With Satan? appearing behind each of them, Yue and Kaori laughed with daunting pose. Were you those kinds of characters?, Hajime wanted to retort with that, but he decided to wait for them to stop while soothing Myuu, who was clinging to him, because those words would become a boomerang back at him. He is now the so called good-for-nothing.
But, there was someone who objected towards Kaori’s will… and of course it was the “Hero”, Amanokawa Kouki.
“Wa-Wait! Please wait a sec! I don’t understand this. Kaori likes Nagumo? She wants to follow him? Eh? What does this mean? How, how did it suddenly come to this? Nagumo! You, just what have you done to Kaori.”
“… the heck is with this one.”
Apparently, Kouki could not admit the reality of Kaori falling for Hajime. It was not something that came out of the blue as Kouki was the only one who didn’t notice it, but in Kouki’s eyes, he only saw it as Kaori suddenly doing something strange and the cause being Hajime. Really, Kouki’s mind that only saw things in the way that would be convenient for him made Hajime retort instinctively.
Being completely convinced that Hajime did something to Kaori, Kouki indignantly moved with partly drawn Holy Sword in hand which made Shizuku admonish him, with a gesture was as though she was enduring a headache.
“Kouki. Can’t you see Nagumo-kun didn’t do anything? Please think about it calmly. Though it looks like you didn’t notice it, Kaori has thought of him in that way since long ago. I mean, since the time we were still in Japan. Just try to think about what Kaori always talked about.”
“Shizuku… what are you saying… that’s, that’s because Kaori is kind, so she feels sorry for Hajime who was always alone, right? There’s neither connection nor motive, so there’s no way Kaori would like an otaku like Hajime.”
Hearing Kouki and Shizuku’s conversation, Hajime unexpectedly became agitated as that was said straight to his face, his cheek twitching.
Noticing the commotion from Kouki and the others, Kaori spoke towards Kouki and the classmates behind him to make herself clear.
“Kouki-kun, everyone, I am sorry. I know it is selfish of me… but I, I want to go with Hajime-kun by any means. That’s why, I will leave your party. Truly, I am sorry.”
Kaori said so as she bowed deeply, making Suzu, Eri, Ayako, and Mao, the female circle, yell Kyaa— Kyaa—. Nagayama, Endou, and Nomura, the three who had guessed Kaori’s feelings were waving their hands to tell her not to worry about it with wry smiles.
However, Kouki, of course, could not accept Kaori’s words.
“It’s a lie, right? After all, that’s weird. Kaori has always been by my side… so shouldn’t it be the same from now on too? Kaori is my childhood friend… that’s why… it’s natural for her to be by my side. Isn’t that so, Kaori?”
“Umm… Kouki-kun. It is true that we are childhood friends… but, it doesn’t mean we will be always together, you know? I think this is the natural way…”
“That’s right, Kouki. It’s not like Kaori is yours, and it’s Kaori herself that will choose what she does. So, drop it already.”
Being told so by his two childhood friends, Kouki was dumbfounded. His gaze immediately moved towards Hajime. Hajime was looking in the distance, expressing that this had nothing to do with him. Beside Hajime were a beautiful woman and beautiful girls in attendance. Seeing that spectacle, Kouki’s eyes began to gradually looking up. Inside him, he was thinking about his Kaori, and dark feeling he never felt before sprang up. Thus following his impulse, he fully interpreted things at his own convenience.
“Kaori. You must not go with him. I am saying this for your sake. Just look at that Nagumo. He is attended by several girls, even a small child like that… moreover, he even made a girl from the Rabbitman tribe wear a slave collar. Even that black-haired woman called Hajime “Master” before. Surely, she was compelled to call him that. I am sure Nagumo is collecting women or something along those lines. He is the worst. He easily killed a person and he didn’t want to cooperate with us, his comrades, even though he has those powerful weapons. Kaori, you’ll only be unhappy if you go along with him. That’s why, it is better if you stay here. No, just stay here. Even if you are going to hate me, I am going to stop you for your sake. I will absolutely not let you go with him!”
Kouki’s overly erratic objection made Kaori and the others dumbfounded. However, the heated up Kouki couldn’t be stopped. His gaze which was looking at Kaori to persuade her turned towards Yue and the girls by Hajime’s side as if he thought of something.
“You girls, too. There’s no more need for you to be by that man’s side. Come with me! I welcome people with abilities like you. Let’s save people together. Shia, was it? There’s no need to worry, I will immediately release you from slavery if you come with me. Tio too, it’s okay for you to not call him Master.”
Saying so with a refreshing smile, Kouki outstretched his hand towards Yue and the girls. Shizuku was facepalming and looking at the sky while Kaori was covering her opened mouth.
Yue and the girls who received the invitation along with Kouki’s smile were…
“”” …”””
They were speechless. They averted their gazes from Kouki and rubbed both of their own arms. If one looked carefully, Yue and the girls were having goosebumps. In a way, they received considerable damage. Even Tio said, “Somehow, this feels wrong…,” as she frowned at the cold feeling she felt.
Seeing their appearances, Kouki who outstretched his hand had his smile cramped. Far from looking at him, the girls were hurriedly hiding behind Hajime while looking disgustedly at him which shocked Kouki.
Then, that shock changed into anger which displayed in his action. He rashly drew the Holy Sword, aiming at Hajime. Kouki could no longer be stopped by words, he thrust the Holy Sword into the ground and pointed his finger at Hajime as he declared,
“Nagumo Hajime! Duel me! Throw away your weapon and fight me barehanded! If I win, don’t ever come close to Kaori again! Also, you must release those girls!”
“… Ouch, ouch, ouch. This is bad. It’s a more painful hero than I expected. It looks like he couldn’t see that he is being a pain though.”
“What are you mumbling about! Are you scared?!”
Stabbing the Holy Sword into the ground and declaring a bare-handed duel after drawing the sword was surely because he felt that he’d lose to Hajime if they used weapons. Though it was actually unknown whether he did it intentionally or not… Yue, Shia, Myuu, Tio, Kaori and the others were indeed taken aback by Kouki’s speech and behavior.