Adolescent Adam

Volume 6, Chapter 1 - Beginning of a New Season

Where…am I?

Mutsuki all of a sudden found himself standing there.

He was in the middle of a green-filled forest he had never seen before. The maple and zelkova leaves were such a bright green that he narrowed his eyes. A fresh breeze stroked his cheeks.

The thick underbrush and flowers grew tall and caught the gentle sunlight. Was it springtime? The sun was comfortably warm and made him feel a little sweaty.

Nearby was a well-leveled field likely meant to grow wheat. It must have been harvested a season before because straw was piled up nearby.

His nose detected the warm and sweet scent of crushed wheat and the sharp smell of damp earth.

(Where…in the world am I?)

The idyllic world actually made him nervous.

Where was he? Why was he here?

Fujita Mutsuki was confused about everything, but…

“What are you zoning out for?”

“Wah.”

An impolite tackle hit him from behind.

He looked back and saw the tackler joking around by hiding behind him and clinging to his back.

But when he saw the long hair that flipped up from the action, the boy naturally smiled.

When he saw shiny blonde more beautiful than autumn wheat.

“Stop it, Lucya.”

“Hee hee hee.”

The girl circled around in front of the boy.

The young girl had brown skin. She appeared to be the same age or younger than Mutsuki. Her arms and legs had yet to grow and she still looked somewhat androgynous.

She laughed and wrapped her arm around his, tugged, and hopped onto the nearby pile of straw.

(Who are you?)

That question did not reach the level of words.

Lucya. That was what this girl had been called. Mutsuki had called her that. She rolled over on the straw bed, pulled back her jaw, and gave him an upturned look.

Her fairly angled eyes had a somewhat provocative look to them.

It was the bewitching and defenseless look of a kitten wanting to play.

The boy smiled bitterly and accepted the invitation to climb onto the bed.

There was no tension in either of them. They were two close friends playing together. They did not view each other as a boy and a girl.

But once they were there, they were not childish enough to ignore the fact that they were a boy and a girl in a bed together.

A suggestive atmosphere surrounded them and they blushed.

“…Lucya.”

“Avalon…nn.”

They brought their lips together in unison.

And as the scent of wheat enveloped them, they also brought their bodies together…

“…?”

He woke up.

“Yawn…”

It was a pleasant awakening. Instead of being suddenly jerked from his sleep by the alarm clock, he had been gently roused by the morning sun shining through the gap in the curtain.

After a quick yawn, he got up. It was 6:25, 5 minutes before what the alarm was set for. He hit the top of the clock to switch off the alarm and then got out of bed.

He had not woken before 7 in a while. He had been a little worried, but he had managed just fine.

He stretched to drive away the drowsiness.

“…”

The room contained a bed, a study desk, and a bookcase with manga, textbooks, and cookbooks tidily arranged on it. The plastic model of a giant robot he liked was on the very top of the bookcase.

This was definitely his room in the apartment he had been living in for almost 4 months now.

…It was not a forest.

“What a strange dream,” he muttered.

He tended to forget his dreams as soon as he woke, but this one oddly stuck with him. He remembered the shapes of the trees and the variety of the underbrush and flowers. He remembered the fresh breeze on his cheek and the wheat scent in the bed.

And…

“Lucya-san…huh?”

The heat still lingered at this time of year, but it was plenty cool this early in the morning.

He walked to the living room and opened the balcony window. Fresh air blew in while carrying the powerful morning sun of summer. He enjoyed the feeling of it tickling his heated skin as he washed his face at the kitchen sink.

Afterwards, he realized this was not the bathroom and thus there was no towel. He had no choice but to use his pajamas instead and that was precisely when steam started rising from the rice maker.

The rice had finished cooking according to the timer and he enjoyed its hunger-stimulating aroma as he started heating a frying pan. He laid out 6 slices of bacon and dropped three eggs in once the grease started coming out. The morning friend of bacon and eggs began sizzling nicely.

And…

“Phew. I’m back.”

One of his roommates walked in through the front door.

“Good morning, Micha-san. …You’re back? So you were out?”

“Yes, I was driving around all night. Here’s a souvenir from Lake Biwa.”

She placed a package on the table.

She had said it was a souvenir from the Shiga Prefecture, and yet she gave him an Ise Grand Shrine Eel Pie. That was a Mie Prefecture product. She had apparently been to both Shiga and Mie in the same night.

