29-152

EP.152 Akane – A Love Comedy That Can Never Be 

“…That concludes today’s lecture. Don’t forget your assignment submission dates.” 

As the weary voice of the older professor trailed off punctuated with a period, the class-ending bell rang, shaking the silence of the lecture room. 

The sterile air was instantly filled with the bustle and noise of students. 

The sounds of books closing, chairs scraping, and the clamor of students chatting in their newfound freedom erupted all around. 

Only Akane remained perfectly motionless, as if cut off from all that noise. 

“…kane. Akane?” 

“Uh, huh?!” 

Akane finally came to as someone tapped on her desk. 

Looking up, she found Haruto gazing down at her with a deliberately playful smile. 

“Haruto?” 

“Class is over. It’s been five minutes already.” 

At his words, Akane looked around the classroom. 

Just as Haruto said, only two people remained in the room themselves. 

No Mizuki, no Hikari. And no Kai. 

Everyone else had already left their seats. 

“Ah, ah… right. Sorry, I was just spacing out a bit.” 

Akane hurriedly set down her pen and cleared her throat. Her entire head was a jumbled mess. 

She couldn’t recall a single word from the chalkboard full of class notes. 

Instead, all throughout the lecture, the obscene scene she’d glimpsed through the crack of a door at lunchtime kept replaying under her eyelids. 

“Kai-nim, let me use my breasts to make you feel even better. Chuup, chuup…♥” 

“…That’s not fair, Hikari. Then I want a kiss…” 

Her friends’ voices, and those slurping, sticky sounds echoed in her ears like auditory hallucinations. 

‘…Damn it.’ 

She supposed it was possible to develop feelings for the guy who saved you. 

It’s also possible for lovers to have secret, intimate moments. 

That much barely, just barely she could try to forgive. 

But to do it in a classroom, three at once? That was crossing the line. 

The confusion only thickened, never dispersing, until her guts twisted with nausea. 

‘Should’ve kept my mouth shut.’ 

Regret crashed over her in waves. 

“Sigh.” 

Haruto didn’t miss her heavy sigh. 

“Are you all right?” 

“…Huh? What do you mean?” 

“You just don’t look well. And you kept spacing out all through class.” 

“Oh? Ah, it’s nothing. I just overdid it a bit yesterday, maybe.” 

Akane forced a smile at his genuine concern, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him about the shameful scene she'd seen her friends commit. 

“If you’re that tired, why not skip club today?” 

“You worry too much. I’m fine.” 

“I worry because you always keep things to yourself.” 

“Ha. And now you’re worrying about me, too? Is the sun rising in the west today?” 

Akane retorted with joking sarcasm, but Haruto didn’t laugh. 

“I’m serious. I’m worried.” 

His suddenly serious voice made Akane catch her breath. 

“With everything that happened to the other two… I’m scared you might collapse too…” 

The sincere emotion that seeped from his lips left Akane speechless, if only for a moment. 

“I really am okay. …But thanks for worrying, I guess…” 

Relaying her awkward gratitude, Akane hurried to change the subject. 

“Instead of worrying about me, you should look out for yourself. We never know when the enemy might pop up.” 

According to Mizuki and Hikari, there could even be a spy among the students inside the academy. 

If so, it was only a matter of time before the enemy targeted Haruto, their weak point. 

“We can’t stick by your side 24 hours a day, after all.” 

“Yeah… I guess so.” 

After Haruto’s somewhat lifeless reply, a heavy silence fell between them. 

Neither knew what more to say. 

“…” 

But Haruto broke the silence first. 

“Oh, right. I promised I’d show Kai around our club today. Hikari and Mizuki are coming too.” 

Akane blinked at the unexpected news, then gave a hollow laugh. 

“He still hasn’t picked a club?” 

“Apparently he wants to try everything first. Do you want to come too, Akane?” 

For a moment she was swayed, but then imagined having to be with all three of them and her brow furrowed unconsciously. 

“I’m busy with training. You guys go have fun.” 

Akane deliberately adopted a mocking tone, shouldered her bag, and made to leave. 

Click! 

The moment she stood up, the small keychain at the edge of her bag slipped and fell onto the floor. 

“Hm?” 

Haruto bent to pick it up. 

It was a tricolor cat plushie, with fists clenched, its face set in a scowl. 

“Akane, you dropped this.” 

Turning at Haruto’s voice, Akane noticed the loss and let out a faint sigh. 

It was something she’d bought on impulse at a gift shop a few days ago to soothe her troubled mind. 

“Oh? …Thanks.” 

“New?” 

“Yeah. Just… saw it in passing.” 

Without thinking, Akane snatched the keychain from his hand, then added a grumpy afterthought, as if embarrassed by herself. 

“…Doesn’t suit me, does it? For someone tough like me.” 

She thought the question was silly, but couldn’t help wanting some reassurance. 

“Why not? It suits you perfectly.” 

Haruto gently smiled, tapping the keychain clutched in her hand. 

“And besides, that cat is just like you cute.” 

“Wh-what…!?” 

The straightforward words flashed like lightning through her mind. 

A burning heat surged up to cover her face as if she’d been scalded. 

Her heart, which had cooled from the lunchtime incident, now thundered without restraint. 

‘C-cute? Me? He thinks I’m cute?’ 

She rolled her eyes in confusion, mulling over his words, fishing for another meaning. 

“Wait… So you mean I look like an angry cat?” 

“Ah, you caught me.” 

