Clank!
The bat I stuck out practically on a whim made contact with the speeding ball. Really, it was more like the ball had hit me rather than I hit the ball. It was a sheer stroke of luck, too. But hopefully my luck would last. The white ball bounced off my bat and up into the air. Of course, I ran for my life. Lea on first base and Fam on second base were also running with all their might.
“Feh! Curse you!”
“Whoops! Uwah!”
That was when the second miracle happened. As the ball fell downwards according to the laws of gravity, both the pitcher and catcher ran to nab it out of the air... and crashed into each other head-first, sending them both backwards to the ground on their butts.
“Crap!” Rosalind yelled.
She was looking at Fam, who was currently heading for home base. Unfortunately for them, the catcher—Corona—had moved too far forward to stop her. Rosalind judged that there wasn’t enough time, and she threw the ball to third base instead. That was when the third miracle happened.
“Kyah!”
Harissa, who was covering third base, saw the cannonball flying towards her and instinctively ducked. Lea passed through third base in that time.
“What are you doing, Harissa?!” Rosalind roared.
“There’s no way I could catch that!” Harissa replied, half in tears.
And she was totally right. I was blown away by Lea’s full-strength pitch earlier, so I had a pretty decent idea. There was no way the frail, petite Harissa could catch Rosalind’s throw at full steam. Rosalind was used to throwing without holding back with Corona as her catcher, but that had now turned on them.
“Jeez! What are you guys doing?!” Iris yelled from the outfield.
She was covering the right field close to first base, but she was much faster on her feet than Rain, who was covering the left. She’d crossed the field in the blink of an eye and had caught up with the rolling ball. Lea had already made it home, but so had Corona. She wouldn’t have any issues catching a throw from Iris’s iron shoulders. In other words, all that was left was whether or not I could make it in time.
“...!”
I ran past third base. Running at full tilt, my arms were moving of their own accord, flailing behind me opposite of my legs as they darted forward. My body was moving faster than my mind could consciously process. I was putting everything I had into pressing forward.
Lea and Fam were waving at me from home plate. Satsuki and President Momone were cheering from the bench. Tokiwa was there, too. She couldn’t yell loudly, but I could see her mouth moving. I didn’t have any doubt she was cheering me on too. Her big eyes followed my running shadow.
Several steps in front of me at home base, Corona readied her mitt. It would only take Iris’s throw one or two seconds to reach her...! The edges of my vision were blurring white, but I prepared to dive head-first into the base.
My body slid along the ground with a skidding noise, and I felt my fingertips touch the plate. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears as I caught my breath, my head still dull from exerting myself like that... I wondered what the result was...
“...Safe!”
The first thing I heard was Fam’s voice.
“Safe! He’s safe! You did it, Brother Rekka!”
Fam yelled as she jumped on top of me, flailing about in happiness. She was like an overexcited puppy. Typically speaking, self-judging a sports game would lead to a lot of arguing between sides over calls like this.
“Yes, I suppose that would be considered safe,” conceded Rosalind.
“I think so too,” said Corona.
But that was where our trust and friendship came into play. Even the taciturn Rosalind sighed and gave in when she saw me covered in dirt. In the end, it was only a game. Fun was the top priority. That’s how it worked.
“All right! Now that we’re tied, let’s get back to the game!”
I jumped up and brushed the dirt off my shirt, and everyone took that as a signal to return to their positions. Then we played until the sun set.
▽
Everyone made curry together for dinner. We were joined by Tsumiki, who arrived after finishing her shift at Nozomiya.
“I’ll help, too...” she offered.
“I can’t afford to let you turn curry that everyone’s eating into a natural disaster.”
Thankfully Tetra, who arrived with her, was strict when it came to supervision in the kitchen and kept all catastrophe at bay. We reassigned Tsumiki to wrapping the rice balls with seaweed for our late-night snack. After that, Satsuki, Rain, and Fam went home because they had people waiting for them, but the rest of the girls decided to stay overnight at school. Everyone washed up, brushed their teeth, then said goodnight to me as I retreated alone to the boys’ room, ready to hit the hay. But about 20 minutes after I crawled into the futon...
“...Rekka.”
I heard a voice whisper in my ear, rousing me from a near asleep state.
“?”
I lifted my eyelids to see a shadow right in front of me. Was the only reason why I wasn’t surprised because I was still half asleep? Or perhaps because I was used to it by now?
“...Tokiwa?”
“Get up.”
Instead of clinging to me like usual, she was kneeling next to me as she gently shook me. The moment I met Tokiwa, I knew she was a unique person. That was probably the reason I didn’t feel particularly irritated at being woken up. I obediently sat up like she asked and rubbed my eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Come,” she whispered, still not clinging to me.
Then she stood up. That caught my attention. Wondering what it was, I put my shoes on and followed her out of the camp area.
▽
Tokiwa didn’t lead me very far. Just up to the roof of the old school building.
“I’m surprised you had the key to get up here.”
“I had Momo secretly bring me the master key.”
Wasn’t that kind of a big deal? I mean, in terms of groundskeeping and security? Of course, I wasn’t a teacher or a security guard, so it’s not like I really cared. I figured it’d be all right as long as we returned it by tomorrow morning and left it at that.
