"Ah, Mika-san. Good morning."
I woke up in a dormitory on the Aegis. After getting all the stranded people onto the ship, I checked the time and decided it was better to just sleep here rather than take a helicopter back to the mainland. They offered me a VIP room, but I told them I didn't need it; any place where I could wash up and lie down immediately was fine. They gave me this six-person dorm.
To prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, we had taken responsibility for Wakamo's custody, but I hadn't bothered to handcuff her once we were in the room. Why? I guess you could say we were all united against a common enemy: Kaiser.
More importantly, the first thing I saw upon opening my eyes was Niko's smiling face. It was so comforting that I felt a strong urge to go back to sleep.
"...Mmm. Morning to you too, Niko-chan."
Yawning behind my hand, I pulled my phone out from under my pillow. I thought I'd set an alarm for 6:00, but the screen read 6:50.
…Did I turn it off in my sleep and go back to bed? I usually wake up right on time, but I could feel that my mental state, more so than my physical one, had been deteriorating lately. The fatigue was no joke. I find that spending time at the cathedral is surprisingly helpful for finding peace, so I made a mental note to stop by once the festival was over.
"Ugh…"
I'd given Nagisa a brief explanation of the situation before skipping a late dinner and heading straight to bed after a shower. As a result, my Momotalk was flooded with messages. How was I supposed to reply to all of these? I decided to just pretend I was still asleep and not even open them.
I was about to turn off the screen and close my eyes again when I noticed Niko was still staring at me.
"Um, why are you staring so intently…?"
"There's something I wanted to ask you."
"Yawn… Yeah, what's up?"
It was getting hard to hold back my yawns. I considered going back to sleep, but the mountain of things I had to deal with made it impossible.
"Mika-san, what do you think of the General Student Council President?"
"?"
That was an unexpected question. I found it a little hard to grasp why Niko would ask me something like that.
"Ah! You don't have to look so serious. I'm just purely curious. The perspective of one superhuman on another… it's a pretty interesting topic, don't you think?"
"...Eh? A fellow superhuman? Her and me?"
Niko's eyes crinkled as she nodded. Wow, Niko sure knows how to joke around. If you compared my abilities to the General Student Council President's, I'd be maybe 0.3 of a GSC President, tops? And that's only because of what I've learned while acting as Host; right after possessing this body, I would've been barely 0.1.
If you exclude raw power, a comparison between us is completely invalid. And even
with power included, the GSC President's ability to support all of Kivotos by herself is beyond common sense. In terms of pure power, Hina, who supports all of Gehenna on her own, is probably closer to being a superhuman than I am. If the GSC President is a perfect hexagon, Hina is a slightly smaller one.
In terms of sheer competence, Rio also comes to mind. Her actions tarnish her image, but in terms of ability, she's flawless. To be able to build a fortress city while embezzling massive funds without getting caught… she's on another level.
Anyway.
"Let me make one thing clear: I am absolutely not a superhuman like the General Student Council President. Politics, administrative work, internal affairs—I fall short of her in every aspect. Calling me a superhuman is too much."
"Aha. So, in other words, you're the type to overvalue others' strengths while downplaying your own. I get it!"
Wait. Did I just get played? Was that it…?
"Thank you for your answer. As a reward, here, have some inarizushi I made."
"Ah, uh, thanks. I'll enjoy it."
Feeling a bit dazed, I sat up and took the plate from Niko. This looked a little different from the inarizushi I was used to. It was topped with all sorts of things; the ingredients and appearance were definitely different from what I ate as a kid.
"The fried tofu isn't my original recipe, sadly, but it's nice to have a variety of toppings. Everyone else already ate and left for the festival, so feel free to take your time."
"...Huh? Everyone's gone? What about Wakamo-chan?"
"Oh, about that… she surprisingly put on the handcuffs herself…? The key is on the desk over there."
…Did I hear that right?
That Wakamo voluntarily put herself in handcuffs?
Aha, this is a lucid dream.
"Yeah, there's no way this is real."
"What do you mean?"
"Ahaha! This whole situation, of course. A student hijacks a school ship to commit terrorism, and then the ship sinks. There's no way that's real, right, Niko-chan?"
