riSe HiGhsCHool aU: 6 (Patreon)

riSe HiGhsCHool aU: 6

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Commissioned by IhaxlikeNoob

Word Count: 2500

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I had to admit that Miyakuro’s Maid Mansions were pretty top notch. Angela being a Gothic Lolita Waitress was something I never wanted in my brain, but everything else about the situation was perfectly normal. There was the clumsy maid, the cheeky maid, the sadistic maid, and the onee-san maid, but also in the corners and manning the registers were real tough guys in vests and shirts that were just tight enough to show off their muscles. They weren’t going to make their shirts burst off by making side-chest flexes, but they were tough enough to ward off Otaku and maid-café enthusiasts from doing anything besides be a customer at a maid café.

Though Miyakuro is a cold-hearted jerk, I suppose it’d only make sense for him to take care of his employees.

“Of course, I’d take care of them dumbass. They’re my employees. They make me money. The happier they are the less likely they’ll fuck off and die, you know?” As always, Miyakuro appeared whenever I thought about him. However, this time his appearance wasn’t in our school uniform, but as a young, highschool business man with a grimace that could cut through rocks. Some intrinsic part of my brain told me to recognize him as a superior being who I could never compete with. I beat it down with all the strength I could muster, but when a smile split across Miyakuro’s face I knew that I had failed. Dammit. He’s at least thirty percent stronger when he’s smug. “What’s this? You’re jealous? What the fuck? You walk around this town’s Otaku haven surrounded by girls and you’re jealous of me? You’re a bigger idiot than I thought, Hyoudou.”

“I’m walking around with FRIENDS around the Otaku district, Miyakuro. Don’t you think I’d know if I had a harem? HMMM!?” It was my dream to have people who loved me and who I loved back surround me. Some might call my dream a fantasy, but there’s plenty of people around the world that were loved by many and loved many themselves. Akeno-chan’s dad was one of them. Creighton’s dad, too. I just had to be like them. So, I did my best in school, planned to make a name for myself, and look for all the proper signs. None of those signs were on my friends with whom I was spending time with today. I mean, it’d be silly, especially since they could do way better than me. “Look around you! All the maids—uhhh—well…”

Ah, my argument has died in its tracks.

The moment Miyakuro entered the maid café all the maids fled in terror except for Angela and she casually took a meal that was ready, but was never swerved, and began to consume it mercilessly. I became very aware of the fact that my companions for the day were all out gathering supplies for our day of battle tomorrow, while I was alone with Miyakuro and his body… blonde, buxom bodyguard and his cute, prim secretary!?

Ah, I said that last part aloud and I’m no being looked at like garbage.

And Miyakuro has gone from smug to happy. His danger level has now reached critical levels. Trying to fight him would only result in death for the uninitiated. Only Song and myself could survive a happy, smug Miyakuro and usually only together. Now, I was alone without my partner. My combat partner who I was no way attracted to wasn’t beside me to provide my soul and boy the strength it needed to survive a grinning, joyful Miyakuro. 

“Oh, wow, I always thought you were idiot, but I never thought it’d be this bad. Pfftahahah!” Miyakuro took a seat and sat down. Gungnir and… Gungnir both headed towards Angela who ordered them parfaits from the kitchen. She comforted them about my actions and words in their general direction. It seems that I’ve evolved from girls avoiding my presence to being a traumatic experience from being just interacted with. Please, Kami-sama, destroy my hard drive and porn stash after I’ve completed the ritual of committing not living. “Man, a laugh like that deserves a little money. I haven’t laughed like this in years!”

“That is true. He is usually miserable, unkempt, and filled with stress. Thank you for your efforts, Issei-kun.” Thankfully, Angela was present. If not for her existence, I would probably lose the will to live, because she had the ability to take Miyakuro’s down with ease. Her earnest words about being glad to hear Miyakuro laugh was enough to get rid of his Smug and Happy buffs, thus allowing me to recover from the terrible, grievous damage that’ he’d mercilessly sent my way. “I’m very glad the he has friends besides people who live with him and those who he employs. And, of course, me.”

