In near-future Japan, a sudden genetic mutation has caused the birth ratio of men to women to collapse to 1:50. Men are protected by the state as living national treasures, while women fight desperately to win a man's heart and secure a future. High school student Yuma Arimura transfers into a mixed-gender school where boys are almost nonexistent. The moment he walks into class, girls scream, faint, snap photos, and whisper about wanting to be his. Yuma just wants a normal life, but everywhere h
National Treasure High - Apprentice girl from the guard school
The day after the exchange meeting, the sky was covered with thin clouds from the morning. In front of the main gate of National Treasure High, as always, two security officers stood watch. Clad in gray uniforms, they wore holsters on their right hips containing guard rings. As their sharp gazes silently screened the students passing along the school route, Arimura Yuuma walked through the gate with Sumika clinging to his arm.
"Yuuma-kun, PE is in the afternoon today. Did you bring a spare sweat towel?"
"Y-yeah... I brought one."
Sumika's slender fingers were firmly wrapped around my upper arm. It was a mystery how something so soft could exert so much strength. Only a few hours had passed since we'd parted in front of the apartment building last night, yet she pressed her body against me as if we hadn't seen each other in a week.
In the hallway leading to the classroom, girls from other classes lined the walls. The moment they saw my face, they either blushed or readied the list gears in their hands. Today was actually a lighter day for surreptitious photos. I'm used to it, I thought, amazed at myself.
"...Hey, Sumika."
"What is it?"
"Where's your classroom again? If you walk me every time, won't you be late..."
"It's fine. It's in the building next to yours."
A cheerful voice. But even as she spoke, Sumika's gaze swept rapidly over the girls in the hallway, as if licking them. If she spotted something she didn't like, it felt like another face would peek out from beneath her smile at any moment.
I opened the classroom door. Nearly forty girls were already seated, and they all turned to look at me at once.
"O-oh, morning."
When I greeted them in a low voice, the classroom atmosphere brightened as if suddenly colored.
"Arimura-kun, good morning!"
"You're cute today too..."
"Take your seat. First period is modern Japanese."
Whispered voices, yet clearly audible. I smiled back and headed to my seat.
Sumika stopped at the classroom entrance and waved softly.
"Well then, I'll come again at lunch."
"Y-yeah..."
The classroom door closed. Then, as if something taut had loosened, the gazes of the surrounding girls grew even denser.
(...She's coming at lunch too?)
I placed my bag on the desk and sat down heavily. The faint light filtering through the window made the scratches on the desk surface stand out white.
---
Lunch break. Sumika really did come to the classroom. She carried two homemade bento boxes wrapped in an elegant furoshiki cloth.
"Here, Yuuma-kun. I made extra tamagoyaki."
"Thanks... I always wonder, what time do you wake up in the morning?"
"Five-thirty. I calculate the time needed to make your bento properly."
She sat in the seat next to me as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Gazes that were neither quite jealousy nor admiration pierced me from all over the classroom, but Sumika paid them no mind. Her fingers, pretending to adjust her skirt hem under the desk, touched my knee.
"...Sumika, stop that."
"Why? It's not like it costs anything."
It's not about cost. I started to say that, but instead put a piece of tamagoyaki in my mouth. Slightly sweet. A taste that hadn't changed since long ago. The taste she'd said she used to make with Sumika's mother when we were little—Sumika still reproduced it.
"Delicious."
"Good. You can't figure out the secret seasoning, can you?"
Sumika smiled mischievously. Like this, she really was just an ordinary childhood friend. As long as I averted my eyes from the intense obsession lurking behind that smile—the obsession that left finger marks on my arm night after night.
Fifth period PE ended, and I was heading back to the classroom to change.
"Huh? What's going on?"
A small crowd in the hallway. In front of the boys' locker room. Several female students were pointing at the bulletin board and whispering.
"Wow, so now a bodyguard girl is on duty."
"She's a security officer trainee. A scholarship student. Another troublesome one has arrived."
"Doesn't it just mean more enemies for the girls hanging off the guy?"
Voices with an unpleasant ring to them. I quickened my pace. Past the locker room, in the waiting space in front of the boys' changing area, stood an unfamiliar female student.
Her dark silver hair was tied back in a single ponytail. Her bangs were long, and the shadow falling over her eyes cast shade on her pale skin. Her blue-violet eyes were somewhat large, and instead of emotion, only a quiet light wavered within them. She was small, her body wrapped in the National Treasure High uniform was slender, and she stood perfectly still, as if blending into the air itself. At her waist hung a black pouch. The silhouette of a self-defense knife—which security officer trainees were permitted to carry—and a folded guard ring were faintly visible.
When she noticed me, she bowed deeply.
"It is an honor to meet you for the first time. I am Tobe Setsu, a scholarship student from the security academy, and I will be serving as Arimura Yuuma-sama's bodyguard from today onward."
Her voice was like a ringing bell, but with extremely little intonation. Businesslike honorifics flowed through the summer hallway, dissolving into the air.
"Ah... nice to meet you. But we're students at the same school, so you don't need to be so formal."
When I raised a hand in greeting, Setsu lifted her head. At that moment, her blue-violet eyes caught me head-on for the first time.
"No, this is my duty. Casual conversation with the protection target is deemed unnecessary."
"R-right."
(She's way too serious...)
The girl continued.
"I will protect Arimura-sama's safety with my life. Within five steps during commutes, within sight during breaks, and at all other times, I will immediately eliminate any suspicious person the moment I detect their approach."
