Chapter 6: Transferred to Co-ed Student Dormitories
“Thank you, big brother, for being willing to accompany me to the teacher’s office~”
“…..Yukino, has your character attribute changed?”
In the morning campus.
Kanade met up with Yukino.
He learned that Yukino needed to go to the teacher’s office to retrieve a student handbook that the school had forgotten to distribute earlier.
Since the special department Kanade was in and the elite department Yukino was in were in the same building, Kanade was taken as a guide to accompany Yukino.
On the way.
Kanade couldn’t help but sneak a glance at his long-lost sister from the corner of his eye.
From her appearance, she indeed had undergone quite a change.
The mischievous little sister he remembered had now grown into a graceful young lady.
But what made Kanade somewhat uncomfortable was Yukino’s current way of addressing him—
“What are you talking about? Big brother?” Yukino responded with a gentle and elegant smile.
“……Is this your role now?”
Kanade found it hard to connect the elegant and intellectual girl in front of him with the villainous little sister who once texted, “If onii-chan doesn’t come to pick me up tomorrow, I’ll show the ero manga I found under Onii-chan’s bed to Nagi-nee.”
“That’s quite rude~ Big brother, have you heard of ‘Separate for three days and look at them with new eyes’?”
“Y-yes….. I’m sorry for saying something strange…..”
“Mm-hm, this is the real me — eager to pretend to be a high-class lady while flirting with others with a hypocritical side!”
“Is this still pretending!? Give me back my earlier reflection!”
“Big brother, have you heard of the saying ‘A frog’s child is still a frog’?”
“Eh? Why suddenly mention this—”
“Even though we are not blood siblings, according to this saying, onii-chan is really just pretending to be honest, right? In reality, onii-chan has already evolved into a scoundrel who toys with girls’ innocence!”
“Wait! By that logic, does that mean Yukino you now think of yourself as a femme fatale?” Kanade surprisingly wanted to retort.
“That’s right~ The current me — is full of desire!”
“Wow, this person’s inner thoughts have completely rotted away……”
“Girls at this age are all full of desire.”
“Apologize to all the girls in the world!”
Kanade sighed, thinking that it was still the Yukino he knew.
Unexpectedly, over the two and a half years he had been away, she had maintained her usual demeanor….. right?
Although Yukino used to like showing a refined and graceful side in front of others, the desire-filled and flirty behavior—he just hoped that Nagi wouldn’t be led astray by her……
With that thought, Kanade couldn’t help but feel a little disheartened.
Originally, today Yukino should have started school with Nagi.
But Yukino unexpectedly found out that an important student handbook was missing from the information sent by Ahnkan Academy, needing to come to campus in advance, resulting in her timing being off with Nagi.
This meant Kanade couldn’t meet Nagi right away as he had hoped.
“Big brother~”
“Do you really want to speak to me in that tone?” Yukino suddenly said in a spoiled voice, making Kanade uncontrollably want to pull away from her.
“Looks like compared to Yukino….. Big brother still wants to see Nagi-nee, right?” Yukino asked in a sad tone with tears in her eyes.
“Mm-hm.”
“Wow! This perverted childhood friend fanatic actually answered right away.”
“What is a childhood friend fanatic?! Don’t make up words!”
“How can onii-chan, who has all those ero manga of long-haired childhood friends hidden under the bed, not cultivate a more healthy ‘little sister complex’ instead?”
“So a little sister complex is considered a healthier obsession?!”
“Mm-hm, at least it’s healthier for the body.” Yukino said with a serious expression.
Leaving Kanade full of question marks.
“Onii-chan, childhood friends….. can be a thorny road, one misstep can lead to disaster~”
Yukino finally patted Kanade’s shoulder with a heavy expression.
Seeing Yukino’s serious face, Kanade suddenly realized she might not be joking.
“So? Who was that girl beside onii-chan just now? Is she a childhood friend you just met?”
“Can childhood friends be someone you just met?!”
“But she seemed to have a love-struck look when looking at you?”
“Let’s not even talk about why she feels attracted to me being recognized as a childhood friend; Classmate Fuko does not have any feelings for me, right?”
“Really?”
“Rather, why does Yukino think she likes me? We’re just ordinary classmates.”
“……Sigh~ I didn’t expect that after all this time, onii-chan is still so dense…..” Yukino murmured softly.
……
……
“Here, this is your student handbook.”
In the teacher’s office.
Yukino respectfully received her student handbook from the teacher in front of her.
Looking at her graceful demeanor, Kanade thought that if she didn’t speak, she could easily resemble a lady like Amane.
“Speaking of which, you both have the last name Tsukimi….. Could it be that you are……”
“Yes, we are just simple siblings.”
“Wow! Onii-chan actually learned to answer promptly!?”
“Haha~ You two certainly have a good sibling relationship~” The teacher laughed heartily, but just as Yukino and Kanade were about to leave.
He asked Kanade to stay behind.
Kanade met the knowing gaze behind the teacher’s glasses.
After Yukino left the teacher’s office to head to the gym for the freshman ceremony.
Kanade followed his teacher into a conference room within the office.
This conference room is usually used for private discussions between teachers and students, furnished with a tea table and several sofas in a quarter of a classroom’s space.
If there’s anything special about this room.
It’s “isolated”.
A special device set up in the corner can eliminate all external eavesdropping, whether physically or through supernatural forces—
“Kanade, haven’t you felt any signs of awakening recently?”
In the conference room.
