chapter 5

The next day, I got out of bed .

It was my own bed .

Yesterday, after the Boss released me from that white room, I returned straight home and fell asleep the next instant . I got home at about 3 .

Like the Boss said, they pulled some strings and solved the problem of my parents and the school .

They contacted my school and told them that I wasn’t feeling well .

Concerning my parents, they somehow made it look like I never left the house .

I wondered how though……I couldn’t help but feel a little scared, but when they told me how they did it, it wasn’t really as difficult as I imagined .

Both my parents leave the house early in the morning, and we don’t usually get much into contact by that time anyway .

Because of the incident from two days ago one would expect something from my parents’ part, but everything was pretty normal after they came back from work .

My bicycle’s flat tyre was also repaired, and when my parents saw it in the usual spot they didn’t think of anything suspicious .

Anyway, Anonymous cleaned up pretty well after that incident, that I had nothing to complain about .

Rather, I felt gratitude towards them .

Also, I got a message yesterday from my best friend Tsurugi, who was worried because of the so-called illness, but I replied to him that I was in fact skipping school out of laziness, and acted like my true self .

With this, it was flawless .

…… . . However, now that I’m part of an evil organization, I must think more about my everyday life and how I spend it .

I chewed some toasted bread while thinking about that .

I always ate breakfast alone .

I finished eating then took my bag .

I have to leave any moment now, otherwise I’d be late .

I put back on the suppression ring .

Thanks to this ring, I can live my life almost the same way as before .

Still, if I manage to restrain my powers on my own and invoke them whenever I want, I wouldn’t need this suppression ring anymore .

Right now, with my own restraint and the ring it feels just right .

I left the house and locked the door .

Wait a second…If I start wearing a ring all of a sudden, everyone at school will think that I got carried away or something . The teachers will more likely get angry too .

Could I wear this ring on my toe? Will it work then?

…… . . For today, I’ll try as much as possible to keep my hand in the pocket .

I thought about a useless counter-plan as I walked towards the school .

I saw an abandoned building on the right . There’s an entrance to our secret base underneath it as well .

However, unless it’s an emergency, I was told to always enter the secret base from the outskirts café .

“Ooi, Kazato!”

Right then, someone called my name from behind and started running towards me . Of course, it was Tsurugi .

I stopped in place and turned around .

“Hey . ”

“So you came today . ”

“Well, yeah . I just couldn’t wake up in time yesterday . ”

I actually couldn’t return in time .

“Wake up next time!

Oh yeah, by the way, there’s a transfer student coming today . That’s what the teacher said yesterday . ”

“Eh? Really? In our class?”

“Yeah . ”

A transfer student?

That’s quite unusual . I wonder if it’s a girl . Or maybe it’s a guy .

I actually hope it’s a guy .

If it’s a girl, she can’t escape the Tsurugi harem .

“Tsu~rugi!”

As always, Oohashi showed up suddenly and hugged Tsurugi from behind .

And only after that, she realized I was around too and greeted me, at which I, as always, answered her, then we started walking again .

We entered the classroom and everyone was already talking about the new transfer student . It was a hot topic .

The words flying about in the classroom were something along this line .

Blond hair . Foreigner . Slender figure . Cute . Slant-eyes .

It appears that someone saw the transfer student inside the staff room .

Honestly, at this point I tilted my head to the side .

For a very short moment I had a déjà vu .

“Everyone, be quiet!”

The classroom door burst open and the homeroom teacher entered .

The class grew quiet instantly .

“Good . Then, I introduce you today your new colleague .

Please come in . ”

Again, the door burst open .

The one who entered was a lovely girl with blond hair that stretched to her chest area and smart looking, emerald eyes .

But never mind that! As I thought, the transfer student was Roll .

A slight cheer could be heard .

‘This might be dangerous even for Oohashi Hitomi, the school’s madonna’ and similar voices could be heard too .

Roll turned her back on us for a moment to write her name on the blackboard then she introduced herself .

“I’m Shinjou 1 Roll . I’m a half, born and raised in Japan .

Please treat me well . ”

She made a quick bow and her golden hair hanged down . When she raised her head back up, she elegantly combed it upwards with her hand .

Her extremely polite greeting astonished me .

It seems she’s really good when it comes to this .

And her gestures are, somehow, refined………

“Then, Shinjou, go sit in the back seat over there .