"Eliminate...?"
"The guard ring issued to security officer trainees is low-output for training purposes, but it has sufficient performance to incapacitate an ordinary student."
Expressionless, she touched the guard ring at her waist. She clearly wasn't trying to intimidate me—she was simply explaining. That made it all the more frightening.
(This girl is completely serious.)
"W-well, sounds like you'll be a big help..."
When I said that awkwardly, Setsu pressed her lips into a thin line for just a moment and gave a small nod.
"Yes."
---
Every time Setsu looked at me, the tips of her ears turned faintly red. Her blue-violet eyes never looked at me directly for long. Her gaze wandered like a lost child—to my shoulders, my chest, sometimes the floor. But when the topic turned to duty, it stopped perfectly still.
(Have I met her somewhere before?)
It should have been our first meeting. But her faltering polite speech felt like something I'd heard somewhere far away.
After school, Sumika appeared.
"Yuuma-kun, I'll walk you home. Do you mind if we take a little detour?"
A sweet, coaxing voice. However, her steps stopped directly in front of Setsu.
Sumika looked Setsu up and down, appraising her. The small crescent-shaped scar on her neck stood out against her pale skin.
"Oh my, nice to meet you. Thank you for always taking care of Yuuma-kun. I appreciate your bodyguard work."
"Thank you for your courtesy."
Setsu bowed mechanically. There was no emotion to speak of.
But Sumika's smile went cold in an instant.
Immediately after, Sumika pressed herself against my right arm and wedged her entire body between me and Setsu.
"There's no need for you to escort him. Yuuma-kun is supposed to walk three steps behind me. That's the rule."
"Sumika, there's no such rule..."
"There is. In my mind, it's been there for a long time."
With that, Sumika turned her back to Setsu.
Setsu said nothing.
But for just a moment. Really, just a single moment, her blue-violet eyes reflected my face, then immediately lowered. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out.
---
From then on, Sumika started coming to my classroom every break. Every single period. During the ten minutes between classes, Sumika appeared in the classroom as if it were the most natural thing, and sat in the seat next to me. The girl who originally sat next to me had moved away except during lunch, so Sumika settled into the empty seat.
"Yuuma-kun, I'll help you prepare for the next class."
"The girl who sits next to me apologized to me, for some reason."
"Why would you apologize?"
"Well, because..."
"That girl lives near my house. I'd thought for a while that she talked to you in the hallway a little too often, so this worked out perfectly."
Sumika was smiling.
She was smiling, but only her eyes were cold.
I couldn't say anything more.
Setsu was always at the edge of my vision. Outside the classroom, at the end of the hallway. Sometimes beyond the school building windows. She silently endured Sumika's provocations, yet never abandoned her duty. When I moved, she approached within five steps. During breaks, she leaned against the wall and monitored the surroundings. Every time Sumika clung to my arm, Setsu's gaze flickered toward Sumika's fingers for an instant, then silently averted.
---
That day, after school.
In the classroom of Class 2-B, where Setsu belonged, someone raised their voice.
"...What is this?"
I went to look. On the underside of Setsu's desk lid, words had been carved as if scratched with something.
'Lackey of a murderer.'
Thick, violent handwriting. The surface was splintered with wood shavings, making it clear that someone had run a blade back and forth repeatedly with considerable force.
"Setsu, the security officer... oh, so that's how it is?"
"She's saying she's the guy's hanger-on, right? Huh."
As whispers swirled around, Setsu sat at her desk, opened the lid, and checked inside. Then she stared expressionlessly at the words on the underside of the lid for a while.
I walked over to Setsu's desk and spoke to her.
"I'm sorry. This is absolutely wrong. I don't know who did it, but let's tell a teacher after school."
Setsu slowly shook her head.
"It's fine. I only need to fulfill my duty."
"But..."
"I don't mind."
A firm tone. She showed not a shred of hurt.
In the classroom where the evening light streamed in, only Setsu's shadow stretched long.
But after I left the classroom.
Setsu ran her fingers over the underside of the desk lid once more. Tracing the carved words, gently.
---
That night, no stars were visible in the sky over Mitaka City.
Alone, Setsu opened a package of school lunch bread she'd taken from her drawer and stared at a small pancake. Something that should have been sweet. But she couldn't bring herself to swallow it, and in the end, she wrapped it back up and placed it in the corner of her desk.
"...Itadakimasu."
She murmured quietly. But the continuation of those words never left her lips.
---
At the same time, Sumika was in the dim bicycle parking area behind the school building, her hand pressed against a female student's cheek. Gently, as if comforting her.
"Do you understand what you did?"
Her voice was soft.
The female student's face was a mess of tears. Her body trembled in small convulsions.
"B-but, that girl... that woman, she got close to Arimura-kun... she's just a security officer, acting so cocky..."
Sumika smiled. A faint, benevolent smile.
"Yes, that's true. But causing a commotion around Yuuma-kun on your own is a bit troublesome. Especially getting involved with a girl like that."
"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"The person you should apologize to isn't me, is it?"
"...Eh?"
Sumika's fingers rested on the girl's shoulder.
"Tomorrow, you're going to apologize to that girl. Properly, in front of me. You already know all too well what happens to girls who don't stay away from Yuuma-kun, don't you?"
Her voice slid smoothly lower.
"I-I know... I was wrong... so please..."
The girl nodded repeatedly, sobbing.
---
Three days later.
Five minutes befor
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