Chapter 126: Ayatsuji Ayase!
"What do we do now...?"
Ikki looked at the bush and awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
"What else can we do? We drag her out."
After saying that, Shiro shrugged and vanished from everyone's sight with [Nukiashi].
"Eh? Where did he go?"
Inside the bush, a neat, beautiful black-haired girl held branches covered in leaves with both hands, staring seriously in Ikki's direction.
Shiro's sudden disappearance left her confused, but she did not think too much of it. She simply continued focusing on Ikki.
However, at that moment, someone's voice suddenly rang out behind her.
"What are you looking at?"
"Eekaaaaah!!!"
The black-haired beauty seemed completely unprepared to be discovered. She screamed and fled from the bush.
"Ah, uwaah, um, I was just—waaah!"
She looked at Shiro, then at Ikki and the others staring at her from afar. After stammering for a long while, she finally turned and ran.
"Hey! Wait, that direction is..."
Shiro reached out to stop her, but the girl's mind was blank. She did not hear him at all.
She mistook his reaching hand for an attempt to catch her and ran even faster.
Splash—!
"Glug, glug, glug, glug..."
"The pond..."
Sure enough, the girl had not paid attention to the road under her feet while fleeing. She plunged headfirst into the pond deep in the woods.
After struggling with both arms and legs for a while, she ended up floating motionless on the water with her back facing Shiro's group.
"Ah. She died."
Shizuku put her hands together and said it in a flat, emotionless voice.
"Don't just curse someone to death like that! Shiro, help me pull her out!"
Ikki rushed forward and called for Shiro's help.
...
It was a cramped, gloomy room.
In the corner of the room were torture tools, such as red-hot branding irons.
The girl wore handcuffs and was tied to a creaking wooden chair. Three men and two women stared at her with fierce expressions.
"Talk! Who sent you?"
One purple-haired boy shone a desk lamp into the girl's face. Under the strong light, she was forced to narrow her eyes.
"N-No. I wasn't following him on purpose."
Smack—!
"Caught red-handed, and you still dare deny it? Confess now and we may go easy on you!"
The black-haired boy slammed something like a judge's gavel hard onto the table.
"I-I'm sorry!!"
"Ikki, interrogation like this is useless. Move aside. Criminals like her should be beaten into paste with fists!"
"Eek! No!!"
The girl screamed and sat up in bed.
The small, dark room had disappeared. In its place was a bright white room filled with light, and the faint smell of disinfectant reached her nose.
The familiar scene made the girl realize she was probably lying on a bed in the school infirmary.
'So it was a dream...'
While thinking that being alive was wonderful, the girl began looking around.
Beside the infirmary bed, a purple-haired man and a black-haired man were speaking quietly. A white-haired man was flipping through his student handbook beside them.
A red-haired woman was secretly looking at the white-haired man, while the last silver-haired girl looked displeased as she stared at the purple-haired man.
The girl carefully counted the number of people.
Three men and two women.
Wasn't that exactly the same as in her dream?!
"No! I don't want to be beaten into paste!!"
The girl immediately hugged her head and wailed, trying to awaken the last trace of conscience in the distant white-haired demon.
"You're awake. Is your head all right? When you fell into the pond earlier, it looked like you hit your head and got a huge bump."
The girl's scream drew everyone's attention. The purple-haired man, Arisuin Nagi, looked at her curled-up figure and asked gently.
Hearing Alice's words, the girl touched her head. It did not seem to be anything serious.
"Oh my. Looks like you're already healed. Shizuku's healing art really is impressive."
The interrogation scene from the girl's dream did not happen.
At this moment, she finally understood the situation.
Most likely, she had been scared by the [Demon King], fallen into the pond while running away, hit her head somewhere, and lost consciousness. Then they brought her to the infirmary.
"U-Um, thank you very much for saving me."
The girl immediately got out of bed and sincerely thanked Shiro's group.
"For now, tell us your name and why you were following Ikki."
"Eek!!"
Hearing Shiro's question, she raised her head, only to realize that he had somehow gotten right in front of her. The girl was so frightened that she immediately backed away two steps, sat back on the bed, and quickly turned her head to the other side.
"Do I look that scary...?"
Shiro pointed at his own face and asked Stella. But after glancing at him, she also immediately looked away.
"Guh..."
Stella and the girl's reactions dealt a slight blow to Shiro's pride.
"N-No, that's not it. There's a very personal reason behind this."
She spoke in a voice as quiet as a mosquito.
"I can't look unfamiliar men in the eye while talking... because it's very embarrassing..."
Looking closely, the girl's face was already red to her ears.
Shiro sighed helplessly and brought Ikki and Alice outside the sickbed area. He even pulled the medical curtain closed, leaving the girl inside only able to faintly see their outlines through it.
"Will this do?"
"Thank you for understanding... This is much better. Um, I'm a third-year student, Ayatsuji Ayase."
"Ayatsuji... Senpai, are you related to Ayatsuji Kaito?"
After hearing the girl's name, Ikki suddenly became excited. If Shiro had not stopped him, he might have lifted the curtain and rushed inside.
Ayatsuji Kaito.
Anyone who had even slightly touched swordsmanship knew that name.
As a non-Blazer, he had won awards in almost every famous competition in the swordsmanship world. People called him the [Last Samurai].
Ikki, who had loved swordsmanship since childhood, had long since treated that senior as an idol.
He constantly watched videos of Kaito's fights and learned the essence of his swordsmanship. When he was young, he had even gone to challenge him, only to be refused because Kaito did not take unofficial matches.
But that did not shake Kaito's place in Ikki's heart.
Compared to Ikki, who temporarily raised his magic power with Ittou Shura to fight, Kaito's story was even more inspiring.
He clearly had no magic at all, yet he still relied on his swordsmanship to suppress countless Blazers who used their abilities to commit crimes.
That was why hearing the Ayatsuji surname, which he had not heard in a long time, inside Hagun Academy made Ikki excited.
…
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