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But, that\'s not right.

Does that mean she is――No, no. I need to calm down. There\'s no way Chihiro Suzuki is the Concept of Space.

First of all, Saburou is not using an undercover name in the school. So, he can\'t be Chihiro Suzuki. Furthermore, I can simply ask for her location; unless it is somehow Conston, then it is simply impossible for her to be Space.

「The individual \'Chihiro Suzuki\' is not in Conston」

That\'s confirmed, then.

Chihiro Suzuki is not Saburou, the Concept of Space.

Now, as a further precaution as well as to narrow down the scope, I\'m going to assume it due to his name being Saburou, but Space is definitely male. It\'s easy to confirm that much. Isn\'t that right?

「Yes. The individual with the alias \'Concept of Space\' is male」

Alright.

Now, using the same method, it\'s easy to figure out that he is the same age as me, ruling out the possibility of him being a teacher in the school.

He is 100%, undoubtedly a student in my class; a male student in my class. And yet.

He is not here.

...I\'m going to have a headache if this isn\'t resolved soon.

There weren\'t many possibilities that remained, but likewise, the methods that I could use to figure out his identity were running thin.

The easiest way was to figure out his appearance. That, fortunately enough, could be done quite simply.

――What is the true appearance of Saburou, the Concept of Space?

Suddenly, my eyes widened.

"!?"

This... There\'s no way... How...?

Slowly, I turned my gaze.

To the left.

Towards the person sitting in the seat right beside me.

...Fuck.

His gaze was just as it normally was, staring with a bored expression towards the front of the room, his chin cupped in his hand as he looked ready to fall asleep.

Tarou Fushigimi.

The mannerisms were slightly different from the picture of Saburou in front of me, but the face--

...It\'s the same person...?

❖─────❖─────❖

For the remainder of the day, I was unable to maintain a proper focus.

I couldn\'t get the image of Tarou Fushigimi―would it be better to call him Saburou?―out of my mind.

After school, I immediately went to the school rooftop. Making sure nobody followed me, I waited for Sophie Asanami to arrive.

It was still too soon to conclude that Tarou Fushigimi was Saburou.

No, thinking logically, it simply shouldn\'t be possible for him to be Saburou. Saburou\'s name is Saburou, not Tarou Fushigimi; he isn\'t using a fake identity nor is he using a clone... So, how come his face showed up when I asked for Saburou\'s appearance?

"Howdy~!"

Coming onto the roof with a friendly greeting, Sophie waved her hand at me, the golden bangles adorning her arm bouncing up and down as she did so.

As soon as she saw my face, however, her characteristically playful expression froze.

"Uhh... Is everything okay? You look, like... grim, or something. Did something happen?"

Staring at her for a moment, I asked.

"What do you know about Tarou Fushigimi?"

Tilting her head in clear puzzlement, she scratched her temple with one of those long and pointy, excessively-decorated pink and black-striped nails like miniature knives that weaponised the tips of her fingers.

"Hmm~? What\'dya wanna know about that guy all of a sudden? Anyway, shouldn\'t you know more than me?"

I watched her slender fingers as her hand came back down to her hip.

The only reason I could imagine for having such extravagant fingernails was to use them in combat. Still, they seemed far too inconvenient in daily life for that purpose alone. Even in a fight, it would prove difficult to clench your fist properly with nails like that, so I wondered the rationale behind them.

In any case, that\'s irrelevant.

"His face appeared as the truth behind the appearance of Space."

With a slight delay, her expression transformed into one of utmost, incongruous gravitas. The juxtaposition between that asura-like face and her normal cheeky grin was astounding to witness in real-time.

"Wha-?! Let\'s go and get him right now, then!"

I quickly stopped her by grabbing the back of her shirt\'s collar before she could run off.

"Hold your horses."

"I ain\'t got no horses, bastard! Speakin\' of hold, what\'re you holdin\' onta me for!? Let go! I\'ll fuck that bastard up right now!"

"No, you won\'t. What did I say about not rushing things?"

"Fuck, the bastard\'s right in front of us and you wanna let him get off just like that? The hell\'re ya thinkin\'?!"

Her accent was evidently starting to slip out more and more as her frustration and resentment grew.

I increased the strength in my hand, forcibly pulling her back as she tried to get away.

"Woah, shit!?"

Before she could properly react, I pinned her against the wall and leaned into her face.

"What am I thinking?"

Our breaths could be clearly felt on each other\'s faces.

"Sophie Asanami."

Staring her in the eyes, I opened my mouth to her.

"How about you calm down for a moment?"

Of course, just because I told her to doesn\'t mean that she would; Sophie screaming profanities at me and furiously shaking her body, wriggling around to open an opportunity to get free.

"The fuck you talkin\' about, \'calm down\'?! Let me--mmph!?"

Slam-!

Covering her mouth with a hand, I pushed her head against the wall to restrain her movement as much as possible.

"Don\'t speak. Don\'t even open your mouth; just listen to what I\'m about to say."

Her saliva bathing the palm of my hand, she even tried to start biting me. Of course, someone like her is not in the position to exert so much force that biting is going to cause me any serious harm.

"You asked me to help you, and I agreed."