Haruto grinned playfully, and Akane smacked his shoulder with her fist in protest. 

“I I…!” 

“Ow, sorry, sorry! Ahaha!” 

At his innocent laughter, Akane bit her lip, fighting to keep herself from smiling. 

‘…Hmph. Look at me getting excited for nothing.’ 

And yet, oddly enough, the stone-heavy feeling in her chest felt a little lighter. 

Soon, the two left the classroom together, heading toward the club rooms. 

“Feels like it’s been a while, just the two of us.” 

Haruto murmured this suddenly. 

“What’s with you?” 

“We were always together as a foursome, or at least three of us, in the academy.” 

That hint of loneliness in his voice made Akane’s step momentarily heavier. 

“…True enough.” 

“Hikari and Mizuki… don’t they seem a little different lately? Or is it just me?” 

“…Who knows.” 

Akane couldn’t bring herself to say what she really thought. 

But Haruto must have noticed something off about their three mutual friends. 

“Oh, and!” 

She deliberately brightened her voice, changing the topic. 

“When you see Kai, tell him to come by kendo club! I’ll beat some backbone into that soft head of his!” 

“Haha… Just don’t go too hard on him.” 

A few moments later, they were about to part ways in the corridor leading to their club rooms. 

“Akane.” 

“…Yeah? What?” 

Haruto called out suddenly, making Akane turn reflexively. 

“Got a minute after club today?” 

He spoke awkwardly, scratching his cheek. 

“After club? Why?” 

“There’s somewhere I want to go.” 

Go somewhere? Did he want to go out or something? What’s with him, inviting her like this for once? 

And earlier saying all that sappy stuff, too. 

“Well, I guess… Nothing urgent to do while I recover my strength. Where do you want to go? Should we invite Mizuki and Hikari ” 

“No.” 

He curtly cut her off. 

“Forget them. Just… I want it to be just us.” 

At that, he closed his eyes tightly, as if working up his nerve, and looked at her. 

But the courage didn’t last after a moment, he avoided her gaze and scratched the back of his head. 

His ears burnt bright red, betraying all his feelings. 

“There’s something I want to tell you, too.” 

“Something to tell me?” 

“Yeah. I know it’s not exactly the right situation…but I have to tell you now, or I never will.” 

At that, Akane’s heart, which she’d just barely calmed, again thudded in her chest. 

“O-oh…” 

“So that’s a promise, right? I’ll call after it ends!” 

With that, Haruto took off running down the hallway. 

Until his back had completely vanished, Akane could only stand there blankly, unable to move. 

“KIAI! KIAI! KIAI!” 

Her desperate battle cry echoed through the sweat-heavy air of the kendo hall. 

Shuuk-! 

The bamboo sword’s swishing cut the air as sharply as ever, 

but Akane’s sword tip shook uncontrollably, without direction. 

Even the familiar grip of the shinai in her hard-callused hands felt foreign today. 

‘There’s something I want to tell you.’ 

Haruto’s voice, his burning ears, flickered in her mind. 

Her heart pounded on its own. 

What was he planning to say? Could it be...? 

‘No! Get a grip, idiot! Not now!’ 

Akane shook her head desperately, fighting to clear her mind. 

This wasn’t the time to get swayed by personal feelings. 

Rescue Lumina. Crush every last member of Dark Redemption. 

That was all she needed to focus on now. 

But the more she steeled herself, the more vividly another image rose up  

Her friends’ obscene display through the door crack. 

And Haruto’s gentle face, the complete opposite. 

Excitement, disgust confusion tumbled inside her, agitating her heart. 

“........” 

In the end, Akane’s sword drooped limply. 

“Senpai, you seem really out of it today.” 

“Yeah. Something going on?” 

Her teammates’ low murmurs brushed her ears, drifting through the heavy air of the dojo. 

Just then  

♫ ♫ 

The phone left in the dojo corner shattered the stillness with its ringtone. 

“Senpai, you’ve got a call Whoa?!” 

Before her junior even finished, Akane hurried over and snatched up the phone. 

[Haruto] 

The name that had been filling her mind appeared on the display. 

‘He’s done already?’ 

Calm down. 

You never freaked out just getting a call before. 

Nothing’s going to happen this time either. 

Just a change of pace, that’s all. 

“Hoo…” 

Akane steadied her trembling fingers and pressed the call button. 

Straining for nonchalance, she forced her usual gruff voice. 

“Hello? Came to tour the club already?” 

But the voice from the other side wasn’t the gentle one she expected. 

-…Akane. 

“…Mizuki? Why do you have Haruto’s phone?” 

Mizuki’s voice, strangely cold and flat, made Akane automatically snap back. 

She stared dumbfounded at the phone’s display it really did say “Haruto”. 

-Listen, and don’t freak out. 

Ignoring Akane's questions, Mizuki spoke with clinical detachment. 

-Haruto’s been abducted. By members of Dark Redemption. 

“…What?” 

The world went dead silent. 

Craash ! 

It was as if the whole world, encased in a giant glass dome, shattered around her. 

The steamy air of the hot dojo turned dagger-sharp and stabbed at her insides. 

Her teammates’ hushed whispers, 

the feel of wood in her hands, 

even the sound of her own heartbeat all faded far away. 

It was as if time had stopped. 

‘Haruto’s been abducted.’ 

Only Mizuki’s last words, echoing endlessly from the phone, rattled inside Akane’s mind like the fragments of a shattered world.