My youth story cannot be a knight war

[Although her words were mixed with some of the truth, most of them were just angry words, and this battle actually exposed many problems. ]

[“I just updated the armor version, and I thought that with the current performance of GO’s mecha, I should be able to sustain the battle against the unconfirmed life form for a long time, but I didn’t expect the enemy this time to be so terrifying.”]

[“Not only did he fail miserably in his normal state, but he also failed miserably after encountering all the functional restrictions. To be honest, if the dresser wasn’t Kosaka-kun, he would have died suddenly in the middle of the game…”]

[“Also, judging by the strength of the 25th that appeared this time, the game of those Gurongis should have entered a new stage. The enemies that appear later will probably become stronger and stronger. With only the current GO, without Yoshiki’s help, there is no way to deal with it, even for Kosaka-kun.”]

[“Ah, my goodness! I never thought that the masterpiece I spent so much time designing would fall behind the latest version so quickly. This really hits my confidence.”]

[Ebina casually threw the fragment back onto the table, looking at the armor in front of him that he had spent countless efforts on, his eyes behind the glasses flickered.]

[“Since the current version cannot keep up, we can only continue to update…”]

[“It’s time to put the “G1” plan on the agenda.”]

34. Before the Darkness (5K)

Chiba Prefecture, Sobu High School, health room.

"That is--!?"

Hikigaya, who had just finished playing with Zaimokuza, was helplessly tidying up his messy clothes when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the pair of eyes that appeared on the surface of the coffee in Baruba's hand in the light curtain, and his pupils suddenly shrank.

"What's going on? Why did a pair of eyes appear in the coffee in the hand of the Gurongi referee?"

Yukinoshita Yukino also noticed this, and her beautiful brows frowned in confusion.

"And, if that voice is correct, I remember it was..."

"That's right?"

The voice coming from behind attracted everyone's attention. Ebina Hina, who was originally watching the two people playing with a smile, adjusted her glasses and spoke in a calm voice after the reflection blocked her slightly squinted eyes.

"Yukinoshita-san is right... the owner of that voice should be the boy that my future self met when Yoshiki was in the hospital."

Hearing her calling him by his name, Zaimokuza turned his head away in embarrassment, avoiding the teasing gazes of others.

Ever since she stopped hiding the fact that they were childhood sweethearts in a sense, Ebina now calls Zaimokuza by his first name, skipping his surname. In this country, only people who are close enough to each other call each other by their first names, and usually they call each other by their surnames.

But compared to this, Zaimokuza was more concerned about the topic she brought up now.

Although it may sound strange to say this, ever since the young man in white appeared, Zaimokuza's attention has actually never shifted away from him, because he gives Zaimokuza a very strange feeling.

This feeling is really hard to describe. If I had to use a literary expression, it would be: a connection of fate.

Yes, Zaimokuza felt as if he was connected with that boy on the level of fate. Any of his actions touched Zaimokuza's heart, making him unable to help but care. And judging from the information before the light curtain, the other party might be a Gurongi, because no one else would call themselves KUUGA.

And now it seems that the opponent is probably not just an ordinary Gurongi.

Zaimokuza was not sure what class Baruba, the referee, held in the entire Gurongi clan, but judging from the fact that all the previous Gurongis did not dare to provoke her directly even if they were dissatisfied (except for a certain bat), and the Gurongi from the 'GO' group who had made a stunning appearance in the battle with No. 14 treated her as an equal, even if Baruba's status was not at the highest level, it was definitely not far off.

But he saw it very clearly just now. When facing the pair of eyes that appeared in the coffee in his hand, although Baruba behaved as aloof and cold as usual, his attitude was exactly like a taciturn subordinate waiting for orders from his superior, without even any argument or suggestion.

"But if it is really the young Gurongi, then even the mysterious Gurongi referee has to be respectful to him... This means that the other party's true identity is probably not simple."

"You have to know that the other party can even treat those "GO" Gurongis whose strength is unpredictable in the mouths of the Gurongis equally. There is an existence in the Gurongi clan that makes her obey orders as a subordinate..."

Hikigaya Hachiman fell silent at this point, and Zaimokuza seemed to understand something and his eyes widened immediately.

"From your looks, you must have the same idea as me, Mr. Penguin?"

Ebina supported himself with both hands on the back of the chair where Zaimokuza sat, with his chin suspended in the air as if resting on his shoulder, looking at this "alumni" who would be admitted to the same school as him in the future with a half-smile.

"Hasn't it always been there? The most suspicious one is Gurongi, the only one who has appeared in our field of vision and whose identity is unknown."

"Could it be that……!"

