Chapter 10: Soya Misaki
The next morning. Despite the incident just yesterday where a whole section of the school building blew up, it was business as usual at the School for Exorcists. It was partly because the commotion had been quickly settled without any injuries and partly because the people at the school had a strong tolerance for paranormal disasters.
In class D however, there was an unusual, dangerous atmosphere before the start of the class.
Mainly around my desk.
"Furuya Haruhisa. Speak honestly."
Karasuma slammed her hands on my desk with a bam!
"After running away from the berserk shikigami yesterday, did anything happen between you and Miss Misaki Soya?"
"……eh? Nothing happened, though? Why?"
I responded to Karasuma’s questioning with my heart pounding.
I couldn’t help but touch my bracelets and their crucifixes I had rewound around my wrists immediately after returning to the dorms yesterday.
"Well, you see, when we returned to the scene of the incident yesterday with the teacher, the shikigami had somehow disappeared and you left saying that you had a stomachache and never came back. Furthermore, Miss Misaki Soya was oddly eager to know more about you… things like your name, your exorcism grades. She didn’t ask any more questions though after I told her that you were the lowest-ranked trash in the school’s history."
I was relieved. Although they were suspicious of my relationship with Soya, it seemed like Soya Misaki hadn’t leaked any information related to my ability.
Soya seemed to have lost interest in me as soon as Karasuma and the others told her about my grades. She must have decided that what happened yesterday was a misunderstanding.
Now all I had to do was keep Karasuma at a reasonable distance and I would be fine.
I calmly told Karasuma,
"Maybe Soya was worried that I was injured because I was the only one who didn’t return to the scene of the incident?"
"…hmm. That certainly seems to make sense, maybe that’s how it was. But other than that, is there any other reason for Miss Soya Misaki to be concerned about a dimwit like you?"
…first trash and now dimwit, I don’t want to be called these names by Karasuma of all people.
As I looked at Karasuma in protest, the guys who appeared to be listening in on our conversation began speaking in relieved voices.
"Well, if that’s the case then I suppose it’s fine. We were being too paranoid."
I mean, it was already unfair how you got to be Kuzunoha-sama’s slave. If something were to happen with Misaki-chan too… class D was going to get one new corpse."
Eh…? Th-there’s seems to be a misunderstanding?
I was only concerned about whether or not my abilities would be revealed and had no idea that a more immediate danger was looming.
"…Well, she’s certainly a cute girl, that’s for sure."
Remembering how uncharacteristically smitten I had been, I stated so honestly.
"There’s nothing cute about it!"
Karasuma began shouting excitedly.
"A cute baby face that stimulates my sadism, a bust that would look wonderful tied up in bondage! Fufufu, although I was feeling down yesterday after getting scolded by the teacher, just one look at her face was enough to make me feel like I could eat three bowls of rice!"
This fellow could also be classified as a beauty if it weren’t for this.
"Misaki-chan is actually quite popular, you know."
Perhaps spurred on by Karasuma, the guys also started talking about the girl named Soya Misaki.
"Although she’s famous for having too much energy sometimes, like yesterday’s shikigami incident, it also makes her easy to get along with. For better or worse, it’s hard to believe that she’s from the Soya family, which is on the same level as the Kuzunoha family…"
"With her looks and bright personality, it would be stranger if she wasn’t popular."
The way the guys spoke was strangely passionate, though not as passionate as Karasuma.
I couldn’t help but ask, "She’s that popular?", to which the guys nodded their heads repeatedly.
"Although I’m sure Kuzunoha-sama also has a lot of secret admirers, Misaki-chan is the type of girl who gets confessed to all the time. Counting just this school alone, numerous people have confessed to her."
I wonder what kind of connections he had, he spoke as if he knew the exact number of people.
Although I had only heard a few rumors, there was apparently an incredibly popular person in my grade.
"But it would be weird if that were the case."
After listening to their impassioned speeches, I suddenly had a question.
"She’s so popular and furthermore, in class B. Why hasn’t she been able to find a team?"
Yesterday’s fiasco happened because she tried to promote herself to the students of class S.
That meant that she hasn’t teamed up with anyone yet.
"Although they’re just rumors, I’ve heard that Miss Soya Misaki has unusually high requirements for her teammates.."
Karasuma spoke with a knowing look on her face.
"Pride from being the daughter of a prominent family… couldn’t be the reason since it doesn’t fit her personality, but for some reason, she’s always negotiating with students from class A and class S."
"You seem quite knowledgeable regarding this matter, yet you haven’t tried inviting Soya to team up with you?"
She tried making a move on a girl from class B the other day and got rejected, so knowing her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried laying her hands on Soya as well.
"I was going to invite her after I’d managed to grasp her weakness and laid the groundwork needed to be able to do with her as I liked, but it’s been difficult for me to find the right timing…"
What a scumbag.
"I didn’t know it was possible for someone from class B to be that popular yet still fail to find a team."
Although impolite, I didn’t think it would be difficult to find a team that would be willing to accept a reduction in their team’s overall strength in exchange for getting such a cute girl.
As expected of such a prestigious school. I wondered if there were really no ulterior motives at all in the team selection.
As I was feeling some admiration for the school’s high-ranking students whose faces I didn’t know,
"…Well, in a way, Misaki-chan is much scarier than Kuzunoha-sama."
"Yeah. Teaming up means that you’re going to have to see each other every day… the more serious someone is about liking Misaki, the more hesitant they’ll be."
The guys began saying some rather ambiguous things with gloomy looks on their faces.
That girl was scarier than Kaede who was known as the liquid nitrogen woman and said to have a heart of stone?
The more you liked her, the more hesitant you would be about being together with her on a team?
"What the hell are you guys talking about?"
Karasuma didn’t seem to understand what the guys were saying either and asked the exact same question I had in my mind.
"Ah, no, it’s nothing you to need worry about."
"It’s unrelated to you after all."
…What the hell. Don’t leave me out. I’m going to feel lonely.
After that, Karasuma and I pestered them to tell us what was so terrifying about Soya but the guys stubbornly refused to talk.
However, on this day, I found out.
Why Soya Misaki, who was said to be popular with boys, was feared on the same level as Kaede.