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“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Natsume ducked back behind Nazuna’s bed as the sparkler went off, relishing Ibara’s cries. “Had enough yeT?”
Ibara’s yells then devolved into laughter.
That was odd — Ibara was supposed to be in distress and agony!
“Shisho~ watch out!”
The magician peeked his head out from a nearby shelf and immediately ducked back down as a bright object narrowly missed his head. “What the helL!?”
The sparkler flashed with ignition as it bounced off the wall and soared straight toward him.
Natsume leapt out of his hiding place to avoid the attack. This motherfu—
A flurry of pillows hit Natsume's exposed face, the first one being thrown so hard that he could see white. How did I even get myself into this situation aGAIN?
“Ginga ni egakidasu, horosukoupu o—” The alarm abruptly cut off as a drowsy hand hit the mute button.
Natsume rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up in bed. Uneasiness washed over him. “...The stars are misaLIGNED.” The redhead frowned at his sheets. He couldn’t interpret anything else without taking a proper reading, but he decided to save it for later when he fully woke up.
The rest of the morning went as per usual: brushing his teeth, making sure Tsukinaga kept his hands off his stuff, and getting a pep talk from Nazuna after helping bring him in some pet cages.
As soon as he stepped out the dorm… “That feeling aGAIN…” His heart didn’t beat the right way for two seconds.
Walking to NEW DI’s office, he decided it was finally time to take his fortune. I’m going to be a bit busy this mornING, but I could do with a little reassurANCE…
Natsume took a seat on a bench on the border of Ensemble Square, feeling relieved at the peace and quiet he was blessed with so early in the morning. It probably wouldn’t even be half an hour until the Square was bustling with other idols getting ready for the day. He sighed as he took his fortune. While never believing in the hoax of telling the future despite his status as a magician, he hoped that his subconscious noticed something to keep an eye out for. “HmmmM… Beware of the viper’s fangS…”
…Did a snake slither into ES somehow? He couldn’t exactly see how that would happen. More likely, his fortune was referring to a person… which could only mean… “Ibara-kuN.” At least, that was the only snake Natsume could think of in ES.
“Natsume-kun, nice to see you here this early in the morning! Thank you for your hard work and dedication! I salute~☆”
Speak of the deVIL, literaLLY… “HelLO, Ibara-kuN,” Natsume drawled. “Of coursE, you’re also here in the early mornING…”
“But of course! Our circle meeting is starting in only an hour, and I require time to prepare today’s activity!” Ibara took a seat on the bench next to Natsume, causing the magician to scoot down a few centimeters. “You don’t seem happy to see me.” He sighed dramatically.
“I only want to see you during circle hourS, no more than thaT,” Natsume retorted. “Regardless of the respect I have for your skill as a businessMAN, I will never like being around yoU.”
Ibara grinned sharply. “How you wound me with your words! It would be more prudent to try to make more allies than enemies, would it not?”
“…I would rather have enemies than ‘allies’ who will turn on me the moment it’s convenIENT.”
“You underestimate my loyalty,” Ibara rebutted, offended.
Natsume rolled his eyes.
“Saegusa-senpai! Sakasaki-senpai!”
The pair turned to see an energetic boy running down the street from the dorms toward them.
“Nagumo-kuN, you’re up earLY…” Too early to be yelling that loudly, that was for sure.
Nagumo huffed proudly. “A man’s hard work is never over! He has to get a good rest but also wake up early in the morning to greet the new day! Ossu~! You get it, right, Saegusa-senpai!?”
Ibara chuckled. “It’s true that the early bird catches the worm. There are multiple benefactors to waking early in the morning.”
A dull voice sighed tiredly from behind Nagumo. “One of those ‘benefactors' happens to be waking up his roommates just as early…”
Nagumo grinned at the sound of the voice behind him, turning around and waving. “HiMERU-senpai, you made it!”
