X-ray Is More Than I Thought - Chapter 146

When we left the house, Tamamushi sent me two insects.

The reason is to counteract the barrier.

After the last incident, I found out that my “eyes” can see through barriers. However, I was told that barrier was originally something that was almost impossible to see. Even Tamamushi, who possesses barrier techniques, can only “feel” them.

It would be troublesome in many ways if we were to unknowingly enter the barriers. In addition, as in the previous case, if Marina’s “transmission” is blocked, there will be no way to contact her.

That’s why she sent the insect.

It’s impossible for anyone but me to see the barriers. But if we could get inside the barriers, Tamamushi would be able to know.

By sending the insects ahead of us, if we enter the barriers, Tamamushi will be able to detect them. Even if the insect can’t get out of the barrier, we can tell Marina about it, and she can use her “Denshin” to warn us before we get trapped in the barrier.

The problem is Asahina and Hizuki, since Rikka will never leave me.

The insect was sent in as an insurance policy to prevent the two idiots from being trapped in the barriers if they got separated from me.

“Asahina-san, you seem to have a low IQ, don’t you?”

Hugging my arm, Hizuki, who was walking down the street at night, called out to Asahina, who was walking next to me.

With a very smug look on her face.

Rikka, who is walking in the lead while keeping an eye on her surroundings, let out a sigh as she looked at Hizuki with glazed eyes.

Asahina was made fun of, but she didn’t seem particularly angry and stared straight ahead as she walked.

“Asahina-san, you don’t seem very smart to look at, do you?”

Hizuki, who looked miffed at being ignored by Asahina, giggled as she made fun of Asahina.

“I thought you might not understand IQ, so I took the trouble to reiterate that you look stupid. You should be grateful for my kindness, right?”

Hizuki proudly explained how much she was mocking Asahina. However, instead of getting angry, she puffed up at Hizuki.

“You-idiot!”

Hizuki’s eyes widened and she frankly made fun of Asahina.

She told Asahina that she seemed to have a low IQ, but you seem to have a low IQ too, Hizuki.

Rikka, who had been staring at Hizuki, looked at me apologetically and bowed her head.

Don’t worry about it, Rikka, it’s not your fault.

However, I knew it, but oh dear. It’s hard to believe that these guys will listen to me, even if I’m planning a lot of countermeasures.

I don’t know what will happen when we encounter the enemy.

Well, this time there’s not much danger, so I’m sure they’ll be fine.

But still, Asahina is too quiet. No matter how much Hizuki agitated her, she didn’t react at all.

At the moment, I’m activating my ability just in case. This is why I can “see” into Asahina’s mind, but she doesn’t seem to be thinking about anything in particular.

However, my ability is only able to look into the surface of her mind. I don’t know what she’s thinking deep down inside.

As I was thinking about this, Asahina stopped for a moment. And then she looked at me sideways.

Hizuki, who was trembling with fear, hugged my arm tightly and grinned as sweat ran down her cheeks.

“Fufu, you were so pissed off that you said I was an idiot, so――”

“Did you say Alice?”

As if to interrupt Hizuki’s words, Asahina mutters to herself, completely ignoring Hizuki.

Hizuki’s face turned red and she puffed out his cheeks, as if she was expecting someone to finally take her seriously after all the agitation.

“Oh. I heard that they took Yukina in after her parents passed away.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t know that Yukina’s parents had passed away, did you?”

“Yes. Yukina talked about them sometimes, but she always seemed to be happy.”

“I see.”

They always seemed to be happy, huh?

I guess she never told anyone that her parents had passed away.

By the way, Yukina was very fond of my mother.

She asked if she could call her “Ka-chan” and laughed.

“I don’t know if that has anything to do with it.”

“Oh?”

“I just remembered something Yukina said.”

“What is it?”

“She said that she was growing her hair long and wearing women’s clothes because that’s what her mother wanted her to do.”

“Her mother?”

