"Hmm... I am kind of itching to clean up Arius."
Haruta stared off at the Arius Squad in the distance, twirling his gun as he thought for a moment.
"Tch... but I should help the hungry kids, build some ties with Saori, and all that. I should at least leave them a little light."
He felt the urge to kill Beatrice growing in his heart, but that would destroy the original story, so he decided to just leave a little light for the Arius Squad instead.
He spread his wings and looked toward the Arius Squad.
"Okay. Let’s go!"
The wings unfurled in an instant, and he glided forward at high speed.
"Oh, shit."
He nearly smashed into a building, but that was still manageable.
He approached the alley where the Arius Squad was gathered.
"Hi."
"?? Who are you! State your affiliation!"
Saori shouted the moment she saw him, but Haruta brushed it off easily.
"Hmm... just a passerby?"
"As if!"
"Ha... you’re Saori Jomae, right?"
"I have no reason to answer that!"
"What’s the harm in just answering?"
"There’s no way I’d just give my name to someone whose identity I don’t know!"
"Ha... fair enough."
Behind her, Hiyori slowly raised a sniper rifle and aimed it at Haruta. Misaki slowly reached for her Stinger, and Azusa drew her handgun from the gun holster and slowly took aim.
"Put the guns down."
It was clearly a warning. Fear so strong it could stop their bodies slowly wrapped around the Arius Squad.
Then even Saori pointed her gun at Haruta.
"Ha... there are always bad kids who won’t listen unless you talk to them like this."
Haruta opened a huge black mouth in his hand and snatched the guns away.
Bang!
"Ow, that stings."
"W-What..."
"So I’m saying, let’s not use guns."
"Are you... even human?"
"No idea?"
He took all of the Arius Squad’s guns, then tossed them behind him for the moment.
"Ha... you guys are from Arius, right?"
"Do you really think we’d answer that?"
"Answer me."
He set a heavy mood and slowly reached out his hand.
"I’m not the kind of bad guy you think I am, you know?"
"And why should we believe that?"
"Hmm... want some of this?"
As he said that, he slowly offered them a piece of fried chicken.
"Fo... food..."
"Wait! Hiyori, don’t eat it. We don’t know what’s in it!"
"...How about I eat it first, and if I’m still alive, you can have some?"
He slowly picked up a wing and put it in his mouth.
It was delicious, but it was a flavor he knew all too well from eating it so much before. Familiar.
"See? It’s fine, right?"
"..."
Saori picked up a wing and slowly ate it.
"Tasty, right?"
"..."
Saori ate the wing without saying a word, then slowly met his eyes.
"What do you get out of doing this?"
"Would you ignore someone dying on the street?"
"..."
"See? You wouldn’t just ignore them. That’s all this is. Showing kindness to people who are hurting and having a hard time is only natural."
"Th... thank you."
"Don’t mention it."
Hiyori slowly reached for the chicken.
"Pweeeh!! It’s delicious!!!"
Something like a familiar cry rang out, but it was cute enough to let slide.
"..."
Misaki said nothing and just quietly ate the chicken in front of her.
"Ah. You’re Misaki, right?"
"..."
She answered with silence, but Haruta just kept talking.
"Don’t hurt yourself. Life isn’t meaningless."
"W-What...?"
Even as Misaki looked at him like she couldn’t understand how he knew that, he kept going.
"If anyone ever tells you that everything is pointless, then remember this."
"Even if everything is empty and meaningless, you still have to struggle to the very end."
"W-What does that even..."
Saori said in a trembling voice.
Misaki’s hand was shaking now, too, but Haruta noticed that immediately.
"There can be people like me out there, so if you ever need help later, contact me here. I’ll come save you right away."
Saori slowly accepted the torn notebook page.
"Th... thank you."
"Buy me a meal sometime."
"I... I’ll do that."
"Then I’m off."
Haruta quietly left the alley without another word, thinking he had done enough by leaving a little light behind.
"Now then, that leaves the Tea Party trio?"
The three student council presidents who would become Trinity’s highest authority.
Misono Mika.
Kirifuji Nagisa.
Yurizono Seia.
"Hmm... I can find Mika easily enough, but where are Nagisa and Seia?"
After a moment of thought, he pulled a telescope from his hand.
"Mika... I’ll probably run into her if I just go to Trinity Middle School, and Nagisa should be similar. Seia’s probably going to be the hardest to find."