“Unfortunately…” HiMERU sighed. “It is nearly impossible for HiMERU to fall back asleep after Nagumo wakes up…”
“Ah…” Nagumo laughed bashfully. “Sorry, HiMERU-senpai.”
HiMERU waved off his roommate’s concern and smiled tiredly. “No worries. It is natural for an idol to work hard. I would rather not be the last one to arrive anyway.”
As if on cue, everyone heard a childish giggle.
“Shisho~ And everyone else too! Sora knew everyone would be early!”
Nagumo made a full 360-degree turn, stumbling a bit over his own feet and letting HiMERU catch him. “W-Where did that voice come from? That was Sora-kun, right?”
Without even looking, Natsume pointed up.
“Hoho~ Shisho~ found me right away~!”
Everyone else looked up to see the young magician springboard off a nearby tree, floating and giggling the entire way down.
Ibara nodded approvingly at the group before him. “Very well! It seems that our entire circle has gathered a whole hour ahead of schedule. Thank you, everyone, for your dedication! I salute~☆”
Despite the viper’s words, Natsume could see the small bead of sweat on the corner of Ibara’s forehead. Serves him righT. He was most likely here early to do something connivING…
“Well…! Now that everyone is here early, we can all prepare for today’s activity together! Follow me, everyone!” Ibara turned his back to the group as he started walking back... to the dorms?
What is he up to noW? Natsume clenched his fists as he grit his teeth.
“Shisho~?” Sora asked, looking up at his senior with wide bright eyes. “Why is your color so—”
“No need to worRY,” Natsume interrupted as he smiled apologetically. “I was just anticipating what activity Ibara-kun has planned for us.”
“Sora thinks Shisho~ should keep an eye out… Saegusa-senpai’s color was darker than usual today…”
So, Sora noticed toO… Well, even though Natsume would rather shield Sora’s innocence from the world—
He cut himself off with an internal groan. UgH, I sound like Shu-nii-san and the oTHERS, how revoltING…
“Hihi~ Sora likes Shisho~ when his color is happy, just like that~!”
“W-WhaT!?”
“We’re here, everyone!” Ibara announced with an unnecessary amount of grandeur. “It’s time to prepare for today’s activity!”
HiMERU looked at the door in confusion. “This is… Sakasaki's dorm, no? What business do we have here?”
Natsume felt his stomach drop, and he immediately opened his mouth, ready to interject, but—
“Natsume-kun has agreed to let ‘Ibara Lecture’ use his SSVRS for today!”
“WHAT!?” Natsume shrieked.
“Really!?” Nagumo bounced on his feels, visibly shaking from excitement.” I always wanted to check out the SSVRS!”
“Is that true, Shisho~?” Sora asked, looking equally excited, an innocent joy sparkling in his eyes. “Will Sora get to play with everyone there?”
“UhhhhhH…” The red-headed magician looked back-and-forth between the two juniors watching him expectantly. So much for Sora being suspicious of Ibara. Damn it alL, Ibara-kuN! “SurE…” What is that bastard planning!?
Ibara grinned smugly at Natsume before opening the door, letting himself in the dorm, everyone else in the circle following close behind. “If you could be so kind as to fetch the SSVRS for us, Natsume-kun.”
I’m not a damn doG! “FinE,” Natsume spat out. He mumbled under his breath, “The viper should watch its tongue, lest it be cut off.”
“What was that?”
“NoTHING, Ibara-kuN ♪” Natsume retrieved five SSVRS headsets. “ThankfulLY, I have five headsets herE, so I will oversee SHINSEKAI as everyone else maneuvers throughout the worlD. The magician handed out a headset to each circle member, gesturing to all of them to sit in a circle.
“Natsume-kuN?” Ibara concernedly asked. “As this is an activity I planned for ‘Ibara Lecture,’ would it not be better if I had administrative privileges instead?”
