Mayonaka no X Giten 13

Mayonaka no X Giten 13

p1: ===============================
There’s two people left who could potentially be X.
Isn’t there some deciding factor?

…That’s right!
Come to think of it, at that moment, X…

p2: ===============================
[insert, pink]: One of these / is X!!
[red bar]: Thanks to our popularity, we get a center color!
Midnight Cross Method
Story: Yamaguchi Mikoto / Art: BAREISHO
#13: X’s True Identity

p3: ===============================
I’ve got it.
/ I know the person most likely to be X!!
[insert]: Oh!
You succeeded?!

Then who is it?!
That person…
/ is the only one here, besides myself—

p4: ===============================
Hey, you two.
/ What’ve you been whispering away about?
[sfx]: Stand!

…

p5: ===============================
You know, we’re all participating in the Midnight Cross Method so we can have all sorts of “fun.”

But it looks to me like you’re here for an entirely different reason.
[insert]: This feeling in the air… This is bad.

For goodness’ sake! You can’t blame me for being unamused,
not after what you did.
[sfx]: Glare

…Everyone has their own way of having fun.
[insert]: Ahaha…
And the freedom to do that, too, is the real thrill of this party? …I guess?

Heh heh… There is that.
The real thrill of these parties is forgetting everything and doing whatever and whoever you want.

You heard what she said, boys.
[sfx]: Snap!

p6: ===============================
Let’s all enjoy our remaining time as we please: by fucking your brains out!
I-I’m gonna blow!
Wha?!
[sfx]: Grab!

Hey, you cute thing. You’re a boy on the inside, aren’t you?

[sfx]: Prod…
And you’re in the body of a virgin, eh?

In my experience,
/ there’s no greater combination
than a man’s soul in a virgin’s body.❤

p7: ===============================
I don’t know why, but a man’s soul, compared to a woman’s, is far more sensitive to all stimulations.
[sfx]: Boing♡
[sfx]: Twitch!
Mn?!

In other words, once we’ve fucked you crazy…
[sfx]: Lick
[sfx]: Twitch
Your screams will be the sweetest. ❤

Now then, Iida-kun. Give her a taste of your wonderful cock!
[sfx]: Stare
It’s such an honor, getting to be your first…

R-Really?
You want to be rough…?

p8-9: ===============================
Because that’s what I’m best at!

[sfx]: Kapow!

[insert]: Phew♪

You’re wide open!!
Blugh!!
[sfx]: Blam!

p10: ===============================
[sfx]: Pow!
Hsh.

[sfx]: Whoosh

[sfx]: Crack!

p11: ===============================
We were trying to be gentle, but there you go taking advantage of it!
[sfx]: Ngh

Ahhhhhh!

Tch!
[insert]: So I am too lightweight to keep that macho man down…!
Duck!

!

p12: ===============================
[sfx]: Slam!

Size doesn’t conquer all, got it? ♡
[sfx]: Wink!

p13: ===============================
[sfx]: Glare!

[sfx]: Wave x2

…In the end, it came down to force.
Well… Even so, that made things perfectly clear.
?

I had narrowed things down to two candidates,
/ one of whom was him.
I see… Yes, X would never do something that idiotic.

…Which means
/ only one person is left.

p14: ===============================
So, this girl is the most plausible candidate?

Yes… Helen.

p15: ===============================
I thought back on when I first met X.
[bg: Very, very covered up >_>]

[bg] {
Enough lies. My sister is right-handed.
Your sister…? What a surprise.
/ Then inside that body would be Ai’s brother, I presume?
}

And then I recalled the conversation she had with Kirishima.

X is left-handed!

Excluding me, the only left-handed person here…
[bg]: {
Well, pull yourself back together for the next round.
So then, Cap-kun, here’s the last straw.
[sfx]: Draw x3
}
is Helen.

I get it… If that’s true,
it’s worth betting on, eh?
Right?
[sfx]: Nod

p16: ===============================
Please don’t resist. I wouldn’t want to injure a child’s body.
[sfx]: Slowly

CROSS ABILITY:
/ PROFESSIONAL POLICE. <alt text: Shin-san the Fallen >

My power forces the person I touch to answer three questions.
Wow…

However, on top of only being able to use it once per day,
/ she can remain silent for one of the three questions.
And I cannot ask the same question twice, so I have to pick my questions deliberately.

p17: ===============================
As for the first question… Yeah.
/ What is your Cross Ability?

