“Hey, hey, hey, that trash of a boss, is she really a human being?”
Ijuin looked down at us proudly, hovering near the ceiling with jets on his back.
“Ijuin”
When I looked up at him with hostility, Ijuin laughed with amusement.
“Hey, hey, don’t make that scary face. Isn’t true that she’s a piece of trash? If it was true, an incident of this level, considering my contribution, should have been covered up, but since he can’t even understand that level of subtlety…”
After spouting nauseatingly self-centered logic, Ijuin’s voice lowered.
“Besides, this could be our last time together. Let’s have fun.”
It was a cruel smile that reminded me of a child observing a drowning insect in a puddle.
The gap between his appearance in the classroom and the one he showed me was so intense that I felt a surge of frustration.
“Was it all a lie? All of it?”
“Lie? Ah~, you mean when I apologized in the classroom? That’s right. It was a l-i-e. I had a premonition that if I didn’t do that, the operation would fail.”
I realized it after he told me and was ashamed of my ignorance.
“So, you’ve noticed it. Yes, I can see whether it will work if I make a plan to eliminate you guys and then make a prediction! And the result is that plan. If I apologize to you guys and let your guard down, I will be able to move undetected, and the OU reinforcements will know at a glance where to sneak in and where to succeed!”
I was furious at my own incompetence in being deceived, but more than that, the betrayal of Ijuin was unforgivable, and the back of my head heated up.
“Why!? Why are you cooperating with the OU? And by “eliminating” doesn’t that mean will make you a murderer!? You’re a member of the police squad, aren’t you!? I don’t understand!”
The words that poured out of me were poorly organized and incoherent.
But I really didn’t understand.
It was unusual for a high school student who was working for the police force to be involved in a murder.
Even for revenge, it was strange.
Ijuin should have been sent to a rehabilitation facility during the summer vacation and given a light sentence of three months of supervision.
If he could just hold out for a month, he could go back to his normal life.
“Of course, it was to defect to the OU.”
I could not catch up with the tone of his voice, as if it were a matter of course.
“No, which is why you don’t need to defect to OU, right? Just hold out for the summer break and you, can go back to your normal life, right?”
But Ijuin exhaled languidly as if explaining the world to a dim-witted child.
“Oh, man. That’s just not cool, is it?”
—Not cool?
“What’s daily life will be like? What’s the daily life of living in the shadows with an ex-convict for abetting murder will be like? I’m only 16 years old. Yet I’m going to spend the rest of my life living in the shadows with you guys, standing downwind from you, as an ex-convict. Living like that is hell!”
As soon as he spat that much, Ijuin rolled off his tongue in a good mood.
“But why do I have to defect to the OU, a country that is hostile to Japan? Even though I am a hero for preventing the economic revival of Japan’s rival! It’s true that war criminals are heroes in their own country, but the OU will give me the best treatment if I dispose of you to prove the accuracy of my precognition. I’ll kill the scum that got in my way and get a fresh start in life. It’s the best deal I’ve ever heard.”
“…you, that doesn’t mean you do this!”
“Ahaha, that’s the reaction I wanted.”
Interrupting me, Ijuin fluttered his hands on the machine in a mocking attitude.
“Well, you know, even I know that you shouldn’t cause trouble and you shouldn’t kill people, alright? But that’s just for the winners who are in the ‘safe zone’, no?”
Dropping the tone of his voice, Ijuin made a quiet, angry tone.
“I wouldn’t do this if I wanted to. But think about it. When you’re at the bottom of your life and you know it’s going to be hell for decades to come, and then you get an offer that you can get your life back by sacrificing someone else. Of course, you would do it, wouldn’t you? Only a perverted pervert or a narcissist who pretends to be a tragic hero would say that they would rather live through this misery than sacrifice someone else! Tell you what, if you teleport away, I’ll give up the best treatment and defect to the OU as a normal person. But even if I do, I will use all of my precognition to hinder Japan. I’ll do everything in my power to crush the Japanese economy.”
—Kuhh, it’s impossible for all of us to escape to other prefectures.
“Especially Okui! You ruined my life. Then it makes sense for you to be my stepping stone to get my life back on track, doesn’t it? Hey!”
Triggered by the last word, Ijuin descended with his booster raging.
Kiriha quickly moved forward, but Ijuin caught Kiriha’s fist with his hand and then slammed Kiriha into the gym wall with a single front kick.
“Kiriha!”
Ijuin laughed hysterically as I ran out in heart-stopping terror.
“Oi, oi, is that really it? I thought they said that Harikiri was the strongest physical fighter in the world. Well, this is not a movie, and the fighting power of a person with abilities is just this much.”
I ran up to her and Kiriha, who was lying on the floor, smiled at me.
“It’s okay, Honey. I just lost because of the weight difference.”
“Thank God…..damn, that son of a bitch predicted Kiriha’s move.”
Ijuin could tell as accurately as the near future.
Ijuin had said before that if he applied it to combat, he would know exactly what his opponent’s next move would be.
“But my teleportation doesn’t work either. We’re stuck.”
When I let out a weak cry, Kiriha stood up strongly.
It’s simple. No matter how much he knows ahead of time, a child can never beat an adult. And in the face of overwhelming power, tricks are powerless.”
Lines of light-like grid lines ran across Kiriha’s entire body, creating an exoskeleton-like design.
“I just hope you don’t hate me when you see my full power. No matter who calls me a monster, as long as Honey loves me, I’ll do my best.”
“What are you talking about…!?”
The exoskeleton of grid lines gained substance and mass as if a texture was being stretched over it, increasing its presence.
Four wings as transparent as glass.
Two wiggling antennae extended from her head.
A golden exterior covering her entire body.
Sharp claws shone on the tips of her limbs.
And on the outside of her forearms, she had formed mandibles more reminiscent of a stag beetle than a bee, while on the inside, she was equipped with pile bunker-like stakes.
An exoskeleton covered the lower half of Kiriha’s face, and the mouth of a ferocious wasp, which opened from side to side, opened and closed as if demanding a sacrifice.
Calling her a monster was outrageous.
Her resemblance to an insect bee was as cool as if she were an American comic book hero.
“Hahaha! What a figure! You look like an American comic book villain! So, that’s what you are! This is the best monster extermination ever! It’s a great way to add to my battle record!”
In the blink of an eye, Kiriha was flying right in front of Ijuin.
Even Ijuin, who was supposed to be able to predict, widened his eyes.
“You’re annoying.”
In a return to his earlier innuendo, Kiriha’s front kick kicked the machine in the groin, and Ijuin landed on his arms on the ceiling of the gymnasium.
“You think you’ve won with just a little more power? I’m telling you, my precognition tells me I’m going to win! My foreknowledge is absolute! In other words, you have no future!”
Just as Ijuin began to descend away from the ceiling, I teleported over his head, cutting off a section of the ceiling.
The huge mass of reinforced concrete irresistibly caused Ijuin to fall and be buried in the rubble.
“It’s not a sure thing, is it? Your prediction accuracy is only 90 percent, and you’re wrong one out of every ten times. The fact that you couldn’t avoid the attack just now is proof of that. Then we’ll change the future!”
—Director Sayuri is doing her best, and Miina is enduring on her own. Then I can’t give up.
“Honey is right. We’re going to win! The two of us!”