Nice trY, you snakE. “SorRY, Ibara-kuN~” Natsume apologized, not sounding apologetic at all. “SHINSEKAI is my worlD. I know how to work it besT, so it would be better if you instructed me on how to carry out the activity you wanT.”
“Sora can feel the fiery colors between Shisho~ and Saegusa-senpai…” Sora pointed out worriedly as he watched the duo trade rebuttals and scathing remarks.
Nagumo gripped the young magician’s shoulder confidently. “That’s the passion between men! There’s nothing more manly than that!” He flushed. “Just thinking about it gets my heart pounding…!”
HiMERU raised an eyebrow at his roommate.
“Huh? Did I say something weird?”
“Sora didn’t notice anything weird either.”
HiMERU opened his mouth but then just shook his head. “Never mind.”
“Okay, everyone!” Ibara announced. “Natsume-kun and I have come to an agreement!”
More like Ibara-kun was being a stubborn basTARD, same differENCE… Natsume reluctantly nodded in agreement. “Ibara-kun and I will both be moderators of SHINSEKAI for this sesSION. Co-adMINS, if you wilL.”
“Now, everyone, headsets on! It’s time to begin this meeting of ‘Ibara Lecture.’”
Natsume watched Sora, Nagumo, and HiMERU put on their headsets, the first two chattering excitedly between themselves before abruptly stopping as their consciousness was transferred into SHINSEKAI. He felt eyes on him as he was about to put on his headset and lowered it to see Ibara watching him. “…?”
Ibara simply smiled and put on his headset.
Even though Natsume held administrator privileges, there was still doubt that Ibara had no ulterior motives. I must keep my guard uP. He put his headset on and relaxed as he drifted off into the other world.
“WOAHHHHH!” Nagumo looked around SHINSEKAI, starry-eyed and gasping in wonder at everything he saw, be it the frosted pine trees or the tall buildings outlining the city parameters. “It’s like we’re in a whole other world!”
“Because we arE,” Natsume chuckled. Despite how often he’d visited SHINSEKAI to perfect it, he never got tired of it, nor the reactions of people when they first visited.
HiMERU stared at the ground as the snow crunched beneath his feet, and he opened and closed his hands several times. “Aside from the immunity to the cold, HiMERU feels as though he is really here. Despite having used the SSVRS before… this technology continues to prove that it is on another level.”
“I turned off temperature sensing for convenience while modDING,” Natsume explained. “I also removed all snow from within the city to avoid slipping or having to climb over iT, not that you would get injured herE.”
“HuHu~ This is why Sora loves SHINSEKAI~♪”
“Let us move deeper into the city and see what else this world has to offer!” Ibara instructed. He led the group with an annoyingly confident air down the sidewalk. “Now, Natsume-kun. As admins, what privileges are we granted compared to the rest of the users?”
“WelL, we are able to boot people from the system at will if we come across any technical difficulTIES. AlsO…” Natsume snickered.
Ibara turned around. “Also…?”
“…Ibara.”
Ibara jolted, face paling, as he saw a figure approaching their group from the sidewalk. “YOUR EXELLENCY!?”
Ran stared down Ibara with a piercing gaze. “…What are you up to, Ibara?”
“W-What!?”
“…You have another one of your devious plots in mind. Repent and ask for forgiveness.”
Ibara bowed his head in shame as he knelt before Ran. “I apologize, Your Excellency, I-I promise—”
“…And tell Sakasaki that he deserves all your praise and glory.”
“He… what?”
Natsume let out the laughter he’d been holding in, tears racing down his cheeks as he struggled to stay standing. “Y-You realLY… AHAHAHAHAHA!”
“Wait…” Ibara looked up at Ran. “What is your favorite ice cream flavor?”
“…Oh shit.” “Ran” then vaporized into pixels that floated up before scattering into the ether.
