Chapter 4: The real first arc (1)

Starting from the next day, I join Ichika with her morning practice. I have to wake up at five in the morning, but I have no issues with it. This is due to the fact that I had to wake up at three in the morning when I was still in real life just to deliver newspapers.

We usually start by jogging around the school, but this part is always cut short because of my lousy stamina. After a quick water break, we move on to sparring practice.

Having injuries is bad, so I always use a wooden pole, while Ichika uses a wooden sword. We would practice on exchanging blows, parrying, countering, everything that we use in real combat. Ichika says that it's too early for us to spar for real, and I believe her. With my skill right now, Ichika can just finish me off in less than five minutes by just using ten percent of her true strength.

By seven, both of us will go back to our respective room to prepare our breakfast and lunch. After that, we will get change into our uniform and go the the Academy.

I still have my lunch under the huge tree, but nowadays Mashiro always come and demands food from me, so I have started to prepare lunch for two persons. Every once in a while, Sakuya and Ichika will come and join us too.

It is now in Mashiro’s schedule to come over to my dorm to have dinner every night. Eating alone is kind of lonely, so I never chased her away, although this is a clear violation of the school rule. Ichika probably knows about this, but so far she hadn’t done a thing.

Speaking of Ichika, there was once or twice when we meet up and exchanged recipes, and promised to exchange more in the near future.

‘The both of you have gotten quite close, haven’t you?’ Sakuya asks me out of the blue when we happened to meet at a corridor one morning. ‘With the training together and sparring and exchanging recipes, it’s almost like you’re going out.’

‘We’re not, but it’s true that we are quite close, I guess.’

‘Ah, to be youthful~. Your big sister is getting lonely here~.’

‘President, you sound like an old lady. Oh wait, you’re one year older than us.’

‘It’s time for “how to be popular 101”, Akira-kun! You never talk about a girl’s age, or say that she’s old!’

‘Yes president, I will keep that in mind. On a different note, have you been practicing what I taught you?’

She froze up at that, and started to whistle while looking at the ceiling.

‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but you were the one who wanted me to teach you. What’s the point of asking me to give pointers if you’re not practising?’

‘Well, I can’t help it!’ she wailed loudly. ‘I got disheartened after failing again and again!’

In case you are wondering, we were talking about cooking. Sakuya’s skill, if you can call it that, is so bad that one of these days they will create a new law just to ban her from going inside kitchens. I knew about it first hand after trying to teach her once. It’s no surprise that even the ever-patient Ichika gave up.

So this is how my school life is now. Just enjoying my youth with three pretty girls.

Oh, and I became the second most hated guy at the Academy, the most hated being Yuuji. He’s our real main character, in case you’ve forgotten.

I guess this happens when you are intimate with three S Ranks, and two of them being the student council duo whom pretty much everyone admires. To top things off, I also have private training sessions with the vice president that almost never trains with others, and I got an A Rank Regalia from the president when I’m just a C Rank. If this won’t make you become hated by the masses, pretty much nothing will.

Although, I will say this. I couldn’t care less about the hate. In anime, in real life, there are always halfwits who love to say things like ‘they don’t look good together!’ or ‘she could do so much better!’. WELL WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE! I’m happy, the girls are happy, no one else matters.

During my free time, I train by myself, either at my room, empty spaces found inside the Academy or its training facilities. I also spent some time to visit the library so that I could read up about spells, information regarding Destroyers, or anything that will increase my knowledge.

I have to be hardworking, or there’s no way I can stand at the spotlight of the anime’s real first arc, which is two days away.

On the day itself, I go to school and come back as usual. However, I did not train with Ichika before I went to school, as her, Sakuya and the rest of the student council had been busy the last few days.

When it’s night time, Mashiro comes to my room as usual so that she could eat the food I cook. However, I have a different plan tonight.

‘Fuyukaze, we’re going outside for dinner tonight.’ I tell her.

Mashiro’s eyes widen after hearing that.

