Ch.43Chapter 7. Chaos (1)

“Kucchan.”

That day during lunch.

As I was heading to the club room as usual, someone stopped me.

It was Kaneko. In this entire school, only two people ended my name with “chan,” and among them, only Kaneko was friendly enough to create a nickname instead of using my actual name.

But this Kaneko was holding my arm with a serious expression on her face.

And I mentally prepared myself, realizing that Kaneko must have heard that story too.

Kaneko also seemed to be heading to the club room. Since she usually ate in the classroom with Ikeda, she was probably on her way to the club room specifically to meet me.

Click, thud.

“Let’s sit down first, shall we?”

Kaneko said after opening the club room door and closing it behind us.

I silently sat down in a chair.

Kaneko pulled out the chair next to mine and sat facing me.

“I… heard a rumor,” she began hesitantly.

“Last Saturday, there was a girl with long hair tied only at the ends, bleeding from her head and walking down the hallway.”

Kaneko stared intently at my face with a very serious expression.

“The girl supporting her… from the description, it sounds like Yamashita.”

Actually, the description of the injured girl matched me perfectly too. Kaneko was just being careful with her words.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

“…”

After thinking for a moment, I nodded.

What would be the point in denying it anyway?

“Was it… because of the track team members?”

I nodded again.

Kaneko’s face turned bright red with anger.

She looked like she wanted to rush out right now and beat up those track team members.

“It’s been resolved well.”

“What do you mean ‘resolved well’?”

Kaneko asked in disbelief.

“You were injured like that—”

“There’s nothing to worry about. By the time I went to the nurse’s office, there weren’t any serious injuries, and afterward, I went to the hospital in our homeroom teacher’s car for another examination, and they said there was no problem.”

“…”

“Senior, you know too. That my body is different from ordinary people’s.”

“Still…”

“And there’s someone who will solve the problem.”

“…Huh?”

“Those people haven’t been coming to school since then.”

I don’t know how it was handled. I asked Kagami not to kill them, and I’m sure she followed my request.

Maybe they transferred to another school? They already had a terrible reputation at school anyway.

“…But still.”

“It’s not your fault, senior. Those people were the strange ones.”

When I said that, Kaneko looked like she didn’t know what else to say.

After thinking for a moment, I changed the subject slightly.

“Is your junior doing better now?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Her health has improved a lot. However…”

“…”

“It seems she’s still having a hard time coming back to school.”

The person who had been so bright when she heard the news of her junior waking up now seemed deflated while sharing this fact. I thought it made sense.

After all, only a few of the main instigators from the track team received something like disciplinary action, and most of the bullies would still be at school.

I don’t think it would be strange at all if she transferred schools.

“But she’s regaining her strength every time I visit her.”

Kaneko said with a somewhat forced smile.

I silently nodded.

Click.

Just as we continued our conversation to that point, the door opened.

“Oh, senior.”

Yuuki’s eyes blinked.

Kaneko stood up from her seat.

“Oh, it’s fine. We just finished our conversation.”

“Oh, I see.”

But sensing Kaneko’s unusual mood, Yuuki looked at her with slight surprise.

However, true to her considerate nature, Yuuki didn’t pry.

“I’ll wait for Izumi. I’m going now. Enjoy your meal~”

“Yes, see you after school.”

Yuuki said that while waving her hand slightly, and I bowed my head in response.

After the door closed again, Yuuki sat in the seat where Kaneko had been sitting and asked,

“What were you talking about?”

“About Senior Kaneko’s junior.”

“Ah, from before.”

Yuuki nodded with a somewhat serious expression.

We didn’t bring up that topic any further.

I thought we shouldn’t interfere more with Kaneko’s situation. From now on, Kaneko should handle the remaining parts as she wishes.

After all, guilt isn’t something that can be easily shaken off until you overcome it yourself.

After a moment of silence, Yuuki took out a bread from a plastic bag, placed it in front of me, and said,

“Here, curry bread today.”

Curry bread!

As I took the bread with both hands and started unwrapping it, Yuuki, who had been staring at me, said,

“You know, you look a bit like a hamster. Can I pinch your cheeks?”

That was quite a rude thing to say.

When I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression, Yuuki smiled and unwrapped her own castella cake.

*

Seriously, how can the weather get even worse?

Well, it makes sense that June and July are hot. To be precise, it’s hot until August, then the weather gradually cools down, and when winter comes, it gets cold.

People talk about how great it is to have four distinct seasons or how it’s not so great, but I think that’s all nonsense. Having lived in a country with four distinct seasons, I don’t like either the heat or the cold. People should really live in places with moderate weather year-round.

I heard San Francisco never drops below freezing and rarely reaches temperatures close to 30 degrees Celsius.

Well… that’s just talk.

Anyway, it’s finally July. Although it’s still the rainy season, there are fewer rainy days.

If I can just endure until the end of this month, it’ll be summer vacation.

It seems my part-time work hours won’t change during summer vacation, so I’ll work three hours from Wednesday to Friday and have Monday to Wednesday off.

