Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei - Volume 2 - Enrollment (II) - Chapter 10.3

"So, you want me to carry Mibu-senpai out of here?"

Regarding Tatsuya's natural question, Erika nodded her head as if she couldn't care less.

"It's okay, she's not that heavy."

"No, that's not the issue."

"Now you can legitimately hug a cute girl to yourself, so why don't you just happily accept already?"

"I have no interest in being happy about such a trivial matter... No, that's still not the issue."

"... You know, I just had an inkling about this. Is Tatsuya-kun uninterested in women?

Like, do you swing in that direction?"

"What do you mean by that direction?"

"Gay!"

"Don't be ridiculous!

That's why I said this isn't the issue. We can easily call for a stretcher, so why must I be the one to carry her?"

Miyuki laughed merrily at this scene.

Tatsuya was simultaneously dealing with his mounting exhaustion while trying to decipher Erika's logic at the same time. —At this point, he had already half-given up on the inside.

"It would obviously make Mibu-senpai very happy!"

At some point, Tatsuya stopped replying.

While he still felt that the proposal was illogical, he was also resigned to the fact that using logic to convince Erika was going to be an extremely challenging task.

The conversation had reached its conclusion, so to speak.

"Isn't this wonderful, Onii-sama?

Although her injury isn't dire, it is true that the earlier she can be treated the better.

I think that the most efficient method would probably be for Onii-sama to carry her.

At any rate, there's no use trying to explain it further.

Your opponent is Erika, after all."

"Wait, Miyuki, what's that supposed to mean?"

"Yeah, that's true. Oh, well."

"Wait, Tatsuya-kun, what the heck is this, hitting people when they're down?

Don't you guys think that going two on one is a little treacherous?"

"Ara, I'm obviously Erika's ally here!"

"Lies! Blatant lies!"

When faced with Erika's shouting, Miyuki merely smiled pleasantly in acceptance. With this conversation as the BGM, Tatsuya carefully picked up Sayaka.

This action wasn't an abrupt one, nor did he waver when doing so.

It was more like he had no idea where to place his strength to perform this action.

"Hm, just as expected, Tatsuya-kun is quite capable."

For some reason, Erika expressed this opinion as she nodded several times. Since responding to her words would only waste more time, Tatsuya decided to start walking.

Sayaka's unconscious face looked like she was in a deep slumber.

After learning of the capture of the library infiltrators through the screen of his portable terminal, Tsukasa of the Men's Kendo Division knew that he had to link up with his older brother, the current head of Blanche's Japan branch, and seek further instructions. This had to be accomplished in the shortest time frame possible.

While technically his older brother, he was only a stepbrother from his father's second marriage at the end of the day. However, Tsukasa always trusted his older brother as if they were directly related by blood. There was no sense of awkwardness between the two of them after the marriage initially, so how did they get to this point? He just couldn't recall how.

Whenever he thought of this mystery, it was immediately buried beneath other thoughts. The moment Tsukasa thought of this, he shook his head, because now wasn't the time to consider it. It was too dangerous to use the wireless network for contact. He wasn't worried about being overheard; he just didn't want to use such a normal method of communication, but this was a critical situation. Any inbound message, whether wired or wireless, ran the risk of being intercepted, so thinking like this was only natural.

Tsukasa wasn't expecting any problems by leaving campus. Even though this was a critical situation, it was not war time nor was it a period of civil war. There was no way a gunfight would break out on campus. Although people unaffiliated with clubs had to undergo strenuous examination, this generally did not affect students.

Tsukasa made his decision based on this assumption, but unfortunately for him, fate had other ideas.

"If it isn't Tsukasa from the kendo club. Are you headed home?"

Just as Tsukasa was about to waltz out the main gate, someone called out to him from behind.

It wasn't a friend. He did not know that voice.

When he turned around, what stood before him was a swarthy individual of medium height who could be comfortably described as boorish. Like Tsukasa, he was a large, robust 3rd Year student. He wore the emblem of the Public Morals Committee on his wrist.

