The summer vacation had ended with the bang of the festival fireworks. The next day marked the beginning of the new term.
Erika woke up earlier than usual, got ready with more care than normal, and headed downstairs for breakfast. When she stepped into the dining area, she found Akira already sitting at the table, breakfast prepared.
Both of them froze.
A faint red spread across their faces at the same time.
Akira was the first to speak, his voice slightly unsteady.
"G-Good morning."
Erika sat down, equally careful.
"…Good morning."
Silence fell over the table.
Neither of them seemed sure what to say next. The previous night had pushed their relationship a small step further. A kiss on the cheek might not have meant much to most people, but Erika had needed real courage to do it, and Akira had clearly never expected it. The result was a quiet, lingering awkwardness that neither of them knew how to break.
After a while, Erika studied his face more closely. He looked exhausted, as if he hadn't slept in days.
"…Did you not sleep last night?"
Akira glanced at her, then quickly looked away.
"Well… I tried to. But then I had some weird dream, so I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep."
Erika tilted her head.
"What weird dream?"
Akira's ears turned red. He averted his face, looking distinctly guilty.
"…Nothing. It's just a weird dream."
Erika frowned, about to press further, when Selena's voice slipped into her mind, private and amused.
"Oh, it's just your kiss. He's finally hitting late puberty. I'll tell you more later."
Erika's own face heated up at the implication. She decided not to ask anything else.
Akira suddenly straightened, as if remembering something important.
"Ehh… Erika. Actually, I have another gift for you."
She looked up.
"What is it?"
He reached into his inventory and took out an elegant hilt, silver and gold, with clean lines and a refined design. He placed it on the table in front of her.
Erika picked it up and turned it over in her hands.
"…Is it a lightsaber?"
Akira looked shocked.
"No. It's nothing like a lightsaber. Try activating it. You'll see."
She found the switch and pressed it. A clear golden blade of light ignited with a soft hum. She gave it a careful wave through the air.
"This is a lightsaber."
Akira immediately shook his head.
"No. A lightsaber is a plasma blade. This is a laser blade. They're completely different. I used a Crescent Tear as the core instead of a kyber crystal."
Erika examined the glowing edge.
"You mean the moon diamond? They can do that?"
Akira explained,
"It's different. Their internal structure makes them an exceptionally good laser-active medium. But they need special treatment before they can work, and they require an enormous energy supply — something like my arc reactor — to generate a stable blade."
Erika looked at the blade again.
"…So it's a lightsaber."
Akira looked offended.
"No, it's not. It's completely different. For example, just press the side button."
She did.
The golden blade retracted, and the hilt shifted with a series of smooth mechanical clicks, reforming into a compact, elegant gun shape.
Erika blinked.
"It can transform?"
Akira nodded smugly.
"Yes. It's a variable laser weapon."
She turned it over once more.
"…Why suddenly a weapon?"
Akira explained,
"Did you forget? Back when I dressed up as Darth Vader and fought Kuroka, you said you wanted a weapon too. So I made one for you."
Erika's expression softened as the memory returned.
"…Oh. That. I almost forgot."
Akira's voice grew quieter.
"I wanted to give it to you yesterday, but then…"
He turned his face away, clearly remembering the kiss. Erika's cheeks warmed again. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Akira cleared his throat and tried to change the subject.
"Oh, by the way — they can change color. You can choose whatever you want later."
Erika said immediately,
"I see. That's good. I'll choose it later."
Then Akira fell silent and simply looked at her.
His eyes held a quiet, hopeful expectation.
Erika tilted her head slightly, confused by the sudden intensity of his gaze.
"…What?"
Selena's voice slipped into their minds, amused and knowing.
"Maybe he wants a kiss."
Erika's face warmed. She immediately shook her head.
"No. That's for special situations only."
Akira's expression fell just a little. The disappointment was subtle, but clear enough.
He looked away for a moment, then quietly clenched his fist under the table.
"…Fine. Then I'll just have to create more special moments. As soon as possible."
Erika didn't know what to say. She blushed furiously and fell silent.
Silence returned to the table.
Selena's voice cut in dryly.
"So are you two going to school, or are you just going to sit there and stare at the floor all day?"
Only then did they remember the time. They quickly finished breakfast and left the house, still not quite sure how to talk to each other normally.
---
The moment Akira and Erika stepped into the classroom, they were completely surrounded.
The boys and Koro-sensei immediately closed in on Akira, while the girls formed a tight circle around Erika. Questions flew from every direction.
The boys closed in with gleaming eyes.
"How did it go?!"
"Did you confess to her?!"
"They're already boyfriend and girlfriend — why would he confess again?"
Koro-sensei leaned in with sparkling eyes, ignoring the rest of the conversation.
"Forget about that! Important thing first — did you kiss?!"
Maehara waved a hand.
"Oh, come on. They look so close, of course they—"
Akira's face turned red. He looked down, his voice quiet and embarrassed.
"…Yes. She kissed me."
The boys froze. Seeing Akira — of all people — blushing like that felt completely wrong, as if a Terminator had suddenly developed human emotions.
Then Akira continued, still staring at the floor.
"It was my first kiss…"
A wave of excitement passed through the group.
"Ohhhhh!"
Akira finished in an even smaller voice.
