Chapter 26: The Secret That Must Not Be Told
"Look into my eyes."
Takumi suddenly shouted. The three delinquent magical girls instinctively turned their heads toward him. A crimson flash passed through his eyes.
"Don't you feel really hot right now?"
"Yes… we're so hot…"
All three answered in a dazed monotone.
Takumi spoke slowly, his voice calm and steady.
"That's right. You're burning up. It's unbearable. So you want to take off your clothes."
"Take off… our clothes…"
The three girls immediately reached for their uniforms. In seconds, their outer layers were gone. Since it was summer, they were only wearing thin tops underneath—nothing else. Now they stood there in just their bras.
Takumi continued without missing a beat.
"Now you're in a bathhouse. You're showering with cold water, playing around, and comparing whose breasts are bigger and better."
"Mine are the biggest! I'm already a D-cup!"
"No way, mine are bigger!"
"So what if they're big? Mine have the best shape!"
"…"
Aoi Yuu stood frozen, staring in disbelief as the three girls casually stripped their tops off right there on the street and started seriously debating breast sizes.
Takumi waved at her.
"Yuu-chan, hop on. I'll give you a ride. The warning bell's about to ring, y'know."
"Ah… oh… Is that really okay?"
"Of course."
Seeing Takumi's sincere smile, a warm feeling bloomed in Aoi Yuu's chest.
By now, the trio's shameless behavior had already started drawing a crowd. Wanting to escape the scene, Aoi Yuu didn't hesitate anymore. She climbed onto the back of the scooter. Takumi switched to max speed and they shot away like a rocket.
After they left, the street exploded into chaos.
People gathered around the half-naked girls, whistling, taking pictures with their phones, chattering excitedly.
Finally the three snapped out of it. Realizing they were standing topless in public, they screamed and frantically scrambled to put their clothes back on.
The golden-haired one—Aka-nee—had the most guts. She whirled on the crowd and roared,
"What the hell are you staring at?! Go home and stare at your moms!"
"Hah! You're the ones who stripped! And now you don't want people looking?!"
"Yeah, exactly!"
"I'll kill you all—!"
Furious beyond reason, the golden-haired girl charged like a wild leopard. The crowd instantly turned into pandemonium.
Meanwhile, Takumi had already carried his classmate close to the school gate. He switched the scooter's speed limiter back to the slow "green" mode and cruised casually toward the entrance.
"Um… Hoshino-kun, earlier… what was that?"
"Hypnosis."
Takumi answered casually. Aoi Yuu's eyes widened. She wasn't an expert on hypnosis, but she knew normal people definitely couldn't do something like that. Still, her personality was naturally timid—she wasn't the type to press for every detail.
Takumi continued gently.
"Yuu-chan."
"Y-Yes…?"
"What happened just now… please keep it a secret, okay? The fact that I can use hypnosis is something that can't be told to anyone. You're the only one who knows now. It's our little shared secret."
"Our… shared secret?"
Aoi Yuu murmured the words to herself. After a moment, she spoke again, her tone unusually firm.
"I understand. I'll take this secret to the grave for you."
Takumi laughed lightly.
"You don't have to be that dramatic about it."
He didn't think much of it. He didn't notice the resolute glint behind Aoi Yuu's thick black-framed glasses.
"Takumi! Takumi!"
As soon as Takumi followed the security guard's directions and parked inside the school grounds, a familiar annoying voice rang out.
A mountain bike screeched to a halt right in front of him.
"You missed out big time yesterday! The movie was amazing! Oh, and guess who I saw at the theater—"
Haruto's words died mid-sentence. He stared dumbfounded at Aoi Yuu sitting behind Takumi.
"Y-Yuu-san…? Takumi… since when are you two so close?!"
Aoi Yuu's face instantly turned beet red. She hopped off the scooter, mumbled a quick "Thank you, Hoshino-kun," and scurried away at top speed.
"Hahaha! Takumi, you've finally figured out how to charm 3D girls, huh? Though Yuu-san seems kinda… plain. Super low presence."
"Shut up."
Takumi didn't bother arguing. He started pushing the scooter toward the parking shelter.
Haruto pedaled after him with a grin.
"Hah, still denying it? That scooter is the Empress's personal ride, y'know. And you let another girl sit on it? That's historic! What's gonna happen when the Empress finds out?"
"It was just a coincidence. I helped Yuu-san out, that's all. And I'm warning you—don't go blabbing nonsense to the Empress."
Takumi tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice cracked just a little.
Haruto slung an arm around his shoulders with a sly smile.
"KFC Family Bucket. I'm suddenly craving it."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"Hahaha, hush money, obviously. You get it."
With that, he pedaled off cheerfully.
Takumi shook his head helplessly. This guy's richer than me and he's still extorting me…
After locking the scooter, he headed toward the school building.
Suddenly—WHOOSH!
A sharp gust of wind from behind.
Before he could react, something slammed into his back with tremendous force. Pain exploded down his spine like it was about to snap. His body lurched forward involuntarily.
"Hey, punk! That's what you get for acting cocky!"
A wild, arrogant voice rang out.
Takumi twisted around and saw the attacker: short stature, but built like a brick wall horizontally—muscles bulging everywhere. And that hairstyle… a classic sickle-shaped mohawk. He looked like he'd stepped straight out of Street Fighter.
"Who the hell are you?"
Takumi's spine was screaming in agony inside his body. The sudden attack and searing pain ignited a furious blaze in his chest. But the Devil's Mark kept sending sharp electric jolts through him, forcing his mind to stay clear.
"I'm your dad!"
The sickle-head sneered. Then he started bouncing on the balls of his feet, fists blurring into multiple afterimages as he launched a barrage of punches.
Takumi's mind flashed with recognition.
Boxer!
That swaying footwork, those lightning-fast jabs—it was pure boxing technique. The punches came like meteors.
"So fast!"
Takumi immediately spent one mana point to sharpen his senses and another to boost his speed, dodging the storm of jabs.
"Hah! Not bad speed, good eyes—but you're way too clumsy. No training at all. Taking you down is gonna be too easy!"
The sickle-head suddenly accelerated, sealing off every escape route except backward. But retreating would mean getting completely suppressed.
Takumi had no choice. He burned six mana points at once, pushing every physical stat—speed, reflexes, eyesight—to the absolute limit his body could handle.
He broke through the barrage, then threw a single, devastating straight punch straight at the guy's face.
"So fast?!"
This time it was the sickle-head's turn to be shocked. He jerked backward, weaving left and right, trying to confuse Takumi's aim.
But Takumi—temporarily boosted to the peak of human potential—saw everything clearly. The punch missed by a hair, but the sheer wind pressure scraped across the guy's cheek like sandpaper. Tears poured from his eyes uncontrollably, blurring his vision.
The next instant, Takumi's leg shot up silently.
A brutal kick landed squarely between the legs.
The sickle-head felt his entire world shatter in an instant—pure agony. He dropped to his knees, clutching himself.
"How's that taste? The Empress's ultimate move, 'Poison Dragon Emerges from the Cave.' She used that exact kick to crush every boy in class and claim the Empress title. Even my bootleg version packs a punch. Now… shall we talk nicely?"
Takumi smiled gently.
A faint red light flickered in his eyes.
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