C³

The next day, in the cla.s.sroom at school...

"Phew—It"s finally over... Jeez, it"s making me feel like some kind of rare animal."

"Nyahahaha, that can"t be helped. After all, the victims caught up in the incident are in our cla.s.s. But honestly, it"s quite a disaster—Luckily, it ended peacefully."

By the time the lunch break arrived, Fear was finally liberated from the barrage of questioning she had been receiving. Currently, Kana was simply giggling while she rested her chin on her desk.

This was a familiar scene. After the intensity of the previous day ended, things had not changed as much as imagined. Fourteen and Satsuko had disappeared completely. As expected, there was an Indulgence Disk in the drill, which ended up sealing Fear"s «The Teeth». After that, rumors of the water park incident naturally developed into the hot topic of conversation everywhere within a day...

Regarding that incident, the eyewitness accounts of the fainted guests remained unchanged as expected. In the end, it developed into an account of how some psycho brought various dangerous items and invaded the water park, etc. In a certain sense, it was not incorrect. Logically speaking, it would come as no surprise if national media and networks competed to report such a major incident, but currently, it was only treated as a city-level incident... Most likely, the superintendent had secretly taken some kind of measures. Even going so far as to take care of the media, this stood as proof of the superintendent"s extraordinary connections.

Of course, Haruaki also suffered the same kind of questioning form his peers. However, that state somehow ended much quicker than for Fear. As a side note, only half of the questions were about the incident. The other half were—

"I-I heard that Sakuramairi-san was with you guys? C-C-Could you describe her swimsuit in detail!?"

"Kuroe-san was wearing a white school swimsuit? Th-That"s truly amazing~! Wow! Any photos?"

"Even estimates are okay. Please help me with three-sizes ranking survey."

"A single male surrounded by girls... Go to h.e.l.l!"

"What are you talking about!? If he were to die, the soul exchange event won"t be able to trigger! So, Haruaki, fall down the stairs immediately and b.u.mp your head!"

Basically, these were the kinds of conversations that were going on. Then thinking the same thoughts but carrying a much higher level of interest and despair, a certain person was currently in front of Haruaki"s desk.

"G.o.d! Hakuto Taizou made the biggest mistake of his life! A serious mistake! I don"t care even if I would have been caught up in that incident. It might even have given me a chance to show my heroic side! I shouldn"t have partic.i.p.ated in a baseball match at all! I should"ve grasped something more important than a white ball. That"s right, namely... Dreams!"

"Come on, I"ve heard you repeat that again and again. Next time we go swimming, I"ll invite you."

"Yesterday"s Konoha-san can only be seen yesterday! You really don"t understand, you really fail to understand, Haruaki! SO please tell me one more time, yesterday"s Konoha-san... H-How was she...?"

Haruaki sighed. He repeated what he had said, probably for the third time today.

"...A bikini."

"Ah—! Color?"

"White."

"Dear G.o.d!"

Just as Haruaki sighed and thought "He really never tires of this," Fear glared at him unhappily from her seat beside him.

"Taizou, you really like that creature on Cow t.i.ts" body that much? Hmph, I really don"t get it. All I can say is—That thing cannot defeat an uppercut! Hoho, that"s all..."

"Ah, an uppercut? Fear-chan, what does that mean..."

"Hmm? That"s applied towards her weak spot, swung with a "bam" like that."

"Heeee!? Y-You"re a G.o.d! A G.o.d reborn as a human is right here—! P-Please allow me to admire your great powers..."

Since Fear and Taizou were beginning to veer into r.e.t.a.r.d territory, Haruaki had no choice but to change the subject abruptly.

"I feel so thirsty. Let"s decide by rock-paper-scissors, the loser has to buy the winners drinks."

"Hmm? Great, I"m currently thirsty too from using my throat too much."

"I-I"ll join in too—Going over to buy drinks now, there happens to be very little time left until the next period starts. This kind of high-risk game makes my blood boil with antic.i.p.ation—"

"Hmm, very well. You shameless brat, don"t cry to me when the time comes...!"

"Cla.s.s Rep, do you want to join in?"

