An Unbearable Burden / The Honkai Incident at Chiba Academy ...

"Sorry for making you wait. You must've been waiting a long time, huh? I'm really sorry." Ishiu scratched his head apologetically.

He was clearly the one asking for help, yet he had kept the person he needed waiting for so long. Honestly, he felt rather embarrassed.

"It's fine. You must have had something important to take care of, right? Look at you, you're all sweaty from running." Miss Mei spoke gently as she took a handkerchief from her pocket and naturally wiped the sweat from Ishiu's face.

Tuesday's Wife.jpg

The Unbearable Weight

"It wasn't anything that important..." Ishiu scratched his head awkwardly. Looking at Miss Mei's gentle expression, he suddenly felt too embarrassed to explain why he had come.

"Ishiu, who's this big sister? She's so pretty!" Kiana, who had followed after him, also spotted Raiden Mei. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she quickly grabbed Ishiu and whispered into his ear.

The warm breath Kiana exhaled made Ishiu's ear itch. He awkwardly shook his head before saying, "Mei, this is my friend, Kiana Kaslana. Kiana, this is Raiden Mei."

"Hello! Can I call you Mei?" Kiana seemed utterly incapable of feeling embarrassed. Grinning, she directly held out her hand to Raiden Mei and casually started calling her by name.

Raiden Mei did not mind. Originally, she had not wanted to make friends with anyone. What had happened before had left her utterly heartbroken. But for Ishiu's sake, she was willing to trust this girl named Kiana once—to believe she was not one of those bad kids.

So, smiling, she gently took Kiana's hand. "Mm, okay. Since you're Ishiu's friend, you can call me Mei."

"That's great! Mei, you're really beautiful. I wonder if I can..." Kiana pressed her advantage. Seeing how friendly Raiden Mei was toward her, she could not help getting excited.

Ishiu's mouth twitched as he hurriedly pulled this embarrassing girl back.

"Kiana, can you calm down? If you scare Mei, just see how I deal with you!"

Kiana pouted at that, lowered her head, and kicked at the ground. "What the heck? You're obviously just a little brat, yet you're talking to me in that tone..."

Ishiu could not be bothered with her and turned to Mei instead. "Mei, it's like this. I'm planning to rent a place, but I'm still short on money, so..."

He found it difficult to say. Borrowing money was something he had rarely done even in his previous life. For one thing, he was thin-skinned and did not want to owe anyone. For another, he had known Raiden Mei for too short a time. If she were like Bronya, he would have just asked her for money directly.

"I see. I was wondering what it was. So that's all." Raiden Mei smiled, looking visibly more relaxed. "So, how much do you need?"

"A hundred thousand... If that's too much, eighty thousand would be fine too. I'm really sorry. I know this is a rude request, but right now, you're the only person I can find to help me." Ishiu hesitated, then added, "I'll definitely pay you back."

"Okay." To Ishiu's surprise, Raiden Mei did not even raise an eyebrow at the amount. She simply took an exquisite wallet from inside her clothes.

"I'll lend you the hundred thousand. There's no need to rush to pay it back. Take your time, and don't put too much pressure on yourself." Miss Mei took out ten ten-thousand bills from her wallet, her voice still as gentle as water.

Listening to Raiden Mei's tender voice, Ishiu suddenly had the thought, I want a rich woman to keep me. I don't want to work hard anymore.

He finally understood why so many people wanted to become pretty boys who lived off rich women, willing to be supported by them rather than work.

Because it really was a wonderful feeling.

And if rich women all looked like Miss Mei, then probably 99.99 percent of men would not want to work hard anymore.

"Thank you, Mei." Ishiu happily reached out to take the money, but Raiden Mei suddenly pulled her hand back.

"Huh?" Ishiu grabbed at nothing and looked at Miss Mei in confusion.

Raiden Mei smiled, her crescent eyes seeming to contain countless indescribable emotions flowing within them.

With one hand behind her back, she held the ten bills between her index and middle fingers with the other, looking at Ishiu with a sweet smile.

"Little Brother Ishiu, what should you call me~~?"

"...M-Mei... Sis."

"Say it all together."

"Thank you... Big Sister Mei."

"Mm, good boy~"

Raiden Mei immediately felt a surge of delight. Smiling with narrowed eyes, she rubbed Ishiu's head and stuffed the money into his hand. Her voice remained gentle. "If it isn't enough, just come find me. Don't be embarrassed, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Mm, then that's it for now. We can talk tonight. Class is about to start, so I'll head back first." Raiden Mei checked the time, said goodbye to Ishiu, and did not forget to greet Kiana as well. Then she waved, turned around, and returned to the school.

