The Result Of Picking Up A Villainess39 min read
From the moment I realized it, the memory was already there.
Alone in a cramped room, a warmth that dissipates the moment I think I’ve grasped it, and a lonely memory that never ends; when did I realize that it was a memory of a previous life?
But the same time as I realized that… I had parted with something even in my current life.
Father, mother, and my little sister… In the blink of an eye, my precious family left this world, leaving me all alone in it.
This time around, the me who had lost my family was taken in by my grandmother who really loved me.
But soon after, she also left me and went to join my father and everybody else.
And I was all alone again.
I thought to myself, even if someone like me was to be reborn, I will always be alone forever.
To lose that warmth no matter how much I receive it, this is probably fate for someone like me.
Realizing that, I stopped looking for warmth, for that special something.
I was passed around to all of my relatives, and even after I settled down with a distant relative at the age of 15, I decided that I would live without getting close to anyone so I could live all by myself, never wishing for anything.
It was at that time that I met them– no, I met her.
Two girls who were among the children who had come to play at the dojo owned by a relative I was entrusted to before.
One was an active, cheerful, and adorable girl, and the other was a quiet, somewhat gloomy girl.
When I met them, for some reason, it felt like I had seen them before.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I asked my neighbors about their names and their familial circumstances.
Then, after I heard their names and circumstances, I realized that these were exactly the same as the ones within my memories.
They were characters from a manga I had read when I was a kid in my previous life.
It was a manga I borrowed from an older girl in my neighborhood, one that was very popular among girls at the time.
【One day, Haruka, a high schooler, was summoned to a different world on her way to school.
Before she came to her senses in an unknown the palace, “You are the chosen maiden. Please save this world from the hands of the monsters.” And despite her confusion, she went to defeat the monsters together with the men tasked to escort her.
After some time, Mayumi, a classmate from her old world appeared in front of Haruka.
Mayumi, who even in class would hide inconspicuously in the shadow, was actually a childhood friend of Haruka’s. However, after she moved away, the two became estranged.
Then, when they met each other again in high school, for some reason Mayumi refused to get close to Haruka.
The two people who had such a relationship met again in a different world.
In reality, Mayumi was dragged into Haruka’s summoning and was also pulled to a different world.
In contrast to Haruka, who was happy to be reunited, Mayumi developed a strong hostility towards Haruka.
It was because, unlike Haruka, who was summoned in the palace, Mayumi was summoned into a dangerous area and was violated by a group of thugs who were there.
Mayumi who had to go through such terrible experience hated Haruka who could still stay bright and was cherished by everyone.
And then, Mayumi, who was swallowed by anger, attacked Haruka.
From then on, as Haruka’s rival, as a villain, Mayumi became an existence that aimed to put an end to Haruka from the shadows.
Even though Haruka didn’t know about Mayumi’s situation, she somehow kept fighting.
Eventually Haruka discovered that the hate driven Mayumi was possessed by a monster. She then somehow managed to expel the monster from Mayumi.
Haruka, who succeeded in tearing off the monster after an intense battle, was about to be killed by the monster.
Then, Mayumi shielded Haruka and lost her life.
Mayumi had moved away all those years ago because she had been being abused by her parents. From then one, she stayed with various relatives. Those experiences turned her into someone unable to trust others.
That was why when Haruka called out to her in highschool, she couldn’t believe her easily.
Then, after she was dragged in to another world and was violated, she began to hate Haruka. That was when the monster possessed her.
However, Mayumi who told Haruka all of those things, in the end, also whispered, “But I actually really like Haruka”.
For the lonely Mayumi, Haruka who she met again in high school and talked to her cheerfully was irreplaceable.
Haruka started to deeply hate the monsters after Mayumi’s death. In the end, the monsters were eliminated from another world.】
The reason I remembered the contents of a manga I had read during the youth of my previous life was… because the villain and rival Mayumi left a deep impression on me.
A lonely girl who was abused by her parents and couldn’t reach out to anyone, it was because she resembled me in the previous life.
When Mayumi lost her life to safe Haruka, I cried.
That was the first and last time that I cried when I read a manga.
That was why I realized Haruka and Mayumi were who appeared in front of me.
Two girls whose faces and personalities resembled the younger versions of those girls from the manga. Then there was also the match with Mayumi’s childhood …
Will they go on to be like manga counterparts after this?
A girl named Haruka will be summoned to another world, and a girl named Mayumi …
Even so, it doesn’t matter to me … I tried to think so.
I decided I wouldn’t be deeply involved with anyone anymore.
However, one day on my the way home from school, when I found Mayumi standing alone in a dimly lit park, her lonely little back… before I knew it, I had already rushed to her side.
Then… I reached out to her tiny hand.
With my realizing, time passed.
“Hey, I brought breakfast, Miki”
“… Mayumi, I’ve said many times, say something before you open the door.”
Mayumi, who opened the door without checking, quickly entered the room and said, “Yes, yes,” while yawning.
I didn’t know about this.
“…… oh and Mayumi, your language”
“Yes yes, I’ll listen about this later, if you don’t eat your food quickly, you’ll be late, you know.”
And so I was dragged out by Mayumi. When I walked into the kitchen, Kozo, the head of the house had already shoved some rice into his mouth.
