Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 98: AIPA

The next day, I returned to the shared university house.

Just as I did when I went home, I took the train, fortunately without the need to seriously pack and carry any luggage since I could just chuck it all into the Storage. Incidentally, the only reason I packed a suitcase in the first place is because storing a bunch of items individually made the Storage all chaotic and messy.

It was last Friday when I went home, and today's return was on a Sunday, meaning just over a week had passed. Of course, in such a short time, it needn't be said that the house was in a state just as it had been left.

However, ever since last night, and especially so this morning, the cogs of my mind have been spinning without rest, thinking ceaselessly of the inevitable that would occur.

Originally, I just wanted to come back and take on that Beast Tamer Contract right away, but as was realised yesterday, that will have to wait just a little while longer.

In this house, a certain someone was awaiting my presence.

And, not five minutes after I walked through the front door, that reality hit me.

"―Good morning. How was the journey over?"

"...Did you mean to ambush me from the beginning?"

Walking to the main living space immediately after dumping my stuff from Storage into my room, I planned on satiating my hunger that had built up during the trip over, but alas...

A ferocious beast had ensnared me.

"Don't be rude. You agreed to talk today."

One that, evidently, was lying in wait all day just for me. One that I knew wouldn't hold anything back to catch its prey just like so... and one that, upon glimpsing its silky, luxuriant hair, white as snow, for the first time with my own eyes, made me realise that the admission from last night wasn't merely a joke or a computer-generated filter.

"You could have at least given me some time to settle in first. I just got in."

"If I did that, you would have come up with any manner of excuses to avoid talking to me. Sit down."

"No I wouldn't... Can't I at least make a sandwich or something?"

"I won't stop you. Just, please, actually lend an ear while you do. This is important."

Staring at Ella for a moment, she seemed to plead quietly with her eyes. I sighed.

"Give me a second."

Feeling an intensive watch on my back, I turned fully to the kitchen side of the room and moved quickly to whip something up. The sooner the conversation started, the sooner it would be over, and I certainly had no intention of dragging it out.

Before long, I took my seat on the opposite side from Ella, my plate placed on the coffee table between us.

"Is no one else here?"

Asking that to start with, I took a bite from the delightfully toasted sandwich.

Since we were going to be discussing a subject which both of us had intentionally decided to hide, I thought it might be prudent to keep the matter between ourselves, at least to start with.

Thankfully, Ella's next words proved that her thoughts were similar.

"Mia and Luke went out to play tennis a short while ago, Sami left for the gym roughly ten minutes before you arrived, and Harriet should be in her room. You returned at the perfect time."

I nodded in confirmation, but in the back of my mind, I was still curious.

"They must have seen your hair, right? What did they say?"

"I only told them that I bleached and dyed it for now... but I'm thinking of telling them the truth soon. I'm not fond of the idea of hiding it―something so monumental."

So, as it stood, nobody aside from ourselves knew.

"Alright... well, what did you want to start with?"

It might have been seen as a little blunt to dive right into the thick of it, but as Ella was the one who brought up the topic and initiated the conversation in the first place, I decided to give her the dominant role regarding its direction. Besides, I wasn't particularly keen on wasting time on tangential or unrelated topics, and I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

Knowing her, I was sure that she also appreciated a frank conversation, especially considering how significant the subject matter was.

However, the intended topic was unlike what I had expected.

"Nothing. I just... wanted to talk about it―the Awakening. There is no specific objective or point I had in mind for the conversation, but... I suppose we can start things simple. As you can see, my change was rather apparent."

Holding up a lock of her whitened hair as she said that, she gently stroked it, watching with an unreadable look in her eyes as the almost transparent strands passed between her fingers.

It gave off the inexplicable sort of feeling that made it hard for me to tear my eyes away. Hair this white and pure, rather than that of a geriatric, it gave off a more mystical air―similar to the Librarian's in terms of feel, though admittedly not nearly to that extent.

"It's not that bad, is it? I think it looks good."

At my words, Ella lightly shook her head.

"It isn't that I'm dissatisfied with it. White is definitely better than a lot of other colours it could be, I just... I'm not sure. Will it ever be the same as it was...?"

