Strike the Blood: The Fourth Progenitor Can't Fall in Love
The Fourth Progenitor Can't Fall in Love
Three months ago, Akatsuki Kojou's life went off the rails. He inherited the power of the world's strongest vampire—the Fourth Progenitor—and now he can't sleep at night, dozes through class, and gets nosebleeds at the slightest provocation. All he wants is a quiet, peaceful life. Too bad the universe has other plans.
When a beautiful transfer student named Himeragi Yukina moves in next door—and then declares herself his watcher, sent to monitor the Fou
Strike the Blood: The Fourth Progenitor Can't Fall in Love - After-School Electric Shock Confession: The Digital Empress Fell in Love
The classroom after school was terribly quiet.
From outside the window, the distant shouts of the sports clubs drifted in. The shadows of students running across the grounds stretched long in the setting sun.
Akatsuki Kojou opened the classroom door.
(I forgot something, didn't I.)
He'd only come back to grab the notebook he'd left on his desk. There shouldn't have been anyone here.
And yet.
"...You're late, Kojou."
In the center of the room. One figure sat perched on Kojou's desk.
Blonde hair. Long, reaching down to her waist. Turquoise-blue eyes. From her left ear, a piercing of the same color swayed.
Aiba Asagi. Kojou's classmate.
Despite her flashy appearance, she was innocent and shy at heart. A genius programmer sometimes called the "Electronic Empress," though she absolutely hated the nickname.
"Asagi? What are you doing here?"
"...I was waiting. For you."
Asagi squeezed her clasped fingers tight.
The setting sun shone through her blonde hair, making it sparkle.
Kojou scratched the tip of his nose.
"If you needed something, couldn't it wait till tomorrow? It's already late."
"No. It has to be today. It can't be any other day."
Asagi's voice trembled, just slightly.
She was somehow different from the usual cheerful Asagi.
Kojou noticed the oddness, but couldn't quite put it into words.
"Hey, Kojou."
Asagi raised her head.
Her turquoise eyes caught Kojou straight on.
"I like you, Kojou."
Silence fell over the classroom.
Only the voices of the clubs outside sounded strangely distant.
Asagi's cheeks flushed redder than the sunset.
"I want you to go out with me."
Her final words were barely a whisper.
Kojou's mouth fell open.
His mind went completely blank.
(Like me? Go out? Asagi? With me?)
He rolled the meaning of the words around in his head, over and over.
And the answer that came out was—
"Oh, I like you too, Asagi! Everyone in class does!"
Kojou said it with a smile.
"...Huh?"
The expression drained from Asagi's face.
"I mean, you get along with everyone in class. Including me—we all like you."
"That's not what I meant!"
Asagi pounded her fists against Kojou's chest.
"Whoa, what? I'm complimenting you!"
"You're not! I'm saying it in a—in a romantic way!"
Asagi's face was bright red now.
The blonde girl stood there, fists clenched, trembling.
"Romantic way?"
Kojou tilted his head.
"Yes! I'm saying I like you as a boy!"
Asagi's voice echoed through the classroom.
That voice carried clearly into the hallway, too.
Outside the classroom. In the shadow of the window.
Himeragi Yukina stood frozen, her back pressed against the wall.
A black bob cut. Dark eyes harboring a serious light. The sailor uniform of Saikai Academy's middle school division.
Her mission was to monitor Kojou.
As an apprentice Sword Shaman of the Lion King Organization—a national agency under the Japanese government tasked with monitoring and countering demons—she watched over Kojou, the Fourth Progenitor.
So she had been following Kojou's movements.
After school, she'd trailed him back to retrieve his forgotten item, all the way here.
And then she'd heard it.
Asagi's confession.
(Senpai likes... senpai...)
Something tightened deep in her chest.
She didn't know why.
As a mission, whoever Kojou dated had nothing to do with Yukina.
And yet.
(Why does it hurt so much?)
Yukina pressed a hand to her chest.
Her heart was pounding painfully.
"What's this 'romantic way'? You're acting weird today, Asagi."
Kojou's voice came from the classroom.
"You're the weird one! Why would you say 'everyone does' right there?!"
