Heaven And Hell

My personal rest area appeared out of nowhere.

I wondered why Domanna-san was involved, but the reason became clear right away.

The wooden window of the carriage popped open, revealing girls who looked like marguerite flowers by the window.

“Leo-kun!”

“Master!”

“Don’t tell me—you were the ones who asked?”

“Yes! We got worried about you, Leo-kun, so we consulted Domanna-san!”

“And then Domanna-san graciously sent out the carriage for us!”

Monaka and Kotone looked visibly relieved to be reunited with me.

Even though it had only been about two hours since we’d parted…

“Leo-kun, you must be tired, right!? Please come this way!”

“Yes! We have prepared a place for you to rest!”

They’d been smiling the whole time, but as if remembering something, they lowered their eyes shyly.

“We’re sorry. Normally, we would have gotten down to greet you ourselves, but…”

“Indeed. With how we are dressed, it felt a bit improper to go outside…”

When I looked more closely, I noticed their outfits were different from usual.

Instead of white robes and hakama, they were wearing brightly colored short-sleeved clothes.

Wondering what this was about, I opened the door at the back of the carriage and stepped inside…

“Oh, cheerleader outfits.”

The moment I said that, shocked voices erupted from outside the carriage.

“Cheerleadeeeers!?”

“No way—Lady Monaka and Lady Kotone are wearing cheerleader outfits!?”

“Y-you’re kidding!? A Saint and a Miko dressed like that…!?”

“Damn it, all we’ve got here is the vice principal in an apron!?”

“I-I wanna see! I really wanna seeeeee!”

Monaka and Kotone turned bright red, clutching their chests with one hand and tugging at their short skirts.

With their knees pressed tightly together, they fidgeted, rubbing their thighs shyly.

“U-um, I-it’s my first time wearing such a short skirt…”

“A-and for me as well, it is my first time wearing attire from the western lands…”

“If it’s that embarrassing, you don’t have to force yourselves.”

At that, the two of them shook their heads side to side in unison.

“Because Domanna-san told us that if we were going to cheer you on, we had to wear this.”

“Indeed. These ‘cheerleader’ outfits are said to have the effect of invigorating men. For your sake, Master, we resolved to wear them as if leaping from the Kiyomizu stage.”

“Leo-kun…”

“Master…”

They looked up at me with cherry-blossom-colored eyes and asked,

“D-did you feel… invigorated…?”

Before I could answer, Domanna-san, who had been watching from the driver’s seat, spoke up.

“Of course he did! Zing—right in the spirit, huh!? If not, you’re no man at all! Right, Leopin-kun!”

I nodded back.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Then I looked at Monaka and Kotone.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’m feeling energized.”

Thanks to boosting my Endurance, I didn’t feel tired at all.

But more than anything, their consideration made me happy.

Up until then, Monaka and Kotone had worn expressions mixed with embarrassment and anxiety.

The moment they heard my thanks, their faces bloomed into radiant smiles.

And happily, they began taking care of me.

“Th-thank goodness…! Th-then, Leo-kun, please sit here! I’ll wipe your sweat!”

“Master, please have some water! I shall fan you with a cool breeze!”

Monaka wiped my sweat with a handkerchief, while Kotone fanned me with a large fan.

I wanted to say, “I can do that myself,” but when I saw their faces, I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

From outside the carriage, murmurs arose.

“H-hey! I can see Lady Kotone through the window!”

“What’s she doing!? She’s fanning someone!?”

“N-no way… she’s fanning that trash…!?”

“That’s impossible! A Miko of Lady Kotone’s standing would never fan someone else!”

“R-right! If anything, that trash should be the one fanning her…!”

“B-but that’d still be insanely enviable! Lady Kotone is so exalted that an ordinary guy can’t even approach her!”

As I silently accepted Monaka’s and Kotone’s care, the service became even more excessive.

“Leo-kun, next we’ll recline the chair! I’ll massage your shoulders!”

“Then I shall massage your legs!”

With perfectly coordinated teamwork, they began kneading my body.

I wanted to say, “I’m not that tired,” but before their beaming smiles, I had no choice but to swallow the words.

The voices outside were starting to turn into screams.

“W-what are they doing in there!? What’s going on in there!?”

“I heard Lady Monaka say something about ‘kneading’ just now!? Don’t tell me—massages!?”

“No way! A Saint like Lady Monaka would never massage someone else!”

“R-right! If anything, that trash should be the one doing it…!”

“B-but that’d still be insanely enviable! Lady Monaka is so divine that an ordinary man wouldn’t even be allowed to touch her!”

Outside, angry shouts and shrieks finally erupted, accompanied by heavy thuds as bodies rolled on the ground.

When I finished resting and stepped out of the carriage, sent off by the two beautiful girls…

For some reason, there stood a group of boys covered in dirt and leaves.

Their eyes were bloodshot, and they were panting heavily.

Just moments ago they had called it heaven, yet now they looked like they’d crawled back from hell itself.

“I-I won’t forgive you…! You trash…!”

“You turned our unattainable flowers into flowers in both hands…!”

“There’s no way an unemployed dropout could do something like that…!”

“Just like Weiss said, he must be holding some kind of leverage over them…!”

“We’ll save them…! With our own strength…!”

“We’ll drag him around… until he never even thinks of doing this again…!”

“We’ll show him what happens when he makes us serious… down to the very marrow…!”