"I don't know. Aren't there a lot of Awakened with weird hair?"

"I wouldn't say 'a lot', just that those are the ones that tend to stick out more. I've done some research, and it seems that most of the Awakened whose physical appearances have been altered do not have a possibility of reversing the change. Maybe alleviating the symptom temporarily, but not a complete reversal."

That one was news to me. I obviously knew about the Challengers and other Awakened who began to bear non-human traits after Awakening―as she said, those are the ones who stick out the most―but it sounded unfortunate that they couldn't even reverse the detrimental changes.

For people whose daily lives were negatively affected, it really must be awful.

At the same time, such physical alterations were typically related to the Awakened person's abilities, so, in that regard, I guess the only alternative was to not have any special abilities at all. If you were to ask me, unless the alteration was something truly debilitating, I think I would rather be awakened than not.

Naturally though, since I already have my own thing going with the Library, I'd rather not have anything that interferes with that.

"I mean, if you don't like it that much, can't you just dye it back?"

At my belated realisation, I thought I figured out the fix. However, as if she was waiting for me to say that, Ella shook her head again.

"That's what I mean by reversing the change. I already tried that."

"It doesn't work?"

"Do you see it working?"

Pausing, I glanced up for a moment.

"...I guess not. Do you know why?"

"Look it up. It's a nonsense explanation that I'm still having a hard time accepting."

Heeding her words, I took out my phone and searched it. Opening the first article that popped up, I recited the highlighted description.

"'Awakening Induced Physical Alterations, or AIPA, is an officially recognised medical and physiological condition in which an Awakened person's body may experience'-- Yeah, yeah, we know that already..."

Muttering as I scrolled through the web article, I casually scanned the words as my eyes rolled across the page, looking for the point Ella was mentioning.

According to this, "AIPA is a general term for all abnormal changes in the human physiology that occur due to a result of the new-age phenomenon known as Awakening".

Since the symptoms can vary wildly from individual to individual, and there was no sense of what was 'normal' when it comes to Awakening, I guess it didn't have a choice but to be so vague. Even so, all of this description was very ambiguous, with some parts of it being pure speculation. That must also be because no one really knew a whole lot about it.

Upon scrolling through pages upon pages of such conjecture, I eventually found the section I was looking for.

"―'Although every Awakened afflicted with this condition has distinct symptoms, and therefore the source may vary between individuals, physical alterations generally appear to arise out of a rejection of the mana being introduced into the body throughout the Awakening process, or otherwise a direct correlation with the nature of the affected Awakened and their ability'... that's it, right?"

Turning my attention back to her, I asked, upon which she nodded.

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"Mmh. That."

Raising just one eyebrow, I glanced between her and the phone screen.

"...What about it?"

"Enki. It isn't as if I have some superpower that made my hair go white."

"Yeah. Then that just means it can only be a result of the mana introduced into your body, right?"

To be honest, I was a little bit―just moderately jealous.

The fact that Ella had received the remarkable gift of mana upon her Awakening, something which should have been part of the standard package for all fresh Awakened, and yet was unreceived by me.

Having been partnered with the Librarian for a few months now, I'd say I've more or less gotten used to my position and would even claim that I'd rather stick to it than change, but even still, I couldn't deny that slight feeling of envy.

Although, I think it was only natural to desire what you don't have, and since I was satisfied with the powers I had already received, I had no hard time suppressing and discarding that feeling.

"That's exactly what I find so hard to accept..."

'Huh?'

What was she talking about now?

"Why? Shouldn't one look at your hair be proof enough?"

"Just because it happened doesn't mean it makes sense."

'This... I swear, sometimes this girl overthinks stuff way too hard.'

She said it as if it was something new, but the reality was the opposite.

Sighing lightly through my nose, I turned the phone off and put it down before meeting her gaze directly.

"Things haven't been making sense for what, two-and-a-half years now? Don't tell me you haven't gotten used to it. And, I'm sure you also encountered something strange whenever you Awakened. How was that?"

As that question left my mouth, it was as if the atmosphere in the room itself changed.