Chapter 2: Distorted and Isolated

Having worn down Youta’s resistance, I brought him back to the classroom.

The moment we stepped inside, countless eyes turned toward us—but at this point, it had become part of the daily routine.

Nothing worth worrying about.

After all, Youta skipped class almost every day.

Fetching him had practically become tradition.

Unfazed, we headed back to our seats.

Fifth period had already ended. We were in the short break before sixth.

Right before the fifth-period bell rang, Youta had finally shown up.

His reason?

"Me aside, it’d be bad if your grades dropped."

Or so he said.

My grades were below average—apparently, that was a problem.

Meanwhile, Youta had every reason to act superior.

Despite rarely attending class, he had scored near-perfect marks on every final exam in our first year. Even now, as second-years, he kept it up.

That was also why the teachers couldn’t say much to him.

Sure, Luna’s physical abilities were exceptional—but that wasn’t the only reason.

He never skipped self-study at home.

With no friends besides me and no club activities, he had all the time in the world for academics.

He used to have hobbies, but he’d given them up entirely.

I wanted to tell him to just attend class, but this might’ve been his way of rebelling.

"Hey, pretty boy~ What were you and Luna up to, huh?"

As I pulled my textbook from my bag, a light, teasing voice called out.

I looked up to see a blond boy standing there.

"Oh, Hagino."

Hagino Yoshihiro.

My only friend besides Youta… supposedly.

He was the one who claimed we were friends, so I wasn’t entirely convinced.

Like Youta, my social circle was small.

In his case, it was due to personal circumstances.

In mine, it was a lack of social skills. A pretty big difference.

By the way, this school didn’t regulate hair color.

Despite being a so-called "prestigious school," there were no strict rules. Everything was left up to the students.

A "personal responsibility" kind of thing.

"Nothing much. Just negotiating to get him to come to class."

"C’mon! A guy and a girl skipping class together every day? Something’s gotta be going on!"

"...Sigh."

I exhaled, already tired of this conversation.

What did he think Youta and I were doing, exactly?

In reality, the “negotiation” only lasted a moment. After that, we mostly talked and napped.

"You’re hopeless, man!"

Dodging his playful karate chop, I turned back to my desk to prep for class.

"There’s nothing going on between Youta and me..."

"...Youta? Who’s that? We got someone like that in class?"

...Despite how he acted now, Hagino had been Youta’s best friend until half a year ago—though he’d never known him as Luna.

Back then, they were probably even closer than I was with him.

In fact, I met Hagino through Youta.

But everything changed on the day of the final battle.

When Youta became Luna, the Sacred Beasts made a… considerate adjustment.

A man fully turning into a woman didn’t belong in this world.

It was unnatural—something that would only create unnecessary attention.

They couldn’t let the Savior be treated like an oddity.

Maybe that’s why they altered the very laws of the world.

The Sacred Beasts were powerful enough to do that.

As a result, "Youta" vanished from everyone’s memory and was rewritten as "Luna."

Even his own family no longer called him Youta.

To them, he had always been Luna.

Naturally, Hagino was no exception.

To him, Youta… was simply Luna. A brilliant and beautiful girl.

His childhood friend had been replaced by someone untouchable—an idealized figure.

That twisted goodwill shattered their bond and left them completely estranged.

That’s why Youta’s social circle shrank.

As I lost myself in thought—

"Kurosaki-kun."

A voice called my name.

Clear and soft, like the chime of a bell.

I turned to see a slender girl standing nearby.

"...Ah, Akashi-san, right?"

"Yeah... It’s Minami."

Oh, right. Now I remembered.

This was Akashi Minami—our class rep.

With her short hair and quiet demeanor, she reminded me of a small animal. She often went out of her way to talk to me, probably because of her own connection to Youta.

"Where did you and Hidaka-san go?"

"The rooftop... well, the stairs nearby. Not many people go there."

I almost answered honestly but stopped myself just in time.

Youta used a spare key to sneak onto the rooftop—a key he’d once created with magic.

If the teachers found out, it’d be a big problem.

Akashi wasn’t the type to snitch, but word had a way of spreading.

"I see..."

Satisfied with the explanation, she returned to her seat.

She always made a point of talking to me after I went to fetch Youta.

Maybe it was her sense of duty as class rep, but it had to be tiring.

"Man, I’m jealous~"

"What, you’re still here?"

As I pulled out my pencil case, Hagino muttered those words.

I thought he’d gone back to his seat, but he was still lounging in the chair next to me.

"Hey, you know the phrase ‘a flower in each hand’?"

"...Don’t insult me."

Even I wasn’t that out of touch.

I gave him a sharp look, only for him to smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, you totally don’t."

"Let me ask you something. Be honest, alright?"

"Sure."

Hagino suddenly put on a serious face and launched into it.

There was still some time before class started. Might as well hear him out.

His hypothetical went like this:

Youta and Akashi were both about to fall off a cliff.

I only had one rope.

Not enough time to save them both.

—So, who do you save first?

That was the setup.

Just a thought experiment… but still.

"You’ve got a messed-up imagination, you know that? You seriously sit around thinking stuff like this about our classmates?"

"Hell no! It’s just a hypothetical! So, who’re you saving?"

"Well, Youta—er, Hidaka."

I answered without hesitation. No need to overthink it.

Though, if this were the old Youta, he’d probably pull off something crazy to save them both and end up falling himself.

"Damn, cold-blooded…"

He sounded almost impressed.

…Youta saved my life once.

Repaying a debt like that—it’s just common decency in this country, isn’t it?