He who Protects the Transforming Heroines from The Shadows - Chapter 5 - The Guardian’s Strength

『He’s the other safeguard I mentioned, aside from you.』

Even as Soleil’s voice echoed in his mind, Eito was still too stunned to fully recover. And no wonder—he had no idea that the Guardian was none other than Kounomiya Kouji.

“Kounomiya… it was him…”

For now, Eito decided to stay hidden in the bushes and watch things unfold.

From what he could see, Youka and Miya had also realized that the Guardian who had saved them was none other than the famous Kounomiya Kouji from their own school.

“Um… this might be a silly question, but… are you Kounomiya-kun, by any chance?”

Miya approached him, half-curious and half-reserved. Kouji widened his eyes in the same surprised way he had in the cafeteria earlier.

“I’m surprised. If you know who I am, then… could it be you’re—”
“Yes! I’m Tsukishita Miya, a second-year at Fuuraku High!”
“I’m Asamiya Youka, also a second-year!”

Miya, looking uncharacteristically animated compared to her usual cool demeanor, introduced herself cheerfully. Youka followed suit right after.

“I see! We’re in the same grade, huh? Haha, today just keeps surprising me.”

With the kind of radiant smile only pretty boys can pull off, Kouji gently laid the now-unconscious former Dark Thrall on a nearby bench. The person was just unconscious and would likely wake soon.

Then, Kouji released his Guardian transformation. A pendant appeared at his chest—apparently, that was his transformation item.

Back in his school uniform, Kouji gave Youka and Miya a formal bow. “Once again, I am Kounomiya Kouji, a Guardian. It’s only been a year since I took on this role, but I swear to protect you both with everything I have.”

“Ugh… how can he say something so embarrassingly dramatic with a straight face?”

Watching from the bushes, Eito grimaced like he had just bitten into something bitter. He couldn’t imagine himself ever saying such lines, not even on his deathbed.

『I’ve heard from Ralva that he’s an excellent Guardian. Apparently, he’s ranked within the top ten in the Guardian Rankings.』
“What the heck is Guardian Ranking even…”

Eito had no idea what that was supposed to be, but supposedly Kouji was highly skilled. He was already a near-perfect guy even without the Guardian role—and now this? That was Kounomiya Kouji for you.

While Eito kept watching the interaction from his hiding spot, Youka suddenly spoke up like she’d just realized something.

“Oh, right! Kounomiya-kun, do you know someone called Spriggan?”
“Spriggan?”
“Yeah. He saved me—saved us—before. I was just wondering… could he also be a Guardian, like you?”

Youka asked with a glimmer of hope in her voice. Now that she had met a Guardian for the first time, she thought maybe the mysterious Spriggan who had once saved her might have been one, too.

“Hm… I don’t know. But for us Guardians, we treat our Guardian Name as our real name, so if you ask Ralva-sama, he might know someone by that name. By the way, my Guardian Name is Knight. Ralva-sams is the one who names us.”
“Um, Kounomiya-kun… who is this ‘Ralva-sama’?”

Youka asked with a puzzled expression. Miya, standing next to her, also looked like she was hearing the name for the first time.

“Oh? You don’t know? Well, you girls received your powers from Soleil-sama, right? Same deal for us—Guardians are given power by a male deity named Ralva-sama.”

Kouji explained Ralva’s existence to the two girls. As she listened, Youka suddenly grabbed Kouji’s hand and leaned in toward him.

“Kounomiya-kun! Do you think we could meet Ralva-sama!?”
“Uh… um, Asamiya-san… it’s not really proper for a lady to get that close to a guy her age so suddenly…”

Even a pretty boy wasn’t immune to being flustered when a girl got in his face. Kouji gently chided her with overly polite words.

“Hey, Youka! You’re way too close! Also, your hand!”
“Ah! Sorry! I didn’t mean to—!”

Youka quickly backed away and let go of his hand, clearly flustered. It seemed she had done it without thinking. Kouji composed himself again and answered her request.

“No, it’s okay. You want to meet Ralva-sama, yes…? I could ask him about this Spriggan person for you. Would that be enough?”
“That would already be amazing, but… if possible, I’d still really like to meet him in person…”

Youka looked into Kouji’s eyes with a mixture of apology and sincere determination.

