He hadn't even seen her yet — but the moment he heard that unmistakably unique way of addressing him, paired with that instantly recognizable voice and its particular cadence, the image of the other person surfaced in Shikime Natsu's mind without a second's delay.
Who else could it be but Morishita Ai, that walking broadcast signal of a beautiful girl?
What kind of bizarre roleplay game was she running this time?
The corners of Shikime Natsu's mouth curled of their own accord into a faint arc, a glimmer of amusement flickering through those pale golden eyes.
Playing along beautifully, he raised both hands above his head in a textbook gesture of surrender, and spoke with a tone that blended mild warmth with teasing ease.
"Officer Morishita, might I ask what crime I've committed? Surely I must have done something quite serious to warrant a personal arrest from you."
Morishita Ai was clutching in her hand a branch she'd apparently picked up from somewhere — one that was, by some stroke of luck, reasonably straight — clearly repurposed as a police baton of sorts.
When she saw Shikime Natsu cooperate so perfectly with her performance, even going so far as to raise his hands voluntarily, a look of distinct satisfaction bloomed across her delicate little face. She even let out a soft, self-important scoff — the kind bestowed upon a criminal who at least has the good sense to know when he's caught.
Then, with great effort, she schooled that subtly childlike face of hers into an expression of iron-faced, impartial severity. Pointing the branch at Shikime Natsu, she addressed him in a tone that suggested she had already seen through everything there was to see.
"Suspect Shikime Natsu — do not attempt to argue your way out of this. Officer Morishita witnessed the entire crime with her own eyes, just moments ago."
Morishita Ai lifted her chin slightly, a gleam of sharp intelligence flickering in those violet eyes, as she continued to deliver her verdict in that perfectly enunciated, utterly flat monotone of hers.
"Not ten minutes ago, I personally observed you entering this dark little cabin together with a girl — specifically, Horikita Suzune. And as if that weren't brazen enough, you then proceeded, with complete disregard for common decency, to cover every window with leaves until not a sliver of light could get through!"
There, Morishita Ai paused deliberately — as though granting Shikime Natsu a moment to reflect on his sins — before continuing with the air of someone delivering a deeply sorrowful verdict.
"The conclusion is self-evident. Inside this cabin, you did something quite terrible to that poor girl. To think — in broad daylight, under the open sky — that Shikime Natsu could be so utterly incapable of restraining himself, transforming wholesale into a beast ruled entirely by his baser impulses. Such degenerate conduct. Truly, deeply disappointing. Major deduction."
Listening to Morishita Ai's impassioned, righteous condemnation, the smile at the corner of Shikime Natsu's mouth only deepened.
He slowly lowered his raised hands, spreading them open in a display of absolute innocence, and replied with a laugh.
"Officer Morishita, this is a terrible injustice. I am a person of the utmost purity and complete innocence — how could I possibly have done such a thing?"
Even as he spoke, he turned to face her, letting his gaze sweep around the area near Morishita Ai. Yamamura Miki, who was practically glued to her side as a rule, was nowhere to be seen.
"Now that you mention it..."
Shikime Natsu posed the question casually.
"Yamamura-san isn't with you? And this area should be quite a distance from Class A's base camp — how exactly did Officer Morishita manage to find this place?"
Upon hearing his question, Morishita Ai did not answer immediately. Instead, she calmly and deliberately stowed away the branch she'd been using as a baton, clasping both hands behind her back.
She tilted her head upward and spoke as though the answer were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yamamura Miki is currently engaged in a separate undercover mission. As for why I am here — naturally, it is because Morishita Ai possesses a danger-sensing ability that far transcends the reach of ordinary people. Wherever a scent of danger arises on this deserted island, that is where Morishita Ai will appear. That is what makes Officer Morishita so remarkable."
Morishita Ai raised that slightly cool, faintly proud little face of hers and stared straight at Shikime Natsu — wearing the expression of someone waiting to be applauded for this declaration of "supernatural ability."
Shikime Natsu, however, simply let out a quiet laugh and pierced her pretense without mercy.
He leaned in slightly, his tone carrying a distinct undercurrent of mockery.
"So in other words — if I were to translate Officer Morishita's statement — what you're actually saying is that you quietly tailed me and followed me all the way here. That's it, isn't it?"
That single, surgically accurate observation shattered the aura of enigmatic authority Morishita Ai had worked so hard to construct.
The previously composed expression on the girl's face immediately gave way to visible displeasure. Like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on, she raised her voice a fraction in protest.
"How is it that my proud and admirable danger-sensing ability becomes 'lowly stalking' the moment it passes through Shikime Natsu's mouth? This is slander! This is blatant, naked slander! It is a desecration of Officer Morishita's very character!"