As for Tokiwa, she walked to the middle of the roof and sunk to the ground. She then lifted her head and waved me over. When I approached her, she shifted her hand and patted the spot next to her. She was probably inviting me to lie down too.
I sat down first, feeling the rough, scratchy surface of the concrete underneath my palms. I then leaned back slowly so I wouldn’t hurt my head on it... and was met with the beautiful sight of the starry sky overhead.
“Wow.”
It was breathtaking... is what I wanted to say, but it was actually pretty normal. The town I lived in was still somewhat rural, so you could see more here than you could in the city, but the view didn’t hold a candle to what you could see in the mountains. Yet even so, it seemed special right now.
“Lying down makes the view a lot prettier than looking up normally.”
Maybe the place was what made it special after all. In a rural area like this, there weren’t any buildings taller than the school—the new school building was taller than the old one, but the view was still unobstructed. The sky just plain looked different when you could stare into it and forget the world around you.
“Stargazing from the school roof at night, check,” Tokiwa muttered to herself.
She was lying right next to me, so I heard her quiet voice clearly.
“Oh, was this part of the study camp?”
“Yes.”
That meant our mission here was complete, but neither of us moved. It seemed we both wanted to stay and talk for a little while longer.
“Today was fun,” she said.
“Yeah. We jumped into the pool, played baseball, made curry...”
“Nope. Well, we did, but that’s not what I meant.”
I could feel her shake her head adaman
tly.
“You know... I’m weak, so I rarely play sports. I can’t even go swimming unless I’m in top form.”
“Huh? But what about the other day at the water park?”
“I barely got in the water. Momo stopped me.”
Now that she mentioned it, the only times I'd seen Tokiwa were at the resting area, at the water slide... and at the end of the day, when we all gathered at the swimming pool. She’d scarcely gotten her feet wet. No wonder President Momone got angry when Tokiwa jumped in the pool today. Anyone would be worried. The two of them were childhood friends, so President Momone had probably looked after Tokiwa ever since they were little.
“Anyway, so that’s why I can’t join any sports clubs and I didn’t end up going on the school trip, either... so today was really fun.”
Tokiwa turned her head my way. Her eyes peered at me from between the wisps of her bangs.
“It’s all thanks to you joining the light literature club.”
“I didn’t do anything...”
“You did. Everyone gathered to play baseball and make curry together because you were there, right? No one would’ve come if it was just me. So...”
The corners of Tokiwa’s lips curved up into a captivating smile.
“Thank you, Rekka.”
Wh-What was this embarrassing feeling crawling on my skin? Was it because I was up on the rooftop in the middle of the night with a beautiful upperclassman? Her smiling right at me was making my heart beat oddly fast...
“An affair. Indeed, I smell an affair. Is this what they call a summer fling?”
SHUT UP, R! Don’t mock me in my other ear, jeez... I couldn’t even yell at her if I didn’t want to look crazy. It was so annoying that no one else could see R!
But if she hadn’t distracted me, my head might have short-circuited. Tokiwa hadn’t broken eye contact once, so I still felt embarrassed. And just as I was seriously starting to wonder what to do...
“AAAAAAAAHHH!”
Stomp, stomp, stomp... SLAM!
“?!”
A collective, noisy scream rang out in the night. I turned to the door in a panic to see multiple people who should have been asleep all piling onto the roof, staring at me.
“Wh-What are you all up to?”
“We should be asking you that! What are YOU doing, Rekka?!”
Iris was the first to yell. She threw off the girls who had fallen on top of her, got up, and marched angrily my way.
“Th-Th-That’s right, Tokiwa! Just what were you d-d-doing here alone with Rekka?!” demanded Tsumiki.
“I should say! You’ve been trying to seduce Rekka with that body of yours since the moment I met you!” declared Rosalind.
The two of them approached next, but the others all followed close behind. In no time at all, Tokiwa and I had been surrounded by noisily complaining girls. Most of it was directed at me, to be fair.
“Heehee.”
Tokiwa giggled contentedly as she watched the swarming girls chew me out.
—Fin—
R’s Special Mission 3
There were about ten days left of summer vacation. It was time to get a move on. Rekka was rushing to finish his neglected homework, making this the perfect chance for me to sneak out and visit some heroines.
“Hmm...?”
▽
Today’s first stop was—drumroll, please!
“Behind door number one, we have... a crimson mansion!”
In other words, Rosalind’s house. I was just trying to imitate a show I’d seen on TV the other day.
Anyway, let’s hurry inside. Both the inside and the outside were luxuriously spacious. Rosalind seemed to be on the third floor, but what was that...?
“Come on, wipe the window faster.”
“I-I’m going as fast as I can!”
I had stumbled upon Corona supervising Ulaula, who was on window-cleaning duty. Ulaula wasn’t a heroine, and I had already investigated Corona, so I was free to ignore them, but... I was drawn towards them for some reason. It was the outfits. They were dressed like maids. Both of them. Come to think of it, the master of this mansion was a big fan of maids, wasn’t she?
“Um... Great Demon King? You can, uh, leave the window cleaning to me and go take a load off, you know? Please?”
