Chapter 19 : Encounter
Chapter 19 : Encounter
Sadogashima Sayaka recalls what happened during lunch as she look through the glass reflecting the starry night.
Yesterday, Sayaka received a passionate confession from a male classmate, Tanaka Haruto.
It was the story yesterday evening she’s been worrying about.
「…This is the right choice isn’t it?」
After all of the hesitation, Sayaka for once was able to tell Tanaka Haruto the response she came up with.
Thanks to that, she has slept two hours later than usual.
Misuzu who noticed the sleepy Sayaka quietly gave her reinforced recovery before training, so there was no difficulty in training today.
「Anyway, I need to calm down for now. J-Just because I got a boyfriend, it doesn’t mean that my daily life would change」
Sayaka calms her fast heart beat by recalling the graceful emotions of secluding oneself in harmony, as cultivated from tea ceremony club.
The tea ceremony activity is to behave graciously while holding tea whisk on one hand. For Sayaka who’s a serious and docile honor student type, the club who gather students with graceful movements, it’s the only place to rest in school.
That said, Sayaka’s parents house doesn’t have a deep relation to special tea ceremonies.
She can’t even be on the same wavelength as the seniors or teachers.
Rather, she has a lot ignorant parts and she has learned various things since joining in.
But, Sayaka liked that environment and atmosphereーthat place more than anything else.
The current Japan school building structures doesn’t have the paper sliding doors as expected but, a wooden screen laid out on the corner of the room was a gift from the graduates.
Just like Sayaka, they’re docile and earnest students.
Surrounded by them, chattingーSayaka basically nods and smiles butーthey spend time doing that.
Those people have moistened Sayaka’s heart who’s tormented by the dessert.
「I wonder if the seniors are doing fine」
The club president who’s making the most efforts in the activities, just like the head of the tea ceremony family.
Her behavior in the club activities were strict, she thinks of her as a scary senior, but.
She’s usually a bright and a gentle girl.
It’s not just the president.
Her treasured acquaintances left in the former world.
Including her parents of course, as well as her middle school classmates.
‘I don’t know when but, I’d like to see them again and talk to them again’
Cooling down her heart uplifted by the reality of having a boyfriend for the first time in her life, Sayaka falls down into solemn mood.
They will regain their original life once they defeat the Maou.
If everyone in the class work together, they can overcome difficulties.
Then, their bonds and trust becomes stronger, they’ll be able to regain a much more enjoyable daily lifー
「…………Uu」
Her chest tightens.
‘Will I be able to meet my friends in the former world again?’
‘Even if that is in the distant future, I’d like to think that the fact didn’t change’
But, oneー Sayaka will never meet the person she treasures.
「Really… I’m so weak…」
Shocked by the sudden change of the scenery, her head turned white.
The shaken classmates gather and sob, trying to escape reality.
The delinquent girl, Mikoshiba Aya shouts and their unease increases.
Panicking inside her head, she trembles along with her crouching friends.
Before long, the noise settled and they finally regained composure.
Kirishima Ran was already casted away from the class.
She remembers it like it was yesterday.
Some male students other than Megane and Torao and friendsーand Mikoshiba Aya, schoolgirls who have a standpoint isn’t important.
Torao was denounced to a situation where a classmate is kicked out.
Even though he’s the chairman. Even though he’s just a chairman. It’s because he’s the chairman.
It feels that there were a lot of criticisms against the position, not Torao himself.
Remembering it now, it wasn’t a scene where Torao alone feels the responsibility.
In fact, Ran was driven out and nobody stopped it.
She thinks that it’s unfair to beat the most concerned party by only showing the result.
Even Torao, he’s just a student before being a chairman.
Niigaki Takeo is the one who interrupted.
He stood in front of him to cover Torao who took shelter of the irresponsible students.
『If you complain about Torao’s actions further, I won’t show mercy』
Niigaki points at the skill above his head as he speak.
His skill, as knownーis an absolute defense wall that bounces any hostile action, regardless of physics and magic.
The classmates turned afraid of that spirit and behavior, they have cooled down their heads.
The obstructive collective psychology worked.
