An Accidental Meeting

Soujuurou Shizuki was an ordinary boy from the mountains.

He remembered his grandfather telling him before he died that if he couldn't find a way forward in the mountains in the future, he should go down to the city. Humans ultimately didn't belong to the mountains.

Arriving in the city for the first time, Soujuurou felt extremely apprehensive. This wasn't the fear one felt when facing a wild beast; rather, in the boy's eyes, the city had evolved to such an extent that it had become a kind of magical realm, capable of devouring young people like him if they weren't careful.

With immense effort, the country boy Soujuurou finally found a suitable rental room. This was only possible because the owner of the part-time job he found took pity on him and rented him an attic space cheaply. Although the environment wasn't great, Soujuurou was very grateful and worked diligently.

The shop owner ran a Chinese restaurant, which was bustling with customers from morning till late at night. Soujuurou, who had grown up in the quiet mountains, was initially overwhelmed, but he gradually got used to the noise. After all, human clamor was more reassuring than the roars of wild beasts in the night.

The word "school" felt a bit foreign to Soujuurou. However, out of respect for his grandfather's dying wish, Soujuurou decided he had to attend high school.

His teacher at school, Kazuki Yamashiro, was a very friendly person, reminding Soujuurou of his part-time job manager.

Of course, he couldn't tell Mr. Yamashiro about his secret part-time job, as Misaki High School didn't allow students to work outside of school.

"This is quite troublesome," Mr. Yamashiro said, rubbing his hair. "I wanted to have Aoko, from the student council, show you around the campus, but unfortunately, she isn't at school today."

"Aoko?" Soujuurou was a little confused, but it was his first day at school, and he didn't really know anyone.

"She's the student council president, Aoko Aozaki," Mr. Yamashiro explained. "She's a very capable person, though she's often hard to find around school."

With this new piece of information, Kazuki Yamashiro led Soujuurou Shizuki to the student council office.

Here, Soujuurou Shizuki met the student council vice-president, Tsukashi Tsurumaru, and the treasurer, Kumari Kanroku. In the boy's eyes, these two from the student council were unique individuals and kind people who eagerly helped him.

"Sojuro, do you want to join the student council?" Tsukashi Tsurumaru asked a few days later. "We're really short on people in the student council. If you become a general affairs member, you'll get extra credit for your grades!"

"I'm already doing my best just to scrape together enough for tuition," Soujuurou sighed. "I'm sorry, Tsukashi. To be honest, I'm working two jobs, and I'm spread too thin."

"Right, please don't tell anyone," Sojuro quickly added. "After all, our school doesn't allow students to work."

"...You're not doing too well either, huh." Tsukashi Tsurumaru patted Soujuurou's back and said with a sigh.

Soujuurou felt a bit confused. Tsukashi's family seemed to be well-off, so why would she find things difficult? However, his beast-like intuition kept him from voicing this question.

Perhaps it was because of the student council president, Aoko, whom he hadn't met yet, the boy speculated, but it had nothing to do with him.

During one lunch break, Soujuurou sat on a campus bench with a cheap bento box given to him by the shop manager, contemplating whether he should find a third part-time job, as he was running short on money again.

Soujuurou's grades since enrolling had never been good. For him, who had come from the mountains, Misaki's curriculum was too difficult. The knowledge, which he had never encountered before and found hard to understand, forced Soujuurou to meticulously write down every word in his notes, only to ponder over them again after returning to his rented room.

Just as he started to get lost in thought, a figure walked past him.

Soujuurou looked up and saw a peculiar high school girl holding a motorcycle helmet in her hand, wearing a jacket on her upper body and her school uniform on her lower body.

She had long, lustrous black hair and a tall, upright posture, exuding an indescribable aura.

Soujuurou Shizuki had never seen anyone so beautiful. It reminded him of the beautiful birds perched on treetops in the mountains, proud and distant.

Just as Soujuurou was about to look down and continue eating, the girl spoke. It was a slightly magnetic, yet not aged, female voice.

"I didn't expect you to be here."

Soujuurou was a little confused. He didn't know this girl, and judging by her words, she clearly knew him.

The boy looked into the peculiar girl's eyes and felt as if he were falling into a vortex, gradually becoming drowsy.

When he woke up again, the bell signaling the end of lunch break had already rung. Soujuurou had to quickly shove the remaining food in his bento box into his mouth and then run towards the school building, completely unaware that he seemed to have lost a segment of his memory.

