"Oh my, I only meant that you were lighter than me, Lily?"
Erica smiled impishly.
Enraged, Lily flared up.
One might think of these two as being fairly close, but at least the silver-haired girl denied it. At any rate, Liliana seemed to feel no timidity towards Erica.
It made Yuri envious. That said, Ena had told her before.
[I'm not quite sure, but don't they make progress that way?]
Certainly not only the extravagant Erica, but also the straight-laced Liliana was radiating intense self-assertion and positiveness.
Compared to those girls, she herself was... At this point Yuri was terrified.
(What was I thinking just now!? It was like I was competing with Erica-san and Liliana-san over Godou! No, that can't be true. Godou and I are just friends. A bit closer than usual, and there are just circumstances we can't really tell people about, and...)
While she thought so, a curious emotion welled up in Yuri's chest.
She felt a pain constricting her chest, a cold uneasiness nesting itself in the pit of her stomach, a sweet and sour hope; all those feelings were mixing inside her.
Haa. She sighed. When she did, someone talked to her from beside her.
"What's up, Mariya-san? Do you feel bad? Should I call the teacher?"
It was the smallest girl in class six, Miyama-san.
She was 145cm tall and baby-faced on top of it. Apparently she was often mistaken for an elementary schooler.
"Ah, no, that's not it."
Taking her eyes off Erica and Liliana in a hurry, Yuri awkwardly smiled.
It truly was a Japanese insincere smile. In return, Miyama-san's expression turned dark.
"Well yeah, even without asking I have my ideas... But, I think it's unfair if even you are bothered by that. You don't understand the troubles of the less fortunate, or rather, your troubles are too luxurious... Anyway, it's too unfair!"
"Mi-Miyama-san? Just what do you want to say?"
Feeling the indignation in the rebuke, Yuri faltered.
At that point class six's class committee member Sawa-san cut in.
"Yuri-san... Miyama-san wants to say, 'If they have no bread, let them eat cake.' 'Don't fuck with me,' you see? 'How dare you complain if you've got such excellent goods yourself'."
Her red-framed glasses were shining.
Sawa-san was slender; her grades placed her at the top of her year. Although she was a first year, the drama club entrusted her with a lead role. That girl suddenly latched onto Yuri.
She grabbed Yuri's chest from above the bath towel she had draped over her swimsuit!
"K-kya!?"
"See? What's with these nice boobies? They spill out of your hands when you try to fondle them. They have achieved the supreme balance between neither too large nor too small. With miraculous tightness and softness and a beautiful silhouette... In a sense, these are the best. The first-rate taste limited to Japanese beef. Those tasteless foreign products can't hope to compete! They are wonderful, Mariya-san. Come to the drama club with me and let's aim for the top of the..."
"P-please stop, Sawa-san. T-take your hands off me!"
"You mustn't, Sawa-san, calm down! If you are like that, Mariya-san will!"
A few dozen seconds later. Although panting, for different reasons, Yuri-san and Sawa-san had regained their calm.
Miyama-san was watching the two with worried eyes.
"I-I'm sorry. I saw some nice raw material and just had to invite you..."
"N-no, I am terribly sorry for making you lose your composure..."
"Sawa-san sure turns into a beast sometimes. Ah, Mariya-san, I don't think you need to be jealous of others. If you are bothered, what am I going to do?"
Miyama-san murmured while looking down at her own figure.
Her limbs were childish and put badly, her build belonged in elementary school.
Anyway, the one-piece did not suit her.
A child's swimsuit would be better. With that thought, Yuri was assailed by pangs of guilt.
She realized just how rude her feelings before were. And beside her, Sawa-san tried comforting Miyama-san.
"Hey, Miyama. There are also fellows like Sorimachi from class five who say 'But that's what makes it good!' Don't give up hope!"
"This isn't funny anymore! Sorimachi of all those strange guys!?!"
Yuri suddenly noticed an unrest in her heart.
It was the moment she heard the name of that boy from class five. Did not that feeling resemble a revelation from her spirit vision? She looked around.
In the pool. Several girls were swimming towards the other side.
By the poolside. Of course there, too, were nothing but girls. The supervising teacher was a woman, too.
While she was looking around restlessly, Erica and Liliana approached her.
"What's up, Yuri? You seem odd. Did you see something by any chance?"
"Did you pick up a sign of danger? My senses have caught nothing, but you are far more sensitive than I am. If you like I can investigate."
"Ah, no. It didn't feel that important..."
Yuri briefly explained the circumstances.
When she was done, Erica turned once in a circle, checking the surroundings and fixating at one point.
"Hey, Lily. If someone tried doing something bad close to this pool, wouldn't that careless fellows most likely pick that place?"
Pine trees were planted beside Jounan Academy's pool, facing the school building.
That thickly grown line of trees shut out stares from those sides.
But the side without such a blind also had a building. The wooden old school building that would apparently be demolished in a month. It had not been in use for nearly ten years and been sealed...
That is where Erica focused her gaze.
"Hmm. You just want to make me investigate it, so don't act so inviting. It's impudent."
