Ritsuka was just about ready to leave Gehenna.
His classes were done.
He'd survived the robot teacher.
He'd survived Aru.
He'd survived Gehenna cooking.
At this point, he considered the day a success.
Then the academy speakers crackled to life.
"Ritsuka Regulus Morning Star, please report to the Disciplinary Committee office."
The entire hallway went quiet.
Ritsuka stopped walking.
"...What did I do?"
The speaker crackled again.
"If you are wondering what you did, nothing. We simply wish to meet you in person."
"...Bruh."
Half the student body nearby nodded.
"Bruh."
A few minutes later, Ritsuka arrived at the Prefect Team headquarters.
The building itself was surprisingly clean.
No explosions.
No suspicious smoke.
No Aru.
A good sign.
Probably.
He opened the office door.
Then stopped.
"..."
"..."
The girl sitting behind the desk looked up.
She had long pale pink hair that flowed past her shoulders and violet eyes.
Even sitting down, she had an undeniable presence.
This was Gehenna's leader.
The head of the Prefect Team.
The student everyone seemed to respect.
Hina.
And she was sitting on what could only be described as a villain throne.
Not a chair.
Not a fancy chair.
A throne.
The kind that belonged in the final room of a JRPG.
There was dramatic lighting.
There were shadows.
There was even a black cat sitting beside the throne.
Ritsuka stared.
Hina looked at him.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Senpai. Since you're older than me, I thought it would be appropriate."
Ritsuka blinked.
Then pointed.
"...Are we going to talk about how you're sitting?"
Hina tilted her head.
"Why?"
She looked genuinely confused.
Ritsuka pointed again.
"Because are you trying to have a conversation with me or recruit me into an evil organization?"
Hina froze.
A faint blush appeared on her face.
"The... lighting malfunctioned."
Ritsuka looked up at the perfectly placed dramatic light beam.
"...The lighting."
"Yes."
"The throne."
Hina looked away.
"Ako ordered the wrong chair."
"That is not a chair."
"It technically fulfills the requirements of a chair."
"It looks like something a Demon Lord would sit on."
Hina's blush deepened.
"...Ako has already been informed."
Ritsuka nodded.
"Good."
Then he pointed at the cat.
"Cat."
Hina looked at the cat.
The cat looked at Hina.
Hina looked back at Ritsuka.
"We don't know where he came from."
The cat meowed.
"He has been here for several days."
Another meow.
"He refuses to leave."
The cat jumped into Hina's lap.
Ritsuka stared.
"...I think you've been adopted."
The cat immediately curled up and fell asleep.
Hina sighed.
"That is the current theory."
For a moment, neither said anything.
Then Hina gestured toward a chair.
An actual chair.
"Please, take a seat."
Ritsuka sat down.
The cat opened one eye.
Judged him.
Then went back to sleep.
Ritsuka felt strangely insulted.
Hina folded her hands together.
"I wanted to meet you personally."
"Because I'm Sensei's son?"
"Partly."
That answer surprised him.
"Only partly?"
Hina nodded.
"You've become quite famous recently."
Ritsuka groaned.
"Those clips are never going away, are they?"
"No."
"Thought so."
For a moment, Hina smiled.
A small one.
The kind that vanished quickly.
Then she looked at him.
"You're different from what I expected."
"Good different or bad different?"
"Different."
"That clears everything up."
Hina ignored that.
"Most people who arrive in Gehenna either panic or try too hard to fit in."
"And I did neither?"
"You asked why the robot teacher had a gun."
"Because the robot teacher had a gun."
"A reasonable reaction."
"Thank you."
The cat chose that moment to yawn.
Hina absentmindedly scratched behind its ears.
Ritsuka watched that happen.
Then watched Hina immediately realize she'd done it.
Then watched her pretend she hadn't.
'Okay.'
'Now I see why everyone likes her.'
The intimidating leader of Gehenna suddenly looked a lot more human than the rumors suggested.
And for some reason...
That made him less nervous than when he walked in.
Ritsuka looked at her.
"So you're the one who sent me the email?"
Hina nodded.
"Yes."
Ritsuka stared at her for a moment.
Then another thought hit him.
"...How did you get my email?"
Hina continued petting the cat.
"I have my ways."
Silence.
Ritsuka slowly narrowed his eyes.
The cat looked suspicious too.
Hina immediately realized how that sounded.
"I mean the General Student Council gave it to me."
"Oh."
"Legally."
"...The fact you had to specify legally concerns me."