“I know you like to drive around, but you’ll destroy your new motorcycle too if you ride it too roughly.”

What was done was done, so Mutsuki could only shrug.

Micha had bought a new motorcycle 10 days before and she had been like this ever since.

She said other vehicles got in her way, so she would go out late at night and drive all around Japan. He was starting to worry when she actually slept. Then again, she tended to sleep through the day with a beer in hand, so maybe it was fine.

“How rude. I don’t ride it roughly. And it was Ange that destroyed the last one, not me.”

“Yes, but-…wah!”

He tried to say she was definitely “riding it roughly” when she had driven more than 3000 km in only 10 days, but he quickly looked the other way.

She had reached for the zipper of the riding suit she enjoyed wearing. It was all one piece, so fully unzipping it meant stripping off everything.

She did not hesitate to show off her sweaty, brown, and sexy body. This was too much for an innocent boy so early in the morning.

“I’m thirsty.”

Micha ignored the young boy’s behavior and walked to the fridge. She bent over to reach for the drink section at the very bottom. She was only wearing a black thong, so she pointed her nearly bare ass right at Mutsuki. He had no choice but to look away.

(No, this is a trap.)

But he immediately looked back up.

“You can’t have a beer this early in the morning.”

“Tch.”

Micha had tried to use her body as a weapon to distract the kitchen manager, but she stuck out her tongue and returned the can of beer. She obediently took the mineral water next to it instead.

She must not have liked that he had seen through her trick, so…

“You sure are up early today. You’re usually still asleep.”

“Yes. …Ahh.”

Still half-naked, she walked up behind him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

She was only teasing him this time. The boy felt his heart pounding from the mischievous young woman’s counterattack, so he moved to escape the two mounds on his back.

He reached for the calendar hanging on the side of the kitchen.

“We’re back to our normal schedule today.”

He forcefully tore off the August page.

It was September 1. Summer break had ended the day before and the new school term began today.

“Right.”

The entire year was summer break for Micha (even if she did have her bodyguard job), so she must have forgotten. She smiled bitterly.

“Ahh, ahh. And I thought I could have some fun with you this morning, but you have school, do you?”

“Wha-?”

“Heh heh. Just kidding.”

For no real reason, she teased the boy to the end, kissed his cheek, and retreated to the bathroom.

Left in the kitchen, the boy was half-excited and half-exasperated by the soft sensation and sweet aroma of the young woman’s lips. He soon returned to making breakfast.

He prepared rice, miso soup, bacon and eggs, and pickled cabbage and eggplant. Then he placed enough for 3 on the table.

“Ah.”

He then wondered if he should really have made enough for 3.

“Okay, all done. I’m so hungry.”

After changing into her normal clothes, Micha returned from the changing room. She would grab a beer if he let her, so he served her some tea he had heated earlier.

“Is Ange here?”

“Hm? Oh, right. She might be back.”

The two of them looked to their other roommate’s room.

A plate reading Ange’s Room hung from the door. They knocked.

There was no response.

“We’re coming in, Ange.”

After a loud warning, Mutsuki waited a moment and then grabbed the knob.

Inside they found…Ange’s normal room. The amount of stuff inside (mostly stuffed animals) had grown, but it was still quite tidy. This was the angel bodyguard’s idea of interior decoration.

But the room was empty.

Its owner was not there. The only thing lying in the bed was her beloved Lazy Bear body pillow.

“She’s gone again?”

Mutsuki frowned.

It had been like this a lot lately. It had started after the midway point of summer break. After the camping trip they all went on maybe? She would sometimes disappear without warning.

It sometimes happened during the day and sometimes at night. She would be away from the apartment for long periods of time. When she left at night she tended not to be back by morning, just like this. She had left after dinner the night before and she was apparently still not back.

Mutsuki had tried asking her where she was going, but she would only ever say “none of your business”.

Unlike Micha, she was not the type to head out at night for fun…or so he thought.

“I’m worried,” said Micha in a serious tone for once.

That only increased Mutsuki’s anxiety. He doubted that strongest angel could be in any danger, but still.

“…”

Mutsuki returned to the dining table in a dark mood. He started to bring his hands together, but…

“Mutsuki-kun, you have some sleep in your eye.”

“Oh…okay.”

Micha pointed at his right eye from the other side of the table.