Liliana closed her eyes while muttering.
Yuri felt a small amount of magical power leak from her closed eyes and jump towards the old school building.
It should be wizardry that linked one of the five senses to a distant place. She had probably made her "sight" scan the area.
"I found them. There are some worthless fellows there."
"Oh my, what bad people... so, how are we going to punish them?"
When Liliana gave her report, Erica maliciously chuckled.
Yuri watched uncomfortably when the two magi who could be called the top of their generation in Europe took fighting stances.
Part 5
"Dammit! Doing whatever they please!"
In the equipment room, Kusanagi Godou finally managed to escape from under the mountain of mats.
The combined armies of boys from class five and six had pushed into the room, dragged all the mats over, stacked them on top of him, and then tightly locked the room.
"Now all I need is to get out of here..."
Godou glared at the door of the equipment closet.
It was locked. There were no tools or skills to break it. That only left breaking through by ramming it with his body.
Destroying school property was bad. If there were other ways he should take those.
Godou reached that reasonable conclusion. But...
The moment he thought of it, a certain image floated up in his head. On Sardinia he had seen Erica parading in her swimsuit on many occasions. He had not seen Liliana's swimsuit, but it had to suit her very well.
...Those ill-bred idiots were scheming to appreciate that view.
For some reason anger built in his chest. And then he reconsidered.
Yeah, emergency situations require emergency measures. In such a situation he did not have to take the safe route. On the contrary, that would be a defense against negligence. Therefore, Godou decided to force his way through.
It was just when he had finished making space in the equipment room and gotten ready to charge against the door.
"Godou-kun,
you alright? Wait a sec, I'll let you out now."
He had heard that voice before. It belonged to Ono, a boy in his class.
Clackclack.
He heard a key being turned and then the door opened and showed a small boy with frizzy hair.
"Sorry, they hid the key so it took some time."
"Not at all, you really helped me. Thanks."
Ono shyly laughed when Godou thanked him.
"Of course, not everyone went along with the three idiots. Including me, about a third of us have stayed here."
"Still, the fact remains that two-thirds went with them. That's rather more impressive."
Urged by Ono, a shocked Godou left the equipment room. Guided by anger he decided that he would hurry to the pool as quickly as possible and obstruct their plan.
"Godou-kun, are you perhaps thinking of interfering with them?"
"Of course. How could I just let it go like this?"
"I see. Then... I won't say it's for saving you, but could I ask you for one thing?"
Embarrassedly, Ono presented him a tiny digital camera.
Come to think of it, Ono was part of the photography club. Thinking that must have been why he was allowed to bring such a thing to school, Godou inclined his head.
"Uhm, what do you want exactly?"
"Actually, I really like girls with glasses. It's no exaggeration to say I love them. So I was wondering, if you go to the pool, could you use the occasion to take a picture of Sawa-san in her swimsuit? Peeping is bad after all, but if it happens while saving the girls, it's that, isn't it?"
"..."
"..."
Godou suddenly turned his back on Ono who was staring at him like a wet puppy.
"Alright, I'll be off. Thanks for getting me out of there!"
"Kusanagi-kun! The camera!"
Leaving the appealing voice behind, Godou dashed off to the pool.
This is a story that Godou heard later.
The boys of class five and six under Nanami's command broke into the old school building, which was slated for demolishing. There were about fifteen of them.
The insolent boys broke through the sealed door and entered the old school building.
Occupying the third floor, they steeled themselves to gaze at the frolicking girls by the waterside without any kind of cover.
However, the pool was quite a distance away.
With their eyesight they could not see any details.
So they devised a plan to fulfill their desire to confirm the B W H measurements exactly. Takagi remembered he had binoculars in his bag for watching sports and rushed back to the classroom.
During ten minutes until his return, all the others could do nothing but wait.
The unclimatized old school building was hot, dusty, and stank of the sweat and body odors of the gathered boys.
And finally the desired item reached them, cooped up in that coarse environment. It seemed like the whole place was trembling in excitement before the opening of heaven's gates.
Then the old school building collapsed with a thunderous roar.
Godou ran for his life and finally got close to the pool.
Where were they? Where were those idiots trying to appreciate the girls? Restlessly looking around the surroundings, he tried coming up with a guess. At that moment, he heard a terrible sound.
Looking in its direction, Godou was shocked.
The wooden old school building was about to collapse with a thunderous roar.
The walls, the pillars, the floor—all the building materials broke into small pieces, got smashed up, and lost their form.
The sight was so spectacular, it seemed as though the strain of time had made them wither in mere moments. With cracking sounds, the old wood crumbled. And then, one could hear screams from the inside.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" or "The floor! The floor!"
"Don't mind me, save the little sisters on my hard drive!" or "I really was a sucker for miko!"
Obviously, the boys of class five and six were buried under the rubble of the old school building.
Those guys had probably peeked from there.
But now, they were shocked by the sudden disaster movie they found themselves in and struggled in their pain.
