K – Seven Stories - Chapter 13

The first installment for Lost Small World. The original text is provided by .

K ~ Seven Stories: 24 Pieces
Piece 13: Fushimi Saruhiko (After Lost)
by Kabei Yukako

“When I was a first year in middle school, Jungle became a fad all of a sudden. Everyone in my class had that app installed before I even knew it. Hey~, hey~, say, Fushimi-san, how was it in your middle school?” Doumyouji inquired innocently while sipping tea in the break room.

A vein in Fushimi’s temple twitched. ‘Even if we’re the same age, you can’t be addressing your superior officer with ‘hey~ hey~ say~’, you dumbass…’ he seethed internally, apparently blind to his own attitude towards Munakata. Only, right now, he really didn’t have time to be pissed over every little thing Doumyouji said or did, so, heaving a sigh, he opted to reply reluctantly.

“It was more or less the same. Before anyone knew, that app had low-key infiltrated middle schoolers’ communicative environment… thanks to the fear of being left out and alienated from their peers, the number of users grew exponentially.”

Since sending Mishakuji Yukari to break into Mihashira Tower as their vanguard, Jungle that had been hiding until then had actively started doing as they pleased out in the open. Scepter 4, as an organization responsible for maintenance of public order, had been forced to be on duty 24/7 in order to contain Jungle.

In the spare moment when he briefly returned to the HQ to take a bath, Fushimi ran into several members of the Special ops squad in the break room.

“Did you use it, too, Fushimi-san? Luckily, I myself inadvertently avoided it, my use of PDA being limited due to how strict my family is and all that.”
“Having grown up in such a strict house, how come you turned out like that…?” Benzai stared at Doumyouji with utter perplexity written all over his face.
“When I was doing rounds yesterday, I ran into Yatagarasu and we talked a bit. Turns out he, too, used the Jungle app for a short while in middle school. Fushimi-san, you and Yatagarasu went to the same middle school, right?”
“Hey, Doumyouji! Think a little before you talk, will you!” Akiyama made an attempt to get Doumyouji, who tended to blurt things out without thinking, under control, then glanced at Fushimi to check his reaction.

A little bit of browsing through the two’s personal history that Scepter 4 was in charge of managing, along with that of other supernatural power holders, was all it would take to compare facts. As such, denial would only make the lie obvious, so Fushimi clicked his tongue before confirming, “Well, yeah”.

‘Saruhiko, you’re so awesome!!!’ a voice bubbling with energy to the point of bursting reverberated through his mind.

It just means that before crossing that line, our world was so tiny that I looked ‘awesome’ to you, is all…

Pushing back the momentous self-derision, Fushimi took the uniform jacket.

“There’s no time to be leisurely drinking tea. We’re dispatching.”