Part 3
In the end, they didn't come to a conclusion. Just like that, the first day of the new term reached the time when school let out.
Maybe because Natsume's words and actions during lunchtime were still vivid, Kyouko, Tenma and the other students didn't crowd around Harutora again, only daring to watch from afar. Hence, the interior of the classroom was full of an unusual tension and a silent atmosphere.
But there was an exception, and it was Touji.
"......What was up with 'that incident' in the morning? Are you going to fight with that brat again?" Touji sat in a seat adjacent to Harutora and Natsume who were also attending class next to each other, asking in a quiet whisper that the surrounding people couldn't hear.
Even if the opponent was one of the Twelve Divine Generals, he could still calmly use a description like 'fight', as expected of something Touji would say. He normally didn't hesitate to ask for trouble, and it seemed that he was even more elated than usual.
Natsume sat in her seat, looking up at Touji and quietly replying: "......I'm not sure." The guy who always loved making trouble couldn't help but frown slightly. He seemed to be concerned more about Natsume's look and attitude than this response.
"What's wrong, is the situation that serious? I mostly heard about the incident last summer...... Is there some deep animosity between you?" Touji raised the question straightforwardly while keeping an eye out for surrounding gazes.
Natsume's face looked confused, and she turned her vision towards Harutora in the next seat, not knowing how to respond. "......Natsume, could you explain to Touji." But once Harutora said this, he suddenly stood up from his seat.
"What?"
"...Harutora?"
Natsume and Touji were shocked for a moment. "......I'm going to go meet her." Harutora looked at the two of them in turn, using a voice that only the two of them heard. However, he left the two of them, rushing out of the classroom door. "H, Harutora!" Natsume hurriedly called out in surprise, but he didn't turn back, thinking that he was unable to bring Natsume along with him since she couldn't show herself.
Leaving behind the classroom that became noisy again, Harutora ran out through the door and into the corridor, sprinting to the first-year classroom.
...If this went on, there would be no end to it.
He hadn't discussed ways to resolve this with Natsume during lunchtime, but actually it was natural. Suzuka herself was the most knowledgeable about what kind of action she would take next. In that case, the fastest way to resolve things was to meet with her directly and understand her intentions face-to-face.
The explosive remark at the entrance ceremony was definitely a deliberate action, and, after all, he had stopped her plans last year, so she definitely had a grudge against him.
...Better to die than live in dishonor...... Though it would be best to avoid that kind of ending as much as possible......
Anyway, it would definitely be harmless to meet with her first and understand what Suzuka was planning. The current her was different from her last summer - who had used forbidden magic to try resurrecting her brother from death and had fallen into a crazed state. She shouldn't be the same person anymore. Touji's worry that she still held animosity had a very high chance of being true, but continuing to procrastinate like this wouldn't resolve the problem.
One by one, Harutora avoided the students who were returning home after school, hurriedly heading to the first-year classroom. However - "What? She went back? When?" After arriving in the first-year classroom, Harutora asked the two female students who walked by the door - the new students wearing new uniforms - asking their help to call out Suzuka.
Unfortunately, Suzuka wasn't in the classroom. According to the two female students' story, Suzuka had said goodbye to everyone after school and left the classroom early.
"She just left. Right, she might just be leaving the classroom, she might not have gone home."
"But someone came to get her, right? She should be looking for that person."
"Do you know where that person who came to get her is?"
"I don't know."
"I'm not sure either......"
Damn. Harutora scratched his head. He had rushed out of the classroom so courageously, but maybe he had ended up running for nothing. He knew that he should have rushed over here directly during the lunchtime.
On the other hand, the two new students remembered the sudden situation during the entrance ceremony and seemed to also remember the appearance of Harutora who had been involved. They answered Harutora's questions with goodwill, and simultaneously elbowed each other a few times.
Once Harutora stopped asking--
"Um......Senpai? Is what Dairenji-san said during the entrance ceremony true?"
"Senpai, are you Dairenji-san's ex-boyfriend? Or are you actually her current boyfriend?"
