Tale of Discovery

Chapter 291: School Trip (4/4) ; (Spoiler)

"Finally," Natsumi says as the three of us approach her and the girl beside her.

"Hey, what are we going to be doing?" the girl, Miina, says while casting an anxious glance at me.

"What, afraid of me?" I remark while raising my brows, "Don't worry, my mind is currently preoccupied with much more important things to bother with you."

Annoyed by my admittedly rude statement, Miina puffs her cheeks and mutters, "I don't even want to hang out with you all..."

She has a good point. All the blame for this can be pinned on Natsumi, but knowing that she did this out of loneliness makes it hard for me to berate her at the moment.

Releasing a sigh, I shift my focus over to the line of excited students as Tamae tries to keep them from raising their voices too much, while Reine just watches everything from the side.

"Shido, can you hear me?" a voice suddenly reaches my ears.

"Kotori?" I mutter.

"Finally," she says in an exasperated manner before letting out a long sigh.

Hm? Was she unable to contact me for some reason?

Seemingly answering the question for me, Kotori's voice once again reverberates within my ear, "We had been trying to contact you for the past hour up to no avail. Did anything happen?"

"No?" I respond, perplexed over the situation, "Don't you have anything like a satellite to provide you a direct feed of the island?"

"Of course not," she responds, "Do you know how easier everything would've been if we had something like that? At most, we have an enhanced radar."

"So, you're basically unable to see whatever transpires over this island?"

"Yes, so, for that reason, I need you to be extra careful."

"Alright, alright, don't worry. Your big brother can take care of himself and any troubles that may occur just fine."

Kotori doesn't say anything as a response to my words, so I just shrug my shoulders and look up at the sky.

"Say," I mutter, "Kotori, did you say you were unable to contact me for the past hour?"

"That's right," comes an immediate response, "There was unquestionably no signal at all before it abruptly returned."

"I see. Thanks for informing me."

Yeah, this is suspicious as heck. If I'm not mistaken, this has something to do with the enemy's movements. The question is, why would they do this?

Perhaps mask their appearance on the island? Could be. How had they accomplished that anyway?

My thoughts don't last long as I feel a stinging gaze on my face, causing me to focus back on reality, only to find myself being stared at by all four girls.

"Who were you speaking with just now?" Natsumi takes it upon herself and asks me with curiosity apparent in her voice.

"My sister," I respond, "She wanted to check in on us and see if we landed safely."

Before anything else could be said, I raise my hands and clap twice before adopting a grin and saying, "How about we go ask the teacher for permission to look around the island by ourselves? From the looks of it, they're waiting for someone or something, and I'm starting to get bored."

It takes them a moment, but all girls agree with my suggestion and follow me as I make my way over to the front of the row.

"Tch. Look at him," I hear a male student remark as I pass by.

"Leave it," another one responds, "Get used to it already. All girls now like guys like him."

"Yeah, playboys," the first one adds.

They sure are a rude bunch...

Not sparing them a glance, I continue until all five of us are directly standing in front of Tamae.

Looking at her, I notice that she seems to be confused and distraught about something, so, out of sheer curiosity, I ask her, "Tamae? Is there something wrong?"

As if just noticing me, a shocked look appears on the young-looking woman's face for a split-second before it fades as she says, "Itsuka, please don't refer to me in such a casual manner."

"Come on, there isn't a need to act so distantly," I say in a teasing manner, to which a red hue covers her face, most likely due to remembering the thing that happened between 'us'.

"Ugh," I hear a groan with hints of undisguised disgust as Miina takes a step away from me.

In contrast, Natsumi just presses her palm against her mouth to hide the grin that has formed on her lips, while Origami and Tohka simply stare at Tamae, with the latter being utterly confused.

"Anyway," I say, "You didn't answer my question."

"Ah! Well, ehm," Tamae coughs once before looking me in the eyes and saying, "There was supposed to be someone waiting for us here, but they aren't present for some reason."

"Who?"

"A photographer. We even had the time and location all set up..." she says, practically muttering the latter half to herself.

How unfortunate for them. Well, we definitely won't be loitering around with them until this photographer arrives.

"Tamae, I would like for our group to go on about exploring the island on our own."

"Eh? Ah, uhm... sure," she responds as a confused expression appears on her face.

It doesn't take a genius to know that there is something wrong with her agreeing to my request so easily. Obviously, my Indoctrination is still in effect and has clouded her judgment appropriately.

Of all those close by, only Miina seems to find this weird, while the rest treat Tamae's response as if it was the most natural thing she could say as a response to my request.

"Thank you," I say before turning around and looking over at the girls and stating, "Let's get exploring, shall we?"

--

"Wait a moment!" Miina calls out just as I am about to press a button, "Do you even know where that will take us?"

"Yes, I do," I respond while giving her an odd look, "Didn't you read the information board outside?"

"Of course, I didn't!" she replies while raising her arms in an exaggerated manner, "We just passed by after you glanced at it for a second."

Huh? Was that the case? Whatever.

Ignoring Miina, I proceed to press the only red button on the panel.

"Hey!" Miina exclaims, but none of us pay her any attention.

The elevator shuts before Miina can make up her mind to 'escape' and begins to gradually descend.

"Where are we going?" Origami asks after a moment.

"The most interesting section of this island," I respond, "Apparently, there is an interesting project under work down below."

"Shido, this is a little scary," Tohka says while moving closer to me and holding on to my school uniform's sleeve.

Scary?

Realizing something, I focus on my vision to dismiss it's abnormal properties, only for the elevator shaft to get marginally darker than before.

No wonder...

"Don't worry," I say, "I doubt there would be anything here that could harm us."

Hearing my words, Tohka simply nods her head. To her, my words must've meant something like humans not being able to harm her, while to Miina, it could mean that the school wouldn't bring us over to anywhere dangerous.

And so, silence ensues in the dark elevator as it slowly descends to the chosen floor.

Not long after, a ding reverberates within our ears as the elevator comes to an abrupt halt.

Following that, the metallic doors slide open, letting blue light shine in.

Just as I am about to take a step forth, I notice that there are some individuals a few meters away from us.

Normally, I wouldn't pay much attention to such a thing, but the problem lies with the fact that one of the individuals is one that I am a little familiar with.

Pale-blond hair and wearing a dark businesswoman suit, the same woman that was present during that morning date with Kurumi.

I didn't expect to run into their ambush here...

Apart from her, there are three other girls present. Unlike her, they're all armed in their combat realizer units, prepared for battle.

The next moment, one of the said girls notices us as she raises her arm and points at us with widened eyes.

As a response to this, the pale-blond haired woman and rest look over at us while frowning.

"Go," a cold voice reverberates within the eerily silent facility as the three girls hastily float before unexpectedly, retreating into the distance.

"Origami," I say, "Prepare for combat. Protect Tohka the other two for now."

"Understood," she responds in a solemn tone while Miina begins to let out various cries of confusion.

Shaking my head, I begin to walk forward while maintaining eye contact with the woman's purple eyes.

"How nice of you to present yourself to us like this," the woman suddenly says in a cold and mocking tone.

"What are you on about," I respond with a grin, "Do you actually think you can capture me?"

Having said that, I begin looking around at our surroundings, realizing that this might not be the best location to hold a battle...

~~~~~

School Trip (4/?) ; Confrontation