Ulaula was being almost suspiciously polite. I remembered her being a lot nastier... Perhaps, as a former demon, she was afraid to disobey a Demon King—even one from a different world. Said Demon King, however, continued to stand there with her arms folded even after Ulaula told her she could go take a load off.
“You’re telling me to rest, but... you slack off so much that your master has ordered me to keep an eye on you.”
“So why don’t you slack off too? I’d never tell on you!”
“I’m a freeloader here. This is the least I can do in return, since I was unfortunately told I was ‘unsuitable’ for the kind of work you and Suzuran do.”
Well, she was a Demon King, after all. She probably didn’t know the first thing about housework. But damn if her in a maid outfit wasn’t a feast for the eyes...
Anyway, with that small, delicious detour out of the way, I headed up to Rosalind’s room. After I arrived on the third floor, I poked my head in to see if she was there first, then floated right through the closed door to enter. Rosalind was sitting back in a rocking recliner, looking at the ceiling. She had a rather serious look on her face, as though she was contemplating something.
“Hmph... that Rekka,” she muttered as she fiddled with the ends of her twin tails.
Was she thinking about Rekka? Let’s have a look inside.
Why is that boy always surrounded by other girls... Shouldn’t he be spending more time with me?
Hm? I’m pretty sure Rosalind was there for both the water park and the study camp. Or did that mean she wanted him to hang out with just her?
And he was the one who said he’d make me happy...
That wasn’t exactly what he'd said, but I suppose it was the spirit of it. Whether he knew that or not was a different story. Rosalind gripped the arms of the recliner, clearly irritated.
So why does he insist on flirting with other girls instead of me? Does he want to feel my wrath?!
Whoa, I never knew rocking chairs could rock that fast. Just as I was starting to worry she might hurl her tiny body straight out of the chair, she came to a sudden stop.
Or perhaps... Is it that I don’t have enough charm?
Rosalind shook her head furiously, as if vehemently denying it. But her expression gradually clouded as her mind filled with doubt. She must’ve been wondering why Rekka hadn’t put the moves on her... not that he’d put the moves on anyone yet.
Shortly after that came two swift knocks at the door.
“Mistress, I have brought you some tea.”
“Oh... Suzuran, is that you? Do come in.”
Suzuran entered the room wearing her maid uniform. She was pushing a cart carrying a tea set. She wheeled it over to the antique table next to the recliner and started to prepare black tea and snacks. Her every move was skillfully executed. It hadn’t even been half a year since this former homunculus had become a maid, but it seemed that she’d already mastered the art. I guess being a maid really did suit her.
Rosalind watched her working with a neutral expression, but then eagerly looked up into her eyes.
“Say, Suzuran...”
“Yes? What is it, Mistress?”
“Well, you see... I know I needn’t ask, since there’s no way... But in order to get a second opinion, I should like to ask you something just in case. Something important. Though it is just in case...”
“Yes?”
“...Am I lacking in charm as a woman?”
“Would you prefer a blunt opinion or an unreserved one?”
“If I had to choose, then be direct... Wait, are those not the same?”
“Then my blunt opinion is as follows.” Smoothly ignoring Rosalind’s comment, Suzu
ran spoke her mind frankly. “If I absolutely had to identify an area where my mistress is lacking as a woman, then I would say, putting it bluntly, that you are too childish.”
“What...? D-Despite my appearance, I’m over 500 years old!”
“I’m not talking about your age, Mistress, but your appearance. Compared to the knowledge I have gained, your boobs are fatally lacking.”
“M-My boobs?!”
Wow, Suzuran, that really was blunt.
“Animals that walk on four legs show their sex appeal with their backsides. But as bipedal creatures, that’s harder to see on a human. Instead, boobs fulfill the role of displaying our sex appeal. I believe that is the area you should concentrate on developing first, Mistress.”
Rosalind’s astonishment was so loud on her face that it was nearly audible. The cold, hard truth Suzuran had indifferently dropped on her seemed to have taken its toll.
Why, I never...! To think that I, the great “Jewel of the Night” among vampires, would receive such harsh criticism from a mere servant! No, I knew humans were attracted to breasts, but they’re just lumps of fat in the end! I thought elegance and refinement would have the last word...
“Grrr...”
Rosalind growled in frustration, lamenting the disparity between human and vampire values. Well, in reality, human tastes varied quite widely, so a woman’s bust wasn’t necessarily a determiner in her sex appeal, but still... Having bigger boobs never hurt.
“Mistress, the tea will get cold. Mistress...?”
Suzuran tilted her head as she tried to get Rosalind's attention, but Rosalind wasn’t listening.
Now that I think about it, the way Iris latches on to him has always been suspicious! Curses! What shall I do?! Vampires don’t grow anymore! My chest will stay this exact size forever! There must be a way...
Rosalind furiously pondered her dilemma.
“Mistress, please calm down. That was only my answer if I had to pick something.”
“Hm...?”
Suzuran shook Rosalind’s shoulder to snap her out of it.
“My opinion just now was purely from the biological point of view. You have plenty of charm, Mistress.”
I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 9 Page 8