After finishing his cleaning work for the day, Soujuurou wearily tapped his back, intending to put the cleaning tools away on the second floor.

"Sojuro, there's a customer at machine number forty on the second floor. Go check on them," the manager instructed. "I have a feeling that person isn't quite normal."

Soujuurou nodded and walked up the stairs with his tools.

This typical two-story structure was characteristic of a pachinko parlor. This particular parlor, located on a busy commercial street, did good business, so the owner paid him generously, which was why Soujuurou had traveled so far to take on a third part-time job.

Pachinko parlor customers were a diverse bunch. Besides professional gamblers who made a living from gambling, most people just wanted to play occasionally to relax, but there were also some ill-intentioned individuals looking to strike it rich through dishonest means.

Upon reaching the second floor, the sound of the machines and the boisterous music blended into a piercing ambient noise. Compared to the first floor, the scene here was even more chaotic.

Yet, amidst this chaos, a figure that clearly clashed with the surrounding atmosphere caught his eye.

It was a young woman who looked a few years older than Soujuurou.

A form-fitting green trench coat perfectly accentuated her slender figure. Her delicate legs were beautifully crossed, and her black thigh-high socks made her look even more elegant than models in a photo spread.

Normally, this kind of person wouldn't be found here, Soujuurou thought.

He noticed that this woman's win rate seemed to be a bit too high. In the short time he had been observing, this woman had already won several times.

Beside her were four black boxes containing unknown items, which looked large and heavy.

This charming woman seemed displeased with something and brought the cigarette in her hand to her lips.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she turned her head to look at Soujuurou. Her wine-red eyes scanned the boy from top to bottom, then fixed on his eyes, as if she could see something within them.

A chill ran down Soujuurou Shizuki's spine. It felt like encountering a dangerous beast in the mountains.

Soujuurou could never get used to this kind of fear. He hadn't expected to find himself in such a predicament in the city, far from the deep mountains.

He instinctively wanted to flee immediately, but the woman's left eye seemed to glow faintly blue. By the time Soujuurou noticed this, he couldn't even move his little finger.

Before he knew it, there wasn't a single customer left on the second floor of the pachinko parlor.

"I see, so it was her doing." The woman muttered to herself. Soujuurou knew she wasn't talking to him, but rather confirming something.

"Are you a student at Misaki High School?" the woman suddenly asked.

"Yes..." Soujuurou's body answered involuntarily. "...I'm a freshman who just enrolled not too long ago."

"I see..." The woman mused, "Do you know Aoko Aozaki?"

Before Soujuurou could even consider how to answer, his throat lost its own control and began speaking in an unfamiliar voice.

"Long time no see, sister." Soujuurou's mouth moved, but the voice that came out belonged to a young woman. The boy felt a strange familiarity with the voice.

"...Aoko." The expression of the woman in front of Soujuurou turned slightly grim.

"Are you short on cash lately?" Soujuurou's mouth moved again, speaking in a girl's voice. "The renowned Grand Puppeteer, reduced to raising funds at a pachinko parlor?"

Upon hearing this, the woman before him looked as if she'd swallowed a fly. Soujuurou could physically feel the oppressive pressure generated by her anger, sending shivers down his spine. Unfortunately, he still couldn't move.

"That's none of your business!" the woman in green replied. "I'm just here to take back what's rightfully mine!"

"Come back, Touko," Soujuurou said gently in the woman's voice. "If you admit defeat, I can support you from now on, you know?"

"Hmph," the woman in green scoffed dismissively. "No matter what you say, I will defeat you, and then everything will belong to me."

"Ah, such a stubborn mouth," the voice from Soujuurou's mouth remarked. "But it doesn't matter. No matter what you've prepared, sister, you can't defeat me now. We'll meet again then."

With that, the pressure on Soujuurou eased. He immediately collapsed to his knees, clutching his throat and coughing.

In a daze, he saw the beautiful woman in green stand up and look down at him from above, as if confirming something one last time.

However, after only a moment, the woman in the green trench coat lost interest, gathered her belongings, and turned to leave.

Soujuurou Shizuki desperately tried to lift his head to get a clear look at the person before him. But he felt his consciousness fading, and an intense wave of fatigue and drowsiness washed over his entire body, causing him to easily lose consciousness and collapse to the ground, unconscious.