This would be thanks to his sloppy job of washing his face in the kitchen. He walked to the changing room to get it out before eating.

(Where is Ange…and what is she doing?)

This was the 1st day of the new term, but his mood was heavy.

He reached for the changing room door.

(I wish she would tell me whatever it was.)

Click.

“…Huh?”

“Eh?”

His eyes met a pair of blue and blinking eyes.

Ange had apparently just finished taking a shower. She was gathering her glossy red hair in one hand while drying off her body.

Her completely nude body, that is.

Mutsuki blinked his eyes which had no sleep in them.

Micha had to have known someone was in the bathroom since she had been in the changing room a bit earlier. He heard that mischievous young woman cackling in the background, and…

“Ah ha ha. Welcome back, Ange.”

A kick from the strongest angel sent him flying.

“Again! It wasn’t on purpose!”

“Shut up, shut up! Stay away from me, Pervert Demon King!”

The two students left the apartment while arguing on the very first day of the new term.

Ange had spent a good 15 minutes in anger before they could eat breakfast, so they were running a little late.

He never did get to ask her where she had gone the night before, but he decided not to worry about it since she was behaving the same as always.

The two of them jogged down the sidewalk.

They only had the opening ceremony today. Their bags rattled lightly with only a few pieces of homework in them.

“It’s already autumn.”

“I don’t know much about the human world’s seasons, so how is autumn any different from summer?”

“I’ll admit it’s still pretty hot.”

There really was no visible change.

For example, there was not a cloud in the blue sky and the early cicadas were chirping even though it was only around 8.

But the change from August to September still meant a lot. Even if it was mostly in his head.

Just thinking that a new season was beginning made it feel like the air surrounding his world was changing.

He felt like something was about to begin, but…

“Yeah, but I really wish our hero, Summer Break, hadn’t ended.”

“Oh, good morning, Sakae.”

They just so happened to be walking in at the same time, so his childhood friend Tomono Sakae approached from the side.

“A new term, huh? I’m the guy for enjoying our school life, so I don’t hate school, but I still hate losing the protection of our hero, Summer Break.”

“I know what you mean.”

Mutsuki smiled bitterly and agreed with his friend who was breathing the same sigh as every other student in the country.

“Quit complaining, quit complaining. The second term means all sorts of youthful events like the cultural festival and the athletic festival.”

Someone else arrived from the opposite side.

“Good morning, Kurikara-san.”

“Morning, Mutsuki-kun, Ange-chan, Tomo-chi?”

“Good morning, Saya.”

“Mornin’. And what’s this Tomo-chi nonsense?”

It was their classmate and friend Kurikara Saya. She had apparently overslept, so she fussed with her messy twintails as she joined them.

This was 4 of the 6 who had gone on a camping trip together the month before. During the second half of summer break, Mutsuki had hung out with Sakae like normal and Saya had stopped by the apartment to visit Ange, so he had seen both of them fairly recently. Still, it had been half a month since they were all present.

They decided to use this chance to walk to school together.

They jogged partway there, so they caught up with the other students by the time they reached the base of the hill on which Megutono Academy was built. If they were in that group, they would not be late. They slowed their pace as they reached the hill.

“Sigh. I hate getting up so early, but it is nice having school in session. It was so depressing climbing the hill with no one here for practice during the break.”

“Oh, right. You’re on the softball team, Kurikara, so you came to school during the break, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. This year was especially bad. We’re going to the fall tournament, so the 3rd year upperclassmen are really going all out.”

They felt comfortable enough to talk now.

When these 4 gathered, Sakae and Saya were generally the talkers while Mutsuki and Ange were the listeners. Their personalities matched up nicely like that. It was a perfect friendship.

“Oh, yeah. I did hear that the softball, soccer, and…lacrosse teams were going all out this year.”

“Yeah. The lacrosse team most of all. Not even our team can hope to match the effort they’re putting in.”

This was fortunately a conversation that made it difficult for Mutsuki or Ange to join in.

A lot of the teams and clubs had been working throughout summer break this year: Saya’s softball team, the judo team, the brass band, the jazz club, the soccer team, etc.

But the lacrosse team was apparently putting in the most effort. Mutsuki had heard about that since his little sister was on the elementary school lacrosse team.

As to why…

“I wonder if that rumor is true.”

“It supposedly is. They say she’s coming back. I don’t know when, though.”

“Sigh. Her, huh?”

