Author: 猫夜叉 (Nekoyasha)
––Our meeting was rather sudden.
I had been walking down a corridor after class, looking for Athena, when I felt a gaze on me, causing me to turn around.
As it turned out, the gaze belonged to a really pretty girl somewhat older than me.
““……””
…Mhm. Amazing.
She is the perfect onee-sama. That figure quite plainly different from those of other young women her age. That sensual air about her that would make her not seem out of place among adult women even though she’s still growing. And her beautiful, shoulder-length, red hair, glittering as it reflects the sunlight coming in through the windows.
“…Fufu,” the beauty smiled at me.
Completely under her charm, I smiled back.
Haha, what?
Not really knowing how to continue, a bland and seemingly harmless sentence floated up to the top of my mind––
“Nice weather we’re having today?” I said.
“Indeed,” the onee-san smiled innocently with a flash of her white teeth.
……Stunning…
As previously stated, I was on team older-than-me. As such, I was having to fight rather hard just to keep my normal state of mind.
Still, as I looked at her, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Who is she? I don’t think I’ve ever seen her before. Actually, hold that… what if I just can’t remember it, but we’ve already met before?… it’s not unthinkable, is it? I’m the third son in a family of knights. I’ve hardly ever been to nobles’ parties before. Still, maybe at one of the ones I did attend…?
“You’re Yuno Astario-kun, right?” the onee-san asked while I was busy lost in thought.
“Yes! That’s correct!” I answered immediately, and a mischievous smile flashed across her face.
“I see… I get it,” she said, clasping her hands behind her back and slowly walking up to me.
“Eh? Eh?” I panicked a little.
With everything from her behaviour to her most minute of movements being exactly my type, Charm herself had begun walking towards me.
She took a step forward.
Trembling, I took a step backwards.
Rinse and repeat.
And then––
“Hey, don’t run away!”
Perhaps having stretched her limbs enough, her strides grew larger.
By that time, my heart was beating at an unbelievable speed.
“…Ow.”
Suddenly, I felt pain on the back of my head, prompting me to turn around.
Blocking my field of view was a white wall.
I had been chased into a corner of the corridor before I had even known it.
“Oh come oooon…” said the onee-san with a slightly unhappy expression, leaning forwards until her face was right in front of mine.
Her perfect and beautiful facial features and pale red eyes, slightly different from Athena’s, were in front of me at point-blank range, her eyes gazing deep into mine.
Then –– her sweet scent hit me.
“Hey-…”
It felt like my heart was going to burst.
“…You have pretty eyes. The splitting image of hers,” she whispered, our faces still so close to each other we could hear each other’s breaths.
…Your eyes are… also pretty?
I didn’t say it out loud though, and, very aware of my whole body perspiring, I managed to get my thoughts back together.
“W-what is it?” I asked, and she finally took a couple steps backwards.
“Sorry for scaring you,” she said, a mischievous smile on her face, still staring at my eyes.
As for me, I had managed to regain a bit of my composure and was now having my brain work overtime to try and understand the situation.
There was one thing I knew for sure.
I had never met her before.
“Well, you see… I have a favour to ask of you, Yuno-kun,” she said, gently leaning forward, her hands still clasped behind her back, gazing into my eyes.
I gulped.
…She’s stunning. No doubt about that.
However, I also had a few other thoughts on the matter.
Do people normally ask people they just met for a favour?
She was suspicious…
And if so, I could only choose one of the two options available to me.
––I should refuse.
“Whatever you’d like.”
I lost.
I theatrically went down on one knee in front of her.
“Fufu, you’re funny, Yuno-kun,” she said with an innocent smile and an amused laugh.
This is it. One of the attractive points about onee-sans. That momentary innocent smile that flashes across their faces despite their otherwise grown-up vibe. It’s one of my favourites.
“Oh, right, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. My name is Selena Barrett. I’m a third-year.”
“Selena Barrett-san…”
…Barrett? As in one-of-the-four-great-noble-families Barrett?
While I was lost in thought, she turned around with a swish of her hair and looked at me over her shoulder.
“Anyway, back to my favour. Come with me.”
It seems like it’s not the type of favour that can be done here.
Still, I had something else I needed to do first.
“Erm, excuse me, but I was actually looking for Athena…”
Normally, she would be peeking inside the classroom through a gap in the doorway when classes ended, but she hadn’t been there today for some reason.
“You mean Athena-sama? Don’t worry. Come on, let’s go,” she smiled at me, then steadily began walking away.
…I don’t… need to worry?
In the end, I followed after Selena-san, not knowing what it was I didn’t need to worry about.
◆
“Erm… where are we going?” I asked Selena-san, unable to bear it any longer.
She had told me to follow her, so I had done just that, but…
I couldn’t help but ask so, what with the overgrown, long grass underfoot and the trees surrounding us.
“Ahaha, sorry about that. Just a bit further,” she said, smiling.
Deciding to believe her, I didn’t say anything else.
Somehow… I could tell where we were heading.
It was most likely the small grove a little ways away from the academy.
We had left the academy through the main entrance and were now following its outer wall. If memory served me right, there was a grove of trees if one went far enough, past the arena.
However, even though I knew that, I didn’t know what her goal was. I wondered what Selena-san was going to have me do. I had never been to that small grove, so I had nothing to go off of.
“Make sure not to make a sound from here on out,” Selena-san said, the air around her changing.
“…!”
I was shocked.
She was supposed to have been right in front of me… and yet, she wasn’t.
The sound of her footsteps had disappeared, but I felt like even her presence itself had disappeared.
It seemed like she wasn’t your ordinary person after all.
She glanced back at me.
“……”
Understanding what she meant, I imitated her, hiding the sound of my footsteps.
We walked onwards like that for a short while when suddenly, I saw a silver light ahead.
The moment I went to see what it was ––
–– I couldn’t help but gasp.
“…Athena?”
She was standing facing a large tree, both hands held out ––
“Hiyyaa!” came her cute voice as her body let off light.
But that wasn’t all.
A few steps away from her, a girl with the same red hair as Selena-san was waving a sword around in a strange stance with a desperate expression on her face.
“Fufu… see that?” said Selena-san as she crouched down, looking at the two of them.
“Yes… I would never have thought Athena would be here…”
It was quite surprising. I wondered what they were doing.
Suddenly, a question posed itself, and I turned towards Selena-san to ask it.
“Erm, is, by any chance, the one waving that sword around…?” I trailed off as I saw her expression change.
…I knew that expression very well.
“Yes. She’s Tina Barrett. My cute little sister,” Selena-san said as she watched her little sister with the same warm expression my sister used on me.
Europa is a cool moon 
Thx for the chapter
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