"Hahahaha!!!"
Chika Fujiwara burst into peals of laughter, leaving Kaguya Shinomiya momentarily stunned. It took a while for Chika's laughter to subside. Wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, she said:
"Kaguya-chan, what a ridiculous joke! That was hilarious."
"What's so funny?"
Kaguya asked, expressionless.
"How could just kissing ever get you pregnant? Even middle schoolers know that. I can't imagine who'd say something so silly~"
Chika's unintentional remark struck Kaguya's heart like a sharp blade—after all, until quite recently, she had believed that very thing.
"Kaguya-chan, who exactly told you that? Is that person a friend of yours? You've gotta introduce them to me!"
Chika lit up, excited by the idea of meeting someone so naïve. She was ready to play the role of a "big teacher" and enlighten them.
"Heh…hehe…"
Kaguya's lips twitched in an icy smile.
"K-Kaguya-chan, what's wrong? You're…scary…"
Sensing something amiss, Chika got a bad feeling.
"Wait… Don't tell me… it's you, Kaguya-chan?"
She had guessed the truth. Of course, Kaguya wouldn't admit that. Maintaining a frosty demeanor, she said:
"Chika, let's have a quick word about cutting the table game club's budget."
"Eeeh?!!!"
As the Table Game Club's president, Chika Fujiwara let out a wail of despair.
…
Imperial Demon Army
Returning to the Imperial Demon Army's base, Shinoa Hiiragi had finally been released from interrogation. They found no evidence that she was linked to Yuuichiro Hyakuya's death. As it stood, the boy was killed in an unexpected vampire attack, and Shinoa—merely assigned to watch him—hadn't actually neglected her duty.
Still, something about the incident seemed off: Two of the vampire progenitors had died in bizarre ways, and a whole area had been frozen and petrified with salt. Yet the Army's investigation turned up nothing concrete.
No longer under suspicion, Shinoa left the facility—only to be confronted by a tall, dark-haired man with cold eyes. He stood before her, glaring intently.
Shinoa glowered right back, refusing to yield.
She recognized him—Guren Ichinose, heir to the Ichinose family and next-in-line for "Moon Demon Company."
Reportedly, Guren was a once-in-a-millennium talent even within Moon Demon.
Currently, he was a Lieutenant Colonel of the Imperial Demon Army and captain of the Moon Demon Company's Guren Squad.
"Was Yuu's death your doing?"
His gaze was icy, voice frigid. For all his carefree airs, Guren was fiercely loyal to those he cared about. He'd essentially raised Yuuichiro Hyakuya and wanted the truth. He was sure the circumstances of Yuu's death weren't so simple—after all, Guren knew exactly how special Yuu was.
A subject of the Seraph of the End experiments, Yuu had hidden, extraordinary powers, so it made no sense for him to die so easily to mere vampires.
"Ah, you think I killed him?"
Shinoa scoffed.
"Could it not have been you?"
He didn't know for certain, but he intended to find out—staring into Shinoa's eyes as if he could detect any lie.
"Has nothing to do with me. I was only tasked with monitoring him and had no reason to kill him."
She was telling the truth: Yuu had transformed due to the vampire progenitors, and both Yuu and the vampires were killed by Esdeath. Shinoa had just been a bystander the whole time, so she wasn't lying at all.
"…"
After a long stare, Guren saw no abnormality in Shinoa's expression. He said nothing more, giving her one last look before turning and leaving.
"Ugh, it never ends,"
Shinoa muttered, exasperated. Yuu's death was causing her headaches.
She opened the chat group:
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Sigh I'm so tired."
Kasuga Hijiri: "What's wrong?"
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Ugh, between failing my mission and the target I was watching dying, the Army's been interrogating me nonstop—plus I just got questioned by someone else. I'm exhausted. I want to see the world burn."
Akame: "It's that weird bug-transformation guy Esdeath killed, right?"
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Yeah, him. And apparently someone who knows him personally came asking if I'd killed him. Tch."
Rei Ao: "Guren?"
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Huh? How do you know him?"
Frieren: "Shinoa, have you forgotten what Rei Ao can do?"
Stella: "Indeed. Nothing he knows would surprise me anymore.*
Izawa Shizue: "Same here."
Miyuki Shiba: "So who is this Guren, that even Rei Ao's paying attention to him?"
Rei Ao: "@Shinoa Hiiragi, isn't he acquainted with your older sister?"
Shinoa Hiiragi: "You even know that…? Well, yeah, they were classmates, though they weren't that close. Plus, my sister's… dead."
Rei Ao: "Hm? They "weren't close?" Didn't your sister and Guren date or something?"
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Uh… not that I know of… Why would you think that?"
Rei Ao: "…Never mind, guess my info was off."
Is Guren planning to do anything to you?
Shinoa Hiiragi: "What's this, concern from you?"
Rei Ao: "Shouldn't I care for my own woman?"
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Heh heh, just because you had your fun with me in exchange for that "trade," you think you own me now? Possessive, aren't we?"
Mikoto Misaka: "That's too much!*
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Exactly—where's the romance? Where's the confession? Hmph."
Misaka Mikoto: "???"
Erica: "My back hurts from all this sugary talk…"
Shinoa Hiiragi: "Haha, anyway, Guren isn't doing anything. Between my "Rei Ao's Blessing" and my Shikama Dōji, I doubt he could beat me anyway."
~~~
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