Volume Zero, Chapter Two: Yukio Hamaguchi
Chapter Two: Yukio Hamaguchi
The Fire Fog Warrior girl, wearing a brand new sailor uniform, walked toward the school.
By her own intervention in existence, she disguised herself as Junko Oogami.
The school uniform she was wearing now was spoils she had obtained by sneaking into the school in the middle of the night. Although she had broken the door lock, she had already left money for the lock replacement, so there was no problem. With this completely law-defying thought, she felt privately satisfied.
She walked down the gentle slope along the early morning path to school, lost in thought.
(As a result, she couldn't get any useful information from her parents and had to go to the school to ask.)
Through what she had learned the previous night, the girl finally understood the reason behind the strange attitude of her parents, especially her mother.
In recent times, as far as her parents knew, Junko Oogami had not traveled anywhere.
Junko Oogami was very close to a boy in her class named Yukio Hamaguchi.
Junko Oogami and Yukio Hamaguchi were spotted by their parents in the park three days ago, which was Tuesday.
At that time, Junko Oogami and Yukio Hamaguchi were engaged in behavior that displeased their parents.
A gift that Junko Oogami had received from Yukio Hamaguchi the day before yesterday was accidentally broken by her mother.
Junko Oogami was very angry and also very sad, and she had a huge fight with her parents that evening.
Overall, her parents had misunderstood the girl's attitude as a continuation of the argument from the day before yesterday.
(Yukio Hamaguchi, huh)
The girl did not know what exactly the boy had done with Junko Oogami to upset the parents. Although she had no desire to know either (perhaps he had loudly attacked her character or complained about her parents' educational methods, speaking ill of them behind their backs—this was her guess), his very existence was extremely important.
By inquiring her parents in detail, she realized that these two usually spent a lot of time together. It was highly likely that the boy named Yukio Hamaguchi knew about Junko Oogami's range of activities and the circumstances of her being 'nibbled'. Extracting information from him and finding a way to understand the apostles' purpose would at least provide a breakthrough. This became the current operational plan.In order to gather intelligence at the local school, which occupied most of Ōkami Junko's daily life, the girl, a Fire Mist warrior, walked calmly on the way to school in the early morning.
She did not feel anything special, as it was merely a part of fulfilling her mission.
Upon arriving at the school, the girl could not help but be troubled by the bustling atmosphere.
(Why do they have so much to say?)
Although she had entered similar facilities many times before, it was mostly by sneaking in at night, or even if it was during the day, it was always a secret operation requiring her to hide her presence. Entering this kind of commotion, composed solely of boys and girls of roughly the same age in place of a torch, was something she did for the first time.
Those boys and girls sauntering around appeared slightly older than her, and in short, they were unbearably noisy. They spat out a large amount of incomprehensible words, displaying attitudes that she could not understand. Nearly everyone spoke in a mixture of excitement and emotion.
It was as if they were desperately consuming their limited time. In this atmosphere of intense enthusiasm and urgency—
(Hmm)
The girl finally arrived at her own locker, which carried a strong sense of attachment, amidst the noise, and then, imitating those around her, changed into indoor shoes resembling slippers.
The torch, belonging to Ōkami Junko, whose presence energy had hardly been expended, guided the girl with a remarkably vivid bond. Not just the locker, but the places in school most closely connected to her—like her seat in the classroom where she attended lessons—could also be easily discerned.
(Class 2-3, Student No. 2: Ōkami Junko)
After confirming the information written on her student ID in her mind, the girl was about to enter this classroom she had never been to before.
"Good morning, Ōkami!"
"I'm first!"
She hurriedly avoided the boys rushing in beside her, and only then did she finally step into the classroom.
It was her first time observing the classroom from the perspective of one of the participants.The people who open textbooks to read, the people who spread out two notebooks and copy something, the people who scribble on the blackboard, the people who point at something outside the window and giggle, the people who walk back and forth, the people who stand close to each other, the people who gather in a group—this space is almost suffocatingly full of lively energy. For a girl who prefers a quiet environment, all of this makes her feel dizzy.
Facing her like that:
Good morning, Junko.
Oh, you're here.
The woman in love has appeared~
Three girls gathered beside Junko Oue's desk greeted her. Just like the desk, they have a strong bond with her. Perhaps they are like close colleagues = friends, the girl guessed.
Those friends stared at the girl without blinking and then suddenly showed relaxed smiles. It wasn't a fake or malicious smile, nor was it exactly friendly—it was a strange, suspicious, but completely harmless and innocent little smile.
It seemed likely because Junko Oue's lingering presence as a torch was strong; compared to the powerful presence characteristic of a fire mist warrior, their tendency to treat Junko Oue as a friend seemed even stronger. Without even putting on a serious demeanor or showing off her aura, in her current state, she would just be treated as a close friend. Of course, now that she was here to gather information, this state was naturally more convenient than causing the other party to feel fear.
(Hmm, can't be helped.)
Having just entered, the girl, who carried an air of detachment as if she saw through everything—
(This is also for the sake of completing my mission.)
She reassured herself with this reasoning and then sat at Junko Oue's seat.
