They─really are similar, I thought.
Both looked so young for their age, both were so innocent and unaffected. There were too many similar parts to count. Could it just be a coincidence? I’d always assumed there couldn’t possibly be anyone else like her, but…
It was unsettling, as if the answer to X times Y had somehow come out different from the answer to Y times X.
“What’s the matters, Master? Why are you staring at Hime-chan like that… Oh! C-Could it be!”
“It couldn’t,” I shut her down instantly. I had no intention of letting my reputation drop any lower than it already had. “What floor are we on, though? As far as I can tell from the view out the window, it’s got to be the third or fourth floor, at least. This is a real high-rise by Kyoto standards…but maybe that’s irrelevant, this far out in the suburbs.”
“Well, they do say a place for everything and friends in high places, you know?”
“Almost slipped that one by me, but you’re mixing metaphors.”
Hmmm? Hime-chan cocked her head in confusion…and that’s when it happened.
All of a sudden the door to one of the nearby classrooms flew open and four people─wearing the same black uniforms as we were─rushed out, all of them tackling Hime-chan. No other way of describing how violently they took her down. Before she had a chance to resist, they’d knocked her to the floor of the hallway and pinned her arms and legs in place.
“…!”
An ambush─I’d been concerned about the possibility, of course, but why here? Why not at the entrance to the school? It was pointless to set an ambush in a nowhere spot like this. Which is exactly why I had decided this route was safe, and decided not to go down the stairs─
“Exactly why, huh.”
Shit. They’d outsmarted me, which was exactly why I had to eat those stupid words now.
And the crucial thing here was that all four of our ambushers had gone for Hime-chan. It’s not like I’m all that strong, and you definitely couldn’t call me buff, but surely I looked more solidly built than she did. She was like a little kid. The fact that all of them had left me alone and gone for Hime-chan meant─
That there were more ambushers hiding in the classroom.
And that they were stronger than these four.
“M-Maste─”
They covered her mouth before she could finish. The four didn’t even look at me. Which also spoke to their faith in whoever was waiting inside that classroom. They didn’t even need to worry about me.
What a joke…
For me of all people to lose a battle of wits.
“Shiogi Hagihara─”
Announcing herself, a girl─emerged from the classroom and fixed me with a gaze icy enough to freeze the blood. A thorough, meticulous look, as if she was appraising me. She wore a black uniform like the other four, which meant she was a “pupil” at this academy. Her long black hair fell all the way to her ankles, and was unusually beautiful; I have to admit that, in spite of the situation, I was somewhat captivated. By which I mean that her─that Shiogi’s entire body radiated the same bewitching aura as the edge of a katana.
If Hime-chan was like Blue, this girl was more like that red─
“I’m acting as tactics expert at the moment.”
“Hmm… ‘Tactics expert,’ sure.” Nodding, I took a step back. Her presence was overwhelming. “I guess that means your ‘tactic’ worked like a charm, huh?”
“Oh. You’re a boy?” said Shiogi, apparently first realizing this upon hearing my voice. “It’s been a long time since I encountered a boy my age. The rest of you, take a good look.”
This was the inexplicable instruction she gave to the four who were pinning Hime-chan to the floor─no. She’d called herself a “tactics expert.” There was no way she was giving “inexplicable” instructions. There must’ve been something behind it.
“Okay then, lessee. Keiki, Roka, Ami, Shuki─take her to the same place as before. Keep her hands and feet bound, and don’t let up, even for a moment. I shall deal with this gentleman.”
Nodding at Shiogi’s words, the quartet dragged Hime-chan to her feet and headed off towards the stairwell. There was nothing I could do to stop them. Not with a serious obstacle standing in my way.
Belatedly realizing that the two girls we’d encountered on the stairs had been among the four, I faced Shiogi and asked, “Were those their─real names? They sounded blatantly made up.”
“Phew─that’s a relief.” Not answering my question, in fact not even facing me, Shiogi sighed like someone who’d just completed an onerous task. “Guess we managed to wrap things up before ‘Zigzag’ was deployed─I’m just glad we pulled it off without anybody getting hurt.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“Hm? Oh, you mean you? Right, right…” With a smile not at all in keeping with her age, Shiogi courteously turned to face me again. “Now then, I’ll accompany you to the front gate, so if you don’t mind, it’s time to go.”
“…”
“What I’m trying to say is, We’ll overlook this little incident, so get out of here, now─but maybe you’re not getting the picture? Mr. Transvestite.”
“Well, it’s a hard picture to get, so I’m struggling,” I replied, forcing myself to lower my voice. “I’m afraid I’m not so amiable─and I really hate losing a match I was expecting to win.”
“Kind of inflexible, aren’t you. Seems like we’ll get along famously.”
Shiogi was already moving as she said this. With flowing footwork─definitely some form of the martial arts─she grabbed my arm and spun around behind me, locking my shoulder joint in place. Though I was still standing, I’d been rendered immobile in the blink of an eye. And by this slender girl no less. The fact that I’d let my guard down was no excuse. Since she’d put me at ease for the express purpose of attacking me.