Everyone, make sure to get along well with her . ”

I was still staring at her in mute amazement, and didn’t even realize that the homeroom teacher had left the classroom .

Even though the class was due to start soon, everyone gathered immediately around Roll .

Why did she even come here?

I glanced at her for a short moment, but I couldn’t meet her eyes .

Roll answered all the barrage of questions coming from her neighborhood with a smile on her face .

Really now, why is she here…………?

While I was thinking about that, Tsurugi started talking to me .

“She’s cute, isn’t she? It’s really rare for you to be so captivated . ”

“Oh, well……”

I’m not captivated .

And I also don’t think it’s that rare……

“So cute…… . She’s my new rival…… . ”

“Yup…… . ”

Hitomi and Rin were talking too .

“I’ll support you, Kazato, and your love . ”

You…… . Don’t you even remember how many relationships you already destroyed…… . ?

Also, I’m sorry to say, but I’m not in love .

It’s true that I think that Roll is cute, but she doesn’t make my heart flutter .

Maybe it’s because my first impression of her was a bad one .

The homeroom teacher returned and everyone went to their seats .

The lesson started .

_______

Roll came into contact with me during lunch break .

But her way of doing that was fairly wicked .

Actually, it was extremely evil .

As for what exactly happened, the answer is we knocked into each other .

But that was still all right . We would’ve drawn the attention of few others, but with an apology from my part, everything would’ve been resolved .

However, at that time, Roll intentionally left her lunch box fall on the floor .

‘Ah!’ Everyone turned to look towards me .

‘He bumped into her and she dropped her lunch box’… . I’m sure you can imagine how I was abused by their cold looks .

Furthermore, she was the new transfer student .

‘What are you going to do about this?’… . . The classroom was filled with an oppressive atmosphere .

At such times, it’s a burden to be able to accurately hear all the whispered conversations around you .

“Ah! S…sorry…… . . ”

Inside my mind I muttered ‘You framed me’… .

However, I know that she intentionally bumped into me .

And why is that? It’s because I saw her smile right before it happened .

The classroom fell silent, all the attention gathered on us .

Roll stood dumbfounded for a moment (she was most likely acting), and when she seemed to realize the reactions of everyone around us, she started to pick up the scattered contents of her lunch .

“It’s all right . I wasn’t paying attention……! It is I who should say sorry!”

She said with a smile on her face .

I see . She plans to go with this character while she’s at school .

I hurried to clean the floor too . I couldn’t allow myself to stand upright at this moment .

That’s because I started to hear everyone around us talking about how “Roll-chan seems such a good girl………”

Anyway, because it’s now my fault for bumping into Roll and ruining her lunch, I must apology to her in some way .

Then I gradually started to see what Roll’s aim was .

Her plan was to create a chance for us to come in contact with each other in a natural manner .

Because I was flustered, I didn’t realize this earlier .

In this case, I have to join her play .

She was really evil, to harass me in such a manner .

“I’m really sorry, Shinjou-san…… . . ”

“Don’t say that! It was my carelessness! I wasn’t look ahead……”

Because I knew the real Roll, the way she talked now was a little uncomfortable .

Well, even though I said I knew the real Roll, in reality I only knew a little about her .

“No, it’s my fault . I’ll treat you to lunch in the cafeteria .

Or maybe you want some bread or pastries . ”

“This is too much……! I can buy my own lunch anyway”

We continued the farce for a little while, but in the end it was decided that I would treat Roll to lunch in the cafeteria .

My male colleagues stared at me with envy looks .

They will most likely tell me later that it wasn’t fair to steal a march on them in such a way .

We were now eating our lunch . Roll ordered a fried chicken set menu and I bought a bento box 2 from the convenience store .

Since Roll was staying next to me, not on the opposite side, I could smell a slightly pleasant scent coming from her .

I paid attention to my surroundings and continued the farce as I sat down . The first thing I said then was this .

“So you’re still growing!”

Nobody could hear what I said, for I gently whispered it .

However, Roll’s face stiffened for a moment .

That’s when two guys from my class approached us and sat down on the opposite side, in order to check on my attitude or something .

The farce had to start again .

“I somehow feel bad…… . You ended up paying for my lunch……”

“It’s all right . ”

“Errr……Will you tell me your name…… . ?”