“AHAHAHAhahahahaHA… pheW…” Natsume wiped the rest of the tears from his eyes as he caught his breath. “ApoloGIES, Ibara-kuN, I hope you understand that was too good of an opportuniTY, but now you have a better idea of the power you have in SHINSEKAI.”
“Awwwww, but I wanna do that!” Nagumo complained.
“…What use do you have for admin privileGES?”
Nagumo rattled with excitement. “Isn’t it obvious!? I’d want Taishou to pamper me!”
The rest of the group judgmentally stared at Nagumo in awkward silence.
“W-What…?”
Sora tilted his head in confusion. “But that isn’t the same as if the real Red Onii-san pampered Tetora-chan, right?”
HiMERU shook his head. “The brain would still recognize him as Kiryu-senpai, which is why everyone is able to immerse themselves in all these digital sensations. What HiMERU finds most confusing is why?”
“W-Well,” Nagumo huffed, “isn’t it obvious!? Every man wants to be shown respect by his mentor, right? It’s a sign of a true bond between men!”
Sora tilted his head even further, and HiMERU smacked his forehead.
“AnyWAY… we should prepare the activity Ibara-kun planned for us toDAY.” Time to show your cardS, you snakE…
The circle leader nodded his head and raised his voice. “Today, in ‘Ibara Lecture’… we will be practicing business pitching and interviews, with as real of an experience as is replicable!”
“Can you explain this further?” HiMERU asked.
Ibara cleared his throat. “Ahem! As you all may have witnessed during SS’ 4th round, Natsume-kun’s SSVRS was able to materialize seemingly intelligent beings capable of interacting with Itsuki-shi and Kagehira-san, such as Sena-shi with a different name for copyright reasons. There may be a time in the future where our lives as idols will be pulled out from under us considering the instability of ES and the P-Association, and our circle has been all about promoting practical skills outside of idol work. With Natsume-kun’s assistance, we will recreate several scenarios in which you’ll utilize some of the skills we’ve been learning in the past meetings.”
Natsume raised his hand. “As the leader of SwitcH, I believe I deal with enough business to be exempt from this exerCISE.”
Ibara chortled humorously. “Nice try. I know His Majesty handles most of the diplomacy and business exchanges in not only Switch, but all of NEW DI.”
“Haha~ that’s right~!” Sora exclaimed. “Senpai handles all the work while Shisho~ bosses him around~” He giggled to himself, probably recalling those fond memories.
The magician felt his face slowly match his hair color at being so blatantly exposed… but he couldn’t stay upset at Sora’s innocent smile, so he only huffed. “Someone has to make sure that stupid mop head is doing his job righT.”
“If you’re truly that good, then there’s no need to worry about this exercise, Natsume-kun.” Ibara chuckled, only pissing Natsume off further.
Okay, so maybe Natsume did need to do the exercise. He may have… sucked a bit at talking to people sometimes. It wasn’t his fault they cared too much about how he pitched something. What mattered was the deals he was pitching; the ideas should’ve been enough to satisfy those virtual ingrates. Still, Natsume was worried about what Ibara could possibly be planning. If the magician knew anything about Ibara, which he obviously did, it was that deep down, Ibara was someone who could never fully be trusted. Surely, the tactician wouldn’t realize if Natsume cared to confirm what he was up to. Ibara wasn’t able to keep an eye on everyone at once, and Natsume didn’t hesitate to take advantage of that.
Something I forgot to tell you about SHINSEKAI, Ibara-kuN… you won’t be able to hide anything from me for lonG. Natsume phased through the wall of the building behind Ibara, trying to look over his shoulder.
Ibara had somehow managed to pull up some of the system’s code, although it didn’t seem to be for the purpose of modifying it. He was just… scrolling through it, almost as if…!
Is he trying to get a general idea of the program for his owN!? Even if it’s only a loosely based copy of the origiNAL, a businessman like him would sureLY…! “IBARA-KUN, YOU BASTARD!” Natsume phased completely through the wall and tackled Ibara over, sending them both tumbling down the sidewalk.
