Volume 2, Prologue
Life had become a troublesome thing, so Fujita Mutsuki had been sighing a lot lately.
For example, his roommate was a young woman who drank beer at a pace of ten cans a day. She claimed she was tougher than your average person, but he was still worried.
For example, his other roommate was an ever-irritated girl. She had always been a bit selfish, short-tempered, and sullen, but it had been especially bad recently.
For example, he was no longer sure how close he was to a classmate he had been interested in since spring. Just as he had thought they had grown closer, he had discovered they could not be friends and now did not know how to approach her.
For example, he stood out in his class recently.
Because a cute transfer student was so attached to him.
“Heh heh? Your body is so warm, Mutsuki-kun.”
“Y-yeah.”
“And you smell great. ~~~ You’re sweating.”
“Sorry. …And don’t sniff at me. It’s embarrassing.”
Even in the few minutes between their last class and the final homeroom, the transfer student would cling to Mutsuki.
The transfer student sat behind Mutsuki and would lean on Mutsuki’s back, sit on his lap, or rub against his chest.
The transfer student was named Satowa Lucia and was the latest cause of trouble for Mutsuki.
Rumors of how cute the transfer student was had spread through the school the very first day and a fan club had already formed by the tenth day. Mutsuki did not dislike the excessive intimacy, but…
“Um, Satowa-kun. It’s about time for homeroom, okay?”
“Mh~~ Don’t call me Satowa-kun like we’re strangers. We’re classmates, aren’t we?”
“Then…Lucia-kun. For now, um, don’t cling to me.”
“Okay?”
When asked, he obediently moved away. Yes, “he”.
Satowa Lucia-“kun” was a boy.
His blond hair was kept short, he had big round eyes and soft facial features, he was so small that his S-size uniform looked baggy, and 100% of people would mistake him for a girl if he changed his clothes. Nevertheless, he was definitely a boy.
“Eh heh heh? School is so much fun. I wish I’d done this sooner.”
Even after hopping off of Mutsuki’s lap, he leaned his face in close with a happy smile.
Even though he was not a girl, Mutsuki’s heart skipped a beat.
The problem was all the jealous glares reaching him from the edges of the room. From both girls and boys.
Mutsuki was not exceptionally good looking or gifted in academics or athletics. He was a perfectly normal student with no real points of interest, so he felt uneasy in the center of attention.
He gave one of the heavy sighs that had become a habit lately.
“You two sure do get along.”
His friend, Tomono Sakae, approached.
“Of course. I love Mutsuki-kun sooooo much.”
Lucia responded without a care in the world while still hugging Mutsuki.
Caught off guard by a smile so coquettish it seemed wasted on a boy, Sakae’s heart skipped a beat, so he smiled bitterly.
“But you can’t, Satowa. This guy’s already got a wife.”
He gestured over with his chin.
A cute girl sat diagonally behind Mutsuki in the farthest back seat by the windows. She had a sullen lopsided frown on her face and she actually was a girl.
The lines of her well-shaped chin descended from her slender cheeks, her eyes were angled sharply upwards, and she had a more dignified look than any of the boys in the class, but her femininity was made apparent by her height that did not even reach 140 cm and the red hair that reached her knees when standing.
That girl, who angled her sharp eyes even further as she glared at Mutsuki, was named Jiyuuni Ange. She had transferred in a little before Lucia had.
Also, she lived with Mutsuki and had recently seemed in a constant state of irritation.
“Oh, how scary. Ha ha. Looks like your wife is pissed.”
Sakae rubbed his fist against Mutsuki’s cheek.
Mutsuki said nothing. He had known since kindergarten that this childhood friend had no fear, but he would still prefer the boy did not throw oil on the fire. That was part of the reason she had been so irritated lately.
“Everyone, in your seats.”
Their teacher arrived and the final homeroom began.
Their homeroom teacher, Katsue Subaru, was young, beautiful, and popular with the boys, but she was quite strict. Both Lucia and Sakae hurried to their seats.
“I have some announcements. The baseball team has a practice game, so hurry on down there. The halls of the southern building have been dirty lately, so be more thorough when cleaning them. And tomorrow’s PE is swimming, so don’t forget your swimsuits. That is all.”
After briskly passing on the information, the student with day duty instructed them to stand and bow.
Once the tense homeroom was complete, they were free to do whatever they wanted. Some collapsed onto their desks and others began chatting with friends, but the majority prepared to leave.
“Let’s go, Mutsuki.”
Ange was the fastest of that majority. She immediately stood from her seat with her bag in one hand.
As they lived together, they also walked home together. She started tugging on his elbow even though he was not done gathering his things. …And in the process, she knocked over Lucia in the seat behind him.
“Ah! What are you doing?”
“Shut up. You’re in the way, so move.”
“You could at least ask before shoving me. Ahh, violent girls are the worst. Isn’t that right, Mutsuki-kun?”
