Chapter 73

Nikami POV

"I never thought such a small girl like you could hold so many things at once… Are you sure it's okay? I interrupted you, I don't want to hurt you too. " I heard a gentle voice from afar, and when I glanced over at it, it was Shoubu, the student council president with Yasachu.

"I-it's fine! I'm used to heavy work, I'm worried if you're fine Rabadena-sama…" Yasachu nervously laughed, carrying boxes with supplies as she talked with Shoubu, who was also carrying supplies.

"..." I stared over at them, catching myself staring at the short girl with white hair, giggling to herself as she talked with Shoubu.

"Hey! Ya okay?" Raijin saw that I was staring blankly at something, and she gritted her teeth when she saw it was Yasachu.

"Let's go." She whispered in my ear, and flusteredly looked away from Yasachu when I nodded.

Damn it, wasn't she supposed to be in our room? Saboten never once got her hearing wrong… So did Shoubu ask her to help? Probably.

This world really does find a way.

Yasachu landed her eyes on me, she stopped giggling and just stared with a frown on her face. Shoubu noticed this and followed her eyes to where she was looking at, and saw me.

"Ah! Shiromoru-san! It's been a while!" Shoubu cheerfully exclaimed, walking towards me with a bright smile on her face.

Abort, Abort-

I quickly turned on my heel and walked away, dragging Raijin behind me as Shukona and Saboten stood there in confusion.

"Nika?! Where are you going? It's rude to turn away from a princess!" Shukona scolded me, grabbing my shoulders as I groaned in response.

Gotdamn it.

Filled with irritation, I turned towards Shoubu with a blank look on my face, giving her a small bow.

"Greetings." I looked away from them.

And with that, Yasachu looked away as well, hiding behind Shoubu as she glanced over at the ground. Both afraid and disappointed at herself.

"Oh! Hey Prez! How's it goin?" Raijin greeted her as well, with a nervous smile and used her cape to shield most of my body.

"Hello Shoubu-sama." Shukona gave a bow, smiling towards her.

"I give my greetings to you, Rabadena-sama." Saboten bowed deeper than Shukona did, nearly falling face first on the ground before standing straight up.

"I'm doing great! Say, Gakerumi-sama, would you like to batt-" Shoubu huffed, smiling as she wanted to battle Raijin.

"No." I cut her off, feeling Shukona's grip tightening on my shoulders as I rolled my eyes and elaborated.

"We were about to do something before you came. So I'd like it if you wouldn't interfere." I glanced behind me, Shukona was still holding my shoulders as she gave me a pout, before smiling over at Shoubu.

Agh…

"Oh! That's fine, but if you want to fight, I'll gladly accept it! That reminds me, Chu-chan, why are you avoiding Shiromoru-san?" Shoubu finally asked that question, glancing over at Yasachu that was behind her.

"More like Shiromoru-sama is avoiding Kowamekuna-san…" Saboten mumbled before I gave a glare.

"Hm? That is true, when we got here, Nika always talked to her despite her rarely even talking to strangers, let alone a commoner like her… But now, she's as distant as ever. What happened?" Shukona asked me in a soft voice, worried about what might have happened.

"A-ah! N-no, you got it all wrong-" Yasachu frantically tried to defend the two of us before I cut her off again.

"Nothing happened. I simply got busy with school. That is all." I spoke, most of the people in the group weren't really taking that. Despite my serious demeanor, Saboten still thinks something happened between us, Shukona still thinks Yasachu did something wrong, Yasachu also thinks that maybe I hated her after the fire incident.

None of them were right, of course, because the only one who truly knows is Raijin.

"Ufaaaa… That's understandable, the school is really a hectic place… The training and learning is still very great for growing magic users like us. Please try your best, and get along with your peers." Shoubu glanced over at me and Yasachu, and I nodded.

"Aren't you supposed to put those somewhere? Just carrying them here and standing would be pretty tiresome, don't cha think?" Raijin pointed over at the boxes that they were carrying.

"Ah! Forgive me! I spaced out, shall I help too?" Saboten forgot about them holding on to something despite them being in front of her face, but she tried to regain herself by helping them.

"Th-that would be a big help… Thank you…" Yasachu answered, smiling over at Saboten with a bright grin. Making the messy haired knight freeze for a moment before returning her smile with her face just fully lighting up. And she immediately helped her with a smile, taking some of Shoubu's boxes as well.

"I suppose we can go now… And, ah, Shiromoru-san, could you help out with student council work today? If it doesn't bother you, of course." Shoubu gave a gentle smile towards me.

