CH 104

Miina's broad-mindedness is extraordinary.

Translated by Dawn

Miina’s broad-mindedness is extraordinary.

One hour later.

I was in the gymnasium of Inou Gakuen, lining up by grade and class.

As I stared at the podium in the midst of the bustling crowd of students waiting for the end-of-term ceremony to begin, Miina, the girl next to me, approached me curiously.

“What’s wrong, Honey-kun? You look so troubled.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve been thinking a lot about Ijuin.”

I guess I was feeling uneasy.

With my head in agony, I revealed what I had been thinking during homeroom.

“At first Ijuin was a little pretentious and narcissistic, but I don’t think he was a scoundrel.”

“Un, you’re right.”

“But as he said, he got so excited about being called the [Big Four], that he expanded the gray zone in his head and even dabbled in the black zone, trying to move people around him as he wished.”

“It’s the self-centered, altruistic theory that Honey was talking about before.”

I nodded my head, glad that she remembered that old conversation.

“Yes, that’s right. And then I thought, ‘Is Bando the same way?’”

Bando was an Ice Kineticist who had been tormenting me since I was a child, at the same elementary and junior high school as me.

Miina, who was attacked by Bando three months ago, had a slightly clouded expression on her face.

Despite this, she stared at me, as if urging me to continue, and waited for me to speak.

“He was always violent and selfish. But he never did anything like murder or robbery.”

That’s right.

Up until junior high school, Bando had never been caught by the police, even though he did things to the extent of being a bad-behaved delinquent.

“But three months ago, Bando attacked you. The cause was frustration.”

As if to prove my insecurity, I could hear that my voice was getting heavier and my tone was dropping as I spoke.

“Bando had been regarded by everyone around him as an Ice Kineticist until now. But then he was given a letter of withdrawal from the project by Director Sayuri, lost in a fight to Kiriha, lost to me, and turned to crime, the result of his madness for power, in a different way from Ijuin.”

Yeah, that’s why I got scared.

“Then, wouldn’t I be the same?”

The words I muttered in horror were my honest feelings.

“The scary part of this story is that they are unaware of their malicious intent. Like ignoring a red light, they know it’s wrong, but they do it because they think it’s okay. My sewer shootings are all in self-defense now, but I’m afraid that one day I’ll do them for my own reasons or to get back at anyone.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

When she answered immediately and I looked up, Miina had a benevolent and gentle smile on her face.

“I don’t think that you, Honey-kun, would do anything wrong if you were so worried.”

“No, but…”

Remember what I said before? Most people love to mount up and try to take credit for other people’s work and make it difficult for them. And yet, Honey-kun you don’t even take credit for your own work. Isn’t that what Ijuin-kun you were saying earlier about people who don’t lose their empathy even when they rise to the top?

Miina was right, I was called the [Big Four], and I was single-handedly solving Japan’s energy problems and earning a salary in the hundreds of millions, but I didn’t realize it.

However.

“That’s just for now, isn’t it? If I continue living like this for a year or two, who knows what will happen?”

I was feeling impatient, even though Miina had gone to the trouble of defending me.

On the contrary, the more distraught I was, the more relaxed Miina seemed to become.

“At that time, Maiko-san’s psychometry will detect it. Besides, I believe that Honey, who saved me, would never misuse teleportation. So, please do your best not to betray my trust.”

“…..”

Her unique smile was so infectious that I couldn’t say anything more.

The trust was too heavy for me, but I felt rather lighthearted.

“Kiriha and Maria, everyone trusts me too much, don’t they? I’m worried about everyone’s future, not just Maria’s.”

It was meant to be sarcastic toward Miina and the others who unconditionally trust me, a loner and had trouble communicating with others since childhood, but Miina giggled ticklishly.

“Fufu, really, that’s why Honey-kun, you’re going to be fine.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“Ah, it looks like the ceremony is about to start.”

Without responding to my question, Miina turned her face to me.

That somehow discouraged me from asking questions, too, and I concentrated on the closing ceremony.

—No, let’s think positively here. Besides, even Ijuin was so remorseful. If it is possible for a person who once turned to evil to change his ways, it should be possible for me not to turn to evil if I’m careful in advance.

A woman was walking rhythmically up the steps of the podium.

She was as tall as a man, with a back as straight as a steel bar, and a gait as flexible and strong as a martial artist’s. She had the beauty of a woman who, if the world were hers, would be a champion throughout the world.

Standing in the center of the platform, the woman announced her name in a loud voice with her explosive, fortress-like breasts.

“Everyone! You have endured a semester of hell! I, Ryuzaki Sayuri, Director General of the Extraordinary Ability Bureau Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, am filled with emotion!”

The gymnasium was filled with applause at the unexpected appearance of the beautiful boss.