Lucia gave an exaggerated shrug. Mutsuki did not want to make Ange mad when her eyebrows were already twitching. However, she had been wrong in this case, so he only gave a vague bitter smile.
The girl told him not to stop trying to please everyone and tugged even more on his elbow. That was when Sakae smiled at her blatant behavior.
“Come on now, Jiyuuni. I know you want your husband to yourself, but you shouldn’t be this jealous all the time.”
“I-I am not jealous! And he’s not my husband!”
Unlike Mutsuki, she was far too short-tempered, so she blushed and shouted back at the joke.
It had been a month since she transferred in, but she still did not get that reacting like that was the worst possible option.
“A girl’s jealousy is such an ugly thing. And poor Mutsuki-kun has to put up with her all the time.”
Lucia knew how to handle these situations and immediately joined in on the teasing.
Ange had only shouted at Sakae, but she gave Lucia a murderous look as if she could never allow him to provoke her. Mutsuki quickly tried to get between the two, but…
“…”
The girl was forced to stop when someone else interrupted with an unnecessarily loud sound of a chair being pushed back.
“…” ssmate who sat in front of Ange and next to Mutsuki.
Without speaking a word, she grabbed her bag and stood from her seat as if to throw cold water on the volatile situation.
Compared to the girly Lucia or the manly-eyed Ange, this girl’s sex was much more obvious. Her facial features were as flawless as a doll’s and her glossy lips were the pink of a sweet springtime dessert. Her slender limbs and the height of her hips gave her a refined and almost artificial-looking beauty.
Her name was Ibekusa Machina. Barely anyone had held a proper conversation with that silent and mysterious classmate.
She was the one person in the class that Ange had to be cautious around and forced her to restrain her short temper.
And to Mutsuki…
“Oh…Um, Ibekusa-san.”
He called out to the girl as she started to leave.
When she faced him, her transparent – too transparent – and unreadable eyes made his heart race, but he gathered the courage he had finally gained recently.
“See you tomorrow.”
“…See you.”
He had managed to say goodbye.
Machina left after a short response and Mutsuki watched her leave with his cheeks relaxed.
That short exchange was all he needed.
He had been interested in this classmate since the spring. Until recently, he had never even spoken to her, but now he could greet her like that. He was happy with just that.
“Nnn…”
“…Honestly.”
Behind him, Lucia grimaced jealously and Ange formed an even more lopsided frown.
“Um…”
The two of them walked out the school gate side by side.
“The pool opens tomorrow, doesn’t it? That’ll be a first for you won’t it, Ange? Do you even have a swimsuit?”
“…”
Even though they walked home together, it was hard to say they got along.
“You do understand, don’t you?”
After entering a back alley so they could not be seen, the silent girl exploded with irritation. Mutsuki had half expected this and she crossed her arms while glaring arrogantly at him.
“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten why I’m here.”
“O-of course not.”
“The higher ranking angels do not wish to infringe on your freedom. Leaving your home is enough stress on its own, so we aren’t telling you to change your name, change your school, and hide in some distant part of the world. I am protecting your current lifestyle by acting as your bodyguard.”
“Yes, and thank you.”
“But how am I supposed to protect someone so stupid he makes friends with the enemy!?”
She gave him an incredibly menacing look as she shouted in anger.
She was less than 140 cm tall and she had an adorably childish face (except for the eyes), but she still had the intensity of an experienced hero.
Jiyuuni Ange was said to be the most powerful angel.
And then there was “the enemy” she referred to.
Mutsuki had hardly forgotten why Ange was here and why she was acting as his bodyguard so he did not have to leave his hometown or school.
That was the biggest trouble that had arrived in Fujita Mutsuki’s life: the Serpent’s Eye.
Some called that dreadful power the ability to rule half the world. One month ago, Mutsuki had learned it resided in his body.
When activated, that demonic eye could make slaves of half the world. That is, the female sex of man, beast, angel, demon, and all living creatures.
Any woman viewed by that corrupting demonic gaze would be filled with sexual arousal.
Thanks to that power, Mutsuki was being targeted by FeTUS, a human group that used mechanical soldiers, and the demons, a collection of supernatural creatures.
If misused, that power could fundamentally destroy the order of the world, but there was another group that protected it.
Those were the angels.
They were servants of order and they would nip any sign of disorder in the bud.
Currently, Mutsuki was being protected by them.
He had left his home to keep his family from being caught in the middle of it all and he was living with two angels. Ange of the Double Flame was his dedicated bodyguard, so she even came to school with him.
FeTUS and the demons were frightening opponents, but the angels were reliable and the first three weeks had passed without issue.
It was ten days ago when things had changed.
He had thought Ibekusa Machina was a perfectly normal girl who had been his classmate since the spring, but he had since learned she was a member of FeTUS.
