The wounds caused my Kamui’s finger swords, as well as the wound on my nek, were both treated by Nue-chan, who is currently dressed in only her kiddie panties and bra. In the bathroom she ended up applying Makiron, a disinfectant, on the wound as well as some type of warm ointment to them. Afterwards the wound was closed with a needle and some nylon thread and that was that. When I asked her about any bacterial complications, she merely replied “In South America, where Nue used to live, people who had been shot or stabbed were operated on much more roughly in worse conditions than this”. Apparently this treatment was on the same level as surgery in the past in South America.
However despite my doubts the wound had already begun to close by the next morning. Even if I were to get stabbed or shot, could I really heal in such a short amount of time using that disinfectant? No, this must be the word of that ointment. When I saw Nue-chan that morning I said “Hey, Nue-chan, give me some of that ointment from yesterday. I want to carry it around with me just in case” but the response I got was “That’s Nue-chan’s secretion that only comes out when I am in the mood to do so. I cannot make it whenever someone wants me to”. Hearing that I became so petrified as to what that secretion was that I decided to just forget about whatever loli juice that was. (TL Note: UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH)
However as expected of Nue, a woman, she was able to properly fix any damage on my uniform along the acupuncture points and virtually eliminate any trace of the damage.
While taking Italian classes at school the next day I could barely feel any lingering pain in my body…
At this rate I should heal entirely in less than a week.
But,
(… Even more than my shoulders… My stomach hurts…)
My life has been a nonstop repeating cycle of a beautiful female teacher and four cute girls in a high school classroom.
Woman. Woman. Woman. All that pain is concentrating in my stomach.
(If it wasn’t for Shiranui I would have collapsed from a stomach ulcer by now…)
Once my break ended I trudge myself back to the girly class again… And as I was making my way back.
Basa.
There is a girl standing in front of the photocopy machine with stacks of photocopies of Italian texts scattered all over the floor around her.
“Ah, come on.”
The one putting her elbows on the multi-function photocopier and is clearly not a fan of modern machines…
(Hibari, Yamane…)
It is Hibari, that strange girl who was the only one to vote for me in the popularity poll and Shiranui has said to watch out for.
I thought to just ignore her and walk right past her, but remembering that she had nearly caught me fighting Kamui yesterday… I was so anxious to not attract suspicion that I began to act suspicious. On top of that albeit it only being for a little while I was still seen in hysteria mode.
It would be better to air things out here and just act normal again. If it were a normal boy after all, they would help her pick up the papers of course.
Let’s just act normal here and hopefully make Hibari less distrustful of us.
So I…
“Let me help you.”
I got down on one knee and started to help Hibari pick up the dropped B4 papers.
“… Thank you.”
Hibari ave me a sideways look, and then silently starts to pick up the papers as well.
Basa, basa, basa…
The papers had spread out over a fairly wide area, so the two of us moved a little at a time in a crouched pose to collect them all…
While squatting she was moving her knees to the right and then the left while squatting.
Her tight skirt is sliding up slowly with every movement, little by little before going back down. It is as if I can see something but just barely each time. Over and over again.
… No, stop. If I keep thinking of that it will seem like that was my goal when I decided to help her pick up the papers, making me even more suspicious. Kinji, look away. However if my turn away is too obvious, then even that will look unnatural and weird…!
With even more anxiety than even before I continued to pick up the papers with jerky movements…
– Suddenly Hibari looks at me. At my chest to be exact.
It was as if she was watching me, waiting for me to become distracted.
And,
“… Toyama-kun.”
“… What.”
“You have a gun on you, don’t you?”
… Oh no.
These papers did not fall on the floor…
They were put here on purpose. Hibari had laid a trap for me.
The shoulder holster band that I holster my gun in under my armpit is in a difficult to see location. However, since I had been stabbed in my shoulder I had opened up the uniforms collar to leave my neck and part of my shoulder exposed. By making me bend over to collect the paper… She could clearly see into my clothes.
