Vol 4 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Caught Between Deepening Friendshi+p and Mystery

Part 1

“…It’s true It looks like we’ve been swept pretty far away”

Toujou Jin said as he sighed in a dark cave —While he was fighting against Leohart, in order to save a teenage soldier, he carried him and fell into the palace’s ic attacks if he surfaced, Jin decided to leave the scene quickly He waved his fist in the water, opening a hole through a rock wall and drifted into a river — an underground cave below the river gave in; thus the strong current generated by the connection of the river ether, and they were swept into the depths of the underground river in an instant

“However, swi down here may be to my benefit…”

Although he ept quite a great distance away, Jin hadn’t yet lost his sense of direction Looking at the area around the Demon Lord’s palace, it was only necessary to follow the flow of the water, and it should then be possible escape from the area around the south’s Dark Sea So—

“—That’s possible right, Fio?”

Toujou Jin turned to the other side of the campfire to ask, and a voice which sounded reluctant replied

“It’s up to you…is there a need to ask me?”

It was the teenaged soldier as rescued fro a cold, Jin had taken off Fio’s lightweight ar his reaction, Jin wryly smiled to himself …His mood should have calmed down a little After all, when Fio woke up, he took his sword out and cae soldier was able to becoe, his skill really wasn’t too bad, but he was no ap in their strength by crossing swords, he gave up on resisting It was just that Jin’s actions to reh and hard — which eratedly than before, loudly cursing [Hentai] After which, Fio ilance, and when Jin asked his name or other questions, he reluctantly murmured, but his replies were honest answers Jin asked Fio as a uard about some first-hand information that was limited only to people within the palace Of course, an ordinary soldier like Fio wouldn’t know about any political information, and he wouldn’t say it even if he kneever, he replied about the Palace’s environreat respect for Leohart — he also roup in opposition ‘The Council’ ere unsatisfied about Leohart taking the seat of Demon Lord

However…

According to what Jin overheard from the conversations of other soldiers when he snuck into the Palace, recently the De the ruins of an ancient Deion If they could find the sleeping spirits of war and awaken them for battle, the dispute with the Moderates Faction could soon coradually getting worse If this continued, even the truce between humans and the Demons could follow suit and collapse Of course the solution would be, but— …Well, how can youdeeply about this—

“…Can you answer one question of e in the Great War, and you’re the War God of the Hero Tribe right? So so to kill His Majesty Leohart — ain right?”

This was a question filled with unease The Great War ended sixteen years ago, peace and prosperity followed in the Demon Realm; but after the previous Demon Lord Wilbert passed away, the Demon Real each other But there was no doubt that, under such circumstances, Fio would be convinced that after the current Demon Lord Faction and Moderates Faction end their dispute, peace would be restored to the Deht with Leohart, so it would ht and he would be filled with feelings of anxiety So —

“Don’t worry…I ca into the Palace was just incidental, the other Heroes won’t be coht”

“You said your fight with His Majesty was just incidental…so what did you come to the Demon Realm for?”

Toujou Jin smiled as he said to Fio whose eyes ide open in astonishment

“Ah, that — I came here to look for someone important to me that I separated with”

Part 2

Unexpectedly, even Kuru breakfast, the people in the Toujou household began discussing a certain topic It was because they suddenly becaht so they didn’t have the chance to talk about it, about when Basara had passed by at the station gates

“Speaking of which, it’s really quite strange…”

Whilebreakfast in the kitchen, Maria tilted her head She used one hand to crack the eggs into a large bowl, added ether as she said

“The current Deo that we’ve had contact with the Moderates Faction Lars-san said that he would keep your ability a secret Basara-san, as when he was in the huear’s atteher-ups should’ve warned those below them not to act rashly, and the people from the Demon Faction shouldn’t approach Mio-sama for now”

“…So it seems”

Basara as beside Maria expressed his agree her recipe, he coether

“Even if they aren’t united, I also don’t think that there’d be anyone stupid enough to attack you at this point However, since Zolgear was an irregular presence, I certainly can’t guarantee that there won’t be another person who does so like that”

“…Well, could the Moderates Faction be behind it?”

