She’d been gone less than a minute. Although, aliens were a lot stronger and faster than humans, so maybe it really didn’t seem that quick to her.
“Anyway, let’s eat,” I said.
Iris dragged a desk over to join us, and I was just about to put my hands together and dig in when the phone in my pocket began to vibrate.
“Oh, sorry. Somebody’s calling.”
I looked at the name on the screen: “Hibiki Banjo.” I hadn’t seen her since we’d gone to the hospital together... What was going on?
“I’ll be right back. You guys get started without me.”
“Huh? But I want eat with you!” Iris whined.
“I can wait for a little while,” Satsuki boasted.
Hmm... I really didn’t mean to make them wait for me.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
I got up and went out into the hallway before I pressed the answer button.
“You’re too slow!” Hibiki shouted through the phone.
“I was just about to eat. Give me a break.”
“I see... I get nervous when I have to wait a long time, so next time, pick up faster.”
“Why would you get nervous over a phone call?” I asked what I thought was a simple question.
“I-It doesn’t matter to you, does it?!”
“?”
Why was her voice trembling? Oh, wait, Hibiki was always a little timid around men, wasn’t she? That would include me, I guess, so that would explain why she was nervous.
“Anyway, I’ll pick up faster next time.”
“Yeah, do that. Sheesh.”
She seemed a little angry. I just sighed a bit.
We both had our own special “bloodlines.” I thought that had brought us together a little, but it seemed like she didn’t even feel comfortable calling me on the phone. That was kind of depressing.
“So why’d you call? You need something?”
“Of course. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about...”
“To me?”
Did that mean...
“Are you caught up in another story?”
“That’s right. But it seems like you and your friends could handle this one a lot better than I could on my own.”
“That’s fine. But what kind of story is it?”
“Basically, it’s a treasure hunt.”
“A treasure hunt? Like for Ieyasu Tokugawa’s buried gold or something?”
“Nope. Aladdin’s magic lamp.”
“Aladdin?”
Wait, is that the one with the genie who grants wishes?
“You get to go look for a ‘Demon’s Pot’ that will grant any wish.”
“Another fantasy story, huh?”
“Better than another trip to another world, right?”
“Maybe.” I laughed a little.
“By the way, when you said ‘you and your friends,’ who else were you talking about?”
“You’ve got that girl who can use the Magic of Omniscience, right? Satsuki?”
“Yeah.”
“If she can look up anything, then finding treasure should be easy.”
“But even if we do find the treasure, is whoever you’re helping going to believe us?”
Magic was a handy tool, but it was something that normal people didn’t even know was real. I wasn’t sure if the person who’d gotten Hibiki caught up in their treasure hunt would be willing to believe it.
“Yeah. You don’t have to worry about that. Chelsea can use a little magic too.”
“I see. Then maybe—Wait a second!”
“What?”
“Did you tell this Chelsea person about the Magic of Omniscience?!”
Satsuki’s family had long feared that the Magic of Omniscience might be used for evil by outsiders, so they’d done everything they could to hide its existence. It was one thing to tell someone she could trust, or someone who didn’t believe in magic, but it would be bad news if another mage from Earth found out about Satsuki’s secret.
“Don’t worry. I just told her that I knew a mage who was good at finding things. And her family might be mages, but she’s a runaway turned treasure hunter.”
“I... I see.”
I guess that made it okay. But I’d have to be careful if she ever ran into Satsuki.
“Anyway, I think I’ve got the basic idea. You want to meet in person and talk about the rest?”
“If possible. It’s probably better for Chelsea to tell you her story herself.”
“All right. So when do we meet?”
“Real treasure hunting isn’t like in the fairy tales. If you’re going mountain climbing or spelunking, you need to get ready for it. Chelsea’s the expert, so I’m having her do that part, but it’s going to take four days or so for preparations. So we’ll meet this Sunday...”
“This Sunday?!”
I almost dropped my phone in shock.
“Huh? Yeah. So I want to meet at...”
Hibiki kept talking. But wait a minute...
“I’m going to be at an amusement park on Sunday.”
I was about to tell her that I was going with Satsuki and Iris, but...
“A-An amusement park? Y-You idiot! W-We’re not meeting up to have fun!”
“I know that! That’s not what I meant. I...”
“Th-Then don’t say something so stupid! A-Anyway, I’ve never even been to an amusement park, or even seen one, so I don’t know what I’d do there...”
“U-Um... Hibiki?”
It sounded like she was freaking out, so I tried talking to her. But she didn’t seem to hear me.
“And meeting at an amusement park on Sunday... That sounds almost like a d-d-d-date! If I went there with you... I mean, no, Chelsea would be there too, I guess... Not that she’d be in the way! Or that I wanted to be alone with you or anything! I’m just saying that... um... uh...”
“Hey, Hibiki!”
Since I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, I tried yelling her name a little louder. I could hear her inhale sharply in surprise.
“I guess you misunderstood me. But actually...”