"Well, because you said you liked me—"
"What I said was that I like you, and only you!"
"Huh, only me?"
"Yes! The one I like is you, and only you!"
Yukina bit her lip.
(Senpai, why can't you notice?)
Asagi's feelings were already common knowledge among their classmates.
And yet Kojou alone had no idea.
Yukina felt something beyond exasperation at his denseness—something else stirring inside her.
(It's none of my business.)
She told herself that.
But her feet wouldn't move.
She couldn't leave this spot.
"...Are you serious? You like me?"
"...I told you. Don't make me say it again."
Asagi's voice grew small.
"But I'm just an ordinary high schooler, right? Why would a genius like you—"
"Genius has nothing to do with it! I fell in love with you because you're you, Kojou!"
Asagi took one step closer to Kojou.
The sunset stretched their shadows long across the floor.
"I've liked you for so long, Kojou..."
That was when—
Bang!
The classroom door flew open.
"What the hell are you two doing?!"
Yaze Motoki. Kojou's best friend, and Asagi's childhood friend.
Short black hair, sharp eyes. Always easygoing—the mood-maker of the class.
"Yaze?! When did you—"
"'When did I' nothing. I've been listening from the hallway the whole time."
Yaze strolled into the classroom, grinning.
"If you were listening, then don't come in!"
Asagi shouted, her face bright red.
"Come on—you worked up all that courage to confess, and your target's Kojou? I knew there was no way you two'd connect, so I was watching."
"Shut up! It's none of your business!"
"It is my business. I'm your childhood friend, and I'm this guy's best friend too. The love lives of you two are a big deal to me."
Yaze turned toward Kojou.
"So, Kojou. The way that just went, you basically turned her down."
"Huh? Turned her down? Me?"
"I didn't get turned down! It's not over yet!"
Asagi snapped at Yaze.
"No, Asagi. That response from Kojou is the same as a rejection. 'I like you as a friend'—that's the cruelest one there is."
"I told you, it's not over! I'm never giving up!"
Asagi's voice turned tearful.
The blonde girl argued back desperately.
Kojou just stood there, dumbfounded, watching the two of them.
(What is this situation?)
His head couldn't keep up.
Asagi likes me? Yaze says I rejected her? Never give up on what?
"...Anyway, Kojou. What do you think about Asagi's feelings?"
Yaze asked with a serious face.
"What do I think... I mean, Asagi's a good person—"
"That's not what he's asking!"
Yaze raised his voice.
"Asagi's liked you for ages. Everyone in class knows. But you're the only one who hasn't noticed. Do you have any idea how much she's been carrying for you?"
Yaze's words rang through the classroom.
Asagi kept her head down, silent.
The sunset dyed her profile red.
"...I didn't know. Seriously."
Kojou said it honestly.
"I mean, Asagi's always just messing with me. I never once thought she liked me."
"I'm not messing with you! That's a maiden's desperate approach—picking on the boy you like!"
Asagi raised her head and shouted.
Tears welled at the corners of her eyes.
"O-oh... is that how it is?"
Kojou scratched the tip of his nose awkwardly.
"...Hey, Kojou. Have you ever seen Asagi as a girl?"
Yaze asked in a low voice.
"As a girl? ...Asagi is Asagi."
"That's not what I'm asking!"
Yaze clutched his head.
"Ahaha, I give up. This guy doesn't get it at all."
Yaze let out a dry laugh.
"This isn't funny!"
"No, all I can do is laugh. Being this dense is almost refreshing."
Yaze said that and looked out the window.
His gaze landed on Yukina, standing in the hallway.
"...Huh? Yukina-chan, what are you doing?"
Yukina's body jolted.
(I've been spotted.)
There was no escape.
"You're monitoring Kojou too? Tough job."
Yaze said it lightly.
"Yukina? You were here?"
Kojou looked at Yukina, surprised.
Yukina entered the classroom, resigned.
"...I'm sorry to intrude."
Yukina gave a small bow.
"No, you're not intruding at all. If anything, you were probably exasperated by this guy's denseness too, right?"
Yaze tossed the conversation to Yukina.
"...Not really, I—"
Yukina faltered.
