New chapter of Ototsukai, and, as promissed, this is only about Roll ^^

On another note, I am fully aware that the updates got awfully slow the past few weeks, but, on my defense, I got a technical book to translate which takes most of my time, so ’till I finish that I can only translate chapters during the little spare time I have (time also used for enjoying beer with friends xD). Please bear (  ᶘ ᵒ㉨ᵒᶅ  ) with me, hahaha.

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Once we arrived at our town, Tameiki-san returned my work phone and my private phone.

The moment we arrived, Tameiki-san disappeared somewhere and I was left alone in the organization's parking lot.

For the time being, I decided to start reading the e-mails gathered in my phone.

The e-mails on my work phone were mostly from Roll.

'Where are you?'

'Aren't you coming?'

'I'm hungry.'

'I finished homework. Shall I help you finish yours?'

'I'm bored.'

'Are you ignoring me?'

'The old man told me. You're training with Tameiki-san, aren't you?'

'Did she take your phone?'

The e-mails I got from Roll were these eight.

They all came in the first three days; she didn't send any after that.

There were also shade invitations from Kuroinu-san and Kemuri-san, but these too came only in the first week.

It appears that the news of me being kidnaped by Tameiki-san took about a week to spread.

I had a lot of messages on my private phone as well.

Most of them were going out invitations from Tsurugi, Oohas.h.i.+, Rin and other friends. There were also messages from my worried parents.

There was also an e-mail from Roll, who was registered under the name s.h.i.+njou, asking me 'Did she also take this phone?'

However, the messages from my friends and parents stopped coming after a certain day.

I then checked the sent messages on my private phone and I realized that a message was sent to everyone who was worried about me, saying 'During the summer holidays, I am going on a trip to polish myself. Please don't look for me.'

This is big sis Tameiki's doing, right?

That woman, she selfishly used my cell phone……

Still, maybe it was better than neglecting everyone.

Besides, the message that came from my parents afterwards was fairly cruel.

'Understood. So you're already at that age, huh?' What the heck? Don't consent to something like this so easily.

Well, anyway.

For the time being, I was relieved that nothing too important came out of it. But this in itself was a bit strange.

Now, the maximum priority matter is Roll.

I have to go and apologize to her.

It seems that she already knows that my phones were confiscated and probably she's not angry about it.

Still, an apology is necessary.

The problem is I didn't go see her in the hospital, not even once. Also, the summer holidays end in three days. If Roll doesn't help me with my homework, I'll be in trouble.

I wonder if her wounds healed.

Anyway, I'll just go see her.

_____________

I first went to Roll's hospital room but she wasn't there.

I happened to meet Chiyaku-san and she told me that Roll left the sick room three days ago for she made a complete recovery.

Once I heard this, I started walking towards Roll's room.

My ability was in the off state. Since this state was extremely pleasant, I was happy that I learned how to do it.

Now that I know how to switch it on and off, I clearly feel the difference.

I also completely understood that the ability users who didn't learn the ON-OFF switching of their abilities would die young.

I arrived to Roll's room and I knocked first.

I knocked twice on the door and waited for Roll's answer.

"Who's that? Is it you, s.h.i.+on?"

Her voice could soon be heard from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm back."

"It's opened. You can come in."

I opened the door as I was told and entered the room.

The room was a little bit rearranged, and the room that had a girly atmosphere before now looked a bit robotic.

Roll sat down on a chair, reading a book.

"Long time no see, buddy."

Roll said, not even looking at me.

The word buddy contained an emphasis and cynicism.

A strange intimidating air made me stand stock still.

I immediately guessed. Roll was in a bad mood.

"……Your wounds healed."

I opened my mouth.

My voice was a little stiff. In order to prepare the ground for an apology, I reorganized the conversation.

"Yeah, three days ago I made a complete recovery."

"I'm sorry for not coming to see you……."

I apologized from the bottom of my heart, but the words Roll returned were a bit uncharacteristic.

"It's not like you did anything wrong, right, s.h.i.+on? You were only taken away.

I don't even mind it in the first place."

She's lying. She does mind it.

How should I put it? I feel some sort of distance between us now.

With only a few exchanged words I understood it.

The situation was more serious than I thought.

"Sorry."

"As I said, I don't mind it."

A moment of silence.

I became strangely uncomfortable so I opened my mouth again.

"…….I will compensate for this one day."

"I'll say it again, I don't mind it!"

Roll stood up and raised her voice.

That's when we first made eye contact.

Anger was reflected in her pupils.

I then reconfirmed it.

The situation was far more serious than I thought.

I never imagined that Roll would be this angry. It was also the first time I saw her this way.

But why?

Was it such a bit mistake to neglect Roll for the entire month?

…….I also thought about this for a bit, but for Roll, this might have been quite the shock.

I stood there, taking in her glare, not running away from that intense look in her eyes. Before long, Roll sat down on the chair again.

"……Sorry. I was distracted.

At any rate, Tameiki-san worked you really hard, didn't she?