If I try to prove her wrong, I will have to prove to her I have nothing there.
Then the wound from yesterday with Kamui will be revealed.
It is unavoidable now. I would rather she learn only one of my secrets than two.
“… Don’t tell anyone. I honestly just want to study here.”
– If she were an ordinary girl she wouldn’t talk to me anymore… So I look her straight on and answer her truthfully.
However, Hibari remains calm.
“Toyama-kun. You are from Tokyo Butei High, aren’t you?”
“…”
Have you looked into my past? Why?
“It seems like you have known Shiranui-kun for a long time now, so I guess he is from Tokyo Butei High too.”
Hibari continues to speak as I silently collect the papers.
Why are you interested in either me or Shiranui?
If you are going to be interested in either of us be interested in Shiranui and in a normal way like a normal girl.
“Toyama-kun, do you have an older brother?”
“– Do I have to answer that question?”
When I reply without answering Hibari crouched down… She was no longer looking at the papers but instead directly into my eyes.
“His name… Is it Kinichi?”
Shit. This is bad. How does she…
Something bad is happening just after the whole Kamui situation.
At this point it would be wiser to ascertain Hibari’s true identity rather than simply leave her alone.
If I let her get the jump and lead on me, I might never recover.
No, at this point it might have already happened.
“– Why did you decide to investigate me so much?”
“Because I am a reporter. While I am just a high school student I am not just an apprentice either. I have been working in the editorial department at headquarters since junior high school. Now, I am an exclusive report for the special feature team.”
Reporter…?
“…!”
Then… I remembered.
Like a picture becoming clear in my mind.
That one sentence I was trying to forget for the longest time.
That one hateful sentence written by Hibari Yamane herself.
“Two years ago I wrote a scoop article about your brother. I really hate butei. At the time I had a tip that there was a butei named Kana who was not on the Butei agencies lists… In other words, she was falsely claiming to be someone that she wasn’t. Based on the information provided I ended up pursuing the older brother, who seemed to be an acquaintance of hers. That Kana scandal turned out to be a waste of time, but then the Annabelle incident occurred.”
Her and butei–
Butei need to be careful around the media.
Media will bring you down. To them, politicians are politicians. Celebrities are celebrities. And butei are butei.
Using the freedom of press as a shield they write up and spread inconvenient words, lies, or shrouded truths until their targets are destroyed regardless of who they are.
Even as the era changed from newspapers to the internet, it is journalists who are still the first to write about something and set the tone.
“I had come to this foreign language school in preparation for my time as a foreign correspondent. People tend to approach me on social media whenever they hear something regarding a potential new story… Well when I learned that the younger brother from that case was transferring to this school, I was allowed to take the same class as him.”
“– Don’t ever talk to me again.”
I tried to turn tail and get away from her like a minister accused of accepting illegal donations.
Hibari, however, grabs my sleeve to keep me from running away.
And,
“What is this?”
Suddenly she pulls out a digitally printed photo from her breast pocket. And that photo–
“… tch…!”
It is a photo of my and Kamui pointing our guns at each other.
It seems that Shiranui had predicted the explosion of the improvised grenade that Kamui had set off and Hibari had taken this photo when he had momentarily leaned away from the front of the door.
“It is a little blurry since it was taken from so far away, but I do have audio recordings too.”
Shit…! I thought that there were only ordinary people at this school… I had let my guard down.
– Ordinary people. Even they, in the right place with the right powers can possess a force capable of destroying butei.
Moreover, Kamui is directly involved in this case now.
If this ends up leaking or he learns about this… Kamui could very well hunt down Hibari until she is killed. And nothing could stop him.
In front of me, who is turning pale, Hibari pulls out a business card from the inside pocket of her suit.
Then she stuck the business card onto my aching shoulder and told me her demands.
“– I am Hibari Yamane from Bunshu Weekly. I would like to have an interview. About you.”
Go For The Next!!!
Silvered Tongue Reborn 