Campione: Strongest# 436: A Repulsive Reflection

Though she had interrupted, SHIKI showed no sign of leaving. She simply watched Haru with a cheerful smile.

Her night-dark eyes were tinged with the color of blood.

“Let’s talk this out, nice and easy,” Haru said, his lip twitching. He was still a little dazed.

Why had Fujino suddenly started taking off her clothes? How had SHIKI suddenly appeared here? This bizarre turn of events had left him completely bewildered. But he had seen her hand on her blade, clear as day, even through her sleeve. He’d experienced her swordsmanship countless times. He knew what it meant.

“That’s right. It would be a shame if we didn't finish our conversation, wouldn't it? Right, you creepy Uncle?” SHIKI said, her smile never faltering.

“I wasn’t about to say my last words...” Haru pressed a hand to his forehead, a look of frustration on his face.

Seriously, what was with this ‘wife catches the mistress’ scene? His relationship with Shiki wasn't even... wait, with SHIKI, it was...

He suddenly remembered. These past few months, though Shiki had often glared at him for an entire evening, it was SHIKI who had done most of the talking.

'One of life’s three great illusions: she seems to like me?' Haru raised an eyebrow, a strange expression on his face.

“You’re not even denying you’re a creep?” SHIKI narrowed her eyes, her grip tightening on her short sword.

Fujino, her face a deep crimson, finally reacted. Taking advantage of the lull in the conversation, she hurriedly pulled her uniform back on. To have been seen in such a state of... readiness... was exceptionally shameful for a girl who wasn't even twelve. In her panic, she nearly put her clothes on backwards several times. Fortunately, she took a deep breath, steadied herself, and managed to get dressed.

After straightening her disheveled hair, Fujino knelt before Haru, her eyes downcast.

SHIKI, who had been watching her every move, had a cold light flash in her eyes. To her, Fujino was like a stray cat who had stolen a meal and was now stubbornly refusing to leave.

Who is this girl putting on a show of submission for? I’m the one throwing a tantrum here.

SHIKI, her hand still on her blade, had completely forgotten that this was the Asagami residence. For Fujino to stubbornly remain in her own home... the logic was flawless.

“Well now, Uncle, who’s this... girl? I don't remember you introducing her.” As if not wanting to be outdone, SHIKI suppressed the urge to kill him and, with a raised eyebrow, spoke with a humorless smile.

Before Haru could recover, Fujino turned and bowed slightly to her. “A pleasure to meet you, Miss Ryougi. I am Asagami Fujino.”

Hearing her say her own surname, SHIKI glared at Haru with a ferocious expression. She had never met Fujino before. The only one who could have told the girl her name was Haru. She felt as if she were being played for a fool by a pair of adulterers.

Haru, inexplicably glared at, was slightly taken aback. Though he didn't know what was going on, since she had gotten angry after Fujino had spoken, the source of the problem was obvious.

His mind raced. About a second later, he narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Fujino with uncertainty.

“So, you’ve met SHIKI before?” he said with a light chuckle.

Fujino’s graceful body trembled slightly, a look of regret on her face. “Two months ago, I saw Miss Ryougi’s visit,” she said softly. Fujino knew her personality, like her mother’s, was too soft. She couldn't lie. She could only be honest, secretly lamenting the lost opportunity to sow discord.

Haru, who had been watching her, saw the subtle shift in her posture, and his eyelid twitched. 'Fujino is just an elementary school student. Are Japanese elementary school girls’ emotional intelligence really that high?'

Hearing this, SHIKI’s face softened a little. So, she had been seen the last time she had come to the residence. In other words, she hadn't been played for a fool?

‘Don’t be careless. There’s something wrong with that girl,’ the original Shiki’s cold voice said in her mind.

Unlike the more boyish SHIKI, the feminine Shiki was more observant. It was clear that Fujino’s subtle actions had not escaped her notice.

‘Eh, something’s wrong?’ SHIKI was startled. Her expression turned grave as she observed Fujino, her gaze growing sharper.

Just then, she discovered Fujino’s greatest abnormality. It was a feeling of emptiness, of not being alive, exceptionally similar to the original Shiki. It was as if she were in a standoff with a reflection.

The original Shiki, whose ‘Nothingness’ Origin had just been filled by Haru’s otherness, and Fujino, who had just rediscovered the feeling of being alive—two exceptionally similar people had collided.

The principle of like repels like was on full display in SHIKI. Looking at Fujino, she only felt that the more she looked, the more of an eyesore she was. But at the same time, she was very fond of the scent that emanated from Fujino.

SHIKI and Shiki—who had always thought that they were the only ones who suffered from an inner emptiness, now, upon meeting Fujino, who had been trapped for years without a sense of pain or life, felt a sense of camaraderie born from shared suffering.

And Fujino, stealing glances at SHIKI, also felt the same sense of unease. She was drawn to the similar aura that emanated from her, but she hated her essence—that feeling of having her heart completely exposed was nauseating.

‘Speaking of which, the Asagami family is a branch of that Asakami family, right?’ SHIKI asked in her mind.

‘Mm,’ Shiki replied softly. When Kaname had been planning to marry into the Asagami family, she had glanced at the information her father had collected on them.

To an outsider, the Asagami family was clearly not a match for the Ryougi. But the two families had strangely become in-laws, leaving people scratching their heads.

In reality, the Asagami, who had absorbed the main Asakami family, could already be said to be the head of the four great demon-slaying families. In the eyes of the mage world, this was just a friendly marriage between two great clans.

‘The Mystic Eyes of Distortion!’ SHIKI looked at Fujino with keen interest, sensing the faint strangeness in her wine-red eyes.

Sensing her gaze, though she was afraid that her Mystic Eyes would run rampant and hurt someone, Fujino knew that at this moment, she could not look away. The girl struggled to control her power, forcing herself to meet SHIKI’s gaze.

“...”

Haru narrowed his deadpan eyes, looking at the two, who were now ‘staring lovingly’ at each other. He could only see a vast, green meadow of budding yuri.

“Hey, hey, how long are you two going to stare at each other?” he said with a speechless expression.