Villains Catch Villains - 7

Thus, Sensei moved to the Arius Squad's hideout, an abandoned building. For the time being, he decided to stay here, partly to recover from his injuries.

'By the way, these kids have been living in a place like this...'

The abandoned building where they lived looked terrible even from the outside. Dust swirled with every gust of wind, cobwebs stretched across wall corners, cracks ran along the walls and ceiling, and unidentified graffiti was spray-painted everywhere. It was too harsh a place to call a home.

'If I knew it would be like this, I should have brought them into Schale, even if it was difficult.'

But that had been impossible at the time. Weren't they the culprits who attacked both Gehenna and Trinity, causing widespread terrorism? Even if Sensei forgave them, there was no way the other schools would accept it. Besides, he had once brought this up to the General Student Council and was immediately rejected. They said if they let this slide, Kivotos would become a wasteland in the future, and Sensei had to agree.

Still, Sensei had been secretly supporting them, but there was a limit to what he could provide.

'They should have been given a chance to live a normal life, but they didn't get it.'

It was a pity. But now wasn't the time to dwell on the past. When he was barely surviving, he couldn't afford to think about old times.

'Right, for now, I need to fill my empty stomach.'

So, Sensei reached for a bag of bread lying on the floor.

"Ugh...!"

But as he tried to move his right arm, a terrible pain shot through his shoulder again. His right shoulder, with a gunshot wound that hadn't fully healed and a fresh stab wound, now reacted violently to the slightest movement.

'It hurts like hell...'

This kind of injury should have been treated properly at a hospital, with pain medication prescribed, but Sensei wasn't in a position to do that. No hospital would welcome a wanted man, so he had to rely on minimal first aid.

Sensei reached for the bag again. Just moving slightly caused a pain that felt like his bones and muscles were being pierced, making him break out in a cold sweat. In the end, he gave up on moving his right arm. Deciding he shouldn't move his right arm for a while, he picked up the bag with his left hand. Just as he was about to tear the bag with his teeth and grab the bread inside with his hand to eat it...

"....Kh!?"

Suddenly, a horrible sensation surged through his left hand, as if his fingers were being sliced off with a knife. Sensei felt a pain several times worse than the pain in his right shoulder. Dropping the bread onto his lap, he winced, forcing himself to suppress a scream that almost escaped, and slumped down, bowing his head.

'There's nowhere to get help... If it's been cut off, shouldn't I not feel anything...!'

Sensei had never truly understood the concept of phantom pain until now, but recently, he had come to realize it all too clearly.

'Don't interfere with my eating, damn body. Even dogs don't get bothered when they eat...'

At that moment, Misaki entered the room where Sensei was.

"Sensei, I came to check on you..."

What she saw was Sensei trembling, his face contorted in pain, his whole body crying out in agony. She immediately rushed to his side and said,

"What's wrong?! Are you hurt?"

Sensei didn't want Misaki to worry about him. So, despite the intense pain, he forced a smile and said,

"It's nothing... I just need to take a deep breath, and I'll be fine."

"It's not nothing if you're sweating like this! Where does it hurt, and how?"

"It'll be fine in a few minutes. It happens sometimes, so it's not a big deal. You don't need to worry about it."

Though he said that, his left hand was visibly trembling. Misaki was shocked by the sight.

"Sensei..."

"It's just a passing pain. I'm sorry if I worried you."

"Why do you keep apologizing...!"

Then Misaki noticed the bread that had fallen onto Sensei's lap. When Sensei realized where her gaze was directed, he smiled bitterly.

"Even eating a piece of bread isn't easy... Haha..."

At that, Misaki picked up the bread and, with her own hands, tore it into bite-sized pieces and said,

"You can eat it now, right?"

"Well, yes, but..."

Then she brought a piece of bread to his mouth and said,

"Eat."

"What?"

"Open your mouth."

Sensei continued to sweat as he replied,

"No, I can feed myself..."

"...Just eat it!"

And Misaki stuffed the bread into his mouth. At first, he was bewildered, but the bread in his mouth tasted sweet.

"It's delicious."

And the pain that had tormented him just moments ago had somehow disappeared. The pain that came for no reason had left for no reason.

'Sigh, how long will this pain continue? There must be a way to fix it later...?'

Then Sensei moved his left hand again and said,

"I think I'm okay now. I'll eat by myself..."

But another piece of bread was torn and delivered in front of him. And she said,

"What are you doing? Open your mouth."

"Uh... I think I can eat on my own now?"

"What are you going to eat with that hand? Hurry up and open your mouth, Sensei."

"No, despite how it looks, I don't have much trouble picking things up..."

And at that moment, the bread was stuffed into his mouth again. Sensei once again involuntarily savored the taste of the bread. It was still sweet.