The quick-thinking Yukinoshita Yukino also thought of this and her pupils shrank slightly.

"…It's probably the difficult thing you mentioned, Yukinoshita."

Hikigaya nodded calmly, and Zaimokuza murmured the name.

"Could that boy be the unconfirmed life form... Number Zero???"

【Tokyo, Shuchiin Academy, student dormitory. 】

【 08:45 PM 】

[“Huh? I’m so exhausted.”]

[Tsurumi Rumi, who was sitting cross-legged, lay back on the big bed in her dormitory, the only clean place, with a tired look on her face, and said weakly while looking at the chandelier above her head.]

[She had just finished washing up and was now wearing a set of thin bear pajamas. She had her wet black hair tied up in a ball with a white towel, and the four words "depressed" were written all over her face.]

[“They conducted some ridiculous earthquake drill without any prior notice, and even threatened to use credits. But they ended the run just when I was about to get on the bus. I ran so hard that my feet were swollen!”]

[As Tsurumi Rumi spoke, she stretched out her hand to knead the sole of her right foot, and then her expression turned grimace because of the pain coming from there.]

[“I hope I won’t have congestion when I wake up tomorrow. This is such a bad thing… huh?! It’s all the fault of that idiot Yihui!”]

[As she thought about it, the girl suddenly puffed up her cheeks in dissatisfaction like an inflated pufferfish, and angrily pounded the quilt under her with her hands.]

[“That idiot! Ever since the new unconfirmed life form appeared yesterday, the phone I called him has been showing as turned off. I was worried about him the whole day. If it wasn’t for the news today saying that No. 25 was expelled by No. 4, I would have thought he was killed!”]

[“Although I know you’re fine, you should at least answer the phone! You’re so forgetful that you always go to the hospital with Officer Kosaka, and even share the same ward. Why don’t you just sleep on the same bed with him? That way you won’t even have to find a bedmate in the future!”]

[“And he even lent his windbreaker to someone else…Yihui, that idiot! Idiot! Big pig’s hoof!”]

[Whenever she thinks of Zaimokuza lending his windbreaker to someone else, Tsurumi Rumi gets angry, so angry that she wants to make a scarecrow and curse him right now.]

[That guy! Not only did he seem to have forgotten the agreement between the two of them, but he even lent the windbreaker that should have belonged to her to someone else? And he lent it to another woman???]

[This is what makes Tsurumi Rumi the most angry. For her, who is actually very possessive, this feeling is just like when she was a child, her favorite doll was snatched away by a hateful kid from her relatives' house. ]

[Even though the doll was returned later, I could never forget the feeling of having something that belonged to me taken away.]

[Tsurumi Rumi used her little fists to "torture" her own bed sheet to vent her dissatisfaction and anger, but as she continued to pound, her movements gradually slowed down until she finally stopped completely.]

[She placed the back of her right hand weakly on her forehead, staring at the luxuriously decorated dormitory ceiling. Her bright eyes were unusually dull.]

[“…Idiot, didn’t you say you never break a promise? Why did you forget your promise to me when you came to me?”]

[“You’re a big liar who broke his promise and gained weight! Huh?”]

【——Beep.】

[Just as she was mumbling softly, the phone beside her suddenly rang, attracting her attention. ]

【“!”】

[After bringing the phone in front of her, the listless Tsurumi Rumi saw the name of the caller displayed on the screen as "Zaimokuza Yoshiki". Her eyes suddenly changed, and her upper body, which had been lying down, stood up straight, like a tumbler that had turned over.]

[Because of her excessive movements, the towel on her head fell off, and her wet black hair fell in front of her face like messy silk, making Tsurumi Rumi look like Sadako who just climbed out of a well. The drooping hair also obscured the emotions in her eyes.]

[“——Humph! You finally remembered to call me, huh? Hello!”]

[She looked at the phone and snorted fiercely, but immediately tapped the answer button on the screen and put the phone to her ear to answer the call.]

【“Hello, Rumi-chan?”】

【“Why are you calling them? You’re a dishonest liar.”】

[A familiar and unremarkable greeting sounded from the other side of the phone, and the last trace of worry in my heart finally fell, but Tsurumi Rumi, who was still angry, spoke in a stiff voice, and her voice was as cold as the first snow in Hokkaido in winter. ]

[“Ah, ah, are you still angry? Liu Mei-chan?”]

[After hearing her voice, which was obviously still angry, Zaimokuza on the other side of the communication line said awkwardly. ]

【"No."】

【“…”】

【Zaimokuza fell silent for a moment. Hearing this straightforward answer, the girl was obviously angry, and the kind that couldn't be appeased.】

[“Is there anything wrong? If not, I’ll go to bed. I have classes tomorrow.”]