Their faces shone with curiosity, leaning towards Harutora excitedly. A few unfamiliar new students passed by, every one of them perking their ears up to eavesdrop.
The unfamiliar title 'senpai' made Harutora's ears itch. Though it sounded nice to have newly entered female students speaking so intimately with him, he really couldn't feel happy in this kind of situation.
"It's not like that, that girl was just troubling me."
"But didn't you come to find her?"
"Moreover, you referred to a Divine General as 'that girl'. You really don't have an ordinary relationship."
"It's not like that! We just...... know each other."
"Ah, you hesitated just now."
"Kyaah!"
What are you squealing for... Harutora almost shouted a reproach, but he forced himself to endure it. Anyway, it was a waste of breath to continue saying something now, Harutora thought. Just as he was planning on turning around and leaving--
--Right.
"Hey, let me ask, you're classmates with that girl - with Dairenji Suzuka, right? You were with her for the whole day today, right?"
"Right."
"Of course."
"Then how is that girl - how is she? How much did you talk with her?"
"How could we find her to talk. Even if she's a classmate, she's a Divine General, you know."
"When I greeted her, she replied with a really easygoing attitude, but if I continued talking I would be so tense I wouldn't know what to say."
The two of them shook their heads in unison. These two people weren't tense at all when facing their Onmyou Academy 'senpai', Harutora thought to himself, but he didn't say anything.
"Also, Dairenji-san leaves the classroom as soon as class ends and during lunchtime, slipping away to somewhere else."
"Right, there are people in the class who want to hear what exactly is going on about the entrance ceremony thing from her directly, but unfortunately they haven't been able to ask."
"......I see."
From her attitude at the entrance ceremony, he had originally thought she would act a bit friendlier to the classmates around her. Harutora had been worried about her spreading nonsense rumors, but after hearing them say this, it seemed that his worries had been unfounded.
...So the morning business was really just revenge?
The two new students still doggedly pursued Harutora, trying to figure out the truth. Harutora casually dodged their questions, quickly escaping the first-year classroom.
Harutora had immediately gone to the first-year classroom after school let out, and it seemed that Suzuka had left the classroom not long ago. If she was meeting with the person who came to get her, it was very possible that she was still in the academy building. Harutora decided to look around first, but the academy building was quite vast, and it was quite difficult to find Suzuka with just one person. Even if he could ask Kon to help search, it was hard to say whether he could find her.
"It's very possible that I could stop her by Alpha and Omega, but...... everyone makes her out to be an idol, so maybe she'll leave from the back entrance."
Inquiring about Suzuka's whereabouts was probably the most accurate method, as even if that morning incident hadn't happened, there probably wasn't a single person who didn't know Suzuka. But if he truly did that, the rumors about Harutora himself would just get worse and worse. This commotion was already more than he expected, and it was hard to imagine what kind of rumors would spread if he asked everywhere for Suzuka's whereabouts. Maybe at some point he and Suzuka would already have become lifelong companions.
...Maybe I should just wait until tomorrow?
Harutora became more and more depressed as he thought, slumping his shoulders in a dark mood. But he still decided to try his luck and see whether he could find Suzuka. He didn't head to the entrance with the Komainu guards, but chose to wait by the academy back entrance instead. He chose the back entrance because there were more people by the main exit, and even if he succeeded in coming in contact with Suzuka, he wouldn't be able to escape the eyes of others. In order to avoid calling forth a greater misunderstanding, it was best to communicate directly with Suzuka while avoiding eyes and ears.
"......Uh, wait, since someone came to get her, I can't possibly talk to her alone, right?"
In the end, he had rushed out to find her impulsively, so he could only take things one step at a time. Harutora was at a loss again, and in the end could only walk in resignation towards the back entrance.
After school let out, almost all of the students would leave from the main entrance, and there weren't many people walking by the back entrance. Harutora unconsciously eased up. He had been the focus of strange looks since early on today, and he really couldn't stand it.