"Um, Misaki. You don't have to go this far..."

"Don't talk while eating."

"Yes, ma'am."

And the bread kept being put into Sensei's mouth. At first, he had refused, feeling like he was causing her trouble, but somehow, he had naturally started accepting it. And for some reason, he began to feel increasingly embarrassed.

'But the more I get fed, the more something feels strange...'

Then, the continuous flow of bread stopped. At first, Sensei thought he had finished eating and looked at Misaki, but the bread was still there. Only her hand had stopped. Sensei, puzzled, called out to her.

"Misaki, what's wrong?"

At his words, her face turned red. Surprised by the sudden change, Sensei leaned closer and said,

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Ugh!"

And at that moment, she shoved the remaining bread into Sensei's mouth with all her might.

"Mmph, mmph?!"

"Don't talk and just eat...!"

Initially, Misaki had started feeding him out of goodwill, replacing Sensei who couldn't even lift his hand properly due to the pain. The fact that she was partly responsible for his injuries might have made her even more inclined to do so. But as time went on, it felt less like a caregiver feeding a patient and more like a lover feeding another lover. As soon as she felt that way, she had stopped her hand.

'What am I thinking? I'm just helping someone who's struggling.'

The girl's heart was complicated. Her face had turned beet red for that reason. And Sensei had inadvertently jumped into her feelings, so she was trying to finish feeding him this bread quickly, with a mix of embarrassment and awkwardness.

"Mmph, mmph! Mmmph!"

"Sensei, just eat!"

And then,

"Sensei... Um, I think it's time to change your bandages..."

Hiyori walked in, holding bandages. And what she saw made her face flush.

"Huee... I'll come back later..."

As Hiyori turned and left the way she came, Misaki's face flushed even more. Seeing this, Sensei said,

"I-I'm sorry. I'll explain later."

Misaki's face turned completely red as she stuffed the remaining bread into Sensei's mouth even more roughly.

"Mmmph?!"

"Just eat it quickly...!"

And then,

"Sensei, Hiyori seemed to be just leaving, is something wrong?"

"Darling~♬ This Wakamo has bought some snacks for darling...."

And what the two of them saw was Misaki roughly stuffing bread into Sensei's mouth.

"M-Misaki? What is this...? Why are you stuffing bread into Sensei's mouth?"

"N-No! It's not! It's not like that!"

".........."

And Wakamo's lively expression vanished instantly, and she smiled sweetly at Sensei.

"Darling, is it delicious? The taste of the bread she's feeding you?"

"It was delicious..."

Sensei was oblivious in these situations.

"That's nice, isn't it...? Having someone to feed you without even asking."

"I-Is it...?"

And Wakamo, emitting a truly chilling aura, said,

"Is it nice?"

"What?"

"I asked if it's nice."

"........."

And at her demeanor, Sensei could only break out in a cold sweat again.

'Why is it so hard to just eat a piece of bread...?'

* * *

The next day, Wakamo, pouting, was picking out food for Sensei at a nearby convenience store.

"Tch, even though darling has me, he's looking at other girls..."

She grumbled as she selected items she thought Sensei would like one by one.

"Darling liked these, right...? Hehe."

And she imagined herself personally feeding Sensei with her own hands, like lovers do in a sweet, affectionate way.

'Darling~ Ahh~'

'Ah~ As expected, the bread Wakamo feeds me is delicious~'

"Hehe.."

Thinking about it made the corners of her mouth rise involuntarily. Then she recalled what Sensei had said to her during their time on the run.

"Wakamo, I'm sorry there's nothing I can do for you. You don't have to help me like this... You could have left me..."

His words, showing concern for her, were enough for her. And even now, she thought to herself,

'Darling, no matter what threat comes, I will never abandon you. So, if you just believe in me until the end, I will protect you to the end.'

Then she paid for the items and left the convenience store. She hummed cheerfully as she walked down the street.

"Darling~ Darling~ My wonderful husband~♬"

As she was heading to Sensei's hideout in a daze, she heard voices.

"Where the hell is he hiding! That damn 'Sensei'!"

"?"

She immediately turned her head in the direction of the voices. And what they were holding were none other than wanted posters of Sensei.

"Thinking about it, it's hard to find him just by searching blindly~ Kukuku. That 'Sensei' isn't an idiot, and he wouldn't walk around with his face wide open."

"We won't find him like this even if we search all of Kivotos. I know he's annoying, but wouldn't it be better to look for other jobs?"

But at that, she shook her head and confidently said,

"No! We can't be hard-boiled with this guy around! If we can't get rid of Sensei from Kivotos, we'll always be second-rate! Only by killing him can we become true villains!"