In the end, everyone’s opinion were unanimous, and it has settled down.
Even if she regrets it, she can’t lament.
Remembering it nowーwasn’t there a way to break the ground?
Sadogashima Sayaka curls herself, pushed down by Niigaki’s spirit.
If she had the courage to speak a word to Niigaki at that time.
「My skill might have been able to stop Niigaki-kun」
‘I wonder if that would be the best for the class?’ Nobody knows anymore.
You can say that the problem about Kirishima Ran created didn’t stay in the class.
But, Sayaka speaks on an individual emotion argument.
She thinks that it’s not good to leave Ran like that.
If she showed courage at that time, she didn’t have to part from Ran eternally.
Resolving herself, Sayaka sharpened her gaze.
Entangling her fingers on the plain rubber string, she unravels her tied hair.
She pulled up her skirt and folded the end of the skirt familiarly.
It’s the skirt length for pubescent girls. Changing it from the graceful literary girl to a provocative length in a blink of an eye, the thin legs wrapped in black stockings appear.
She tried to fix it with skirt belt like usual but Sayaka noticed that she left it in the classroom.
But, it was the only moment in time she stopped.
Lowering her black stockings, she exposed her pure-white thighs and calves.
Though she started abruptly, Sayaka’s undressing isn’t over yet.
She puts her hand on her panty next and she pulled it out of her legs without hesitation and threw it onto her bed.
Then, she takes out her black spats from the drawer and begin to wear it cheerfully.
Because of the short skirt, the spats show glimpses from the edge.
Though it’s used as an underwear, it’s not one.
Sayaka didn’t seem to care about it.
「Now then, let’s go」
She removed the black rimmed glasses that gives her a docile impression, then narrowed her eyes.
Sadogashima Sayaka changed her hairstyle, removed her glasses, took off her stockings, and shortened her skirt length.
If a person who knows her normally sees her, they’ll be amazed by her transformation.
Her narrow eyes, and her exposed thighs too.
The tea ceremony club member, Sadogashima Sayaka who behaves hesitantly, is no longer here.
This is Sayaka’s battle mode.
「I wanted to show this to Kirishima-kun however」
The literary girl’s thought of being in a relationship (Though there’s a doubt on the assumption that she can be in one) is very indecent and carnivorousー
Sayaka’s behavior is created by that image.
Or rather, Sayaka originally has interest in lewd things.
In other wordsー Sayaka herself doesn’t notice it but, she has a slightly bias fetish.
「Seeing me like this, what kind of expression Tanaka-kun would show me」
She neither assert herself or speak with human relations well.
This is her behavior in reality.
Humans who are quiet and doesn’t talk doesn’t mean that they’re the same inside their heads.
Of course, you can’t just say that all of her behavior until now were false.
That is Sayaka’s true nature.
She wants to be useful but doesn’t want to stand out.
She loves the graceful environment of the tea ceremony club.
That’s Sayaka.
It doesn’t mean that her thoughts until now were a huge lie.
「…What kind of face Tanaka-kun would show. Somehow, it makes me feel thrilled
She wants to help someone without standing out.
If you change the words, she wants to please people without paying attention to the majority.
She wants to provide everything the person she trusts, she can trust, with all he wishes.
If you look only at this, Sadogashima Sayaka is a girl who has a wonderful devoting heart.
But, in fact.
「KiriーTanaka-kun looks docile. Even if it’s my first time, I have to take the lead」
Sayaka closes the door behind her after licking her fingertips.
This will be the last day of deluding about the nonexistent beloved being toyed by her.
Sayaka will become an adult today.
The tea ceremony club sadist, Sadogashima Sayaka walks in the tranquil corridor with a tense look.
◇◇◇
Her heart throbs in expectations, she’s hesitating, asking herself ‘is this really okay’.
Sadogashima Sayaka walks down the dark corridor, trampling down the loafers with her barefoot heels.
Tension and expectations, anxiety that she can’t go back.
As the delusion of devoting her virginity to her classmate, Tanaka Haruto approaches reality, Sayaka’s heart rages embarrassingly.
Is this also a kind of suspension bridge effect?
