Konoe Rina is a Hero

Ch 1.5 ~The Weed in a Flower Patch~

The Weed in a Flower Patch

The one left behind resumes her normal life, wishing for what lies beyond the flowers

"Now, class, please open your textbooks to page 238 where you'll see a picture of the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu."

The sun casts a bright glow over the Japanese island of Shikoku. The streets of Kagawa boom with the clamor of busy civilians shuffling to their day jobs while the sounds of car engines fill the air. There is a certain buzz of the air, as if the city had awoken from a long slumber. In the distance, the loud rumbling of construction vehicles cascades across the Seto Inland Sea. The entirety of the island seems abuzz with a renewed vigor.

In a small middle school in Kagawa, a teacher stands in front of her class. She lectures on to the class about the end of Japan's feudal period and the beginning of the Tokugawa shogunate as students listen on in varying states of interest. Near the back of the classroom, in a seat overlooking the long line of windows, a young girl with scruffy brown hair gazes out the window, watching the seemingly tiny fishermen's boats toil about in the nearby waters.

"Inokuma!"

A voice calls out from the front of the classroom, causing the girl's head to quickly turn her attention back to the front. The teacher stands with her arms crossed, eyes locked in the young girl's direction.

"Would you prefer it if we continued this lecture outside? Since that's where all your attention seems to be."

The girl quickly stands up and bows to the teacher in apology before taking her seat once more. Her attention quickly fades once the teacher begins her lecture once more, as another girl leans over from her right.

"Haruka, you really should focus. This is the third time the teacher's had to call you out this week."

"Eh, don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Brushing off her classmate's warning, Haruka turns her attention back towards her own desk. Sneaking her smartphone out, she stows it in her desk, taking care to keep its dim glow hidden inside. Swiping the phone open and quickly drawing the pattern, it opens to a photo of herself and another girl as her background. The other girl's deep blue hair seems to shimmer in the light of the photo as the two of them wear similar-looking green uniforms with muskets slung over their backs. She mutters to herself under her breath as she sees the picture

"Heh, I wonder how she's doing out there with Noriko."

Haruka's gaze quickly turns back to the sea once more before turning back to her phone. Memories run through her mind of the girl standing next to her in the picture.

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"However, as it stands now, eventually the Shinju-sama's power will fade, the barrier will vanish and Shikoku, too, will be engulfed in the flames and perish. To break this deadlock, us humans must make a move as well..."

A priestess stands in front of a group of 32 girls with a large image of the burning maelstrom that was once the world outside Shikoku displayed. The girls watched on in horror as the woman standing in front of them displayed the grotesque enemies known as Vertexes and began to explain their duty. Haruka sat near the back of the group, fading in and out of the words the woman spoke.

"All of you were once Hero candidates. You all possess a high aptitude for becoming Heroes, which is why we've called on you."

Looking around at the other candidates, Haruka notices the distraught nature of many of the girls. One on the opposite side of the group begins to break down and cry out, screaming of the bleakness of the situation. The priestess scolds the young girl as Haruka continues to scope out her comrades-to-be. She notices the girl in front of her as her entire body seems to shake.

"This one's shaking in her boots. She won't last two minutes out there."

As the priestess adjourns and the candidates begin to be escorted out, Haruka begins to stand up as she notices the girl in front of her shoot up to her feet. Her arms fly into the air and confidently pump down beside her.

"Alright! Let's do this!"

She shouts and seems to pump herself up as she stands before a dumbfounded Haruka. Slowly rising to her feet, Haruka taps the shoulder of the young girl in front of her, causing her to turn around. The shimmer in her green eyes seems almost blinding as she locks eyes with Haruka. Confused by her chipper demeanor, Haruka questions her.

"Hey, what was all that about? You do realize what she was telling us, right?"

"Mmhmm!"

The girl gives a positive response with a smile on her face. The sight of this girl's attitude deeply confuses Haruka as she tries pushing further.

"You're not scared? This could basically be a death march, after all."

The girl seems to consider the idea only for a moment before quickly shaking her head.

"Well, the Shinju-sama has been protecting all of us for so long, right? It only seems fair that we'd help it out too!"

Haruka can't believe her eyes, baffled by this strange girl's reaction to being told she would essentially be infantry against an army of hideous world-killing monsters.

"You...are you right in the head?"

Brushing off Haruka's comment, the girl extends her hand. She beckons Haruka to shake her hand, much to Haruka's own confusion.

"Eh?"

"Since we'll be fighting together from here on out, we should get to know each other, shouldn't we? My name's Rina Konoe!"

Haruka stares awkwardly at Rina's extended hand. A blush begins to grow on her face as she looks away from Rina whose eyes stay locked onto her embarrassed new comrade. Slowly reaching out her right hand, she grabs Rina's hand and begins to shake it.

"Haruka...Haruka Inokuma."

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Haruka chuckles to herself as she reflects on their first meeting, being careful to keep her laughter at a level the teacher wouldn't be able to hear. Breaking from her haze, she notices a small notification displaying an envelope at the top of her screen.

"Oh, a new message."

Swiping down the notification bar, the notification reads "Rina" with a filename in the body. Tapping the notification brings Haruka to her messages app, displaying her conversation with Rina. She quickly taps on the image attached by Haruka as it appears on screen. Looking at the picture, she sees a beautiful blue seascape with the Grand Seto Bridge prominently featured on the left side. Across the sea lies the island of Shikoku where Haruka currently found herself.

"Looks like they made it alright."

As she stares at the photo taken by her dear friend, the phone makes a slight vibration in her hands. Clutching it tightly so as not to alert the unaware teacher, she backs out of the image to reveal another photo sent by Haruka. Opening this one shows Haruka standing with another taller girl. A white head of hair leads to a ponytail hanging from the back of her head as a pair of yellow eyes look into the camera. Rina's right arm extends outside of the frame, clearly holding the phone, as she makes a peace sign with her left hand. The girl next to her seems to more awkwardly make peace signs with both of her hands for the picture. Chuckling to herself, Haruka saves the photo.

"Take care of her, Noriko. Both of you need to come home safe."

Catching the teacher glancing in her direction, Haruka stows the phone away in her desk as she once again starts to gaze across the sea. With her friends in an unfamiliar land, all she can do is pray to the Shinju-sama for their safe return

＊ Haruka Inokuma Side Story ＊

＊ Konoe Rina is a Hero: Chapter 1.5 ＊