Chapter 16 – Origin

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I had a dream.

It was so vivid that it was hard to tell whether it was reality or just a dream.

A crimson sky, the shattered Sanctum Tower, a ruined city.

The screams of citizens and the voices of despairing students echoed through the streets.

Was this what the end of the world looked like?

For a moment, I gritted my teeth at the sight, so horrifying I could barely breathe.

“…If I had tried harder, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“It’s because I was incompetent. Because I was stupid.”

“It’s all my fault…….”

A voice came from somewhere.

A voice filled with self-blame. A voice drowning in despair. Turning toward the source, I saw someone all too familiar.

‘Huh?’

‘I’ was there.

Snow-white hair and hollow sapphire blue eyes.

Dressed in full hero gear, ‘I’ stood there, staring at the crumbling world with tears streaming down my face.

For a moment, I was stunned, but soon, I couldn’t help but gasp in shock.

I couldn’t see why I was crying or why the world had ended. None of that mattered anymore.

I already had a rough idea of when this was and what had happened.

What shocked me now was something else entirely.

‘Wait, is that…? It is, right?’

The blue light glowing on the chest of the “me” in the dream.

A triangular-shaped pad, swirling with blue energy.

‘Ah… Iron Man’s suit…??’

Just as I began to wonder if it was what I thought it was. 

The ‘me’ who had been sitting on the ground crying suddenly stood up, wiping away the despair and replacing it with a look of determination.

Huh. No way? Is she showing me the armour?

And then.

My hand reached toward my chest—

Tap tap—

Whirrr—

The moment I touched the pad on my chest, the suit deployed instantly.

It was exactly what I had imagined.

‘…Holy shit.’

The pad responded to the user’s signal, unfolding into a red steel suit that encased my entire body in an instant.

Red. And gold.

The most ideal color combination I could imagine, just like in the movies.

My goal, the pinnacle of what I considered a hero, was right there. I was thrilled about it.

‘F*ck. This is so f*cking cool……!’

They actually made an Iron Man suit? Is this for real?

How on earth did they make it? Is this the future? It has to be the future, right?

‘Tell me right now that I have the power of prophecy!!!!!’

The reason the world was ending? I was curious, but that wasn’t important right now.

How could it be, when I was staring at myself wearing an Iron Man suit?!

‘Not a nanotech suit, but a partial assembly type? Looking closely, there are devices on the back and legs too. The suit must deploy from those parts to complete the assembly. And the blue light on the hands and legs—looks like the repulsors were replicated too. But then, the most important part, the arc reactor—how did I—’

At some point, I had shut my mouth.

And deep in my heart, I wished:

‘This has to be the future. Please let it be true.’

I just had to stop the world from ending.

Even if this was just a dream, I had always been aware of the dangers. All I had to do was prevent the events in the dream from happening. But, but—

That, the Iron Man suit, shouldn’t just be a dream.

It was my love, my life, my soul.

A wish I had held in my heart for so long. The dream that had made my heart race since childhood.

Me becoming Iron Man.

I couldn’t accept that it was just an illusion.

As I desperately prayed in my heart that the Iron Man suit wasn’t just an illusion, the ‘me’ in the dream, who had been looking up at the sky, suddenly turned their head somewhere.

And then, I couldn’t help but jolt in shock.

‘Are you… looking at me……?’

For a moment, it felt like our eyes met.

How? The question lingered briefly before ‘I’ turned away again and muttered something incomprehensible.

“If I get one more chance… next time, I’ll—”

Words I couldn’t quite make out.

‘…What did you just say—’

WHOOSH—!!

Before I could even voice my confusion, the ‘me’ in the Iron Man suit shot into the sky and vanished.

And with that, my dream ended.

***

“Ah.”

When I woke up, I saw a familiar ceiling. The faint hum of machinery and the beeping of holographic keyboards filled the room. 

A familiar, comforting scent.

The Special Phenomenon Task Force clubroom.

That’s where I had woken up.

No, my Iron Man suit—

As I sighed inwardly, reminiscing about the dream—

“Awake now, Nanashi?”

A soft, gentle voice reached me.

Turning my head, I saw a cute silver-haired elf smiling at me.

Himari. She looked just like always. The way she smiled at me—no wonder she was considered a beauty.

…I kinda want to touch her ears.

I quickly dismissed the thought. Rubbing my still-aching body, I asked her in a daze:

“…Himari-senpai. Why am I here?”

“Why? Because you came here. From now on, you’ll be staying here with me. Didn’t you ask me to let you stay before you fell asleep yesterday?”

…Huh?

I don’t remember that.

“…Staying together?”

“Me, Eimi, and you—we’ll all be staying here for a while. I’ve already prepared everything you’ll need, so don’t worry.”