"It should not."
"It absolutely should."
Hina looked away.
The cat meowed.
"Thank you, Kuro."
The cat meowed again.
Ritsuka pointed.
"The cat has a name now."
Hina froze.
"..."
"The cat has a name."
"...Perhaps."
"You adopted him."
"I did not."
"You named him."
"That does not prove ownership."
Ritsuka leaned back in his chair.
"Hina."
Hina looked away.
The cat chose that moment to climb onto her shoulder.
Ritsuka didn't even have to say anything.
The evidence was presenting itself.
A faint blush appeared on Hina's face.
"...Moving on."
"Noted."
"We are moving on."
"Understood."
Hina sighed.
Then her expression became a little more serious.
"Actually, there was another reason I wanted to meet you."
Ritsuka blinked.
"Oh?"
Hina nodded.
"I wanted to see what kind of person Sensei's son was."
There wasn't any hostility in her voice.
Just curiosity.
Ritsuka scratched his cheek.
"And?"
"And I am still deciding."
"Harsh."
"It was not meant to be."
The answer was honest enough that Ritsuka couldn't even complain.
Hina wasn't judging him.
She was evaluating him.
The same way a leader would evaluate someone important.
After all, he wasn't just some random transfer student.
He was Sensei's son.
A title that apparently carried a lot more weight in Kivotos than he was comfortable with.
Hina looked at him.
"You know, you're not what I expected."
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
Ritsuka laughed.
"What did you expect?"
Hina thought for a moment.
Then answered honestly.
"Someone more like Sensei."
That actually caught him off guard.
"Is that a compliment or an insult?"
A tiny smile appeared on Hina's face.
"A compliment."
"Then I'll take it."
The smile stayed for a second longer before disappearing.
Then Hina tilted her head.
"Although there are similarities."
Ritsuka immediately felt danger.
"What similarities?"
"You walked into Gehenna and immediately started helping people."
"I got dragged into helping people."
"The result is the same."
"I disagree."
"You helped Ako."
"I followed her."
"You helped Iori."
"The cafeteria exploded."
"You helped Aru."
"That one wasn't voluntary."
Hina looked at him.
Ritsuka looked at Hina.
The cat looked at both of them.
After a few seconds, Hina quietly said:
"The result is still the same."
Ritsuka opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Because annoyingly enough...
She had a point.
And judging by the small victorious look on Hina's face, she knew it too.
Ritsuka stood up from his chair.
"Well, I should probably get going."
Hina nodded.
"Of course."
Ritsuka turned toward the door.
Then Hina spoke again.
"One more thing."
Ritsuka stopped.
"Hm?"
Hina looked down at the sleeping cat for a moment before looking back at him.
"Do you have any hobbies?"
Ritsuka blinked.
"Hobbies?"
"That aren't your streams."
"Those are more of a job than a hobby."
Hina nodded.
"Then what do you do for fun?"
Ritsuka thought about it.
Then answered honestly.
"I like chess."
At that exact moment...
In Trinity.
Nagisa suddenly sneezed.
"...?"
And somewhere else in Gehenna.
Makoto sneezed too.
"...Who is talking about me?"
Neither knew why.
Back in Hina's office, Ritsuka continued.
"I like setting up the board."
Hina listened.
"I like seeing how people think."
That got her attention.
"I like finding patterns."
The cat lazily opened one eye.
"And?"
Ritsuka smiled.
The kind of smile that was a little too confident.
"I like putting traps on the board and watching my opponent walk into them by their own choice."
Silence.
Hina stared at him.
For the first time since entering the room, she looked genuinely surprised.
Not because of what he said.
But because of how he said it.
There wasn't any arrogance.
No bragging.
Just certainty.
Like someone talking about their favorite hobby.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the distance, fate was quietly taking notes.
Ritsuka continued.
"The best traps are the ones where your opponent thinks it was their idea."
Hina blinked.
Then slowly smiled.
A real smile this time.
Small.
Amused.
Dangerous.
"That's a very Gehenna answer."
Ritsuka laughed.
"I thought Gehenna's answer would be explosives."
"We have those too."
"Good to know."
Hina leaned back in her throne—
Chair.
Definitely chair.
—and folded her arms.
"Perhaps one day we should have a match."
Ritsuka raised an eyebrow.
"You play?"
"Occasionally."
The cat chose that moment to jump onto the chessboard sitting on a nearby shelf.
Ritsuka pointed.
"Your cat accepts my challenge."
