59 Me, Miyamizu Mitsuha, the Boss?

Monday

When Kyousuke arrived at school, Hanagaki Takemichi and his four companions were already standing by his desk.

"Hojou, thank you so much for saving us!" They all said in unison.

'Click'

Kyousuke thought he heard the sound of glass breaking.

He turned his head in confusion and saw Kisaki Tetta.

Oh, so it was the sound of the superhero's heart shattering.

Kisaki, don't blame me—if you had seized the opportunity, it wouldn't have been like this, he thought to himself.

Kyousuke smiled at Hanagaki and the others, telling them not to be so formal, as they were all classmates.

The day passed with a mix of sleeping and studying.

———————————————————————

That Night, Nezu Shrine

Kyousuke sat at the top of the stairs, fingers interlocked, his chin resting on them, elbows on his knees.

He gazed down at his chaotic subordinates below, lost in thought.

He was seriously wondering if one of those subordinates had a relative working as a priest at this shrine, as they always seemed to hold meetings here.

As usual, everyone from the branch had gathered.

Kyousuke had realized that these people really loved their meetings, or more accurately, they enjoyed the after-meeting hangouts.

They could turn the smallest thing into a reason for a gathering, just like tonight.

"The leader of Kanto Manji has issued a challenge to us, claiming they want to wash away the disgrace of being beaten by you alone."

"Hahahaha! The leader can take them all down by himself! How dare they challenge us, the Rampaging Angels?"

Because the issue being discussed at the gathering wasn't important, the mood was more lighthearted.

As soon as Makki Hojou finished speaking,

Eikichi Onizuka started egging them on.

"Eikichi, did you forget? The person who almost killed you, Aime, was also taken out by the boss alone!" Sagara Takeshi from the Kaikyuu branch teased.

"Ah, that's true! The boss is number one in all of Japan!" Eikichi Onizuka laughed without a hint of shame.

"No need for our branch or Kaikyuu to handle this."

"Roppongi can take down Toman ourselves, right, Ryuu?" Haitani Ran, sporting a small golden braid, said flirtatiously while nudging his brother, Haitani Rindou.

"Right," Rindou adjusted his glasses.

"This isn't something we should leave to Roppongi."

"Kaikyuu can handle Toman before tomorrow night," Satoshi Katagiri added, his usual stern face softened from being with his friends.

"Quiet down and see what the boss says," Kisaki Tetta interjected.

The chatter stopped immediately as everyone turned their attention to Kyousuke, who hadn't spoken for quite a while.

Silence.

The atmosphere grew tense as everyone waited, and even Eikichi Onizuka stopped smiling.

They thought their boss might be upset with them for earlier.

What they didn't know was that at that very moment, Miyamizu Mitsuha was about to burst into tears.

'Why? Why did I end up here?'

'I was just tying knots with my grandma, then I opened my eyes and found myself in such a scary place!'

'And why is my body like this?'

'Oh gods, are you punishing me for not being devout enough?'

'I'm your only shrine maiden! Please, save me!

Mitsuha tried her best to hide her face in the shadows.

Thankfully, this body's hands were long and elegant, with defined joints.

As long as she rested her hands on her head, it would perfectly conceal her face.

Down below, the atmosphere grew more serious by the second.

Feeling the tension, Makki Hojou stepped forward nervously.

"Boss, what's your order?"

Mitsuha peeked through her fingers and saw countless eyes staring at her from below, glowing faintly in the dark.

'What should I do? What should I do? Is that giant talking to me?'

The silence in the air made everyone uncomfortable.

Even Mitsuha was so scared her eyes filled with tears.

When she didn't respond, Kisaki grew confused.

He was the one who knew Kyousuke the best and knew he wouldn't be upset about what had just been said.

So why wasn't he speaking now? Could he have fallen asleep?

"Boss!" Kisakiraised his voice, calling out.

"Kisaki, what the hell? You scared me!" Eikichi jumped at the sudden shout.

"I'm just checking if the boss is asleep," Kisaki replied honestly.

"Is that possible? The boss can sleep in this kind of chaos?" Eikichi widened his eyes, clearly impressed.

The others, hearing Kisaki and Eikichi's exchange, turned to look at Kyousuke, who had been motionless the whole time.

Makki stared at him carefully.

Indeed, Kyousuke hadn't moved since earlier.

Seeing the others' hopeful looks, Makki sighed and reluctantly walked up the stairs.

'Ah! The giant is coming!' Mitsuha screamed internally, Why are you bothering me while I'm pretending to be dead!?

At this point, there was no avoiding it. Mitsuha gathered her courage and slowly raised her head.

"Boss, you're not asleep?" The sudden movement made Makki flinch and immediately step back down.

"I'm not asleep," Mitsuha replied, only to be shocked by the sound of a deep male voice coming out of her own mouth.

'What?'

Everyone looked up, confused.

They'd never heard their usually imposing boss sound so cute and... girly?

"Ahem, I'm not asleep!" Mitsuha quickly corrected herself after hearing the oddness in her own voice.

During her silent period, she had gathered some information.

It seemed that this body was the boss of the gang.

As long as she spoke, no one would dare contradict her.

Even if they doubted her, they wouldn't challenge her orders.

"Boss, what's your decision about Kanto Manji?" Makki asked.

"I think... I think fighting is bad!" Mitsuha said nervously, but this was honestly how she felt.

Even bad guys should have a sense of justice, right? Fighting was never the answer.

Below, the gang members exchanged puzzled glances. What was the boss saying?

"The boss means Toman, who was taken down by him alone, is not worth the trouble of fighting back!" Kisaki shouted.

"Yes, yes, that's what I meant!" Mitsuha quickly confirmed when she saw someone backing her up.

"Of course, the boss doesn't even care about Kanto Manji!" someone shouted.

"You're all saying nonsense. Kanto Manji, including the boss, was wiped out by our boss alone. How dare they declare war on us!" someone else added.