Morishita Ai fired back indignantly, those violet eyes brimming with accusatory energy, as though Shikime Natsu had committed some truly unforgivable transgression.
In the face of her bristling, Shikime Natsu maintained that unhurried, unruffled smile of his.
He even took a small step forward, closing the distance between them, and spoke in a slow, perfectly reasonable tone.
"All right, let's say for the sake of argument that Morishita Ai really does possess this so-called danger-sensing ability. Even so — as an officer who bears the responsibility of protecting the innocent, Officer Morishita is frankly quite unqualified for the role."
"How am I unqualified?"
Morishita Ai shot back, unconvinced.
"Think about it," said Shikime Natsu, extending one finger and giving it a slow, deliberate wag.
"You saw me and Horikita-san enter the cabin together. You suspected I was about to transform into a beast and assault her. And yet — you stood outside this cabin for at least ten whole minutes. For those long, drawn-out ten minutes, you watched the potential atrocity unfolding and simply did nothing — just waited calmly outside. That is a severe dereliction of duty, entirely unbefitting a righteous officer of the law. Unless... could it be that Officer Morishita was actually hoping to observe the beast in the act of feeding?"
This rapid-fire counterattack left Morishita Ai completely speechless. She could not produce a single word of rebuttal.
Those violet eyes went wide and round as she stared at the man in front of her — grinning away like some manner of fox — a profound sense of indignation welling up inside her.
Shikime Natsu was absolutely, outrageously twisting her words!
If she'd gone barging in like some oblivious fool right in the middle of whatever unmentionable thing Shikime Natsu might have been getting up to — he'd have been furious about it. That was obvious.
The truth was, Morishita Ai had been remarkably considerate and remarkably thoughtful, giving Shikime Natsu ample time to conclude whatever worldly business he had at hand.
Though... as that thought reached its conclusion, a flicker of genuine puzzlement crossed Morishita Ai's expression.
During those ten-odd minutes she'd spent waiting outside, she had kept her distance on purpose — but even so, logic dictated that if something energetic and unmentionable had truly been happening inside the cabin in that quiet environment, some kind of sound should have filtered out. And yet she hadn't heard a single thing. She'd pressed her ear right against the wall of the cabin.
Not so much as a whisper of a girl's voice. Not a hint of a struggle. Just silence — as though the cabin were completely empty. Strange, genuinely strange.
Of course, what Morishita Ai didn't know was that this was entirely because Shikime Natsu had long since activated his sound-suppression ability, perfectly sealing every noise inside the cabin from the outside world.
And beyond that — even if she had worked up the nerve to step forward and tear those leaves off the window — she wouldn't have been able to see what was actually happening inside.
Not that Morishita Ai had actually tried to tear the leaves away.
In the theater of her imagination, scenes that would put an R-rated film to shame had already played themselves out in vivid detail. Because if she really had pulled those leaves off and accidentally glimpsed some horrifying, utterly unclothed tableau — Morishita Ai felt that her pure and unblemished eyes would simply never recover.
In any case: as someone of exceptional purity, whose understanding of the wider world had been gained exclusively through books and the realms of her own imagination, Morishita Ai would absolutely never stoop to actively peering at the sordid affairs of humanity.
Shikime Natsu stood quietly in place, taking in every micro-expression that flickered across Morishita Ai's face — indignant one moment, conflicted the next, then sinking into thoughtful consideration — and found himself genuinely amused by her.
"All right, I'll stop teasing you. Did you come out here alone to forage for food or something, Morishita-san? If so, I wouldn't mind lending a hand. I can make you the undisputed master forager of this forest and send you back to Class A loaded with impressive spoils — quite the hero's return. What do you say?"
The tone Shikime Natsu used was precisely the kind an adult might use to coax a sulking child.
Which was, naturally, exactly the kind of tone that made Morishita Ai feel her dignity had been challenged — and made her even more displeased.
"Absolutely not!"
Morishita Ai rejected the offer without a moment's hesitation, her small face tilting upward.
"Morishita Ai is an individual of formidable survival capability. A low-level task like foraging for food requires no outside assistance whatsoever — and certainly not the kind of help that comes with ulterior motives, like Shikime Natsu's."
Shikime Natsu feigned a look of troubled contemplation, tapping his chin lightly with one finger, before asking again.
"If it's not food you need... then is there some other task you need my assistance with, Morishita-san? Or perhaps..."
He drew out the pause with deliberate intent, a glint of mischief dancing through those pale golden eyes, as he leaned toward her ear and murmured quietly.
"...Or perhaps Morishita Ai has no task at all, and simply wanted to be near me — to play this little roleplay game together?"
From the series of exchanges and interactions the two had just shared, it was evident they had indeed been engaged in some form of tacit, mutually understood roleplay.
