ALL NOVEL I chose a rather shabby method called “the winning needle”…
Well, there was a reason for picking such an atrociously ugly option.
Dramatic music plays
Basically, Mika has an incredibly weak mental state. If you follow her journey in the story, her body is unbreakable, yet her mental strength is as fragile as a cheap piñata.
Using such an extreme method against her was because I calculated this was a way to kill two birds with one stone.
“Ha. What the heck are you mumbling to yourself about? Huh? I told you to stop worrying about it early on. But here you are, making this situation so gigantic! And now you want to regret it? Are you an idiot? Did your brain short-circuit or something?”
It seems Mika was still not convinced, and with a perplexed expression, she showered me with her biting words.
Honestly, it hurt a little.
Because, to be fair, what she said was completely spot on.
Even if I knew everything was hanging in the balance, it wouldn’t have changed anything.
Anyway, to shake Mika out of her delusion, I needed a careful approach. I didn’t want to blurt out about the teacher who had died in her arms and mess everything up.
Knowing that the teacher was actually me made the whole situation feel incredibly surreal… but well, maybe that’s just how it had to be.
Looking back later, this moment would really become an embarrassing memory.
Yet, knowing that very fact, I chose this method.
No, I had no choice.
If I couldn’t persuade Mika here, the future ahead looked too murky. To prevent any irreversible conclusions from arising even by a slight chance, I couldn’t afford to be selective about my methods.
“I’m sorry… sniffs. I’m sorry, Mika.”
“…I have no idea why you keep apologizing to me? I’m not the one who’s suffered from your stupidity. Aren’t you mistaking the person you should apologize to completely?”
Awkward silence
…But why did I feel like I was getting scratched by Mika’s barbs? So, I decided to wrap up this dragging conversation right here.
I lifted my head, and there she was, Mika in my sight once more.
I was kneeling on the ground, my hands pressing into it.
And Mika was sitting on her legs, with her chin resting on her knees, hugging them tightly.
I couldn’t help but wonder what a passerby would think about two girls with angelic appearances looking like this for a moment.
I locked eyes with Mika, whose expression was impossible to read. It was so blurry that it felt as if her tear ducts might be broken.
“I’m sorry… if I hadn’t been such a useless idiot… At least if I hadn’t neglected what I had to do… sniff. Then we wouldn’t need to meet like this, in this situation…”
“…Huh?”
Mika’s bewildered comment rang clearly in my ears. It was a signal that she at least felt something strange, even if she wasn’t fully convinced yet.
One common misconception about Mika is that she’s foolish.
Depends on how you define “foolish,” but at the very least, I’d say Mika’s intelligence is closer to above average, even if she tends to express it in quite a limited scope.
Or simply put, she can think but chooses not to use her brain most of the time.
Considering her physical abilities, living without using her head isn’t too shocking… but it doesn’t mean she never thinks things through, since she does, when necessary.
Just look at the coup she engineered based on the Eden Treaty in the original. If Mika had been a villain without a hint of goodness in her, I’d bet her plans would have gone flawlessly.
Anyway, thankfully, Mika showcased the intelligence I had hoped for.
“…Annoying. Why are you droning on about something only you know, huh? And you. Isn’t this a bit the wrong time for you to be here? If the illustrious Student Council President wants to waste time, I have nothing to say.”
…Did she actually showcase it? It should have.
I was about to speak while listening to Mika’s sarcastic voice but ended up stopping. From Mika’s viewpoint, I must have looked ridiculous, just mumbling with my mouth.
The reason was simple. There was a more effective action than a hundred words here. So, I scattered my swaying body and slowly stood up.
Mika continued to look at me nonchalantly.
To be honest, her expression was more like pretending to be indifferent, but still.
I stepped forward, making sure to maintain eye contact to prevent her from pushing me away or dodging me.
Sure, she could back off if she really wanted to, but I didn’t think she’d go that far.
Knowing there’s nothing to gain by antagonizing Mika, it was more likely she’d just watch me calmly no matter what I did from this point on.
Thus, I approached Mika, coming so close that I could touch her nose with mine with just one more step.
