Part 25: The Girl From Class D

Part 25 - The Girl From Class D





She was aberrant.... Doing something like swinging a sword around amid all these people.



"S, save me...."
"Don't kill me...."

Before I knew it, I was trembling. It felt like I'd shit myself in fear any second now.

"Hm...."
"What are you thinking about?"



What the hell was she talking about....

Was she gonna kill me if I couldn't see it? I couldn't answer without knowing what I was supposed to be seeing....!

"Calm down a little."
"I'll ask one more time."



"Eh....?"
"Di-Sword?"

It was the first time I'd heard that word. It must mean the sword she was carrying, but....

For the time being, I nodded.

Jeez, of course I could see it.... It'd be weirder not to see it.

Because she was carrying around a sword that big and conspicuous in the shopping district, of all places.

I'd be able to accept it if this were Akiba, but in Shibuya? No way....

"I see..."



"....?"

Gathered?

Who? Gathered who?

I was here of my own accord, at least, but....



You speakin' Japanese?

I wanted to say, but typically enough, I lacked the courage. After all, if I said something klutzy, she'd stab me.... Really, though, she hadn't been making any sense whatsoever for a while now.

"Tell me if you see one."



I hurriedly closed my eyes.





Soon afterward, the girl who had called herself Sena had vanished.







A mysterious screech sounded from a little ways away. It caught me by surprise, and my shoulders jumped. When I looked in the direction the voice had come from....



"Bro!"



OST: Girls



"........."

Because you made me depressed, obviously....

"Ah, and you're always quick to shut up like that."

Really, why had she decided to come to Suimei Academy, the same school I attended? It caused me boundless trouble when we bumped heads at school like this, or when she put her foot down and started meddling with this and that.

"Hey, hey, what about your phone? Do you use it? You're not using it, are you?"



"........."

I started walking faster in hopes of shaking Nanami off. But she stubbornly stuck with me.

"At least call home to let us know you're alive. That's why you got it in the first place."
"If you can't bear to, no matter what, um.... You can just call my phone, so."
"Mom's worried about you."
"Are you even eating properly? It's probably always convenience store boxed lunches for you, huh?"
"I figured living by yourself would be too much for you. Come back home."
"Do you have any idea how I feel when I go to see how you're doing?"
"I, I always get so anxious about you...."



What the hell was her problem! Are you my mom or something!?

And don't talk about that kind of thing on the wayside, it's humiliating. She made me gloomy even at the best of times, and now my mood was steadily plummeting in the worst possible direction.



It happened a lot in eroge, and there had been times when I'd longed to be in such a situation, but Nanami couldn't hold a candle to 2-D little sisters.

Haa, gimme a cuter sister.

OST End

Nanami and I, both somewhat cross, walked up to school side by side. I studied her to see if I had a chance of escaping before we reached the school gates.

Though she'd been talking fast and furious when she came up to me, Nanami had fallen silent and was walking along with an absent-minded look on her face.

Her eyes seemed to be drifting around, but maybe it was only my imagination.

Her feet were unsteady.



SFX: HONK HONK HONK HOOOONK

"Wa, watch out!"



The car zoomed by, honking its horn. She'd narrowly missed being hit.

"You, wh, what're you doing....!"



Blinking, Nanami cocked her head to one side.

"Why did I do that....?"
"Huh?"



Not understanding something she herself had done. For the record, let me say that I didn't find it moe. It wasn't moe in the slightest!

Seriously fed up, I left behind the still-stupified Nanami and hurried on ahead.




When walking down a hall, stick to one side or the other. Go neither too quickly nor too slowly. Lower your eyes and walk without meeting anyone's gaze. Those were the three items I paid careful attention to.

Don't stand out at school; be the same as air. That was how I got around safely.



Yet today, the same person appeared again and interfered with my attempts to blend in. Catching up with me from behind, Misumi-kun gave me his usual friendly pat on the shoulder.



"........."
"At least return my greeting. Well, but I know you're not that kinda guy."



"....?"



"Truth is, I just discovered something totally wild about her."

Misumi-kun suddenly lowered his voice and checked out our surroundings. It was probably something vulgar again.... Wearying of him, I almost let out a sigh.



But his words made me catch my breath.



"It seriously freaked me out. Who knew FES was a student at our school!"
"And she's in the same year as us, dude."



"This is what they mean when they talk about fate."

We were on the third floor. If he slipped even a tiny bit, he'd fall down, break his neck, and lose his life. I was on pins and needles as I watched him.

Misumi-kun gradually leaned out further, looking at down at the entranceway below the window.

"Oh, speak of the devil. Taku! I found Kishimoto! She'll be here soon."
"Eh...."

With so many coincidences piling up, maybe he had been correct in saying it was fated. Not that I had any interest.



He was overflowing with self-confidence as he spoke. Hoo boy, it must be nice to have a face like his. Pick-up lines and the like existed in a completely different world from me. I didn't want to try using them, either.



Just as Misumi-kun had said, it was the real FES. I made certain of it myself, watching secretly from a slight distance. Even now, I was surprised she had turned out to be the same age as us.

FES walked along slowly, wearing her Suimei uniform and giving off an air of ennui.

It created a remarkably different impression from how she had looked while singing on stage. At the time, though she spoke apathetically, she had given off something along the lines of a powerful sense of energy and activity.

But right now, the atmosphere around her merely made her seem melancholy and difficult to approach.

Pretending not to notice it, Misumi-kun walked casually up to FES, with the same friendly intimacy he always showed me.



Uwah.... What a refreshing, yet false-seeming, smile....

To think he could take that attitude with someone he'd practically never met before.

It made me shiver with awe. I idolized him. But I didn't want to imitate him.

"Ah, I'm Misumi Daisuke. Nice to meet you~"
"Whoops, you think we've never met before? But that's not quite true."
"I went to a Phantasm concert a little while ago. So this is the second time I've seen you."
"And, your singing voice from back then was, hmm, how do I say it? It gave me the chills."



"I guess I mean how your voice combined with their music?"



"Ah, but it'd be a hassle for you to do it right away, so hey, are you free after school? How about the two of us go somewhere and take our time talking it over?"

Misumi-kun chattered on without resting. He used a different tone than normal, and he was obviously putting on another voice.

Plus, instead of directly hitting on her, he brought up the topic of bands and such so as to casually invite her.

By the way, it was the first time I'd heard about him wanting to form a band. No matter how I thought about it, it had to be a lie. He'd go that far to score some points, to "make" an event flag stand up with her.

But--



As though she hadn't heard a single thing, she went on plodding down the hallway.



"........."

FES came to a halt. Her faintly lowered gaze slowly rose....



Eh? Me!?

Come to think of it, I'd thought she was staring at me during the concert, too.





Another day, another Trigger. Positive, Negative or Neutral?