There are two reasons for her to be surprised at my suggestion. One, I had been constantly telling her that it’s better to cook your own meal, as you never know what they add inside the food they make. Two, the Academy had been enforcing a curfew for the past few days. Breaking it will lead to punishment.

‘So, you want to break the curfew? One of the school rules?’ Mashiro asks me.

‘Hey, don’t act like you haven’t been breaking them all this time!’

‘Mashiro doesn’t really mind but, what made you changed your mind?’

‘The thing is, I found an online review about this eatery. The reviews say they serve some delicious food, so I’m kind of curious.’

Mashiro has a skeptical look on her face, but decides to come along anyway.

‘So, where are we going?’

I tell her the address of the eatery. She nods and starts to mutter something under her breath. Just as I want to ask her what’s she doing, a human-shaped Destroyer appears in my room.

I recognize this one. It’s an A Rank Destroyer that can use teleport magic.

‘We will have him teleport us there. Just like how it always teleports Mashiro to the outside of your room.’

‘You summon an A Rank Destroyer just to get here?’

Mashiro shrugs. ‘It’s much easier than slipping past the security.’

Mashiro tells the Destroyer the eatery’s address, and he snaps his fingers. In the blink of an eye, we are right outside Yamamoto Canteen.

There were no passers-by when we arrived, so no one was scared half to death. I open the eatery’s door and goes inside, while Mashiro follows right behind me.

‘Welcome!’ the female shopkeeper tells us in a cheerful voice when she sees us.

I go straight to the counter and sit down at one of the seats, with Mashiro sitting right next to me.

‘Both of you are from the Royal Blade Academy, aren’t you? I recognize the uniforms.’ the shopkeeper says while serving us tea.

‘Uh, yes.’ I pick up the menu and glance through it.

‘I just got some fresh chicken thighs this afternoon, so I recommend the chicken-and-egg rice bowl.’

‘Okay, I’ll have an order of that.’

‘Mashiro too.’

‘Two chicken-and-egg rice bowl, coming up!’

While the shopkeeper is busy preparing the rice bowls, I am busy being anxious. The whole eatery is empty except for the three of us. If the person I was expecting to arrive does not come soon, I will go crazy.

Just as I finish gulping down my tea, I hear the sound of the entrance being opened. I sneak a glance towards it and see a man in his thirties who dresses up like a salaryman coming inside.

I recognize him. YES! HE’S FINALLY HERE!

Alright, alright. I should explain the situation to you guys before you start to think that I have lost my marbles.

This arc involves blood-sucking Destroyers. In other words, we will be fighting vampires. In these past few days, there had been incidents where people had their blood sucked dry, and these vampires had been the cause. People everywhere was on high alerts, and this is the reason the Academy enforced the curfew.

The salaryman that has just come in, I believe his name was Uekawa Kenji, is one of the victims. In the anime, his body was found inside this eatery with his blood all gone. Being the only other person inside the eatery, Tokida Miyako the shopkeeper was suspected of being a vampire and got locked up, and almost got burned to death.

There were supposed to be fifteen other deaths besides Uekawa’s tonight, but his case was the only one that got covered by the media when I watched the anime. The reason is simple. Miyako-san is one of Yuuji’s harem members.

When Miyako-san is suspected of being a vampire, she was arrested by the Church (because who else is insane enough to burn people alive?) and got interrogated for countless hours under harsh conditions.

Yuuji heard about the unlawful arrest from Sakuya and went berserk. He went straight to their “Holy Place” and tried to bust her out, but got easily defeated by Adelberto Albanese, one of the Church’s top Inquisitors.

You know how it goes. The guy tries to save the girl, but got beaten to a pulp by the bad guys. However, the guy doesn’t gives up and tries again and again while spewing nonsense like ‘I will save you no matter what!’ and either miraculously defeats the bad guys or got his behind saved by someone else (it’s the second one for Yuuji’s case). After that, the girl will fall for him, irregardless of how useless he was.

(Clear throat loudly) (Spits loudly)

Anyway, Yuuji could turn into an even bigger brain-dead dimwit for all I care, but I definitely want to save Miyako-san from being traumatized by the inhumane interrogations. Also, it would be a huge plus if I could save Uekawa. Fifteen and Sixteen is just one number apart, but a life is a life.

