I stopped the Hot Springs Development Department’s blasting work and slowly walked back toward the hospital. My shoulders felt a little stiff, so I stretched as I came along, and the tension loosened bit by bit.
"Ugh... I’m tired... I already rested as much as I should have at the hospital... now it’s about time I got back to work..."
In the room that should have been mine, Hina was sleeping with complete peace of mind.
"Cute..."
Ring ring! Ring ring! Ring
"...? What is it? At this hour... nobody should be calling me."
[Sexy Seia]
"...Uh... ah... it’s Seia."
Click
It had been a while since Seia called, so I answered in a good mood. The first thing I heard, however, was not something pleasant at all.
"Are you all right!!"
"Whoa, you startled me... what? What is it? Is something urgent?"
"Haah... just hearing your voice, you seem fine after all... thank goodness."
"What is it? Did I do something again?"
"No... nothing... thank goodness... really, thank goodness..."
"You... your premonitions were supposed to be gone, weren’t they?"
"...Yes... they’re gone, gone indeed. But... how should I put it? My instincts have gotten sharper. It’s not an ability, but my instincts have improved."
"So?"
"Yesterday, all of a sudden, I got chills down my spine, and my instincts were so bad I could barely breathe."
"...And then...?"
"Who else could I have been thinking about? Mika is safely in prison right now, and Nagisa should be doing her work as usual. Then who was left?"
"...Me."
"Exactly. So I kept calling you since yesterday, and..."
"Ah, right. Silent mode yesterday..."
"Bad thoughts kept coming to me, so I called for nearly two hours... but you still didn’t answer, so I left messages too."
"...?"
When I turned on my phone, there were nearly 400 missed calls.
"...Ugh... sorry... about that."
"You should be. If you had ignored this call too, I was going to use every means available to find you myself."
"...And then?"
"I’m just... truly glad you answered now. I saw what happened yesterday... in person, you know."
"...Ah. Right."
"Mika came running out crying, didn’t she? In that utterly wrecked state?"
"...And then?"
"Then I saw the Relief Society carrying you away, and my heart nearly stopped."
"Uh... so?"
"After that, they mentioned you were affiliated with Gehenna...?"
"...Wait, does Nagisa know about this too?"
"The one who processed that paperwork was Nagisa."
"...What am I supposed to do now?"
"Well... there are two ways. One is for you to cancel your Gehenna enrollment right now and come to Trinity."
"And the other...?"
"According to Nagisa, you should come here immediately. Ah, for reference, Mika is here too. The hearing just ended a moment ago."
"...Where are you right now...?"
"The Tea Party office. I’ll give you three seconds. That is all."
Click
"...!!!"
The moment the call cut off, I grabbed every bit of mystery I had, whether there was any real mystery in it or not, and shoved it into my hand.
"Haaah!!"
Crash!Bang!
Shatter!
"Done!"
"...Come in quickly."
Whoosh
"Haa... haa... damn... how much time has passed?"
"Exactly five seconds. You were two seconds late. I’ll have to mark that down as light."
"...Yeah... so why did you call me...?"
"Hee...? Haruta? You abandoned us and ran off to the horned ones’ den... and now you’re speaking casually?"
"Haruta... I think this has gone a little too far. First, bow your head."
"I agree. Bow your head."
"...Hey... you’re joking, right?"
For a moment, I felt a murderous intent from Nagisa and Seia, who had absolutely nothing to do with combat, the kind of intent that felt like they had really killed people before.
"...Uh... well..."
"Hee...? Haruta? Why aren’t you looking straight at us?"
Thud!
"If I make a mistake here, I’m really dead!!!"
Realizing the situation at lightning speed, I quickly slammed my head into the floor.
"...Oh my. You really did it... I didn’t expect that."
"Well... Haruta is the type to actually do it when told, so I suppose this was within expectations, wasn’t it?"
"...Haruta... I really didn’t know you’d actually gone to Gehenna. This is a little too far."
"...So... what do I need to do...?"
"Even now, you still have the nerve to act full... do you really want to be imprisoned in Trinity’s underground jail...?"
"W-what... should I do...?"
"Cancel your Gehenna enrollment right now and come to Trinity. Yielding anything to Gehenna is impossible to begin with, but we absolutely cannot yield Haruta."
"Y-yes! I agree!"
"Say it now, Haruta. Did the Gehenna bastards get hold of some kind of weakness? Then we’ll launch a full-scale war right this instant!"
"No... I just went to Gehenna because I wanted to..."
At that, the air in the room turned ice-cold in an instant.
"...Nagi-chan? Do you happen to have something solid nearby?"
"Ah, if you look behind you, there’s a golf club I prepared back when I was thinking of taking up golf as a hobby."
"...Ah! Found it. Thanks, Nagi-chan!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Mika swung the golf club a few times in the air, then nodded slightly as if she had gotten a feel for it, and slowly approached.
"Nagi-chan? Can I break this?"
"Do as you please... well, if you want to play golf here, you’d have to go quite a distance anyway."
"...Hey... guys...? There’s no golf ball, though?"
"Oh? The golf ball is talking."
"Ahaha☆ Nagi-chan? Golf balls talk sometimes, you know?"
"Well... I’ve never seen that before, but go ahead and hit him as you please. And if you do, make sure to put our share into it too."
"Roger that☆!"
Click... click...
"Now then! Haruta? Have you decided to come to Trinity yet?"
"...Is this... a threat?"
"Oh my... a threat? This is ‘education.’ A little revenge for Haruta, who abandoned us and headed to Gehenna."
The revenge did not look the least bit little, but for now, I needed to get out alive.
"...Wait, wait, listen. I have something to say."
"Hmm... well, I can hear your last words before you die. What is it?"
"From your perspective—no, generally speaking, what kind of student do I look like?"
"Of course..."
"Obviously!"
"Hmm..."
"See? You can’t even immediately say ‘Trinity’ right now! Exactly. No matter how close we are, after all—"
"Aren’t you from Trinity?"
"Isn’t he from Trinity?"
"Trinity!"
"...The reason is...?"
"There are plenty of students with black wings here too. As for the horns, Mika said before that they can be hidden."
"...A-and! I’m a criminal, aren’t I? I don’t want to cause trouble for you too."
"I don’t really mind... though?"
"I agree."
"Me too! As long as it’s Haruta, I like anything!"
"...No, seriously, do you not manage your public image at all?"
"Why would we manage our image? As long as we have Haruta, that’s enough."
I felt like I was deeply screwed. Had they always been this insane? No, had I done something? No, was love just this terrifying? Probably yes.
"What’s so surprising about that?"
"Exactly. Without Haruta, this kind of power is useless anyway."
"Well... I don’t care much about power either. My focus is on crushing those horned bastards."
"...So... what are you trying to say?"
"Now then... choose. Gehenna or Trinity?"
"...A forced choice, huh..."
"Yes... well, you could call it that."
"Then I’ll go to Gehenna."
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