Chaos Mate ~Revenge In This Chaotic Academy~ - Chapter 67: Precious

Chapter 67: Precious

Jack Side

Two hours before contacting Mogami Emi.

I’m on the phone with a subordinate left at the academy, getting updates on Tsubaki Madoka’s recent moves.

That dangerous factor requires constant vigilance, so I’ve had recon subordinates skilled in stealth monitoring him and his circle.

They report that Kanaki-kun, one of my decoys playing Jack-o-Lantern, was caught by Madoka, and this morning, Student Council President Sakurada Souna cracked the strategy for my Mandatory Word Game.

Those two are undeniably talented.

Targeting them mentally rather than physically was the right call.

Madoka’s weakness: his allies.

No matter how much someone pretends to be indifferent to relationships, spending time together fosters camaraderie, increasing their value.

The higher that value, the more losing them disrupts emotions, clouding judgment and making thoughts predictable.

A hostage—written as “person” and “quality”—means value. The greater the person’s value, the bigger the leverage.

I don black gloves and strap my beloved crescent-shaped axe, Moon Axe, to my waist.

Preparing my Ability Tool, I summon my subordinate.

“Preparations complete?”

“Yes, sir. All equipped with hypnotic-bullet rifles and stun batons.”

“Blade, take your sword. If it comes to it, you’ll fight alongside me.”

“…Understood.”

Blade, the brown-haired masked man, my right hand. His weapon: a sword.

A master swordsman, he’s buried countless under my orders.

A contingency against Madoka.

Preparations are set.

The key target: Mogami Emi. I’ll split Blade and the unit into two, ambushing her from both sides.

Even if she’s from the Sakurada clan, the Tsubaki family isn’t our enemy.

She’s the only daughter of a man threatening our organization.

The more cards we hold against him, the better.

※

Emi Side

Four days since my last call with Madoka.

He hasn’t answered since that night.

I’m not lonely, but the radio silence grows more worrying daily.

My “ability” has a 100-meter radius. Even with headphones, I know I can’t hear Madoka’s voice, but when my chest tightens, I instinctively try.

At night, sitting in a fetal position on the house’s veranda, a cold sensation hits my cheek, making me squeak, “Eek!”

“Nyahaha! ‘Eek’? Emi-cchi, what a cute squeak!” a voice laughs.

“Aramori…”

Kumi stands beside me, pouting slightly at her name, holding two popsicles.

“I keep saying, call me Kumi! Why won’t you?” she whines.

“Too much hassle to change now.”

“C’mon, don’t be like that! We’re practically friends, right?”

Kumi sits beside me, stretching her arms up. I widen my eyes briefly, then narrow them.

“Friends… we’re not…!!”

“Huh?”

“We’re not friends! I’m only with you because Madoka’s around. Absolutely not friends!!”

Yelling with rare anger, my voice draws Naruse, who looks at us with a puzzled expression.

“What’s up with you two?” she asks.

“Uh… Ruri-cchi, Emi-cchi’s just in a bad mood…” Kumi says awkwardly, trying not to worry Naruse.

That irritates me more.

“Let’s make this clear. I don’t care about you two. Without Madoka, I wouldn’t bother. So stop acting chummy, thinking we’re friends!!”

Glaring with my left eye, Kumi’s speechless, and Naruse sighs.

Naruse’s calm, like she predicted this.

“I suspected your actions revolve around Madoka, but why are you so fixated on him? I’ve wondered for a while. In class—no, the whole academy—you only open up to him. Odd, since you initially rejected him…”

“What’re you getting at?”

“I’ll keep it short. What’s Tsubaki Madoka to you?”

“…Huh?”

Her words don’t register at first. Then they hit, replaying in my mind.

But I can’t answer immediately.

What’s Madoka to me…?

“Someone I want to support” comes first, but it feels inadequate.

Someone to protect? No, that’s not it.

Something more… raw, emotional.

I want to be near him. I want him to see me. Hear his voice.

…Touch him, feel lonely when apart.

Thinking of him warms my chest.

I know what this feeling is.

But part of me says I shouldn’t acknowledge it.

I’m losing myself!!

Thoughts swirl, and a sudden, intense headache hits. I clutch my head.

“Ugh…!!”

In pain, with headphones on, others’ inner voices flood in.

Among them, a faint voice: “Mogami Emi’s somewhere in these mountains. Capture her as a hostage, quick.”

A Scarlet Phantom assassin… nearby!?

Targeting me, Naruse, and Kumi? Then…!!

Glaring at the two, I snap, “Don’t follow me,” and sprint out of the Tsubaki house.

Staying risks involving Madoka’s parents.

Those two are a hundred times safer inside. I need to minimize collateral damage.

I’ll be the bait and take them down with Railgun.

Deep breath, reset my mind, and the headache subsides.

Entering a bamboo grove in the mountains, I draw Railgun from a holster under my skirt, holding it two-handed as I advance.

The inner voice grows louder, confirming I’m closing in.

I have to stop them alone. If anything happens to those two, Madoka’ll be crushed.

Feeling sharp gazes from all directions, a voice speaks.

“Didn’t expect you to come to us, Mogami Emi-san.”

From the dark, a man in a black gas mask emerges, holding a crescent-shaped blade.

“Who… are you?”

“I can’t give my name, but my codename’s Jack. Pleased to meet you, Miss Mogami.”