The rest of the circle members gathered to witness the commotion, the juniors’ expressions concerned and HiMERU’s eyebrows slightly raised.
“What is happening here?” HiMERU asked, indifferently watching the struggling pair.
“This snakE… ooF!” Natsume grunted as he tried to pin Ibara’s arms down, although trying to fight someone with trained military combat was proving to be a fruitless effort. “Just stay dowN!”
Ibara folded his legs before springing Natsume off him, sending the magician rolling about a meter away. “Why are you attacking me!?”
“YOU KNOW WHY!” Natsume turned to everyone else. “Class is ouT, everyONE.” He closed his eyes and booted everyone out except for Ibara. Hopefully, if he managed to leave the game before Ibara, he’d have the advantage.
“HNGH!?” Natsume fell to the hardwood floor as Ibara pinned him down, headset flying off and sliding across the ground. If that’s broKEN, there will be hell to paY.
Ibara smirked down at the struggling magician. “I created a clone of myself when we tumbled down so I could escape, and I used that time to figure out how to boot myself out first. You should really not underestimate the quick thinking of a tactician.”
“The tail is the weak spot of a snakE.”
Ibara raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Natsume snapped his fingers, and he grinned with the Chesire Cat’s satisfaction as one of his sparklers behind Ibara went off, causing the tactician to jolt away from it. The Eccentric pushed Ibara off himself and took the opportunity to scramble to his feet and grab the pillows on his bed. “I hope these hurt.”
Ibara dodged the pillows thrown at him and grabbed the ones on Tsukinaga’s bed, aiming for Natsume’s head.
Natsume managed to barely duck behind his bed in time, and he smirked as he saw more of the unused sparklers that he deemed too weak for Switch’s performances.
“What’s happening!?”
The battling duo paused and looked to Nagumo, Sora, and HiMERU, who had all taken off their headsets.
“Haha~ Sora thinks Shisho~ and Saegusa-senpai are playing~!”
“YeS! SorA, to mE!” Natsume gestured Sora over to his side, and he grinned devilishly at Ibara. “Give it uP, Ibara-kuN. It’s two against onE.”
Ibara shook his head and pointed at Nagumo. “Let’s even the sides.”
“Ossu~! Yes sir, Saegusa-senpai!”
“…HiMERU does not involve himself with such childish nonsense.” HiMERU started walking toward the door but stopped dead in his tracks as a pillow hit the back of his head. “Who…?”
Nagumo smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, HiMERU-senpai, but I think playing would be a lotta fun, don’t you?”
HiMERU stared at Nagumo’s pleading face for a few seconds before turning back around and leaving the dorm, quietly closing it behind him.
“So much for that,” Nagumo sighed. “It was worth aHHHHHHH!?” The martial artist was hit by two pillows that Sora had picked up from the ground.
“Tetora-chan should pay attention to his surroundings~♪” Sora sing-songed.
Nagumo laughed, eyes already aflame with competition. “I won’t hold back, Sora-kun ♪”
Natsume felt kind of bad getting the innocent kids mixed up in his and Ibara’s quarrel, but if they were enjoying it, he supposed he could allow it.
Ibara leapt forward and slammed down on one side of Nazuna’s bed, flipping it to its side and creating a barrier between the two teams. “Remember, Nagumo-kun, we must work together on this. Go around from the side, and we’ll pincer them!”
“Roger that!”
Sora whispered, “What will Shisho~ and Sora do with without any fluffy pillows left?”
“Don’t worry, SorA. I’ve got thiS.” Natsume held up a sparkler to Sora, whose eyes glittered at the sight. “We just have to open one patH, and I know exactly which onE.” He took aim toward Ibara’s general direction and threw it as hard as he could.
“Ah!?” Ibara leapt from behind Nazuna’s overturned bed and out into the open.