Naturally, I’m looking forward to the vacation.

I don’t have any plans to go anywhere special. Since I had to work late nights or even overnight until my death in my previous life, I planned to stay indoors as much as possible during summer vacation.

In the novel, there’s a summer vacation episode, but it’s not that serious of an incident. Rather, it involves high-ranking government officials. I probably won’t have to risk my life this time.

Well, anyway.

July 5, 2004, Monday.

I trudged up the stairs feeling like I was about to melt.

“…”

And after a long time, I saw a melon bread on the stairs.

This time too, there was a fishing line tied to the end of the bag, and Kaneko was probably waiting at the other end.

“…”

After thinking for a moment, I decided to ignore the bread.

“Gasp!?”

When I passed by the bread and opened the club room door, I heard Kaneko gasp.

The photography club door flung open, and Kaneko jumped out.

“Kucchan, what’s wrong? Are you sick somewhere!?”

No, why would I have to be sick just because I didn’t fall for the bread trap?

I’m just really tired today.

Without answering, I entered the club room, sat in a chair, and slumped over the desk.

“Kurosawa?”

Ikeda asked with concern as she saw me.

I’m not sure if global warming hasn’t had as much impact as in the 2020s or what, but the summer in this world was hot but still bearable. It didn’t feel like being roasted just by going outside.

Plus, the classrooms had air conditioning. It was the square ceiling-mounted type often seen in schools. The fact that such air conditioners were installed in the 2000s confirms that this school indeed has a lot of money.

Unfortunately, however, there wasn’t enough budget to install air conditioners in every unpopular club room in the old school building, so this club room didn’t have one.

With the windows open and a wall-mounted fan turned on, it still felt like I was melting just sitting there.

“Want some green tea?”

What Ikeda offered me was a frozen bottle of green tea. Did she freeze it at home?

“Thank you.”

I politely received it with both hands—but instead of drinking it, I pressed it against my neck for an ice pack. Phew, I feel a bit more alive now.

Seriously, how does it make sense for even the summer uniform to be black? Under the sun, the uniform absorbs all the light and gets hot.

Well, in Japanese manga and such, people sometimes wear vests even in summer, so maybe this is relatively better.

“Kurosawa, you’re weak to summer heat, huh?”

As I rested my cheek on the desk while hugging the green tea bottle, Kaneko followed me in and commented.

“With your cat-like impression, I thought you’d be strong against heat.”

What kind of logic is that?

Cats might like warm places, but I don’t. I’m someone who prefers winter over summer. Last time, Yuuki said I looked like a hamster, and now it seems people see me as some kind of animal.

Maybe I should stop eating bread that’s fallen on the ground.

As I was thinking that, Kaneko placed a melon bread in my arms as I was slumped over the desk.

Well, if it’s still in its packaging, it’s not exactly discarded. I’ll make sure not to miss the opportunity.

“Every time it gets to this season, I wonder how winter can get so cold.”

“Right. It makes you wonder if winter will ever come.”

Ikeda agreed with Kaneko’s comment.

“But then suddenly one day it becomes too cold for short sleeves, and after that, it gets incredibly cold.”

Kaneko said, almost exaggerating.

But isn’t Japan’s winter not as cold as Korea’s? Then wouldn’t winter be more comfortable to live through? As long as I don’t freeze to death in my sleep.

…Maybe I should get something like a kotatsu. An electric blanket would be nice too.

Well, I’ll think about that around autumn.

Click.

The literary club room door opened again, and Yuuki entered.

“Why is the literary club room on the fourth floor? In a building without an elevator…”

“That’s because it’s one of the least popular clubs. Probably the most minor among the clubs in the old school building, right?”

“Urgh…”

Ikeda made a strange sound of frustration at Kaneko’s words but couldn’t refute them.

Yuuki sat next to me as always, and Kaneko took out a magazine from her bag as usual.

“…Huh? Senior, what’s that?”

On the cover of the magazine Kaneko took out, there was a large photo.

The large gate of a wall surrounding a Japanese-style mansion.

…I’ve seen this place before.

And at the top of the photo, the title of the main article was written in large letters:

[Mysterious Crying Sounds from a Yakuza Mansion!? What’s the Identity of the Beast Howls Heard in the Middle of the Night?]

“…”

I tried my best not to show any movement while keeping my cheek pressed against the desk.

“Oh, this? It seems they caught some kind of animal at a yakuza mansion in Minato Ward. A dog… or something? There were even reports of animal abuse, but it seems the matter was just dropped.”

“But why is such an article in that kind of magazine?”

“When they have nothing else to publish, they’ll print any story as if it’s occult. This article speculates that the yakuza might have performed some kind of ritual.”

Yuuki was silent for a moment. Since my head wasn’t turned in that direction, I couldn’t see what kind of reaction Yuuki was showing, but it was almost certain that she was deep in thought.

Wait, does she know where that mansion is?

Come to think of it, Yuuki’s grandfather seemed to know something about Kagami or Mr. Miura.