“She” even gathered the interest of entirely normal students like Sakae and Saya.

She had left the school in the spring, but she was apparently back now that the 1st term was over. Word of her return for the 2nd term had already spread throughout the school.

Just hearing that she was coming back had filled the lacrosse team (to which she belonged) with enough motivation to work throughout summer break. The rumor had even made it to Mutsuki’s class in a lower year. He also overheard some of the other nearby students talking about the rumor.

“…”

Neither Mutsuki nor Ange were very talkative.

A new term was beginning, but Mutsuki was not 100% cheerful.

In fact, he had more worries than anything. Ange was out of the house a lot lately. The conflict over the Serpent’s Eye between the angels, demons, and FeTUS had settled down during summer break, but none of it had been resolved.

And now they were catching glimpses of a new group that had combined FeTUS technology with demonic power.

“See ya.”

“Yeah, good luck, Sakae.”

“Sure thing.”

All 4 of them walked to school together, but they parted ways with Sakae in front of the classroom. He was the Class Rep, so he had a lot to do for the opening ceremony.

Once inside, Saya temporarily left them since her desk was further away and then Mutsuki and Ange sat in their seats near the window.

They had not been in the classroom for a month, so it was full of enjoyable differences.

With minute changes such as grown-out hair or tanned skin accumulating in a single classroom, it felt a bit like walking into a strange world half a step removed from their normal life.

“Ah, Mutsuki-ku~n?”

“Good morning, Lucia-kun… Ah.”

There were some bigger changes too.

Someone who had already arrived called out to him: Satowa Lucia in the seat next to Ange’s on the back row.

He himself had not changed. In fact, he lacked even the minute changes since he was not human and thus his hair did not grow and his skin did not tan.

But Mutsuki was shocked when he saw the classmate sitting in the next seat forward.

“…Good morning, Niki-san.”

“Ah…sorry.”

That was Mutsuki’s desk, so the classmate got up after noticing him there. After a quick word to Lucia, she left.

Lucia responded normally, but he lost interest in her the instant she left and then smiled at Mutsuki. Mutsuki set his bag down and asked a question.

“What did Niki-san want?”

“Hm? Oh, she’s performing with a band for the cultural festival and she wanted to know if I would join her.”

“Hmm…”

The seat was a little warm when Mutsuki sat down. He felt oddly restless and looked toward the girl.

Niki Hozumi. She was well known for wanting to stand out. Her hair had only been a little bleached during the 1st term, but now it looked like it had been gilded.

She must have been trying out a new look for her post summer break debut. Mutsuki noticed a lot of their classmates stealing glances her way, so he was not the only one shocked by this.

She had likely decided to renew herself for the new term and then tried inviting Lucia as the most visually interesting classmate.

“She said something about gathering today for a planning meeting, but I wasn’t really listening.”

Her attempt had apparently not been very successful.

“More importantly, school is finally starting back up. Eh heh heh. It was hard finding chances to see you over the break because a certain stupid angel kept getting in the way.”

Lucia ignored their classmate’s new look and only expressed any interest in Mutsuki.

“That’s right. We can see each other every day now.”

Mutsuki nodded.

They had known each other for 4 months now. Mutsuki had not known what to do about this boy’s affection at first, but he had started accepting it recently. And…

“Well excuse me for being a third wheel.”

“No, um, that wasn’t what I meant.”

“…Hmph.”

Ange must have heard him because she put on a lopsided frown.

What he had ended up saying may indeed have been rude, so he smiled bitterly and apologized. But…

“Huh? So you knew you were getting in our way?”

“What did you say!?”

The demon’s comment ignited the angel.

Even after 4 months and even after going on a camping trip together, these 2 still did not get along.

But luckily…

“Ki-pon sure does stand out now.”

“Oh…”

“Oh…”

When Saya walked over after leaving her things at her desk, the 2 of them lowered their tone.

“They do say summer can change a girl. …What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

Ange sat back down and Lucia did not provoke her any further.

Those 2 were always fighting, but they had a tacit understanding that they could not fight in front of normal people who were ignorant of angels and demons.

That likely meant they had grown accustomed to the human world over the past 4 months.

Saya did not notice the dangerous mood and sat in the seat in front of Ange while still focused on Niki’s new look.

“Maybe I should dye my hair too. But if I go too far, sensei will get mad at me.”

She tugged on her hair which was a little messy today.

