Chapter 4: The Girl Who Wears Hope and the Robot Girl

Apparently, the girls were going to take showers, so I washed myself as well before heading to a place called the lounge and taking a seat.

It was the kind of space you wouldn't find in an ordinary school. Several large round tables were arranged throughout the room, with armchairs placed around them. At this time of evening, it seemed to be a fairly popular place, as it was bustling with young girls.

"..."

But really, there were nothing but girls here. I suppose this was what an all-girls' school was like.

There was nothing strange about there being other men if they were Anchors like me, but perhaps they avoided places like this because they felt awkward.

Feeling rather lonely as I fiddled with my phone, I suddenly sensed someone sitting down beside me.

The faint scent of shampoo drifting over made my body temperature rise a little.

"Shota, good work today."

The person who sat beside me was Mana, the only familiar face I had here.

She looked exactly as I remembered her from when we were in middle school.

Her brownish hair was cut to medium length. She had a somewhat petite build.

Her eyes showed little emotion, and her face was expressionless.

Rather than making me think she was cold, she gave me the impression that "I have no idea what she's thinking."

"Mana, you're alone?"

"Yeah. I came out first."

As usual, her expression barely changed, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

Even though we'd known each other for nearly seven years, from elementary school until halfway through middle school.

I looked her in the eyes again. Receiving my gaze, she tilted her head as if to say, "What's up?"

Her expression had always been so still that people in the neighborhood sometimes described her as looking like a doll.

She didn't talk much, either. That didn't mean she was incapable of communicating, though. Whenever she did open her mouth, she actually had quite a sense of humor.

She was still somewhat short, but if I looked closely, had she grown a little since the last time we'd seen each other? Honestly, there was something about her that felt different from the girl I remembered as a child, and it left me confused.

We'd known each other for a long time, but I still didn't understand her.

I didn't think she disliked me. But I had no idea whether she actually liked me, either.

At the very least, she hadn't made much of an effort to communicate with me during this past week.

"Shota, did you get close to Raika?"

She asked without changing her expression.

"I wouldn't say we're that close... How should I put it? We shared a secret?"

At those words, Mana's eyes widened unusually far.

"A secret I don't know about?"

"Yeah, pretty much. It's nothing important."

"Raika's too?"

"Usobuki's secret? ...Ah, yeah. I-I t wasn't anything important. Not at all."

Well, it had been pretty shocking. Seeing a girl who looked like she was in middle school—or even elementary school, at a glance—smoking a cigarette was quite a sight.

"That's the face Shota makes when he's lying. No, I don't really want to force you to tell me. Raika being full of secrets and lies is nothing new. ...But I am curious why she's so close to Shota."

She spoke the last part so quickly that I couldn't make out what she'd said. She turned her gaze slightly to the side.

An awkward silence descended.

Though maybe Mana didn't consider it awkward at all. She's the kind of person who sees things differently from ordinary people, so she doesn't bother worrying about trivial matters.

I glanced over at Mana.

Our eyes met.

Her small mouth began to form some words.

But before she could say anything, a voice called out to us from a distance.

"Sorry to keep you waiting! Huh, were you two talking together? Come to think of it, you two are childhood friends, right? How sweet and innocent! Tell me all about it!"

Everyone came walking over from behind Kibogaoka-san. They'd all just gotten out of the shower, so their hair was still slightly damp.

It made my heart beat a little faster.

"Hibari. It's not sweet and innocent at all. If anything, it's bitter."

"Bitter...?"

The girls filed in and began taking seats around me. The one who sat beside me without the slightest hesitation was Kibogaoka Hibari, who had casually spoken to me earlier.

"Okay, Anchor-san, let's have you introduce yourself properly!"

Kibogaoka-san spoke to me as if she were conducting an interview.

"Um... Nakatsuka Shota. I'm a second-year high school student."

"Hobbies?"

"My hobbies... Reading, I guess?"

"Favorite food?"

"If I had to pick one... prosciutto?"

"Th-that's a pretty underwhelming choice..."

Someone muttered that, but Hibari continued her questions without stopping.

"Special skill?"

"I'm pretty good at telling when people are lying."

I heard Usobuki give a small snort.

"And what is your goal here?"

It was another question delivered in the same lighthearted tone as before.

But I felt like there was a different light in her eyes now.

She was probably testing me. Trying to determine whether I was someone worthy of her trust. Seeing what kind of answer I'd give.

The questions she'd asked until now had probably all been leading up to this.

But...

"To live a normal life."

I wasn't clever enough to immediately come up with some impressive answer that sounded good.

I'd never had some grand dream. I wasn't particularly interested in becoming a hero as an Anchor or anything like that.

I just wanted the threat of humanity's extinction and all that to be over so I could live peacefully.

When Kibogaoka Hibari heard that, her expression changed.

