Chapter 4
1080words
On one hand, I became infamous. Wherever I went, I felt eyes from every direction—a cocktail of pity, jealousy, and shameless gossip.
On the other hand, because Kurosawa Rin—that walking glacier—shadowed my every move, hardly anyone dared approach me.
For me, this was actually a silver lining.
To escape the crowds after school, I retreated to the library as my sanctuary.
This was the quietest corner of the school, where everyone stayed absorbed in their own bubble, mental noise reduced to a blessed minimum.
I found the most isolated spot behind a massive bookshelf, sat down, and opened a thick history tome, pretending to study while actually savoring the rare mental peace.
Kurosawa Rin predictably followed and sat opposite me. She wasn't reading—just scanning everything with those laser eyes, like a security camera in human form.
"Can't you at least pretend to read something?" I whispered. "Your staring is seriously stressing me out."
"I am reading," she replied.
"Reading? You're not even looking at a book."
"I am reading the 'environment.' The arrangement of bookshelves, student distribution patterns, light angles, air currents... all data can be interpreted. This is more substantive than printed text."
...And there she goes with the cryptic robot talk. I gave up trying to have a normal conversation.
I closed my eyes, leaned back, and attempted to catch a quick nap.
Just as consciousness began to fade, a cold, sharp thought—like an ice pick—stabbed into my mind without warning.
Unlike the usual mental static, this was... pure, undiluted malice.
"Target confirmed... Ayashiro Ai... S-class asset... acquisition..."
My heart seized, and every hair on my body stood at attention!
I snapped my eyes open, frantically scanning the room. The library appeared normal—students reading quietly, everything seemingly peaceful.
Was it a hallucination? No, that icy sensation was unmistakable!
"What's wrong?" Kurosawa Rin immediately noticed my distress, her eyes instantly sharpening.
"There's... something..." my voice trembled. "Right here..."
"What thing?"
"I don't know... but I can 'feel' it—dangerous, calculated malice!"
The moment I finished speaking, Kurosawa Rin's body tensed like a predator before attack. Her gaze swept the library, locking onto a scholarly-looking man with gold-rimmed glasses sitting diagonally from us.
The man pretended to browse a magazine, but his gaze periodically drifted our way.
"Threat source identified. Distance 12 meters, 7 o'clock position. Male, approximately 30 years old, height 5'11". Cover identity: civilian visitor," Rin transmitted mentally. "Right hand concealed in pocket continuously, posture indicates combat readiness. Presumed armed. Threat level: B+."
Cold sweat instantly drenched my back.
That seemingly harmless man was actually...
"Ouroboros Consortium operative?" I asked mentally.
"High probability. Standard Ouroboros protocol—civilian cover for close target approach." Rin's tone remained steady, but her eyes turned arctic. "Maintain position. I'll neutralize the threat."
"Neutralize? You're taking action here?!" I panicked. "This is a school library full of students!"
"Negative concern required. Per combat protocols, I'll execute with minimal environmental impact."
With that, she stood, casually picked up a massive "World Encyclopedia," and walked nonchalantly toward the man.
I watched anxiously.
Rin approached the bookshelf near the man, feigning interest in the titles.
The man sensed something amiss, lowered his magazine, and his eyes narrowed with alertness. His right hand slowly emerged from his pocket, revealing a glint of metal.
A knife!
Just as he started to rise, Rin struck.
Her movements blurred with speed.
She pivoted with casual grace, swinging the encyclopedia like a medieval war hammer, and with surgical precision—CRACK!—smashed it against his knife-wielding wrist!
"Snap!"
The distinct sound of breaking bone echoed through the quiet library.
The man bit back a cry of pain as the knife clattered to the floor.
Before he could recover, Rin stepped in, her elbow driving like a piston into the side of his neck.
Without even a whimper, his eyes rolled back, and he slumped unconscious into the chair.
The entire sequence was fluid and lightning-fast—under three seconds from start to finish.
None of the nearby students even registered what happened; a few glanced up at the dull thud, but seeing only a man who appeared to have "dozed off," they returned to their reading.
Rin, stone-faced, nudged the knife under the bookshelf with her foot, then adjusted the man's posture to mimic someone who'd fallen asleep while reading.
Task completed, she retrieved her improvised weapon—the "World Encyclopedia"—and returned to our table.
"Threat neutralized," she announced, sitting down and opening a book as if nothing had happened.
My heart hammered in my chest.
Watching her composed profile, I realized with crystal clarity—the girl sitting across from me was absolutely not a normal high school student.
She was someone who could, without breaking stride... no, she never even smiled... someone who could silently and efficiently neutralize an armed adult man—a genuine "human weapon."
"You... you..." I stammered, unable to form coherent thoughts.
"According to organizational protocols, for level-one threats, 'neutralization' is authorized provided operational security is maintained," she explained clinically.
"But... that was an actual human being!"
"For 'Chronos,' individuals who threaten peace and instigate conflict are merely 'malignancies' requiring excision," she stated without a flicker of doubt. "To eradicate conflict, all necessary sacrifices are justified."
I stared at her, feeling a bone-deep chill.
For her, perhaps the world really was just "missions," "targets," and "elimination."
And I was her primary "mission target."
Walking home from school, I remained silent.
My mind churned with the library scene replaying on endless loop.
Rin, unusually, didn't bombard me with mental transmissions either, just quietly shadowing me half a step behind.
"Are you afraid?"
She broke the silence as we reached my front door.
I stopped but didn't turn around.
"...Yes," I admitted quietly. "I'm afraid of you. And afraid of myself. I don't want to be some S-class 'catalyst,' and I definitely don't want anyone getting hurt because of me, or... like today."
A heavy silence hung behind me.
Just when I thought she wouldn't answer, her voice came again, with a slight tremor I'd never heard before.
"...I won't let you get hurt."
"This is... my mission."
I couldn't tell if her promise meant protecting me as a person or safeguarding me as an "S-class asset."
But that night, surprisingly, I didn't suffer from insomnia.
Because I knew that somewhere out there, a "human weapon" more effective than any security system was guarding my safety.
Even if that protection came through methods I couldn't comprehend.