(How should I even ask!?)
Just as she thought this, her friends immediately surrounded her.
Even though you escaped yesterday, today you absolutely have to say it.
So, what happened exactly?
Yes, yes, hiding it and being sneaky won't do.
Not only did they surround her, but they also leaned their faces close into a space that she normally would never let anyone penetrate, causing the girl to flinch in surprise.Because she thought they had no intention of killing her, she relaxed her guard and let them get close to her easily.
Eh, what?
Even her voice began to falter.
Her friends seemed to misinterpret the girl's confused expression as her deliberately hiding something, so they deepened the strange smile from earlier and continued to approach her.
Seriously, still pretending, this guy...
Come on, confess.
Ah, as expected, so skillful.
Facing this unusual pressure, the girl couldn't help but lean back slightly, wanting to create some distance. Originally, these things should have been asked by her to them, but they didn't give her any chance to ask.
What exactly are you talking about?
Of course, it's
About you and Hinokuchi-kun.
Hiding everything seems way too cunning.
(Hinokuchi? Hinokuchi Yukio?)
It's hard to imagine there being someone else with the same name. In other words, they are asking about the one who is very close to Oogami Junko. However, even though she understood this, the girl didn't have an answer to give. And she even wanted to ask them in return.
(Talking about actions and behaviors done together with Hinokuchi Yukio)
All she could think of was what she asked her parents about last night.
The scene in the park that her parents had witnessed, that one incident.
Although she still didn't know exactly what scene they saw (her parents ultimately didn't say anything because they had a look like they couldn't bring themselves to talk about it, and she also thought that apart from the location information, it had nothing directly to do with the Apostle incident, so she didn't press her parents for answers), it must have been an act that would cause discomfort, and most likely not a good thing.
(But if this incident is also a secret from her friends, then although it's a harsh thing, it must also be something important.)
If it wasn't talking badly behind her parents' backs, then it definitely wasn't something admirable, and it was something she couldn't tell her friends either. But in any case, it was a secret.
(There's definitely a secret between her and Hinokuchi Yukio.)
Oogami Junko's parents and friends seemed to have no special information about her.From the fact that she only recently became a Torch, she also thought that Yukio Hamaguchi, the boy who shared a secret with her and had carried out secret actions together with her, must hold important clues that could help find the Apostles. The girl thought.
Where is Yukio Hamaguchi?
She immediately looked around the classroom to try to find him.
Since they could share secrets, naturally there must be a strong bond. Although the girl made this inference, she had not yet discovered any bonds beyond these three people.
Has he not arrived yet?
When she asked this, the three in front of her immediately laughed.
Oh dear, are we about to call for reinforcements?
Damn it, showing off like that!
It's really infuriating.
Still, there was no answer, so she asked again:
Has he arrived, or not?
You don't have to emphasize it so many times. If he isn't here, we won't keep asking. Aren't we lucky, damn it!
After asking for so long, she finally got an answer.
(Somehow, I feel exhausted.)
It seemed hard to speak calmly with these three. The girl planned to end this seemingly futile conversation and forcibly change the topic. She opened her backpack and took out a newspaper.
Look at this.
Huh, what is it?
The three thought it was an answer to the earlier questioning and immediately ran over as if pouncing. But
Hmm? What is this, just a newspaper.
What's up with the newspaper?
Their faces immediately fell in disappointment.
To prevent them from bombarding her with questions like before, the girl quickly spoke her own doubts.
This incident happened in this town, right?
The place her finger pointed to naturally indicated the report about the missing man being found.
Have you noticed anything, or do you know the details?
Though the three looked surprised, they still looked at the report.
Although the incident was very strange and took place locally, they still spent a lot of time recalling it. This was because the man's Torch had almost no remaining existence force.
Ah, that's the one reported in the news the day before yesterday, right?
Hmm, now that you mention it, it did cause quite a stir.Even if one says they understand, it's not like they actually saw it with their own eyes.
Even so, once they remembered it, they continued the conversation on the topic.
By the way, this person seems to be quite handsome.
Yes, yes, probably a model at the Paris Fall/Winter fashion show, right?
There are rumors that he ran away with a lover when he disappeared.
Of course, even though the topic continued, it doesn't necessarily mean useful information can be obtained from them.
It seems he had a photo in some popular magazine before he went missing, right? Wasn't that the magazine you had? I hear it's very popular. Hmm, yes, handsome as he was, that was just ten years ago. Yes, by the time he was found, he was already a forty-year-old man, so it doesn't really mean much. I actually quite like that type—mature men.
Eh? What? So you like older men? That's not what I meant. Don't you think that being found after ten years of wandering adds a certain intrigue? Really? Such a thing exists? Of course.
It's impressive that they can talk so much. Enthusiastically discussing these meaningless things makes it seem as if the act of conversation itself is the highest form of entertainment.
The girl couldn't help but feel a type of fear different from the battlefield dimension.
I—
Driven by a sense of duty, barely managed to get a word in.
As expected, she immediately drew everyone's attention.
Has there been any connection to this matter, or has she expressed any opinions?
The three, as if to ascertain the girl's intentions, paused for a moment first.