“I see… alright. I’ll talk to Ralva-sama for you.”

Kouji gave her a genuine reply. Hearing that, Youka lit up with a joyful smile.

“Really!? Thank you so much, Kounomiya-kun!”
“U-Uh, sure…”

For just a moment, Kouji felt his heart skip a beat—but even he didn’t know why.

The three of them chatted a bit more after that, and once Youka and Miya released their transformations, the three turned into particles of light and vanished from the scene.

『You can come out of the bushes now, Eito. I’ve sent Youka and Miya back to school, and Ralva’s taking care of the Guardian.』

Hearing Soleil’s words, Eito stepped out of the bushes and leaned against a nearby tree, letting out a heavy sigh.

“Seriously, Asamiya… always poking where she shouldn’t. Hey, Soleil—does that Ralva guy Kouji mentioned know about me?”
『No, Eito. Ralva doesn’t know about your existence. Which means… if Youka meets him, things could get complicated.』

Eito fully understood what kind of “complication” Soleil meant.

“In other words… Kounomiya—and the Guardians—might become my enemies.”
『Exactly. No one besides me can know your true identity. If Ralva finds out, and his Guardians follow suit, they’ll treat you as a suspicious entity. And your unique powers will only reinforce that suspicion.』
“Worst-case scenario, huh…”

Eito let out another long sigh and scratched his head. Given his role, he couldn’t tell Kouji, Youka, or Miya that he was on their side. He had to fight alone from the shadows.

That was the role Soleil had assigned to him.

“Soleil… just asking, but… is there any way to stop Asamiya from meeting Ralva?”
『Judging from her reaction, it’ll be difficult. Besides, it’d be strange for me to tell her not to meet Ralva, don’t you think?』
“Yeah… figured as much. Ugh, what a pain…”

Despite Eito’s inner frustration, the sky above remained perfectly clear and blue.

♦

The day after Eito learned that Kouji was a Guardian, he went to school as usual. Though, inwardly, his mood was heavier than normal. Just the thought of Kouji possibly becoming his enemy made things feel unbearably complicated.

(Oh, woe me the lone wolf…)

He tried to maintain a cool mindset, but deep down, Eito was a nervous wreck, the kind of anxious loner who was inwardly panicking: “Crap, what if I end up getting cut down by Kounomiya’s sword?”

While such thoughts churned in his head, lunchtime arrived. Yesterday he hadn’t brought a bento because there weren’t any side dishes at home. Today, there was no bento again, this time because there was no rice. Eito wondered if his mom was quirky… or just plain dumb.

So once again, he headed to the school cafeteria. But unlike yesterday, he decided not to go to the school store and instead get a proper meal at the dining hall.

“Hm… today’s options are chicken tenderloin cutlet with cheese, ginger pork belly, and grilled fish set…”

Staring at the menu board, Eito weighed his options. As a typical high school boy, the ginger pork belly sounded tempting, but the cheese cutlet was both healthy and tasty—hard to pass up. Then again, grilled fish was the classic Japanese choice…

While he agonized over it with a low hum, someone called out to him from behind.

“Hey there, Kijou-kun. Trouble picking from the menu?”
“Ugh… Kounomiya.”

Turning to see who had spoken to him so casually, Eito was met with none other than Kounomiya Kouji. As always, Kouji wore his dazzlingly handsome face with a sparkling smile.

“…What do you want? As you can see, I’m busy deciding what to eat. Go away.”
“Sorry, I haven’t picked yet either. So, excuse me.”

With that, Kouji stepped up beside him and joined him in studying the menu board.

“Have you decided yet, Kijou-kun?”
“Not yet. Honestly, they all look good…”
“I see. Yeah, everything looks tasty today. —Alright, I think I’ll go with the grilled fish set.”

With his decision made, Kouji promptly bought a ticket for the grilled fish meal. Seeing that, Eito was—somewhat surprisingly—actually pretty taken aback.

“…That’s unexpected. Didn’t think Mr. Heir would go for the humble grilled fish.”

Kounomiya Kouji was, after all, a bona fide rich boy. A real blue-bl00d. In fact, just yesterday he had ordered the most expensive steak in the entire cafeteria.

“Haha, is that so? It’s true that my family is quite wealthy, but I was never raised to believe that expensive food is the only kind that tastes good.”

