by Ko Hiratori
It seemed we were having a school festival, or rather a traditional festival of the school region would be held. I wasn’t interested in it at all but ended up in charge of shopping and set pieces.
It happened before I knew it. I guess because everyone had to do something, or something. The school is so behind the times in that sense. Make a place for someone with lofty ideals like me! I hate working in groups.
“And of the girls, it’ll be Hamazawa, Airi, and Moka. See you after school.”
Huh, girls are coming, too?Hamazawa I knew because she had been in the same junior high as Sekiguchi; we had talked about cards once. I had no idea who the other two were.So it’s three boys and three girls?
What’s up with that? Guys and girls going shopping together after school? Are you nuts? Are you even high-schoolers?
They’re getting a little too excited about this festival. Why should I have to walk outside with a girl and be forced to carry everything?
And I’m sure someone will suggest we go to an arcade or something along the way. Like that baseball mob.
What’s with that? Why should I have to play my card battle game in front of girls from our class? They’ll find out I’m a ranked player. This is why I always say I don’t want to brag.
“Seriouslyyyy?”
The girls who had been named were wincing and saying “This sucks”and whatnot.
“What’s with this group? Are you for real?”
“I don’t get it. How’d you pick these people?”
“Hey, we decided we would take turns shopping, right? That’s all it is.”
“But why does that mean we have to go with them? What a joke.”
They were looking over at us with mean smiles. Us, or maybe more like at Sekiguchi. It was unforgivable, the way they were treating my best friend.
We don’t wanna fucking walk with you either! Go look in the mirror before you start whining.
“Oh, wait. I’ll come with.”
Just as the vibes had reached peak shitty, Haru Koyama volunteered for some reason. Everyone just stared at her.
“Why? You’re working on the stage performance, so you don’t have to do crew stuff.”
“Eh, I gotta be in the Miss JK Contest. I totally forgot, but as long as I’m doing it, I figure I’ll wear a bubble-era styled wig and a bodycon suit—and expense it.”
“Wait a sec, you’re not taking the Miss JK Contest seriously? You’re our class rep!”
“I don’t get it. Well, if it’s Haru, I guess I do.”
“That’s gonna be hilaaarious. We’ll go with and help you shop.”
No, she’ll screw it up. I can only see her screwing up.And why was she bringing up that superficial Miss JK Contest, anyhow?Cut it out.
Stuff like that kinda pisses me off. It irritates me that she can just be like,Eh, I don’t care about the contest.I don’t really care either, but she should have been more into it.Think of the people who elected you, dammit!
It was obvious she was happy to be chosen and liked the attention. She should have just put on the airs of the top school caste she belonged to. Not that I care about nonsense like that.
And if you’re gonna buy something, wouldn’t a swimsuit be better? There’s probably a swimsuit competition.Not that I’d know.And probably also, you know—I bet some lewd character like the student council president or the principal will orchestrate some kind of sexy incident.Not that I’d know.
Well, whatever, she’s our rep. I’ll go see her. Sure, I’ll go to the Miss JK Contest. Gotta show support.
Still. Of all the times to offer to go shopping, she does it when I’m going?What are you up to, Haru Koyama?
She’s not like, observing me, is she? Maybe I should keep an eye on her, too, just in case.It was possible a swimsuit choosing event would be triggered. Not that I had any interest in that whatsoever.
“We don’t have a very big budget, so make it something cheap, like a ’fro.”
“Whaaat? Well, it’s fine. I can work with a ’fro.”
Work with a swimsuit...
{T minus 00:20 to the truck accident}
School’s over, so why do I have to hang around with kids from my class?Geez.
Well, I got tapped, so I didn’t have a choice.I’ll just go and get it over with. I got things to do.Although I did LINE my mom and tell her I might be eating dinner with kids from school.If we’re going, then hurry up, you guys!
“Hey, I keep getting these weird messages. Do you know what this is?”
“What’s wrong, Haru? Oh, ha, it’s just spam. Ignore it.”
“I do, but they just keep coming.”
“Why not block the address?”
“I do. But then they start coming from a different address. What should I do?”
Seriously, though, how long are we gonna twiddle our thumbs here in the classroom? Don’t you feel bad for making me wait with my bag on my shoulder? Hamazawa and Sekiguchi haven’t said a word in a while, either. They’re nervous. How sad. Talk to them.
The bell rang and they were still screwing around like they’d forgotten we had errands to run.The school festival is right around the corner. We all have to work together to make it a success, right? You’re the ones who invited me!
“Tch.” I clicked my tongue and leaned against the window. It seemed like no one heard me, so I did it again.Tch.
“Oh, hold on. Those guys know a lot about this kind of thing.”
Baseball Mob suddenly turned around, so I quietly pretended to be picking at something in my teeth. But apparently he had his eye on Sekiguchi, not me, so he and the girls encircled my awkwardly fidgeting friend.
I bumped my alertness level up while still pretending to look at the blackboard in the back.
“Sekiguchi, do you know what this is? Haru keeps getting these weird messages on her phone. What should she do?”
