Adolescent Adam

Volume 5, Chapter 8 - The Door Has Opened

Even in the morning, night, or evening, FeTUS headquarters was filled with the gentle light of day.

Once again, Miss A, aka Miss Alice, sat in a white wooden chair during her teatime.

She was alone today as she enjoyed a Darjeeling.

“Hmm.”

Due to the humidity, the tea’s color was a bit dark.

It had not been brewed perfectly, but the slight changes from day to day were one of the highlights of tea. She took a sip and savored the somewhat stronger flavor.

It was a little too bitter, so she returned the cup to its saucer and picked up her fork.

Today’s tea cake was a castella. She scooped up a small piece and carried it to her mouth.

“…”

The sweet flavor spread through her mouth.

At the same time, the strong smell of bitter melon stung her nose.

“Bitter melon castella? …This will not serve as a teacake.”

Her childish face wrinkled as she washed the flavor down with the Darjeeling.

She then leaned back in her chair.

The sunlight was perfect for a comfortable nap, so she calmly closed her eyes.

“…”

But then she opened them and reached into her skirt pocket.

She pulled out a ribbon. A neatly balled-up ribbon. She straightened it out and removed just the right scrunchie of the two in her hair.

She brushed her long honey-colored hair by hand and tied it in place with the ribbon.

It was a cheap ribbon with a bear character printed on it.

“?”

Miss Alice smiled slightly.

“Well? Did Miss B end up going to Hi-no-Hoka Valley?”

“Yes. Miss E and that group might have been camping there too.”

When two witches walked in, she quickly hid the ribbon.

“Oh, there you are, Miss A. …Why are you undoing your hair?”

“No reason. My head just itched is all.”

Miss C, aka Schwarze, sat across from her and Miss D the Maid, aka Makoto, quickly began preparing tea for her. Miss Alice cleared her throat and surreptitiously put the hidden ribbon in her pocket while making sure she would not leave any creases on it.

Schwarze did not notice and took a sip of the tea served to her.

“Isn’t Miss B doing too much? At this rate, Fujita will find out who she is.”

“Her duty is to deter the angels. Him knowing her identity is not a problem.”

“Hmph. And yet you wouldn’t shut up about me having to stay hidden.”

She glared at Miss Alice over that difference in treatment, but the small girl put her scrunchie back on and replied calmly.

“She had no choice this time. She has been searching desperately for that cousin she calls her sister and information on what seems to be her arrived from Hi-no-Hoka Valley.”

“…I know that.”

Schwarze was not happy, but she stopped being so hostile.

Miss B, aka Lavriel Baran, had come to Japan for a variety of reasons: to protect Miss A, to help deter the angels, to keep watch over the Adam boy, and one other reason.

Her Baran family was in danger of dying out and the two siblings and only possible heirs had been imprisoned in Japan, so she had to find them.

And a presence that seemed to be the younger sister had been sensed at Hi-no-Hoka Valley where Mutsuki’s group was camping.

So…

“She might actually accomplish something this time. I received word from Miss E earlier.” Miss Alice sharpened her gaze. “She discovered a Kurosaki facility at Hi-no-Hoka Valley.”

Schwarze’s porcelain cup clacked against its saucer.

Kurosaki. When she heard that word, her entire body tensed like a female cat that had been driven out of its territory.

She could not hide the caution and panic oozing from her body.

Miss Alice frowned at that, but Makoto did not seem to notice.

“That does sound promising since Kurosaki were the ones that kidnapped those siblings.”

“Yes.”

At that very moment, the grassy plain hologram vanished and darkness surrounded them. At the same time, a red light flashed on the ceiling and a piercing siren rang.

“An intruder!?”

The primitive warning sound did not suit the elegant grassy plain or the cutting-edge scientific facility. And that was sign of just how great an emergency this was.

FeTUS headquarters had been built to resist divine punishment and yet it had allowed an intruder in far enough to trigger this level of alarm? That should have been impossible, so the three witches reached for their weapons.

…But.

“I’m sorry, teacher.”

The intruder had already reached the darkness in this room and she revealed her position to them.

“I wanted to make a visit without causing a scene, but I got caught by your security at the very, very end.”

It was a childish and adorable girl’s voice.

When Miss Alice heard it, she relaxed and snapped her fingers to say none of this was necessary. The warning lights and siren stopped and the grassy plain image returned to the room.

“I’m not saying you should be careless, but it is rude to sneak in like this. If you want to visit, use the front entrance.”

The artificial sunlight revealed a girl with purple hair.

She grinned seemingly defenselessly as Miss Alice sighed.

“I thought you were in Hi-no-Hoka Valley. Lav went to meet you there.”

“And that’s why I came here. If I met her, she’d definitely take me back to the Baran family. And then I’d be separated from my master.”

“What a pain. But fine. Since you’re here, have some tea.”

“Okay.”

The girl approached, but Schwarze and Makoto had yet to relax. Even if Miss A was being friendly with her, they could not let their guard down around this girl.

Lavriel’s “little sister” was the heir to the Baran family. She had been kidnapped by Kurosaki.

And now she belonged to Kurosaki of her own free will.

The two faced each other from across the table.

“It’s been a long time, Riselle.”

“Yes, it has, teacher.”

The exhaustion of their 3 days and 2 nights of fun hit them all at once on the train-ride home.

It was a 3-hour ride with no stops along the way. All 6 of them were crammed into opposing seats and they had fallen asleep.

Starting from the window, Saya, Mutsuki, and Sakae sat on the front end seat and Ange, Machina, and Lucia sat on the back end seat.