The girl who always seemed to be having fun stopped smiling for just a moment.

Meanwhile, the girl who normally showed no expression suddenly looked astonishingly listless.

But that expression was quickly hidden behind a smile.

"An old man! That's an old man's dream, Anchor-san! Ahahahahaha!"

After laughing for a while, she spoke to me with a bright smile.

She was completely back to her usual self.

"Well, now I know all about you, so that means we're friends. Okay, no more holding back. From now on, you're going to call us by our first names. Nice to meet you, Shota."

It was a radiant smile so bright I felt like I might be purified by it. It was as though the expression she'd shown moments ago had never existed.

Most likely, both the smiling Hibari and the expressionless Hibari were the real Kibogaoka Hibari.

Manifestors were people who put on a show of bravado. If that was the case, then there was nothing strange about having different sides to them.

But neither her outward side nor her hidden side seemed like that bad of a person.

For some reason, I just had that feeling.

"Nice to meet you, Kibogaoka-san."

"Huh? Who's that? All our surnames as Manifestors are just temporary identities. I won't know who you're talking about if you call me that."

"...Nice to meet you, Hibari. You've got a surprisingly nice personality."

"That's more like it!"

She really did have a great smile.

"Why don't we all just call each other by our first names? We're not strangers anymore, after all."

"Shota is Shota. Nothing changes for me."

Mana stated it plainly, without changing her expression.

"Well, if that's what she wants, I don't see why not."

Usobuki—or rather, Raika—spoke bluntly.

"I would normally say that it's indecent... but I have no objection."

Obitachi... no, Hazuki said it surprisingly straightforwardly.

"I don't mind either... You should be grateful that the Evil-Eyed Princess has acknowledged you!"

"...Sorry, who was that again?"

"What!?"

The blonde girl who never abandoned her chuunibyou fashion even after getting out of the bath—Vic... Victor... We hadn't actually spoken before, so I hadn't really formed much of an impression of her...

"The princess who has sealed an evil dragon within her right arm and keeps a demon within her right eye... Victoria von Leonora! Call me Victoria!"

"Y-yeah, nice to meet you..."

Damn it, I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't even give her a proper greeting.

Now that I was facing her properly, her character was simply too intense, and I found myself completely overwhelmed.

After confirming that everyone had agreed, Hibari nodded repeatedly with a satisfied expression.

Then she looked toward Raika and addressed her with a mischievous grin.

"Ah, that's a relief. I'm glad Shota-kun managed to get along with everyone. That's one less thing to worry about, Raika-chan."

"Why are you telling me?"

"Because you've been sneaking worried glances at Shota-kun lately."

Hibari stared at Raika with a mischievous smile.

Raika puffed out her cheeks in displeasure and simply said, "That's not true."

I watched the exchange with an amused feeling, but Raika noticed my gaze. She looked over at me and mouthed, "Stop looking at me. I'll kill you."

That was an astonishingly un-charming way of hiding her embarrassment.

〈TIPS〉 Most Manifestors use aliases. As a general convention, their surnames are usually aliases, while their given names are usually their real names. (In the case of Kazunomiya Mana, only "Mana" is her real name.)

This serves several purposes: separating their identity as an ordinary girl from their identity as a Manifestor who fights by putting on a front, allowing them to return to civilian life once the fighting is over, and preventing their families from being inconvenienced when they appear in the media.

When a Manifestor tells someone her real name, it is a declaration that she "wants to stay together even after this battle is over." Depending on the circumstances, it can be equivalent to a confession of love.

A few days had passed since the protagonist had been accepted by the members of Fox Squad.

Since then, I felt like he'd become more relaxed in his expressions.

Well, he'd been suddenly thrown into a female-dominated environment and ordered to "earn their trust." That's hardly an easy task.

At this rate, he should be able to deepen his relationships without me having to lend a hand.

Though when it came to Hazuki, I'd still have to keep supporting her.

"Raika."

"Hm?"

By chance, the two of us ended up alone in the school, and Mana, the protagonist's childhood friend, spoke to me.

When I met her gaze, I saw that same expressionless face as always.

She might look spaced out, but don't underestimate her.

She's a mathematical genius who has already demonstrated that she can solve proof problems at the university level.

"What are you scheming lately?"

Her eyes seemed to peer straight through to the depths of me.

"That's an unusually vague question coming from you, Mana. Aren't you supposed to be executing your conversation sequence smoothly?"

"Your actions are so incomprehensible that I have no choice but to make my question abstract. Rationally speaking, your behavior is unnatural."

Of course it was. No matter how easily she could solve mathematical problems, if there were unknown variables, she couldn't arrive at the correct answer.

Knowledge of the original story was something nobody in this world could possibly predict. That's precisely why I could keep lying.