Kouji replied with a completely sincere and nonchalant smile as he went to pick up his meal.

Left behind, Eito hesitated for a moment, then finally bought the ticket for the chicken tenderloin cutlet with cheese. After grabbing a glass of water and finding an open seat, he sat down.

Just as he cracked apart his chopsticks and prepared to dig in, someone set down a tray across from him.

“Mind if I sit here?”
“…You already sat down. Do what you want.”

Eito let out a tired sigh as Kouji, still smiling cheerfully, sat across from him. He couldn’t understand why this guy insisted on bothering him.

“Thanks. Well then, let’s eat.”

Kouji put his hands together in a gesture of gratitude and began eating, neatly pulling the bones from the grilled fish with practiced precision—a clear sign of his refined upbringing.

“…First of all, sorry about yesterday. I got a sudden stomachache. Second, why the hell are you bothering yourself with me?”

As he chewed through his meal, Eito bluntly threw out his question. Ever since finding out Kouji was a Guardian, Eito had been planning to keep his distance from him.

Not that he had any intention of saying why.

“Oh, I see. I thought maybe you were avoiding me because I annoyed you or something. —As for your question, that’s simple: I want to be friends.”
“…You seriously just said that with a straight face?”

Eito felt secondhand embarrassment just hearing it. But this was exactly the kind of guy Kouji was—someone who would say such things without a hint of shame.

Honestly, he was probably a genuinely good person. Here he was, trying to be friends with someone like Eito, who had nothing special going for him. And he likely meant it, too. Under normal circumstances, Eito thought, they probably could’ve become good friends.

“—I’m flattered. But the answer is no.”
“Huh?”

Eito downed the last of his miso soup, stood up with his tray, and left his seat. Kouji sat there looking stunned.

“Frankly, you’re a nuisance. Don’t ever talk to me again.”

With those cold final words, Eito walked away, leaving Kouji behind. On his way out, he passed by Youka and Miya, who had just arrived.

“Oh! You’re here too, Kounomiya-kun? We were thinking of getting lunch—wait, what’s wrong?”
“Wait, wasn’t that…?”

Youka and Miya greeted Kouji with a smile, hoping to invite him to eat with them, but Miya noticed that Kouji looked genuinely startled. Meanwhile, Youka realized that the boy they just passed was the same one she had bumped into the other day. But by the time she turned to look again, the boy was already walking out of the cafeteria.

“Ah—! Uh, Tsukishita-san, Asamiya-san. No, it’s nothing. Just a bit of a surprise. Sure, let’s eat together.”

With a slightly forced smile, Kouji invited them to join him for lunch.

♦

A few days later, another Dark Thrall appeared. As usual, a sound echoed in Eito’s mind, notifying him of the Dark Thrall’s emergence and pointing out its location.

“Tch, there goes my day off…!”
『I’m sorry, Eito. But I must ask for your help once again.』

Soleil spoke in a regretful tone. Truly, it was frustrating. He had planned to spend the entire day gaming at the arcade until nightfall.

『…Eito, if you keep this up, you’ll never get a girlfriend, you know.』
“Shut up, you damn goddess! Stop reading my mind! And I don’t need one anyway!”

Eito shouted into the air as he pedaled his bicycle.

To anyone passing by, he looked like a complete lunatic, screaming while riding his bike full speed through the streets on a day off. They all gave him “this guy’s seriously dangerous” looks.

After about five minutes of biking (of course, obeying all traffic lights), people suddenly started disappearing from the streets around him.

“They’re already fighting!?”

The absence of people meant that a barrier had been deployed, which in turn meant that Youka and Miya had transformed.

As Eito thought that, a violent sound echoed from up ahead. It was the sound of something raging out of control.

“GRRRRRRHHH!”

Parking his bike nearby, Eito peered out from behind a utility pole. He spotted the Dark Thrall.

This time it looked like a massive wolf-type Dark Thrall, growling with its fangs bared. And standing in front of it, sword in hand, was Kouji, protecting Youka and Miya.

“GRRAA!”

The wolf Dark Thrall swung its sharp claws at Kouji. Kouji blocked the blow with his sword, halting the beast’s attack.

“Asamiya-san, now!”
“Got it!”

