Yami Tsukishiro walked out of the room through the passage between the tables and chairs.
A girl with long black hair sitting in the front row watched him leave, her mind drifting back to the phone call she had received earlier that morning from her sister.
Not long after she had woken up and washed her face, her phone lit up with the caller ID: "Sister."
Frowning slightly, Yukinoshita Yukino reluctantly answered.
"Yukino-chan, have you missed me?"
The voice on the other end was sweet, but it didn't put Yukino in a good mood.
"If you have something to say, say it. If not, I'm hanging up." Her tone was ice-cold.
On the line was her sister, Yukinoshita Haruno.
Their relationship… could not exactly be called close.
"Wait, wait I actually have something important to tell you."
Haruno's playful tone shifted into something more serious.
"Yukino, is there a classmate named Yami Tsukishiro in your class?"
"…Yami?"
Yukino raised her brows slightly. There was indeed such a classmate.
They weren't particularly close, but they'd exchanged a few words before.
He was straightforward to the point of bluntness, never caring about what others thought of him.
When he had first arrived, some students had tried to pick on him. That had ended with them being soundly beaten.
He also had a habit of stepping in when he saw others being bullied. In those cases, Yukino had overheard him saying, with visible annoyance:
"The thing I hate the most is school bullying."
He was, in short, an unusual person.
But she couldn't understand why her sister was suddenly asking about him.
"Yes. He's in my class."
"I knew it…" Haruno murmured, then got to the point.
"Mother said she wants you to try and get to know him."
Yukino fell silent, her eyes dimming.
Political marriage.
The phrase immediately came to mind, one she utterly despised.
Sensing her shift in mood, Haruno spoke more seriously.
"Yukino, don't overthink it. This isn't about politics. He's… special. It would be enough for you to just be friends.
If it turns out he's got a terrible personality, you can refuse and I'll handle Mother."
"…Friends?"
Yukino was caught off guard. Listening to Haruno, it seemed she might have misunderstood.
Still, even the idea of "making friends" was something she wasn't confident in.
"I understand."
She replied flatly, but inwardly decided to keep her distance for now.
In the corridor…
"Not going to ask me what this is about?" Hiratsuka Shizuka asked as she led Yami Tsukishiro down the hall.
"Someone's looking for me, right?" Yami replied.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "…So you already know. Yes... official people."
They stopped in front of an empty classroom. Hiratsuka gave him a complicated look, patted his shoulder, and said seriously:
"I never expected you to be that strong. Go on your guests are inside."
Without another word, she turned and left.
Yami opened the door.
Inside was a single table. Sitting there was a man in a suit flanked by two girls—one with short yellow-and-white hair ((Chisato Nishikigi) and the other with long black hair (Takina Inoue).
All three stood as Yami entered.
"Please tell me what you need from me."
The man in the suit spoke with measured formality.
"Mr. Tsukishiro, my name is Simon. I'm here on behalf of the official alliance, and I'd like to confirm something with you. Could you spare some time to talk?"
His tone was respectful...far from the way officials usually treated ordinary citizens.
Yami could guess why they were here, so he simply nodded. "Alright. Let's hear it."
Once he sat down, the three followed suit.
Despite Simon's outward composure, there was tension in the air. Anyone aware of Yami's feats would find it hard to remain calm in front of him.
Takina and Chisato, however, seemed far less fazed.
Simon carefully pulled a stack of documents from his briefcase and got straight to the point.
"Mr. Tsukishiro, is this… you?"
He slid over a photo of Yami mid-battle with the leatherback turtle.
"Yes," Yami replied without hesitation.
Simon's hand twitched. The air seemed to freeze.
He hadn't expected such a direct answer.
After a pause to steady himself, Simon continued, "Can you tell me what that monster was? Why it appeared? And is your power… a superpower?"
Yami leaned back slightly. "That creature is called a leatherback turtle. Likely a war weapon created by aliens through genetic engineering."
"Aliens?!" Chisato blurted out, only to be silenced by a sharp look from Takina.
Simon pushed his glasses up. "As expected… According to our research, its biology doesn't match any Earth species."
The remains of the leatherback turtle had been studied immediately. The conclusion was clear.
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