The only 2 awake were Mutsuki and Machina in the middle seats.

Mutsuki found it hard to sleep in the middle. Saya and Sakae were leaning on his shoulders, so he could not even move.

“Eh heh? Eh heh heh? Don’t ask me to choose, Ange-chan, Machi-nyan…”

“Uuh…fish…I hate fish…”

He could only sit there and listen to them speaking in their sleep.

Machina did not seem all that tired, but she was just as pinned in place. Ange was leaning against the window, but Lucia was resting his head in Machina’s lap.

Everyone else was sleeping so peacefully that those two did not dare move. They could not even break out the playing cards or Uno cards, so they could only smile bitterly at each other.

Machina had always been taciturn and they could not speak too loudly, so they remained silent.

The train shook rhythmically and the setting sun shined in through the window, so Mutsuki naturally found himself remembering the night before.

Shirohara Ren…no, the knight girl who called herself FeTUS Witches Miss B had left, saying she was going to investigate that Kurosaki Laboratory.

A lot had weighed on Mutsuki’s mind, but Sakae and the other 2 had shown up after growing worried from the animal cries they heard. They had all returned to the cabin without giving him a chance to ask anything. He had tried asking Machina the following morning, but she had been tightlipped about Ren. It did seem Ren had already left the campground.

It had been a fun camping trip, but the previous night’s incident had left a bit of a bad flavor in his mouth.

He had been reunited with the upperclassman he had looked up to. And she turned out to be a high-ranking member of an organization opposed to the angels.

The Bio Springloaded had appeared as a new powerful enemy. Not to mention Kurosaki.

The trip had left him with more confusion and anxiety than anything.

And there was one more thing.

(What is wrong with me?)

He had sensed an odd uneasiness inside himself during the camping trip.

It had started with the incredible arousal of fucking Schwarze outside. Ever since learning of that intense sense of liberation, he had started noticing this new feeling inside himself.

He had felt this emotion a few times before while driving girls mad through sex.

It was an almighty feeling.

And he recently felt like he was having trouble stopping it.

Even when he was far outmatched by the enemy in front of his eyes the night before, he had felt no fear and never even considered running away.

There was a horribly arrogant part of him.

And that scared him. He felt like he would eventually do something unthinkable.

And that concern was only amplified by the fact that he had the Serpent’s Eye.

He had the power to rule over all women.

“Fujita-kun?

“Ah, what?”

Just as his thoughts started entering a dark place, Machina snapped him out of it.

She must have noticed the depressed look on his face, so she spoke in a quiet but powerful voice.

“This is not a problem. The Kurosaki incident was our mistake. We will deal with it.”

“Oh…r-right.”

That was not what he had been thinking about, but it was a worry all the same. He smiled and thanked her for the reassurance.

Machina looked a little relieved and lowered her gaze.

“And we aren’t the only ones helping you.”

She looked down to Lucia who was muttering something while sleeping in her lap like he owned the place.

That uninhibited boy only cared about himself and Mutsuki, so he did not seem interested in who was an enemy or ally. And…

“…Ah.”

The train reached a curve and they were pulled toward the aisle.

Lucia, Saya, and Sakae were fine, but Ange’s center of gravity must have been off balance because she tilted back from the window.

“Nn…”

She shifted from the right to left and rested her head on Machina’s shoulder.

She briefly opened her eyes, but her foggy mind seemed calmed by the smell of her own shampoo coming from Machina’s hair. She closed her eyes once more.

She could be so much trouble while awake, but she was just like a 4-year-old child while asleep. Both Mutsuki and Machina smiled.

When he saw Lucia and Ange sleeping so defenselessly, Mutsuki felt his final concern vanishing inside him.

Everything would be fine. Even if someone did show up to destroy the equilibrium…

(They aren’t going to fight each other again.)

Or so he thought.

And if that day did eventually come, he would stop them even if he was not almighty.

At that very moment, they reached another curve. This time, they were pulled toward the window.

Lucia and Sakae were fine, but Saya’s upper body wobbled a little. And…

“Ahh…”

“Ow. …Ah?”

Machina had also been pulled over. Toward the window. Toward Ange.

Her forehead hit that of the girl right next to her.

The sudden headbutt woke Ange and she looked shocked to find Machina’s face close enough for their noses to touch.

“Wait. W-what?”

“Sorry. The curve came too suddenly…”

And…

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

When Saya woke up, she screamed and looked even more shocked. She woke up Lucia, Sakae, and every other passenger sleeping on the train. Her voice left Mutsuki’s ears ringing.

But Saya ignored all that and trembled while staring at Ange and Machina with their faces so very close.

“A-a-a k-k-k-kiss…”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

“You’re so mean! I thought you two were fighting over me, but you were actually already together!? Were you just using me for some fun!? Was I a snack!?”

She must have been half-asleep because no one could figure out what she was yelling about.

“Um, Saya?”

“Kurikara-san, what is this?”

“You’re so meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean! Wahhh, I was used! You used me!”

“???”

“???”

Neither the angel nor the FeTUS Witch knew how to deal with this crazy girl’s accusations. They were utterly baffled.

“Shut up and let me sleep.”

“Kurikara… So you really do feel that way about Jiyuuni. And Ibekusa is part of all this too? You’re not making this easy, are you? Looks like I’ll have to work this all out for you as thepopular guy.”

Lucia did not seem at all interested and Sakae seemed oddly understanding of it all.

Mutsuki had no idea why Saya was angry, but this told him the camping trip they had taken as normal classmates had ended peacefully. He just had to smile.