“H-Hibiki...?”
“You’re too slow. I told you to pick up faster next time.”
“Y-Yeah! I’m sorry!”
“Waah! ...Y-You don’t need to yell when you apologize.”
From the tone of her voice, I could tell that she was a little confused. My voice might’ve cracked when I talked. That’s how scared I was.
What angle was she going to use to get back at me? Just thinking about it made my blood run cold.
“Well, whatever. So here’s the deal...”
“...!”
I immediately tensed up when she started to speak.
“We need to pick a time for tomorrow’s meeting. How does 5:00 P.M. sound?”
“...Huh?”
“I said 5:00 P.M. Chelsea will be getting back about an hour before then, so if it works for you, that’s when I’d like to...”
“N-No! Wait a second!” I yelled to cut her off before she could say anything else, but it was more out of shock than fear this time.
“Don’t yell! I’m holding my phone to my ear, you know?!”
“Waah! I’m sorry! Wait, I mean... You aren’t mad, Hibiki?”
“Mad about what?”
I almost physically collapsed in relief. Evidently she hadn’t talked to Satsuki or the others. No, wait... Just because she hadn’t found out didn’t make things any easier. I still hadn’t actually solved the problem.
“Listen, Hibiki...”
First, I needed to apologize, and then I needed to work out a solution with her. I sat kneeling on the bed as I told her how I’d agreed to multiple, overlapping things for Sunday. I explained to her what had happened over the past few days, including that I might need to adjust our meeting time a little.
“Are you an idiot?” she asked as soon as I finished.
“Yes. Probably. I’m very sorry.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. Well, I mean, you’re an idiot about that too, but...” She trailed off for a moment. “You should be paying a little more attention to changes that happen around you.”
“Changes?”
“You know that you and I have a tendency to get caught up in weird stuff, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
My Namidare bloodline and Hibiki’s Banjo bloodline both caused us to get involved in stories that otherwise lacked a hero. Sometimes it would be our job to take the place of a hero and save a story that was heading for a bad ending.
“Listen, whenever you’re getting caught up in a story—that is, whenever things are about to get real—there’s always some kind of sign.”
“Some kind of sign? You mean the changes you’re talking about?”
“That’s right.” According to Hibiki, whenever something like that happened, she would assume that a “story” was coming and she needed to get prepared. She continued, “Listen, you need to be doing the same thing.”
“You’re exactly right.”
It was normal for Hibiki to get frustrated with me, but since people hadn’t been getting mad at me for the last few days even when I deserved it, it actually made me happy.
“You understand now, right? Think about it. What’s changed around you lately?”
A change, huh? I knew what she was talking about immediately.
“Rosalind.”
“That’s right. You mentioned her name a few times. I think you should assume she’s suspicious.”
“Hmm... But can an ordinary transfer student wipe people’s memories?”
“You’re the one who said everyone was acting weird, right? I don’t really know them well, but I do think it’s strange for them to try to get even with you in such a nasty way.”
“Why?”
“That’s because both they and I... Wait, what are you trying to make me say?!”
“H-Huh?”
I’d barely said a word. What was she mad about?
“Ahem. Anyway...” She cleared her throat and then continued. “You don’t know that this transfer student is ‘normal’ at all, do you?”
“Huh... No, I guess I don’t.”
A month ago I would’ve thought it was a joke, but now it was normal for me to assume that she wasn’t normal at all. I guess you really can get used to anything, huh? That’s kind of alarming.
“Changes like Satsuki suddenly not eating lunch with you or coming to your house in the morning sure seem convenient for this Rosalind girl, given how much she seems to want to be your friend. And she had no problem chatting with the other girls on the first day, right? So even if you’re easy to talk to, why be so clingy towards you?”
“That’s true.”
Rosalind certainly didn’t seem like the shy type at all.
“Is it possible that the reason all three of them seem to have forgotten about Sunday has to do with Rosalind? Any idea why she might do something like that?”
“...Yeah.”
She’d asked me to show her around town on Sunday. Now that Hibiki mentioned it, Satsuki and Iris had only “forgotten” about the amusement park after I’d turned Rosalind down. I even told her I couldn’t go with her because I had plans with the two of them. Come to think of it, the same thing had happened with Harissa.
But it wasn’t like I’d told Rosalind I’d never go with her. I even offered to do it Saturday or next weekend. It was like she was obsessed with Sunday. So much so that she wanted to stop me from going out with the other girls.
“But why me?” I asked.
At this point it seemed pretty clear that Rosalind was behind it, but I still didn’t know why.
“No idea. That much I can’t tell you.”
“Of course...”
“The fastest way would be to ask her. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Why not?”
“What’s your plan if Rosalind wants to hurt you somehow?”
I gasped.
“I don’t know what I might’ve done to tick her off, though...”
“I’m not certain about that myself. But with the way our bloodlines work, if you don’t prepare yourself, you’re going to regret it.”
“I hate to say it, but you’re right.”