...Tch, how troublesome.
The joyous and anxious feeling of advancing to the second year had been gone a long time ago. Honestly, he had already cleanly forgotten about kissing Suzuka until today morning. The incident last summer had strongly influenced Harutora, and Suzuka kissing him was an insignificant sudden event compared to the other shocks he experienced during this incident. He had never even dreamed that that matter would actually bring him this much trouble.
Maybe this was magic Suzuka had cast - second-class magic.
"What's more, no one listened to my explanation at all...... The kiss back then was a completely different matter."
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was present, Harutora griped. But, Kon was beside him.
"......P, Pardon my intrusion...... May I ask whether things are truly as Harutora-sama says?" Kon spoke up to ask, her tone sounding a bit frightened yet unable to help but ask.
"......Kon." Harutora inadvertently held his head in bitterness. "Didn't you hear everything when I explained to Natsume? Everything I said is the completely authentic truth."
"H, However......!" Maybe because she was unable to keep enduring it, Kon panicked, appearing in front of Harutora. Seriousness showed in her blue eyes and her pair of pointed ears trembled as if they were cold, her small hands clasped in front of her chest. "With an Onmyouji whose name is reputed over the whole world, and who is still a young girl, you cannot just k-ki......!"
"I said, Kon, I didn't kiss her, that girl took the opportunity while I couldn't move to kiss me. A traditional person like you wouldn't be able to understand, but to young people nowadays, kissing one or two times isn't anything huge."
"Th, The class was in no small uproar......"
"They just want to tease me! Suzuka definitely isn't hung up about this matter, I'd bet that she deliberately brought up that incident in the morning just to get revenge on me!"
Harutora could no longer take being doubted by his own shikigami, refuting her agitatedly. His demeanor made shock appear all over Kon's face, but his ideas seemed accurately conveyed. True confidence emerged on Kon's immature face and she nodded again and again.
"Th, Therefore...... Harutora-sama has no feelings for this person?"
"None! Not a bit, none at all, that's not even possible! I said several times, she and I are enemies. Though I don't hate her, there's nowhere for love."
"......Yes......"
Kon stared at Harutora for a good while, then finally released her tension, her expression seeming quite a bit relaxed. The ears on her head wiggled back and forth, and her tail wagged lightly in happiness.
"U, Understood...... I apologize for my transgression."
She apologized sincerely although her face was pleased, and Harutora inadvertently relaxed when he saw this. However, a moment later, Kon's ears leaped up, as if her perturbed attitude just now had been an illusion. She deftly drew out her sharp wakizashi, quickly circling behind Harutora's back.
Harutora's heart leaped. "What happened, Kon?" After he turned around, he noticed that Kon's back was to her master, guarding her master's back while gripping Kachiwari.
Kon grasped her wakizashi, and in front of her... appeared a figure.
Harutora was currently advancing through the corridor of the back entrance. Originally, there hadn't been anyone around anywhere, and someone had quietly approached from behind his back at some point.
A female student.
She had an unfamiliar face and short hair. Her body was smaller than Natsume's, and the sleeves of her uniform were overly long, seeming like they didn't really fit. Moreover, at first glance she looked like an ordinary female student, only noticing after a careful look that she was amazingly pretty. This could be attributed to her thin sense of presence. Even if she was right before him, he didn't feel the slightest bit of presence. It was as if he noticed right after turning around that there was a ghost standing behind his back, frightening Harutora stiff.
Her expression was indifferent, giving off a transparent sense of beauty.
Like a fuzzy image of a mirage.
Harutora couldn't help but stare.
After his starting shock disappeared, Harutora didn't feel any 'danger' or 'tension' from the female student's body, and he soon eased up.
He 'looked' carefully again, not noticing any abnormalities in aura. Kon still held her wakizashi threateningly, but she didn't get flustered. Maybe he hadn't been able to notice immediately because the other party had cast stealth magic, and from her thin feeling of presence, she hadn't completely removed her stealth.
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