“Oi, shut up.” Miyakuro turned away from me to address Angela. She shrugged off his words with ease, going as far as to stick out her tongue, despite her face remaining perfectly placid as always. While she took no damage from his harsh language, a light blush spread across his cheeks. Good. A blushing Miyakuro is ten percent less strong than his typical form. Still, I had to be careful with the weakness that I’ve been given. Li can capitalize on his weakness with ease, while I could only hope that my attacks landed. Even so, operation Dere-Dere Kita-kun is go. “Try and die, Hyoudou.”

Ah, shot down before I even tried.

Sadly, the feeling was familiar to me. 

At least, with friendly greetings out of the way, I could talk with Miyakuro outside of school and without prying ears and eyes about Li and how we were going to help him.

…

“Three fucking days to keep the school from imploding. Holy shit, I thought Li was supposed to be smart.” Miyakuro palmed his face. Given his intellect, giving him the gist of the information allowed him to put together the whole picture at a rapid pace. I couldn’t keep up with him and Li when they decide to do something crazy without even talking, but at least I could cut down on pages of exposition! “Damn, well I might as well take tomorrow off and properly prepare, while you do your best to just survive.”

Eh? What’s this!? I thought Miyakuro was going to help me, but in the end he was jut going to take advantage of my situation without any hesitation whatsoever? I mean, I get that he’s better off when he’s prepared and ready, but couldn’t he be prepared and ready before tomorrow!? Surviving Miyakuro’s words were one thing, especially with Angela cutting him down instantly when his head got too big, but against the likes of Creighton, Himejima, and all the other girls interested in Li… my route was full of Dead Ends! It’s less of an actual Route and more of a gallery of horrible ways to die!

“Oh, don’t be a baby. You have enough help with you to at least only end up maimed tomorrow.” Miyakuro accepted a cup of coffee. Given his tastes, I almost thought that he’d be drinking some super special tea, but I guess that he’s too busy for anything less than the caffeine and sugar concoction that he was imbibing. “Besides, they’ll only start to go through real withdrawals by the third day. Two days without Li around will just have a few hundred people be frustrated… not murderous. Well, unless they think he’s in danger of leaving them forever or something.”

A cold sweat broke upon my whole body at those words. 

Miyakuro naturally noticed and brought his cup down before taking a single sip.

“Hyoudou, if that’s happening, you’d tell me, right?” The voice was cold. Naturally, I’d told him about Li and Coda. It’s only natural that I spoke about the cause of the problem. A challenger who was looking for Coda came, Li tried to fight her and lost, and now Li was trying to keep Coda safe since she didn’t want to fight anymore. That’s all there is to it. They’re just two people who’ve been living together for a long time. Yeah. Yep. That’s totally the case. “Oh, you have to be fucking kidding me. He really likes that delinquent loli that much!?”

“No! You don’t understand, Miyakuro!” I held onto my head and did my best to repress the memories. However, the moment Li and Coda’s circumstances came to mind, I couldn’t help but remember it perfectly. They completed one another, there was no possible other route, and they were truly walking towards the perfect, true ending hand-in-hand! Two orphans, one loved by society and other hated, find affection and warmth with one another for the rest of their lives! It’s like something out of shoujo manga that’s not trash. N-not that I read shoujo manga. “The two of them… when they’re together… you can’t say anything about it! It should be wrong, but it’s somehow not, and I don’t know what to do about it at all!”

“Break them up. Get rid of their relationship. Save the school from imploding and turning our lives into nightmares!” Miyakuro was naturally capable of thinking of horrible things for the greater good of everyone else. If he could make one person unhappy, so that everyone else could be happy, he’d do it in a heartbeat, even if it was him. Sometimes, I butted heads with him over his ideals, but this time I had to admit that his plans would save our school lives from becoming a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled only with hate and sorrow. “Hyoudou, you might be an idiot, but at least consider your own life before you make promises that risk it!”

He wasn’t there.

He hadn’t seen that perfect, domestic life that imparted upon me forbidden knowledge and a truth that I could never have myself. That dinner that I shared with Li and Coda, where I had been the guest to two people who were truly happy with one another, scarred my lonely, otaku heart like nothing else ever could. It was as though a happy ending that I could never have for myself was in front of me. Some people might want to break that up, so that no one else could possibly be hurt by the sight, but I’m different… I wanted that happiness to exist, even if I had to fight the whole world to make it happen.