Uekawa sits down at one of the counter seats too, and waits patiently for Miyako-san to come out of the kitchen. After a while, she finally appears with two bowls at her hands.

‘Oh my, Uekawa-san!’ she looked surprised after seeing Uekawa. ‘You should have called for me!’

‘I didn’t want to rush you.’

‘Geez, there’s no need to be considerate. So, what will you have? The usual?’

‘Yes please.’

‘All right. One order of salt-grilled mackerel set, coming up!’ Miyako-san says after putting the bowls in front of us.

While Miyako-san is busy, Uekawa started a conversation with us.

‘You two are students of the Royal Blade Academy, right? Thank you for your hard work.’

I was confused at what he said at first, but then figured out that he thought we were just finished with patrolling the area, and came in here to grab a bite.

‘Thank you. Speaking of which, you shouldn’t be loitering around this late at night.’

‘Sorry about that. If I had a wife, there’s no need for me to eat out like this every night. But I don’t, so here I am.’

Suddenly, I see the reflection of myself in him. If I got back to the real world, my life would probably end up like his: working long hours just for some petty wages, eating cheap and barely nutrition-balanced meal bought from a convenience store, come back to a cold apartment building without anyone greeting you, going to sleep while having a blank and repetitive future…

I control myself from shuddering. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I intend to enjoy my stay here before I got dragged back to the hellish real world.

I eat my meal in silence after that, and so does Mashiro. According to the statement Miyako-san gave to the church, she was inside the kitchen to take care of Uekawa’s order. When she came out with his food, he was already on the ground, his body drained of blood.

In other words, the vampire had attacked while there were no witnesses around. The eatery had no surveillance camera installed, making its job easier.

Now that Miyako-san is inside the kitchen, I nervously await the vampire’s arrival. However, there are two more people in here, so it may or may not come. Either way, I brought Mashiro along just for good measure, since I’m not sure I could defeat it all by myself.

After we’re done with our food, Miyako-san came out with Uekawa’s food.

‘Oh, finished already? How was my cooking?’ Miyako-san asks us.

‘You were right. The chicken thigh is fresh, so it’s very juicy. Also, since you put in the right amount of sauce, it’s not too salty.’ I comment.

‘The eggs are very fluffy.’ Mashiro adds.

‘Glad you loved it! For a moment, I was worried whether my cooking is to the your taste, since youngsters nowadays is all about creativity and camera-worthy when it comes to food.’

‘I keep telling you that there’s nothing to worry about, Miyako-san.’ Uekawa tells her. ‘Your simple home-style cooking is great!’

‘Creativity is good, but nothing can beat tradition.’ I add.

‘Simple is best.’ Mashiro also says.

‘Thank you, you three. With your words of encouragement, I think I could continue managing this eatery.’ Miyako-san says happily.

This Yamamoto’s Canteen was originally run by Miyako-san’s late husband, hence the name Yamamoto. After he passed away from a disease, Miyako-san has decided to operate the eatery to ;continue his legacy’. Unfortunately for her, this eatery is not that popular, and eventually had to close down for good.

It’s such a waste, since Miyako-san is very good at cooking. If only more people knows about this eatery. Huh? The online review? I lied about it, of course. I need an excuse to come here, so I thought of it in advance.

Suddenly, an idea formed in my head, but I can’t ask for the student council’s opinion on it since it would let the cats out of the bag that I was outside while the curfew was enforced. It would have to wait until this arc is over.

After Uekawa finishes with his meal, he requests us to accompany him to the train station, since he is worried about his safety. I told him yes, and add that I would have suggested it if he didn’t bring it up.

And so, we paid for our food and left the eatery to head for the train station. After Uekawa got on a train, we leave the train station.

‘You know, I start to think that you broke the curfew and ask me to go to the eatery for a reason.’ Mashiro says all of a sudden.

I wanted to deny it, but in the end I chose not to.