At Kouji’s signal, Youka lunged forward toward the Dark Thrall. Once he confirmed she’d made her move, Kouji suddenly stopped resisting the attack and let the momentum carry it through.

“Grrh!?”

Thrown off balance by the sudden shift, the Dark Thrall staggered. Kouji didn’t miss the opening and delivered a powerful kick to the beast’s gut with his right leg.

A Guardian’s physical strength far exceeded that of any normal human. The Dark Thrall’s large body was launched into the air.

“DEYAAAAHHHHHHH!”

Youka jumped high, slightly above the airborne Dark Thrall. Twisting midair, she slammed down both fists in a hammer blow onto its snout with tremendous force imbued with purifying power.

Unable to dodge while airborne, the Dark Thrall took the full brunt of the attack and let out a pained shriek as it crashed into the ground.

“Tsukishita-san!”
“Right!”

As the beast tried to rise despite the damage, Kouji shouted.

Responding to his call, Miya raised her staff and cast a purification spell.

Walls of ice appeared one after another around the Dark Thrall, encasing it on all sides—except the front, where Kouji stood.

“GRRAAAAAHHHHH!”

With a roar, the Dark Thrall charged at Kouji at terrifying speed, jaws wide to bite down on him.

“You won’t beat me like that!”

Kouji calmly dodged the attack and slashed the Dark Thrall’s body with his sword.

The beast howled in pain and recoiled.

“You two!”

Kouji called out again to Youka, who had landed, and Miya. The two nodded. Youka stretched out her right hand, Miya her left, both toward the Dark Thrall.

““We shall guide your darkness into our light—””

“Let the raging flame be turned into light—”

“Let the mystic water be turned into light—”

As they chanted, Youka’s gauntlet and Miya’s staff transformed into brilliant lights, glowing in their hands.

“Purifying Light—GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”

The torrent of purifying light surged toward the Dark Thrall. The beast was engulfed and purified, returning to its original human form.

“Fantastic! You two were amazing, hard to believe it’s only been about a month since you became Lightguide Princesses!”

“No, no, it was thanks to your clear signals, Kounomiya-kun. Right, Youka?”
“Yeah. You created the opening perfectly. It was way easier than before.”

As they chatted about the battle, they gently laid the now-human Dark Thrall against a nearby wall. That seemed to be the signal—the three of them released their transformations. And with Youka and Miya’s transformation undone, the barrier dispersed.

“Hey, Kounomiya-kun. We were planning to go get some delicious sweets today. Want to come with us if you’re free?”

“Eh? Me? I mean—I’m really happy to be invited, but… are you sure it’s okay?”

Kouji glanced at Youka. She had probably been looking forward to enjoying sweets with her close friend. Could he really intrude?

Sensing Kouji’s hesitation, Youka smiled at him and said,

“Of course! The more people there are, the better the sweets taste! Well, if you’re not against it, that is…”
“…Th-thank you. Then, I’ll come along.”

Once again, Kouji felt his heart skip a beat, but he ignored it, chalking it up to nerves, and followed the two girls to go eat sweets.

“……”

Once the three had left, Eito, now sitting on his parked black bicycle, reflected on Kouji’s performance in battle.

“…Kounomiya. That guy’s insanely strong.”

His swordsmanship, his situational awareness, and his mastery of the enhanced physical abilities granted by his Guardian transformation—all of it was on full display. Even someone like Eito, who had only been given Spriggan’s power about a month ago, could clearly see it.

More than anything, Kouji looked like someone who had fought many battles before. Probably against far stronger Dark Thrall than the ones Youka and Miya had faced.

『Indeed. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have reached the rank of tenth in the Guardian Rankings… He truly is an exceptional Guardian. We should be grateful to Ralva.』
“That damn ranking again… What even is the Guardian Ranking?”

As usual, the mysterious ranking continued to bother Eito, but Soleil still wasn’t in the mood to explain it.

“Besides, if we’ve got Kounomiya, isn’t there no need for me?”
『No, Eito. There will come a time when you must act. A powerful Dark Thrall will appear—one that Youka and Miya alone cannot handle. When that happens, I will need your help.』
“………Fine, I get it.”

Letting out a heavy sigh at Soleil’s words, Eito straddled his bicycle.

For now, he decided he’d spend the rest of the day gaming. And with that, he pedaled off toward the arcade.