“Saegusa-senpai!” Nagumo yelled, stopping in his tracks and rushing to protect his teammate.
“Stay herE,” Natsume instructed to Sora.
“Hehe~ Sora will hold the fort down~♪”
Natsume leapt over his own bed and rushed over to where Ibara was moments ago, where the sparkler had died down and two pillows rested. Perfect.
Ibara’s face fell as he realized his team’s disadvantageous position. “Don’t worry about me! Get them!”
“Roger, Saegusa-senpai!” Nagumo turned toward Sora, pillow raised above his head.
“SorA, look under the beD!”
Sora ducked under the pillow thrown at him and from under the bed pulled out…
“A GATLING GUN!?” Nagumo shrieked.
“Huhu~ Saegusa-senpai and Tetora-chan should put their hands up!”
The younger immediately put his hands up in fear, looking horrified at the heavy artillery. “Why do ya got something like that just under your bed!?”
Nagumo’s outburst meant neither magician realized as Ibara pulled out a couple pistols, pointing one each at Sora and Natsume. “Put the gun down.”
Nagumo got considerably paler. “Why does everyone have guns!?”
Sora squinted at Ibara. “Shisho~, Saegusa-senpai is bluffi—”
Without any hesitation, Ibara pulled the trigger on both pistols, and as two bangs resounded, Nagumo flinched and the other two ducked behind cover.
As Natsume popped his head back out from behind his cover, he saw the pistols had popped out little white flags. “WhA…?”
The tactician threw the pistols at Natsume, the plastic toys bouncing off his forehead.
“OW!?” Natsume rubbed his forehead in pain before gasping in shock. “AH, SORA, SHOOT!”
Ibara had headed straight for the distracted Sora, but thanks to Natsume’s warning, he was quickly stopped as soybeans rapidly fired across the room.
Nagumo screamed and ducked for cover behind a cabinet while Sora giggled, focusing the fire on the young martial artist’s cover.
Natsume took his pillows and threw them both at Ibara, and they consecutively hit him squarely in the face.
Ibara quickly shook off the attack and grabbed one of the pillows thrown at him, continuing toward the redhead magician while Sora was still busy shooting at Nagumo.
Natsume grabbed another sparkler and threw it as hard as he could.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
Natsume ducked back behind Nazuna’s bed as the sparkler went off, relishing Ibara’s cries. “Had enough yeT?”
Ibara’s yells then slowly devolved into laughter.
That was odd — Ibara was supposed to be in distress and agony!
“Shisho~ watch out!”
The magician peeked his head out from a nearby shelf and immediately ducked back down as a bright object narrowly missed his head. “What the helL!?”
The sparkler flashed with ignition as it bounced off the wall and soared straight toward him.
Natsume leapt out of his hiding place to avoid the attack. This motherfu—
A flurry of pillows hit Natsume's exposed face, the first one being thrown so hard that he could see white. How did I even get myself into this situation aGAIN?
Ah, right. That’s how.
“HiMERU-senpai!” Nagumo cried.
Sure enough, all the extra pillows had come from HiMERU, who was still holding onto one pillow after having thrown three of them at Natsume. “Apologies. It took a while coming back from the first floor back to the third floor. HiMERU assumes that Nagumo-kun is okay with HiMERU taking his pillows?” He eyed the gatling gun and muttered under his breath, “Maybe HiMERU should have been more prepared…”
“Of course you can take my pillows, HiMERU-senpai!” Nagumo wiped his teary eyes, unusually touched by such a small action. “I thought you were being serious at first… I knew I could count on you!”
He really is starting to sound like Morisawa-senPAI. I don’t know how I feel about thaT…
“Let HiMERU get this straight. HiMERU only fights for HiMERU. Not his roommates, nor his employers.” He launched his remaining pillow at Nagumo and rushed toward Ibara, who quickly entered a defensive stance.
