t.t was now exposed.
That delicious chocolate-colored a.s.s hadplenty of feminine roundness.
“…”
The boy trembled from the urge to attackit.
He knew he did not have time for that thismorning, but the l.u.s.t boiling up inside him just about overpowered thatreasonable side of his mind. And that was after everything he had done up tofour hours ago.
“…Yes?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll be going.”
The urge dulling his rational mind lastedan awfully long time and he simply stood there for several seconds. Michaopened her eyes curiously.
The boy stroked her cheek to get her toclose her eyes and then he left the room.
He tried to act natural to hide hisl.u.s.tfulness.
“…”
But Mutsuki did not know that the trueoddity was occurring behind him.
Micha opened her eyes once more. She openedthem wide as if all sleepiness had vanished from her.
“…Hhh.”
Her stroked cheek was red and all fourlimbs trembled.
Below the sheets, her nipples were erectand the chocolate-colored a.s.s that had so charmed the boy was so full of stickynectar that it threatened to bring out all of the milky liquid that had beenpumped into her the night before.
After just a few seconds’ exposure to thatl.u.s.tful gaze, a female reaction overwhelmed her body.
“I guess he can’t remain an adolescentforever.” Micha’s voice shook. “He has to grow up eventually.”
Fortunately, the abnormality was a positivething when not in a hidden s.p.a.ce like his room.
“~♪ It’s finallystarting to feel like fall.”
As October approached, the blue of midsummer still remained in the sky, but thetemperature was quite cool in the mornings.
With so much excess energy, Mutsuki’s pacewas naturally light on the way to school.
“Right, Ange?”
“It’s still too hot if you ask me.”
The girl next to him saw thingsdifferently.
Her long red hair must have made hersensitive to the heat. She had it tied up in a ponytail, but he could still seethe sweat on her.
“You don’t like it when it’s cold, but youdon’t like it when it’s hot either.”
“No, I don’t. I want air-conditioning.”
“I thought angels could take the heat sincethey’re made from fire.”
“What’s wrong with fire thinking the sun istoo hot?”
She seemed to be irritated. Mutsuki smiled bitterly and shut his mouth so shewould not yell at him.
This bodyguard had accompanied him toschool for five months now, so it was not awkward even if they said nothing.
Ange generally had a sullen lopsided frownon her face even when she was not irritated, but Mutsuki was enjoying himselfmore than usual.
“What’s that grin for? It’s creepy.”
“It just feels like so long since we’vedone this together.”
He stretched as he said that.
Until recently, Mutsuki had been workingfor the student council, so he had woken up and gone to school at five eachmorning to help prepare for the cultural festival.
He had only just been released from thatduty a few days before, so it had been a while since he walked to school withhis bodyguard like this.
“Wh-what does that matter? Are you stupid?”
Even when they had gone to school separately, they still lived together andwere in the same cla.s.s. They were together for more than twelve hours every dayand that had only been reduced by one hour. Ange blushed and pouted her lipswhen the boy celebrated the end of that.
“Well, I can understand being happy youdon’t have to see that awful girl.”
“Awful girl? Shirohara-senpai isn’t thatbad.”
“Hah. She used any excuse she could torestrict your actions. And for what? Who even knows. She’s a stalker.”
Shesure is mad, thought Mutsuki with a bitter smile.
For him, waking up at five had beendifficult, but preparing for the cultural festival with the student council hadbeen fun.
“You shouldn’t talk about people behindtheir back, Jiyuuni Ange.”
“Wah! Sh-Shirohara-senpai.”
They had just reached the last stretch tothe school at the top of the hill and someone had caught up from the otherside.
It was Shirohara Ren, the one personMutsuki did not want to meet now. So he panicked.
Ange, however, frowned in annoyance andthen smiled belligerently.
“Oh? I thought ‘stalker’ was how the humanworld referred to girls who restrain their target of observation withoutconsidering his feelings.”
“I was educating Fujita Mutsuki to correcthis depraved ways, not restraining him. It is true I had him help with myduties, but he agreed to it.”
Ren’s expression did not change, but shetoo was belligerent.
“And even if I hypothetically did restrainhim, any complaints about it should be directed at me. Doing it when you know Iam not around is still the act of a coward.”
“What!?”
“You heard me!”
“C-calm down, you two.”
The two glared at each other and were readyto start fighting at any moment.
Mutsuki tried to stop them, but takingneither side only got him ignored here.
“Hi, Mutsuki. And Jiyuuni too. …Oh,President.”
“Ah, g-good morning, Sakae.”
Luckily, his friend saved him. His childhood friend, Tomono Sakae, caught upand slapped him on the back.
Ange was to be expected, but he wassurprised to find the beautiful Student Council President here. Sakae grew moretimid, but the dangerous atmosphere had been swept away all the same.
The four of them continued on to school.Ren was a third year, so she parted with the other three on the way to theircla.s.sroom.
“I see you’re friends with the Presidentnow.”
“Y-yeah. Seems that way.”
“Introduce me next time. As the man who will one day stand in thecenter of the world, I must first join thestudent council that stands at the center of the school.”
“I’m pretty sure you can get in withoutusing any connections.”
The more they talked about the President,the more upset Ange looked, which was scaring Mutsuki.
It was true they were friends now.
Not long ago, Shirohara Ren had seemedentirely out of his league, but they had been in contact more often recently.
