Chapter 44: It Might Just Be My Imagination?
A fractured sternum, bruises all over my body, damage to some internal organs.
After going head-to-head with the boob ripping woman, I received serious injuries that should have taken several months for me to fully recover from.
However, for some reason, there was little pain in my body when I woke up in my hospital bed. The doctor even told me that I would be almost completely healed after a few days in the hospital.
In addition to hearing that my team had gained the achievement of exorcising a sixth-rank, I also heard that Soya had asked her parents to help me in various ways, such as bringing in for me a skilled healer. I even got a luxurious hospital room all to myself.
Maybe it was because I had been asleep for two days due to the side effect of my body’s unusually fast healing, but my battle with the boob ripping woman still felt surreal.
However, that feeling immediately went away when I looked at my phone which I had left unattended for the past two days,
"Hey, Furuya! Is it true that you sexually harassed a sixth-ranked monster and got your ass whipped?"
"I heard you were hospitalized for pinching a monster’s nipples! Since you’re already at the hospital, why don’t you get your head examined as well!?"
"You just used exorcism as an excuse to sexually harass a girl, didn’t you!"
"Is it true that you’ve been expelled from school on suspicion of committing indecent assault? For your farewell party, would you like to do ropeless bungee jumping or be burned at a stake?"
"It was a pleasure seeing her magnificent ahegao directly. I was deeply moved. A very touching orgasm. Ah, right. When you wake up, I would appreciate it if you could message me a summary of how Miss Nagumo Mitsumi’s nipples felt in 1,000 words or less."
There seemed to be rumors based on bits and pieces of the truth spreading about the exorcism I had performed on Nagumo. My mailbox was full of messages from the idiots in class D.
It was too much trouble to write out a refutation for each message so I decided to just forget about them. However, all of Karasuma’s messages needed to be deleted immediately. What touching orgasm? I’ll kill you.
"…ugh, I don’t want to be discharged from here."
I felt sorry for Soya who had even prepared a skilled healer for me but the thought of having to return to school in just a few days was depressing. If possible, I wanted to stay in the hospital for a while longer.
There was nothing I could do about the professional exorcists who had witnessed my climax exorcism firsthand. Instead, I was wracking my brains over how I was going to gloss over the entire incident when I met the guys at school who had misunderstood things based on fragmented information.
Knock Knock.
Two knocks came from the door to my hospital room.
Oh right, the ban on visits was being lifted this afternoon.
Soya even sent me a message about it in advance… I had been so distracted by the large number of stupid messages that I almost forgot. After telling the visitor that it was okay to come in, the door to my room slowly slid open, then,
"Eh!? It’s you…"
"H, hey."
Mutsumi Nagumo, dressed in her casual clothes, peeked in awkwardly.
"Nagumo-san was just granted permission to go out today."
Soya had come into my hospital room with Nagumo. According to Soya, Nagumo spent the past two days in a facility owned by the Exorcist Society, like me. However, she apparently also had to go through various tests. After all, she had previously been classified as a sixth-rank, and furthermore, the one who exorcised her was an unknown student from class D. They performed spirit vision on her repeatedly to make sure she had been exorcised properly and she also received numerous counseling sessions to check for any lingering psychological issues.
"Well, she still can’t walk around outside freely unless there are qualified exorcists watching over her though. They said this restriction will be removed after a few more days."
Even now, there were apparently two professional exorcists waiting outside in the hallway.
"……?"
Looking at Soya’s appearance, I tilted my head.
She seemed to lack her usual energy. I felt like she was avoiding eye contact with me in a somewhat guilty manner.
As I was wondering what was wrong with her, Soya suddenly stepped back. Nagumo who had been squirming behind Soya then came up to the side of my bed and bowed her head.
"I really don’t know what to say… I attacked random people on the streets for such a stupid reason… thank you for stopping me. I’m sorry you got such serious injuries because of me…"
Nagumo blushed awkwardly as anguish, regret, shame, and self-loathing appeared on her face. Well, it wasn’t like I didn’t understand how she felt.
I would die from shame myself if I was exorcised while rampaging around as the man who runs away from long ones.
"Ah, well, don’t worry too much about it. It’s true that your matter blew up quite a bit but it’s not your fault. There’s nothing an ordinary person can do once they’re monstrified."
She could just consider it an unfortunate accident that had been beyond her control.
If an incident was determined to have been caused by a monster, the person who had been possessed by the monster was also considered a victim and was rarely held criminally responsible. If there was anyone to blame, it was the Exorcist Society and our team who had been in charge of this case since we failed to resolve the problem before it became serious.
Nagumo should have received a full explanation on this matter but it seemed like she still felt a strong sense of remorse at the fact that so many injuries had been caused by her own hands. With her head still bowed down, Nagumo told me,
"Please let me know if you ever run into any trouble. I don’t know if it will make up for what I’ve done but if there’s anything I can do to help, whether it’s your exorcist work or anything else, I want to help."
She spoke of her attempt at redemption with a serious face.