"As expected, Aru-sama, you're amazing! But... if we kill a villain, wouldn't that make us heroes..."

At those words, Aru immediately buffered.

"I-Is that so...?"

But Mutski laughed and replied,

"Hey, what are you saying~ Catching a villain makes you a bigger villain, not a hero~ Aru-chan."

"Right! Catching a villain makes you a villain! We're Problem Solver 68! And no one else can take the job of catching Sensei!"

'How dare they utter such nonsense...!'

Wakamo, furious to the core from hearing this, was about to rush over and beat them to a pulp. But then she thought of Sensei and calmed herself down.

'No, don't cause a commotion. If I do, I won't be any help to darling. Instead, I'll just give them a reason to chase us. Just pretend I didn't hear anything. Pretend I didn't hear...'

As she tried to walk away, pretending not to hear, she heard more words.

"What are we going to do after we catch Sensei~?"

"Make him beg for his life! And then this Rikuhachima Aru will kill him! In the most pathetic way possible!"

"As expected, Aru-sama is a legendary villain!"

And at those words, Wakamo's expression turned deadly, and she gnashed her teeth as she walked away from them. And she vowed to herself,

'If you try to do that, you won't die an easy death. I'll kill you, Rikuhachima Aru!'

* * *

"Is that true? Problem Solver 68 is targeting me here?"

"Yes, darling. I wanted to catch them and beat them half to death right away, but I held back because I didn't want to cause a commotion."

"I-I see... They didn't seem to know where I was, right?"

"No, darling. They seemed to be wandering around."

Hearing Wakamo's report, Sensei sighed. Everyone seemed to want to kill him the moment they saw him, making him feel utterly gloomy.

"I used to have a good relationship with the Problem Solver kids, so hearing this makes me sad."

Then Saori spoke after Sensei.

"Well, it's best if Sensei doesn't go outside for a while. It's better to stay hidden safely for some time to avoid being caught."

But at those words, Sensei closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking deeply. Saori, slightly puzzled by his demeanor, asked,

"Sensei, what's wrong?"

"Oh, no... It's just... Hmm. I was thinking about something."

"Tell me."

Then Sensei dropped a bombshell.

"How about we just let it slip that I'm here?"

At those words, everyone present was shocked and immediately objected.

"Darling! That's unacceptable! Those are the girls... no, the people who nonchalantly said they would tear you to pieces and kill you!"

"Sensei, that's impossible. If they catch you, Gehenna will catch your scent and come after you. And if they report you to the police or bring reinforcements, we won't be able to handle them."

But Sensei countered their objections with his own opinion.

"Well... they're also wanted by Gehenna, so I don't think they'd do that, and besides, they're lone wolves. They consider receiving help shameful. They have their pride. So, if they come to catch me, it'll definitely be just the four of them."

"Now that you mention it... When they talked about killing darling, they did say they would do it themselves..."

"Problem Solver 68 will never call for reinforcements. I'm sure of it."

Then Misaki spoke up.

"So, what are you going to do after you bring those four here?"

"Well, the same thing... Capture them, make them reflect on their actions after they're wounded, that's it."

And Hiyori said hesitantly,

"Hueeeng... Can we really subdue them without any trouble...?"

Though she lacked confidence, Sensei chuckled and said,

"What are you talking about? With you five, what do I have to fear? Don't worry. You're among the top students in Kivotos."

"Hehe. You're making me blush."

Then Hiyori spoke again.

"They're hard-boiled people, so they must be vicious and cruel... Hiiik..."

But at that, Sensei smiled and said,

"What are you talking about? There are no students in Kivotos hard-boiled than you five. Arius Squad, you turned Gehenna and Trinity upside down and practically overturned Kivotos, and Wakamo, you have the worst reputation in Kivotos as the 'Fox of Calamity'."

"That's true~♬"

"Uh... Is that a compliment?"

"Hueeeng... It feels like a backhanded compliment..."

"Hehe, for now, it's a compliment, Hiyori."

Sensei cleared his throat and spoke to them.

"Actually, there's no better time to make them our allies than now. So I think we can't miss this opportunity. If you all agree, I'm going to catch Problem Solver 68. What do you say?"

The answers came immediately.

"Understood. I, Wakamo, will follow darling's words."

"Well, same here. If Sensei thinks so, I'll follow."

"Yes, if Sensei thinks so."

"Our Arius Squad finally has something to do~"

"Hueeeng... Can I really be of help..."

Sensei spoke to them again.

"Don't worry, I may be physically weak and have no combat abilities, but I'm good at using my head. And there are others who will support you. Don't worry. I won't let things go wrong."

Saying so, Sensei began to think of a trap to lure Problem Solver 68. To catch the hard-boiled girls, he would use even more hard-boiled girls.