Natsume took advantage of HiMERU’s presence to move back to his station behind Nazuna’s bed, arming himself with a couple pillows. “Get reaDY, everyONE. The battle isn’t over yeT ♪”
The following twenty minutes were full of more running around, jumping, rolling, and laughing than Natsume had in a good while. He even almost forgot the entire reason the entire brawl had started in the first place…
“Nagumo-kun, an opening!” Ibara directed.
“Understood!” Nagumo immediately landed a hit on the back of Natsume’s head before being hit by Sora and HiMERU on opposing sides. “AHHH! Saegusa-senpai, you used me as a decoy!”
“All is fair in love and war! Sacrifices are necessary in order to win!” Ibara threw another pillow at the disoriented magician.
Natsume stumbled over and hit one of the pet cages he’d helped Nazuna bring in that morning. Oh nO—! He fell over and his face landed directly in front of the loosened cage door.
The cage door slowly opened, and out came the last thing Natsume expected.
A viper, sharp-fanged and startled.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!?” Natsume leapt backward, hitting his head on the frame of Nazuna’s overturned bed. Even in his dizzy state, he managed to make it over to the others, who looked as horrified as he felt. “Beware of the viper’s fangS,” I never thought it would be…!
“Everyone, stay back!” Saegusa commanded. “We should quickly evacuate this room and contact Nito-shi to deal with the threat.”
“I-I’m not scared!” Nagumo insisted shakily. “I-I could totally take it in a fi—”
“HiMERU will take Nagumo-kun.” HiMERU started dragging Nagumo toward the front door, ignoring the younger’s weak protests.
“But Sora wants to play with Viper-kun~” Sora started walking toward the viper but was stopped by Natsume grabbing his arm.
“Be careFUL, SorA.”
“Tetora-chin, HiMERU-chin? What are you two doing here?” a high-pitched voice asked.
Natsume grimaced at the sound of Nazuna’s voice. He didn’t even have to look at the room to understand that it looked like it went through a snake’s entire digestive system before the snake decided that it should find a way to puke it out.
“Why do you guys look like you’ve seen a ghost? Did you— WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL HAPPENED HERE!?”
No one answered Nazuna, all of them pointedly looking down at the ground except for Ibara and the snake, which was simply resting on the floor and watching all the commotion.
“Nazuna-shi, I-I believe I can explain—”
“YOU BETTAH DAMN WEH EXPWAIN WHY DIS WOOM WOOKS WIKE WEO’S, AN’ WHY MWY BED IS FWIPPED O’ER WIKE A WOR BAWICAIDE!” Nazuna was practically spitting in their faces as he failed to control his lisp.
WelL, it kind of waS…
“Well, you see, it started when I wanted to do a lecture on—”
“WAIT, THE SNAKE! IT’S OUTSIDE THE CAGE!? NATSUME-CHIN, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?” The yellow rabbit ran over to the snake and picked it up, petting it in concern.
“I-I, uM…”
“WAHAHAHAHA~☆” A deranged laugh rang throughout the room. “Was this all you guys!?”
Nazuna paled. “Leo-chin, when did you get here!?”
Tsukinaga ran laps around the room, wide eyes marveling at the chaos. “I CAN FEEL INSPIRATION COMING TO ME!!! ‘HOME AWAY FROM HOME’ IS WHAT MY NEWEST PIECE IS GONNA BE CALLED!”
“WE’RE NOT MAKING THIS LIKE YOUR ROOM!” Nazuna shouted back. “EVERYONE IS STAYING AND CLEANING THIS MESS UP! IF I CATCH ANY OF YOU TRYING TO LEAVE EARLY… I’LL LET YOU FIND THAT OUT!”
“NO WAIT, YOU CAN’T!” Leo protested, tears already in his eyes. “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND! THIS WAS A GIFT FROM THE HEAVENS ITSELF, OR MAYBE ALIENS! AHHHH, MAYBE I CAN WRITE A SONG ON THAT TOO! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS TO MEEEEEEEE!!!”