Contributing to the various possibilities was Mio as placing cutlery onto the table

“If they are, on’t give Maria to theht? The Moderates Faction isn’t very cohesive, so it would be quite norht?”

Mio’s tone of voice carried a sense of slight concern She was like this even last night, it seeer was not only to herself, but also to Basara as well

“But, we defeated the Deear, so the Moderates Faction would judge our strength very highly; furthermore, Mio-sama is also His Majesty Wilbert’s only child, and there shouldn’t be anyone ould coht now, as they don’t want to lose Mio-sama’s trust…”

After Maria had said that, Yuki opened the door and ca room

“…How did it go?”

Yuki, who had went to get Kurumi, shook her head and said

“She’s wrapped in a blanket and doesn’t want to come out, she said that she doesn’t want to eat breakfast”

“Oh, she shouldn’t do that Breakfast is an energy source for the day For a growing girl like Kurumi-san, breakfast is the most important meal of day”

“Please…it’s still your fault alright, saying such things…”

Mio said as she sighed, her cheeks suddenly turned red She see about what she did when she herself turned into a dog, subconsciously holding her own body; Yuki’s face was also slightly flushed, and she looked at Basara with passionate eyes Basara couldn’t help but h to clear his throat to say

“A-Anyway…no ht be, this attack is the result of so on their own”

“Yes Also, theirAs soon as Kurumi-san appeared, they immediately released the barrier and withdrew, so it could probably just be so”

“A warning huh…”

“—Maria, I have a question”

After Basara reflected about it for a while, Yuki came to the kitchen and said

“I want you to tell me if you have ever heard that the Demon Faction is not only able to control noric Of the dele one as capable of doing this”

“Hmm~ I also don’t have any ideas…”

Maria worriedly said

“High-class deive them demonic power, but that would be permanent…Whether or not if there is a workaround for it, I do not know”

“……Indeed”

After Yuki replied softly, shethis, Basara —

“This incident, is it possible that [The Village] will make a move?”

“…I don’t think so Looking at the way things are now, there’s a high chance that the Demon Faction will make a move, so it should continue like before until the De”

Yuki then said “but” before continuing

“For ordinary people with nothing to do with this to be manipulated, this is already a sufficient reason for [The Village] to intervene This tis, no one was injured, and also considering that it was only a warning, they will probably just order ilant But—”

“—If ordinary people are hare] will immediately take further action”

[The Village] would take action for the purpose of assisting Yuki or Kurumi, so there naturally wouldn’t be any proble help; but they previously regarded Mio as a target for elimination, so even if this tiht put the blame on Mio No matter whether it was for Mio, Yuki or Kuru It was also uncertain — whether the ene this In this way —

“As a precaution, it would be best if we didn’t go to school for a while…”

This enemy didn’t care about the involvement of innocent civilians, and in a place like a school where there were students and teachers, the surrounding area was likely to be affected But—

“No…e don’t knohat the enemy’s motive is, I think it’s better if you continue to attend school normally Basara-san If those behind the attack on you were Demons — it may also relate to the Moderates Faction, the current Demon Lord Faction or another faction”

Maria continued

“They don’t want the Moderates Faction and the current De, whether the current Deains His Majesty Wilbert’s power, or the Moderates Faction take back Mio-sa to prevent that In order to achieve that purpose, killing Mio-sa action directly would be the saest factions in the Demon Realm—”

“So causing the casualties of ordinary people bythe Hero Tribe with Mio right?”

“No…”

Basara explained the speculation that Maria made, and Mio quietly whispered

“Of course, that’s only one possibility The one attacked was Basara-san, not Mio-sama; and when they also harmed ordinary people, that’s when it started But—”

Maria spoke again

“We still don’t knohat the other side’s objective is, so we should consider various possibilities, and take necessary action If the ene after Mio-sama’s life, the most effective ould be to take action with the people ht’s attack was an atteo to school but instead stay inside the house because you’re worried about involving ordinary people, it will actually make it easier for the ene did happen at school, you wouldn’t be able to take iht as well maintain our current state, and at the saate the enemy’s objective”

“…Understood Until we knohat our enemy’s purpose is, we’ll try our best to maintain our normal routine”

Basara then followed that with a “but” In order not to cause das he forcefully said

“At school, we need to be ether when school ends — do you understand?”

