“Sensei... I want you to hold on to that guilt you feel forever. I want you to feel burdened by it. I want you to do things the right way. Fight for the right reasons, agonize over those you kill, and cry about what you’ve done. To me, you’re the most human person here. You feel all these emotions I’ve long since lost... You’re the role model I look up to as what it means to be truly human. That’s why I want you to continue suffering. Because you’re the example I’m learning from. I think, if I keep watching you, I’ll at least be able to act more like a human should when we return to Japan.”
“Nagumo-kun...” Aiko’s eyes opened wide in surprise. Hajime hadn’t tried to comfort her, or condemn her. No, he’d asked her to continue suffering.
Yet it was these words that chased away the dark clouds that hung about her heart. This selfish request had done what no amount of comfort or condemnation could have.
Accepting the consequences and necessity of her actions would be the hardest thing Aiko had ever done. Especially because of how traumatizing the event had been. There had already been so many times she’d wanted to just run away from what she’d did, or broken under the strain. There would probably many more times like this in the future, too. But her personality and her resolve wouldn’t let her. That would just make the ordeal more painful.
She only knew she could do it because there would always be someone there to prop her back up if she was about to collapse. Someone who’d lost his humanity, but was trying his best to remember what it meant to be human.
This really is the most selfish request I’ve ever heard. It was a merciless, kind request. Clear teardrops streaked down Aiko’s cheeks. She’d held in her tears all this time, but now the dam finally burst.
Hajime turned away awkwardly and mentioned one last thing.
“Well, if you absolutely feel like you can’t bear it anymore... and there’s no one else you can rely on... and I mean no one else... I don’t mind lending you a shoulder to cry on.”
“You... really are...” Aiko smiled weakly and leaned against Hajime’s back. He was purposely acting like he hadn’t seen her already start crying.
“In that case, I’d like to borrow your shoulder for a little bit, Nagumo-kun.”
“Go for it, Sensei.”
Aiko leaned into Hajime, entrusting herself to him. Crying, she reaffirmed her dedication to always being everyone’s teacher. And to always bear the sins of what she’d done. She felt that as long a certain selfish student of hers was watching, she could keep on going.
Their shadows elongated as the sun slipped below the horizon. Aiko’s sobs were the only thing that could be heard in the darkening palace grounds.
Once Aiko had finished crying everything out, the two of them had returned to the palace. Aiko’s flushed face and embarrassed expression raised a lot of eyebrows, and Hajime broke out into a cold sweat when he realized how this looked to Yue and the others.
As always, Yue, Shea, Tio, and Kaori had then dragged Hajime into their room.
Shea’s noisy complaints did bother him a little, but what truly terrified him was Yue’s silent glare.
In the end, David and the others returned to serve under Aiko again. It appeared their love for her had won over any loyalty they might have felt to the Holy Church.
Traveling with Aiko had introduced them to many different ways of thinking, and their perspective on the world was different from when they’d first been assigned as her guards. Plus, they’d started growing suspicious of the Holy Church when Ishtar had refused to let them meet Aiko and ordered them to remain on standby in the capital.
Naturally, the knowledge that Ehit cared nothing for them and that the Holy Church had been decimated had still come as a shock. But in the end, they’d come to accept that they couldn’t hate Aiko, and that she’d made the right decision.
It was of course possible that they were just looking for something to cling to. For they had converted and become adherents of the Fertility Goddess Aiko. Either way, they had sworn to protect her with their lives.
Their love for Aiko had sublimated into a kind of cult fanaticism, but it was possible that was what they needed to accept the destruction of the Holy Church.
“I can’t believe you! Why do you keep doing this!?”
“Hajime-kun... You really should be more careful about what you say to people.”
“Fufufu, I expected no less from Master. I take my eyes off him for a moment, and he has already gotten another woman to fall for him...”
The three girls complained about Hajime while eating dinner in the main hall. Hajime ignored their pointed glares and continued enjoying the splendid feast laid out before him.