“What do you think, Lu-kun? Do you think I should get it dyed?”

“Hmm. I think looks fine the way it is. Your natural hair color is brown, so adding any weird colors would probably stand out too much.”

She began speaking with Lucia entirely naturally.

Those two had apparently found a lot in common during the summer break camping trip, so they were getting along really well recently. Saya even called Lucia “Lu-kun”.

“Maybe so. But…” Saya turned toward Ange. “I kind of want to try out red hair. Like Ange-chan.”

“Yawn… Wh-what are you doing, Saya?”

Saya grabbed some of Ange’s long hair and rubbed her cheek against it.

“Eh heh heh heh. Your hair is so great, Ange-chan. It’s so silky and smooth? How do you take care of it?”

“Nothing special. I just wash it and dry it like normal.”

“And you get this? Ohhh, it’s like a miracle. I’m so jealous.”

“W-wait. I get it, so don’t sniff it.”

Those 2 also got along now. Ange was unsociable to the core, but she no longer treated Saya like a nuisance and Saya now approached Ange like they were friends.

“Eh heh heh heh heh heh. Sniff, sniff… Eh heh heh heh heh. It smells so good.”

“…Saya?”

“Uweh heh heh heh heh heh???”

Although Saya sometimes did things that seemed to go beyond mere friends.

“I agonized over it for half a month, but I’ve made up my mind, Ange-chan. I’ll stay true to you.”

“Huh?”

“No more wavering. Maki-nyan might be incredibly…but I’ll stay on a path I can believe in!”

“???”

Saya seemed to have made some kind of decision.

She muttered something in the middle that the others could not quite make out. Ange could only tilt her head at this friend who had been acting a little oddly since the camping trip.

“But it really is so silky. I’m jealous. I practically have to fight mine every morning.”

More than just smell it, she also ran her fingers through the silky red hair and then felt her own hair for comparison.

She had not fought sufficiently this morning, so it was sticking out in places.

“This isn’t very good. And on the 1st day of the new term too…”

It apparently bothered her, so she started combing it with her hand.

However, that was not going to help much.

“Ugh. I should have brought a brush. Hey, does anyone have one?”

She was not the type to wear makeup or mess with her eyebrows, so she did not even have a brush with her. So she asked.

Unfortunately, Mutsuki, Ange, and Lucia all shook their heads, so she looked across the classroom in search of someone else to borrow a brush from. And…

“…”

“Oh, good morning, Ibekusa-san.”

“…Good morning.”

It was precisely 8:30. Machina arrived just as the bell was about to ring.

They had gotten in the habit during the 1st term, so she greeted Mutsuki when he called out to her. Lucia showed no sign of greeting her, but it did look like Ange exchanged a brief glance with her.

Her seat was in front of Ange, so Saya started to get up. But Machina shook her head, said not to worry about it, and only set her bag down on the desk.

Saya settled back down, and…

“Hey, hey. Machi-nyan, do you have a hairbrush or a comb?”

“?”

“My hair’s kind of messy and I can’t go to the opening ceremony like this.”

“…Wait.”

Machina searched through her bag.

From his angle, Mutsuki could see her grab a pen.

She briefly stuck it back in the bag and then pulled out a plastic comb.

“Here one is.”

“Yay? Thank goodness. Let me borrow it, let me borrow it.”

Saya reached out her hand, but…

“Positive.”

Machina ignored that and circled behind her.

“Stay still.”

“Huh…hh?”

Machina began combing the brown hair that was sticking out all over the place.

“Oh…oh, ohhhh…”

Saya had not expected this, so she froze up.

Machina continued thoroughly combing down the brown hair.

The gentle massage sapped all strength from Saya’s shoulders.

“Ahhh…? I’m so unfaithful…?”

For some reason, her face grew as slack as her shoulders.

This was the 1st day of the new term.

Their school life was starting back up and Mutsuki’s cheeks relaxed at finding it even better than he had hoped.

Ange, Machina, and Lucia were gathered together and it all felt natural.

Anyone who saw them would only see a group of friends spending their morning together.

No one would ever imagine that 3 of the 5 were representatives of 3 different deadly and ruthless groups. That made him happy.

“…”

Even if a change was approaching fast.

“…Mutsuki-kun?”

Lucia noticed the sudden cloud that fell over Mutsuki’s expression as he watched the 3 frolicking girls.

“It’s nothing.”