“Yeah. No matter how much her mother told her to, Yukina thought it was strange that she was growing her hair out like a girl and wearing women’s clothing…….”

As I listened to Asahina’s words, I thought for sure.

She was born a woman, but her heart is a man. Moreover, her character is a boy himself, energetic and strong.

It’s strange to see such a Yukina’s hair long and braided, and wearing a school uniform for girls.

However, Yukina is a student of the prestigious Kuroyuri Girls’ School.

If she violated the school rules, she would be blamed, and it is possible that Yukina reluctantly agreed to do so after many clashes with the school.

But that doesn’t explain why she’s letting her hair grow.

There is no school rule that says girls can’t keep their hair short.

“Maybe it’s a will…….”

Asahina muttered to herself.

“I think her mother told her repeatedly before she died. She wanted her to be more like a girl. But Yukina was rebelling. She insisted that she was a man. But……”

“Her parents are dead”

“Yes. Maybe she lost them and regretted it. So……”

“She took her mother’s words as her last will and testament, so she wouldn’t betray her feelings.”

“Maybe so. I didn’t hear it from her, so it may be wrong.”

“Nope”

I think that Asahina’s prediction is correct.

Yukina was always cheerful and happy. She never complains about anything, and even though she is small, she is very determined. And she yearned to be a hero. A hero who helps the weak and frustrates the strong.

Her deceased parents were involved in a protection organization. Tamamushi told me that the organization was established to protect and save people who were born with unique abilities or those who were called subhumans. However, as of now, it is corrupt inside.

Why did Yukina’s parents die? Whether they died at the same time or separately, Yukina’s parents may have been on the side of the General.

The General’s power is now fading away. But I don’t think it was always that way from the beginning.

There is a possibility that the opposing faction joined forces with Kudan’s organization and gradually gained power, and in the process, Yukina’s parents were erased.

It would make sense that Alice took Yukina in because she was on the side of the general.

I don’t know what kind of family environment Yukina had, but for her, her dead parents might have been heroes.

Maybe that’s why Yukina yearns to be a hero, and why she’s trying so hard to follow what her mother always said.

“It is said that the person who seems to have no worries is the one who is carrying a huge burden.”

“I guess so.”

Asahina smiled at my muttering.

Yukina was the first to rush to my aid when I fought Hizuki.

There’s a reason she’s so strong.

“……Fu”

Hugging my arm, Hizuki sniffed at me with a frown.

After being ignored by Asahina for a long time, she was unable to join in the conversation and seemed to have lost her temper.

When Rikka saw Hizuki, she let out a sigh of relief and looked at me with an apologetic expression.

It would have been better if she had been quiet, but I’m sure she would have taken it to heart. And I have a feeling that she will do something unnecessary when the time is right.

Maybe I should have left Hizuki behind.

After about thirty minutes of walking through the night streets, we arrived in front of a huge building.

It was past midnight, but the lights were shining on the signboard and lights were leaking from the windows of the building.

Asahina General Hospital.

That’s what it said on the illuminated sign.

I had never been to this hospital before, but I knew of its existence. It’s the biggest hospital in the neighborhood, after all. And I had no idea that Asahina was a relative of the owner of the hospital.

She denies that she is a lady, but no matter how you look at it, she is a lady.

That being said――

“Isn’t your home in another place?”

I asked Asahina, who was standing next to me.

“My uncle has a separate home. But my sisters and I are living in a rented room in the hospital.”

“Really?”

So, you didn’t live with your uncle and his wife?

Well, there must be a lot of reasons.

I’m not interested, so I won’t ask.

“I’m going to go by myself, since there are few people around at night.”

Then Asahina started walking.

“Wait a minute.”

She stopped and turned around.

“It’s okay to protect your sister. But how are you going to explain that to your uncle? And even though he’s not in Japan, you still have a father.”

Asahina chuckled at my question.

“If I keep staying out without permission, they won’t even worry about me. That’s the answer.”

Asahina replied, turning on her heel and strolling to the hospital.