‘You’re right, I did. But I’m sorry, I can’t tell you the reason.’

‘It’s fine. I know you long enough to trust you, no matter your reason. Besides, this is kind of fun.’

After we walk for a while, we bump into two students from the Academy. Not just any students, Sakuya and Ichika, the student council duo themselves. We froze in our tracks the moment we saw each other.

‘So, still think it’s fun?’ I whisper to Mashiro.

‘Depends on what happens in the next few seconds.’ she whispers back.

Ichika spoke first.

‘You know president, I was training with Akira these past few days, and I must say that I am impressed. Considering his great potential, if we give him an additional month or two, he will be ready to become an A Rank.’

‘Is that so? How wonderful for him.’ Sakuya says while chuckling.

‘However, I suddenly think that I should push him to the limit, so that he could achieve results faster. Therefore, I am thinking of increasing his training menu by tenfold.’ Ichika says while glaring at me.

Before I realized, I was already covering in sweat. Mashiro could not reach my shoulder, so she pats my back instead.

‘Also, I think it would do Fuyukaze some good to make her join our training. A ten kilometres run would suffice at the beginning.’

Mashiro starts to tremble uncontrollably at that. Being an indoor person who avoids sport as much as possible, a ten km run would probably kill her.

‘Well, don’t overdo it. You wouldn’t want to scare them.’ Sakuya says.

‘I do not think they have any choice in the matter.’ Ichika glares at us some more.

‘Either way, you need to tell them that tomorrow morning, since they’re not here right now.’

‘Yes, quite.’ Ichika says while silently shooing us away with her hand.

We took the hint and bolt, and somehow end up in an empty alley. Mashiro summons the teleport Destroyer again and has him teleport us back to our respective rooms.

Tired from tonight’s events, and worried about Ichika’s judgment, I went to sleep at an earlier time.

When I wake up the next day all prepared to train with Ichika again, I received a text from her.

‘Come to the student council room right now. Do not even think of running.’ the message says.

I gulped loudly and change into my uniform nervously. Based on how she let us off on the previous night, she probably didn’t tell the teachers, although I’m still worried of what she might do.

When I reach the student council room, only Sakuya and Ichika are there. They were mostly keeping this meeting a secret from the rest of the student council. Sakuya is sitting behind the table used by every president of the student council, while Ichika is standing beside her.

‘Have a seat, Akira-kun.’ Sakuya tells me.

I did as she said and sit right opposite her. Neither of them say anything, so I assume we’re waiting for Mashiro. Right on cue, she arrives in her uniform, all the while wobbling lightly due to lack of sleep.

After Mashiro sits down, Sakuya starts to talk.

‘I’ll get straight to the point. These last few days, there were civilians being attacked and had their body drained of blood. Just last night, there were fifteen cases. It’s been identified as the works of vampire-type Destroyers.’

I secretly let out a sigh of relief. So Uekawa did survive. I do feel bad for the other fifteen, but it’s not like I know where they were. Also, since Uekawa isn’t dead, Miyako-san would not be suspected of being a vampire.

‘The police, the Order of the Knights, the Church, us from the Academy and pretty much everyone in Destroyer-hunting business has sent their best personnels to deal with them, but there’s always new cases, no matter how much we took down. In order to toughen up the security, we have decided to add you two in the search-and-destroy team.’

‘Well, I don’t know how much I can help, but if you want me, I’m happy to help.’ I tell them.

‘Mashiro is always ready to help.’ Mashiro has no issue as well.

Sakuya nods. ‘It’s decided, then.’

‘Next, we will be talk about your punishment in violating the curfew.’ Ichika says all of a sudden.

Mashiro and I flinched at that.

‘Akira, you have three options for your punishment. One, by having your training menu increased by tenfold like I mentioned last night. Two, by eating some of the cookies made by president.’

‘Your honor, I see no difference between handing me the death penalty and the second option.’ I object at once.

‘My my, Akira-kun. You’re being your usual charming self, I see.’ Sakuya says while smiling with no warmth in her eyes. ‘And Ichika-chan, why is eating my home-made cookies a punishment?’

