Double Makoto (3)
Startled, Makoto tightly sealed my ears with both hands.
I was desperately doing this to prevent me from falling for Iroha's seduction.
"I will never fall to a coup!"
Makoto rattled off a pompous line like a final boss. In reality, he's a fake boss.
"Before long, the eternal, immortal power of Makoto-sama who will rule over all of Kivotos! A coup targeting me is impossible!"
Makoto is oddly sensitive to the word "coup".
Suddenly, a mini-story from Blue Archive flashed in my mind.
Makoto has a trauma from trying to support the Red Winter Federal Academy's coup and failing.
"Hmm. Coups aren't that common in Kivotos, are they?"
Iroha casually defined coup.
Any princess can casually trigger a coup like eating a roll cake. Coups are a trend and a fashion.
Gehenna Academy can't fall behind Trinity General School, so it's just a taste test.
"Statements that suit a dictator from Red Winter are forbidden. This Makoto-sama was elected through the fair voting process of Gehenna Academy!"
"Though the voter turnout is only 3.8%."
"It's the perfect voter turnout for a power-hungry leader aiming for permanent rule!"
A back-and-forth conversation between the two girls like chatting.
"Haa- Annoying."
Iroha let out a huge sigh with a battery-drained face.
"Anyway, I hate annoying things. Having two Makoto-senpais. That's over the limit. Let's cut it down."
"Wh-what!?"
"I'd like to reduce it to one. Even if it means holding a deathmatch."
"Hey... Iroha? That's not serious, right? Tell me it's not!"
Makoto looked visibly flustered. His surface-level charisma was wavering.
"From my perspective, the Makoto-senpai on this side looks much better, so I'll side with this one."
With that, Iroha approached me closely.
Makoto turned deathly pale, as if betrayed.
"Impossible! You're trying to install another me as the fake boss, and make me move the pieces as a non-personnel? Iroha!"
"No. I just prefer a better superior."
"Internal division is bad. If the Prefect Team finds out about the weakness in the pieces, they'll come crawling up again!"
"Ah."
Iroha let out a surprised exclamation, as if realizing an unexpected fact.
"Two Makoto-senpais. The Prefect Team would be shocked if they found out. They'd all hate it so much they'd faint."
"Iroha, that's it-!!!"
Makoto's eyes sparkled with cunning.
"Oh my, oh my. This Makoto-sama overlooked such an important fact! The advantage of having two of me isn't just the expected effect of tripling processing efficiency."
Once again, Makoto was flaunting his outer appearance flamboyantly.
"Exactly! It allows us to suppress the Prefect Team five times more efficiently!!!"
"......This time it's five times?"
Strange multiplier selection.
Iroha shook her head in disgust.
"When dealing with the Prefect Team, I'm especially ruthless. Kishi shishishit!"
Makoto smiled slyly and grabbed my wrist.
"Not now. Right now, I'm going to march to the Prefect Team, crush their morale to the bottom, and come back!"
Makoto was determined to drag me to the Prefect Team against my will.
"Hiyaaaaaaaak!"
I, terrified, resisted and flailed my arms wildly.
"I don't want to go to the Prefect Team!"
I absolutely cannot meet Hina in this state.
I'm the clone of Makoto. A replica of a character Hina despises.
Being looked down on and despised by Hina, and in the worst case, punished.
"What are you doing, another me! Isn't this a chance to properly hit the disgusting Prefect Team? Let's advance together and make the Prefect Team tremble like a dog that's been trained to submit!"
Makoto was dragging me like trying to drag a large dog that hates baths into the bathroom.
"I don't want to-!!!"
I can't face Hina like this.
I clung to the floor like one body and resisted Makoto.
"Iroha, mission. Transport the other me to the Prefect Team. Show Makoto-sama who has become five times stronger!"
"Iroha-senpai~ Please help! I don't want to go to the Prefect Team!"
The blood feud between original and clone was a tense standoff.
The one holding the knife is Iroha. The outcome depends on Iroha's choice.
"Haa. How did it come to this."
Iroha scanned our struggling bodies with her eyes.
She didn't want to defy the superior but seemed conflicted by the opposing instructions.
"If this is a mission, then there's no helping it."
Eventually, Iroha pulled out the official pistol of the Pandemonium Society.
"Makoto-senpai is enough with just one."
Iroha's pistol was aimed at the original Makoto.
Iroha coldly aimed at Makoto like cutting unnecessary budget.
"What are you doing, Irohaaa-!?"
The panicked original Makoto had a face full of fear.
"Whichever one, as long as it's Makoto-senpai, I'll choose the one advantageous to me."
"Impossible!"
My eyes spun in shock too.
Just moments ago, we were wrestling, but now we were embracing each other and trembling in unison.
"Alright, for the operational peace of the Pandemonium Society, please disappear half of you."
Iroha, whose stress was reaching the limit of her tolerance for nagging, was scary.
Her mind was like a middle manager burned out on work, throwing rationality out the window.
How can I stop Iroha?
Unless a ninja appears out of nowhere, there's no way to overcome this crisis...
"Ta-da. Ibuki appears! Hello to the senpais today~!"
But at that moment, Ibuki appeared.
To surprise the Pandemonium members, Ibuki appeared stealthily in the office.
"Eh?"
Ibuki's eyes widened. There were twice as many Makotos as usual.
"Two Makoto-senpais!!! Waaah~ What, what? So amazing!"
Ibuki's sparkling eyes confirmed the surprising event.
With Ibuki's intervention, the tense atmosphere was reversed.
"Haa. Now even Ibuki knows about this..."
Iroha, who had put the pistol away, touched her forehead in worry,
"Th-that! How is it, Ibuki. Amazing, right? This is the clone technique I practiced to show Ibuki!"
Makoto, riding the momentum, proudly showed me to Ibuki.
"Clone technique-? Waaah-! Amazing! Did you learn it from ninja sisters?"
"Kikikikit! Don't be surprised, Ibuki! This clone technique is the ultimate technique I completed with my own hands. With this, I can hug Ibuki five times more warmly!"
Now the number is multiplying meaninglessly.
Makoto proudly extended both hands towards Ibuki.
"Here, hug this even more amazing me!"
"Waa-"
Ibuki approached me and hugged me tightly.
From the small Ibuki's body, a warm hug emanated.
"Ttehueroeok! Ibuki, not that one. Hug me!"
Makoto was in a state like having a miscalculated bomb dropped on him, panicking violently.
He tried desperately to retrieve Ibuki.
"Yeah! This Makoto-senpai also hugs~"
Then, Ibuki fairly hugged the other Makoto too.
"......Heh."
Only then did the enlightened Makoto fall into a blissful state with a healed expression.
"Ah, Iroha-senpai, please hug me too~"
Ibuki, like a loving mother, hugged everyone warmly.
"How loving and altruistic! Iroha, this is a good example. Make sure this event is reported in the Gehenna regular newspaper."
"Yes, understood."
"Add some mythical embellishments, use dramatic language boldly. For Ibuki's sake, don't skimp on ink."
"Leave it to me."
The two girls united seamlessly regarding Ibuki.
Makoto and Iroha were sincere to the Pandemonium Society's mascot, Ibuki.