There were no objections to that, and everyone nodded firmly

Part 3

In the end — whoever see Basara becaer any attacks Due to the addition of extra-curricular work for the sports festival as part of the organising committee, these three people were always extremely busy, and it was as if the attack at the station never happened —However, Toujou Basara did not let his guard down Because since that day, he felt that so him

Currently—…they’re watching ain

During gy the boys of the two classes ere lined up in the schoolyard, Toujou Basara felt that soain, and his body tensed up slightly It wasn’t like what Yuki did previously, or what Takigawa did to Mio, nor what Zest did to Basara; surveillance which avoided the victi fro Basara to know, it purposely e to follow that feeling in order to find the other person, but it didn’t leave many traces of itself behind, and its identity re watched, the days went by — but, Basara didn’t achieve nothing

—Firstly, it should be correct that the opponent’s objective was Basara By feeling watched, Basara could only deduce that the opponent didn’t want Mio who had inherited Wilbert’s power like previously, nor was it too likely that it was the third faction of the De to take Mio’s life And…secondly — it was highly likely that it was soasaka Academy That was because whenever Basara was in the school, he would always get the feeling of being watched only when there were other people all around watching him, thus he couldn’t make a move

In order to avoid endangering innocent people, Basara was on high alert against anyone who ht sneak into the school, but it cas Thus, they were areally possible? Within the school, Yuki and Takigawa had snuck in to observe Mio, and they oftenattention to whether there were any threats Of course, like Takigaho had come to the school first, he wasn’t detected by Yuki, as those who came first had the upper hand over those who cae to have a hidden identity If the opponent’s skill was so extraordinary that even Takigaho defeated the high-class deinable Considering that there were no other students who transferred in after Basara, it wasn’t someone as already at the school before Basara and the others cauised themselves as someone already at the school afterwards —It’s just that they put so much emphasis on their own presence, which would inevitably cause Basara to be more alert; this way, it didn’t see Basara’s life or [Banishi+ng shi+ft]

So — as Maria said, the attack at the station was just a warning, and this current surveillance was a continuation of the warning, which should be more appropriate But no matter hoas considered, even if the opponent was stupidly e within the school, there had to be so as they had the intention, they could involve innocent people at any time — and this time, students and teachers?

“………!”

Regardless of who it was, it was too lohile the PE teacher was rinded his teeth If this was only a provocation, that would be even more lowly The opponent should know that the most effective way to provoke Basara would be to cause harm to innocent people But — he definitely couldn’t let the the De at the Hero Tribe who had Yuki remain, followed by Kurumi; as soon as an irreparable situation occurred, he would be caught in a predica hi Basara to relax and sigh

“Good, noork in pairs to do stretching exercises”

After the PE teacher ave out instructions, and the students partnered up to begin their stretches, but only Toujou Basara stood there alone It was such a depressing situation because his usual partner — Takigawa Yahiro had returned to the Demon Realm It was already the later half of the second semester, so the students already had fixed partners for physical education For Basara who transferred to this school after the break, he couldn’t siaay There was nothing that could be done — he could only have the teacher as his partner today But just before that —

“U-Uh, Toujou-kun…”

When Basara turned to look in the direction of the soft voice, he realised that an Angel was in front of hi his sports uniforirl But—

“……You’re Tachibana Sorry”

“Eh? …W-Why do you need to apologise?”

Basara went ‘Uh…’ as he scratched his face, and replied to the puzzled Tachibana who had approached

“Although we see each other every day in the organising committee, this is the first tinise you for a moment”

“Ah, that’s no surprise Uood?”

Tachibana was easp

…Uh, what a at hi of a bishoujo He seems shy, innocent and cute, which when coirl

So—

“Ah, you’re really cute…no, you look really good, Tachibana”

Oops, I accidentally said too much In the end, Tachibana happily replied

“Hehehe…thank you I-In fact, Toujou-san looks very handso that”

“R-Really?”

Thanks, it’s rare to be praised like this by girls — but he’s not a girl

“You’re saying…that you’re actually in class A?”

Class A was next to Basara’s class B, and those two classes did their PE lessons together

…Strange?