"Tatsumi... Uh, aren't club activities canceled because of the riots? That's why I decided to head home!"

Faltering due to poor acting would be troublesome. Consciously ordering his body to cooperate, Tsukasa replied back in an even tone.

"Is that so? Well, that's okay. Club activities are probably canceled all around campus."

"Ah, that's it. So--"

Goodbye. The word was on the tip of his tongue, but Tsukasa never got the chance to say it.

"Wait a second. There's something I wanted to ask you."

His heart raced.

"Ask me?"

Barely managing to contain his wavering, Tsukasa managed to fake an astonished expression.

"Yeah, I need to ask you specifically, Tsukasa."

Tatsumi's voice seemed to fan the flames of Tsukasa's agitation. Tsukasa felt as if that tone knew everything he was up to.

"My Chief has an amazing special technique."

All of a sudden, the conversation changed entirely — at least that's what it sounded like — but the same sense of wariness from the beginning did not diminish in the slightest.

"By manipulating the air currents and adding some enhancements, we can create truth serums without resorting to illegal drugs."

A scream was about to force its way out of his throat, but Tsukasa fought it down.

However, he was only wasting his time.

"You don't have to fake any ambivalence, Tsukasa. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?

We already have proof, evidence that you ordered them to do these things."

Tsukasa didn't reply.

While he was a Course 2 student weak in technical skills, thanks to his extensive training in kendo he had plenty of confidence in his own Speed Magics. Both of them looked fairly swarthy and Tatsumi was one of the few 3rd Year students capable of putting out some speed, but Tsukasa was confident he had the edge in a pure footrace.

All of this was in Tsukasa's calculations, but his plans were dashed before they came to fruition.

"Tsukasa-senpai! Please come with us for a moment!"

A somber but powerful voice rang out. To be precise, the owner of this voice was standing directly in his path.

"Sawaki... Why the hell are you two here?"

Tsukasa hoarsely shouted. When the riots broke out, both of them should have been at the library. Why the heck were two members of the active combat division stationed all the way out here? It was only natural for Tsukasa to wonder about that.

"You haven't noticed yet? Our job is solely to keep an eye on you today, with some support from long range Sensory System personnel. We would've wasted our time if you didn't cave in the end, but we finally figured out your escape route."

As Tatsumi was happily explaining behind him, Tsukasa made the conscious decision to forcibly break through here.

The breakthrough would have to occur in Sawaki's direction. In this situation, returning to campus was suicide.

That being said, even though Sawaki was a 2nd Year student, he specialized in a form of magic close combat called Magic Martial Arts. Unarmed, Tsukasa had no chance — in a straight up fight, that is.

Tsukasa removed the scarf tied around his right arm.

Inside, there was a bronze colored bracelet. The Antinite Bracelet.

He activated Cast Jamming.

Tsukasa knew that by spreading the Cast Jamming waves, he was alerting their allies to his location. However, this wasn't the time to worry about that. The most important thing was to break out of the current trap and establish a link with his older brother — this powerful thought dominated Tsukasa's actions.

Tsukasa charged towards Sawaki, who furrowed his brows. At the end of the day, Magic Martial Arts was a technique that used magic to reinforce the physical body, to enable the usage of powerful combat abilities. In a scenario where no magic was used, Sawaki should have no chance of overcoming a kendoist such as himself, even if he was unarmed, without the aid of magic. With this in mind, Tsukasa struck out at Sawaki.

Sawaki easily dodged his chop.

His flank suffered a furious blow. Sawaki's elbow dug deeply into Tsukasa's abdomen.

"Tsukasa, you moron, I don't think you understand."

As Tsukasa collapsed to the ground, Tatsumi said this in a sympathetic manner.

"Sawaki is a tough opponent even without magic. There are a lot of people who misunderstand me, though those guys are incapable of doing anything without magic, and are unable to move freely without an unnecessary thing like magic."