——Mutsuki was being targeted by a newenemy, the Kurosaki family.
Ren had to be acting as his bodyguard too.The problem was how she and Ange, his guardian angel, did not get along. Therewas no change in the hostile relationship between FeTUS and the angels.
Mutsuki did not want to be mean to eitherone, but he could not stand this strained atmosphere either.
If possible…
“Oh, ha ha. Right on time again.”
Hearing Sakae, Mutsuki looked out thewindow.
The school gate had just closed and IbekusaMachina had pa.s.sed through just as it did.
“That’s so incredible. Lately, she’s noteven off by a single second.”
“Yeah.”
As always, her behavior was as accurate asa clock or a machine.
Just like a machine, Machina spent everyday exactly the same.
…If possible, he wished Ange and Ren couldbe their usual selves like that.
(Not that mentioning it would help.)
Mutsuki continued on to their cla.s.sroom.
“Good morning, Ange-chan. Mutsuki-kun andthe rest too.”
“Morning, Mutsuki-kun.”
“Good morning, Kurikara-san and Lucia-kun.”
He exchanged greetings with his cla.s.smates like normal.
Saya energetically waved and Lucia leapedat him as he walked to his desk.
“Hey, hey, Mutsuki-kun. I’ll be doing acostume check for that band today.”
“Really?”
They naturally split into a girl group anda boy group.
They mostly talked about the culturalfestival that was coming up soon.
Ange was representing the cla.s.s in a play.Lucia had been invited to perform the vocals for a band.
With the festival so close, the cla.s.s wasfull of energy even in the morning. Even cynical Ange seemed to be lookingforward to it, so the strained atmosphere faded.
With the activation of the Serpent’s Eyeand a war between heaven, earth, and h.e.l.l, he had a lot more to worry aboutthan half a year ago, but recent days had been enough fun to forget all aboutthose things.
He wished things could stay like thisforever.
He wished Ange, Lucia, Ren, and the rest ofFeTUS, the angels, and the demons could stay the way they were.
If only they could all be as unchanging asMachina…
“Oh, good morning, Ibekusa-san.”
“Good morning.”
Exactly five minutes after pa.s.sing throughthe gate, Machina reached the cla.s.sroom.
She arrived at her desk like normal and setdown her things like normal.
“…”
“…? What is it?”
But one thing was different today.
She would normally sit down and wait fortheir teacher without speaking a word. But today, she did not sit down and sheinstead approached Mutsuki’s neighboring desk.
The boy, Lucia and Sakae who had gatheredwith him, and Ange and Saya who were at the desk behind them were all shocked.
This girl rarely tried to interact withothers, but she bent her hips like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Hm? What is it, Ibeku-…”
She invaded the boy’s most delicate area.
A sweet and soft sensation sucked at hislips. He froze in place, initially unsure what had happened.
“Huh!?”
“Ah!?”
“Ehhhhh!?”
After one second, everyone around him leaped to their feet.
“Pwahhh! Wh-wh-wh-wh-what!? What,Ibekusa-san!? What!?”
And a second after that, the boy shook free of the lips that had stolen his fora total of two seconds.
Machina said nothing and simply stared athim.
She was always taciturn, but things weredifferent today. Mutsuki simply panicked.
“…”
He failed to escape when her lipsapproached once more.
“Fujita-kun…”
“Ah…”
She completely ignored everyone’s eyes onthem.
And their lips came together once more…
“Stooooooooooooooooooooop!!”
But Ange and Lucia stopped her first.
“Pant, pant.”
Everyone in the cla.s.s settled on the storythat Machina had “collapsed from anemia” and her lips had “coincidentallylanded on” Mutsuki’s. Ange, Lucia, and Mutsuki himself accompanied her out ofthe cla.s.sroom.
“Just write me up a report later.”
They were lucky the school doctor was solax. Without asking many questions, the four of them were given some time inthe infirmary together.
“What were you doing back there!?”
Ange instantly snapped at the girl.
Machina was as emotionless as ever.
“Kissing.”
“I could see that! But why did you suddenlykiss him!?”
“…”
“Don’t fall silent! Mutsuki! You saysomething too!”
Ange called over to Mutsuki.
“Nmphh… L-Lucia-kun, not now.”
“I’ve gotta overwrite that. Nnn~❤”
“Not you too!”
Lucia was clinging to Mutsuki, so Angemercilessly knocked him away with her holy flame wings.
Ange’s anger and Lucia’s pa.s.sion werehardly new, but…
“I-Ibekusa-san. Um, what was that earlier?”
Machina was clearly acting weird. She wasusually the taciturn and sensible one in the cla.s.sroom.
“Did you not like it?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say that. But, um…”
She really was acting weird.
The two of them quietly stared at eachother.
“Nn…”
“Nn…”
They naturally ended up embracing andkissing.
Of course, Mutsuki was immediately kickedaway by Ange.
“What do you think you’re doing!?”
As Mutsuki rolled along the bed, the girlstood protectively in front of him and glared at Machina.
Lucia also looked surprised.
“…”
Unsurprisingly, Machina remained silent.
But the way she avoided looking them in theeye showed she was a bit apologetic.
They had fought and saved each other a fewtimes before, so Ange and Lucia realized she could not explain what this wasabout. They both sighed.
“U-um, I won’t ask what this is about.”Mutsuki tried to calm everyone down. “But this is…a problem.”