Basara had never seen Tachibana before in physical education classes Just because they were in the saether, the majority of people wouldn’t remember the faces of all the male students in the class, but Basara was different When he was young — while he was still in the Hero Tribe’s [Village], Basara had undergone strict training to develop the ability to never forget a face So from the perspective of Basara, when Tachibana caanising committee, it was the first time that the two of theether yet Seeing Basara’s puzzled frown —

“Ah, in fact… the break, my condition became a bit worse, so I haven’t been to PE classes since school resumed So—”

So, only now did he see Basara in class — Tachibana said with a lonesome smile Basara looked at his slender body and white, near-transparent skin, and then replied

“……I see”

Basara now understood why the PE teacher never called Tachibana’s na that he couldn’t attend class, even if the teacher bothered to call his name, the students repeatedly informed the teacher that ‘Tachibana isn’t here’ The teacher didn’t force him to watch from the side, probably because it happened too many times, so he didn’t want hi

“Ah, maybe I’m already a lot better now? So when I asked the teacher, he allowed me to attend class with everyone else from now on, after all, the sports festival is rather soon now Probably because I rarely attended class, there was no one around to helpexercises…but it looked like Toujou-kun also didn’t have a partner, so I came over to ask”

Then—

“I want to do stretching exercises together with you…c-can I?”

“! ——Sure, reat”

Seeing Tachibana who looked up at hi his gaze as he blushed

…W-What is this…?

Indeed, Basara had girls like Mio, Yuki, Maria and Kurumi by his side, but not the weak, shy type like Tachibana, which actually seeht up No irl, but in reality he was a male just like Basara, and he didn’t have that kind of interest anyway — so he hoped that this inexplicable increased heart rate was just a result of the bright autumn sun But it was currently cloudy

“Alright, let’s start doing some exercises — I’ll help you first”

If this continued, things could head into a bad direction, so Basara starting the stretching exercises as soon as possible; he pressed against Tachibana’s back as he was sitting on the ground to help him bend forwards

“…………”

Uh…it feels so soft It isn’t just soft, it’s the sensation of Tachibana’s body

“Umm…Toujou-kun, perhaps you could use a bit more force?”

“R-Really? Well, is this enough?”

The physical difference between Tachibana and Takigaas quite large, and for a moment, Basara didn’t kno much force to use

—Besides, that felt too soft, where did the o? Tachibana, you need to eat more meat, you can’t be a picky eater

Stretching exercises had to be done, so every time Basara used a bit more force on the shoulders, Tachibana breathed heavily with ‘Nnn! Nnn!’ noises continuously Of course, he should be concentrating when doing stretching exercises—

“……………”

The sounds which were made were not as they seemed, and the at out his legs and stretching from side to side a few ti, so—

“Okay, now it’s my turn to help you, Toujou-kun”

Tachibana ainst his back

“Wow…Toujou-kun, do you participate in any sports clubs?”

“No, I don’t participate in any clubs”

“But your body is quite strong…it’s not visible with your norh”

I-Indeed

Tachibana’s discovery caused Basara to nod ‘Uh…’ and then say

“I trained for a while in the past, and I’ve been training again recently”

Basara didn’t have any more to say, he just skipped over the parts that he couldn’t say

“So that’s hoas…right, I never got the chance to ask you, why did you want to be in the organising committee for the sports festival? From what Sakazaki-sensei said, you volunteered for it”

“Are there really very few people ould volunteer?”

“There aren’t none, it’s just very few people…based on what the senpais said, the classes each year could only produce one male and one female, which is the minimum requirement by the school Compared to the cultural festival, doesn’t it feel like thecoh people, the other people don’t particularly want to participate”

But—

“It just seems like there’s a bit of an exception this year…”

“—I’ive you so much trouble”

Seeing Basara in front who had boith an apology, Tachibana quickly pushed him back up

“I-It’s not the fault of Toujou-kun’s and the others, it’s just that there’s no helping it…”

However—

“Naruse-san and Nonaka-san are really popular…ah, you wouldn’t have coht?”

“—Well, that could be Originally, no one in my class B wanted to do it, so the three of us decided to do it”

“I see…because the three of you live together So you did it for the sake of the entire class?”