Moaning in pain, Tsukasa couldn't reply. Sawaki silently bound Tsukasa securely.

In the Nurse's Room, they were listening to Sayaka's side of the story.

Her right arm needed treatment, so it was best not to upset her too much. While the school doctor forbade this, it was currently Sayaka who wanted to tell her story.

Mayumi, Mari, and Katsuto were all gathered to hear this. The mastermind Tsukasa Kinoe had been captured, and the riot had been suppressed on the surface, but the exact details behind the attack were still unknown. The off-campus invaders that had been captured had already been handed over to the police by the faculty, and thanks to the efforts of the School Council, Club Activities Group and Public Morals Committee, no students were affected.

Currently, Tsukasa was in no condition to be interrogated. Taking this into consideration, Sayaka's confession became the only source of information, so it wasn't odd for Mayumi and the others to be present.

The tale began when Sayaka was first introduced to her other companions.

Last year, shortly after Sayaka entered the school, she struck up a conversation with Tsukasa. At that time, there were a lot of sympathizers in the kendo club. It wasn't just the kendo club, but students were also forming magic training clubs with similar philosophies. It came as a huge shock to discover that the time and scale of the operations far exceeded Mayumi and co.'s expectations. The one who took it hardest was probably Mari. Mayumi, Mari, and Katsuto were all struck differently by this revelation in the beginning.

"I'm sorry, I never imagined this could happen, but..."

Erika stared intently at the blinking Mari.

However, Mari had no time to care about this gaze.

"Mibu, is what you said true?"

Hearing Mari's faltering question, Sayaka lowered her head for less than a second.

Raising her head, Sayaka nodded calmly, and replied in the same calm manner.

"Now that I think about it, I might have been too proud of being called 'kendo belle' in middle school.

Therefore, shortly after I came to school, I saw Watanabe-senpai's incredible magic swordsmanship during the club recruitment week. I petitioned for personal lessons from you, but was coldly rebuffed, and that one cut really deep...

I couldn't be your opponent probably because I was a Course 2 student. Once I thought of this, I lost all my motivation."

"Wait... Just a second.

Last year's recruitment week, when I went overboard during the kenjutsu lessons?

I remember that incident.

I didn't forget that you petitioned to be my opponent.

But, I don't recall harshly rejecting you?"

"It's common for people to have difficulty understanding the feelings of the rejected."

Erika reprimanded Mari in an ironic tone, who stood there with a solemn expression and head lowered.

"Erika, be quiet for a bit."

But she was stopped by Tatsuya.

"What? Is Tatsuya-kun on Watanabe-senpai's side as well?"

"I just want you to finish listening to her. You can chew people out or debate about this after you hear everything."

Hearing this rebuke, Erika revealed a displeased expression, but quieted down regardless.

After a short period of silence, Sayaka painfully continued.

"Senpai, you said that I couldn't be your opponent, so I shouldn't waste my time and go seek someone who could match me... To hear this from my respected senpai just after coming to school..."

"Wait... No, wait a minute.

That's a misunderstanding, Mibu."

"Eh?"

"It's true that I said that.

— I'm sorry, but my swordsmanship can't compete against yours, so it's a waste of your time. So that's why you should go search for a worthy opponent for yourself — that's all.

Wasn't that how it was?"

"Eh, that... Then, if that's the case..."

"In other words, this is why I said 'I can't be your opponent'.

It's because you are much stronger than me in swordsmanship."

Sayaka wore a slack-jawed expression as Mayumi turned to ask Mari.

"Just a moment, Mari.

You mean that you turned down Mibu's request because she was much stronger than you, did I get that right?"

"That's exactly it.

While it is true that I have the edge after you add magic into it...

The techniques that I've learned are all meant to be used in conjunction with magic. I underwent physical and weapons training in order to better grasp how to use my magic more effectively.

There's no way I could be able to stand up to Mibu in terms of pure swordsmanship."

"So... It was my misunderstanding... all along...?"

An awkward silence flooded the Nurse's Office.