[The girl said coldly that the snow in Hokkaido is getting colder.]

[But then Tsurumi Rumi waited for a long time, but there was no sound from Zaimokuza on the other end of the phone, which made her wonder if the person on the other end had fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation.]

[Just when she thought she was stood up and was about to hang up the phone angrily, Zaimokuza's hesitant voice finally sounded again.]

[“Um, Rumi-chan? The reason I’m calling this time is…”]

[“Why? You don’t have money to eat and you want to borrow money from me?”]

[The girl's voice this time was as cold as polar frost and snow, or like the Italian volcano Vesuvius, which was in its last calm before erupting, waiting for someone to kick the stone that served as a fuse down the crater.]

【“——It’s because of our promise.”】

[In an instant, spring arrived, everything thawed and revived, and the Italian Mount Vesuvius turned into Mount Fuji, which had been dormant for many years. ]

……

【“Yes, yes, yes? You can do whatever you want. It’s my fault.”】

[“Don’t worry, I will definitely give Miss Tsurumi Rumi, who has been let down, a satisfactory explanation…”]

[Zaimokuza, lying on the hospital bed with bandages all over his body, gritted his teeth and signed a series of unequal treaties. Finally, he looked at his phone and smiled bitterly when he heard the phone call being hung up.]

【"well……"】

[“What happened? After you abandoned someone, your victim finally found you?”]

[On the other bed, Kousaka Kyosuke found Zaimokuza's sighing expression quite refreshing. He had always been troubled by this rabbit and felt very happy about it. He raised his only eyebrow that could move and said teasingly.]

[“Don’t make me sound like a scumbag, Mr. Kosaka!”]

【Zaimokuza waved his right hand in a plaster cast in dissatisfaction at Kousaka Kyosuke who was also bandaged, and said speechlessly.】

[“I just went to apologize to them. After all, I haven’t fulfilled my promise to them yet… so this is the only way.”]

[“This is the consequence of making an agreement with others casually, especially for women. You should stand at attention when you are beaten and remember the lesson.”]

【"And then? What was the final outcome of this matter?"】

[Kousaka Kyosuke asked with a sidelong glance. After all, he would probably have to stay in the hospital for another week or so, so he had to find something fun to do during this period of time when he couldn't move.]

[“I’ve been forgiven, but…”]

[Zaimokuza turned his gaze to the windbreaker that he treasured and hung on the hanger in the corner of the room. His eyes were full of helplessness, but deep down he was also relieved.]

[“When I resolve this incident and set out on another adventure… that will be the time for me to fulfill my promise.”]

[“It’s time to say goodbye to the past and embark on a new journey.”]

[“…Really? That’s good.”]

[After hearing this answer, Kousaka Kyosuke was inexplicably silent for a while, then spoke calmly. ]

[“Then I wish you a pleasant journey in advance. I will see you off when the time comes.”]

[“Mr. Kosaka, your words are enough.”]

【Zaimokuza's mouth curled up into a smile, and he spoke softly.】

[There was a moment of silence between the two of them. They suddenly realized that they seemed to have no topic to talk about.]

[——Zaimokuza Yoshiki will leave sooner or later. ]

[The two of them had known this all along, but they had tacitly agreed not to mention it. It was only today that they happened to bring it up under other topics.]

[Zaimokuza is very clear about this. Even though all the promises have been fulfilled, he has long been accustomed to traveling around the world over the years, accustomed to countless encounters and encounters, and knows that there are more adventures waiting for him. ]

[Kousaka Kyosuke is also very clear about this. During this time together, he has fully understood that Zaimokuza Yoshiki is a person like the wind. The characteristics of the wind determine that he will only continue to travel around the world and will not stay in one place forever. This place is actually just one of the stops on his adventure journey. ]

[At its core, Zaimokuza Yoshiki and Kousaka Kyosuke are like passengers who happened to sit on the same train. They each have different destinations, but because of a temporary intersection of routes, they accidentally traveled together for a while. ]

[It was this journey that was unexpectedly long, so long that the two of them inadvertently became friends who could talk about anything.]

【But the journey together will eventually come to an end. 】

[When the last unconfirmed life form is solved, that will be the day when the two of them will part. ]

["...Mr. Kosaka."]

【After a long while, the first person to break the silence was Zaimokuza. 】

【"Um?"】

【Kousaka Kyosuke looked at him, quietly waiting for what he would say next.】

[“Are you interested in hearing about my past? About my… best friend, and a small club called the Service Club?”]