The teacher took out Kanade’s most recent report submitted from a divider in his folder.
It’s a report regarding the student’s abilities that students from the “Special Department” need to submit monthly.
In Ahnkan Academy, although on the surface “Special Department” students appear no different from others, the teachers who educate them are all individuals connected to the supernatural world.
While they may not necessarily possess abilities, they all know about the existence of supernatural powers and fantastical creatures.
“Yes, I still don’t have much of a feeling.” Kanade replied honestly when asked.
Although he had been participating in various so-called “ability development” courses and special training arranged by the school since joining Ahnkan Academy.
Up until now.
He still had not awakened his abilities.
This was something Kanade had always been concerned about.
He craved power while fearing it.
If he possessed power, he could avoid the tragic incidents of the past, protect the people he cared about when supernatural disasters occurred.
However, on the opposite end, students who awakened their abilities basically had to say goodbye to the choice of “returning to normal life.”
Students in the “Special Department” of Ahnkan Academy could return to a normal life after graduating from high school.
But the prerequisite was — not having awakened abilities.
Although the Special Department and the academy would respect individual wishes and not force those who dislike fighting into combat, they only prepared logistical roles for them.
For Kanade.
Once he awakened his abilities, it would be equivalent to completely saying goodbye to his life with Nagi.
This was a result Kanade could never accept.
Perhaps it was this thought that had led to his inability to awaken his abilities until now?
“Is that so~ That’s quite good~” The teacher seemed not disappointed at all but rather happy.
As if from the bottom of their heart, they were pleased for Kanade.
“It seems the erosion of supernatural powers on you is not high; that’s good news. In two years, you’ll be able to graduate normally and return to a normal life~”
People at Ahnkan Academy seemed to believe that the “awakening of powers” was linked to “the degree of erosion by supernatural forces.”
The more severely one is eroded, the more likely they are to awaken abilities.
“At just the right time, the chairman has issued new directives; students like Tsukimi Kanade, with lower erosion levels, may recently be arranged to adjust dormitories.”
“A-adjust dormitories?”
“That’s right, after all, for those who wish to return to normal life, staying in such an atmosphere as the Special Department is not good, is it?” The teacher smiled, “So generally, students identified as lightly eroded will be moved to share a dormitory with students from other departments to regain a sense of ordinary daily life.”
Since Kanade had expressed in his semi-annual reports that he wished to return to normal life.
The school would gradually adjust the lives of students like him, who could not awaken their abilities and wished to return to being normal.
“Good students like Tsukimi Kanade….. coincidentally have a nice dormitory available~” The teacher swiped on a terminal that resembled a “tablet” in their hand, browsing the list of student dormitories on a large screen.
Finally, a smile surfaced as if something good had been discovered.
“A nice dormitory?” Kanade became a little curious about a certain word in the teacher’s statement.
“Ah yes, it’s a co-ed student dormitory that many boys dream of~”
……
……
“I never expected…… to end up comforting a cheating cat, oh no, just a competitor who is hindering my plans…” After bidding farewell to the second-year girl “Nishikawa Fuko” she had just met, Nagi resumed her investigation.
Originally, Amane, who should have been by her side, seemed to have been urgently summoned by the school.
Leaving Nagi alone again.
For someone like Amane, who had already awakened her powers and had a strong ability called “End of Shadows,” Ahnkan Academy would certainly provide her with various training opportunities.
Nagi had anticipated this.
Rather, acting alone gave Nagi more space.
While trying to avoid encountering Kanade, she headed to the teacher’s office.
As a rare “transfer student” in the “Elite Department” of Ahnkan Academy.
Nagi had tried various methods and reasons to be able to enter with Yukino.
Although with Nagi’s current abilities, getting into Ahnkan Academy during high school would not be difficult at all.
But she couldn’t ease her mind about leaving Yukino alone in Kawanokawashi.
In the original work of “Star Drawing 2,” Yukino Tsukimi, as the female protagonist belonging to the male protagonist Kanade Tsukimi.
Besides her own route, she is the trigger for Kanade’s awakening of abilities.
Even in Kawanokawashi, where the pseudo-deity by Ruri and the artificial deity plans had been eliminated.
Leaving Yukino alone still made Nagi uneasy.
Thus, to protect Yukino, who was still in middle school during their first year, Nagi had to delay her entrance to Ahnkan Academy by a year.
This resulted in Nagi now being very noticeable to ordinary students.
“What a beautiful island……” The breeze blowing towards her carried a hint of the ocean’s scent, lifting Nagi’s hair.
The familiar sea breeze oddly reminded Nagi of her past life.
At the same time, a voice mixed with the gentle wind drifted into Nagi’s ears.
“Master, Kanade’s assessment results have come out. As planned, he will be assigned to the Western-style dormitory.”
Because this is Ahnkan Academy.
As a fantastical creature, Garuda cannot appear like in Kawanokawashi; instead, it conveys messages to Nagi in this manner.
“And that information seems to be true——”
“After the Star Ceremony incident, the Special Department SEMA developed an experimental device that can absorb ‘End of’ fragments; perhaps we can utilize that device——”
Just then.
Out of the corner of her eye, Nagi seemed to catch a glimpse of a familiar silhouette.
To avoid raising suspicion, she subtly turned her head.
Where there should have been a shadow, there was nothing.
Only the cherry blossoms were swaying gently in the breeze.
Pink petals floated languidly in the air.
The color reminded Nagi not only of the familiar person—
“Is this an illusion? How could she possibly be here……”