But the moment those words were spoken aloud by Shikime Natsu — in that low, vaguely suggestive voice of his — Morishita Ai was struck by a sensation she couldn't quite put into words.
It just felt... incredibly slimy.
"Shikime Natsu, the grease content of what you just said has far exceeded safe levels."
"Oh my, to receive such merciless criticism from Morishita-san — that truly does wound me."
Shikime Natsu pressed a hand to his chest with a pained expression.
That said, the faint smile on his face never wavered, and his eyes were full of warmth and amusement — there was absolutely not one iota of actual hurt anywhere on his person.
Morishita Ai offered no particular reaction to this thoroughly unconvincing performance, simply watching him carry on with quiet composure.
After all, this was just how Shikime Natsu was. His shamelessness and that effortless, ever-present quality of being firmly in command of any situation — those had long since become his defining trademarks.
After spending so much time with Shikime Natsu and weathering so many rounds of sparring and being teased, Morishita Ai had, more or less, grown accustomed to his deplorable ways.
"In that case — since you don't need help finding food, and you won't admit you're here to play a game with me,"
Shikime Natsu set aside the playful act and pressed on with his question.
"What exactly is it that Morishita-san wants to do? You came all this way — surely it wasn't just to give me a verbal dressing-down?"
At that question, Morishita Ai planted both fists on her slender waist with considerable flair, then raised one hand and pointed it directly at the cabin behind Shikime Natsu, lifting her chin as she spoke.
"My demand is simple. If Shikime Natsu truly is as pure and innocent as he claims — and has nothing to hide — then he will allow Officer Morishita to personally conduct an inspection of the premises. Only after passing the scrutiny of these sharp eyes of mine can your innocence be considered proven."
The expression on Morishita Ai's face at that moment was magnificently self-assured. Her chin was raised, and those violet eyes shone with absolute certainty.
In her view, this cabin had to be harbouring some incriminating evidence of activities that could not be spoken of — and Shikime Natsu, in order to conceal it, would surely find every excuse under the sun to refuse her entry.
She had already braced herself for a fierce debate.
And yet, contrary to all expectation, Shikime Natsu did not show the slightest flicker of alarm in the face of her provocative demand. He didn't even hesitate for a single moment.
He merely smiled lightly, then stepped to the side, clearing a path, and gestured toward the interior with a gracious wave of his hand.
"Since Officer Morishita insists — please, do come in."
With that, he turned and slowly pushed open the cabin door, which had been shut tight until now.
Sunlight spilled through the opened door and spread across a section of the floorboards.
Seeing Shikime Natsu's utterly open, utterly guiltless demeanour, Morishita Ai blinked — thrown off completely.
The elaborate rebuttals she'd prepared evaporated on the spot. But since he had already opened the door, there was no reason for her to back down.
Without a word, she simply raised her chin a fraction, and with light, unhurried steps, walked directly into the little cabin that had piqued her curiosity for so long. Of course, the cabin she was sleeping in at night was also one that Shikime Natsu had built — but this particular cabin was Shikime Natsu's own, which was precisely what made it worth being curious about.
The instant she stepped inside, Morishita Ai's gaze began scanning the room in every direction.
But just as Shikime Natsu smiled and made to follow her in, Morishita Ai — barely two steps inside — suddenly spun around.
She shot out one pale, delicate little hand, extending it flat like a traffic officer signalling a halt, and held it squarely in Shikime Natsu's path as she addressed him in a tone of guarded seriousness.
"Halt. Shikime Natsu, you may enter — but as a suspect, you are required to keep that door fully open at all times. Closing it is strictly prohibited."
She kept her eyes fixed on him, wary, and continued.
"Otherwise, in this small and enclosed space, Morishita Ai would be very concerned that the moment Shikime Natsu lays eyes on me — a completely defenceless and absolutely adorable girl — he might be overcome by his baser nature, transform into a beast, and do something terrible and irreversible to me."
She said all of this with an entirely flat, unimpressed expression on her face.
Shikime Natsu simply gave an indifferent shrug in response, smiled, and offered no argument whatsoever — instead halting his steps obediently and leaving the door as it was, open.
Reassured by his compliance, Morishita Ai relaxed slightly and redirected her attention away from him, turning to examine the interior of the cabin with focused attention.
The result of her thorough survey, however, was a thorough disappointment.
In the corner, several sets of clothing were folded into a neat, tidy stack. Without even having to think about it, Morishita Ai knew they were almost certainly the spare clothes of Shikime Natsu's three famously acknowledged girlfriends — plus his own — and nothing more.
Beyond that, the room contained only a few simply constructed wooden chairs.
And then — nothing.
Most crucially: the smell.
Morishita Ai deliberately wrinkled her dainty little nose and drew in a careful, considered breath of the cabin's air.