She had no choice but to listen to my words even if she wanted to ignore me completely.

"But, you have to realise something: my help comes at a cost."

Writhing around like a worm, she focused all her efforts on attempting vigorously to escape, but no matter how she squirmed, she would not be able to get away from me.

"Hey. Don\'t try to escape."

Quickly realising that resistance was futile, she stopped moving her body so much―but not her eyes, as they desperately darted all over the place to look at anything that wasn\'t my face.

"Look at me, Sophie Asanami."

I moved my hand from her mouth to grab her chin and squeezed her face tightly. Not knowing what I might do if she didn\'t listen, her hazel eyes quivered as they finally gazed into my own, filled with an assortment of strong and undiscernable emotions.

"You will do what I say, whatever that may be."

She was a caged mouse in front of a lion.

Fortunately for her, I was a well-fed lion, not a starving one.

"If you disregard my words again, I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Her body was subtly trembling as I held her in place, I released the pressure on her face and just held her arms against the wall as she nodded.

She may not be aware of the kinds of things I have done, but I\'m sure she has heard a few things from the professors over at the Playground.

If that were the case, she would know well enough that I am not messing around.

With a smile, I added.

"Also, don\'t think that you\'ve got immunity for whatever reason, okay?"

Certainly, as much as it would be a shame to lose a pawn as valuable and convenient as Sophie Asanami, I would still not hesitate to eliminate her if she is deemed too unruly.

After all, a guard dog that bites its owner is not a guard dog you will feel safe to put your faith into.

In the same way that there is no need for a guard dog that bites its owner, I have no need nor want for someone who threatens my security by refusing to heed my authority.

Just as I would throw away a faulty tool that puts my safety into question, I would execute an insubordinate mutt like that without a shred of reluctance.

The same goes for the twins, too―if either of those girls ever became mutinous or started having thoughts of rebelling, then I would waste no time in putting them down if that\'s what I deemed necessary.

It was but a matter of personal safety.

"So, how about you take a moment to calm down and think before you act?"

It\'s your decision, Sophie Asanami.

Are you a dog that bites its owner? A dog that needs to be put down?

Or, are you my new tool?

"You are forgiven this time and this time only. If I have to forcibly stop you from mindlessly rushing forward again, you will not be granted clemency."

This is the one and only second chance you will get.

Do not waste it.

Thud-!

Letting go of her, Sophie dropped to the floor in a clump, her knees touching and feet facing the wall behind her. Her head drooping and the cardigan of her school uniform halfway down her shoulders, the beads of sweat streaming across her skin glistened oddly under the twilight sky.

Looking down at her, who did not move, I opened my mouth.

"We\'re not done. Get up."

The Adam\'s apple of her throat bobbing in place as she gulped down the reservoir of pooled saliva that flooded the insides of her mouth, I could practically see the anxiety-fuelled pounding of her rapidly-pulsating heartbeat as it thumped loudly within her chest, rising and falling with every passing moment.

She did not move, but I took notice of the twitching of muscles in her legs and arms that indicated it was more of a \'could not\' situation.

Grabbing her by the arm, I forcibly pulled her up to her feet.

Of course, she couldn\'t really stand by herself in her current position, let alone walk―as was shown by how she stumbled like a drunkard the instant I helped her up―but I supported her well enough to make it work either way, with my arm wrapped around her body.

Gradually, I walked her across the rooftop.

It didn\'t take too long until we arrived at the edge.

The edges of the school roof were fenced-off with a chain-link fence, but it wasn\'t of very high quality and was divided into several smaller sections, so I kicked it down without too much trouble after a few attempts, revealing a small gap.

"Sophie Asanami. I have a first task for you."

I glanced at her as I talked, but she didn\'t respond. Well, she should still be listening.

"You said you would do what I say, right? \'I\'ll do anything\'―I remember you saying something along the lines of this, unless I am somehow mistaken?"

Her shoulders shook with a slight start.

"Surely you weren\'t thinking of doing something so foolish like telling a lie, right? Surely you will truly do whatever it takes to avenge your mother, right?"

As the ends of my lips began to arch upwards, I didn\'t bother to suppress the beginnings of a grin that gradually arose.

"So, prove it."

Nearing the edge of the roof, my right arm wrapped around her to keep her standing, albeit barely, I pat her twice on the shoulder.

"I must say, I was impressed by the sheer conviction you showed to avenge your mother, and the aggressiveness with which you bared towards her killer, the Concept of Space."

I moved her head for her so that she could peer down to the ground far below.

"But, you can\'t seriously believe that I would take such a façade at face value?"

The main building of the school we were currently standing at the very top of was the highest point on school grounds; a building of four storeys, or roughly 17 metres; it wouldn\'t even take two seconds for her to go \'splat\'.

"Well..."

Turning her body around to face me, I lifted her chin up with the tip of my finger.

The expression decorating her glossy face the moment she realised I was smiling was one I wouldn\'t forget until the day I died.

"Sophie Asanami. That determination of yours..."

Her broadened eyes staring back at me in horror: gazing into them, I felt that she already knew what was about to happen.

"―Let\'s test it, shall we?"

Call it a kind of \'subordinate initiation\'.

"...!?"

With one powerful shove, I pushed her off the building.