After being teased by Tanaka-san for a while longer, Susami-san seemed to reach her limit and said, “I’m going home”, pulling me out of the gymnasium.
I would have preferred her to go home alone, but the stares from Tanaka-san and the other cheerleading club members were painful, so we made a hasty retreat. A wise man avoids danger.
With summer approaching, it’s hot and humid outside.
Listening to the slightly impatient cries of cicadas, I watched the setting sun.
「Hey, You-kun.」
「Nn.」
「It’s not like that, okay?」
「What’s not?」
Um, that is, well…
Susami-san puts her fingers together in front of her chest.
Even if dust does that, my emotions don’t move at all.
「Umm, about being lovers and such.」
「It’s okay. I completely understand.」
「Really?」
「Really.」
It’s perfect. Because she’s a monster. I’ve decided in my heart to refrain from reckless actions. Therefore, no matter how many billions or trillions or quadrillions of times I reincarnate, Susami-san or the Kusakabe sisters or Miho will never become my lover.
Absolutely never. Even if heaven and earth were to turn upside down.
From a maiden’s perspective──putting aside the question of whether to call dust a maiden──being in a romantic relationship with an unremarkable, ordinary high school boy like me, such rumors would be undesirable for someone treated as a beautiful girl.
Therefore, I declare it. Strongly, strongly. So strongly that it leaves tire marks.
For some reason, Susami-san tilted her head as if not quite satisfied and turned away, saying “…I’m relieved”.
「…You-kun, don’t people say you don’t understand a maiden’s heart?」
「I’ve never encountered a situation where I needed to think about it.」
「It’s going to be very important from now on, so think about it, okay?」
Does that mean a human heroine will appear?
As a premise, monsters are not maidens, so there’s no need to think about a maiden’s heart.
But she said “it’s going to be very important”.
Which means a maiden will appear.
A human one.
Perhaps because she’s a supernatural being and can see the future, I nodded to Susami-san with a slightly elated head, and like Wu Zixu (meaning someone who doesn’t learn)──I met a very familiar monster. A lump of meat. A lump of meat living its daily life as if nothing was wrong.
「Oh my, Adashino-san.」
「…Good morning.」
「The sun is about to set, you know?」
「The night is just beginning.」
「You’re quite the bad boy.」
I unfortunately encountered Kusakabe Nanaka, a self-proclaimed and presumed beautiful girl. She should be in the go-home club too. The current time is probably just past 6 PM. Unless there’s a reason to be at school, it’s an unfamiliar time.
「Fufufu, you’re making a face that says, “Why are you here…!?”」
「Am I making that face?」
「I have a level 3 Adashino You certification.」
She had arbitrarily created a certification about me.
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
Scary.
I’m going home to sleep.
「Actually, I was called by the PE teacher.」
「Hee.」
「He was angry, saying, “Are you messing around in the marathon?”」
「So you can get scolded in that context.」
Normally, one would expect to be praised or asked for a favor, but in her case, she was scolded. As expected of the runaway train of Toribeno Village. Even her appearance shows a different level.
Without paying attention to the “sticky” gaze I felt from beside me, I naturally tried to part ways with Nanaka.
Raising my right hand, asking for her hand.
Goodbye.
Until we meet again.
「You-kun?」
「What?」
「She’s quite a beauty, isn’t she?」
「Susami-san is cute too.」
「Ah, really? Ookini.」
“That’s not it!”, Susami-san makes a motion as if slamming something invisible to the ground. Like a Kansai native. No, being from Kyoto, she’s definitely a Kansai native, but it’s more like an Osaka-style retort.
I was trying to escape the situation with an extremely nonchalant response, but it seemed she wasn’t going to let me go.
「You two seem quite close.」
「Adashino-san and I are very close friends, you know? We even went out for ice cream together a few days ago, we’re practically childhood friends now.」
「Why don’t you be quiet for a bit?」
The question of where the mouth is on a lump of meat is very difficult, but for now, if I had to map it to human parts, I covered the spot where I thought it probably was with my hand. Nanaka goes “Mugoo, mugoo”, flailing her tentacles.
I intended it as self-defense. But on second thought, it might have been sexual harassment. I should have treated her as a girl, just in case. Even if her appearance is far from human. Even if she’s a lump of meat. That’s harsh.
As soon as I removed my hand from her mouth, she let out a “Puhah” and then,
「A-Adashino-san! Looking back, it was the first time you initiated physical contact, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy, but you should do that to Yuna! No, I don’t mind if you do it to me at all!? But, but, you should definitely do it to Yuna!!!」
She babbled on.
Who would willingly want to have physical contact with a zombie?
Maybe only flies or necromancers would do it.
I’m neither.
So after I apologized and declared I’d not do the same thing to Kusakabe Yuna, I felt a gaze that seemed to have increased in pressure.
Turning around like a robot that hasn’t been oiled in years, I found dust pretending to be sad. Wiping its face with its fingers in an exaggerated manner.
「I was just a fling, wasn’t I?」
「Ehh, Adashino-san, did you toy with this person!? That’s not good!」
「……」
What is this?
The situation was so chaotic that, conversely, my mind went blank and I started to feel calm. The dust is peeking at me while saying “Chira, chira”, and the lump of meat is saying incomprehensible things like, “There’s still time! No, but it might be better if you break up for Yuna’s sake…?”
Maybe that zombie and mud dauber wasp tea party from before was easier.
Looking up at the drifting clouds in the twilight sky, I smiled thinly, like those clouds, in a bit of an escapist mood.
I want to go home~.