For some reason, she was not targeting Mutsuki. Ever since spring, she would have had countless opportunities, yet she did nothing but observe even as he grew closer to her.
Ange and Mutsuki had tried to ask her about it, but the second incident had interrupted. A demon had joined their class as well. That was the coquettish transfer student, Satowa Lucia.
They could not tell what he was after either. And with an angel, human, and demon present, all three were unable to act.
Angels were born from a pure radiance and were formed from the purifying light that was fire. They had the power to burn away the impure creatures that were demons, but as their temperature only reached 1000 degrees Celsius, they could not burn away machines with a metal framework.
Those human machines were resistant to heat, but tools that could not autonomously evolve had a limit and could not handle the constantly evolving demons.
As an ever unknown existence, the demons had an advantage against the human knowledge based on past data, but they were weak against the holy blades of heaven.
The three of them were in a three-way deadlock.
Angels were strong against demons, demons were strong against humans, and humans were strong against angels.
With a representative of heaven, earth, and hell next to the ultimate power that was Mutsuki, they all held each other in check.
A three-way battle that could influence the entire world could break out at any moment, but ten oddly peaceful days had passed.
“How many times do I have to tell you that making friends with FeTUS and the demons is out of the question?”
“I know, I know.”
The two of them chose a deserted way home and Ange expressed her irritation the entire way.
That was hardly surprising. Two unreadable enemies were constantly nearby and she could not do anything to them. Nothing could build up more stress for a bodyguard.
Plus, Lucia liked to cling to Mutsuki, Mutsuki was too nice to be mean, and they ended up simply looking like friends.
“Listen, Mutsuki.”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know why they’re behaving, but keep in mind that they’ll pluck your eye out the second you let your guard down.”
After receiving that frightening warning, the boy hung his head.
Ange was not exaggerating. His right eye was the Serpent’s Eye. It held the power to rule half the world, so a lot of people would want to take it.
“…”
But to Mutsuki…
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
When he stopped replying, Ange gave him a puzzled look, so he quickly shook his head.
He knew she would get mad if he told her what he was thinking.
They finally arrived at their home.
It was a single-story building without a yard tucked back behind a small road. The location was poor and a parking lot bordered it on the south, so it got plenty of sun but not much air.
They had been living in an apartment before, but they had moved since it had been half destroyed in the trouble ten days before and since Machina of FeTUS and Lucia the demon had learned its location.
“Nn. C’mon, Micha… That’s in the way.”
Ange expressed her annoyance as she climbed over the off-road motorcycle parked right in front of the building. That motorcycle with a giant engine and indestructibly thick tires was the sole possession of their other roommate.
Either because it was large or because the house was small, it covered the entire entranceway. Mutsuki also climbed over it with some trouble and slid open the poor-fitting door.
“We’re back…ah.”
“We’re back…ah.”
They both gave the same greeting and they were both left dumbfounded.
The place was so small that the living room was immediately inside the entrance, but even though most of the boxes had yet to be unpacked ten days after moving in, the room was too messy to see the tatami mat floor.
They both held their head in their hands. It looked like the place had been attacked, but they could not blame this on FeTUS or the demons. Nothing looked damaged and most of the clutter came from beer cans, junk food wrappers, magazines, and removed clothing.
The culprit was sprawled out, asleep, and clutching a bottle of booze.
“Zzzz~~”
The blonde beauty with dark skin was snoring on the floor. She was nearly 170 cm tall, so she covered most of the ten square meter living room.
She had apparently stripped after getting drunk and hot. Her clothes were strewn about and the breasts sexily rising from her chest were exposed. She was still wearing her skirt, but her legs were spread wide, giving a perfect view of her thong. Mutsuki blushed and looked away.
She was Jiyuuni Micha, the other angel who protected Mutsuki.
“How did she make such a mess in only eight hours?”
The place had been clean that morning, so the boy sighed. And at times like this, it was always Mutsuki who got stuck with all the housework.
“Oh, honestly. Take care of this, Mutsuki.”
As usual, Ange showed no sign of helping and stomped through the trash to go change in her room.
“Sure… Oh, Ange.”
“What? …Fwah!”
He was going to tell her to be careful because plastic was slippery on top of tatami mats, but before he could, she looked back and stepped on a salami wrapper. She made a spectacular fall forward.
“…”
She usually wore spats, but today she was not wearing them.
He saw the color white.
“Ow, ow…gah!?”
She frantically held down her skirt and gave him the same murderous look she had given Lucia earlier.
“You perverrrrrrrrrrrt!”
“Y-you did that on your own!”
“Shut uuuuuuup! If you hadn’t said anything, I wouldn’t’ve tripped!”
After he was sent flying by a high kick, Mutsuki sighed for the umpteenth time that day.
Life had become troublesome. A strange power had awoken inside him, a lot of scary things had happened, and his daily life had changed.
The worst part today was not the demon or mysterious classmate.
It was his irritated roommate.