"I feel like such an idiot...

I selfishly misunderstood senpai's intentions... put myself down..."

Only Sayaka's whimpers prodded the silence.

"I don't think it's a waste."

Until Tatsuya shattered it with his words.

"... Shiba-kun?"

Sayaka lifted her head and gazed directly at Tatsuya, who continued to speak in a vague tone.

"That was what Erika said after seeing senpai's techniques.

To the best of Erika's knowledge, you were vastly stronger than the 'kendo belle' that took silver in the middle school competition.

It might be sad that your new found strength came from resentment and hate.

But, it is without question that Mibu-senpai's swordsmanship improved through your own dedication and diligence.

You were not consumed by hatred, nor were you overwhelmed by despair as you spent the last year training yourself to the next level. So I don't think it was wasted."

"..."

"There are many junctures in growing stronger.

There are a myriad reasons behind hard work.

You only truly waste your time if you deny the hours, hard work, and results that came from what you've done, isn't that right?"

"Shiba-kun..."

Tears welled up her eyes as Sayaka looked upwards at Tatsuya.

However, this time, she smiled.

"Shiba-kun, I have a request."

"What is it?"

"Can you come a little closer?"

"Is this enough?"

"A little more."

"Ha."

The atmosphere changed; the once tense atmosphere became fluid.

However,

"Then, please."

It quickly,

"Just stand there and don't move."

Turned back into a nervous atmosphere.

Sayaka tightly gripped Tatsuya's clothes, and buried her face into Tatsuya's chest.

"Wah, wah..."

The sniffling quickly turned into full blown sobbing.

Pressed into Tatsuya's chest, Sayaka was bawling her eyes out.

Everyone looked at one another in dismay as Tatsuya wordlessly held her slim shoulders. Seeing this, Miyuki lowered her head.

After finally settling down, Sayaka started explaining what she knew about Blanche, the organization that backed the alliance.

"Just as you foresaw, Onii-sama."

"It was so accurate that it got boring."

"That's just how reality is, Chief.

However, the real problem comes next."

Tatsuya spoke as if he had already charted out the next course of action.

"... Tatsuya-kun, are you planning to fight them?"

"That's an incorrect way to put it. I'm not going to fight them, I am going to annihilate them."

Hearing Mayumi's trepidation, Tatsuya bluntly replied back with the most incentive method possible.

"That's dangerous! You've already gone above and beyond the call of duty for students."

The first one to object was Mari.

Even within the confines of the campus, Mari was someone who was constantly doing firefighting, so her sense of danger was particularly sharp, which was only natural given the circumstances.

"I object as well. You should leave off-campus cases to the police."

Mayumi solemnly shook her head.

However,

"Is this before or after we release the details surrounding Mibu-senpai's attempted robbery and hand her over to the family court's jurisdiction?"

At Tatsuya's words, Mayumi froze and was unable to utter another word.

"I see. So you don't want the police to intervene.

And that's why this is something you can't ignore.

In order to prevent future repetitions from occurring.

Is that right, Shiba?"

Katsuto's burning gaze caught Tatsuya's eyes.

"Your opponents are terrorists. If you let down your guard, you will die.

It doesn't matter if it's me, Mayumi or Watanabe, we will not let students from this campus run that risk."

"Of course."

Despite that, Tatsuya did not cower before that gaze, and immediately replied.

"From the beginning, I never planned to request assistance from the Public Morals Committee or the Club Activities Group."

"... You plan on going alone?"

"That was the plan."

"I'm going with you."

Hearing his sister's immediate answer, Tatsuya revealed a bitter smile.

"Me too."

"And me."

Erika and Leo both stepped forward, expressing their intent to join the battle.

"Shiba-kun, if you're doing this on my behalf, I beg you to reconsider.

Just as the President said, please leave this to the police.

I'll be alright. I will just be punished for what I've done.

Compared to that, if Shiba-kun got hurt because of me, I wouldn't be able to take it."