He immediately smiled to hide his thoughts, but it was too late and the girls looked his way too.

Ange and Saya tilted their heads to ask him what this was about. Machina also gave him a puzzled look even if her expression did not change.

Of the 3, the boy’s eyes naturally stopped on Machina.

His biggest worry about the coming term had to do with FeTUS.

He had been worrying about this – about “her” – for the entire half a month since the camping trip.

He had wanted to ask about it, but Machina had dodged the question when he had asked right after the camping trip and he doubted she would answer now either.

And…

“Hey, everyone. The opening ceremony’s starting soon, so we need to get to the auditorium.”

A portion of the answer came from somewhere else.

Class Rep Sakae returned and instructed everyone to move to the auditorium. The class started getting up and leaving the classroom.

Sakae walked over to Mutsuki’s group.

“C’mon, Mutsuki and Satowa. You too, Jiyuuni and Ibekusa. …Kurikara? That expressions is creeping me out.”

He urged them to start moving.

The 6 of them naturally split into a boy group and a girl group.

Sakae and Mutsuki were childhood friends and Lucia stuck with them.

Even if Ange and Machina had no intention of grouping together, Saya naturally tied them together.

As Class Rep, Sakae drove the entire class out before leaving himself.

“The rumors were true. She’s in the auditorium.”

“Eh?”

He locked up the classroom as he explained.

“Shirohara-senpai was there.”

Megutono Academy had an elementary, middle, and high school and they each had their own opening ceremony to get through, so there was a real motivation to speed them all along.

Each ceremony was scheduled to begin in the auditorium an hour apart, so that luckily meant the headmaster could not give too long a speech. It unluckily meant they were rushed in and out.

This time, no one was paying a lick of attention to the headmaster’s mercifully short speech.

Almost everyone was watching the one student standing alongside the teacher’s on the side of the auditorium stage.

“And next we will have a greeting from the Student Council President.”

The headmaster stepped down from the stage and a broadcast club member made that announcement.

Excitement filled all of the middle school students in the auditorium.

She moved across the stage.

Not only was she beautiful, but her hips were positioned incredibly high, which gave her a strange intensity as she walked. Her light brown hair fluttered elegantly behind her, which filled everyone with tension as they watched.

She bowed toward the national and school flags hanging behind the stage and straightened up. Everyone naturally straightened their back as she faced them.

“I would like to begin by greeting you all.”

Her speech had a mysterious ability to draw people in.

“At the request of Previous Student Council President Tanaka Kozue-san, I have returned to my position of President today. I am Shirohara Ren.”

It was the same as the year before.

“…”

Mutsuki was especially tense.

“I left this school before, but I have returned for this term and will do what I can to give you all a proper school life.”

She was speaking through a microphone, but every last person listened attentively as if she were facing and speaking to them personally.

“This term will be busy with the cultural festival, athletic festival, and other events, and it is time to focus on trial exams and your studies for the 2nd and 3rd years. With so much to do, it will not be an easy term.”

It felt like being admonished by their mothers. In a word, it was a comfortable speech.

But it was more than just kind. It also contained a strength that seemed to burn their ears.

That imposing girl’s words were always like this.

“My name is Lavriel Baran. I am Miss B of the FeTUS Witches as well as daughter of the proud Baran family which has left its name in 350 years of British history. You may call me Dame Lavriel.”

She had spoken to them when he had met her at the campground on that day halfway through summer break and those words still rang vividly in Mutsuki’s ears.

This reminded him that they really were the same person.

“…”

A gloomy feeling rose in his chest and he bit his lip.

Shirohara Ren had left the school in March, but she retained enough influence to gather everyone’s attention with a single speech. She had been Megutono Academy’s Middle School Student Council President for the previous year.

…And Mutsuki had secretly looked up to her.

But she was Miss B of the FeTUS Witches.

She was part of an organization that was targeting him.

FeTUS was a relatively trustworthy group and Mutsuki at least did not feel all that nervous about them. He had even visited their headquarters without a bodyguard. He was on friendly terms with Machina, aka their Miss E.

But it was still a complicated feeling.

“That ends my greeting. Thank you very much for listening.”

Ren finished her model speech as boldly as ever.

She bowed toward the audience, bowed toward the flags behind her, and then descended from the podium. And as she did…

“…”

“…”

Mutsuki thought she briefly looked his way, so he quickly looked away.