I sighed. And just as I did, I heard the front doorbell ring. A moment later, I heard Harissa coming up the stairs to my room.
“Sir Rekka, you have a visitor.”
“I do?”
“Yes.”
Who was it? Regardless, I knew if I had company, I couldn’t stay on the phone. Talking to Hibiki would just have to wait.
“Sorry, I’ve gotta go for now. Can we talk about this more when we meet tomorrow?”
“Affirmative. But we’re definitely meeting in front of the station tomorrow evening, right?”
“That’s right.”
“All right, then I’ll see you at 5:00 P.M. tomorrow.”
“Right.”
I hung up the phone and put it back on my desk.
“I’ve asked them to wait in the living room.”
“Got it. Thanks, Harissa.”
After thanking Harissa, I made my way downstairs. I casually opened the door to the living room... and froze.
“Hmph. I can’t say I approve of keeping a lady waiting.”
“Rosalind...”
Speak of the devil. Sitting on my sofa was the girl I was just talking about, wearing a gothic lolita-style dress. She smiled as she stood up and slowly walked towards me.
“So this is your house, is it? It’s a nice place.”
“Yeah...”
“But I can’t say I approve of that unkempt hair. Take more care in your appearance.”
“Right...”
“You’re not going to sit down?”
She looked up at me with a gleam in her red eyes. There was something... hypnotizing about them. But mostly I was taken aback by the situation I’d found myself in not a minute after Hibiki had told me to get prepared. I’d been way too careless.
“Sure, I’ll go get a chair.”
“Why? You can just sit on the sofa.”
I still didn’t know what she was after, so I decided to just do what she wanted. I sat down with her.
“Wait, why are you so close to me?” I asked.
“It’s a small sofa. I don’t have a choice.”
No way. The sofa wasn’t that small. Rosalind was about Harissa’s size, and we always had plenty of room sitting on the couch together.
“Heh. Don’t be so nervous.” Rosalind giggled a little as she pushed herself up against me.
There was no way for me not to be nervous. Not after the conversation I’d just had with Hibiki.
“Wait, how do you know where I live again?”
“Hmm? Oh, Satsuki showed me,” Rosalind said, rather unconvincingly.
Once I started thinking of her as suspicious, everything she did seemed suspicious. But I still didn’t know what her game was.
“So what brings you here today?” I asked, my voice a little stiff.
“What else? I’m here to talk about our trip around town tomorrow.”
At least I’d mostly expected that part.
“I thought I told you that wasn’t happening.”
“Indeed. But I’m a girl who just doesn’t know when to give up, so I’ve come to ask you again. Are you sure you can’t grant me this one little favor?” Rosalind stretched up to whisper in my ear.
It was cute, like a bratty little princess begging to get her way... But it also seemed like she was confident that I had no good reason to refuse now. She didn’t know Harissa at all, so she had no way of knowing that our shopping trip had to be canceled. So why was she acting this way? The alarm bells in my mind got louder.
“Sorry...” I forced the words out of my dry throat. “I’m meeting with someone tomorrow.”
“......WHAT?!” There was a long pause before Rosalind responded in loud surprise. “Meeting with someone... You mean someone ELSE?!”
“Y-Yeah, I guess.”
“How many people did you make plans with?!” Rosalind yelled.
In any other situation, I’d be on my knees apologizing. But right now I was too busy trying to figure out a way out of this mess.
“...So who is it this time? Another girl?”
Just as I expected, Rosalind wanted to know who it was. Was she going to try and make them “forget” about it too?
“...!”
It suddenly hit me. What would you do if somebody asked you about a promise you couldn’t remember making? Wouldn’t you try to find out more about it? Satsuki, Iris, Harissa... Not one of them had asked a single question about our plans together. Not where, when, or why. They’d shown zero interest in the matter and ended the conversation as quickly as possible. Moreover, Satsuki and Iris had been deliberately avoiding me since then.
What if Rosalind’s power wasn’t the power to make others forget, but the power to control them? If that was the case, then even if I tried to lie to her now, wouldn’t she just control me and force me to tell her anyway?
“What’s wrong, Namidare? Aren’t you going to tell me?”
“What will you do if I tell you? Will you ‘control’ them too?”
“...”
Rosalind’s expression changed. That had definitely put her on her guard... but if I didn’t want Hibiki to be in danger, I had to face her here.
“Who are you? What do you want from me?” I asked as I stood up from the sofa and backed away.
If Harissa was under Rosalind’s control, that meant I couldn’t just grab her and run. I had to find out what Rosalind was after and get her to let the others go. Besides, she hadn’t hurt me so far. Maybe that wasn’t her goal after all. At least, that’s what I was hoping. But...
“...Why isn’t this as easy as I thought it would be?”
There was an air of disappointment in her words, and her whole demeanor changed. She no longer seemed like a little girl. She was a dangerous monster.
“...Gah!”
For a moment, I didn’t even know what had happened. The next thing I knew, Rosalind’s fingers were closing around my throat and digging into my skin. She’d grabbed my windpipe and slammed me into the wooden floor.