Next to him, Yue said nothing, but she did shoot Hajime a dirty look. Considering the situation, she couldn’t really blame Hajime for doing what he had, but that didn’t change the fact that Aiko clearly thought of him more as a love interest than a student.
It was a complicated situation all around, and Yue did have a little sympathy for Aiko. After all, Hajime’s plan for dealing with her feelings was to pretend he hadn’t noticed them.
“Hajime, do you think Aiko will break?” When Hajime had told her what had happened between him and Aiko, Yue had grown a little worried. Hajime lowered his fork and thought about it for a few seconds.
“Hmm, I think she’ll be fine. Worst comes to worst, I’ll just make her an artifact with spirit magic that’ll keep her sane. Knowing her though, I don’t think we have to worry. She’ll get better in time.”
“I see. That’s good.” Yue’s gaze softened, and Hajime smiled.
“Yue-san... I should have known. You’re always two steps ahead.”
“Is this... what makes Yue better than me? Gah, I won’t lose! I definitely won’t lose to her!”
“Impressive. I know not whether she does it unconsciously or on purpose... but she always knows how to tug at Master’s heartstrings. She truly is a master of seduction. I cannot help but be amazed.”
“That doesn’t feel like praise.”
Shea looked shocked, Kaori was gritting her teeth in frustration, and Tio watched Yue in admiration. Yue grimaced slightly in response, but Hajime simply stroked her hair reassuringly and smiled wryly.
Kouki and the other students walked into the dining hall, interrupting the party’s lively meal. Aiko was with them as well, so everyone who’d been summoned from earth was gathered here.
Hajime looked over at them and raised an eyebrow. He’d actually asked what time Kouki and the others usually ate so that he could pick a time they weren’t there. However, it seemed his plan had failed.
Well, it’s not that big a deal, Hajime thought and returned to his meal. Yue went back to eating as well.
The classmates all milled about uncertainly. Some were brimming with curiosity, others weren’t sure how to approach Hajime and his friends, while others felt uncomfortable in their presence.
They kept on shooting Hajime furtive looks throughout their meal. The students all knew by now that he had absolutely no interest in any of them, and didn’t see himself as one of their comrades anymore, which was why they hesitated to speak to him. Aiko was shooting Hajime glances as well, but for a very different reason.
“Ah, Shizuku-chan! Come sit with us!”
“Is it really alright if I sit next to you guys?”
“Of course it is.”
Hajime wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to Noint’s grim face smiling so openly. Shizuku didn’t seem to mind though, and she took a seat next to Kaori.
The other students had found it hard to believe that Kaori had really been reborn in a different body, but that smile was just so her that they had to accept it was really Kaori in there.
Even in Noint’s body, Kaori’s warm smile had the power to make an entire room relax. Compared to the time everyone had thought Hajime had died, Kaori’s temporary death had been far less of a shock.
Kouki sat down next to Shizuku, and Suzu and Aiko settled in a
cross from them. That put Aiko directly next to Yue.
The other classmates all settled in on either side of Hajime’s party. Suzu appeared to be rather nervous in the presence of Yue. When she first sat down she stammered some odd words.
“S-Sorry for interrupting your meal, ma’am...”
Yue tilted her head, wondering why Suzu had referred to her as “ma’am.”
The moment Kouki and the others were seated, the palace servants brought out food for them. It was the same high-quality fare they had served Hajime.
As everyone began eating, Aiko accidentally met Hajime’s eyes. She blushed beet-red and turned away. After a few more furtive glances, Aiko whispered,
“U-Umm, Nagumo-kun... If possible... could you not tell anyone...” Yue felt a little miffed that the two of them were talking with her sitting right in between them, but she held it in. She knew how embarrassing it must have been for Aiko to cry in front of Hajime, and she could understand wanting to make sure he didn’t say anything to anyone else.
Hajime mentally thanked Yue for not saying anything and turned his gaze to Aiko.