Sayaka hurriedly tried to stop him, but Tatsuya's expression was not very welcoming.

"This isn't for Mibu-senpai."

These cold words stopped Sayaka short, causing her to lower her head.

"As someone whose personal life has been imperiled by terrorists, I too have a stake in this.

I will exterminate any and all sources of harm directed towards Miyuki and myself. This is the highest priority for me."

Was he intentionally shouldering all the responsibility in order to lighten Sayaka's sense of guilt? — It seemed unlikely, given his current expression. Lacking Miyuki's insight on her brother's thoughts, Leo, Erika, Mayumi and Mari concluded that Tatsuya was speaking earnestly from the heart.

His piercing, chilly gaze alone was enough to convince them of that.

There was no anger, no aroused fighting spirit, just calmly stating his intent to annihilate the terrorists. Before Tatsuya's confidence — or maybe determination — even Katsuto could say nothing more.

"However, Onii-sama, how do we completely exterminate Blanche root and branch?

They should have already evacuated from the temporary base that Mibu-senpai spoke of, so I don't think there will be many clues left behind."

Only Miyuki was able to converse with her brother normally.

"That's true, Tsukasa-senpai would likely say the same thing.

Rather than saying no clues were left behind, it would be more appropriate to say that we never had any clues in the first place."

"Then, what should we do?"

Although there were no clues to be had, Miyuki continued to question her brother without a trace of dismay on her features.

"In order to understand the unknown, the only thing that needs to be done is to ask someone who is familiar with the subject."

"... Someone familiar with the subject?"

"Do you have an idea, Tatsuya?"

Tatsuya did not reply to Erika and Leo's questions. He merely opened the doors leading to the exit.

"Ono-sensei?"

Mayumi smiled in a bemused manner at the sight of Haruka in a pantsuit.

"... I can't believe I was naive enough to try and conceal my presence against Yakumo-sensei's favorite student..."

She forced a smile as she said this in an uncaring tone. Her target was obviously Tatsuya.

An apathetic Tatsuya responded in a slightly surprised voice.

"You never intended to conceal your presence in the first place.

Thanks to all the untruths you've spoken, I can't tell whether you're telling the truth anymore."

"I will take that into account."

Tatsuya made a welcoming motion to usher her inside, while Haruka slowly paced towards the bedside.

She bent down and matched gazes with Sayaka, who was sitting on the bed.

"You look like you're okay..."

"Ono-sensei..."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to offer any assistance."

Sayaka shook her head as Ono-sensei placed a hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. After a short time, she directed her gaze to the bedside.

"Haruka-chan, do you know where Blanche is currently located?"

Who are you talking to? -- Ono-sensei decided to forgo her normal playacting.

"Haruka-chan?"

"Ah? Tatsuya, didn't you know?"

The question itself was obvious, but now that he was on the receiving end, Tatsuya was hesitant on how to field it.

"Our classmates refer to sensei as such.

Haruka-chan also says she doesn't mind."

"It's not everyone, only a portion of the boys.

Tatsuya-kun, you've been tricked."

"Ah..."

This unexpected drama quickly defused the tense atmosphere in the room.

That being said, rather than mishandling the situation and causing tensions to rise, this was probably the better alternative, Tatsuya thought to himself. At any rate, this was an explanation he could somewhat accept.

"—Then, Ono-sensei."

"You can call me Haruka-chan if you like."

He couldn't believe that he was in such a predicament because of this woman's playacting. The only thing Tatsuya could do was rein in his annoyance.

"—Ono-sensei, given the situation, you can drop the act."

"No sense of sentimentality whatsoever."

"..."

"... Cough."

The opaque gaze directed at Tatsuya was quite clumsy no matter how you sliced it, but after that coughing sound — an overly exaggerated coughing sound — Haruka changed her posture.

"Someone get a map. It's much faster this way."

Tatsuya silently pulled out an information terminal.

He opened the screen and set it to map mode.

Haruka also pulled out a terminal — much more graceful and suave than Tatsuya's motion — and set it to directional transmission.