The normal thoughts don’t come around as it’s obstructed by the heartbeat.
「…But, this should be fine」
The face of the late Kirishima Ran comes up to her mind thinking that she wasn’t able to convey her feelings.
She doesn’t want to regret anymore.
If she binds herself with unreachable ideals, her range of actions and thought circuit would be narrowed.
It’s Sayaka’s bad habbit.
ーNo, ‘was’ is an expression she doesn’t desire.
Actually, Sayaka’s narrowing her own thought circuit.
Even if she doesn’t choose now, she’ll meet up with a good partner someday.
Among the remaining boy students(rude), Tanaka Haruto would be the best.
She unconsciously justify her actions by convincing herself such.
Just around the corner, Sayaka suddenly stopped.
A strange scenery, a moonlight angle she doesn’t remember.
It seems that she came to a different building apart from the boy’s room due to her tension.
She doesn’t want this figure to be seen by other girlsーEspecially by Mikoshiba Aya
She seems to have made a mistake on trying to move in the building while not standing out.
「…W-What should I do?」
Sayaka’s corner of the eye raised due to amblyopia lowers due to the unease, she’s in panic.
The stretched mind completely loosened and the appearance of the usual literary girl, Sadogashima Sayaka shows up.
Feeling frustration as she’s not used to the reality, her anxiety can’t be replaced.
Sayaka walks faster while trying not to make any footsteps while being concentrated on the heartbeat different from a while ago.
「Someone, a butler or a maidー. If I can meet a servant who’s not familiar with me…」
Walking on the long corridor hastily, she looks for a person who can show her the way.
But, that action driven by impatience makes the reality that Sayaka is lost much more clear.
Walking in an endless maze-like corridor, is planted with impatience and fear.
「…Someone, anyone’s fine, just help me…!」
The trauma of losing sight of her mother in the underground department store when she was young now flashbacks as she’s in a similar situation.
At that time, she managed to find her mother.
But this time, there are no heroes would would reach out for Sayaka’s hand.
The trauma accelerates and Sayaka begins to show a mild panic syndrome.
Everything that comes to her sight is the same, she doesn’t know where she’s running now.
Sadogashima Sayaka runs through the corridor as if escaping from an invisible fear.
She shut her eyes and plugged her ears to escape from fear, what’s ahead of her isー
「ーAu!」
「ーOh, that surprised me!」
A familiar back pleasant to touch.
It’s a clothing of a senior employeeーnoticing that he’s wearing a butler clothing, she thrusts her face on his back.
Was it from the shock of bumping her nose or was it the head in panic cooling down?
Her rough breathing has calmed down and healing magic has been used on her red nose.
Sayaka finally regained her normal self.
「I-I’m sorry! Are you okay?」
「Y-Yeah. I’m fine butー」
Sayaka sits on her ass as reaction from bumping to him, she looked up at the butler’s appearance.
The senior employee is younger than she thought.
The legs wrapped in butler clothes are average. The figure is somewhat thin, delicate compared to the knights who look after their training.
A white collar on the neck giving an indoor atmosphere.
His face is Japanese but his hair color is platinum blonde.
But, she can’t feel the smell particular to the residents of this world.
Foreignerーshe wonders if he’s born from a separate country.
「…Hm, wait a minute」
Sayaka didn’t overlook the eyes over those glasses diverting quickly.
Going backwards as if afraid of something and moving his arms to hide his face casually.
The moonlight inserts through the window and the face of the senior employee is clearly reflected into her sight.
Sayaka who saw the face reflecting moonlight holds her breath from the sweet memories resurrected.
The hair color is different.
He shouldn’t be wearing glasses either.
And above all, he shouldn’t be in this world anymoreー
The classmate being talked behind the back by the knights, Sayaka ruminate inside her head.
He who was kicked out by Torao and Megane should no longer be alive.
The powerless saint thought that he could live alone.
He has withdrawn to such dangers.
The offensive language plays in Sayaka’s mind and disappears.
The miracle that erases such abuse in an instant happens in front of Sayaka’s eyes.
「…Kirishima-kun?」
Senior Employee Ran looked away and hid his face with his hand like a boy who was caught making a prank.