Did she investigate something in the meantime?

“Is that all there is to the content?”

“Want to see?”

It seemed Kaneko handed the magazine to Yuuki. I heard the rustling of paper above my head, followed by the sound of pages being flipped from Yuuki’s seat.

After a moment of flipping sounds, Yuuki spoke.

“…This really is all there is. For several pages, they just wrote about famous curses and such.”

“Right? But sometimes there’s something really plausible mixed in. This month’s a dud though. Since it’s summer, it would have been nice if there were some cooler stories. Stories about kodoku and such are too common.”

I tried not to flinch.

Yuuki handed the magazine back to Kaneko.

“Well, such incidents don’t happen every year anyway. Usually, they just bring up something that happened decades ago and remind people of it during similar periods.”

“Right. Even for haunted spots and such, they always feature the same places.”

“…You’re not actually visiting these places, are you? Most of them are private property, right?”

“Hey, even I—”

I felt slightly relieved as the conversation shifted in a different direction.

It seems Yuuki didn’t notice.

She would definitely scold me severely if she found out.

*

“Did something happen at the Yamashitas’?”

On the way home, Yuuki asked me directly.

“…”

Yes. My relief was nothing but an illusion.

Thinking back, Yuuki in the original work had a strangely persistent side, often finding traces that others missed to discover where yokai were hiding.

It’s a necessary ability for someone in this profession, but with that ability, she would sometimes figure out where the protagonist had been with another heroine and get jealous.

She wasn’t a yandere or anything like that, but there were often descriptions of her mood dropping significantly due to the traces she instinctively found.

Yuuki Yuka is not a yandere character but a tsundere character. Naturally, the attitude she usually showed to Sasaki was a “hmph!” kind of attitude.

Yuuki going “hmph!” I can’t even imagine that now that I’m here.

“Um, Kurosawa?”

Yuuki said, sticking close to my side.

“You were with Yamashita that evening too, right? You don’t seem to be walking home together after that. Did something happen between you two?”

Something happened that could only improve our relationship.

Yamashita still seems half-convinced. Although I helped Ms. Mori, my method was too close to superstition for a modern person to believe.

But well, since Ms. Mori got better around the same time, she seems to believe that I helped calm her mind or something, rather than dismissing it as mere coincidence.

After all, I revealed myself as a miko.

But if I told such an awkward lie to Yuuki, she would see through it immediately.

She’s a genuine professional miko. If an amateur like me claimed to have solved a tricky curse like kodoku, she would definitely think I couldn’t have solved it easily.

I racked my brain.

As I was trying to figure out how to explain without mentioning that I had been covered in blood, something caught my eye—

The back of a girl wearing a sailor uniform with a white base and blue collar.

The girl was staring in one direction with a dazed expression.

…Well, of course, all I could see was her back. It’s just the feeling I got.

And I recognized that back.

“Shii?”

When I called her name, Sasaki Shii turned toward me.

She had an expression like she’d seen something shocking.

What is it?

I turned my gaze to where Shii had been looking.

And—I witnessed quite a shocking scene.

Sasaki Souta was flanked by what appeared to be classmates on either side.

No, looking again, he didn’t want to be in that position. Although I could only see the backs of the three people, Sasaki Souta in the middle looked extremely flustered, looking back and forth between the two.

Ah, that’s right.

That guy was the protagonist of a harem light novel.

Nowadays, harem series might have dozens of heroines, but in this era, harem stories usually had one heroine for each character type.

You know, like one glasses-wearing heroine, one childhood friend heroine, one older sister-type heroine… that kind of thing.

This novel had three heroines, that is, three “romantic interests.”

Shii is also a heroine if you count her as one, and there are others who have significant roles in episodes but don’t go beyond supporting characters, but there were three regular heroines with full-fledged love lines.

One of them is Yuuki Yuka.

…Because I became friends with Yuuki, and because I preemptively resolved the incident that would have involved Sasaki Souta and Shii, those two heroines never met Yuuki, who would have been their fiercest obstacle.

As a result, he ended up in that position, caught between a childhood friend heroine he’d known since childhood and an older sister-type heroine who had taken a liking to him.

Lucky bastard.

Poke. Poke.

Feeling something poking my shoulder, I turned to see Yuuki with a red face, looking at those figures and saying,

“Th-th-that boy, that’s Sasaki Souta, right?”

Why is she in girl mode again?

…Oh, right.

Because I’ve been so far removed from the light novel’s main story, I rarely got to see Yuuki like this, but she’s actually quite interested in such things. In the original work, she would be shocked by erotic magazines but still show interest.

I nodded to Yuuki and then,

“Shii?”

I quietly called out to Shii.

“Yes…”

She’s completely out of it.

Seeing her beloved brother like that must be shocking.

…No, that’s not it.

It’s not just about her liking him.

Shii’s mental issues run deeper than that.

“…”

Holding back a sigh, I tugged on Shii’s sleeve.

Let’s go somewhere else first.

Let’s calm down and clear our heads.