Beyond the natural, clean fragrance of wood and the warmth of sunlight drifting in from outside, the air carried absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
Wait a moment...
As an extensively well-read girl of the broadcast-signal variety, Morishita Ai had no firsthand experience with that sort of heart-pounding, face-flushing territory in real life — but through the assorted light novels she'd consumed and certain... specific categories of manga, she had acquired a modest degree of theoretical knowledge.
She knew very well that once a man and a woman engaged in certain unmentionable, energetic activities within a sealed space, the air would inevitably become tinged with a particular, lingering sort of scent — a mingling of perspiration and a very specific kind of hormone.
But in this cabin, after the most thorough olfactory investigation Officer Morishita was capable of conducting, she could state with one hundred percent certainty: there was no unusual scent whatsoever.
The air was as fresh as though nothing had happened at all.
Therefore, through this rigorous on-site investigation, there was only one conclusion to be drawn: during those ten-odd minutes she had kept watch outside, Shikime Natsu and Horikita Suzune had truly done nothing inside the cabin.
And yet... reaching that conclusion only left Morishita Ai with an even larger question.
Wasn't that a bit too strange?
A man and a woman, alone together in a room — and if nothing happened, then what on earth had been the point of going to all the trouble of covering every window with leaves? That kind of suspicious behaviour that only drew more attention to itself made no logical sense whatsoever.
Unless... they'd been exchanging some kind of top-secret intelligence that no one else could be allowed to hear?
For instance — discussing which class's hidden keycard leader was which, in the context of the deserted island special exam?
If it was the kind of critical secret that bore directly on class points and the outcome of the exam, then yes, an absolutely secure environment would be necessary for any such discussion.
But before that thought could take root, Morishita Ai shook her head and discarded it without mercy.
If anything, Shikime Natsu going to such elaborate lengths to uncover which class's leader was who seemed far less likely than Shikime Natsu simply caring about which pretty girl he got to spend time with today, and how best to make her happy.
After everything she had witnessed in the time she'd spent around him, Morishita Ai felt she had at least arrived at a modest, partial understanding of who Shikime Natsu was as a person.
And it was precisely while Morishita Ai stood with her back to the doorway, her mind whirring at full speed as she tried to piece together the truth of those ten-odd minutes — that it happened.
Thud!
A dull, heavy sound rang out from directly behind her.
The door — the very door she had demanded be kept open — had been slammed shut in an instant.
In one fell swoop, every last trace of light that had been filtering into the cabin was cut off completely.
The entire space plunged into darkness. It was a bright, sunny morning outside — and yet, sealed inside this cabin, it was black as the dead of night. Only the faintest, threadlike slivers of light crept in through the gaps between the leaves, just barely enough to make out the outlines of objects.
The sudden darkness sent Morishita Ai's heart lurching violently in her chest.
Those elegantly arched brows drew together, and a sense of creeping foreboding rose within her.
She had warned him — sternly, explicitly — not to close that door. How had it come to this so quickly, before the echo of her own words had even had time to fade?
Morishita Ai turned her head, peering through the dim, faint illumination of the darkened cabin toward the figure standing by the door.
Those violet eyes — usually carrying such composed steadiness — were now filled with confusion and the first tremors of unease.
As her vision adjusted to the dark, she could see the figure ahead of her move.
Shikime Natsu said nothing. He simply extended those long legs of his, and with the softest, most measured footsteps — one step, two steps — closed the distance between them by several paces.
The cabin was already small to begin with. Those few steps were enough to pull them dramatically close.
He was too close.
Close enough that Morishita Ai could actually feel the warmth radiating from his body. Close enough that they were practically face to face — close enough that if he leaned forward just the tiniest fraction, their breath would intertwine.
For the first time, the expression on Morishita Ai's usually unruffled face cracked, a wave of flustered panic breaking through the surface.
Thump... thump... thump... thump...
In the silence of the cabin, she could hear — with startling, humiliating clarity — the sound of her own heartbeat accelerating, growing louder and louder, as though it might leap straight up her throat.
A kind of tension she had never experienced before swept through her entire body in an instant, and a fierce, burning flush spread unbidden across that fair little face of hers, vivid and betraying.
This was the first time — truly, the first time — she had ever been this physically close to a boy in a completely sealed, completely dark space.
All of that imperious officer's authority she'd been putting on moments ago crumbled to nothing under the crushing pressure of Shikime Natsu standing this close.
Her gaze, too, could no longer sustain the bold, scrutinising directness from before. She let her eyes drift subtly to the side, long lashes trembling, as a means of concealing the storm of embarrassment and helpless confusion currently turning her insides completely upside down.
Had Shikime Natsu actually gone and turned into a beast?
____
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