”Ughhh… You’ll wait for me, won’t you, Hayato?” she whined, clutching at my sleeve.
”I know, I know. Now go on, get goin’,” I said, gently prying her off.
After school… club activities were about to start. And naturally, Noel, being in the art club, had to go too… but she was clinging to me and refusing to let go. Took some convincin’-I promised I’d wait without leavin’-before she finally headed off.
”Come on, Noel, let’s go!” one of her classmates called.
”Ahhh~ Hayato! Promise me! Absolutely, absolutely promise meeeee!” Noel shouted back, her voice carrying across the courtyard.
”Haha…” I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.
Noel was dragged off by her classmates. Well, the stares from everyone around were intense. Guess it’s only the first day. There were still plenty of people who couldn’t believe-or refused to believe-that Noel and I were actually datin’. Most of ’em seemed to think I’d threatened her somehow. Especially those fan club guys.
”Hey, Mikage.”
”Huh?”
The guy who called out to me was a burly man with a shaved head. Karate club, I think.
”What d’you want?”
”I’ve got questions. Follow me,” he said, and started walking off.
I watched him go.
”Hey! Aren’t you comin’!?” he yelled, turning back.
”I never said I was coming in the first place. You just walked off on your own.”
”Guh… Just get over here!” His face went red as he shouted.
The students still in the classroom were chucklin’, so he was probably embarrassed. Whatever. No choice-I decided to follow him.
”Alright, this should do,” he said, stopping in front of the warehouse.
He’d led me to the warehouse where Noel had been… well, doing her business the other day. Hm. So people do come here after all. Guess it was a good thing I found Noel first.
”So? What’s this about?” I asked, leaning against the wall.
”All of you! Now!” he bellowed.
At his shout, multiple figures emerged from the shadows of the warehouse. About ten or so. All guys. And every single one of ’em was glaring at me.
”We are Noel-sama’s Personal Guard!!” they announced in unison.
”Ah-figures,” I muttered.
The Personal Guard. They say there’s ten of ’em, one for each goddess, though they’re all unofficial. Noel herself had mentioned how much of a nuisance they were.
”You bastard! Mikage Hayato! You’re threatening Noel-sama, aren’t you! We won’t allow it! Release her this instant!!” the karate guy shouted, pointing at me.
”RELEASE HER!!” the others echoed.
”Huh? Do I really look like I’m threatening her to you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
”There’s no way a scumbag like you could be in a relationship with Noel-sama! What did you threaten her with!?” he demanded.
”Didn’t threaten her at all.”
”DON’T MESS WITH US!” he roared.
He had a short fuse, apparently. The karate guy threw a punch at me. I didn’t dodge-I just took it.
”Hmph! If you don’t want more pain, release Noel-sama right now!” he snarled, cracking his knuckles.
”Sigh… Hey. This counts as self-defense, right?” I asked, rolling my shoulder.
”What?” He blinked, confused.
”Surrounded by a group, attacked with violence… Yeah, this is self-defense,” I said calmly.
”What are you-GWAH!?”
I punched him. One hit sent the karate guy flyin’, bouncing off the ground a few times before crashing into the warehouse.
”What!?”
”B-Boss!?”
The others panicked. Not my problem. I was just beating ’em up in self-defense.
”…”
Twitch… twitch.
”Ow… that hurt…”
Alright. Beat ’em all. And I learned something new! I remembered seeing it in some anime-attacking while coated in recovery magic. Tried it. And it worked!
”Yep. No casualties.”
Punching while wrapped in [Recovery]… by healing the opponent at the exact moment of impact, you don’t leave any wounds. But the pain of the hit still registers in the brain. So their bodies are unharmed while they feel everything. A perfect technique!
”There. Come near me or Noel again. Next time, I’ll kill you.”
”Eek! AHHHHHHH!!” they screamed, scrambling to their feet and runnin’.
”Ah. They ran.”
Some of ’em were still down, but their leader sure was quick to abandon ’em. Not that it’d matter if they reported me for using violence-there wasn’t a single mark on ’em.
”Still got time. Good, good… What would happen if I kept Noel waitin’…” I muttered, checking my phone.
I was about to leave when I noticed a small shadow.
”Hm? Who’s there?” I called out.