Even then, Mika narrowed her eyes and stared at me, frowning.
“Wait—”
As I invaded her personal space, her reaction changed.
But Mika instinctively tried to back away, not accomplishing her goal since I’d anticipated that reaction from the start.
“…What are you trying to do? I don’t get the point.”
Now trapped in my arms, Mika said awkwardly, trying to figure out where to place her hands.
Regardless, I tightened my grip around her. Just in case she attempted to break free, I wouldn’t let her slip away.
You could almost say it looked like I was the one clinging to Mika, not vice versa, but honestly, such trivialities didn’t matter much.
“It’s uncomfortable, so why don’t you let me go? Yeah, being this close to a guy who looks like you is biologically troublesome. I absolutely detest it.”
Importantly, despite Mika’s harsh words, she wasn’t really trying to push me away all that hard.
Could it be that her instincts recognized me, that her soul had figured it out?
Nah, that’s probably not it. Keeping things simple, it might be because she judged it’d be easier to persuade me verbally than to make an effort to forcibly push me away.
As I leaned my chin on her shoulder, I took a deep breath and gently bit my lip.
Despite Mika being someone who liked to doll herself up, she didn’t have any scent at all.
Nothing at all like natural body fragrance, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, or perfume. I couldn’t smell a single one.
Ah. Thinking back, Mika probably didn’t have time to use any of that, right? If we get to the fundamental topic, being a body reconstructed based on something artificially created, it makes sense that she lacks a natural scent…
Gulp
…Whoa, that thought gave me chills. It almost sucked the tears right back.
This isn’t good. Once I started acting, it wouldn’t do to get caught even once.
So, Mika, I’m sorry, but I’ll need to keep my focus until the very end.
“Mika…”
“Ugh, wait a sec. Just now, that really pissed me off, you know? You should tone it down and get away from… m-my…?”
As Mika continued her thoughts, her words suddenly stopped when my hand found its place behind her head.
I gently pulled her head onto my shoulder.
All the words that had been half-formed on my tongue fell apart again. None of them felt right.
So I decided to speak as sincerely as I could.
In this situation, I had something I truly wanted to say.
“I can’t say I wanted to meet again in this situation… but I still missed you. Really. I’m genuinely happy to see you like this again, my princess.”
“Uh? Whaa…?”
I felt Mika stiffen in my embrace. I wasn’t sure, but she looked as if her mind went completely blank.
If I were in her shoes, I’m sure I would have felt the same way.
I waited silently for Mika to recover from her mental shock, gently stroking her hair… and to be honest, I also started feeling a little sincere myself.
Or maybe I had been earnest from the beginning.
Given that I was born from Mika’s material, it would have never been possible for me to separate everything as mere acting when I had grown overly attached to her even as a teacher.
Was that the reason?
“Don’t… smile. You… You’re… No! You’re my teacher? That’s… No way…! It can’t be…”
A part of me got a little hurt when Mika denied the truth that lay before her.
Not too much, just a little.
Yeah. There’s no way I could hate our princess. That’s definitely an impossible thought.
“…Is it really, really you, teacher?”
“Uhm, well, now that I think of it… I wonder if a title like ‘teacher’ even suits someone like me?”
Bitter laughter echoes
Unfortunately, that was the reality. All the issues stemmed from the fact I hadn’t been a proper teacher before meeting Mika.
“Ah, ah… aah…!”
I wasn’t quite sure which part of my statement triggered her, but after quite a while of being frozen, I felt Mika shudder. Her arms, which had been awkwardly positioned, wound around me tightly, as if she wouldn’t let go for anything.
“Te-teacher…”
And that chain of actions gave me a single conviction.
Something ambiguous, whether it was my acting or not, had successfully moved Mika’s heart.
“I won’t… always… let go again…”
Is this… a good outcome?
In this strange, uneasy atmosphere, I held Mika close, who looked like she would literally never let go.
Night had fallen, and the brilliant stars that decorated the sky were beginning to encase us in their light, yet the sky remained engulfed in the despair of crimson.
And we still had heaps of conversations piled up that needed to be had.
If those conversations had a name, it would surely be something like “the sprout of hope.”