"He is not my cat."
The cat immediately sat on Hina's lap again.
"..."
"..."
Ritsuka nodded.
"Sure."
Hina ignored him.
"Perhaps after you've visited the rest of Kivotos."
"Confident?"
"A little."
Ritsuka opened the door.
"Well, when that day comes, don't be surprised if I win."
Hina's smile widened slightly.
"Likewise."
As Ritsuka left the office, Hina watched the door close.
The cat curled up in her lap.
For a few moments, the room was quiet.
Then the cat meowed.
Hina looked down at him.
"...What?"
Another meow.
Hina glanced toward the door Ritsuka had just left through.
Then back at the cat.
"...I was only being polite."
The cat seemed unconvinced.
And somewhere across Kivotos, two future political headaches had absolutely no idea that a chess player had just entered the board.
Once Ritsuka was finally gone, the office door clicked shut.
Silence.
Hina waited a few seconds.
Then pressed a button hidden beneath her desk.
Immediately, the room changed.
The dramatic shadows vanished.
The ominous lighting disappeared.
The intimidating throne flickered.
The entire thing dissolved into holographic projections.
Underneath was a perfectly normal office chair.
A comfortable one, too.
The spotlight turned off.
The room lights returned to normal.
Then several doors around the office opened.
Members of the Prefect Team stepped out from hiding.
Ako emerged first.
Iori followed.
A few other Prefect members appeared as well.
The only thing that hadn't been fake was the cat.
The cat was very real.
And very asleep.
Hina immediately pointed at everyone.
"Whose idea was this?"
Nobody answered.
That told her everything.
"He figured it out in five seconds."
Silence.
"I had to lie."
More silence.
"I said the lighting malfunctioned."
Iori immediately looked away.
Ako suddenly found a report on her clipboard fascinating.
"Hina."
"No."
"Hina, hear us out."
"No."
"It sounded cool."
"No."
The room fell quiet again.
Then Hina looked down at the cat sleeping in her lap.
Her expression softened immediately.
She gently scratched behind its ears.
The cat purred.
Then Hina's eyes narrowed.
"...And who brought my cat to school today?"
Instantly, every single person in the room pointed at someone else.
Ako pointed at Iori.
Iori pointed at Ako.
Another Prefect pointed at Iori.
A second one pointed at Ako.
The cat opened one eye.
Then went back to sleep.
Hina sighed.
"You weren't supposed to know I have a cat."
Ako finally defended herself.
"In our defense, he was already in the vehicle."
"What vehicle?"
"The one bringing you to school."
"You brought him to school?"
"He looked sad."
"He's a cat."
"He looked very sad."
Hina stared at her.
Then at the cat.
Then back at Ako.
The cat chose that exact moment to roll over onto its back.
Ako pointed.
"See?"
"That proves nothing."
"He missed you."
"He's a cat."
The cat stretched toward Hina.
Hina automatically reached out to pet him.
The entire room immediately noticed.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Hina froze.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
She withdrew her hand.
Too late.
Iori smirked.
Ako looked victorious.
A few Prefect Team members were already smiling.
Hina buried her face in one hand.
"This meeting is over."
Nobody moved.
"This was not a meeting."
"It is now."
Still nobody moved.
Iori crossed her arms.
"You know, I think he liked you."
Hina blinked.
"...What?"
"The new guy."
"He was polite."
"He joked with you."
"He jokes with everyone."
"He wasn't nervous."
Hina paused.
That was actually true.
Most students were at least somewhat intimidated by her.
Ritsuka hadn't seemed intimidated at all.
Confused?
Yes.
Concerned?
Definitely.
Intimidated?
Not really.
Ako adjusted her glasses.
"He reminded me of Sensei."
Hina looked at her.
"...A little."
That earned a few nods around the room.
Not because they were similar.
They weren't.
But both had a habit of treating important people like normal people.
Which was surprisingly rare in Kivotos.
The cat meowed.
Hina scratched behind his ears again without thinking.
The room immediately noticed.
Again.
Hina noticed them noticing.
Again.
"...Out."
Nobody moved.
Hina pointed at the door.
"Out."
This time they listened.
Mostly because they were all trying not to laugh.
A few minutes later, Hina was finally alone in her office.
Just her.
And the cat.
The cat looked up at her.
Hina looked back.
Then she sighed.
"...The chair idea was stupid, wasn't it?"
The cat meowed.
"Yeah."
For once, both of them agreed.
To be continue
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