In response to Tachibana, Basara replied

“No, I don’t really have that kind of sentiment”

“In fact…I’s on the first day that I transferred over to this school—”

“Ah…I know about that That is, you were hugging Nonaka-san while you loudly declared that you were living with Naruse-san?”

“Hold on — I never did such a bad thing”

Did it turn into this after the rumours spread to the other classes? No wonder people co and after class

“There was actually this kind offor the class, I was hoping to restorecoet to know the students from other classes”

Since I don’t have any friends in awa, it would also be important to look outside the class

“Because of that, I’m currently able to talk to you like this…it seeood decision”

“It’s not just you who feels that way, Toujou-kun In fact…to be able to be your friend, I’m also very happy”

“…Indeed Tachibana, thank you”

But can you not blush? It’ll make people nervous

…However, it wasn’t just for this reason Basara didn’t lie, he really did want to take this opportunity to make a few more friends, but that was only one of the reasons that he wanted to join the sports festival organising committee He also wanted to fully enjoy the fun of the sports festival In reality, for Basara whose strength exceeded that of a normal person’s, he couldn’t find any enjoyment in the sports festival’s events which relied on reaction time and physical ability He always had to pretend to be an ordinary person and thus could never be serious, so as not to cause any trouble So if Basara wanted to get a greater sense of participation in the sports festival, the only as for him to become one of the behind the scenes staff As a result, he didn’t have worry about his physical ability which had been honed by fighting since he was young, he would just be an ordinary h school student attending a sports festival So after discussing this with Mio and Yuki, they decided that the three of theiven that the circu Also…for ‘a certain reason’, Basara also wanted to join the organising committee

It’s probably just a bit for my personal satisfaction, and I didn’t mention it to Mio or Yuki

“……Toujou-kun?”

Not knohy Basara suddenly became silent, Tachibana asked

“Ah, sorry…anyway, that’s why I volunteered It shouldn’t be a big deal”

There was nothing surprising nor special about it, and Basara then said

“On the other hand, it’s actually surprising to eneral affairs depart to do this and that, doing things as a leader”

Considering Tachibana’s personality, he didn’t sees; even if he was invited to join, people like him would most likely decline

“…Toujou-kun, do you find it strange that the student council has someone like me?”

“Uh, it’s not really that strange…”

Hearing Tachibana’s tone drop a little, it caused Basara beco thing

“It’s okay, I e”

Tachibana smiled as he said

“I said before…my body is quite weak, and I often had to take days off; and even if I came to school, I would often spend most of the day on a bed in the school infirmary There was no way for me to attend class, and of course I wasn’t able to participate in extracurricular activities either One day, Hasegawa-sensei gave estion…”

“—Hasegawa-sensei?”

The name which suddenly came up surprised Basara

“Mmm, she said ‘people like me should be in the student council’ It was different from normal extracurricular activities, and the other members would help me; even if I was only able to do a few chores, it was very useful work; so as long as I helped out a bit as one of the student council members, the school would be able to provide me with an active student life…sensei helped me talk with the student council, and in the end, the third year organising coreed to me join the student council”

—Thus

“Although I was rather depressed…everyone agreed, so I gathered up the courage to give it a try”

“I see…”

If joining the Student Council was Tachibana’s own decision, it would have been quite surprising, but it was aas involved Not only treating wounds or colds, she sincerely listened to the students’ concerns, and guided them towards a solution — this was the true skill of Chisato Hasegawa She wanted to open up another world for Tachibana outside the infirmary, but because what happened after dinner at her house was too sti, Basara was too eain, and he didn’t thank her for the meal But since the theme of the sports festival was exercise, he would inevitably require the assistance of the school nurse When he needed to speak to her or ask for her assistance as adays, he intended to go together with Tachibana, and thank her for her past advice while he was there Since it was rather odd for him to be invited to her home, he wanted to thank her while he was accompanied by someone else

—But he didn’t iine that this opportunity would co sports festival, the focus of that day’s PE lesson was practice for relay races and baton passing After class, Basara and Tachibana returned to the school building one after the other, following the other students, and changed their shoes at the student entrance At that time —