He thought about how to build familiarity with Nagisa and Seia.
"Nagisa probably isn’t suspicious enough yet, and if I meet Seia, I can probably brute-force it with my face alone."
Then, first things first, he needed to enroll in Trinity Middle School under a fake identity.
[Hey, long time no see]
[? You’re the one calling me first?]
[Yeah, I just need you to make me a fake Trinity student ID]
[?? Suddenly?]
[No, it’s nothing serious. Just... part of the job, I guess?]
[Ha... I don’t know what kind of crap you’re up to again, but just give up]
[2 million yen]
[What...?]
[2 million yen]
[Ha... fine. Just this once]
[Yeah, thanks]
Not long after ending the call, most of the information he needed for enrollment arrived: a student ID that would let him enter Trinity Middle School, enrollment documents with his personal details, and the rest.
"Oh, the work is solid."
After transferring the 2 million yen, he headed for Trinity Middle School.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"First of all, this is a dorm school too. For now, I should think this through slowly."
He had enough money, and he had enough justification.
"Heh... this is basically the perfect enrollment scenario, isn’t it?"
Haruta’s cover story was this:
A student from another school, forced to transfer to Trinity after his original school was shut down.
"For now, I’ve got enough cover for classes and everything else, so I just need to get things moving by meeting Mika, Nagisa, and Seia."
As he walked slowly, his feet eventually reached the dormitory facilities of Trinity Middle School.
"Oh, this place is cleaner than Gehenna."
Maybe Hina was just very good at keeping her room tidy, but for now he needed to focus on the task at hand.
"Okay, so should I go for Mika first? Or Nagisa? Or should I look for Seia?"
If this were normal, he would have charged straight at Mika, but now that would be a disaster if his identity were exposed.
"I should try approaching them slowly."
And so a day passed at Trinity.
-----------------------------------------------------------
That was the conclusion he came to.
"Find Mika first, build a connection with Nagisa, then go after Seia!"
At least on paper, the plan was perfect.
He thought so too, but there was one huge flaw.
"Ah, wait. I don’t even know where Seia is."
Then Haruta recalled Seia’s abilities and remembered that Seia might come looking for him first.
"Right, Seia could be the one who finds me first, couldn’t she?"
With that happy little delusion running, Haruta decided to look for Mika first.
----------------------------
Five hours later.
"Wow... seriously, I’ve been walking around the academy for almost five hours and not even a glimpse of Mika?"
He went into a cafe to cool his head and ordered a drink.
"One mint chocolate latte, please."
After placing the order, he took the buzzer and sat down.
"Ha... it’s been a long time since the road ahead felt this hopeless..."
Then, with the sound of the cafe door opening, two girls came into view.
Pink hair.
Amber eyes.
A beautiful face that anyone would call lovely.
"Huh...?"
It was Mika.
Beside her was...
Light brown hair.
Light brown eyes.
Kirifuji Nagisa.
"Should I buy a lottery ticket today?"
He thought that quietly to himself, and then his mind finally started working again.
"Mika can just enjoy tea time at the academy, so why did she have to drag me all the way out here?"
Her voice was clearly irritated.
And yet the end of her sentence softened, as if she was still going along with it.
"Yes☆ I think it’s good to come to a cafe like this sometimes and change things up☆"
It was a very familiar way of speaking. She put stars at the end of every sentence, but that was cute enough to let pass.
"But how do I approach them?"
He decided to try it step by step.
"Ahem... hello?"
"? And you are?"
"Ah, just a passerby."
Nagisa slowly looked him over, and Haruta smiled as if there was nothing to worry about while staring back at her.
"So? Why did you come to us?"
"Ah, I was just wondering if I could join you."
Nagisa looked at him with suspicious eyes, but Haruta brushed it off lightly and showed her the black tea he had prepared to win her over.
"Ah, it’s nothing much, but I brought some black tea."
At that, Nagisa’s expression slowly relaxed.
"Hah... well, I suppose you may join us. I had no intention of treating you as an enemy."
"Haha, thank you."
"I am Kirifuji Nagisa."
At those words, Mika, who had been watching the scene, slowly hardened her expression.
She looked at Haruta.
Haruta was wearing sunglasses, so there was no way she could see his eyes, and he had even erased his wings and horns, making him literally a different person.
On top of that, he had a scar across his face from a sword wound in a past battle.