"But I can at least deduce that Shota and Hazuki are at the center of your actions. You're meddling in their relationship. What exactly are you planning to do?"

"He's the only one who can save Hazuki."

At my words, Mana tilted her head slightly.

"Insufficient basis and overly abstract. What is the reason you are so certain?"

"Mana, I've told you before. Not everything needs to be neatly resolved. There are things in this world that are better left ambiguous."

Things like laws, constitutions, responsibility, ethics... There were plenty of things that were more convenient when left vague.

Though lecturing a teenage girl about that in such a preachy manner would be rather childish of me.

I reached toward the lighter in my breast pocket, then stopped my hand.

Instead of smoke, I would tell a lie.

"It's simply because it's better for an Anchor and a Manifestor to have a good relationship. Hazuki is particularly difficult compared to the rest of us, and her mental state is unstable."

"I agree with that assessment. Her mentality is excessively virtuous, which makes her dangerous."

"Exactly. So I'll have him become closer to her and help stabilize her mentally. How does that sound? Rational enough?"

"I can partially agree. However, Raika had noticed Hazuki's instability and continued caring for her long before Shota arrived. It is inexplicable that you suddenly handed that role over to someone else now."

Her sleepy eyes stared intently into mine. If I let my guard down, it felt like she might easily deduce what I was really thinking.

"If you've figured out that much, why don't you take care of Hazuki yourself?"

"I am incapable of doing so. Human emotions are too complex and formless. They cannot be calculated."

"I think you're actually pretty good at reading people's emotions, Mana."

The fact that she calculated the probability of success beforehand and then became too intimidated to act was also very much like her.

"Could it be that you're unhappy because you haven't had enough time with your childhood friend after finally being reunited? You want to spend more time together, don't you?"

When I asked that, her face, which had barely moved like a robot until now, flushed red. Her previously motionless eyes began darting around.

"I-I cannot comprehend why those words were brought up. There is no causal relationship with the conversation up to this point. It is not recommended that you speculate about my state of mind."

"Haha! I wish you'd be that obvious in front of him!"

When I laughed, Mana's face turned even redder.

"Th-That's not logical...!"

Her bashful appearance brought out a bit of my sadistic side. But maybe I shouldn't tease her too much.

Since I had the chance, I decided to listen to her as the older one.

I didn't know much about the in-game "Kazunomiya Mana." Since I hadn't managed to pull her high-rarity dress, I'd barely read any of her personal stories.

"Hey, why are you so timid when you talk to him? You want to talk to him more, and you want to get closer to him, don't you?"

"...Shota is different from me. If I attempt to deepen our relationship without a strategy, there is a possibility that it may negatively affect our relationship."

"Ah, you're afraid he'll dislike you."

"!"

I'd hit the nail on the head. She looked away, her cheeks still bright red.

"Well, there's that. Whenever you talk to him, your facial muscles are completely stiff. Why don't you start by fixing that?"

"...? Incomprehensible. I have not observed such a fact."

"Seriously...?"

I mean, she's already expressionless enough to look like a robot, but when she talks to him, she gets even more expressionless. No wonder he's confused...

"Ah, I see. You can't include facts you can't observe in your calculations."

"?"

Once I'd realized it, the answer was simple.

You can't see your own face.

This defective genius girl had absolutely terrible adaptability when it came to unknown variables. She could calculate anything she knew, but once an unknown variable entered the equation, her calculations stopped working properly.

Even so, her genius lay in the fact that she would thoroughly investigate anything she didn't know until it became something known. But when it came to human relationships, what you needed wasn't knowledge—it was inference.

...She's just as awkward as Hazuki, really.

After thinking about it for a moment, I decided to give Mana some advice.

"Uh, well... When you're talking to Shota, why don't you try expressing your feelings honestly?"

"...The effect this will have is unknown. However, when it comes to what Raika says with that expression, there is a 92% probability that she is not mistaken. Thank you for the suggestion. From the next conversation onward, I will experimentally add an 'express feelings honestly' process to my conversation sequence."

Whether she understood it or not, it was hard to tell. The genius girl gave a small nod.

Kazunomiya Mana

Profile 1

A girl with an expressionless face, making it difficult to tell what she's thinking. She excels at mathematical thinking and is a genius who consistently achieves outstanding grades.

She is the protagonist's childhood friend. She liked him because he possessed a human charm that she herself lacked, but after concluding that "rationally speaking, the chances of successfully confessing are low," she never confessed her feelings.

She is the squad's greatest source of firepower. Since she is always calm and composed, she takes on a second-in-command role, giving orders to those around her whenever Raika is unable to do so.

She excels at rational thinking and can make the correct choices, but she is somewhat weak when faced with unexpected situations.

She likes things that can be explained with numbers.

She is not good with ambiguous things.