What, you’re coming to ask us wise IT masters for advice?
All you can do is keep firing domain block bullets while buffing your guard with anti-virus software.It’s a ruthless world, IT is—if you get shot down, all you can do is fall.
“Umm, you’re getting it on your carrier address, right? Do you know your network password?”
“What’s that?”
“If you’ve never used it, then you must still have the default settings. I’m going to open your profile. Is that okay?”
“Sure, go ahead. What are you going to do?”
“I think you should change your settings for receiving messages. Are you getting any newsletters?”
“Huh? No. Or more like I don’t really use my mail that much.”
“For now I’ll make it so you don’t get any mail sent from computers. Or mails with URLs in them. That should reject most spam right there.”
“Wow.” Haru Koyama brushed her hair behind her ear and leaned over to look. She was so indecent, sitting on the window sill with her legs crossed as if on purpose. She probably still even smelled good.
Sekiguchi bit his lip as he worked. “You should be good now,” he said, holding her phone out and nervously pushing his glasses up.
“Thanks!” She was just stretching her hand out when Baseball Mob took the phone.
“Thanks, Sekiguchi.” He wiped it on his pants before handing it back to Haru.
The other girls smirked. “Didn’t he just get your email address?” they said. “It was probably Sekiguchi spamming you in the first place.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” said Sekiguchi, looking down like an idiot.
I did the loudest fucking tongue click in my head. Sekiguchi would never do that sort of thing. He’s my IT disciple. I taught him everything he knows.
But those skills don’t exist to save this bunch. They’re for the weak, innocent masses. Ahh, I just wanna go to another world and use my knowledge to gain the upper hand. Then I’d treat these guys like small fries—that would wake them up.
Just as the gap between our mood and theirs threatened to warp
space-time, Haru Koyama whacked Sekiguchi on the shoulder. “Thanks, Sekiguchi! It’s great to be able to count on you.”
For a second, the atmosphere froze. Just, Sekiguchi’s ears were so red it looked like he got doused with a pan of boiling water. Her face was that close to his.
“Um, Haru, you’re kinda close.”
“Honestly, it’s cruel. I gotta admit I’m surprised.”
“What? Really?”
Sekiguchi was liberated all too simply, and their group went back to ignoring us and getting rowdy over their own conversation. Sekiguchi was gaping like a total doofus, but suddenly came back to himself and became a glasses-adjusting machine.
So what was that all about?
I know what it was. She was just collecting votes. She wanted to get Sekiguchi on board for the Miss JK Contest.You’re playing dirty, class rep!
And I mean, c’mon. Anyone can fiddle with email settings. That’s basic. The only reason Sekiguchi got asked was because I was spacing out by the window. It was such an easy thing. It’s not as if he saved her. It’s not as if he rescued Haru Koyama.
Don’t misunderstand, Sekiguchi. You’re just not that kind of guy. Don’t put your trust in a girl. They’re all looks. Inside they’re ridiculing us. They just flatter us when they need us for something, so if you expect anything, you’ll only be betrayed. Us and them are enemies in the end!
Sekiguchi reached his hand for the spot on his shoulder where Haru Koyama had touched him. I couldn’t bear to watch, so I cleared my throat. “Ah, ngh, ahh.”
It was louder than I thought it would be and ended up sounding like the gasps of a mature woman in some porny manga.
Silence fell in the classroom. Then Baseball Mob said, “Oh right, we have to go shopping.”
Exactly. That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time.
{T minus 00:05 to the truck accident}
“But spam is so funny lots of the time, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. Look at this: ‘This is Iwata. I’m pinging you because Akira changed his addy.’”
“Whoo-hoo! He likes, you, Haru!”
“I totally wondered what I would do if it were actually him.”
“No, c’mon, that would never happen. Don’t get fooled.”
We were on our pilgrimage to the store. From the moment we left school, we’d split into two groups. Walking in front was Baseball Mob with the girls, and behind them was us. Hamazawa was clinging to the three in front a little distance away.
All I could say about the positioning was that it was vaguely dissatisfying. Well, walking all six of us in a line would have been rude. And it wasn’t like the positions had any meaning.
Sekiguchi and I didn’t talk. We chatted often enough at school, but we weren’t good enough friends yet to walk home together or LINE afterward.
“Or like this one. ‘I clicked the link and it sent me to another world. Any questions?’”
“How is he emailing from another world?”
“They probably have the net and smartphones there, don’t you think?”
“What? How handy. I bet they have convenience stores, too.”
“But there are actually lots of isekai ones. ‘I’m in another world recruiting heroes!’ or like, ‘SSR gacha cheats available if you act now in another world!’ I have no idea what they’re talking about, though.”
“They could probably trick the guys behind us.”
That’s a load of crap. I get those messages all the time, but I hardly ever open them. And I only click sometimes.Listening to them made me feel sick.I’d rather talk about anime.
But Sekiguchi had seemed sort of preoccupied for a while now. It was obvious that he was conscious of the presence of the girls in front of us—or rather, a certain girl.
Sekiguchi, are you that easy?