Exhausted, Natsume sat on the same bench earlier in the day. Despite it probably not even being twelve hours ago, it managed to feel closer to a week ago that the circle met up.
“Natsume-kun, you’re taking a rest here as well?”
The magician silently groaned. “What do you wanT, Ibara-kuN? Come for round twO?”
Ibara chuckled but shook his head. “I want to know why I got attacked out of nowhere today.”
Natsume rolled his eyes. “Do you really need me to tell yoU?”
“Yes.”
Natsume sighed and went through everything that day, explaining how he suspected Ibara of trying to steal the code used for the SSVRS program, and how the scuffle ended up escalating into pillow warfare, into… all that.
“…”
“Have nothing to saY, huH!?”
“Natsume-kun… I wasn’t doing that at all.”
Natsume looked up into Ibara’s eyes. He doesn’t look like he’s lyING... NO! I can’t fall for iT! “Explain theN.”
“I noticed that typically with the interviewees, there was a lack of nuance. Everything was rigid. Even when someone answered with what I believed to be an exceptional response to a question, because it didn’t fit the criteria the program was looking for, they would be shut down. It hit Nagumo-kun a bit hard, especially. I was sifting through the code to see where I could make any edits to improve their capabilities.”
OH…? “B-But what about how you deceived everyone into thinking that I agreed to let you borrow his SSVRS!?”
Ibara’s expression changed from apologetic to confused. “I asked you a week in advance, and you agreed. Don’t you remember?”
Natsume thought back to a week ago. “Oh nO, oh nO… I was at Shu-nii-san’s parTY… anD… I accidentally drank the bitter grape juice instead oF… the actual grape juicE…”
Ibara laughed at the imagery. “That explains the surprise.”
“WaiT, then why were you nervous about everyone being early if not because you were up to someTHING!?”
“I wanted to smooth over the SSVRS code first to make sure everything ran correctly. Normally, I would ask them to wait, but they were all so eager to be early. And as you can see, something did go wrong…”
Is that why Sora asked me to keep an eye on Ibara-kuN!? Because he sensed Ibara-kun’s worRY!? “T-TheN, why did you smile so creepily at me before we entered the SSVRS!?”
Ibara gaped. “I’m sorry, that was meant to be reassuring!?”
The weight of Natsume’s suspicion was really starting to beat him up. Every small action — even if it had innocent intent — because he didn’t trust Ibara… “I can’t believe thiS…” he groaned.
“Oh.” Ibara chuckled in relief. “Well, it’s good to know— What are you doing…?”
Natsume prostrated himself before Ibara, bowed in shame. “I’m sO, sO, sorRY. You can kick me if you wanT. I deserve to be punished for my transgressions.”
“W-Wait, that isn’t necessary. Get up. It’s unbecoming of an idol, and especially a leader, to submit themselves so easily to—”
“JUST KICK ME!”
“WHY!?”
“Ginga ni egakidasu, horosukoupu o—” The alarm abruptly cut off as a drowsy hand hit the mute button.
Natsume rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he sat up in bed. He winced at the soreness of his body. After Ibara had continuously refused to enact the hammer of justice upon him, Natsume attempted to enact it on himself instead. Ibara then tried to stop him, and the scuffle ended up injuring the both of them, so Natsume just stopped trying after that.
“Natsume-chin?”
The magician flinched at Nazuna’s voice, still a bit traumatized from the day before. “Y-YeS?”
Nazuna handed a slip of paper over. “I found this piece of paper, and it’s addressed to you. I gotta get going, so let’s make sure to do our best today! Nii-chan will always be here to cheer you on!” The college student hurriedly stuffed some more school supplies into his backpack and dashed out the door so quickly that Mitsuru would be proud.
Natsume unfolded the slip of paper and grinned.
It was the picture of a viper.
A declaration of war.
And Natsume was more than happy to accept.