Vol 3 Prologue (2/2)

“It won’t even be about winning or losing against that We have to pray we don’t get injured”

“Maybe so”

Mutsuki smiled bitterly

He glanced over at the girls, but they see about volleyball

“Are your injuries from Miss C better?”

Ibekusa Machina sat next to Ange while handing her a drink bottle

The two of them were enemies, but Machina was fro about the other girl a lot recently

Ange was not exactly friendly, but she could not stir up pointless trouble when her duty was to protect Mutsuki She took the bottle

“I didn’t have any injuries to begin with”

“I see”

“…I a to crush Black Cat”

She kept her voice low so the others could not hear

“We know Black Cat is somewhere near Mutsuki and has approached quite a bit Next time, it’s my turn to strike back”

Ange’s words were sharp enough to sense a sword-like edge to them and Machina only lowered her head a little

She closed her eyes as the angel tried to read her reaction

“Miss C is currently undergoing an inquiry Even if she is in danger, I aated to help her However…”

Machina stood up

“If the two of you were to fight, your odds of victory are below 2 And she still has a few tricks hidden up her sleeve”

She quietly said she did not reco this enemy and then she walked away

Ange was left all alone

“Hmph”

She crushed the plastic bottle without taking a single sip

“Don’t act so proud, human”

The bottle dented in the shape of her slender fingers until it burst froes of the bottle were smooth, as if it had been melted rather than split

“I knohere Black Cat is”

She glared at Machina’s back and then looked to the opposite bench

A girl sat their all alone She looked perfectly norht deep in her eyes It was Kurikara Saya

Saya was looking back their way fro at Lucia, Sakae, and Mutsuki

“What!? Wait a second, Mutsuki! What the hell is this!?”

“Wh-what is what?”

Sakae raised his voice, which drew Ange’s attention

Mutsuki’s student handbook had fallen from his uniform on the bench Sakae had picked it up, but…

“What the hell is this!? This was our friendshi+p album! It was just for the two of us! So why is someone else in here!?”

He shouted angrily at Mutsuki after seeing the final page

Lots of photo booth pictures had been placed there There were twenty of them that he had taken with his friends since elementary school

It was natural to place a special photograph up at the very top, so that here he had a picture of him and Sakae, his best friend

But now, the one he had taken with Ange was right there next to it

“Dammit! It used to only be me! This was the special spot reserved for me, the best friend in the world for Mutsuki!”

“S-sorry, Sakae But it was irl”

“No fair! I want a photo like that too! Let’s take one together, Mutsuki-kun!”

Jealous Sakae and opportunistic Lucia pressed in on Mutsuki

However, this was still a friendly sort of anger

“…What’s all this about?”

As Mutsuki tried to get by with a bitter smile, the handbook that had moved from Sakae to Lucia made another move to someone else When he noticed who, he paled

Ange, on the other hand, grew beet red

“What is this!? This is…froht that back with you!?”

“S-sorry But it came out really well”

“This isn’t a joke! You…!”

“Ah, wait Don’t peel it off so roughly It’s going to tear”

Mutsuki was right about it having coe pulled at it with her fingernail, but it was stuck on there good and would not come off The boy tried to stop her, but the two jealous boys pressed in on him

Below the clear sky of an early summer afternoon, lively voices filled the volleyball court

“…”

Ibekusa Machina calue

As did the vertical pupils of a feral cat