Himari paused for a moment.
It was clear that the other person had said a name, but the sound itself didn’t quite reach her ears.
“Excuse me, could you say that one more time?”
“Huh?”
Feeling a glimmer of hope, Himari decided to ask again. The woman blinked for a moment, then willingly repeated her name.
‘…Still can’t hear it.’
However, the name still didn’t connect with Himari. It was muffled, as if it had been edited like a mosaic image—only the name was lost in the noise.
As this exchange unfolded, the train doors closed.
When the train began to move, Himari grabbed the metal pole next to her to avoid being swept away.
“Himari-san, aren’t you uncomfortable standing like that? There are plenty of seats; you should sit.”
While holding on, Himari was contemplating giving up on hearing Mika’s real name. Just then, the woman casually tossed a question at her.
Feeling the woman’s gaze lingering somewhere, Himari noticed it was on her own legs. The woman’s eyes were clearly fixed there, and there was an inexplicable concern in her gaze.
“Um, right. Then, if you don’t mind, I’ll take a seat. After all, a high school girl with beauty like mine sitting next to you shouldn’t be so inappropriate.”
Himari decided not to decline the woman’s offer and took the seat right beside her. The words that sprang from Himari’s mouth made the woman’s gaze shift into something oddly more complex.
It was a look not of someone observing a stranger, but rather of an inexplicable familiarity.
After a brief silence, the woman watched Himari quietly as Himari internally cursed her tongue for not moving.
Finally managing to speak, she said, “Um, well…”
“You’re a student, huh…? Guess we might run into each other again.”
“Huh?”
The woman had made her move first, even stumbling over her words.
“Ah, can I speak a bit more casually? I guess I’m still used to that side of me, after all…”
“Yeah… well, you’ve already been casual but… wait, you’re a teacher?!”
The woman, who should clearly be Mika, sent Himari into a shock with her mention of being a teacher.
Considering that they were on the Kivotos train and that this teacher had been personally invited to Kivotos by the Student Council President, it felt like a wild ride of thoughts.
While it was merely a guess for now, it was evident that Mika had originally been summoned from the outside to operate as a teacher in this parallel world of Kivotos.
This meant that there was a necessity to recover Mika’s memories. It was directly connected to her purpose.
The Misono Mika Terror, hailing from the parallel world of Kivotos… To turn her into an ally, what was needed was to reclaim Mika’s memories.
And the possibility that Mika was indeed the teacher who had been summoned to Kivotos from a parallel world…
No, it was a certainty.
Himari didn’t take long to reach this conclusion.
“…Was it really that surprising? Anyway, I’m not entirely sure about the particulars yet, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other often from now on. So, nice to meet you, Himari.”
“Ah…”
From Himari’s perspective, Mika Terror appeared like a colorful intruder who had swept into her Kivotos all drenched in strange hues—completely different from her own feelings of being infatuated.
But as she recalled how Mika Terror got to this place, her thoughts began to shift slightly.
The conclusion of Mika Terror’s Kivotos must, in fact, be the result of this Kivotos failing to stave off the color’s descent.
If that were the case, what happened to Mika, who had been the teacher in that process or at its end?
Visualizing that part in her mind wasn’t particularly hard. The woman before her, the teacher, must have met a rather unfortunate end, much like Mika Terror.
Since Himari had no way of knowing that Mika’s worst fate wasn’t actually the ‘worst’ during her time as a teacher, she felt her mind going blank.
“Himari?”
“…Oh. Sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment. I’ll be counting on you too, Sensei.”
Thanks to the teacher’s voice, Himari snapped back to reality, but her gaze towards the teacher was unmistakably—
[This station is □□□, the □□□ station. The left doors will open.]
“Ah, I guess we’ve arrived, huh. What about you, Himari?”
“Yeah? Ah…”
It had been just a short while since she boarded this train. In terms of time… it had probably been roughly a quarter of the usual duration it takes for the train to reach the next station.
Himari didn’t question that—this was Mika’s deep consciousness after all, so it would be stranger to be bound by common sense.
Already one of the pieces of information she had known had lost all meaning.
Basically, visitors and residents in a memory can’t interact as they are technically not the consciousness owner. That was a fact she had discovered during her test with Rion.
But due to the special nature of Mika and the teacher, perhaps because of their reflections of the past selves or the peculiar trait of being retained in memory, it was a situation where the teacher and Himari could converse directly.
At this point, Himari thought she could accept it even if the train were flying in the sky.
“I’m getting off here too, Sensei.”