“I... I didn’t misunderstand you! Not at all! We can go to the amusement park after this story is solved... um... just the two of us... Oh jeez! I’m just going to bring her to you on Sunday! Come meet me at the station! Got it?”
BEEP.
She hung up on me.
“Huh? Uh, Hibiki? Hey! Hello?”
I quickly tried calling her back, but she must’ve turned off her phone.
“Fine, I’ll just send her a message... Wait.”
I didn’t actually have her messenger address.
“Uh-oh...”
Now I had a scheduling conflict on top of everything else. What was I supposed to do?
“This is getting interesting, huh? Heh heh...”
“It is not interesting at all! And don’t laugh!”
Without thinking, I yelled at R, who had her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk as she floated in mid-air. The other students, who couldn’t see her, were all staring at me.
I could hear them saying things like, “Namidare stares at things that aren’t there, huh?” or “Namidare scares me ‘cause he just starts yelling sometimes,” or “Not only does Namidare have a bunch of real girls, I think he’s also got an invisible girl that only he can see.” That last one, unfortunately, was the most accurate.
▽
That night...
I was sitting on my living room sofa, absentmindedly watching TV.
“Hmm... What’s on sale tomorrow?”
Harissa was sitting next to me, carefully studying each flyer in the newspaper.
My thoughts turned to Sunday. I’d called Hibiki back a bunch of times after we’d talked, but she still had her phone off. If I couldn’t even leave her a message, there was nothing I could do.
But I remembered how happy Iris had looked when she was talking about the amusement park, and I just couldn’t bring
myself to cancel on her. And Satsuki didn’t really let it show, but she seemed to be looking forward to it too.
Well, I wasn’t going to spend the entire day at the amusement park. I could just go there in the morning with the two of them, ride a ton of rides, and leave in the evening when they were tired. Then I could go see Hibiki.
Wait, we didn’t decide on a time to meet at the station... I’d just have to call her again tomorrow.
“Um... Sir Rekka?”
“Hmm?”
I felt a hesitant tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Harissa looking up into my eyes.
“Umm...”
She was fidgeting like she was too nervous to continue.
“What’s up?”
I nodded her on, and she blushed a little.
“Do you... Do you want to go to this with me?”
Then she handed me a flyer.
“What’s this? ‘Grand reopening sale’?”
“That’s right.”
The flyer was an ad for a sale at a clothing store. From the map, it looked like it was a department store shop in the next town over. All the clothes in the pictures were for girls. It wasn’t the kind of place I really went to. But...
“That’s right. We haven’t bought any clothes for you yet, Harissa.”
I’d just given her my mother’s old clothes. But my mom was tall, and to be honest, she had a figure that made it hard to believe she’d had a kid. Her clothes were way too big for Harissa. She was practically swimming in them. Most of the time, she actually ended up just wearing my old clothes. She didn’t even own a skirt.
“Yeah, this is a good chance to go buy something for you...”
“Y-Yes. So, um...”
“Hmm?”
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to tell me what clothes you think I look best in...”
The redness in her cheeks turned a deeper shade as she looked up at me.
Normally I’d never turn her down when she was like this, but there was one problem... The flyer said “ONE DAY ONLY!” in big letters. And it was dated for this Sunday. Now I had something else to cram in somehow.
If I was just going to buy clothes for Harissa, I could do it some other day. But I already needed to buy an amusement park ticket, which was going to put a serious dent in my wallet. It would be tough to afford clothes at full price on a budget like that. I’d probably end up eating nothing but rice with boiled plums for the next month.
Actually, the reason Harissa had waited for a sale to bring this up at all was probably because she knew how tight we were financially. There was no way for her to know that I’d already agreed to other plans for that day.
I didn’t really have the time—or the money—for this, but Harissa was always helping out around the house, and I couldn’t turn her down. After all she’d done for me, I wanted to buy her everything she could ask for.
“Hmm...”
“...Is that not a good day for you, maybe?”
Harissa’s shoulders started to slump when she saw my reaction.
“Oh, no, it’s fine, just...”
“Then it’s okay?!”
“Huh?”
I should’ve known better than to give her a vague answer, but it was too late for regrets now.
“Yay! I’m so happy! I get to go on a trip with Sir Rekka!”
Harissa hopped up and down on the sofa like a bunny rabbit and wrapped her arms around her chest. Then she jumped off the sofa and turned to me with shining eyes and a huge grin on her face.
“I’ll go get the bath ready!” she said as she skipped out of the living room.
...Was there any man on earth who could go after her now and tell her that he didn’t mean it? If there was, he’d have to be a hollow, soulless man. The kind of guy that wouldn’t even care if you told him the world was about to end. I guarantee it.
“She really wanted some clothes, huh?”
All I could do was whisper to myself.
“That’s probably not what Harissa really wants, I think.”
Wait. R was there, so I wasn’t really just talking to myself.
“...”
