This is from Kanata's perspective.
How did things end up like this?
With hazy consciousness, I watch another me.
The other me hurls magic at Shun without hesitation.
Along with my own soldiers standing around him.
My magic is useless against Shun.
There was always a gap in talent between the two of us.
That gap, which was small when we were little children, only grew wider as we got older.
There were times I envied that talent.
But watching Shun continue to work so earnestly and without complaint, I came to genuinely respect him.
Oh, come to think of it, this guy was always someone who, even back in his previous life, would charge headlong toward his goal without a shred of hesitation.
In his past life he was obsessed with games, but in this life, his goal was his brother
He had talent to begin with, and he kept working harder toward an even loftier goal. The scene before my eyes was the result of all that.
The fire magic I unleashed was an annihilation-type spell designed to scorch a wide area.
It didn't have the raw power of a grand magic, but fired at a group, the devastation would be enormous.
And yet, Shun neutralized it with magic of his own — protecting even the enemy soldiers around him, reducing the damage to zero.
His ridiculous skill and his ridiculous kindness. Same as always.
Going out of your way to protect the enemy — there's no word for it but stupid.
I tried to force a bitter smile, but against my will, my expression twisted into one of hatred.
"Kathia! Snap out of it!"
"How noisy. I'm perfectly sane. Traitors should accept their punishment quietly, as traitors ought to."
Words I never intended leave my mouth.
But I know.
That it's me myself speaking these words.
Even since childhood, there were signs of it.
In my past life, I was male.
In this life, I'm female.
Carrying a man's spirit while living as a woman.
Such a contradictory version of myself.
Like water and oil, there was something that simply couldn't blend.
That rift only deepened as the years went by.
I became attracted to a cute little thing I'd never have given a second glance in my past life.
Even though I was supposed to hate sweet things, they became my favorite.
I no longer felt anything when looking at a woman's body.
I hit puberty as naturally as anything.
Menstruation became a given.
My chest grew, and my body became more feminine.
It wasn't just my body.
My inner self was gradually changing too.
To the point that even I didn't notice.
The decisive moment was when Shun was attacked by
At that time, I was shaken to a degree I couldn't even understand myself.
The instant I thought Shun might have been killed, my vision went white.
At first, I told myself it was because Shun was my best friend from my past life — someone I could truly call my one and only friend.
But after that, whenever I met Shun, I felt inexplicably uneasy.
I couldn't even identify what that feeling was.
All I knew was that I desperately didn't want to lose Shun.
That feeling grew stronger with each passing day.
When I was near Shun, I was restless and on edge.
And yet, when Shun wasn't around, I felt lonely and couldn't settle down.
Whether he was near or far, I couldn't find peace.
I was bewildered by my own unstable emotions.
I was being tossed around by feelings I couldn't comprehend.
No.
The truth is, I knew exactly what those feelings were.
I just didn't want to admit it.
I, who was once a man.
Now, a woman.
That was probably when my heart truly fractured.
Every time I saw
And yet, I refused to acknowledge it.
A conflict of contradictory hearts.
But the scales had already tipped.
The spirit depends on the body.
That's what it amounts to.
And so, as I watch this battle between Shun and myself, I am nothing but the leftover dregs of Oshima Kanata's existence.
The dregs of what was once a man's spirit.
Probably, it's because I was male that Hugo's Charm didn't take hold of me.
After that incident, I never told Shun, but Hugo was placed under strict surveillance.
My Duke's House took the lead in establishing the surveillance system, monitoring his every move around the clock.
And yet, at some point, suspicious discrepancies began appearing in the reports.
I was using people I trusted for the surveillance.
Betrayal was unthinkable.
And yet, reports that could only be deemed fabricated began mixing in.
I switched out the surveillance personnel.
In hindsight, that was the mistake.
Shun inherited the Title of Hero and left the academy.
The changes that followed came in the blink of an eye.
First, Yuri started acting strange.
Yuri, who had been so devoted to the Word of God, stopped talking about it entirely.
Then Sue.
She'd been visibly downcast after Shun left, but then perked up as if it had all been a lie.
Something was beginning to go wrong.
I could sense it, but I couldn't identify the cause.
The truth only became clear after I was summoned by the Duke's House personnel assigned to Hugo's surveillance, trapped in a scheme, and brainwashed by Hugo's hand.
By that point, the majority of the Duke's House personnel had already been brainwashed by him.
And now, I've ended up fighting Shun.
Hugo's brainwashing is formidable.
The fact that even a sliver of my normal consciousness remains could be called a miracle.
All the others who were brainwashed must surely revere Hugo from the depths of their hearts.
And even for me, having this consciousness doesn't change a thing.
There's nothing I, the leftover dregs, can do.
But you know?
Just because there's nothing I can do doesn't mean I'm going to just give up!
A man has his pride as a man!
I shout at my dazed thoughts.
In the instant the surface consciousness focused on constructing the magic, I threw everything I had into disrupting it.
The magic detonates.
"Kathia!?"
Shun rushes over in alarm.
He catches me just before I hit the ground.
But I can feel my life slipping away.
This is fine.
The surface me — she must have wished for this too.
Through my fading vision, I can see Shun's desperate face.
What an ugly expression.
I let out a soft laugh.
Unlike before, my cheeks lift of my own will.
If I can die with a smile, that's all I could ask for.
And so my consciousness sinks into the depths of Naraku.
A warm light forcibly pulls me back up.
"Ah, Shun?"
"Kathia, you're back to normal?"
"Huh? My injuries?"
There are no injuries from the magic detonation.
"I healed you."
Shun says it so casually.
I could've sworn I died, though.
"You're... always... such... a... fool..."
"Don't talk. We're getting out of here."
He lifts me up in a princess carry just like that.
In that instant, my heart pounds so hard I think it might explode.
Even in a situation like this, my face flushes hot.
Ah, no good.
It's no use anymore.
In this moment, Oshima Kanata has truly become
Next — continues in B2.