The school day ended quickly.
But today, Kaiser wasn't surrounded by the usual group of eye-catching girls—he was, for once, completely on his own.
Kanon Kanase wasn't at school, and Nagisa Akatsuki had decided to attend a club activity she'd been absent from for some time. She'd messaged Kaiser earlier, telling him not to wait for her and to go on home.
Normally, if Nagisa had a club meeting and couldn't leave on time, Kaiser wouldn't mind waiting at school for her. It was an excuse, sure—but with Avrora still sleeping inside Nagisa, there was no telling when she might wake up. If something like last time happened again and he wasn't there, it could be a real problem.
That was why Kaiser had told Nagisa before that if she had club activities, he'd stay at school and wait for her.
But today, he couldn't do that.
He had to take action.
So, while telling Nagisa he'd be leaving first, Kaiser walked over to the still tightly bound Sayaka Kirasaka.
"Hey, pervert girl, wake up."
He patted the unconscious Sayaka, trying to rouse her.
Instead of waking, she mumbled,
"Mmm… Just let me keep holding you a little longer… just a little…"
Her face curled into a lecherous smile as she spoke, grinning with downright shameless delight.
A dark vein throbbed on Kaiser's forehead. He stopped holding back and raised his hand high.
"What kind of filthy dream are you having? Wake up!"
The raised hand came down hard.
Smack!
With that crisp slap, the unconscious girl woke up in an instant.
"Ow! You—you bastard! You actually hit me!" Sayaka shouted through tear-filled eyes, a red handprint stamped on her cheek.
"You swing that giant sword at me practically every day—have I ever complained?" Kaiser glared. "You should be thanking me. If I hadn't woken you up, who knows what embarrassing thing you might've let slip?"
"'Just let me keep holding you'… Don't tell me you were dreaming about cuddling Yukina Himeragi?"
Sayaka froze, her expression turning awkward.
Kaiser dropped three light, deadly words.
"Lesbian Freak."
Sayaka immediately exploded.
"I am not a lesbian! I don't like women! I just like Yukina!"
That only earned her an even more contemptuous look from Kaiser.
"That's worse. I'd love to let Himeragi hear what kind of woman she treats like an older sister." He pulled out his phone. "Want me to call her right now?"
"No!" Sayaka panicked—then caught herself. "Wait, Yukina doesn't even have a phone. How would you call her?"
No one knew Yukina better than Sayaka.
That beloved underclassman was serious and honest, with a strong sense of justice and responsibility. Among the talents at the Lion King Organization, she was exceptional—well-educated but, having grown up entirely in the Sanctuary, she was unfamiliar with much of modern life and noticeably lacking in certain kinds of common sense.
Thanks to that, she rarely touched technological devices like cell phones, making her nearly impossible to contact directly.
If it weren't for that, Sayaka would already be calling her every few days, chatting for hours and keeping her lovesick pining at bay.
Of course, Kaiser knew all of this.
"Are you stupid?" He gave her the kind of look reserved for idiots. "I could just call the Sanctuary and have someone put Himeragi on the line."
The girl didn't have a cell phone—but the Sanctuary certainly had a landline.
"Ah…" Sayaka was speechless.
Then panic struck.
"Y-you're not actually going to call Yukina, are you?"
She admitted it—she was scared. If that beloved underclassman started looking at her with disgust, Sayaka might as well swallow a curse and die.
"You don't want me telling Himeragi, right?" Kaiser's smile turned calculating. "Then do me a favor."
"A favor?" Sayaka narrowed her eyes warily. "You're not going to make me do something indecent, are you?"
She'd read this plot before—in magazines you couldn't show in public. Sure enough, this guy was a filthy man.
"You're overthinking it." Kaiser cut her off before she could finish preparing a spell. "Even if I had any thoughts about Himeragi, I wouldn't have them about you, you yuri girl."
"What?" Sayaka completely missed the point, eyes blazing. "So you do have thoughts about Yukina, you bastard!"
Kaiser: "…"
He was too tired to respond.
"Keep making things up about me and I might just deal with you right here and now."
The flatness in his tone shut her up.
She didn't like admitting it, but after years of love-hate bickering, she knew his personality well enough to tell when he was teasing her—and when he was serious.
Right now, he was edging toward serious. Push him too far, and she really would regret it.
"See? That wasn't so hard." Kaiser sighed at her sullen, cowed expression.
"Listen, pervert girl—I've got something important to take care of. I can't keep watching the Fourth Primogenitor for now." He fixed her with a look. "You're free at the moment, so until I'm back, you're going to keep an eye on Nagisa from the shadows."
As a War Dancer, Sayaka wasn't just skilled in curses and assassination—she also handled VIP protection and infiltration. Being a curse and assassination expert made her one of the best at countering them, too, so she could serve as a perfect antidote to such threats.
Under those conditions, she could easily take over his surveillance duty—without ever showing herself—protecting Nagisa in secret.
If she agreed, anyway.
"I have my own mission," Sayaka refused flatly.
She was on Itogami Island to watch Vatler—why would she abandon that to cover for Kaiser?
"Oh, please." Kaiser rolled his eyes. "If you were that dutiful, you wouldn't have let that snake do whatever he wanted."
They'd already fought once, and it had been a world-shaking battle that drew global attention. By her mission parameters, Sayaka should've intervened before Vatler's people ever attacked Kaiser and Nagisa.
And yet… an entire port was gone. That was the result.
The mention made her bristle.
"That's your fault!"
If this bastard hadn't tied her up and let mice run around her feet, she wouldn't have fainted from fright.
If she hadn't fainted, she would have stopped Vatler.
"You've got some nerve blaming me," Kaiser laughed in disbelief. "You're the one who attacked me first."
"I was only delivering a message!"
"And also attacking me."
"I did not!"
"You think I believe that?"
They bickered right there in the hallway, the perfect picture of a squabbling duo.
"Forget it, I'm not wasting any more time on you." Seeing the minutes drain away, Kaiser cut her off. "You clearly have plenty of free time—you show up to attack me every other day."
"So you'll take over for now. Watch over and protect Nagisa in secret."
"And no refusing. What I'm doing is also an assignment from the Lion King Organization. If you turn me down, I'll report you to the higher-ups."
What could Sayaka do? Nothing but curse him under her breath, furious and helpless.
Not that Kaiser was leaving it all to her.
He'd already instructed the kittens at home and the birds that always circled above to keep watch over Nagisa at all times. He'd also given her the Gorgon Stone to carry—if something happened that Sayaka and his familiars couldn't handle, Athena would emerge from it.
Only after making all these arrangements did Kaiser leave Saikai Academy.
Once outside, he ducked into a narrow alley and began setting up a spell.
"Heart of the south, pupil of the north, fingertips of the west, toes of the east—gather with the wind, scatter with the rain."
A pattern took shape on the ground, and Kaiser invoked his kidō.
"Bakudō #58: Kakushitsuisaku!"
The design flared, sending out invisible waves that spread rapidly in all directions.
Last time, Kaiser had only set the search area to cover Saikai Academy. This time, he expanded it to all of Itogami Island.
The range of this search spell depended entirely on the amount of spiritual energy poured into it. Even a lieutenant-level shinigami skilled in its use could scan all of Seireitei.
With his power—and with the kidō inscribed in his grimoire—Kaiser could push the search to a near-divine level if he was willing to spend the energy.
And right now, he was.
Because he'd realized Kanon Kanase's spiritual energy wasn't anywhere on Itogami Island.
"…That way, huh?"
After a long moment, Kaiser turned his head toward a specific direction.
Kanon's spiritual energy was there.