“The whole world is going to chew you up, spit you up, and then implode, Hyoudou.” Ah, yeah, Miyakuro had a point. Realistically speaking, there was no way I was going to survive the situation, if that was what I was going to be fighting. I’m not some shounen protagonist with immense power that only rises alongside the threat level. I’m just an ordinary kid with a few friends who were willing to help. However, if I made my intentions clear, I could at least count Miyakuro among them. When I looked at him imploringly with that in mind, he shook his head and raised his cup to his lips. A sigh left him, before he answered and drank. “Whatever. I’m not going to risk my neck. But I’ll help from the sidelines, since I want a front row seat to your fuckups.”

With those words, as Tsun-Tsun as they were, I could breath a sigh of relief as Miyakuro gulped down his drink and stood up to be flanked by both Gungnirs. 

Miyakuro was going to help me. 

I didn’t know how or when, but since he said he would, I knew that I had his support.

So, even if the rest of the day didn’t amount to much, I at least managed to get a minor victory for the battles ahead. 

… 

Everyone went their separate ways after we reconvened one last time. Saria had training to do, Kuroneko went along with her, and Argento had charity work to do. Rias was pretty much going to die if she didn’t put together her figurine by the end of the night and show it off to her circle. Thus, I was left to escort Eli back to her house, which was pretty close to my own. 

My kouhai was being pretty quiet, which made me pretty worried, but I waited for her to talk.

Unlike a lot of people, Eli wasn’t the type to let things get worse. She always did her best to address problems as direct and quickly as she could. 

As expected of my dependable kouhai, I had to be extra diligent in order to be reliable for her, but I didn’t mind.

“Hey, Ise, did you mean what you said back there? About me being cute and stuff?” Ah, that’s the problem. I’d embarrassed my friend. Well, it can’t be helped. I needed to apologize right away— “Um, ah, I don’t mind you thinking that.”

Eh.

What.

EH!

“Is this a flag!?” I blurted the line out without thinking, as I looked at Eli. Even though I said such an embarrassing phrase, I could only look at Eli with wide eyes. The street was the typical VN street too. There’s the telephone post with a concrete wall background, the moon is full above us, and the starry sky is cloudless. There’s no sign of anyone else in the street at all. The two of us were completely, utterly alone! “W-wait, I didn’t mean to say that—

“Yes. It is. It’s a flag, Ise.” Okay, this time, I was completely unprepared and was struck down by Eli’s words. She stood tall, even though her face was red from the tip of her nose and up to her ears. My silver-haired, frail kouhai stood tall, met my gaze and demanded an answer from the way she stood alone. “I’m not going to be like everyone else. I want to know if you like me… because I want to the courage to tell you how I really feel!”

This is the part of the story where something silly happens and what happens between two characters is left completely unresolved. 

If it were a story.

Instead, the night was quiet save for the wind and Eli was before me awaiting an answer. After a whole day spent with me surrounded by others vying for my attention, even if I didn’t understand how or why they liked me, she has decided to see if I liked her. Despite all she felt from the situation, the anxiety and apprehension at everything she saw, she still decided to confront me about how I felt about her, so that she could carry on and do what she wished to do herself. 

The day I’d spit on that courage and pretend I didn’t hear it would never come. 

However, I could already feel my blush forming. 

But… uhh… there was absolutely no way I was going to manage to be cool about it.

It started on my cheeks, then traveled across my face, and then turned my ears into steaming coals in the brisk, night wind. My throat clenched up, I opened my mouth and nothing came out, and I was blinking rapidly as I tried to look everywhere besides her, but fought to look at her anyway. 

And, when I actually managed to speak, I barely managed a few stuttered words. 

“Y-yeah. I-I-I-I think y-you’re cute, E-Eli!”

It was uncool to the extreme. Every ounce of pride that I had was dying. It was the worst possible confirmation for Eli to ever hear.

Yet, I would do it again in a heartbeat for the smile that formed on Eli’s face after I said it.