Transfer Student Terumi Genga

"Um... excuse me..."

Uraraka Shige's childish roar was still echoing through the stairwell leading to the rooftop when a clear voice, like a golden oriole's, stammered out, laden with shyness and nervousness.

"I... I'm sorry!"

The voice sounded very shy, but when the apology actually came out, it was firm and earnest. Such sincerity made Uraraka Shige feel a little embarrassed for some reason.

"Ah... no..."

Uraraka Shige rubbed the back of his head, as though the odd little gesture could ease his embarrassment, and began to respond. But since he didn't know what to say, he ended up stammering too.

He quickly realized, however, that he no longer needed to consider what attitude to take or how to respond to the person who had earnestly apologized. From beginning to end, he hadn't seen whoever had spoken.

"Wait, who are you? Come out!"

When Uraraka Shige realized he hadn't noticed there was anyone else around, the temperature in his heart plummeted to freezing. He had already been driven by that sense of danger, and now he had suddenly discovered that someone could come right up to him without his noticing. Didn't that mean that if this person wanted to kill him, he wouldn't even know how he had died?!

Uraraka Shige's attitude immediately turned hostile, giving the person who had apologized a terrible fright.

"I... I'm sorreee!!!"

The next moment came another apology, full of shyness and nervousness, but now tinged with fear from the fright and a vague unease that made the end of the cry wobble out of shape.

As before, the attitude was utterly sincere. It was like a trusting little animal exposing all its weaknesses without reservation, baring its soft, smooth belly to you. It was easy to feel that the person making the apology was expressing genuine, heartfelt remorse.

Uraraka Shige's long-standing sense of danger had made him turn hostile when he discovered he hadn't noticed someone else nearby. Now, he was suddenly filled with guilt. Without realizing it, he let go of his hostility and suspicion, becoming firmly convinced that the person who had apologized would never hurt him.

"Never mind... come out... making a sound out of nowhere can really give someone a fright..."

As the sense of danger and anxiety that had followed Uraraka Shige for the past two weeks eased somewhat, his tone softened without his noticing. It was the tone and attitude he normally reserved for his family.

"Ah!... S... sorry..."

As the words of apology came yet again, the light warped and shifted not far from Uraraka Shige-in fact, almost right beside him. A blond girl appeared, wearing a uniform like a Japanese high school girl's. Her little face was exquisite and flawless, so exquisite that one instinctively felt such looks couldn't possibly exist in this world, and so perfect that anyone who looked at her from any angle could sense a familiarity that could only come from their own fantasies.

"Because... because you looked really angry before... so I... s... sorry!"

The clear, youthful apology rang out for the fourth time. Come to think of it... wasn't this the transfer student from before?

"You really do like apologizing... is it because you're shy?"

Uraraka Shige looked at the figure who had appeared beside him. When he got a clear look at the transfer student's face, he even had the faint illusion that the student smelled sweet and pleasant.

Yes, an illusion.

When Uraraka Shige realized this was the transfer student from before, he had already pushed open the door to the rooftop. The wind was constantly blowing around him now, strong enough to be clearly felt on the roof. If there really had been a scent, surely it would have been blown away long ago, so how could he possibly have smelled it?

"Ah... yes..."

The transfer student watched Uraraka Shige walk toward the rooftop. Perhaps it was because the doorway to the roof was so much brighter than the dim stairwell, but from his perspective, Uraraka Shige seemed to be stepping not merely onto the roof, but into the light. And Uraraka Shige was like someone who had stepped out of the light, saved another from the darkness, and was now returning to the light...

"...like a knight..."

The transfer student unknowingly spoke his thoughts aloud. But his long-standing introverted and easily embarrassed nature meant he didn't have much of a voice. Though he hadn't realized it yet, his murmur was so quiet that even someone pressing an ear against his lips would only feel his warm, moist breath, without hearing the actual words. As a result, Uraraka Shige merely sensed that the transfer student had muttered something.

"Hm?"

Uraraka Shige voiced his confusion.

"Did you just say something?"

Only then did the transfer student Genga realize he had unconsciously murmured the embarrassing thought in his heart aloud. His exquisite little face immediately flushed with shyness, looking even more bashful than a lovestruck maiden.

Then the transfer student Genga shook his head and waved his hands repeatedly, dismissing Uraraka Shige's question.

"N-no, I-I-I didn't say anything!"

His attitude was still utterly earnest, even more resolute than before. Uraraka Shige found it strange, but didn't think much of it. He merely tilted his head in puzzlement, then held out his right hand and asked the transfer student:

"Want to come up? It's easier to talk on the rooftop."

From Genga's perspective, Uraraka Shige had once again become a knight who had already set one foot into the light, only to suddenly turn around, tilt his head, and extend a hand, inviting him to go to heaven together.

An invitation from my knight... mm~☆

The bashfulness that had yet to fade from Terumi Genga's face was immediately covered over by a deeper blush and joy. His eyes were practically sparkling with little stars, and he almost unconsciously murmured his thoughts aloud again. Fortunately, with the sliver of reason he could still retain, he managed to force them down, though a faint whimpering moan still escaped his throat.

"Ha..."

After about two or three seconds, when Uraraka Shige was almost ready to withdraw the right hand he had extended in invitation, the transfer student Terumi Genga finally nodded emphatically. With his bashful expression hidden by his Quirk, he accepted in a very serious, earnest tone, almost one word at a time, and offered his thanks.

"Thank you for the invitation... my knight!"

Of course, the form of address at the end, which he could only bury in his heart, naturally went unspoken and was safely kept there!