Shin Honkai Impact(Remake): Crossing Stars

第27章 - Hikari

The place was quiet. A silence that makes your own heartbeat audible due to the lack of sound in the surroundings. The silence was broken by the sound of our footsteps on the cold surface of the underwater cave.

Our squad, consisting of Kiana, Mei, Bronya, Himeko-Sensei and me; Ikari Shirou, continued to search for any clues to confirm whether this place was really the Nine Realms or not. Although everything seemed to point in that direction, it would be in the mission's benefit to be completely sure rather than operating on an assumption.

The deeper we ventured inside, the darker the cave got. The darkness could fill one with a sense of apprehension. After all, darkness is the source of all horrors that exist in the world. As someone who has been fighting corruption and darkness since a young age, one could get accustomed to fighting in a dark environment.

At this point, everyone had their visors on with night vision mode on. The equipment was a great help in navigating this deep lair. Our gazes focused on the path in front of us as our steps carried us forward. Right now, if I were to guess, it was no longer than 30-40 minutes since we had started our search and we still had no clue.

Out of nowhere, a sudden tap lightly hits my shoulder. I turn around to see Kiana looking at me with a curious gaze.

"What is it?"

"Ne, Shirou. What do you think of the Class president?" Kiana asked me.

"Inchou?" I repeated.

"Yeah. The uptight girl. You too, Mei-Senpai. What do you think of her?" Kiana asked Mei as well who was walking beside me.

"Fu Hua is the best student in our class. She is, even amongst the A rank valkyrja, one with exceptional skills. I believe that we can learn a lot from her." Mei replied, her tone holding admiration and respect for the aforementioned valkyrie.

"Hmm. But she's always so uptight with me. She lectures me on the simplest of things I do. It's like she's targeting me or something..." Kiana slightly whines with a pout.

"That's because it's Kiana's fault most of the time. Like that one time when you had brought your HOMU-SP in class and started playing HOMU Souls 3 during the history lesson." I point out.

"Or that one time Kiana-chan made Rose eat her homemade hot pot, causing Rose to get admit in the infirmary due to food poisoning." Mei supported me by pointing out another instance.

"I'm surprised Rose survived that." I sweatdropped.

"Or that one time when Kiana-chan-" Mei was cut off.

"Mou~! I get it! Why does Mei-Senpai always take the knucklehead's side?" Kiana pouts.

"Because it's the truth. But all things aside, I think Inchou just wants your good. After all, it was Inchou who resolved the issue with my arm."

As I say that, I can't help but think back to the moment when that had happened. It was quite hectic, now that I remember it. After my battle with Rose McClaren that day, the news of my inhuman arm had spread throughout the academy.

While my enrollment as the first male student was already a hot topic for the gossips of the student body, the news of my right arm only poured more oil into the fire. I still remember that day. The high tension in the atmosphere and the whispers...

. . . . . . .

The classroom was filled with the murmuring of the female students present in the class. I sat alone on my desk, accompanied by Mei at my right and Kiana sitting on the desk right in front of her. After the revelation of my Kegare arm's power back in the spar against Rose that day, the girls in the class have been actively avoiding getting involved with me or any form of interaction. Which honestly, doesn't matter given the people I mostly interact with are Mei, Kiana, Bronya, Fu Hua, Himeko-Sensei and Principal Theresa.