Well, I mean, what the heck.

You’ve got a lot going on.

“Maybe you and I are …… similar”

Hizuki, who is hugging my arm, muttered somewhat sadly as she stared at Asahina’s back as she moved away.

Hizuki seems to be more of a young lady than Asahina, but because of the unusual power she was born with, she seems to have been left with nothing but her money and sent away in distress.

――They don’t even worry about her when she keeps staying out without permission.

There may have been something that she felt when she heard Asahina’s words.

After about fifteen minutes, Asahina came back. But Lolihina was nowhere to be found.

Maybe she couldn’t take her out, or maybe she just couldn’t find her at …….

“She wasn’t there.”

Asahina stopped in front of me, put her hands on her hips and raised her voice.

“At this hour?”

“Yes, that’s right. She’s not here at this hour.”

“Is she at your uncle’s?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Asahina firmly denied my question.

“It’s not important, but my sisters and I are not blood related to our mother.”

“What?”

“Our real mother is our uncle’s wife, our aunt.”

“That’s…….”

“Oh, she’s not that unfaithful. It’s mutual consent.”

Consensual.

Asahina was slurring her words, but I could almost understand her.

That was the reason why Asahina was not living with her uncle and his wife.

“My mother could not have children. And neither could my uncle. So after some discussion, my father and aunt decided to have a child. My father took in the first child, and my uncle took in the second. However, my mother avoided me and my uncle avoided Yui. In the end, it didn’t work out and we sisters were left alone in the world.”

Asahina then let out a boring sigh.

It’s a bit of a pain in the ass, isn’t it?

“I think the only place she can go is to Yukina’s place.”

“Hey, hey, hey…….”

I don’t know where Yukina is, so I guess I was going to have Loli Hina show me where she is. But the important thing is that Loli Hina is not here.

――I thought that might happen!

Suddenly, Marina’s voice echoed in my brain.

――Because when you rely on Asahina-san, you’re making a mistake! It would be best if I asked Alice, but that’s not possible yet, so I asked Tamamushi to look up Yukina’s address!

Oh, really? You’re really good. And you even called Asahina incompetent.

――I’ve had hacked into the Kuroyuri Academy database, and the address is the dormitory of Kuroyuri Academy.

A dormitory?

――Yes. It seems to be on the grounds of Kuroyuri Gakuen. Tamamushi-chan has already sent the insects flying.

Hey, the team of kids who can do it if they try is great. The team of kids who can’t do it even if they try is just as miserable. (*Marina : Asahina x Hizuki)

――I’ll call you when the insects arrive, so can you head over to Kuroyuri Academy for now?

All right. Please take care of it.

When I told Marina that, the communication was cut off.

I’m sure she’s very busy, but she took care of me.

Well, just because I can’t hear her voice, I’m sure Marina knows what’s going on over here.

“I’ve got information. We’re heading to Kuroyuri Academy now.”

I called out to the two kids who couldn’t do it even if they tried, and decided to head to Kuroyuri Gakuen right away.

If Loli Hina was at Yukina’s place, we could protect them both together, which was convenient for us.

But Alice and Yukina were connected, and when I tried to contact Loli Hina to protect Yukina, she was not there.

The man Nanafushi killed was targeting a beastman who was a student at Kuroyuri Academy.

There is a beastman who could be a relative of Rikka.

If the value was high, there might be other guys working to capture the beastman.

If so, the timing would be perfect.

If there had been even a slight delay, Yukina and Loli Hina might have been eliminated.

But…….

I glanced behind me as I walked quickly.

Asahina is walking facing the front, and Hizuki is walking with her elbow against Asahina on purpose.

Rikka was the only one with a decent fighting chance. Asahina can be used as a wall of flesh, but Hizuki is just a liability.

Well, we’ll manage it, I guess. (TinyTL Kanaa-senpai)

<> – ToC – Next >

Edited by Kanaa-senpai.

Thanks for reading…