-Tatatang!
-Kaaang!
Haruta’s sword aura shot toward Neru at terrifying speed. Wrapped in a dark, ominous energy and carrying pure killing intent, it flew straight into the wall.
-Swoosh!!!
As Haruta’s sword aura cut through the air and struck the wall, the wall itself was sliced apart.
“What... is that power?”
“Yeah!! Come at me!!!”
“Let’s do this!!!”
Neru and Haruta shouted the exact same thing at almost the exact same time.
-Slash!
The moment Haruta’s blade touched Neru’s akimbo guns, one of Neru’s guns was cut cleanly in half.
“...”
-Thud
Neru tossed the ruined gun to the floor and picked up the remaining one along with her chain.
“Yeah!!! That’s more like it!!!”
Neru rushed in and kicked Haruta in the abdomen.
“Well... I guess this fight isn’t over yet?”
“Yeah!!! I like that!! Let’s fight again!!!”
Haruta and Neru clashed once more, and the shockwave shattered every window around them.
-Clang!
The severed chain flew toward Haruta, and in the instant his attention was drawn away, the chain wrapped around his other arm.
“?!”
“Die!!!!”
Neru pulled the chain back harder and harder.
“...Well, your effort and technique were good...”
“What?”
Haruta’s arm bent little by little, and then—
-Boom!
Haruta put strength into his arm, snapped the chain apart, and twisted his arm free.
“Hahaha...! I’m not done yet!!”
Neru dropped back into her fighting stance, but now it was time to end this.
“...Well, your effort and skill were the strongest I’ve seen so far...”
“Huh? Are you trying to compliment me?... Well, fine, I guess...”
“But... what are you doing? Get back into position.”
As Haruta drew out even more power, Neru’s body stiffened. Then Neru forced more strength into herself, the fear vanished, and only her fighting spirit remained as she took a charging stance again.
-Boom!
-Swoosh!
As Neru charged again, Haruta drew his blade and leveled it at her, then reversed the blade’s edge.
“?”
“Yeah, that look on your face. You’re wondering how I’m supposed to beat you, aren’t you?”
Haruta kept pouring more strength into his arm, and blood began to burst from the hand gripping the sword.
“...?”
“Haa....”
Haruta made a gesture for her to come on, and Neru readjusted the last remaining gun in her hand and aimed it at him.
In that instant—
-Thwack!
Along with the sound of something blunt striking flesh,
-Thud
Neru collapsed to the floor.
“...Kuh...”
“Let’s fight again next time. That’s all for now.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Haruta leapt out the window and disappeared.
“...What... just...”
In less than a tenth of a second, Haruta had moved right in front of Neru, poured strength into his arm, and struck.
And the force of it—
-Rumble...
When Neru turned at the sound, she saw it.
“...What... did you... just fight?”
The building was collapsing.
-Thud
Neru fainted, and that was how the match between Neru and Haruta ended in Haruta’s victory.
“...That was fun after a long time.”
“Haruta!! Did something happen?”
“Ah... it’s nothing. I just met Neru and fought her a little.”
“Huh... I see. Good work. Thanks to that, I brought this back.”
“Oh, is this the ‘mirror’?”
“Yeah. Just hand it over to the Veritas kids and that’s it!”
“Sensei!! That person is so cool!!!”
“...You’re really... amazing...”
“Uu... scary...”
“Waaah!!! How are you that strong?”
The Game Development Department girls bombarded Haruta with questions.
“...Well... I don’t really know either.”
“Hahaha... let’s head back for now.”
And so the operation involving Veritas, the Engineering Department, the Game Development Department, and Schale ended in a huge success.
“Wait! Where do you think you’re running off to?”
“Ah! The cold-blooded accountant!”
“That is incredibly rude, you know!?”
“Oh, Yuuka! Did you see me earlier? Pretty awesome, right?”
“Pretty awesome? What are you talking about?! The Seminar building is about to collapse!!!”
“Huh? I was going to pay for that.”
“No... what do you mean by that...”
And so Haruta handled the costs, and everyone gathered in the Game Development Department’s office.
“So what does that g.bible thing do?”
“That’s... the dream of every game developer! It says how to make the best game ever!”
“Oh, that actually sounds pretty good.”
When they opened the g.bible, familiar text appeared on the page.
“...Love games?”
“Oh, I do love games.”
“No! Isn’t there more?”
“Yeah... sorry, but...”
“Aaaah!!”
“Well, there’s still time... think about it carefully.”
And so that familiar, familiar ending came to a close.
“Haa... I wonder if Neru’s okay?”
Worried about Neru, Haruta asked Sensei and went to the hospital where Neru was staying.
-Knock knock
“Huh? Who is it?”
-Creak
“Ah... hello?”
“Hah! Haruta, was it? It’s you, isn’t it!?”
“Yeah, I came because I felt a little bad.”
“No, it’s fine. Things like this happen when you fight.”
“You’re taking that surprisingly well.”
“Then what, should I keep dragging it out? That’s not a good choice either. If you keep sulking over it, that makes you a loser too.”
“Oh, that’s a cool line.”
“Hah!”
“Anyway, I didn’t come here just to say that.”
“Well...”
“For now, there’s no need to talk about it.”
“All right. Take care on your way back! Once I’m healed, let’s fight again!”
“Yeah! Sounds good.”
After leaving Neru’s hospital room, Haruta headed to the C&C office he had seen before.
“Hmm... where is it?”
While looking for the C&C office, he found Asuna and Karin.
“Oh, Haruta spotted!”
“Haa...”
As soon as Asuna saw him, she ran straight over.