Mika muttered softly.
"...I’m Misono Mika. Nice to meet you."
"Ah, I’m Taka..."
In that instant, he forgot that the person who had given him his name was Mika.
Mika’s expression stiffened even more.
Nagisa looked back and forth between Haruta and Mika, unable to understand what was going on.
"You☆ speak properly☆"
"Huh?"
"What’s your name☆?"
"I... I’m Ikari Hakuta."
It was a name he had made up in less than two seconds, so it was obvious it was fake.
"Yes☆ Don’t lie☆"
Mika’s expression slowly hardened as she looked at the hair he had grown out to look more feminine.
"If you’re lying, you’d better be ready☆"
If it came to a fight, he could definitely win. But if he fought here, he’d end up rotting in a Public Safety Bureau prison for sure.
Slowly taking off his sunglasses, he said, "Ah... hi? Mika?"
Mika’s face went completely white and froze.
Nagisa, seeing that he was a man, immediately moved her hand to her phone to call the police.
"N-Nagisa! Wait a second!"
Nagisa jumped at the sound and dropped her phone.
"M-Mika, that man is a wanted major criminal right now!"
"No... no, Nagisa, right now... just wait..."
Haruta silently watched the whole thing unfold, then spoke up.
"Mika? Have you been well?"
At that, Mika’s face looked like she was about to cry.
"I-I... I’m sorry... I couldn’t protect you..."
When Mika started crying, Nagisa slowly moved to the side and watched over her.
"Mika, why are you acting like this? That man is just a criminal."
"Nagisa...? Could you... step away for a moment?"
"Hah... if it’s Mika, I’m not worried, but... be careful."
"Yeah... thanks, Nagisa..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"...So, Mika?"
"Haruta... do you know how I’ve felt all this time?"
".....I’m sorry."
"No... I’m the one who’s sorry I couldn’t protect you..."
"Anyway, you’re alive, so isn’t that what matters?"
"Yeah..☆"
"Let’s go back to the school first and talk there."
Even while sniffling, Mika slowly took Haruta’s hand.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hah... so? What is your relationship with Mika?"
"Hmm... maybe something like an adopted younger brother?"
"What? The notorious criminal of Kivotos is Mika’s younger brother?"
"Nagisa? Don’t call Haruta like that."
"Ah... yes. I’m sorry, Haruta."
"Ah... no, no. It’s strange to expect anything from someone already branded a criminal."
"No, I sincerely apologize for my rudeness."
"You really don’t have to~"
"So? Haruta? Can you explain what happened?"
Haruta slowly, but thoroughly, explained everything he had gone through so far.
".....I’m sorry. I sincerely apologize for treating you rudely based on rumors."
Nagisa apologized, and Mika looked like she was about to cry again.
"H... Haru... ta...."
"Hey, hey, don’t cry, Mika. It’s nothing serious."
"Is fighting 150 police officers nothing serious to you, Haruta?"
"There were circumstances."
"Hah... understood, for now."
After calming Mika down again, Haruta sat facing Nagisa and Mika and slowly continued his explanation.
"So my plan right now is definitely to go back to Gehenna."
Mika’s expression stiffened, her face turning sour.
"Ahaha☆ Why don’t you just come to Trinity instead of those horned freaks?"
"Ha... I’d really appreciate it if you could just think of this as a personal matter."
"No, Haruta. Right now you’re affiliated with Trinity, not Gehenna, so you can’t leave just yet."
"Huh..."
Haruta let out a brief sigh, then stood up and gestured to Nagisa.
"Hmm... Nagisa, are you good at chess?"
"Hmm... suddenly? I’d be embarrassed to say it myself, but I’m fairly good."
"Then let’s play."
"Fufu, I’ll make you regret saying that."
------------------------------------
Twenty minutes later.
"Hahaha, what kind of game do you win with just a bishop and a knight?"
"I-Iiiik!!"
Haruta had completely crushed Nagisa’s soul.
"Anyway, let me get to the point, Nagisa."
"Right now I’m in Trinity, but someone has made my crimes even worse, and this is what happened while I was trying to fix that."
"Hmm... the fact that Kaiser and the Student Council joined hands in the first place is suspicious."
"So the one who probably set this up is..."
"The Defense Chief... right?"
"Correct."
"So, do you have a way to deal with it?"
"I do..."
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