Gimme a break. Are you still thinking about what happened back there? That was definitely a trap. Pure imitation. It’s precisely because she can do that sort of thing to anyone that she’s one of the cool kids.
It would never happen—ever. They’re a different race of people. They know that and come bug us on purpose. They do it to make fun of us.
It’s happened to you a zillion times before, right? Even my cola gets teased. They just want to tear people down and laugh at them.
It’s the worst. I can’t believe it.
{T minus 00:02 to the truck accident}
If the world ever looks gray, jump into the next one without hesitation.
I think it’s a line from a light novel I read as a little kid. I forgot the title and author. I don’t even remember what the scene was or who said it. But I felt like it was telling me to experience all sorts of different stories.
The world is full of so many stories that one person could never experience them all. If you don’t like the one you’re in, go to the next. On and on. The reason we live is to joyfully encounter as many types of content as we can.
That’s why if things won’t work out in this world, you just try in the next. If things don’t work out in high school, there’s college. Or you could join the ranks of the story creators. That’s what I’m going to do.
There’s nothing lamer than being thrown into despair by a kid in your own grade. Our situations aren’t even that different. Maybe to Sekiguchi the world looked rosy, but to me, even if it wasn’t gray, it was definitely some kind of horrible color. I wanted to get this stupid shopping trip over with and go home to my room to watch what I pleased. And I absolutely didn’t want anyone else influencing the color of my life.
“Hey, after we shop, wanna go hang out somewhere?” Baseball Mob asked the girls.
Sekiguchi misinterpreted and raised his head.
Nope.There was no way he would be inviting us. It was definitely the kind of situation where,Sorry, only three people fit in the car.
{T minus 00:01 to the truck accident}
“Oh, it’s my boyfriend!” Haru Koyama’s phone had chimed with a LINE message, and when she looked at it, her face lit up. Baseball Mob seemed lost for words, and Sekiguchi seemed startled.
You dipshits, don’t be getting the wrong idea. Haru Koyama has a boyfriend, and it’s not like she even hides the fact! She even goes around bragging about how hot he is! And look how happy she looks right now!
“Sorry, you guys go ahead.” She put her phone up to her ear and waved us on with her other hand. The other girls teased her a bit, while Baseball Mob just seemed embarrassed.
I felt like it was rude to even watch a girl on the phone with her boyfriend, so I looked away.Why should I have to be the considerate one?
Haru Koyama was walking down the middle of the road, talking in a pitch that was a notch higher than usual. “What’s going on? Don’t you have practice?”
How dumb.
Sekiguchi and I walked gingerly past, trying to avoid catching her attention.
Just then, the sky that had been cloudy since the morning opened up to shine a ray of sun on her.
{T minus 00:00:30 to the truck accident}
“Huh? No, it’s totally fine. Right now I’m out shopping with some kids from school. Ah-ha-ha, yeah! I’m gonna wear an afro!”
She smelled the same way she did that morning. Her voice in my ears tickled like crazy.
I’d been worried about what color the world was, what color the people were, but that stuff didn’t matter anymore. I had the high-school boy thought that if only a girl were next to me and smiling, everything would be perfect. In spite of myself.
I kept my expression neutral—made a face like I wasn’t thinking about Haru Koyama—and sighed. My heart was beating like I’d just gotten out of the pool.
This is the problem with the popular kids. How come their smiles are so easygoing? It makes it seem like I’m a weirdo. Them and their unfair charms.
What if Sekiguchi got the wrong idea again?If you have a boyfriend, don’t spread your kawaii all over! Tch!
No, I’ve never once thought Haru Koyama was cute.
Really. I’m serious.Fuck.
What the hell, geez...
{Truck accident initiates}
“Uh, what’s that truck doing?” Baseball Mob looked down the road.
It came way into the intersection doing a wide, unsteady turn. Hovering between lanes, it caused an oncoming car to slam its brakes. From where we were, it was impossible to tell if the driver was drunk or trying to be cool.
“Hey, let’s move.”
Baseball Mob with a good idea. We should get out of the road, too.
I had the feeling I could probably stop a truck with one hand, but there was no reason I had to try it right then.
“Huh? Where’s Haru?” said Baseball Mob.
She’s on the phone.
{T minus 00:00:05 to being transported to another world}
“Koyama!”
Sekiguchi’s shout startled us all.
Haru Koyama looked up, too, but she didn’t seem to realize why he’d called her name.
The truck’s wheels squealed as it tilted on the straight road.
Someone shoved me, and I tripped.
{T minus 00:00:04 to being transported to another world}
The one who ran into me was Baseball Mob. As I was losing my balance, I saw him, trying to flee, crash into Sekiguchi who had suddenly cut in. That was some fabulous footwork by Sekiguchi, but in the next instant, he stepped on something and fell. Baseball Mob then tripped over him and fell, too.
The dark liquid spraying everywhere was coming from my crushed bottle of cola.
{T minus 00:00:03 to being transported to another world}
With its wheels still audibly slipping, the truck headed right for us without slowing down at all.
