Ch.59 Kamikaze to A Person who Doesn't Believe in Non-Scientific Things
One day, on a lunch break.
Their classmates seemed a bit excited.
While Kaede and Aria were elegantly eating their lunch, around half of the students, led by the central figure of the class, were shoveling their lunch into their mouths.
"What's wrong?"
"Who knows? Maybe they're coming up with some stupid idea for some kind of event."
"Careful with your words. Even if you think it, you can't say it out loud."
"Ngh."
When she made that ruthlessly dismissive remark, Aria was quick to warn her.
If this had come from any other classmate, she would have replied with "I don't care" or "It's true anyway", but with Aria, it's different.
After all, this girl was Kisaragi Aria.
Although they are not related by blood, she is a unique figure in that she is supposedly her uncle in terms of family relationships.
Even though they're the same age.
Even though they're the same age.
Moreover, she has a track record of making Kaede's father, whom she both respects and fears, into a plaything.
There was no room for rebuttal.
She looks away uncomfortably.
Then, she looked at her as if she was a child who needed a lot of attention, and Kaede felt even more uncomfortable.
"Hey hey, A-chin. A-chin."
"Yes, it's A-chin."
A voice called from the side.
Aria immediately switched to a smile and responded in a polite yet friendly manner.
Kaede's eyebrows frown.
The owner of this voice was someone she knew, and it was the person Kaede hated the most.
"Do you have like any plans for your lunch break, A-chin?"
The owner of the voice showed no interest in Kaede's increased discomfort and only looked at Aria.
The girl's name is Asahina Chiaki.
Her long dyed blonde hair was tied up with a scrunchie and her face was heavy with make up.
Her attire is also quite adventurous, with the three buttons of her shirt unbuttoned.
Furthermore, she had a cardigan tied around her waist and her skirt pulled up to expose her proud thighs, giving her the look of a true gal.
"No, nothing in particular."
"Great. Well, like, why don't you join us, A-chin?"
"Joining you?"
Go to the point already, Kaede muttered to herself.
She didn't say it out of consideration for Aria, but the truth is, she just really wanted to tell her.
Kaede is the epitome of a good student, while Chiaki is the epitome of a carefree gal.
Needless to say, the two were like oil and water.
It's a relationship that escalated into an argument just the other day.
"Oh, I haven't told A-chin yet. we'll be using our lunch break for like telling ghost stories."
"ー A ghost story, huh...?"
Aria's expression stiffened slightly.
"Yep! Remember like, there was a horror special on tv yesterday?"
"Well, now that you mention it, that's true. I haven't seen it though..."
It's the time of year when the cicadas' chirping is deafening.
It can be said that it has become a regular occurrence to see such special programs on tv.
"That's right. It was like so much fun, but it's a shame. I felt soo scared when I was like taking a bath and when I was going to bed! After seeing that, we all wanted to try it out too."
Chiaki spoke happily, but was interrupted by Kaede's cold sneer.
"ーWhat?"
Instantly, Chiaki's expression became cold.
The atmosphere quickly became tense, and Aria's cheeks twitched again.
"Nothing. I was just impressed that you still love doing random things out of boredom. I think it's a good idea. The role of ghost stories is to cool down, after all. Amateur ghost stories are the perfect fit for that."
"Ha, as expected of a good kid who is like striving to live a boring life, you keep saying the wrong things. Don't you know anything about balance? How sa~d."
Aria heard the sound of a gong ringing.
The classmates just ignored it like it was normal. Is her influence that strong?
“The thing I pity is your thought process. If you’re going to talk about balance, why don’t you improve your academic ability a bit more? ーYou’re not going to tell me you’re working hard with that level of academic ability, are you?”
Right straight from Kaede.
"What? Are you like trying to pick a fight? I'm like never intended to talk to you in the first place. Did you misunderstand because you're like related to A-chin? That was so funny."
Chiaki's left straight.
The two of them have no concept of a jab.
It was a full-force straight punch exchange.
"Alright, you two, calm down."
Aria, unable to bear the situation, steps in to mediate.
These are words from a girl who has already gained influence in the classroom.
The two reluctantly backed down.
Aria sighed inwardly and then turned back to Chiaki.
"Thank you for the invitation, Chiaki-san."
"! Thenー"
Chiaki's face was beaming with joy, but Aria shook her head apologetically.
"I'm sorry... Well, this is embarrassing to say, but I'm not good with horror stuff."
Aria's classmates' hearts were all throbbed as she shyly declared her feelings. Alas.
"I see, can't be helped then."
"If it's something other than horror, please invite me again some other time."
"Yeah. Sorry for like inviting you even though you don't like it."
"No, don't worry about it."
Chiaki turns around, waving her hands.
When she met up with her friends, they began working on creating the right atmosphere by turning down the lights and drawing blackout curtains.
The way they don't take into consideration those around them is so typical of them, Kaede's disgust only intensified.
They are what we call the top of the caste.
"For that reason, I'm going to listen to some music."
After seeing Chiaki off, Aria took out earphones from her bag.
"That's surprising."
"About me not liking horror?"
"Yeah"
"Even as we get older, scary things remain scary. In fact, I would say it's even scarier for me."
Aria continued to complain that she couldn't take a bath or sleep in the dark.
"You're not afraid of them, Kaede?"
"I'm not interested in anything unscientific. Ghosts don't exist."
Why are we afraid of something that doesn't exist?
Kaede couldn't understand that.
However, Aria gives her a suspicious look.
"Unscientific, huh..."
Kaede frowned in annoyance at the way she seemed to say she didn't understand.
"Is there something you'd like to say?"
Aria replied, pointing at herself.
"Can you explain my existence based on scientific evidence?"
A sentence that couldn't be refuted.
It was a game-winning, grand slam walk-off home run.
After all, Kaede also recognizes Aria as the reincarnation of her uncle.
Moreover, she clearly posseses technological capabilities that surpass those of modern science, and to top it off, she even possesses supernatural powers.
It was completely unscientific, but after being shown all that, Kaede had no choice but to accept it.
So when that issue is brought up, there's nothing she can say in response.
Aria sighed wistfully as she put on her earphones.
And then, comes the finisher.
"There are reincarnated people like me who travel between Earth and other worlds, right? ー If so, then there must be ghosts too."
"ーーーーーー"
From that day on, Kaede couldn't handle horror anymore.