Escapism: The joy of not knowing. I can empty my head and control my own emotions and feelings.
It lets me forget all the bad stuff and escape from reality.
…I get it… So that’s why I didn’t see anything when I peeked into her heart.

So then, question two.
Who are you?

I will remain silent.
Heh heh… Used that up here, eh?

Then for the final question:
/ Are you X, the person we’re searching for?
[sfx]: Gulp

…

p18: ===============================
No, I am not.

p19: ===============================
…Huh…?
You’re… not?

Hey, can we really trust that ability of yours?!
?
How rude! There’s no way it’s wrong!!

I-In that case,
/ everything we’ve done…
[sfx]: Twitch x2
Was it all for nothing?

…Hmm.

It seems X must have been in the other room.

p20: ===============================
Our ship has just now docked at port.
Would each guest please disembark one at a time, in two-minute intervals?

I guess what we can take home from this is that he wasn’t in this room?
Well… Yeah, that’s true…

Then I’ll go on ahead.
/ You’re going to get changed, right?
Oh…!
/ Thank you for all of your help.

Don’t worry about it. Our goals simply happened to line up.
/ …However… you know?
…?

I think you should stop pursuing X any further.

p21: ===============================
Being with you, I thought to myself... You’re in danger.
/ Stay involved, and you’ll scar either yourself… or the one you hold dear.

I’ve… already been scarred.
Huh?

The most important thing to me has already been scarred.
So there is no way I can back down, not now!

…I see…
/ Then try to be more careful.
[sfx]: Poke
You do seem like a good person.

p22: ===============================
If anything happened to you,
I’m sure you’d break someone’s heart.

Yeah…
I know.

So… Take care.
Though I doubt we’ll ever meet again.

p23: ===============================
Please watch your step.

What a pity.
?

?

!
[sfx]: Grab!

p24: ===============================
Kirishima!
[sfx]: Yank!

You know, your clothes and hair look disheveled.
Yes, well… I had a lot of valuable experiences in there.

…More importantly, how’d it go?
…Unfortunately, X wasn’t in my room.

That’s strange… X wasn’t in my room, either.

……Huh?!

p25: ===============================
You’re certain, right?!
Yeah… I tried everything I could.
/ From those results, I think it reasonable to consider he wasn’t there.

Could X have actually been lying from the start?
No… Would X go out of his way to invite us to his game, only to do something that dull?

Did we overlook something?

What a pity.
[insert]: Hah!

Hey,
/ the guide—do you remember if he was left-handed?

Well… When we entered, he greeted us by removing his hat with his right hand…
/ So I guess not?
[sfx]: Bow

p26: ===============================
No, wait a second!

[sfx]: Beep x3

…We’ve been had!
When greeting someone, it’s apparently good manners to always hold your hat in your right hand.

In other words, his dominant hand had nothing to do with that!
/ …Thinking back, other than his greeting,
he did everything with his left hand!!
[bg] {
Moreover, the very purpose of the Midnight Cross Method is to provide for our guests a single night’s entertainment…
where one can remove the unendurably suffocating fetters of the self.
Would the one guised as a gentleman proceed through the door on the right,
So then, by all means…
}

…There’s no doubt. Our guide was X.
He can do that?!

p27: ===============================
What do we do?! We’re at a dead end!
…No, that’s not quite true.
…?
The truth is, there was someone incredible mixed in with the other participants in my room:

The fourth person to participate in the Cross Act
/ on the same day we all did.

I-In that case, we can go back to following the body-swapping chain!
That’s right.

So? Where’s that person now?
I don’t know.
/ We were all instructed to leave the room separately.
You know…!

However, I did acquire a means by which to track her.
[sfx]: Rustle
Really?!

p28: ===============================
Here!

Didn’t you say you had a friend whose Cross Ability would let you track someone down using her underwear?
…Wh… What in the world were you doing in there?

p29: ===============================
The next day

[sfx]: Sniff x2

This way. Hurry!
/ After all, this ability has a time limit.
[sfx]: Dash
[arrow]: By the way

[insert]: Ah x5

There!
That’s her.

!
…Huh…?

p30: ===============================
During the party, she was in the same room as me!
[sign]: Our specialty: / Croquettes / Fried [covered by her hair]
[vertical row of signs]: Minced meat cakes: 180 yen/pc
[sign 2]: Ham Cutlets: 150 yen/pc
[sign 3]: Croquettes
[Apron]: Nakajima Meats

[sidebar]: Is there a dark side to the Class Rep?!
…Class Rep?
[arrow]: To be continued in the September issue!