Otoriphobia

7: Kishibe's Gambit.

"..."

Yuuna took a deep breath as he exited the closet.

The deep black robe around his shoulders, becoming one with his body...

He felt like true royalty with the clothes of a true king draped upon his back.

Outside, Rin immediately grabbed his wrist, looking him over and inspecting him carefully.

"H-Huh...?! Rin?"

"..."

She slowly let go of his wrist, letting Yuuna pull his arm back as she turned her back.

"I'm still not so sure about these clothes... what if there's some kind of device planted in them?"

"..."

Yuuna rubbed his neck and stared at Rin.

Korekiyo was right- the black dress did suit her, and made her look just like a princess. In fact, it was like she was the one who walked right out of a manga cover...

"Er, nice dress."

"..."

She gazed back at him, narrowing her eyes before she crossed her arms.

"I-I'm still not sure making me the Queen was such a good idea. I'd back out, but it's already on, so..."

"There's no need for that!"

Korekiyo chided from nearby as he pulled his hood over his head with a smile on his face.

"Like I said, the dress suits you. You can feel confident knowing you look nice, Miss Kagemori."

"Don't go too far with it, Korekiyo..."

Hiroto looked down at him with a stern glance.

"We've got to mentally prepare ourselves. I mean, we're about to go out into the battlefield..."

"H-Hiroto! You didn't tie this up right at all..."

Tomoko rushed over, nearly tripping over her garment as she scrambled to fix the collar of Hiroto's garment.

"W-Woah! Personal space, Tomoko!"

"There's no time for personal space...!"

She quickly fixed the collar before taking a step back, proudly admiring her work.

"There we go! Now we're all ready to head out!"

"..."

Yuuna clutched his chest as he stared down at the cafeteria floor.

Were they...

Were they truly ready to enter the new game?

It felt as if the entire world were upon Yuuna's shoulders... was he capable of leading his team and strategizing?

With Risa, Leafy, and Arisu hoping to take his life... and possibly Kishibe, too...

Yuuna felt like he was under siege from all angles.

"Yuuna..."

Yuuna raised his head as he recognized Tomoko's voice.