“…”
“…Sensei?”
The teacher didn’t respond immediately; instead, she regarded Himari with a gaze filled with interest.
After several moments, the teacher beamed a refreshing smile, took Himari’s hand, and stood up. It appeared the train had already stopped without Himari realizing it.
Dazed, Himari rose as well and watched the train doors open. Beyond that was a brilliantly shining space.
“I liked it. I’ll remember you, Himari.”
“Y-Yes…”
Upon hearing the teacher’s words, Himari felt her face turn crimson.
She was aware that this person was the Mika she knew.
Recognizing that this way of speaking was closer to Mika’s true essence than her usual tone, Himari struggled to calm her thumping heart.
If her physical state had been any worse, she might have completely lost her senses.
Leading Himari through the open door into the glowing space, the teacher stepped in. Naturally pulled along, Himari soon became aware of the changing scenery around her.
‘This place…’
It would hardly be called a familiar location for Himari. Perhaps for Rion, it would be different, but the sickly Himari hardly ever visited Trinity.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t know where it was.
A terrace set up for the three Student Council Presidents of the T-party, which hosts external guests only when genuinely important ones arrive.
Seated at one end of the unnecessarily long tea table, aside from Himari, were three figures.
Kirihouji Nagisa. Misono Mika. And, of course, the teacher who had just engaged in conversation with Himari.
“Hmm… weren’t there supposed to be three Student Council Presidents for the T-party?”
“…That’s…”
“Seiya-chan is currently not at Trinity. That kid is undergoing treatment.”
“Yes. Originally, the current T-party host should have been Seiya, but… due to her absence, I have taken on the host role.”
“The host of the T-party rotates, you know. Well, it’s not a big deal or anything.”
As the three engaged in what seemed like a rather serious conversation, Himari chose to silently keep her place and listen in.
Well, she intended to eavesdrop.
“Then once preparations are complete, we’ll have the teacher dispatched to Trinity. Thank you again for your cooperation, Sensei. This relieves a bit of my worry.”
“See you later, Sensei! Hope to see you again soon☆”
The conversation wrapped up quickly, leaving Himari’s eavesdropping attempt a failure.
Fundamentally, Nagisa and Mika at this point didn’t recognize Himari. Naturally, they could’t converse if they didn’t recognize her.
Ironically, this allowed Himari to observe Mika here without worry.
…There was no difference in appearance; after all, it was the same body, so having differences would have been more peculiar.
However, there was certainly a difference in atmosphere.
‘Mika-chan definitely gives off a calmer vibe. She must have a more mature aura as well.’
Perhaps it would be more fitting to describe this Mika as a little more free-spirited than the one she knew. In other words, this Mika radiated an impression more suitable for her age.
And another noteworthy point was,
‘That’s completely like the gaze Rion had looking at Mika just recently…’
This Mika didn’t appear to be one to fall in love easily.
With an unmistakably fond gaze, she rested her chin on her hand, staring intently at the teacher as she stood up.
When their eyes met, the Mika averted her gaze quickly, indicating something deeper than just a simple fondness.
‘…Though I guess it’s not my place to say anything about that.’
As she continued observing this Mika for a bit, Himari hurried to follow the teacher as she began to move.
The teacher’s gaze briefly met Himari’s, but she said nothing, quietly opening the door and stepping through.
As Himari followed, the background changed once more.
This time, the setting was a quiet solitary confinement chamber. Had someone been imprisoned here?
In that space, the teacher was quietly examining her tablet, Sittim’s box.
[Between Trinity and Gehenna, I am currently at the drawbridge where the first engagement of the long-fought war between both schools broke out. The bridge on the Gehenna side has long since been destroyed by bombing!]
Himari blinked as she heard the news emanating from Sittim’s box. A war between Gehenna and Trinity?
For an exaggeration from the Kronos press, the scene revealed on the screen was truly devastating. Even when compared to the chaos and destruction commonplace in Kivotos, the image of a bridge entirely severed and most of it submerged in the river was shocking.
[The T-party host, Misono Mika, expressed deep regrets regarding the strong response from the head of the Manma Battle Organization, Hanuma Makoto, in response to Mika’s declaration of war. Whether this is a regret regarding Trinity’s declaration of war or comments directed toward the head of the Manma Battle, with whom she has not maintained a good relationship, has yet to be clarified…]
Watching the teacher rub her tired eyes, Himari thought.
Mika as a teacher, and the original Mika.
The Kivotos of both would indeed be described as a complete mess.
‘Isn’t this just a complete disaster?’
