“Y-you saved me, so…I mean, I owe you my life…”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, looking in a different direction. Now she wasn’t facing the side, but partly behind her. It seemed Kuchina was determined to do whatever it took to act like she didn’t know what he was talking about.
I’m starting to get annoyed…
Sousei trembled.
What’s with her? She is vera cute, though…
Asumi Shiramori, the person who’d praised Kuchina as being “vera cute,” was also incredibly cute, but in a different way. Just how were they different?
Miss Hitsujimoto doesn’t seem to be doing it on purpose at all… That said, I don’t get the feeling that Asumin does, either… So what could it be? The categories seem fundamentally different somehow…
Ferocious wild beasts might occasionally do something that makes them look cute, for instance. Naturally, they have no interest in flattery or charm; the human observer simply perceives them as being cute. That’s all it is.
For some reason, whenever I see Miss Hitsujimoto, I feel a strong desire to—
Protect her.
Where was that feeling coming from?
No matter the cost, he had to protect her.
However, the fact was that she had saved Sousei. Kuchina didn’t need him to protect her; she wasn’t that weak. In fact, she was strong. If they ever became enemies, she’d be an extremely dangerous adversary.
Not only did she have that frightening cheat, but she also had exceptional physical abilities and an ability to gauge risk. A serious match against her wouldn’t be all too different from facing a brown bear in the mountains without any weapons. In other words, she was akin to a ferocious wild beast. However, they weren’t on a remote mountain, in the jungles of the Amazon, or on a savanna—they were at school. Would a terrifying wild animal be roaming around inside a high school attended by humans? No way. At least, not normally.
And on top of that, she’s cute. Or vera cute, I guess. It’s unthinkable…
“The matter in question…,” Kuchina said, still facing diagonally backward. “Did you convey it?”
“Huh…?”
Sousei recovered his senses. He’d been staring at Kuchina the entire time, but his thoughts had wandered far away. Although he had been thinking about her.
Did I convey the matter in question? Oh, right, that! She asked me to—
Sousei nodded forcefully.
“Y-yeah.” He nodded five times in quick succession, which made his neck hurt a bit. “I told them. The two of them. In a message. They didn’t mind. Neither of them did.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Sousei nodded again, then pressed the back of his neck.
No matter how you look at it, I’m nodding way too much, aren’t I…?
Kuchina finally turned back around to face forward.
“That’s good.”
It looked like she let out a small breath. She seemed relieved. So did Sousei.
“They said they wanted to do it again,” he said. “Another potato chip party! Oh, it doesn’t have to be just potato chips, though. Other things would be okay, too.”
Kuchina looked down and tightly pursed her lips. Sousei blanched.
Am I speaking too loudly or something? Am I being too hyper? Talking too much? Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself or overstepping… Did I screw up…?
He wanted to beat his head against the corner of the shoe cubbies.
I won’t, though…
Of course he wouldn’t. If he hit his head against the corner of the shoe cubbies, he’d probably bleed quite a lot. Not if the cubbies were made of tofu, but as it was, this would be an amazing act of self-harm. No—it wouldn’t be “amazing” at all. It’d be a huge inconvenience.
Kuchina seemed bewildered, and it was Sousei’s fault. He’d upset her.
“Aaaah, umm, that is, you know, uh, I didn’t mean…”
As Sousei was attempting to explain himself—without any basis whatsoever to do so—a flat “Mohorning” came from behind him. Or rather, it sort of drifted over. When Sousei looked over his shoulder, a boy from his class was walking toward him, his overly long sleeves swaying. As always, his steps were unsteady.
“…Good morning, Mishima. I mean, Mishii— Ah!”
Sousei hurriedly faced forward again, but Kuchina was gone. She’d left.
“Uh, wai— Miss Hi…”
He tried looking around, but she’d disappeared without a trace.
I only looked away for a few seconds…
“What’s wrong, Lil Sou?” Yoh Mishima asked as he changed his shoes.
“Nah, it’s…nothing…” Sousei shook his head, and Yoh smiled weakly.
“You’re making a strange face…”
Yeah, I probably am…
Sousei noticed he had his right eye closed, and the left corner of his lips was drooped. What was causing that, he really couldn’t say.
Yoh casually ambled over and gently placed a hand, hidden by his sleeve, on Sousei’s shoulder.
“I don’t really know what’s going on. But, Lil Sou…”
He mouthed the last two words:
Cheer up.
It was extremely difficult to understand what his classmate was thinking, but it seemed he was trying to be considerate in his own way. Sousei used all his strength to nod.
“…Okay.”
Kuchina Hitsujimoto had never once considered wanting to be a normal high school student.
That’s impossible.
The hallway was noisy in the morning, filled with the voices and laughter of high school students.
Kuchina hung her head slightly as she walked, trying her best not to look directly at their faces. Even if she didn’t look properly, she could still grasp what was happening around her. It would naturally be impossible in a situation where people were pressing up against one another, but even with her eyes closed, Kuchina could move through a bit of a crowd without bumping into anyone. It wasn’t a cheat; she’d received training in basic martial arts and behavioral techniques. She’d been forced to get training. On top of that, it was a skill she’d acquired naturally. For her, it was necessary.
If she couldn’t do at least this much as a bare minimum, she might unintentionally kill people.
I don’t want to see them…
She was especially bad with people’s smiles.
What’s so much fun?
She was sure it would be fun.
If she could live in a carefree way like they did.
…I’m jealous.
She wouldn’t say that aloud. She didn’t have anyone to say it to. Still, Kuchina was aware of it.
I’m jealous of them. I might even hate them. I can kill normal people with the slightest of touches whenever I want…and even if I don’t want to. I’m—
A monster.
When had she started seeing herself that way?
It’s ridiculous for a monster like me to feel jealousy and hatred…
Even Kuchina felt like she was beyond help.
“So yesterday, right? My sister—”
A female student was deep in conversation with a friend by the wall in the hallway—Tsugumi Udou, a girl who’d been in the same class as Kuchina during first year. Now, Tsugumi was in Class 2-3, the one next to Kuchina’s.
“Which one of your sisters?” Tsugumi’s friend asked.
Kuchina had never been in the same class as that girl before, but she was pretty sure she was in Class 2-1. She seemed really close with Tsugumi, and the two of them often chatted in the hallway.
“Oh, my second youngest sister,” replied Tsugumi.
She was the second oldest of five girls. The oldest was in university and would be graduating the following year. The third oldest was in her final year of junior high school, the fourth oldest was in her second year of junior high, and the youngest should be in the third grade of elementary school.
“Misa?” her friend said, referring to Tsugumi’s fourth oldest sister by name.
Kuchina recalled Tsugumi saying that Misa—whose actual name was Misaki—was a member of the track team. She was energetic and had a really dark tan. It wasn’t just that she was fast; she also had very long legs. They seriously took up about half of her body, and she was pretty.
Why do I know that?