W-What are you talking about?

This sudden cohabitation announcement?!

I stared at Himari with wide eyes. She tilted her head at my expression but then seemed to realize something and quickly shook her head.

“No, no! Not what you’re thinking!”

“…Huh?”

“It’s really not that!”

“Ah, okay.”

Well, that’s a shame.

“Haa, what’s going on in that head of yours? We definitely talked about this yesterday. You said if you wandered around outside looking injured, the school would get suspicious, so you’d stay in the clubroom for a while.”

“Ah.”

Oh, right.

After the fight with Wakamo, I was covered in wounds. Realizing how suspicious I looked, I had discussed it with Himari, and she suggested staying in the secure clubroom.

‘Must’ve forgotten it in my sleep.’

…But honestly, this isn’t my fault.

You’re the one who made it sound suspicious, Himari!

Of course, I didn’t say that out loud. Even thinking it was embarrassing enough.

So I just apologized.

“I forgot. Sorry.” 

“…Haha, it’s fine. You being weird isn’t exactly new. As Millennium’s greatest genius, frail beautiful hacker, I’ll forgive you. Objectively speaking, I am pretty, so it’s only natural you’d think that way. Mhm.”

“Well, yeah. You are pretty, Senpai.”

“…….”

Himari being pretty was just common sense…

When I casually echoed her narcissistic remark back at her, she froze. Then, her face turned bright red as she glared at me.

I chuckled and ignored her stare.

“By the way, where’s Eimi?”

“Haa. You got me flustered again… Eimi went out for a bit to look into something. She’ll be back soon.”

“I see.”

With that, I stretched my stiff body and sat up on the bed.

Squirm—

“Hnngh….”

“…?! D-don’t make weird noises, Nanashi!”

“Huh? I was just stretching?”

“…….”

What’s her problem?

Ignoring Himari’s exaggerated reaction, I headed to the bathroom in the clubroom. I could feel her glaring at my back, but I chose to ignore it.

In the bathroom, I looked in the mirror.

Snow-white hair reaching past my shoulders, blue eyes.

Objectively attractive features with a slightly sharp impression. A face that I never got tired looking at.

“Hmm.”

…Damn, I am pretty.

No matter how many times I see it, I can’t get used to it.

How can this body still be so pretty even though she’s not wearing any makeup and just woke up? Are all women like this?

‘How could that be?’

I smirked and started washing my face.

Splashing water lightly, applying soap, rinsing, then applying cleansing foam, then rinsing again.

And—

‘So complicated…’

…Being pretty is such a hassle. Without realizing it, my skincare routine had gotten way more elaborate.

Before, I would’ve just used soap and been done with it. 

Now? 

No way.

I considered washing my hair too, but since my body had mostly recovered, I figured I’d go out for some light exercise. So I just finished washing my face and stepped out.

Back in the clubroom, I locked eyes with Himari, who was busy typing away on a hologram.

Not sure what to say, I just grinned at her. For some reason, she blushed.

“Himari-senpai.”

“…What is it, Nanashi?”

“Can I go out for some exercise? I think I’m pretty much recover—”

“No. You can’t.”

What.

I didn’t even finish my sentence before being shut down.

“I’m just gonna go for a light jog.”

“Still no. From what I can see, you need more rest.”

“Huh? But I’m really fine—”

“You’re not fully recovered yet. So no.”

…What?

Do I have some hidden injury I’m not aware of?

Himari’s firm refusal surprised me, so I checked my body again. But all I felt was my rapidly recovering stamina.

Huh. Doesn’t feel like anything’s wrong—

“Nanashi. Listen to your senpai.”

“…Yes.”

I gave up.

I obediently lay back down on the bed.

Himari-senpai’s scarier than usual today. I can tell she’s worried, but she’s being weirdly forceful.

Not that I minded.

Actually…

‘…Maybe it’s not a little bad.’

A cute beauty obsessing over me? Heheh*.

*(lost cause, die)

Suppressing a smirk, I lay back and picked up my phone. But when I actually picked up my phone, there was nothing I could do.

‘…Don’t really feel like browsing the internet right now.’

Who knows what kind of rumors are floating around.

So I decided to just watch Himari instead. A silver-haired elf beauty focused on her work? How could I resist? Way more entertaining than the internet.

Stareee—

A few minutes of wriggling on the bed while staring at Himari later, she suddenly sighed deeply and turned to me.

“Nanashi, do you have something to say?”

“Nope. Just felt like looking at you.”

“….”

“Just killing time, so you can keep doing what you’re doing.”

Himari’s face turned bright red.

She sighed again and went back to her hologram keyboard.

Tap… Tap…

However the fact that her typing speed seemed slower than before was probably my imagination