"...You must have a lot on your mind with the cleanup. Please enjoy the inarizushi I made, and do your best today, okay?"
Niko looked at me with pity before reaching out and gently patting my head. It was one of the first times anyone had ever done that to me, and… well. There was something about Niko's comforting aura that made the situation feel natural. I don't know about anything else, but I felt like some of my fatigue had lifted. Maybe about 3% of it.
After Niko took her hand back and went to do her own thing, I picked up a pair of chopsticks. It felt a little awkward eating in bed, since I'd rarely done it before, but I was hungry after skipping dinner last night.
Is this topping crab meat…? This is salmon roe… and this one looks like some kind of shellfish, though I'm not sure. I started with the most standard-looking one, the salmon roe inarizushi.
The next thing I knew, I had devoured every last piece on the plate.
What? Is inarizushi allowed to be this delicious? And she even said the fried tofu wasn't her own recipe? Maybe I should ask her to teach Nagisa sometime. If Nagisa learns this, it could be a weapon that would make even Haruna swoon.
Afterward, I roughly straightened my bedding and checked on Wakamo. She was sleeping like a convict, one arm handcuffed to the bedpost. …The problem is, she actually
is a convict. I found the key on the desk, just as Niko said, and unlocked her cuffs. I figured a girl who would handcuff herself wasn't about to run off while I was in the shower.
Then, I grabbed the SRT uniform I'd worn yesterday and headed for the bathroom. The uniform, which had been neatly washed and dried while I slept, was now impossible for Yukino to wear again, thanks to the holes I had to make in the back for my wings. I could have returned the rest, but she told me I didn't have to, so I eagerly kept it. Honestly, the design is pretty sharp, so I figured I could just remove the SRT mark and wear it occasionally. Or cover it with a Trinity emblem.
First, I needed to wash up quickly, wake Wakamo, and readjust our schedule a bit.
I stepped into the bathroom and unwrapped a new toothbrush from beside the sink.
Ahaha!
And once again, I met her. I met Misono Mika in the mirror.
Unlike her fleeting appearance before, this time Mika was sitting perched on the sink, watching me. Knowing she wasn't there, I still turned my head to where she should be, but of course, she was gone.
When I looked back at the mirror, I noticed a change. The Mika in the mirror was playfully poking my cheek, as if playing a light prank. But her eyes, in stark contrast, were utterly devoid of light, as if dead—so different from my own, which held a brilliant and beautiful shine.
"Why… are you only showing yourself now?"
The mirror-Mika raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, tapping her own cheek as if pondering something. But no answer came. Instead, she stuck her tongue out at me. But even as she played her games, I couldn't tear my eyes away from that dark gaze of hers.
"Say something… If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do—"
Raising a hand to her lips, Mika made a
shhh gesture. Then she hopped off the sink and moved behind me. The reflection showed her hands covering my eyes. The very fact that I could see it seemed to mock me, telling me this was all just a hallucination.
"… ."
When Mika removed her hands, my eyes—once filled with beautiful light—had changed to match hers. Startled, I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them again, my original, beautiful eyes had thankfully returned.
Ahahahaha! How fun.
Mika, who was tormenting my mind by doing and saying only as she pleased, reached up and poked the halo above my head. It was only then that I noticed: she didn't have a halo of her own.
You don't need to think so hard. There's still a long, long time until we can meet.
Yes, what I just did was a simple prank. Watching you get confused is the only fun I have left.
"Why me?"
The words escaped my lips before I could stop them. I had accepted this whole situation and adapted to it, but this one question remained. Why was I, who had lived my life diligently and without complaint, dragged here to Kivotos, into someone else's body? It was a question that had lingered until now.
Ahat, are you an idiot? Why are you asking me that?
With those mocking words, Mika turned her back. I realized then that she didn't have wings, either. It felt as if I was only seeing what she wanted me to see at any given moment.
I have a lot to say, but I'll save it for later★ Instead, remember this one thing.
Mika vanished. As if she had never been there at all, making me doubt if this entire situation had been just my imagination.
Don't trust Gematria. Don't trust the General Student Council President. Doubt everything.
Well then, see you later, fake.
Left alone… no, having been alone from the start, I leaned against the sink. The only thing I could do was clutch my throbbing head.
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