Ch.12Follow me to the rooftop

After finally being released from the police station, I barely managed to make it home.

Honestly, my body felt like it weighed a ton. I had fought against a formidable opponent. I could have easily lost.

“Ugh… shit…”

Despite being tired and having gone through some really crappy experiences, I felt strangely elated.

I had successfully avoided the mandatory event of the first week of March. With this, I was certain I wouldn’t die. That conviction filled me.

“Time to sleep.”

I closed my eyes immediately. And I fell into a deep slumber right away.

——–

The next morning.

As a student, I had to go to school without fail.

If I had worked as an office worker in my previous life, I might have been used to waking up early, but in my previous life, I was the very definition of a freelancer. A webtoon artist. Because I had lived a life of writing when I felt like it and sleeping when I felt like it, high school life was torturous.

After entering the classroom, I was immediately summoned by my homeroom teacher.

“Arigiri… I heard you were taken to the police station yesterday.”

The homeroom teacher looked at me with an expression of disbelief rather than anger.

“Ah… yes.”

“Good grief. Exercising with your shirt off… show some restraint.”

The homeroom teacher said.

“Pfft!!”

It was such a ridiculous incident that intermittent laughter erupted in the faculty office. Ah… this is really embarrassing.

“Anyway, you’re young, these things happen. Go back to class.”

At the homeroom teacher’s words, I returned to the classroom.

It seemed rumors about my antics had spread throughout the class.

“Hahahahaha!!! Shota!! Exercising with your shirt off… hehehehe. You’re such a comedian, I swear.”

Umi trembled with laughter.

“Hahahahaha!!! Shota-ching. You’re secretly a funny type? I like you even more now.”

Nishikawa Eri, who was standing nearby, also burst into laughter.

“Shut up.”

I immediately sat down in a nearby seat. However, both the white gyaru and the black gyaru hovered around me. Persistent ones.

“Why did you exercise with your shirt off? Hmm? Tell me.”

Umi asked, poking my cheek repeatedly.

“It was a man’s battle.”

I answered honestly. Geruruk… I still haven’t forgotten you.

“A man’s battle, my ass!! Hehehehe!!!!”

Umi laughed hysterically.

“Shota, you’re quite an interesting guy, aren’t you?”

Eri said, resting her chin on her hands on my desk. Somehow… Eri’s eyes sparkled.

“No. By the way, Shota. I heard you hung out with Umi yesterday. Umi was bragging about it a lot.”

Eri said.

“I-I wasn’t bragging at all!!”

Umi shouted, her face turning red.

“Let’s hang out too, Shota. Okay?”

Eri asked.

“Sure. When the opportunity arises.”

I replied.

“Today. How about today?”

Eri said with a smile.

“Today… well…”

I felt like I might have something scheduled, or maybe not.

“You have to go to the kendo dojo during the day. My dad is really looking forward to it.”

Umi immediately interjected.

“Ah. That’s right.”

Gonzaemon. That old man is surprisingly attentive. If I didn’t go today, he might really get upset.

“Hmm… so you’re not available during the ‘day,’ then?”

Eri said.

Why is she emphasizing the word “day” like that? Anyway, I played it cool.

“I’m a bit of a busy man, you know. My schedule is packed down to the second.”

I said, running my hand through my hair.

“Busy man. Kehehehe.”

Eri remained expressionless, but Umi burst into laughter. She really laughs easily.

“Is exercising with your shirt off part of that second-by-second schedule?”

Eri immediately picked up on the joke.

“Eri!! Kehehehe. Stop being so funny!!”

Umi erupted into another fit of laughter.

“Anyway… not during the day… I got it!”

After the conversation had settled down a bit, Eri smiled brightly and stared at me. Something feels unsettling.

———

Anyway, the chaotic time before the morning assembly continued. I wanted to start building a friendship with the protagonist, Aiueo Sashisuseso, but the black gyaru and white gyaru kept talking to me. Is this… the pattern where I inevitably become friends with them at the beginning of the semester? That thought crossed my mind.

And just before the assembly, the door opened.

Clank-!!!

As the door opened noisily, all the students’ attention focused on the front entrance at once.

A fierce-looking woman with red hair walked purposefully toward me.

Yes, it was Natsukawa Taiga. The heroine of this game and the protagonist’s companion. Someone who shouldn’t have appeared at this point was brazenly attending school.

Moreover, she was wearing a school uniform. It was so different from her original image. Looking at her like this, she didn’t look like a delinquent at all. She just looked like a slightly tough pretty girl.

Thud-! Thud-!

While I was still in shock, Natsukawa Taiga stood in front of my desk.

Around us, I could hear people whispering openly.

“That’s her. Natsukawa Taiga…”

“Ah… the leader of the biker gang in this area.”

“They say she’s even killed someone…”

“I… I saw Natsukawa Taiga fighting five people at once.”

Incredible rumors were circulating.