Just as Haruaki asked Kirika who was in the seat behind, she answered "okay" and joined in. Based on Kirika"s personality, she seldom went swimming and it would be troublesome if other people kept asking her all sorts of things. Hence, in accordance with her request, the fact that she had gone swimming with everyone was omitted. Seeing her as the only one who could still enjoy peace and quiet, Haruaki felt a bit jealous.

Then just as everyone was preparing the motions for rock-paper-scissors...

The loser was instantly decided when a certain idiot uttered the following words, too full of herself for being praised as a G.o.d:

"Fufufu... Let me now display the legendary uppercut!"

Going "muuuu" and pouting, Fear left the cla.s.sroom, dragging her heavy steps. No sooner had she taken a few steps along the corridor when she saw her enemy"s face.

"I-It"s all your fault—!"

"Kyah! W-What on earth are you rambling inexplicably about?"

She stared straight at the chest of the startled Konoha. Tsk, I can"t use the uppercut at this time—

"Hmph... You"re lucky you narrowly missed death..."

"You"re completely incoherent. Anyway, about yesterday, you didn"t say anything careless, did you?"

Konoha lowered her voice and asked. She"s trusting me so little. Looking down on me.

"Of course, I only talked about unimportant things. Like attacking your weak point."

"Is that so? Good... Uh, what"s with that word? I knew there was a problem, hold it right there!"

So noisy, I need to hurry and buy the drinks, there"s no time left already. Leaving behind that eyesore called Cow t.i.ts, Fear took off, her steps feeling even heavier against the corridor floor. Just as she was about to go downstairs to the vending machine at the entrance, she met another familiar face.

"Oh~ Shiraho. You look well, thank goodness."

"...Hmph."

As usual, Shiraho would brush past her with just a snort. But just as she was about to pa.s.s by Fear—

"This returns the favor during the cultural festival, so I"m not going to say thanks."

"Hmm... I didn"t save you because I wanted your thanks. You"re my comrade so saving you is only natural, right? In fact, I"d feel very surprised if you thanked me."

Fear said that as she walked past. Just as Shiraho walked up a few steps, the sound of her footsteps suddenly stopped. Fear looked back quizzically only to see her back. But coming from that direction was—

"...Oh dear, is that so? But I am not comrades with you and the others. Instead, when you feel alarmed, troubled or in pain, I will even rejoice and think "Serves you right!" For example, I threatened you this time just for the sake of s.a.d.i.s.tic enjoyment. Also, let me clarify beforehand so that you people don"t get the wrong idea. This isn"t for saving me but because you saved Sovereignty. So long as anyone saves that child"s life, be it a devil, a gorilla or a winged insect, I will say the same thing. So—So, well... Th-Thank you..."

Her words were as quick as machine gun fire, but the final part was very soft in volume.

In the end, Shiraho did not look back at Fear and went upstairs directly. It was as though she did not want anyone to see her expression for some reason.

Fear felt a strange but heartwarming sensation.

Then she found her footsteps lightened as she continued on her way. When she reached the vending machine, she recalled the types of drinks her friends had decided and inserted the coins she was entrusted with. The operation of this machine was already very familiar to her. Just as she cradled in her arms the five drinks including her own, her gaze suddenly rested on the clock on the wall next to the vending machine. c.r.a.p! Perhaps due to speaking with Konoha and Shiraho, she was going to be late for the next period unless she hurried. Although there was probably no time left to enjoy the drinks now, they could save them for after school when they could chat and drink together. She knew it would be a very happy time. That said, she would be even happier were there rice crackers to go along.

Fear held the drinks as she rushed forward and started to sprint along the corridor.

Just as she was about to charge up the stairs, when she made contact with the first step—

She suddenly sensed someone behind her.

"—Do not run in the corridors."

Smack.

A light tap on her bottom.

However, it was not a hand but something much harder.

"Ah..."

Looking back, she saw the back of someone leaving through the corridor. She was dressed in a tracksuit, her long hair secured with a flower hairpin, carrying a shovel lightly on her shoulder—

"..."

Seeing that figure, Fear smiled. And a smile from the heart at that.

I made her mad for the first time.

That"s right, it"s quite strange indeed.

Logically speaking, I"m supposed to be doing things beneficial to humans instead.

Logically speaking, I shouldn"t be getting others mad.

So why—Why did making someone mad fill my heart with such infinite joy?