“Jack… So you’re with the Scarlet Phantom… Finally, a big fish.”

Aiming Railgun, Jack chuckles eerily.

Snapping his white-gloved fingers, dozens of leather-suited men in black smiley masks appear.

“I’m not here to fight. I need your cooperation to eliminate a nuisance.”

“You think I’d help?”

“Your choice doesn’t matter. Refuse, and my Masquerade unit and I will take you by force.”

“Brute force, huh.”

“It’s the quickest way. For peace, come quietly.”

Facing a formidable foe like Jack, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared.

But I pushed that aside.

Madoka’s been hunting this guy.

My role is clear.

Silently firing Railgun at Jack, a masked man shields him, taking the electromagnetic shot and collapsing with a scream.

“…That’s your answer? Sad,” Jack says.

“Negotiations over. Poker Jack, I’ll take you down!!”

My role: capture him without letting him escape.

Jack, with his gas mask and axe, and his masked subordinates behind him.

One glance shows Jack’s on another level.

A cocky idiot would’ve been nice, but the world doesn’t work that way.

Rejecting his offer, a masked man raises and lowers his hand—a silent command.

Half the creepy masked men charge, wielding stun batons crackling with white lightning.

I aim Railgun, targeting the attackers.

They zigzag wildly, dodging my aim.

Normal people would track visually, get confused, and be pinned. But their moves are meaningless to me.

I don’t just see—I hear.

“Right… then down…!!”

Focusing slightly on my headphones, I predict their moves by sound, shooting each with one Railgun blast.

Power’s dialed down. Non-lethal.

After shocking the melee unit immobile, I scan around, sensing something off.

My vision’s whitening slightly…

Maybe it’s the night, but a white fog thickens.

Jack and his men are gone.

They must be hiding in the fog.

“…That charge was a diversion to mask the fog!?”

“Exactly, Mogami Emi-san!” Jack’s voice echoes.

But I can’t pinpoint him.

Trying to track his inner voice, a BANG! rings out behind me.

A bullet grazes my hoodie, cutting my arm, drawing blood.

Searching for Jack, his men’s voices mix in, overwhelming me.

Their inner voices focus on long-range attack coordinates.

I need to deal with the snipers first…

Focusing on their voices, Jack charges from the side with his crescent axe. I twist to dodge, but it slices my abdomen, exposing skin from chest down.

A shallow cut, but my wound heals instantly.

My “ability,” inherited from my parents, means high natural healing.

But healing doesn’t mean winning.

Focus on Jack, snipers move. Focus on snipers, Jack cuts me.

He’s reading my moves perfectly. I’m forced to face a harsh reality.

Jack knows my ability and has countermeasures.

Of course—he’s part of the organization that made that drug.

The real issue: I overestimated my power.

“Protect those two until I return. Please.”

That morning, Madoka whispered to me through my headphones, his inner voice.

But can I do that now?

Caught in Jack’s trap, helpless.

If I can, it’s focusing on Jack alone, enduring bullets, even if it means mutual destruction to take down that gas mask.

I’ll pour my all into it.

Locking onto Jack, I stay still, minimizing movement.

My body’s slowing.

Probably the fog’s effect.

I feel sniper scopes from all directions.

A volley would hurt… but I heal fast, so it doesn’t matter.

Deep breath, sigh, I close my eyes, focusing on sound.

No matter the pain, I’ll see it through.

I’ll keep my promise to Madoka.

Resolved, a BANG! sounds, and I wince.

…But no pain comes.

Next, a low “Guhh!!” from a man, followed by more, then a CLANG! of metal clashing, and voices.

“What are you doing, Blade!?”

“…”

“Betraying me is betraying the Scarlet Phantom! You get that!?”

Blade’s silent; only Jack’s enraged shouts echo. Two figures approach, becoming visible.

Jack, gas-masked with axe, and a brown-haired, black-masked man fighting with a sheathed sword.

Jack’s panicked, shaken; Blade’s inner voice is silent.

What’s with this guy… and that swordsmanship…!!

Jack’s axe grazes Blade’s mask, knocking it off.

Blade shields me, slowly raising his face.

Seeing it, Jack trembles, stunned.

“Why… Why are you here!? Blade…!?”

“…”

“Answer me, Tsubaki Madoka!!”

Hearing that name, my heart pounds.

“Who decided your right-hand man couldn’t be replaced?”

My legs give out, and I collapse, tears streaming as I look up at the brown-haired man’s back.

“Why…!? Why!?”

“Why? To save you, idiot.”

Madoka turns to me, his right eye hidden by a black patch, left eye crimson.

Drawing an ice blade from its sheath, he points it at Jack.

“Finally found you, Jack. Been waiting for this…”

“Likewise. Unexpected, but I wanted to meet… no, eliminate you. You’re a threat to our king. Is avenging your sister that important? Revenge won’t bring Tsubaki Suzuka back.”

Jack’s taunts stir my heart.

Would Madoka, insulted over his precious goal, not snap?

Jack’s trying to cloud his judgment.

But, against our expectations, Madoka just sighs, disappointed, not with a vengeful fury but a quiet anger.

“…Old me would’ve fallen for your taunts like a fool. But my anger’s not about that, Jack.”

In an instant, he closes the distance, slamming his ice blade into Jack’s torso, sending him flying three meters.

With a cold, sharp glare, he says, 

“Don’t. Touch. My. Precious. WOMAN…!!”