“R-Rosalind...?”
“I didn’t want to use this power on you...”
Rosalind was on top of me now, leaning in close to my face.
“Tch...!”
I-I couldn’t move! She was a tiny girl far smaller than me, but no matter how hard I tried to push her off, I couldn’t move. She was a lot stronger than a girl her size should be.
She stared down at me. There was a dangerous flash in her red eyes. For some reason, I couldn’t look away from their crimson light...
“Now, look into my eyes.”
Rosalind brought her face closer to mine, slowly but surely. And everything went red.
Chapter 2: Red Eyes and a Silver Blade
Sunday. A clear day without a cloud in the sky.
“I guess I’m a little early, huh?” I said to myself as I looked up at the station clock.
I was waiting for someone, but I didn’t see her yet. It wasn’t a big station, so I couldn’t have missed her... Oh, there she was.
“Hmph. I’m glad to see you’re here early,” said the girl I was waiting for. It was Rosalind wearing a white dress.
“Of course. I’m the one who’s showing you around town, remember?”
“Hehe, I know that,” she said as she naturally took my arm. “So give me the grand tour, Namidare.”
“Right.”
Rosalind had just transferred to my school, and today was the day I was supposed to introduce her to the city.
“This is your first date, huh, Rekka?”
It is not. I’m not into lolicon.
R was floating around me snarking like always, but I had to keep my comments to myself.
“Now, is there somewhere you want to go?”
“I’ll let you decide, Namidare.”
“I don’t know, though... I can show you where the library and hospital and things are.”
“How boring.” She shot the idea down.
“Then someplace more fun? Hmm... Maybe we should take the train somewhere?”
“I dislike crowds.”
“Then where do you want to go?”
“I couldn’t say. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to be showing me?”
“...All right, I guess we can just wander around for a while. If you see anything that catches your eye, we can stop in.”
“That will do nicely.”
I didn’t have the slightest idea where we were going to go, but if Rosalind was okay with it, I figured it was fine. We left the plaza in front of the station and started to walk.
There was a big highway that ran through the town, so there were a lot of stations and shops built up nearby. But there were no movie theaters or department stores, and there weren’t any good places for teenagers to hang out. The bustling shops were really our only option, but we didn’t go into any of them. Because...
“It’s pretty small, but there’s an arcade near here.”
“I don’t like noisy places.”
“Want to visit the bookstore?”
“Reading isn’t my thing.”
Every suggestion I made was met with disapproval. The one place she showed any interest in was a bakery that had a good reputation.
“Do they have red bean jam buns?” Rosalind asked as she pulled me into the shop. She looked around at the rows of shelves lined with bread.
“Sure, if they haven’t sold out.”
Every bakery had them. We didn’t have any trouble finding them on the shelves, and we both got one. I picked up three other kinds of pastries, checked out, and took Rosalind into the back of the store. They had four sets of tables and chairs set up so you could sit down and eat what you just bought. As we showed up, a married couple was just leaving, so we were able to get a table.
“Okay, let’s eat.”
“Indeed. Let’s eat.�
��
Rosalind put her hands together in a manner that indicated she still wasn’t used to making the gesture, then picked up her red bean jam bun.
“Hom nom! Hmm... This has a very different texture than the ones they sell at school.”
“Yeah? Maybe because it’s freshly baked,” I said as I took a bite of my own.
The bread did feel a little softer than the ones from the cafeteria. Yeah. It was good. No wonder this place was popular.
In an instant I’d wolfed down three pastries. Rosalind was sitting across from me, still eating hers. Her little mouth was moving as fast it could, but she wasn’t making a very big dent in it. Hmm... There was one tart left, but it was something Rosalind had chosen.
“You really do love red bean jam, huh?” I said, hoping to fill the silence.
“It’s got a different kind of sweetness than chocolate and cakes. I like that. I’m glad I remembered the name from so long ago.”
“Long ago? So you’ve been to Japan before, Rosalind?”
I’d just met her, so I barely knew anything about her.
“Hmm... Yes. Once before,” she said, looking down for a moment.
Was it something she didn’t want to talk about?
“Huh? So where’d you learn that weird Japanese then?” I changed the subject in hopes of getting her mind off of it.
“It’s not weird at all, simpleton.”
“But you sound like an old lady.”
“Ngwah! Well, excuse me!”
“Hahaha...”
“Hmph. What are you laughing at?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about the incredible difference between the way you look and the way you talked when you first introduced yourself.”
“You are so rude!”
Rosalind indignantly turned away and started pouting. I guess I made her a little angry, but I was glad to see her in slightly better spirits.
“Sorry. Here, I’ll get you some coffee.”
The bakery offered complimentary tea and coffee to its customers. Since she didn’t seem to like cheap tea, I decided to get her coffee instead. I poured some into two paper cups and took them back to the table.
“...It’s awful.”
Turns out the coffee didn’t fare any better than tea.
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 4 Page 5