Your expressions and the air you're giving off are different.

You're like a changed man……"

Roll said, looking downwards and hiding her face.

This is not good.

I hurried to smooth things over and I scratched my head.

"That's not quite true.

But I am confident I became a little bit stronger."

"……I understood it once I looked at you.

Sorry, s.h.i.+on. Please go back for now. My mood is not that excellent."

"Roll, what can I do for you to forgive me?"

I hesitated for an instant, but I said this line nonetheless, and Roll’s anger caught fire again.

"I am NOT…….angry!

Good then, s.h.i.+on. Let's go to the training room. Show me how strong you've gotten."

____________

Roll and I faced each other in the training room.

Roll changed in an easy to move jersey and was now doing some light warming-up excercises.

"I'll explain the rules."

"All right."

"No weapons, no abilities. No attacks aimed at vitals.

The first one to go down is the looser."

"Understood."

We were about to start a sham battle.

Roll wanted to see how strong I have become.

She might have other intensions too, but if she wants to observe my growth, then I'm happy about it. Her anger might subside as well.

Once I gave my answer, I bent slightly.

"Then, come at me any time."

I did what I was told and closed in the distance between us in an instant.

I was aiming at Roll's forehead.

There were five vital spots we decided upon.

The eyes, the tip of the nose, the chin, the pit of the stomach and the male crotch.

Apart from these spots, attacks were allowed anywhere.

This wasn't the first time Roll and I did practice battles. We did this a lot of times before I went to train. Back then, I hesitated to attack Roll, but I soon realized that I couldn't even touch her and I understood that my hesitation was useless.

However, what about now?

I stepped into Roll's left side and released a punch from outside her field of vision.

However, with explosive power she nimbly pa.s.sed over me and she dodged simultaneous with my strike.

She then released a punch and I parried with my right hand.

I countered Roll's pursuit with a back step while defending myself with a kick.

I then put a little s.p.a.ce between us, and as I was in a battle stance, I invited Roll to attack me.

Roll dealt with my attack with such certainty and went on the counteroffensive.

Maybe it'll be better to let her attack first now.

"…….Just what kind of training did she make you do?"

In the middle of this tension covering us over, Roll opened her mouth to talk.

I wanted to answer her, but I kept silent.

Despite this being a practice battle, it was a battle nonetheless.

If you have the leisure to talk, then seize the opportunity. That's what Tameiki-san taught me.

"……..She even taught you this."

Roll said, casting her eyes down.

What? She's full of openings.

I was about to shorten the distance between us, but, suddenly, the atmosphere surrounding Roll changed.

Cat ears appeared on her head and a tail showed up through a gap in the jersey.

Didn't you say that we weren't allowed to use our abilities!?

I immediately switched my ability on.

This is bad.

However, my decision was apparently a little bit slow as Roll already came to attack me.

Such incredible explosiveness. She's way too fast.

Yet, I can still see everything……..!

I rolled down to evade her attack, then stood up immediately, but as Roll kicked the wall and turned around with unbelievable speed, she overtook me, grasped my neck and slapped me into the training room's wall.

"Kaha…..!"

Her nails pierced through my skin.

She rapidly constricted me, lifting me up.

I placed both my hands on Roll's hands, trying to sustain my body weight in order to be able to breathe somehow.

Ain't she graceful? This Roll.

I looked down at Roll with distorted pupils, and she bit down her lips as she glared at me.

"You……..! You……..! You are MY partner, but you……!"

She pressed even harder on my neck and my consciousness was drifting away.

I closed my eyes.

……..Why in the world is she this angry?

I also have my complaints now that it came to this.

My anger rose up as I one-sidedly took damage.

I felt sorry for Roll, but in this case she should complain to Tameiki-san or the boss.

It's not like I left Roll behind on my own decision, it was the boss who ordered Tameiki-san to take me away.

Having said that, it's not that I'm blaming the boss or Tameiki-san or something.

That's because I really needed that training with Tameiki-san.

Is this my fault then?

Since I felt I was the only one to blame for Roll's injuries, I was prepared for an outburst of anger, a little bit of obstinate playing around or some sort of a punishment, but, as one would expect, this was too much.

She had absolutely no reason to be this angry.

Even though I was the cause, I didn't have any responsibility for this matter.

I am not able to silently accept Roll's recklessness right now.

I bit down on my lips in order to awake my drifting consciousness, and I kicked Roll as hard as I could on her side.

However, Roll saw through everything and parried my kick with her left hand.

Right now, Roll was pinning me down with only her right hand. I somehow managed to pull apart from her hand and bit at it.

"Iiii……..!"

She hurriedly pulled back her hand and took a step back.

I dropped down on the floor, and as I was out of breath, I rubbed my neck.

I had a few scratch wounds on my neck, causing a p.r.i.c.kling pain.

I heard that the scratch wounds of a cat leave behind marks.

You did it, Roll, scratching me in such a conspicuous spot.

"Ha, ha……Hey…….!"

As my breathing calmed down, I sharply glared at Roll.

