Ephemeral Ability Reflects the Heart

「Oh」

Kamishiro moved.

His right foot shook the air in the training area, and in a breath the distance between them is reduced to zero. He jumps into Maria's grasp, puts all the energy of his move into his fist, and slams it into Maria's upper body.

Immediately, both of them are blown away at the same time.

Like magnets repelling each other, they go in opposite directions. Maria hits her back and rolls around, while Kamishiro is knocked down so hard he can't move.

And now, silence descend.

Chihiro knew at once that they are both breathing.

No danger of death. Now it's just a matter of who will get up first.

Whoever stood first would be the winner, everyone naturally knew.

Five seconds. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds... thirty seconds.

Another ten or so seconds passed, and just when it looked like it's a draw...

「Kuh...」

Kamishiro moved.

He moved his hand as if to search the floor, and raised himself up halfway with a strong effort.

He exhaled, got to his feet and stood up. The damage is so severe that he staggers instantly, though he is still in a battered state.

Maria, however, did not move.

She looks up at the ceiling and places her right hand on her chest, breathing slowly.

「Thank you. Thank you for sticking with me until the end」

Kamishiro walks up to Maria and smiles. But he doesn't extend his hand, perhaps out of consideration for Maria's immobility.

Maria looked up at him and immediately shook her head.

「No... No... you're the one who did all this just for training」

Hearing this, Kamishiro narrowed his eyes.

「Because it's training. If I don't work hard here, I won't be able to work hard in a real battle」

At that, a cheer went up from the gallery.

Both Kamishiro and Maria are given equal praise. As they are both first-year students and members of the same [Lost Item] team, they should all be rivals, but after such a great battle, everyone can't help but honestly admire them.

Chihiro also marveled at the way they fought.

Despite the overwhelming physical inferiority of the two, they fought almost evenly. Kamishiro overturned his own words to Maria in the dodgeball match by his own power.

It's an exceptional fight.

「Are you okay, Fukami-san?」

Aika is the first to run up to Maria. She is about to use her powers to treat her, but Maria stopped her with a shake of her head.

「I can heal myself, so if you want to heal, you should heal Kamishiro-kun」

「Yeah? Are you sure you're okay?」

「I'm fine. Don't worry」

Aika nodded her head and ran to Kamishiro.

Kamishiro, who had no ability to heal wounds, accepted Aika's ability and began to receive first aid. It would be difficult for him to walk to the school doctor on his own in his current condition, and it would certainly be a necessary measure.

Kamishiro noticed Chihiro's gaze and turned around.

He smiled and quickly returned his gaze, but when their eyes met for a moment, Chihiro tilted his head at Kamishiro's emotion.

... It's like a burning feeling in the chest?

It's not like Maria's sexual desire, it's more pure.

So, is it a romantic feeling?

Chihiro isn't the one, of course, but the one who's by his side right now, naturally.

「Takatsuki-san?」

If he looks at Kamishiro's face, he seems to be blushing slightly.

Isn't that surprising? A beautiful man and a beautiful woman, good people who look good together. However, he does not know how much Aika is interested in him.

Then the teacher's voice said.

「Since it's been quite a while and some of you can't move right away, there will be a homeroom meeting here today. I've already contacted your homeroom teacher, please wait for it」

The commotion did not stop until the homeroom teacher arrived, and the day is dismissed after the HR session at the training ground.

Then, looking at Kamishiro as a hero, Chihiro got dressed and left the changing room.

By the way, he wonders what happened to Maria.

When Chihiro went to change, she was still in the training room, leaning her back against the wall in the corner. She was surrounded by the girls of the class, so she didn't seem to be able to move right away.

But, when he went to check on her again, he found that she is still there.

It seemed that her classmates had already gone to change their clothes, and Maria is the only one left. She must have been very tired and damaged by the fight with Kamishiro.

「Izumi-kun」

「You want me to do the shopping?」

Chihiro asked her smiling, and she shook her head in disapproval.

「I told you not to, didn't I? Rather, do the shopping as planned. No, I'd be more excited if you told me to go by myself」

「Isn't that too much?」

Well, Chihiro may not have the right to say that.

Unfortunately, Chihiro is not yet ready to do such a thing when she's not in the throes of excitement.

And so, he exhaled.

「Well, I'll wait for you to calm down」

「Thanks. You can stay in the classroom or on the roof」

「Okay. Take it easy」

Maria gave him a puzzled look.

「You're really, really weird」

「...I guess so」

Chihiro left the place without complaining, though he is a little disappointed.

On the way to the store, he bought a pack of juice from a vending machine and drank it slowly. When he returned to the classroom, he found that Maria had not yet arrived, but there are very few students left in the classroom.

Most of the students must have left the school by now.

He sits down in his seat and arranges his belongings. Then, after finishing his work, he fell asleep on his desk because he felt a little uncomfortable.

Eventually, he really dozed off, and in the midst of his slumber, Chihiro heard a noise.