"Ishiu, why do I feel like Mei is keeping you? Are you sure you've really only known each other for a few days?" Kiana watched Raiden Mei's departing figure. For some reason, she inexplicably felt as if the top of her head had grown heavy.

As if... she had put on a hat too heavy to bear.

"Keeping your big head. It's a loan! Why are you talking so much nonsense? Now that we have money, let's go rent a place." Ishiu tugged on Kiana's braid irritably.

But Kiana's words did remind him. Borrowing money from one woman, then living together with another woman... somehow, that did seem a little wrong.

Whatever. He just needed to pay the money back quickly.

"Don't pull my braid, you little brat!" Kiana snatched her braid back unhappily.

Honestly, Ishiu had no idea why this girl insisted on wearing twin braided pigtails. She looked so much better with long, straight white hair.

"You go on ahead. I still have something to do." Kiana looked toward Senba Academy.

"Hm?" Ishiu frowned, looked at Kiana, then at Senba Academy. His expression suddenly changed. "Holy shit! Kiana, I know Mei is pretty, but you can't force yourself on her!"

"Huh?" Kiana froze for a moment before realizing what Ishiu meant. Her face immediately reddened with anger as she pinched his cheeks. "You little brat! What are you thinking?! Miss Mei is very pretty, and she is my type, but I'm not desperate enough to stalk her into her school, okay?!"

"Then what are you trying to do?" Ishiu pried her hand away and said warily, "As your friend, I can't just watch you walk down the path of crime. If you don't explain yourself properly today, I'm sticking with you."

"You little brat are so annoying." Kiana glared fiercely at Ishiu, and Ishiu glared right back without backing down.

Although there was a two-year age gap between them, Ishiu was about the same height as Kiana, so he was not inferior to her in presence at all.

(Moved China to tears. When I was nearly at the bottom of the pool, it finally came out. Waaaaah!!!)

The Honkai Incident at Senba Academy

After they stared each other down for several minutes, Kiana finally seemed to admit defeat. She let out a soft sigh and glanced at Ishiu with a somewhat resentful look. "I really lose to you, you little brat. But even if I told you, you probably wouldn't understand."

"Tell me first." Ishiu remained unmoved.

"Do you know about the Honkai?"

"The Honkai?"

Hearing those two words from Kiana's mouth so suddenly, Ishiu did not react for a moment.

He looked at Kiana in astonishment and unconsciously repeated the word. "The Honkai?"

"You actually know?" Kiana was no less surprised than Ishiu. She had only brought it up casually, but Ishiu seemed to really know what the word Honkai meant.

"Mm." Ishiu nodded, his expression turning serious. "Tell me. Why did you suddenly bring it up?"

"Well... since you know about the Honkai, you should know how dangerous it is, right?"

"Of course. I know very well."

"Then I'll be direct. Besides traveling the world looking for my unreliable old man, I also bear the mission of saving the world and eliminating the Honkai." Kiana said solemnly.

Ishiu's mouth twitched. Saving the world... He had often heard the chuunibyou kids at the Orphanage say things like that. He had not expected this girl to still be so chuunibyou at her age.

"And then?"

"And then I traveled around, dealing with Honkai disasters wherever they happened." Kiana pointed a thumb at herself and said proudly, "Don't let my appearance fool you. Ever since I was little, I've fought Honkai Beasts alongside that lousy old man. Over the past year, I've even taken down quite a few Honkai Beasts on my own."

"Oh? You're that strong?" Ishiu looked Kiana up and down, somewhat doubtful.

Kiana was certainly skilled, but he did not feel that she had reached the level where she could deal with Honkai Beasts.

"Hmph, don't underestimate me. If I didn't want to bully a child, do you believe I could hang you up and beat you with one hand?" Kiana planted her hands on her hips and declared proudly.

"Fine, I believe you. So what are you trying to do now?" Ishiu could not be bothered to argue with Kiana and continued questioning her.

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he understood. Kiana would not suddenly start talking to him about the Honkai for no reason. Since she had brought it up, that meant...

"I sensed a Honkai Energy reaction in this school just now." Kiana's expression was unusually serious.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. I've handled so many Honkai incidents. How could I possibly sense it wrong?"

"That's impossible. If there were Honkai Beasts in the academy, wouldn't things have already descended into chaos?" Ishiu voiced his doubt.

"A Honkai Energy reaction doesn't necessarily mean there are Honkai Beasts." Kiana glanced at Ishiu. "Looks like you don't know all that much about the Honkai. I'll generously give you a simple explanation."