Well… most of them were exaggerated. Natsukawa Taiga was indeed a delinquent, but she wasn’t the type to cause reckless trouble.

“………”

“……..”

Umi and Eri also seemed quite afraid of Natsukawa Taiga, as they immediately distanced themselves. Gyarus… so weak. They become timid in front of a genuine delinquent.

Natsukawa Taiga looked straight at me.

“Come with me to the rooftop for a moment.”

Natsukawa Taiga immediately grabbed my wrist. Before I could resist, I was dragged away by her.

“………..!”

Everyone in the class watched in astonishment as I was taken away.

——–

I stood on the rooftop.

‘Originally, there should have been no connection between us at all… what’s going on?’

I was consumed with worry. What changed? What butterfly effect had occurred? My head felt like it was about to explode.

“Miss Natsukawa. Why did you call me here?”

I asked calmly.

“Call me Taiga.”

Natsukawa Taiga said.

“Natsu…”

“If you don’t want to die.”

“Taiga.”

As soon as I called her by her first name, Natsukawa Taiga nodded as if satisfied.

“You, can you see it? That thing.”

Natsukawa Taiga asked abruptly.

“Uh… I can see your beauty with my eyes. A goddess-like beauty…”

I immediately spouted some flattery.

“Not that!! You idiot!!!”

Taiga immediately blushed and shouted. Hmm… she’s different from Umi in a striking way. Umi laughs right away when I talk nonsense.

But Natsukawa had a slightly different feel. It was like her trigger button was immediately pressed.

“I’m talking about the monsters that appear at night.”

Taiga said.

“…..?”

What? How did she know?

“I saw you yesterday. Fighting with a monster.”

Taiga said.

“Look, I’m sorry, but it’s not a monster. It’s my friend.”

Don’t refer to Geruruk, a man I acknowledge, as a mere monster.

“What nonsense…”

Taiga looked at me as if she genuinely couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Anyway, it’s a monster, isn’t it?”

Taiga said.

“Take that back right now. Geruruk is a warrior I acknowledge.”

“No… are you seriously messed up in the head?”

Taiga was looking at me as if she couldn’t figure me out.

Ah… is it time to show my sincerity?

Flutter-!!

I immediately unbuttoned my shirt and threw it off.

“Puhehehehe!!! This guy took his shirt off again…! No way… you’ll be taken to the police station again… puhehehehe!!!”

With that, Taiga immediately burst into laughter. Her serious expression instantly crumbled.

“……..”

She must have seen me being taken away by the police in real-time. This is incredibly embarrassing.

——-

Anyway, the situation was resolved. I put my uniform back on, and Natsukawa cleared her throat.

“I can see them too. The monsters.”

Taiga said.

“I thought it was just a delusion that only I could see… but to think they actually exist.”

Then, Taiga looked straight at me.

“But I never thought of fighting them. Yet you fought so boldly. I liked that. It made me realize my own weakness.”

Taiga said, as if relieved.

“………”

Me? I was just scared. This person… is so different from the original work.

“In January, someone precious to me was slaughtered by monsters. Since then, even though I could see the monsters, I never thought of fighting them. Anger welled up inside me, but I just couldn’t move my feet.”

Taiga said.

Well… having played through this game three times, I knew Taiga’s circumstances. Taiga lost her grandmother in January. To monsters from the other world.

“Seeing you makes me feel like my body is moving properly again. I’m grateful for that.”

Taiga expressed her gratitude while looking at me.

This… is the gratitude that the protagonist was supposed to receive in April… I’ve inadvertently monopolized it.

No, but this is really unfair. Who would have thought that Taiga would see me fighting with Geruruk?

“What do you say? Let’s hunt monsters together when night falls. If we slaughter them all, without leaving a single one, there won’t be victims like me anymore.”

Taiga gave me a gaze burning with hatred.

“…a companion.”

What should I do? How can I smoothly recruit the protagonist here too? That’s what I was pondering.

Originally, I was the catalyst for the protagonist’s awakening. Arigiri Shota was supposed to be found dead at this point in time. That would pique the protagonist’s interest and draw them into the incident… but that’s gone now.

Things have gotten seriously complicated.

“Hey. Are you saying no?”

Taiga immediately glared at me and grabbed my collar. Geez. She’s quite hot-tempered.

“I’m thinking, aren’t I? Engaging in intellectual activity.”

I said.

“To think someone who goes berserk with his shirt off can actually think.”

Taiga kept bringing up the shirtless incident. Really, is she fixated on that?

Taiga had closed the distance between us by grabbing my collar.

That’s when it happened.

Clank-!!

The rooftop door opened.

“Shota!! Are you okay?!!”

“Shota-ching!!”

Umi and Eri immediately rushed to the rooftop. They were holding brooms as weapons.

“Huh?”

As if annoyed by the interruption, Taiga glared at the two of them.

Somehow… things have gotten even more complicated.