CK 12

Chapter 12…. 

First-Year Students

Section 1: Reunion

My True Feelings

It’s pitch dark. I can’t see anything.

I don’t feel anything either.

What… was I doing?

Today was a field trip. It was fun.

On the way back… a mud doll appeared.
I tried to run to the bus with everyone, but I…

That’s right. I didn’t get on.

I made an excuse to our homeroom teacher, Tamsen, and didn’t get on.

What did I say…? I can’t remember.

From there… I hid in the bushes, worried about Maa-kun…

Then a monster appeared…

I thought Maa-kun had won, but then he got into trouble…

I was thinking I had to help… that’s right.

I’m the one who’s caught and in danger.

Am I… going to die like this?

In the end, I never really got to talk properly with Maa-kun…

…Maybe Maa-kun didn’t tell me anything because he thought this would happen.

If that’s the case, I’m the worst.

I’m about to die without listening to Maa-kun’s kindness.

Even if I apologize, he probably won’t forgive me.

“Now! Show me your true feelings!”

My true feelings… what are they?

I really did want to talk properly with Maa-kun.

…Then, this isn’t the time to give up, right!?

The moment I thought that, I noticed my left hand was extremely hot.
And somehow, I had been holding onto something.

I don’t know when it became hot or when I started holding it.

But the moment I noticed it, the haze in my head began to clear.

That’s right. I can’t just die like this.
Because I decided to “wait until Maa-kun talks to me!”

“My true feelings are… I want to talk properly with Maa-kun. I want to be friends again.
I want to help Maa-kun, who fights with his life on the line. Next to Maa-kun! I want to fight too!”

I shouted exactly what I was thinking.
The black haze surrounding me blew away.

The monster that had been grabbing my neck was also blown away.

And I stood on my own two feet.

For some reason, I now knew what I had to do.
I had to act before the monster got back up.

I jogged a little closer to Maa-kun.

“I’ll borrow this.”

Saying that, I removed a deep blue, box-like belt wrapped around his stomach.
I put it on my own stomach, faced the monster, and shouted my feelings.

“Thank you for making me realize what I truly want.
But I can’t forgive you for putting Maa-kun and me through this!
From here on, I’ll be the one to face you!”

Not just my left hand, but my whole body felt hot.
Yet I felt filled with energy.

I placed what I had been holding in my left hand into the belt-like object.

Then I heard Maa-kun shout, “Press the upper button! Say ‘Hoshikabuto Activation’!”
I pressed the button as told.

“Hoshikabuto, activate!”

Then, a sharp pain spread through my whole body.

It hurt more than anything I had ever felt.
I could barely stand, but I somehow managed to stay on my feet.

Then something shot out from the center of the belt-like object.

What was that…? It felt familiar.

As I was thinking, my body was wrapped in light.
But I had seen Maa-kun wear armor before, so I wasn’t scared.

My whole body was now covered in armor, and the light cleared.

My body still hurt.
But I had to defeat that thing here.

I gritted my teeth through the pain and prepared to fight.
The monster spoke.

“Surprising. I intended to harass Capricorn, yet the enemy grows. What a failure. I’ll stop here for today.”

With that, the monster disappeared into the mountains above.

I tried to follow, but I finally couldn’t withstand the pain.
All the strength drained from my body, and I collapsed to the ground.

The armor vanished almost instantly, and I returned to my normal self.

“Yui, are you okay?”
“My… whole body… hurts…”

I turned to the familiar voice. Maa-kun was beside me.
But he also seemed at his limit, sitting down beside me as if collapsing.

I somehow moved my body and sat properly like Maa-kun.
Worried about him, who had fought even more than I did, I asked,
“Maa-kun, are you okay?”

“…I’ll manage. I rested a bit, so I’ve recovered enough to move.”
“I… see…”

Awkward. I didn’t know what to say.
In the end, I still didn’t know.

But I remembered what I had been thinking earlier.

“Maa-kun.”
“What is it?”
“Um… I’m… sorry.
You told me not to get involved so nothing like today would happen. But I didn’t understand at all… I’m really sorry.”

But Maa-kun didn’t respond.

…Is he angry?
I was honestly a little scared…

I didn’t know what else to say and fell silent.

After a short while, Maa-kun finally spoke.

“I’m the one who should apologize. I ran away the easy way without considering your feelings. I realize now that I should have spoken to you first, given your personality… I’m sorry.”

I froze at his unexpected words.

I never expected Maa-kun to apologize.
I had complained, saying, “Let’s be friends!” but hadn’t thought about him not telling me anything.

As I was stunned and unsure how to respond, Maa-kun continued.

“So… we’re even. And because you were there, I was saved.”

It was scary and painful.
But hearing him say that made me feel like all my effort was worth it.

“So… from now on…?”
“Ah… um… if it’s okay with you, I want us to continue being friends.”
“…Of course! And it’s not too late!
We’re friends now, we were friends before, and we’ll be friends forever!”

I might have been waiting for that reply.
I got so happy that I tapped Maa-kun’s back repeatedly.

“Hey, that hurts. Stop.”
“Oh, sorry! I just got too happy…”

We looked at each other. For some reason, I started laughing.
Seeing me like that, Maa-kun murmured:

“You really are dazzling.”
“Hey! What does that mean!?”

I noticed Maa-kun was smiling a little too.

After the battle, in the empty parking lot, only the laughter of the two high school students echoed