Perhaps, she just came back to herself a moment ago, as my utterance made her quiver.

Her cat ears hanged down as well.

"……I too! I got stronger for your sake!"

I wanted to press down on her all sort of arguments, but without realizing it, it came out like this.

My training with Tameiki-san was all sorts of things, and because of that I messed around a bit, but I always kept thinking and worrying about the fact that I inflicted those wounds to Roll.

That was also the trigger that made me decide on getting stronger no matter what.

There is no lie here.

"It's not that……It's different, s.h.i.+on……."

"Different!? Didn't I sincerely apologize to you! If that isn't enough for you to forgive me, then say so!

I don't want to listen to your lies, like you don't mind what happened!"

"But you…….!"

"I thought that you, Roll, was someone who understood various things……! What happened to this you!"

"That's……."

"This is enough!"

I dropped on my knees in front of Roll and I vigorously prostrated myself.

"I am sorry! Please forgive me! I was in the wrong for not understanding your feelings!

Let's reconcile now!"

I thought about it and came to the conclusion that only by me apologizing again the situation will return to normal.

I have the feeling that responding to Roll's anger with anger was useless anyway.

Besides, once I saw that Roll returned to herself, my instant explosion of anger cooled down rapidly.

"Eh? Wai……"

I silently waited for Roll's words, as I kept my head down.

It happened at that moment.

'Fu, kuku. Fuhahahahhaha! Ahahahahaha! What's that, s.h.i.+on-kun!'

I heard a voice coming from the observation room.

I turned around and saw a brown-haired woman inside the observation room.

She probably has a similar age to Tameiki-san.

Since I focused all my attention on Roll, I didn't even notice her. The training room is also soundproofed.

"Shugyou…..! 1 How comes you're here!"

So this is Shugyou-san?

Since Roll and her seemed on very good terms, I thought that she was younger.

'Master key.

Did you forget who has full control of the mission office observation tower and monitor room?

But, oh dear! At any rate, you two were doing something very amusing!

What happened? A fight? Well, I was here from the beginning so I more or less understand what happened!

But still, you two! Fighting is not good, you know!?

Come here for now! I, Shugyou, will judge the situation!'

_____________

"Judging!

Roll! Guilty!

s.h.i.+on! Guilty!

Therefore, I order you to reconcile!"

We returned to the observation room, and were facing each other as we went along with Shugyou-san on this farce.

Roll had a stern expression and I turned my face in a different direction than where Roll stood and kept silent.

"Hey, hey! Give me your hands, you two.

Do a reconciliation handshake."

Shugyou-san took my hand forcefully and made Roll and I shake our hands.

Roll's hand was warm.

Her cat ears twitched, and despite the current situation, she still looked as lovely as ever.

As I watched her cat ears in fascination, Shugyou-san pushed our backs all of a sudden.

"A reconciliation hug!"

"Uwaa"

"Wait…..!"

We really looked like we were embracing each other.

I immediately tried to separate myself from Roll, but Shugyou-san was pus.h.i.+ng us with more power than I thought, so I couldn't do it.

Contrary to my expectations, Roll was motionless.

Her heart started to beat a little faster. I heard Roll take a deep breath and swallow her saliva only once.

After a short while, Shugyou-san nodded in satisfaction and left the observation room, letting go of us. The door closed with a bang and this sound lingered in my ears.

For some reason, even after Shugyou-san left, we still kept close to each other.

It was indeed for some reason.

We lost the right timing to do so probably.

As we kept close to each other, Roll was the one to speak first.

"…….Sorry, s.h.i.+on. It was my fault.

I knew that you did nothing wrong, but I still hated it.

Despite us two being partners, training only with Tameiki-san was not fair….."

"I'm sorry for making you feel this way."

"…….No. I'm sorry for being selfish."

This was when we finally separated our bodies.

We both turned our embarra.s.sed faces away.

Roll's heartbeat resounded quite loudly inside my ears, so I switched my ability off.

Since Roll was a very proud person, her apology…….or maybe this kind of confession that exposed herself needed a lot of courage.

"…….Then, this means we made peace, right?"

"Right……For now, let's go back to my room and sterilize those wounds."

_____________

Once we returned to Roll's room, I took off my upper clothes and sat on the bed, as she looked at my scratches.

Roll had in one hand a disinfectant and a gauze she took out of a first aid kit.

She stood on her knees looking at my wounds.

"This wound is quite awful……"

She muttered and gazed at those scratches for a while.

Thinking that she should hurry and treat those wounds, I kept staring at Roll, but I had no idea what she was thinking when……………..she licked my wounds.

"Wh-wh-what the heck are you doing………!"

She was probably startled by my words, so she immediately drew back.

"Wa-wait, it's different! I did it unconsciously!"

"Unconsciously! What do you mean by that!?"

"I have a bad habit of licking wounds!"

Because she's a cat? Is it really because she's a cat?

After our fight, I feel that I can understand Roll a little bit better now.

Translation: Nana