Mio Ibuki

"Hello, Big Bear."

"Eh?"

The girl let out a startled cry. When she noticed his gaze, she hurriedly covered her skirt, her cheeks turning pink.

"Eito, you're awful!"

"Ah, sorry, Meiyu."

This cute, petite girl was Wang Meiyu.

"Whatever." Wang Meiyu sat on the other side of the tree. "Why haven't you come to see me lately? And you didn't even talk to me when we got to the island."

"Uh, well..."

"You went off to have fun with another girl again, didn't you? I just saw you walking with Horikita."

"..."

"And yesterday, you spent the whole time with Sakura."

"..."

"Why aren't you saying anything? Feeling guilty?"

"Um... Miss Meiyu, why do you sound like my mom?"

"Hmph, it's not like I care about you. I just think what you're doing is unfair to Kikyo. You shouldn't be such a womanizer."

"How many times do I have to explain?" Eito sighed. "There's nothing going on between me and Kikyo."

"I don't believe you. I just don't!"

Fine, then.

But he couldn't exactly say that.

"Tell me, is there something you want me to do for you again?"

Ever since he'd used his superpower to make a playing card disappear, she'd been pestering him to show her another magic trick.

It wasn't like he had endless brain cells to come up with new tricks.

Still, if she wanted to see him break a rock with his bare hands, he could put on a show.

"Um... can you perform seppuku? Japanese people seem to like that."

"Cough, cough..." Eito choked and sat upright. "If you want to kill me, just say so. You don't have to beat around the bush."

Meiyu hurriedly waved her hands.

"No, no! If you died, there'd be no one left to do magic tricks for me."

"Then I might as well die."

"No, that's not what I meant! I mean, you... you're even more fun to look at than magic tricks... Ah... No, not like that... You..."

"Okay, I get it." Eito patted the back of her head. "You just want to see a magic trick, right? Come with me."

"Mm-hmm."

While no one was looking, he led Wang Meiyu to a deserted stretch of beach.

The sea was calm, and pigeons circled overhead.

He picked up a stick from the ground, sharpened it with a shell, and aimed at one of the pigeons.

Then he activated his superpower.

With time slowed down tenfold, the pigeon seemed to fly at a snail's pace.

He activated another superpower and took control of the pigeon's body, making it fly in the direction he wanted.

Whoosh—

The result was just as he'd expected. The stick pierced the pigeon and knocked it out of the sky.

Faced with a scene that belonged in a kung fu movie, Meiyu gaped in astonishment.

"Eito, you... you've studied martial arts?"

"Secret."

Eito winked and started roasting the pigeon over a fire.

Meiyu sat beside him and tugged at his clothes.

"Hey, teach me that move! I want to learn~"

"You wouldn't be able to." Eito shook his head.

"Why not? You can do it, so why can't I?" Meiyu pouted, her little face full of displeasure.

"You're too weak. It'd take at least ten years of practice."

"Eh—That much trouble? Forget it, then."

As she spoke, Meiyu stared at the pigeon in his hand and swallowed.

The food she'd had these past two days had been so plain. Now that there was pigeon meat, she couldn't help craving it.

When the meat had turned a golden brown, Eito picked it up, blew on it, and held it out to her.

"Um... can I have some? Will you be upset if I eat it?"

Meiyu asked cautiously.

"Of course not. Seeing you eat is what makes me happiest."

"...You're so nice."

Meiyu took the roasted pigeon skewer and started eating.

Perhaps because he was still there, the girl ate more primly than usual, taking small, slow bites.

Sometimes, watching a cute girl eat was entertaining in its own right.

When Meiyu had finished, he took a tissue from his pocket and wiped her mouth, then cleaned the grease from her hands.

Meiyu didn't say anything. She let him do it, her cheeks just a little flushed.

Her parents had stopped doing things like this for her when she was very young, but experiencing it again still gave her a warm feeling, as if she'd returned to her childhood.

"All right, let's go."

Eito called out and tidied up the trash.

As a side note, littering would cost them points.

But Meiyu grabbed his arm.

"Eh—I don't want to go back. It's so boring."

"Okay."

He stayed and played with Meiyu on the beach.

She couldn't go into the water without getting her clothes wet, so they could only play along the shore. For convenience, Meiyu took off her shoes and walked barefoot on the sand, her feet pale and delicate.

There were plenty of shells, starfish, and little crabs along the shore, as well as plastic bottles washed in from farther out.

Eito collected them, trimmed them down, and strung them together into a necklace, which he hung around Meiyu's neck.

An African tribal chief?

No, more like the chief's daughter.

A woman who would inherit the entire tribe one day.

Meiyu was in a great mood, running around beside him with a smile that never left her face.

It made him feel like a father taking his daughter on an outing.

Along with the satisfaction came a faint worry.

Which lucky punk would end up with her one day?

He was getting ahead of himself.

"Let's go back," he said.

"Oh."

Meiyu looked a little reluctant, but obediently followed him.

"Can we come back and play again next time?"

"...Maybe next time." Eito smiled mysteriously.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Depends on my mood."

"Tch—you're so stingy."

Meiyu pouted, but she was still smiling.

And so, they returned to their base.

Ibuki Mio

When they got back to the base, they happened to see Yamauchi bringing back a girl.

She had short blue hair and a cute appearance, but her cold, unapproachable air made her seem difficult to get along with at a glance.

There were bruises on her face, and her clothes were dirty, as if she'd been in a fight.

According to her, she'd clashed with one of the boys in her class after they'd fallen out, and he'd beaten her up and driven her out. Now she had nowhere to go.

Only Eito knew that this was a staged act arranged by Ryuen Kakeru of their Class C. The goal was to infiltrate Class D and find out who its leader was.

Faced with her tragic plight, the kindhearted students of Class D took her in.

Hirata and Kikyo naturally stepped forward to support her. The girls felt sympathy for what she'd been through, and since she was fairly pretty, the boys didn't object either.

And so this undercover agent, Ibuki Mio, stayed in Class D. Fortunately, they had plenty of food, so one more person wouldn't make much difference.

Yamauchi seemed very pleased with his heroic performance. He came over to Eito and asked:

"Do you think I have a chance with her?"

"No."

"Eh—Don't girls fall for guys who help them? I helped her, so I should have a pretty good chance!"

"That only happens in manga." Eito patted him on the shoulder. "You need to learn to face reality. Would you develop feelings for a pig's head that saved you?"

"...So I did all that for nothing?"

"Not at all." Eito shook his head.

"Why not?"

"Figure it out yourself."

Eito didn't think Yamauchi was at fault for bringing Ibuki back.

Even if Yamauchi hadn't run into Ibuki, someone else would have eventually. As long as there were people in Class D willing to help her, she was bound to be taken in. It couldn't be avoided.

"Yamauchi, I've got a job for you. Go annoy that girl."

"How do I annoy her?"

"Just talk to her the way you usually talk to girls."

"Oh... Wait, are you making fun of me?"

"Don't worry about it. Get moving."

Yamauchi trotted over to Ibuki and started talking to her.