I didn’t want to disrespect her feelings, but…
"Didn’t you say that you’re not good with ghosts? Besides, you’re probably busy with school and club activities."
As a matter of fact, another team had been dispatched to Shinonome High School to replace us as counselors in the spiritual disaster counseling room. After the woman who runs away from boobs disaster, some parents voiced legitimate concerns that it was unreasonable to assign such young exorcists who were high school students themselves as counselors. As a result, us leaving Shinonome High School was basically set in stone at this point. I was glad that Nagumo was eager to help us with our work but it was unlikely that we would see each other again in the future.
Although that was what I thought,
"Oh, that’s not a problem. I’ve quit my club activities and well… it seems like I’m also going to be transferred to the School for Exorcists soon."
Nagumo said then lifted the bed I was lying on with one hand.
"…what?"
"They called it residual monstrification. If a monster’s power is too strong, its abilities have a possibility of remaining with the person who had been possessed by the monster even after exorcism is successfully performed on them."
I had heard about that kind of thing before. Something about how the Kuzunoha Family and other families with strong spiritual abilities all had ancestors who had been possessed by strong monsters at some point in their life. The power of these ancestors was apparently inherited down the family line.
"Although I can somewhat control this superhuman strength I’ve suddenly obtained, I can’t guarantee that I won’t ever accidentally overexert it… with things this way, my presence alone would be a danger to others, let alone me participating in club activities."
Nagumo said somewhat dejectedly, then continued,
"So transferring me to one of the schools in the exorcist school system also serves as a way to keep me under supervision. I don’t know the details yet, but I think it’s highly likely that I’ll be transferred to the Metropolitan School for Exorcists."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Nagumo finally revealed a smile,
"I’m not good with ghosts and don’t know how to use exorcism techniques so the number of ways I can use this superhuman strength is limited, but… if we do end up attending the same school then please take care of me, senpai."
"…no problem."
I see, so there’s a possibility that Nagumo will be transferring to our school.
I paused on that thought.
As I imagined what it would be like if Nagumo really did transfer to our school, I cautiously opened my mouth to point out something that had been bothering me ever since Nagumo came into my hospital room but I hadn’t gotten the chance to say.
"Ah, well, it’s just something I was wondering, but…"
"Hmm?"
"Are you continuing with those breasts even after you leave Shinonome High School?"
"!!"
She hid her breasts with a jolt. Although not as much as before, Nagumo’s breasts looked as bouncy as ever and it was obvious that she still had pads inserted.
"T-this is, well, I’m planning to decrease their size bit by bit gradually, the counselor also agreed that it’s better for me to do this for a while longer, so… erm, please don’t ask too much about it…"
Nagumo squeezed out the words as her eyes turned moist with shame.
A monster could be exorcised but a complex couldn’t be gotten rid of so easily.
Having her relapse into the woman who runs away from boobs again would be unbearable so… it was probably best for me to just ignore anything regarding her breasts in the future…
"Oh right, speaking of breasts…"
Nagumo suddenly brought her face up close to my pillow.
Nagumo glanced at Soya who continued to remain strangely quiet as she stood in the back of the room then whispered,
"…although I heard from Soya that there was no other way… don’t you think that you should take responsibility for doing ‘that’ to me in public…?"
I trembled.
"N, Nagumo, you, remember…?"
I had assumed that her memories as the "boob ripping woman" would be fuzzy, but judging from the way her face turned red, she seemed to at least remember my climax exorcism. Seriously? I thought that things would be fine as long as I pretended not to know anything.
Cold sweat ran down my back as I panicked over how to respond to her, however,
"Ah, no, I’m not being serious. After all, it was my fault in the first place for causing such an incident. Besides, I thanked you for stopping me, didn’t I?"
Nagumo withdrew her red face. However, the next moment, she continued,
"…but, well, I don’t know, it might just be my imagination? I feel like my breasts grew a little bigger after you exorcised me…"
"……"
Although her eyes weren’t filled with the insanity that had been present when she was possessed by the monster, Nagumo’s eyes had a suspiciously lustful glow as she looked down hungrily at my hands which were currently sealed by crucifix bracelets.
Somehow, I had a bad feeling about this…
The sound of a throat being cleared came from the back of the room.
Nagumo and I slightly jolted.
I felt a predator-like presence from Nagumo just now.
However, Nagumo immediately jerked away from me when Soya who had been quiet until then coughed.
"Isn’t it about time, Nagumo-san? You said you wanted to visit Kadokura-san and the others as well, right?"
"A, aah, right, right!"
It seemed like during the two days when I was asleep, Kadokura’s team had regained consciousness.
"Well then, Furuya. Thank you so much for stopping me back then. I’m looking forward to working with you after today… on various things…"
With her ponytail shaking, Nagumo walked out of the hospital room.
…although I felt like there something slightly unsettling about the expression on her face, she left with a smile that seemed to say, "Despite everything, I’m still glad that you were able to resolve the woman who runs away from boobs incident."
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