“? What—”
-Thud
“Kuh...”
Since he usually didn’t put much strength into his body, there was no way to stop Asuna when she charged and jumped at him.
“Ouch...”
“Hi! Haruta? Have you been doing well?”
For a moment, she seemed to say something very quickly, but he couldn’t catch it properly.
“Ugh... heavy...”
She wasn’t actually heavy, but for some reason he wasn’t putting much strength into himself like usual.
“Wow! That might be a little hurtful? Or maybe not?”
Then Karin came over and pulled Asuna away.
“Oh... thanks, Karin.”
“Not at all.”
“Well... I came looking for you guys.”
At that, Karin’s expression darkened little by little. Asuna... was bouncing around all over the place.
“...It’s not like that, so don’t worry.”
When he said that, Karin’s expression relaxed.
“...Then why did you come looking for C&C? A request? Or some other favor?”
“No? I just came to hang out.”
“Waaah!!! We’re hanging out!!!”
Seeing her like that, he finally understood why people called Asuna a golden retriever.
“...Anything else you need?”
“Nope. Call Akane too, and let’s order some chicken or pizza and watch a movie.”
“...”
“Yeah, you’re worried because Neru isn’t here, right?”
As Haruta, Asuna, and Karin entered the office, Akane welcomed them.
“Oh my? We don’t have any work today, so I was getting bored, and you brought a guest?”
“Yep! It’s Haruta, the one we met last time!”
“Well... it’s a shame the boss isn’t here.”
“Yeah, you’re worried because Neru isn’t here, right?”
Haruta tore open space with his arm and brought Neru over.
“??? What is that supposed to mean right now?”
“What! What is this!?”
“Ah, stay still.”
Haruta held onto Neru and placed a hand on her back.
“What are you trying to do?!”
“Kraaah!!!”
Haruta screamed.
“...?”
The injuries on Neru’s body were transferred directly to Haruta.
“Aaaagh!!!”
“Hey! What are you doing!”
Neru stood up from her seat as if nothing had happened.
Neru’s leg bones had been broken, so she shouldn’t have been able to stand. Her injuries weren’t minor; the impact had been severe enough to shatter her bones, and she should have needed long-term treatment.
And yet right now, Neru was standing up for some reason.
“What...? You right now...”
“Haa... haa... I guess I really am strong?”
Haruta had been standing just fine a moment ago, but now he was sitting on the C&C office sofa and not getting up.
“Hey! What did you just do!”
“I just... treated... it a little.”
“Hey! Stand up right now!”
“Ah... I’m tired. What?”
“I said stand up!”
“...”
“Haa... so you didn’t heal me, you just moved the injury over?”
“But... I did... treat you?”
Neru stared at Haruta in disbelief.
“Hey! I’m the one who gets hurt if I get hurt!”
“...Well... just let it go for now.”
Haruta muttered quietly.
“...Haa... don’t... use that again.”
“Yeah...”
After Haruta treated Neru, everyone there was stunned.
“Haruta? What did you just...?”
“Haruta? What are you...?”
Asuna, who was usually so talkative, just stared at him with a face full of curiosity.
Karin rubbed her eyes, as if she couldn’t tell what she had just seen.
Akane covered her mouth with her hand, flustered.
“...Well, it doesn’t really hurt anymore.”
And then Haruta stood up from his seat.
“W-What? I was definitely...”
“Ah... that? It gets a little better after some time.”
“Haa... are you really even human?”
“I am, I’m telling you.”
Then Karin asked carefully, “...Aren’t you... a criminal?”
“What??? Haruta’s a criminal?”
“Well, I won’t deny it... but that’s a little unfair.”
“There are plenty of people who have it worse than you.”
“Yeah... compared to people who are really wronged, I’ve got it easy.”
“But what crime did you commit?”
“Just... nearly killed a bunch of delinquent students... and had a few chase-and-fight run-ins with the police?”
“...Yeah, you are a criminal.”
“No, no, I’ve already served my time.”
“Hey! Hey! Enough about that. Let’s watch a movie!”
Neru changed the mood and quickly ordered chicken, pizza, and all kinds of delivery food on her phone.
“Waaah!! A movie!!!”
“Yes, since we don’t have any work today, let’s just enjoy ourselves.”
“I agree.”
“Oh, then I’ll go buy drinks.”
Haruta went outside, bought some sports drinks and a few sodas, and returned to the C&C office.
“Boss! What movie are we watching?”
He could hear small voices from inside.
He slipped quietly into the room and stood next to Asuna.
“Hmm... let’s watch a romance movie today.”
“Waaah! You startled me! Haruta, you’re seriously amazing!!!”
“A romance movie... well, I don’t hate that...”
“Hehe, romance... nice.”
“I... don’t really like it, but... I can watch it once, can’t I?”
“Mm... I like it too!!”
“All right, then I’ll look for a movie.”
And so they searched for a film and waited for the delivery to arrive.
“But when are the chicken and pizza coming?”
“Hmm... they should be here any minute now.”
-Ding dong!
“Oh, it’s here. I’ll go get it.”
“Yeah! Don’t drop it!”
He brought the pizza and all the food to the table and set everything out.
“Waaah! That looks delicious! Especially that cheese pizza! I love it!!”
“I... don’t really...”
At Karin’s words, Haruta picked up a chicken leg and put it in her mouth.
“Mmph!?”
“Try it. It’s good.”
-Crunch!
“Mm... it is good...”
“Can I have some too?”
“Hah! I like pizza too!”
“Well, I like both pizza and chicken. Let’s have some fun today!!”
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