‘Did I said that it is a punishment?’

‘You sure did. Care to explain?’

‘Wait, what’s the third option?’ I interrupt before things start to become worse.

‘Well, that is…’ Ichika starts to fidget, which is totally out of her character. ‘I… you…me…’

‘I’m sorry but, could you speak up? I can barely hear you.’ she’s pretty much mumbling at the end.

‘I want you to call me by my first name!’ Ichika shouts.

I got taken aback at that.

‘...That’s it?’ I thought it would be worse than eating Sakuya’s cookies.

‘It is only fair. I am calling you with your first name, after all.’

‘Then, Ichika.’

‘Hey, why are you making it look so easy? Do you know much courage it took me to call you by your first name back at England?’

‘It’s not that difficult, you know.’

‘Well it was for me!’

‘Oh oh, while we’re at the subject, call me Sakuya onee-chan!’ Sakuya says while leaning forward, her emerald eyes sparkling.

‘I’ll call you Sakuya-senpai. Any further and it’s a dangerous territory.’

‘Aww…’

I feel a tug at my shirt. I look next to me and found Mashiro pulling my shirt and pointing at herself.

‘All right all right. Mashiro.’

Mashiro lets go of my shirt and nods, satisfied.

‘By the way, how did you get my phone number? I don’t recall exchanging numbers with you.’ I ask Ichika.

‘I looked it up.’ she answers simply.

‘Isn’t that a violation of privacy rights?’

‘Fine, if you want to get technical about it, we will exchange phone numbers right now!’ Ichika whips out her phone faster than lightning.

‘I guess it works that way.’ I take out my phone as well.

Not wanting to be left out, the other two also insist on exchanging numbers with me. Wow, I just exchanged numbers with three girls in a row. Me, someone who only has six contact numbers in his phone back in real life, none of them belonging to a girl.

‘Well then, the both of you should get ready for class. Once it’s over, please join the rest of us at the courtyard.’ Sakuya tells us.

We nod and left the student council. I go back to my room to cook my breakfast and make lunch for both me and Mashiro, and then I head for school once again.

After school time is finally over, I head straight for the courtyard, where a number of students are already there. Literally everyone beside Sakuya and Ichika look at me with disdain, but I just ignore them.

Soon after, Mashiro joins us as well, although she was not looked at with contempt like I was, since she is a S Rank. All of a sudden, Yuuji appears as well.

‘Hey there, prez! I heard that you’re looking for extra muscles. How about me joining you guys?’ he asks Sakuya with his annoyingly dazzling smile of his.

‘Thank you, Takuto-kun, but I’m afraid I can’t let a C Rank student takes part in a mission like this.’

A lot of the students looked at me upon hearing that, but said nothing.

‘Aww don’t be stingy, I’m sure that I can help out.’

‘That is enough Takuto Yuuji.’ Ichika tells him coldly. ‘You are not joining us, and that is the end of the matter.’

‘Jeez, you’re serious as usual, Kurogane. Well, I’ll be at my room if you ever need me.’

And so, our charming main character left the courtyard.

This is strange. In the anime, both Sakuya and Ichika acknowledged Yuuji’s strength when he defeated one of the teachers during his entrance exam, and when he managed to wound Albanese during their fight. This is the part where they turned a blind eye to his rank and let him joins in the patrolling. And then it hits me. I realized the difference between the original anime and right now.

Me. It was me who changed the timeline of the anime.

By messing up the timeline of Season 3 at the beginning, I got acknowledged by the student council duo and Mashiro, who only makes a formal appearance during Season 2. By spending time with them, I had decreased their interaction with Yuuji.

Furthermore, I had indirectly saved Uekawa’s life. This not only prevented the first contact between Yuuji and Miyako-san, the student council duo do not know of Yuuji’s hidden potential. As a result, they don’t think much of him.

I’m trembling with excitement. I’m doing it! If I keep this up, I can dethrone Yuuji from his seat as the main character!

For now, the vampires come first. At Sakuya’s order, we leave the school and start our patrol.