Aura: Koga Maryuin’s Final Battle

My prediction hit the mark and it was a huge ruckus.
The second period was run by a math teacher who carried the thought process of, “Before being a single human being, a student is but a single minor to be corralled”. Naturally, he wouldn’t permit a student’s cosplay.
“What’s with that appearance!? Satou, oy, Satou!”
“Y-yes sir!”
“Not you, the girl one!”
“……”
“Don’t ignore me! What’s with that attitude! Are you looking down on me or the field of mathematics!?”
“S-sensei, there’s a deep reason to this!”
“Satou, you shut up! You teacher’s talking to Satou!”
“Umm, this was our homeroom teacher’s idea and…!”
“R-really? Dorisen-kun’s?”
Even his fellow teachers call him that?
“… I see… then let’s continue the lesson. Umm, how far did we get yesterday?”
What amazing authority! Just who was Dorisen supposed to be?
While the reason was anyone’s best guess, I managed to safely clear the class.
Ryouko was stooped over to an unnatural extent, gazing at the textbook as if chowing down on it (thanks to that, I wasn’t able to read it). Why was it that every little thing she attempted came off as downright suspicious behavior? It wasn’t only once or twice that I felt compelled to slam her face into the book with all my might. She should be thanking my generosity.
While I wouldn’t call it compensation for my endurance, I got to speak my mind to the girl.
During break time, before the students from the other classes had come out, I pulled Ryouko into the hallway first thing. The stairs Leading from the third floor to the roof, people rarely ever ventured to its landing. I had her apprehended.
“Stop acting like no one else can see you.”
“There is no acting, only fact.”
“Fine, you can be like that with our classmates. I doubt they’ll give you the time of day either. But at least interact with the teachers. I’m begging you.”
“If the concealment barrier is dispelled, the informational body lingering in the school currently in day-sleep may experience an unwanted awakening. An informational body is highly susceptible to a Researcher who boasts the same magic wavelength—”
“Okay, cheers to a splendid setting! Now won’t you bend the rules a bit and talk to just the teachers? Please?”
“The Researcher is unable to take any action that will harm the search for the Dragon Terminal.”
“Do you not have the functionality to remove a specified target from the scope of your spellcraft?”
“That is possible.”
“Then if you don’t do that, I’m not helping out with your search. Will that be enough for my side of the negotiations?”
“… Understood. The teachers will be removed from the targets of the ritual.”
“Listen close, keep your interactions set to soft. If anyone starts nagging you on your uniform, just say I’m sorry, my mistake. I’ll handle it after that. Also, let’s see, next is…”
Ryouko was beginning to fidget.
“What’s wrong?”
“……”
“… You’re a strange girl, you know that? Hey, so about when we go outside, I’d like to avoid places where that appearance will draw attention. I understand that invisible setting of yours, but how about a disguise or something? You can put a little more thought into it. I’ve been thinking, but if we’re searching, isn’t it better if we split up to search…?”
Looking left and right, rubbing the top of her foot against her calf, as if she couldn’t settle down.
“… That’s about it for now. It’s about time we returned to the classroom.”
There was around a minute of break left. The hints of idle chatter in the halls fading out, we could likely get back to class without any strange looks.
As I climbed down the stairs, Ryouko made off in a different direction (The hall of classmates was stuck onto a shorter hallway with club rooms and such, making the entire building into an L shape).
“Hey now, where are you going?”
I grabbed her wrist to stop her.
“… To search.”
“Not on my watch. Class isn’t over yet.”
I pulled her towards the classroom, but for some reason the resistance was harsher this time.
“Don’t struggle!”
“U-uurgh… nguh, gah.”
The usual mechanical character Ryouko was becoming like a wild animal.
“What’s with you, adding something new to your story? Tacking stuff on after the fact is the most embarrassing thing you can do.”
“Nom.”
She bit my finger.
“Ouch!”
Now free, Ryouko briskly bounded into the women’s’ restroom.
… Oh, I see.
A while after the bell had rung. Ryouko exited the bathroom with an air of composure.
“Investigation Result: The Dragon Terminal is not in the Girls’ Restroom.”
“I won’t say anything about it. ‘n wait, if you need to go, just tell me.”
“The Researcher is always demanding for Ichirou to participate in the investigation. A reaction beyond your means was directed this time, so as an exceptional measure, The Researcher looked into it on her own.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it, so go wash your hands.”
I pushed her back into the bathroom. She later came out wiping her hands on her robe. Did she have no love for her cosplay?
“You should at least equip a handkerchief in that multipurpose something of yours.”
“Memory indicates we were to return to the classroom. Has the mission been canceled?”
“… No, we’re returning.”
Ryouko held out her hand.
“You want me to lead you by the hand? As long as you don’t run away, I don’t particularly see any need…”
A cold, wet hand— its delicate make stole my eyes. A feebleness I could even call abnormal. While it shouldn’t have been strange for me to retort, “Who wants to hold your hand?” I didn’t want to select an adverse response.
“… You’ve got small hands… they must have gotten the scale wrong.”
She was short and her face was small. She was small-built all around.
“It’s kinda like in a 1:100 scale model, you were the only part cast in 1:144. Are you feeling alright? Eating properly?”
“A small build is advantageous to investigative work.”
And yet her eyes alone were normal size, making it so her facial features overly emphasized her pupils. The conditions for a beauty that draws looks might be surprisingly unbalanced.
“Make a fake smile, and you’d stand out even without the cosplay, you know?”
“Apology. The Researcher was unable to pick up that last remark.”
“… Nah. Nothing. We’re late, but let’s get back to the classroom.”
Her reason wasn’t that she wanted to stand out. She was different from the folks in class.
For that alone, well, I wouldn’t mind giving her credit.