When their eyes met again, Aiko blushed to the tips of her ears. Shizuku and the others knew it was already too late to do anything about Aiko’s infatuation, but that didn’t stop them from glaring at Hajime. Fortunately, the other students couldn’t see Aiko from their angle, so most of them didn’t even notice. Only Kouki and the other frontliners sitting nearby saw, but they didn’t immediately understand the reason for Aiko’s blushing.
Atsushi and the other male members of Ai-chan’s guard squad all glared resentfully at Hajime.
“That bastard, he’s totally gotten her to fall for him now,” they muttered under their breath.
Yuka, Nana, and Taeko tried to look uninterested, but it was obvious they were trying to sneak glances at Aiko and Hajime.
“What are you talking about, Sensei? Did something happen?”
“Huh?”
Hajime put on a perfect act. For a second, Aiko was confused, but then she realized he was playing dumb on purpose and smiled knowingly.
“No, of course not,” she replied.
Though it was a little vexing that Hajime was always looking out for her, Aiko felt a little happy about it too. She smiled faintly.
The more they watched, the angrier all of the girls got at Hajime. Only Yue was still on his side. She patted his shoulder affectionately and started feeding him food.
Such was the power of the main heroine. She was on a completely different level from the others.
I really do have the best girlfriend in the world! Hajime fell for Yue all over again. As he was mentally thanking Yue, Shea tugged on his sleeve from the other side.
“Hajime-san, say ahhh...” Shea was tired of all these new rivals popping up, and was determined to remind them that she was vying for his affections too. Blushing slightly, she brought her fork to Hajime’s mouth. She made sure her bunny ears brushed against him as she did so. Shea was just as crafty as the others.
Hajime was used to this at this point, and he let her feed him without a fight. Shea’s ears and tail twitched happily as she watched Hajime eat her food.
Naturally, Tio and Kaori weren’t going to let this go without a fight. The two of them thrust out their forks as well, intent on feeding Hajime themselves.
“H-Hajime-kun, have some of mine too! Say aaah!”
“Master, I implore you to try some of my food. Please open wide.”
“Just this once, you two.”
There was only so much of the same food he could eat before he got tired of it. To be fair, he ate some of Kaori and Tio’s food, then put a stop to the feeding. Both Kaori and Tio melted when they saw him eating it.
“This is... starting to get really awkward...” Shizuku muttered, her expression stiff. Suzu, Kouki, and Ryutarou all grimaced awkwardly.
For a moment, Aiko considered trying to feed Hajime as well, but then snapped back to reality and mentally berated herself for even considering such a thing. The others ignored her one-woman comedy act.
Fortunately, the other girls all started squealing to each other, dispelling the awkward atmosphere. They’d been afraid of Hajime before, but now they were gossiping about his love life. On the day Hajime had fallen into the abyss, no one would have even imagined that he would have returned with a harem of girls. It stood to reason that all of the girls in the class were burning with curiosity regarding his relationships.
Even the guys had stopped being so timid around Hajime. Though that was mostly because they were burning with jealous rage instead.
Every single one of the girls in Hajime’s harem was a beauty without peer. Shea especially drew a lot of attention. Otaku or not, most guys found bunny girls irresistible. The way her bunny ears twitched when she smiled at Hajime had everyone smitten.
But no matter how jealous they were, no matter how badly they wanted to ask Hajime the secret to getting Tortus girls to fall for him, none of the guys had the courage to speak to him.
They felt bad for making fun of him before, back when they’d all thought he was incompetent. Furthermore, the innate pressure Hajime exuded made it hard to go up to him.
Only those who had spent some time with Hajime were able to converse normally with him. And those that could, like Nagayama and Yuka, were eager to ask him questions.
But before they could engage him, Hajime turned his attention to Kaori, who was blushing while looking at her fork.
After a moment’s deliberation she came to a decision and apologetically popped the fork into her mouth. She blushed even deeper.
Hajime was about to say something scathing like “What are you, twelve!?” but Yue beat him to the punch.
Kaori noticed Yue’s gaze on her and met her eyes. It was then that Yue pounced.