It looked like they were all going through some painful experiences. Bruises, scratches—they might even have bone fractures. You could say they got what they deserved, but he could not deny himself some pity.
Usually, such a supernatural phenomenon should not happen.
Godou noticed the girls loitering near the old school building right away.
It was the usual three. Erica's scornful expression betrayed happiness over the boys' suffering, and Liliana's expressed righteousness served.
Only Yuri was worriedly watching the groaning boys.
All three of them were wearing windbreaker jackets or bath towels over their uniform swimsuits.
"I knew it was you guys... now, whose plan was this?"
"Mine. I only wanted to use [Pulverization] magic for a bit. Looks like that school building really has gotten old. Usually it shouldn't completely collapse with the amount of magic power I used."
Erica composedly answered Godou, who came running.
He had heard that she was good with magic that creates or transforms stuff, but such a trump card was unexpected.
"I can mostly guess what happened, but didn't you overdo it a little?"
"What should I have done? The spell worked better than expected. ...and isn't it fine? With this, punishment has been dealt. The original revenge I had thought of was more complex."
Erica happily showed a devil's smile.
Not of the usual devil toying with humans, though. It belonged to a devil of the cruel, coldhearted kind.
"That is correct, Kusanagi Godou. Punishment for sins, purification for impurity. As a knight, I also intended to drop the hammer of justice on that dirty undertaking."
Liliana's expression was stern.
It was the gallant, sublime expression of a knight backed by her ideals.
Erica and Liliana's expressions were polar opposites but, apparently, the convictions in their hearts led them in the same direction.
While thinking that those two got along somehow or other, Godou looked at Yuri. Unlike the knights, she was the only one who looked like she wanted to say something.
"What is it, Mariya? Something you want to tell me?"
"Ah, no. There's only one little thing which has bothered me..."
Her bashfulness made her incredibly lovely.
With her upper body covered by a bath towel, Yuri was fidgeting—trying to evade Godou's eyes and turning her face away.
"Godou-san, is it possible that you, like those boys, want to see us in s-swimsuits?"
"...eh?"
It was an unexpected question. That Yuri would actually ask him such a thing.
Flustered, Godou averted his eyes from the completely flushed red Hime-Miko's swimsuit.
"N-no. I-I don't especially have such an interest..."
Godou went for the harmless and inoffensive answer.
His words trailed off towards the end, maybe because he knew he was pretending.
But what other choice did he have? Even inadvertently, he was living surrounded by beautiful girls. He was in no place to be thoughtless.
"I-I see. That's right, isn't it! I'm glad I asked you, Godou-san. I was right in believing you stood above such carnal desires!"
Yuri's expression was obviously relieved.
Good. Looks like it hadn't failed. It was just when Godou felt relieved—
"What a stupid thing are you asking, Yuri? Of course he isn't!"
"Although reluctant, I have to agree with Erica. She is absolutely right. Mariya Yuri, our lord is the king among kings in lechery."
The two knights cut in with confident expressions.
"I haven't forgotten the hot night I spent with Godou on Sicily. At that time Godou he, he stared at my stark naked
body and then it got really rough. I won't let him say he has no interest in a woman's naked body."
Ignoring the startled Godou, Erica kept talking. Meanwhile Liliana's face turned bitter.
"The rumored affair in Zamparini's mansion? Had I been there, I would not have permitted Erica to do as she pleased. Kusanagi Godou, if your male desires ever become too much for you to handle, please call me. A-As a knight, I shall be of service without fail..."
"W-weren't there intricate circumstances at that time? And Liliana, what the heck are you saying!"
After shouting, Godou looked at Yuri right away. Although he had finally tricked her, after this topic it was all for naught. As he thought, her facial expression betrayed her shock.
"No... no way. So Godou is like the others after all, just like Ena-san said... I-I'm terribly sorry. I need to sort out my feelings, so please excuse me."
Fast-talking, Yuri excused herself and ran off.
Without the words to stop her, Godou saw her off dumbly.
Part 6
"Oh, Yuri, running away~. Hey, Amakasu-san, what were they talking about just now?"
"How would I be able to hear? Please don't ask me."
They were in a room on the seventh floor of an apartment building.
They had managed to slip into a room that happened to be open thanks to Amakasu Touma's connections.
From its window, they could overlook the grounds and buildings of the Private Jounan Academy.
"But, Amakasu-san, can't you read lips? Weren't you a ninja?"
"Could you call me something else? That sounds like I'm a fake... can you at least make it spy? Also, I can't read lips, but I can understand the conversation through deduction."
The two of them were sitting next to each other by the window, using binoculars.
They perfectly showed the pool and the ruins of the former school building, Godou and the girls.
Right now, Yuri was running away from Godou.
"Really? You rock~. No less from Kaoru-san's right hand man."
"Come on, as long as you have adequate knowledge and imagination, it's just basic reasoning. It probably went like this. Yuri said something like 'Idiot! I don't like you or anything! I HATE you!', I bet."
"Eh? I don't think Yuri's the type to say that~"
"I just thought it would be interesting and added my own hopes."
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