"The Honkai is an extremely powerful disaster. It can erupt anywhere in the world, and there's no fixed time for it to happen. Its forms are unpredictable. It could be an invasion of Honkai Beasts, or it could be triggered by conditions such as infectious diseases or climate disasters. But no matter what, every time it appears, it releases Honkai Energy. I sensed fluctuations of Honkai Energy in the school just now, so I wanted to investigate."

Kiana's explanation was simple but easy to understand. Ishiu frowned. "You mean a Honkai disaster could erupt at Senba Academy?"

"Probably not." Kiana shook her head. "The Honkai Energy I sensed just now was very weak. It wasn't the kind of fluctuation that appears before a disaster breaks out. The danger level is low. Maybe someone was merely infected by the Honkai."

"Then... what should we do?" Ishiu asked. He had killed more than enough Honkai Beasts in the world within the Sea of Quantum, but when it came to actual professional knowledge, he still knew nothing.

At a time like this, he really had to rely on a professional.

"Simple. Sneak in and deal with the source producing the Honkai Energy." Kiana snapped her fingers and answered decisively.

"...That's it?"

"Mm, that's it." Kiana looked at him strangely. "What else did you expect?"

"Uh..." Ishiu's mouth twitched. He had thought it would be like a detective movie, with clues pieced together step by step. He had not expected it to be so simple and crude.

"Alright, now that you know, go rent a place obediently. Once I've dealt with things here, I'll come find you." As Kiana spoke, she prepared to find somewhere unnoticed and climb over the wall into the school.

"I'm going with you." There was no way Ishiu would let this chance to face the Honkai directly slip away. He wanted to see what the Honkai lurking within human cities was really like.

"You? Don't. If things get dangerous, I won't be able to look after you." Kiana shook her head like a rattle drum.

"I don't need you to look after me." Ishiu rolled his eyes. "Don't forget, you can't even touch me."

"Hey! You little brat, don't get cocky! I told you, I just wasn't serious!" Kiana puffed out her cheeks like an inflated pufferfish.

"Alright, alright. We can argue about that after we finish dealing with this." Ishiu could not be bothered to keep bickering with Kiana and pushed her toward the wall.

Kiana was still somewhat dissatisfied, but after Ishiu said, "If you keep yapping, go rent a place by yourself," she promptly shut up.

The two walked around the school's perimeter and eventually climbed over the wall at the back of the school.

As an elite school, Senba Academy had quite a few public surveillance cameras installed around campus. But they posed no problem for Ishiu. He led Kiana around them with ease, and whenever they truly could not avoid one, he used throwing knives to cut off its power.

It was currently class time, and the students were all inside the Teaching Building. The Honkai Energy reaction Kiana had sensed was coming from one of those buildings.

"This is bad. How are we supposed to get in? If we're caught, it'll be troublesome." Kiana scratched at her white hair, looking troubled.

"Don't rush. Be patient. We'll wait here for now. Once the bell rings for break, we can blend in easily." Ishiu said calmly.

"What about our clothes? They're all wearing uniforms." Kiana pointed at the casual clothes she and Ishiu were wearing.

"Mm... that's easy. The school should have spare uniforms. Let's look in the storage room or an office."

This Is What a Real Man Is!

While the students were still in class, Ishiu and Kiana sneaked into an empty office. In the office's storage room, they successfully found unopened school uniforms.

However, although they had found uniforms, there was one problem: they were all women's uniforms.

Only then did Ishiu remember that Senba Academy was a girls' school!

Looking at the azure women's uniform and the little skirt, Ishiu fell silent.

"Ishiu, stop spacing out and hurry up and change. If someone comes in later, we'll be in trouble." Kiana urged him, then took a set of uniforms outside and shut the storage room door behind her.

Ishiu hesitated. Then he thought, It's just wearing a girls' uniform once. What's the big deal? A real man can fight even bare-chested.

Clothes—how could something like that be inconvenient?

So he steeled himself, gritted his teeth, and changed into it.

Wasn't that why people said every man had a desire to cross-dress deep in his heart?

Those people who used cross-dressing as the condition of a bet were actually looking forward to wearing women's clothes. Otherwise, they would never have proposed such a condition.

For Ishiu, cross-dressing did not put much pressure on him. In his view, he was a real man. Even if he wore women's clothes, it could not diminish his masculine spirit in the slightest.

On the contrary, men who cowered around and did not even dare wear women's clothes—what right did they have to call themselves men?

He, Ishiu, feared nothing!