“Pervert...”
“Y-You’ve got it all wrong! I’m not a pervert! I-I was just eating my dinner!”
“Dinner seasoned with a side of Hajime.”
“Th-That’s not true! Besides, Tio’s way more of a pervert than I am! Look, she’s licking her fork all over!”
“Slurp! Slurp! Slurp! Hm?”
Red-faced, Kaori pointed to Tio. She stopped slobbering all over her fork and looked questioningly at Kaori.
“What seems to be the matter?” Tio showed Kaori the fork, emphasizing that there was nothing on it. She was definitely tasting something other than the food. Hajime tried not to think about it. Over time, Tio had transformed from a perverted masochist into a plain regular pervert.
“Tio, stop that before I send you flying.” Hajime rubbed his temple and gave Tio her only warning.
“Mrrr, if you insist. But you have yet to kiss me, Master. Unless I do this, I will be unable to sate my burning lust.” Her reply only irked Hajime more.
Just then, Tio’s eyes lit up as she remembered something.
“Oh yes! I remember now! You still have not given me the reward you promised, Master! I demand you do so now!”
“Huh? Reward?” Hajime scrunched up his face, but then clicked his tongue when he remembered what Tio was referring to.
The others looked at him quizzically, and Shea asked the question they were all thinking.
“What’s this... about a reward?”
“You see, when we were fighting at the Divine Mountain, Master promised me a reward if I could keep Sensei-dono safe. And as you can see, she is still hale. Nufufufu... Master. You would never go back on your word, now would you?”
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Shea and Kaori yelled at the same time, but Tio wasn’t swayed. With everyone’s attention on him, Hajime turned reluctantly to Tio. He put his chin in his hands and responded to her.
“Alright, what is it you want? Don’t forget, I only promised to do anything as long as it’s reasonable.” Like the time he’d given Shea her reward, he wasn’t going to acquiesce to requests like “sleep with me.”
Tio nodded in an exaggerated fashion, indicating that
she understood. Then, fidgeting a little in embarrassment, Tio spoke her request.
“Fear not, I shan’t ask for the impossible. I just want you to punish my arse... like you did when we first met.” Tio put her hands to her cheeks and squirmed in shame. I can’t believe I really said it! As far as she was concerned, it was a reasonable request because Hajime had already done it before. Forget the fact that it was a pretty hardcore fetish. I should have expected this from a pervert like her.
As Hajime had feared, everyone but Yue and the others shrunk back in disgust.
They looked at Hajime as if he were some kind of heinous criminal.
“Hell no, you perverted dragon. And stop saying that in a way that people’ll misunderstand.”
Shocked at his refusal, Tio vehemently protested.
“B-But why? Surely this is a reasonable request! All you have to do is drive that thick, hard, black pole into me like you did last time! Then, when I beg you to take it out you simply must ignore me and keep pushing deeper! All I wish is for you to mercilessly torment my arse!”
“How many times do I have to tell you, stop causing misunderstandings!”
Hajime had been upgraded from “heinous criminal” to “monster” in the other students’ eyes.
“But you can’t deny that that is the truth, right Nagumo-kun?” Unhappy that all the other girls had gotten to feed him, Aiko followed up with a barbed statement.
“She isn’t lying...”
“Yeah, he really did stab her with it.”
“Yeah, Nagumo-kun, you have no mercy!”
Yuka, Nana, and Taeko decided to dogpile onto Hajime as well. They ostensibly sounded like they were whispering, but Hajime could tell they’d meant for everyone to hear.
The students’ suspicion transformed into certainty, and they all glared at Hajime.
“Hajime-san, you can’t really call it a misunderstanding...”
“Hajime, it’s because of you that Tio’s a pervert. Accept responsibility.”
Even Shea and Yue had betrayed him now.
“N-Nagumo-kun... How could you do such a thing... to Tio-san...”
“Hajime-kun, I’m so jealous... I mean, you need to answer for your actions...”
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 6 Page 23
