Chapter 3: Because Nonsense Was Written, I’ll Treat It as a Family Disgrace

—On the way home from school.

The rainy season had passed, and June brought stronger sunlight.

It wasn’t hot enough to sweat yet, but the air carried the first hints of summer.

…I never liked the heat.

A glance at the time told me it was already past four.

At Konami High, most students were in clubs. Even being a ghost member was considered normal, especially for college applications.

But both Youta and I proudly belonged to the “go-home club.”

We walked side by side down the mostly empty road that led away from school.

"Hey, Youta, do you know what ‘having a flower in each hand’ means?"

"...Haruto, are you picking a fight? Because I’ll take you up on that."

I’d remembered my earlier conversation with Hagino and decided to bring it up.

"Oh? …Did he say who the two people were?"

"Not that far. But it was right after Akashi showed up."

Grind.

Youta’s teeth clenched hard enough for me to hear it. I was used to the sound by now.

He’d developed this habit ever since things changed—gritting his teeth when something bothered him.

"Sorry. I’ll be more careful."

Feeling the pressure of his silent anger, I apologized quickly.

Youta always got irritated when I mentioned Akashi.

Probably because he didn’t like me getting close to her.

—Because Youta had feelings for her.

Last year, on December 24th, he’d planned to confess to Akashi.

I was never great with romance, but according to Hagino, they liked each other. They were supposed to become a couple soon.

But before that could happen, Legion launched its final operation.

The confession never happened. And by the time the battle ended, Youta was no longer Youta.

He had become Luna.

His chance to say how he felt had been taken from him.

And Akashi—she forgot everything about him.

To her, the boy she cared for had never existed. Only the girl she’d known since first year—Hidaka Luna.

Those feelings must still be buried somewhere inside Youta, and I’d just poked them without thinking.

He stormed off in silence, and I hurried to catch up.

“Wanna stop by the bookstore?”

After about five minutes of walking, his voice broke the silence.

He’d cooled off a little and spoke casually.

“Sure.”

I didn’t have any plans anyway, so we decided to make a detour.

In’yōdō—an old bookstore near the station.

Since we walked to school, we rarely stopped by. But for train commuters, it was a popular place to kill time.

Sazanami City wasn’t exactly bustling, and trains didn’t come very often.

As soon as we stepped inside, Youta headed straight for the shōnen manga section in the back.

Seemed like the new volume he wanted had just come out.

Even after everything, his taste hadn’t changed. Some things stayed the same.

I sometimes borrowed manga from him and honestly found them pretty fun. That kind of creativity—how people could come up with these stories—was impressive.

As for me, I didn’t have anything in mind, so I drifted toward the magazine racks near the entrance.

Most of the magazines didn’t interest me. I didn’t really have hobbies.

I was here for the weekly tabloids.

Youta always said they were unreliable, but for someone as clueless as me, they were at least a way to pick up general knowledge.

We didn’t even have a TV at home.

I had a terminal, sure—but relying only on that narrowed the kind of info I got.

“…Huh?”

One magazine stood out—garish colors, loud fonts, bottom-tier gossip energy.

Normally, I wouldn’t bother with something like this. But the headline stopped me:

"The Truth About Silver Witch, the Magical Girl, Revealed at Last: The Invaders from Another World and Their True Nature."

It wasn’t about someone else. It was about her. So I flipped it open.

.

.

.

The article ended like this:

“Luna vanished after the battle three months ago. Perhaps she was part of Legion all along—a traitor who turned against them.”

It started off sounding factual, but gradually slipped into bias. Then speculation. Then complete fantasy.

The conclusion was so far off, it was laughable.

As expected of a third-rate tabloid.

I made a habit of checking Legion-related publications. Sometimes, there were useful bits of truth buried in them.

This one? Mostly junk.

To its credit, it did have decent info on Legion itself. It even listed records of the three former high-ranking members.

Almost like the author had seen them firsthand.

But the way they were described…

“The Dark Prince of Shadows, Amrutat.”
“The Steel Killer, Iron Assassin Diamante.”
“The Bewitching Beauty, Queen Leonia.”

What kind of ridiculous nicknames were these?

This was why it only seemed accurate.

Did the author feel no shame writing this stuff?

And then it got worse.

One member—her—was praised nonstop.

How she was Legion’s Madonna. How she was so beautiful that people followed her even after she left. A tragic heroine.

It was so absurd it gave me a headache.

I skipped ahead—only to see the author’s name at the bottom.

Kurosaki Reona.

A name I recognized.

…and my head started to throb.

.

.

.

“What’re you reading?”

I shoved the magazine back onto the shelf just as Youta returned.

My mood was already ruined.

“Just some worthless gossip rag,” I said, keeping it vague and stepping in front of the magazine rack.

But his sharp blue eyes had already caught the headline.

His expression tightened like he’d bitten something sour.

“Funny, huh? I’m right here, and nobody even notices.”

“Don’t waste your time on garbage like that.”

…I wasn’t going to tell him the author was family.

But that didn’t help.

“Nobody calls me Youta anymore. They don’t even know Luna. Hey… tell me. Then who the hell am I?”

His voice was quiet—almost like he was hoping I’d answer.

Then he bit his lip and looked away.

He turned, like he hadn’t expected a reply.

But I answered anyway.

Because he needed to hear it.

“You’re Youta. The one who saved my life. That’s something I’ll never forget—no matter what. …I told you that before, didn’t I?”