After receiving the signal, a flashing light appeared on the map.

"... That's literally right under our noses!"

"... Are they mocking us?"

The reason behind Leo and Erika's outrage lay in the fact that the enemy's lair could be reached by foot within an hour.

The image was magnified before switching over to a more detailed layout.

The location was the hills outside of the city proper, near the abandoned factories for the chemical dye industry.

"... been confirmed that the factory was the hideout of the Eco-Terrorists, which was abandoned when they fled."

Tatsuya was reading the additional notes.

"They returned to this location without being detected by law enforcement officials."

"So they're the same group?"

Although phrased as a question, given the looks on Mari and Mayumi's faces, their inner thoughts were hardly a secret.

"Were toxic materials transported to this location during this time period?"

"Hm, according to our investigation, there are no BC (biochemical) weapons on site."

Hearing Katsuto's comment, Haruka nodded.

"We should have no problems with transportation."

"Have they detected our magic?"

"Even if they did detect us, they wouldn't change their plans anyways. They're probably dug in and waiting for us to show up."

Tatsuya referred to himself as "someone who was involved" not because all the victims were students affiliated with First High. The terrorists aimed to seize unpublished magic research and techniques. With that in mind, his own personal technique may also be targeted by the terrorists. Tatsuya inferred that Tsukasa Kinoe ambushed him in the first place to ascertain how effective his technique was.

"Full frontal assault?"

"That would probably be the tactic the enemy least expects."

Tatsuya didn't need to say anything. The moment Miyuki announced such a warlike declaration, the two of them had already devised their strategy.

Katsuto agreed on this point.

"Yes, that is an acceptable tactic. Let me get the car ready."

"Eh? Juumonji-kun is going as well?"

Mayumi's question was probably mirrored in Tatsuya's thoughts.

Katsuto definitely didn't seem like the type who would bar his subordinates from fighting, only to charge off to the front line on his own.

"This is the duty of the Juumonji family who bear the name of the Ten Master Clans.

But before that, I am still a student of First High, so there's no way I could watch this pass by without lifting a finger.

I cannot leave this in the hands of the underclassmen alone."

"... Then me too."

"Saegusa, you can't go."

"Mayumi, the situation would be problematic if the Student Council President wasn't available."

"... I understand."

It took the two of them combined to barely persuade Mayumi to reluctantly accept their proposal.

"Then, if that is the case, Mari, you can't go either. There may be remnants still lurking on campus. As the Public Morals Committee Chief, leaving your post at this critical juncture would also cause difficulties."

Now it was Mari's turn to grudgingly accept that condition.

Completely ignoring the two women who were glaring (?) at one another, Katsuto turned his gaze on Tatsuya.

"Shiba, are you leaving immediately? If we wait any longer, we may be forced to fight in the darkness."

"This won't take too long. The battle will be over by dusk."

"Is that so?"

Katsuto probably saw something in Tatsuya's adamant attitude.

Thus, he didn't say anything further. He left the Nurse's Office after mentioning that he'd get the car.

"The President and Club Activities Group Leader are both members of the Ten Master Clans, this I know... So what's Haruka-chan's background?"

"We can talk about that later. Let's move."

Leo's overly impetuous question was casually brushed aside by Tatsuya.

Immediately following Tatsuya and Miyuki, Leo and Erika left the Nurse's Office.

A large all-terrain vehicle was parked outside the school dormitories.

An additional member occupied the passenger seat in the front row.

"Yo, Shiba."

"Kirihara-senpai."

"You don't seem very surprised."

"... No, I'm actually quite surprised."

The primary source of shock came from his greeting, though it must be owed that the flower dangling from his lips helped.

"Hey bro, I'm coming too."

"Do as you wish."

Tatsuya was completely unable to comprehend the state of mind necessary for Kirihara to utter those words.

Regardless, daylight was burning.

And so, Tatsuya got into the all-terrain vehicle, with his sister and friends closely behind.