”Eep!”
Uh-oh. I’d been seen. If this person told anyone I’d been beating people up, that could get complicated.
”Um… Ugh…”
As I was thinkin’, the hidden person stepped out. From the ribbon color, she was a second-year. Waist-length straight cherry-pink hair. Her eyes, meeting mine, were the same pink as her hair. A total beauty. Tiny, too-she looked like an elementary schooler at first glance. Though her chest, entirely disproportionate to her height, was hard to miss.
”And you are?” I asked.
”Oh, um, I’m-I’m Sakuraba Haruhi-hime! Second year!” she stammered, bowing hastily.
”Sakuraba? Ah… one of the goddesses,” I said, recognizing the name.
”Ahh, please don’t call me that, it’s embarrassing…” she mumbled, her cheeks flushing pink.
Sakuraba Haruhi-hime. I knew the name-one of Tenou Academy’s ten goddesses. One of those girls with a fan club, like the guys I’d just beaten up.
”So. What d’you need?” I asked casually.
No reason to be hostile toward her, so I kept it casual. It’d be nice if she hadn’t seen the whole beatdown.
”Ah, well, um, thank you! Thank you so much!” she burst out.
”Huh?” I blinked.
What? I had no memory of doing anything that would make her thank me. Unless… one of those guys I just beat up was stalking her?
”Um, you know, last Saturday…” she began, fidgetin’.
”Saturday?”
”Yes! That day, in the alley, you… you helped me…” she said quietly.
”Calm down,” I said, holding up a hand.
After getting her to breathe, it turned out I did remember saving a girl from getting dragged into an alley a while back. Just hadn’t realized that girl was this goddess.
”I should have thanked you then, but I…” she trailed off, looking down.
”Ah, don’t worry about it. You were scared, right? It happens,” I said, shrugin’.
”Ahh… Um! So, yesterday, I went to your classroom, but you weren’t there, and…” she explained quickly.
”Yesterday-lunch break?” I asked.
”Yes.”
”Ah. I was out. I don’t eat in the classroom anymore because of all the rumors,” I said.
”I see… Oh! Here!” She held something out to me. Cookies, beautifully wrapped.
”For me?” I asked, taking ’em.
”Yes! I don’t know if you’ll like ’em, but… as thanks!” she said brightly.
”Did you make these?” I asked, examining the wrappin’.
”Y-yes! I made ’em myself…” she admitted, blushin’.
”Thanks. I appreciate it,” I said, smilin’.
”Ahh… Well then, I’ll be goin’!” She bowed hurriedly and rushed off.
Well. That was somethin’. And it was getting late-time to go pick up Noel. Just as I thought that, my phone blew up with messages. Then it rang.
”Hello?” I answered.
”Master! Where are you!” Noel’s voice shrieked through the speaker.
”Don’t call me that at school! I’m comin’, okay!” I hissed, hurrying back.
I found her waiting by the gate, and she latched onto me the moment we met. We headed home together. Though she immediately said I smelled like another girl. Possessive much? And what does “smell” even mean…
Summary:
Hayato successfully convinced Noel to attend art club after promising to wait for her. He was confronted by Noel-sama’s Personal Guard, a group of ten male students who believed he was threatening her. After easily defeating them using a self-defense argument and a newly discovered [Recovery] magic technique, he was unexpectedly thanked by Sakuraba Haruhi-hime, another goddess whom he had saved from a dangerous situation days earlier without realizing her identity.
Trivia:
- Hayato and Noel are officially dating, but many students refuse to believe it.
- The Personal Guard consists of ten members, one for each of the ten goddesses at Tenou Academy.
- The fan club is unofficial and considered a nuisance even by Noel herself.
- Hayato discovered he can combine [Recovery] magic with physical attacks to cause pain without leaving injuries.
- Hayato saved Sakuraba from an alley incident on Saturday but didn’t recognize her as a goddess.
- Sakuraba visited Hayato’s classroom during lunch break yesterday but he wasn’t there.
- Hayato avoids eating in the classroom due to rumors about him.
- Sakuraba’s chest is notably large despite her small stature.
- Noel called Hayato “Master” over the phone, which he finds embarrassing at school.
- Noel could immediately detect the scent of another girl on Hayato.