"…On the cheek."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then everyone collectively shouted.
"…I'm sorry, what?"
Maehara stared at him.
"Wait. Just on the cheek? Seriously?"
Karma smirked.
"Akira-kun, you do realize most of us have been French-kiss trained by Bitch-sensei, right?"
Nagisa nodded.
"Yeah… though she never managed to do it with Akira-kun or Erika-san."
Karma added,
"That's because Akira glares at her with a death stare whenever she tries to get close to either of them."
Koro-sensei laughed.
"Nuruhuhuhuhu! That's youth. So… did you two do anything else?"
Akira shook his head slowly.
"Nothing. My mind went blank after that."
The boys shared the same quiet thought.
…Wow. He is so pure.
On the other side of the room, the girls were conducting their own interrogation.
"Did he give you something?"
"Did you kiss?"
Then someone noticed her hand.
"Wait, what's that on your finger?!"
"Wait… is that a ring?!"
"But why is it on your pinky?"
Erika tried to keep her expression composed.
"…It's a pinky-promise ring."
Everyone stared at her.
"A pinky-promise ring?"
Erika did her best to explain it.
The entire group of girls melted at once.
"AWWWWWW!"
Before the excitement could settle, Erika reached into her bag and took out the silver-and-gold hilt. She activated it with a soft click. A clear golden blade of light extended with a quiet hum.
The girls fell silent.
Kayano blinked.
"…Is that a lightsaber?"
Erika glanced at the glowing blade.
"He said it's not the same… though I'm not completely sure."
Nakamura stared at the weapon, then at the small ring on Erika's pinky, then back at the weapon.
"…So he gave you a romantic promise ring and a laser weapon. That's actually the most Akira thing I've ever heard."
Kurahashi leaned in.
"And? Did you kiss?"
Erika's cheeks turned pink.
"…I kissed him on the cheek."
The girls looked at her with mild disappointment.
"That's it?"
Erika puffed her cheeks slightly.
"That's the best I could do, alright?!"
Seeing that, the entire group of girls melted once again.
"AWWWWWW!"
Erika cried out.
"Stop making that sound!"
---
And so, the entire first period was lost to gossip.
Akira was only freed during the next free period. While the rest of the class went outside to play, he sat down beside Ritsu with a long sigh.
"That was… too much interrogation." He glanced at her screen. "Oh, right. Ritsu — thank you for your help yesterday. I couldn't have done it without you."
Ritsu gave a small nod with a smile.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Even though you completely cut contact from yesterday until now… it's nothing."
Akira looked slightly guilty.
"I'm sorry about that, okay? That kiss completely short-circuited me. So… how did the Anti-Octopaparazzi Protocol go?"
Ritsu sighed through the screen.
"It went better than expected. I was able to delay him for a full hour. But I still didn't come close to killing him."
"Well, he is Koro-sensei, after all," Akira said. "It's already a good thing we managed to slow him down."
Ritsu was quiet for a moment, then tilted her head on the screen.
"Did that kiss really short-circuit you?"
Akira leaned back in his chair, searching for the right words.
"Not entirely short-circuit… but I couldn't think about anything else for a while. It was overwhelming."
"Is it that amazing?" Ritsu asked. "I never thought a kiss on the cheek would be that physically stimulating."
"It's not physical," Akira answered. "It's emotional. It's like… thousands of explosions going off in your stomach."
Ritsu paused.
"How do you know how that feels?"
Akira looked into the distance, his expression a bit strained.
"My training with my mother... Don't worry about it. But it's like that… just emotional. A little physical too."
Ritsu considered this carefully.
"…I wonder how that would feel. I want a kiss too."
Akira turned to the screen in clear shock.
"What did you say? Wait really?"
"Yes," Ritsu said simply. "For educational purposes. I want to know exactly how it would feel."
Akira stared at her for a second, then slowly nodded.
"I don't know how to properly explain it. If you ask me, you should experience it yourself. Only then would you really know. …Should we speed up the next secret mission?"
A familiar voice spoke from behind them.
"Oh? Another secret mission? Without me knowing?"
Both Akira and Ritsu let out a startled scream.
"Ahhh— Erika?!"
Erika stood there with her arms crossed, her expression unimpressed.
"So what is it this time? Or is it another secret from me?"
Akira quickly shook his head.
"No, no, it's not a secret from you—"
"Yeah," Ritsu added. "Akira promised he would help me make a body. That's it."
Erika's expression softened just a little, though a trace of annoyance remained.
"…Oh. A body. That sounds interesting. So should I help, or should I leave you two alone?"
Akira could clearly see she was still annoyed about being left out of their previous Moon mission. For the time being, it was safer to accept whatever she wanted.
He coughed lightly.
"Yes. Yes, you can help."
He turned back to Ritsu, trying to move the conversation forward.
"So, Ritsu… what kind of body do you want? An android, a cyborg, a biological designer body… or a synthezoid?"
Ritsu's eyes widened slightly.
"You can make a biological body?"
"It would take some time," Akira said, "but it's possible."
Ritsu thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"For now, I want an android body. That feels like the easiest starting point."
Akira nodded.
"Sure. Let's do it then."
And so, at the beginning of the new term, Akira's next secret mission quietly began.