Her chest still ached.
Asagi's confession. Kojou's response. Yaze's words.
They swirled around and around inside her.
"You think so too, right, Yukina-chan? Asagi cares about him this much—why can't he notice?"
Yaze sought Yukina's agreement.
Yukina bit her lip.
(It's none of my business.)
She tried to say it.
But the words wouldn't come.
"...Senpai is too dense."
Before she knew it, she'd murmured it.
"You too?"
Kojou's shoulders slumped.
"It's the truth. Even I can tell how much Aiba-senpai cares about you."
Yukina looked at Asagi.
Asagi was looking at Yukina too.
Their gazes crossed.
(This person likes senpai too.)
Yukina thought that.
Asagi's straightforward feelings came through painfully clear.
"...Yukina-chan."
Asagi called Yukina's name.
"You live in the room next to Kojou's, right?"
"Huh? ...Yes."
"Must be nice. I want to live next to Kojou too."
Asagi muttered.
"What?! What are you saying?!"
"I'm serious! I'll live next to Kojou and we'll walk to school together every morning!"
Asagi pressed in on Kojou.
"That's impossible. Our building doesn't have any vacancies."
"Then I'll move into your place!"
"Even more impossible!"
Kojou backed away.
"Ahaha, Asagi, you're going way off the rails."
Yaze said, laughing.
"Don't laugh! I'm serious!"
Asagi glared at Yaze.
"...Aiba-senpai really does love senpai, doesn't she."
Yukina said quietly.
"...Yeah. I love him. I love him so much. I love Kojou more than anyone in the world."
Asagi said it straight, looking right at Kojou.
The sunset lit her blonde hair like it was on fire.
She was so beautiful.
Yukina felt the tightness in her chest grow even stronger.
(I could never say it like that.)
Yukina quietly closed the lid on her own heart.
"...Whatever. I'm going home."
Asagi said that and headed for the door.
"Hey, Asagi."
Kojou called after her.
Asagi didn't turn around.
"But I'm never giving up! You idiot, Kojou! Dense! Blockhead!"
Asagi shouted that and ran out of the classroom.
Her footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Before long, even those faded away.
Three of them remained in the classroom.
"...Hey, Kojou. You should really think about Asagi properly."
Yaze said quietly.
"She looks tough, but she gets hurt really easily. Back in elementary school, when she baked cookies and sent every boy in class to the hospital, she was devastated."
"Wait, those legendary cookies were Asagi's?"
"Yeah. Her cooking's been catastrophic since forever. But her feelings—wanting to do something for the person she likes—those haven't changed one bit."
Yaze clapped Kojou on the shoulder.
"Well, what you do is up to you. But don't waste Asagi's feelings."
Yaze said that and left the classroom.
Only Kojou and Yukina remained.
Silence filled the room.
"...Hey, Yukina. Was it weird for me to say I like Asagi?"
Kojou said, almost to himself.
"...It was. Aiba-senpai meant it romantically. You answered that you like her as a friend. For Aiba-senpai, that's the most painful answer possible."
Yukina said it without looking at Kojou.
"I see... But I've only ever seen Asagi as a friend."
"...Senpai, have you never seen Aiba-senpai as a girl?"
Yukina's voice trembled slightly.
"As a girl? ...I think Asagi's beautiful. Her blonde hair, her piercings—they suit her. But that's different from—"
"...I see."
Yukina murmured softly.
(Senpai looks at everyone that way.)
Yukina pressed a hand to her chest.
Her heart still ached.
"I'm going home too."
Yukina turned her back on Kojou.
"Yeah. Take care."
Kojou's voice reached her back.
Yukina's shoulders trembled slightly as she hurried out of the classroom.
The moment she stepped into the hallway, tears nearly spilled.
(Why am I crying?)
Yukina bit her lip and held them back.
She didn't know why.
But deep in her chest, it hurt like it was being torn apart.
The sunset dyed the hallway red.
Yukina walked that red path alone.
That night.
Kojou's apartment building. The neighboring room.
Yukina lay face-down on her bed, replaying the day's events.
(Aiba-senpai's confession...)
Asagi's straightforwa
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