Just a little while earlier, on the rooftop of Seisetsu Academy, Kisaragi Hayato sat alone.
For him, the school rooftop was usually a place of peace. No one came to bother him, and the ambient sound of students shouting through training and club activities made for the perfect background music.
If he had to complain about anything today, it was the unbearable heat.
At the moment, he had stripped off his shirt and was wiping the sweat from his body with a damp towel.
Once he put his clothes back on, he laid flat on the rooftop again.
He heard the door below him creak open.
The person who had just disturbed his haven stepped to the railing and seemed to take a break there.
Hayato caught a whiff of something burning.
Still on his back, he glared upward and said with a scolding tone:
「You told Sazanami about me, didn’t you.」
The girl, Habataki Meika, didn’t even flinch. She exhaled smoke from her cigarette with practiced indifference.
「That you’re from some far-off world? What would I gain from telling him that?」
Meika was one of the few people in this world who knew about Hayato’s origins.
「He’s a sneaky bastard. Said he’d tell me why if I beat him, but then didn’t say a damn thing. Even though I did beat him! His excuse was, ‘I didn’t beat you, but I didn’t lose either, so no deal’. Maybe he wasn’t going all out, but still, what the hell.」
「He doesn’t like you.」
「That stings, you know, hearing it so bluntly like that.」
Meika gave a dry chuckle.
Hayato sat up and hopped down beside her.
As she raised her cigarette to her lips, he pinched it from her fingers and took it.
「Cigarettes don’t suit you, y’know.」
「If you want to lecture someone, maybe start by scolding yourself, sticking your nose into everything despite still being a student.」
He dropped the cigarette to the ground and ground it out with his heel.
「I’ll try, I’ll try」 he muttered, brushing it off, and then asked:
「You know, don’t you? What that Sazanami guy really is. He acts normal, but he ain’t.」
「Yes, I know. But I promised not to tell anyone. Besides…」
Meika reached into her coat again and pulled out another cigarette.
Hayato immediately snatched that one too.
She shot him a reproachful glance, but when he said, 「Go on」 she gave in and continued.
「He’s just… a kind boy, with a pure-hearted love.」
Hayato glanced sideways at Meika’s expression.
He’d heard people mistakenly call her “Mom” now and then.
Right now, she really did look like one, a gentle, maternal smile softening her features.
Hayato decided not to push the topic any further.
「…Still, sucks getting hated by someone that kind.」
「Heh, I was joking. Don’t worry. He’s not the kind of person who hates others easily. Even someone like you.」
「Right, so the one who hates me is you.」
Hayato looked up at the sky. The breeze was pleasant, but the sun was relentless.
「It’s surprising, really. You, of all people, training so earnestly in the middle of the day. Maybe worry more about your own stink than mine.」
Hayato sniffed his shirt and made a face.
「Liar」 he muttered, casting a mock-accusing look her way. But Meika ignored it and went on.
「So, what’s gotten into you? For the guy with the worst grades in academy history, disastrous attitude in class, zero motivation in training, to suddenly get serious like this?」
He sighed, trying to expel the lingering heat coiled up inside him.
From the rooftop, it was impossible to miss the towering Yvelshaska Spear, looming even in broad daylight like a monument of indifference.
Everything in this world, every twist of fate, had started with that soulless spear.
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