I sometimes help out with the student council work, since Shoubu took a liking to me due to my intelligence and connection to Kikyou. The two are childhood best friends, and she really wants Kikyou to not be lonely all the time, so she wants me to accompany her. Which, well, I do enjoy.

Senpai is wonderful at anything magic related, she aids me on my magic skills.

I opened my mouth to answer a yes, but before I could do that, someone interrupted me.

"Forgive me for my impudence, however, can I help instead? I do not wish to stress Nika even more, she is the type to overwork herself." Shukona started to gently pat my head, and I turned over at her with a soft gaze.

"Shu…" I mumbled, I tried to counter her immediately but once again was cut off.

"Yeah yeah! Hasn't she helped ya a lot lately? She hasn't been hanging out with us at all!~ We can't see each other in class, and if we have freetime, it's either in the council or in the library!" Raijin whined, giving me a small side hug as I was squished between two of my best friend's affection.

"But… What can I even do? Don't I rest a lot already?" I asked them, being stuck between Shukona's pats and Raijin's hugs.

"I don't think studying magic and testing said magic theories counts as resting… Shiromoru-sama can't stay still, I don't think you know what the meaning of resting is." Saboten chuckled nervously, bowing towards Shoubu again as she stood next to her.

"Yeah! Writing and writing and writing is a bore. How many notebooks have you even gone through now?" Raijin sighed, moving her hand on my shoulders and leaning on me.

"Yo-you can uhm… Try going out! It's very relaxing and fun… There are a lot of shops outside the school, and even nobles like you could enjoy it! But of course… Maybe avoid using a carriage… And just wear a disguise so you couldn't attract attention as a noble…" Yasachu suggested, putting up one of her hands.

"And make her wear commoner clothes?! What kind of resting is that?!" Shukona exclaimed, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Aaahhh! That's true! It can be really fun, wouldn't it? Yeah yeah! Commoner clothes are really comfortable, even if they aren't as good looking as ours. And isn't it great to just explore another country? Ooooo! We could go sightseeing!~" Raijin excitedly agreed with Yasachu, pulling me closer to her as Shoubu giggled.

"I see, of course you can help us, Amatarini-sama. I can tell you're very hard working as well, and I do see how she needs to take a break. The white hair isn't helping, perhaps you have aged faster than most of us?" Shoubu chuckled once again, gesturing over at my white hair.

"And since when was I going to come with you?" I begrudgingly pushed Raijin off me, trying to ignore the comment on my white hair.

A sign of sickness and aging… White hair…

"Geez! Not even for a date? Come on, it's so unfair, we haven't even gone out." Raijin started to pout and grumble, taking a step back and folding her hands.

I glanced over at Yasachu, then gave a sigh.

"I suppose we could do that. Don't think any of it though, you're simply my bodyguard since Saboten isn't to be there." I changed my direction to face the confused knight

"Let's fucking goooooo!!" Raijin put her fists up and cheered, but then just realized that I called her a replacement.

"Haah? Wait- The fuck did you just say?" She started to pull on my cheeks, which I unconsciously ignored.

"Wh-what are you talking about Shiromoru-sama? I'm your knight? Right?" Saboten asked me in pure confusion.

"You are my knight, inside the campus. The headmaster said nothing on the outside." I told her about a hole in what the headmaster said.

"Ahaha! How funny… But I have a question, how could you find commoner clothes? Sure you could always buy some… But it would be quite troublesome." Shoubu asked us, before Yasachu answered.

"Pe-perhaps Shiromoru-sama can wear my clothes! It would be my honor… Of course, if she's okay with it… I have a commoner dress… Th-that is uhm, a bit bigger than my current body and I haven't used it before so…" Yasachu whispered in a low voice, Shukona raising an eyebrow at it.

"Well, that seems reasonable enough. However, where would we get men's clothes? Ugh… It would be much easier to just buy more clothes, though this is just a one time thing…" Shukona asked, putting her hand on her hips as she glanced over at Raijin.

"Yuu-chan probably has clothes like those, she usually wears manly clothes and since… She was… An old commoner, I'm sure she has some of those clothes too." Yasachu answered calmly, smiling over at Shukona.

It seems that Yasachu wasn't as scared of Shukona as she was before, being in the same classroom as her made her used to it.

"Well then! That's settled! We're going on a date outside!" Raijin cheered, lifting her hands up to the sky, making the sun's light gleam on her fists.

"Sightseeing, you mean. And we aren't even sure if Kurogane has those types of clothes. Don't get too excited, dork." I sighed, lightly chuckling at her performance.

As the small white haired girl saw this, Yasachu frowned as her face darkened, looking down in shame.

A date… huh…