Instead of trying to escape reality, I decided to get everything straight in my head. Satsuki and Iris wanted to go to the amusement park. Hibiki was bringing a girl named Chelsea to see me at the station. Harissa wanted to go to a department store sale with me. And I hadn’t set a time for meeting with Hibiki yet.
I’d probably have to leave early to make it in time for the sale. And both Harissa’s clothes shopping and the amusement park were going to take several hours, so I couldn’t just do one in the morning and the other later.
“Man, I don’t know what to do...”
Nothing came to me no matter how much I thought. I stared up at the ceiling and whispered...
“Save me, hero...”
Chapter 1: Who Should I Spend Sunday With?
The next day, I still had no clue what I was going to do about Sunday, but my class was making a fuss over something else altogether.
“A transfer student?”
“Yeah, sounds like they’re not Japanese either.”
“Oh wow...”
A foreign transfer student? That was a rare event. I mean, Iris was a transfer student too, but she was from space, not overseas.
It wasn’t long before the bell rang and the teacher brought in the transfer student. She had long, blond hair tied back in twin tails, and she looked... Well, she looked like a lot of things.
“My name is Rosalind C. Bathory!” she declared in a loud, booming voice.
She had the face of a young child, but she talked like a grown woman. She was wearing a high school uniform, but she was only as tall as an elementary school student. And yet somehow, when she stared at the class from across the podium, I got the distinct sense she was looking down at us. But her red eyes stood out the most, thin and narrowed as they looked over the class. I’d seen blue eyes, purple eyes, and even shining eyes before, but red was a first. They were pretty, like rubies.
“...”
I must’ve been staring, because my gaze met hers for a moment. I quickly looked away... and then took another glance.
“...?”
She was still staring at me. Was she mad, maybe? She didn’t really look like it. It was something else... But what was it?
“Rekka!”
“Huh? Oww!” I shouted as someone next to me pulled my ear.
“You’re staring at that girl too much! I won’t let you cheat on me!”
I had no idea what Iris was talking about, but she just kept pulling harder as she talked. I thought she was going to rip my ear off.
“I-I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sorry! I’m sorry, okay?! So stop pulling on my ear!”
“Good. You apologized, so I forgive you. So, anyway, about this Sunday... I want to ride the roller coaster with you. Maybe ten times, I’m thinking?”
“Wh-What?!”
I didn’t mind going on a roller coaster, but ten times was overdoing it.
“It’ll be fun!”
“Sure, it’ll be fun... the first couple of times. Ten times is enough to make you sick, you know?”
“I’ll be fine.”
Well, maybe Iris would be.
“Hey, don’t go deciding things like that without talking to me first. I’m planning our day right now,” Satsuki interrupted.
“I should be the one to decide what I ride,” Iris said.
“If you don’t take the wait times into account, you won’t get to ride all the things you want,” Satsuki argued.
Free-spirited Iris and careful, meticulous Satsuki were butting heads about how to go about our day at the amusement park. I understood where both of them were coming from, but I wished they would stop scowling at each other while I was between them.
“Namidare, Otomo, Iris! Be quiet!” the teacher yelled.
The whole class was in an uproar over the transfer student, but evidently the th
ree of us had been a little too loud. I reflexively faced forward and shut up after being scolded, but the two of them kept glowering.
It was going to be a long day... And what was I going to do on Sunday, anyway? As I tried for the thousandth time to come up with a plan, my gaze met the transfer student’s again.
“...?”
Had she been looking at me the whole time?
“Rosalind, you can take that open seat over there. Also, Namidare, when homeroom is over, I want you to show her around the school.”
“Huh? Me?”
“Don’t worry about being late for first period. That will be all, everyone,” the teacher announced and quickly left the room, bringing homeroom to a close.
Wait, what happened to class announcements like who had cleaning duty today and things like that? And why did I have to show the new girl around during class instead of on lunch break? As I sat there in shock, Rosalind came walking over to me. I didn’t think I could tell her no.
▽
Since I felt like I had no choice, I took Rosalind out of the classroom and into the hallway. What exactly was I supposed to show her, anyway? The special classrooms? This building of the school only had regular classrooms in it, so there wasn’t really anything to see here.
“Hmm, I guess we’ll start by going over to the special classrooms building. It’s this way.”
“Slow down.”
“Huh?”
“You’re walking too fast.”
Oops. I forgot Rosalind’s stride was a lot shorter than mine. I started walking beside her to match her pace.
“Is that better?”
“Indeed.” Rosalind nodded, satisfied, and wrapped her arm around mine.
“...Wait, why are you holding on to my arm?”
“Idiot, don’t you know how to escort a lady?”
She looked a little lacking in certain departments to be called a lady, but...
“You were just thinking something you shouldn’t have been, weren’t you?”
“No, not really...”
She was glaring at me with a terrible intensity, and I quickly looked away.
“Good. Now take me to our destination.”
“Sure thing...”
The students we passed were all shocked to see us walking arm in arm, but the hallways cleared out when the bell for first period rang. We walked down the now quiet corridor towards our first stop, the third floor of the special classrooms building.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 4 Page 2