“Kamiya Kazato”

“Kamiya-san . I look forward to working with you . ”

“Ah……Me too . ”

Roll’s last sentence was referred to our partnership most likely .

___________

After school, Roll managed to skillfully avoid being trapped by the club joining invitations, and returned home very quickly .

After I saw that, I too returned home for a moment .

And now, I am going towards the hideout .

I don’t have the obligation to go to the hideout every day, but since Roll didn’t explain me anything after all, I had to go see her .

I showed the café’s shop manager the ‘signal’ and walked towards the elevator that went underground .

After I arrived at the secret base, I walked straight to Roll’s room .

The Anonymous members who passed by me sent me strange looks .

Most of the times I nodded, but in case they started talking to me, I made a short self-introduction .

Some of them ignored me completely .

I finally got to Roll’s room .

I unlocked the door and hurried inside the room .

“Roll!”

“Wha……! Hey!”

What I saw was Roll’s transparent, white skin .

And some pink silk cloth .

She was changing clothes .

I froze then uttered a short “Sorry” . I closed the door after that .

I heard her speaking from inside .

“Next time knock, okay? I’ll forgive you this once . ”

“You can come in now . ”

After a short time, I heard her voice again . I opened the door slowly .

“Here, catch this . ”

Right when I entered the room, Roll threw something at me . I caught it and realized it was a cell phone, and a latest model one .

“This is your work phone . The mail addresses of almost all Anonymous members are already registered in it . ”

“Ah, thank you . ”

“I have to give you my personal address too . You might need it from now on . ”

“By the way, Roll……!”

I recalled my real goal and approached her .

She stopped me with her hand .

“I know already . I’ll explain you now . ”

Explain .

As I thought, she came to my school for a reason .

“For now, consider this our first mission as a pair .

We were assigned to a long term mission . ”

“A long term mission……What kind?”

“From now on, you will slowly start to manifest your ability, and after 1 year and a half you will enlist in the SDF . I will mainly act as your support . ”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

To begin with, I already manifested my ability .

“To make it easy to understand, you will make things look like your ability gradually bloomed in the last 1 year and a half .

In short, you will deceive everyone .

Your ability will not be sound, but something derived from it . It’s up to you precisely what it’ll be like . Your ability’s scope is pretty vast so I’m not sure what you can actually do, but we’ll decide upon something little by little . ”

Oh, I see .

And then, they want me to enter the SDF as a spy .

My school…… . Or perhaps I should say pretty much all schools have a recommendation board for the SDF .

Only the highest ranking ability users in the school ever manage to get a recommendation .

I nodded to her in sign of understanding, and Roll continued .

“You get it now, right?

For this long mission, your enlistment in the SDF is very meaningful .

I know that 1 year and a half is a short period of time for all this, but with me by your side, things won’t get too complicated .

But…… . ”

“Entering the SDF as a spy is a difficult job, right?”

“Right .

Well, we still have 1 and a half year for you to manage to handle your ability fair and square .

And I think that the job of a spy will not be too difficult for you with your ability . ”

Indeed .

However, isn’t this job dangerous for her?

Wait? I don’t even know her ability .

“By the way, Roll, what ability do you have?”

“You’ll see it eventually .

Anyway, we must polish our team work too during this 1 year and a half . I’m planning to take on a lot of normal and long term missions for us to complete, so make sure to not drag me down, all right?”

“Roger . ”

She didn’t tell me about her powers .

Well, it’s true that I’ll sooner or later see her use them anyway . Other than that, I really have to work hard not to drag her down .

“Still, when I think about it .

Why didn’t you tell me this beforehand? I was astonished to see you as a transfer student . ”

“Ha? That’s because I wanted to surprise you, ain’t it obvious?

But well, your ad lib was quite good . I praise you for that . ”

Roll smiled slightly and she looked like a little devil .

“It wasn’t pleasant at all . When you dropped your lunch box my heart really started to jump up and down .

For the time being, I asked what I wanted to ask, so I’ll go back now . ”

The third day after my manifestation, my everyday life changed completely .

Will I be able to make a living like this?

No, I will have to .

Thinking about that, I walked towards the room’s entranceway, when Roll called out to me from behind .

“Shion!”

“What?”

“Errr…… . Is it really obvious that I am still growing?”

Ah! As I thought, she does care about her height .

I answered with “Pretty much” and left Roll’s room .