“Good, morning”
Kozo says so while stirring the delicious looking white rice. Sachie, the wife of Kozo, was standing by the sink. She also turned to give a smile.
“Good morning”
“Good morning. Master, Sachie-san.”
Kozo and Sachie are the couple who readily took me in 9 years ago. They did so despite only being distant relatives and having almost never seen my face.
They were a couple not blessed with children, yet taught kendo to children in the dojo attached to the house. Not just that, they also cared for them in various ways. As such, the children of the neighborhood had been gathering in the dojo for a long time.
Then one day, when I pulled Mayumi back home by hand and explained her situation to them, the good natured couple took care of Mayumi by bringing her into their house too.
According to Kozo, “one or two people won’t make a difference”.
And so we both were cared for by that house.
I became an adult while Mayumi, who was a small girl, became a high school student.
“A~h, ji ~i-chan, that fish was mine!”
It seemed that Mayumi’s side dish was taken by Kozo and she raised a discontented noise.
Mayumi, who was taken in by the couple from the age of 7, already thought of them as real family. She called them Ji-chan and Ba-chan all the time.
When Mayumi called them that, the two who wereabout to reach 80 spoiled her like she was their own grandchild.
Is that why she acted like that…
An engine sounds with, Buon Buon,
“Good morning. Anego, I came to pick you up.”
And then I heard a loud voice came from the entrance.
“Damn, I’m late.”
Mayumi stood up quickly, said “I’m going” and energetically went out the door.
At the entrance, as usual, Mayumi’s underlings, the boys and girls (Mayumi’s so said friends) were all waiting on their own motorcycles.
When Mayumi came out, they took off their helmets and greeted her with a bow.
It is the usual morning sight. The neighbors were surprised at first, but had since grown accustomed to it.
The little girl who was standing alone in the park that day… had now become the leader of all the local delinquents.
There was no sign that things would develop like that nine years ago.
Why did this happen?
“As I thought, it was the fault of Master and everyone else for spoiling her too much…”
I whisper involuntarily with distant eyes.
“What is it?”
Said Kozo who was still eating (probably the third bowl by now).
“It’s Mayumi. Before I knew it, she became such a violent person, and the way she speaks seems to mimic master’s.”
“Well, the change in the way she speaks maybe my fault, but it’s your fault she became so violent.”
“Eh! Why is it my fault? Rather, I tried to raise her properly so she could grow up to be girl-like.”
I was surprised by that sort of false accusation, When I looked at Kozo, I was met with a rather doubtful expression.
“Is there a need for a girl to learn a lot of martial arts in her future?”
“No, but there’s a lot of dangerous things for girls.”
“Is there a need to learn how to defeat someone and target their weak points?”
“No, but you never know for sure….”
“Is there a need to train every day on how destroy someone’s weak points?”.
“When something dangerous happens….”
Certainly, I’d been teaching Mayumi not only kendo but various other martial arts along with how to properly defeat an enemy. (Thanks to that, I became quite proficient myself.)
But that was because, if, if by any chance, Mayumi, like in the manga, was to be dragged to another world, even if she were surrounded by a group of thugs, she could defend herself.
However, no one would believe this story, so I raised her while saying, “You’re a girl, so this is to avoid any danger”.
But, now that someone else was saying it,
“Maybe it was a bit overkill.”
I didn’t want her to be a female leader of a delinquent gang, you know….
“Well, even though it wasn’t early, by the time I realized it, it was already too late.”
Kozo said that while laughing.
Then he hit my back.
“Well, that’s that. We’re relying on you today too, teacher,”
And pointed to the dojo.
“Yes.”
After graduating from university, I started to help Kozo teach Kendo to students in the dojo attached to our house.
That’s why, today, together with Kozo, we headed to the dojo.
When I went outside to clean the entrance of the dojo, the sky was a cloudless blue sky.
Nine years after reaching out to Mayumi, she became a second-year high school student that spring.
I raised a girl that was not similar to the one inside the manga, but her high school was the same as Haruka’s.
Mayumi, who happily told me, “I met a childhood friend,” seemed to get along well without avoiding Haruka like in the manga.
I remembered that Haruka was summoned to another world in the manga around the summer of the 2nd year of high school.
That time will come soon.
It’s different from the manga, so it’s okay. Also, it’s not realistic to be summoned to a different world.
So, this memory of mine … I’m worried about various things and my anxiety grows.
If, Mayumi really gets involved in a different world like in that manga …
Mayumi …
“That’s why Mayumi loses her life protecting Haruka.”
Mayumi kept listening silently until I concluded my story.
I was alone in the dojo at the house. I finally told Mayumi that I had a memory of my previous life, and that Mayumi appeared inside a manga I read.
Of course, I didn’t think she would believe me so easily. I was prepared to be dragged away by a doctor to a mental hospital.
Still, I couldn’t help telling her because I was worried about the future.
And Mayumi after listening to the story said,
“So that’s why, that’s the reason Miki trained me, huh?”
As she was convinced.
“…… Eh, Mayumi, did you believe me? “
It was hard for me to believe Mayumi had believed my story so easily.
“Because, it’s the truth, right?”
“… That’s right, but don’t you have any doubts?”
Is it okay for a child to believe such a dreamlike story so easily?
“No, if someone else told me about something like this, I’d be convinced that person is lying, but I’m talking to you.”
“Because it’s me?”
“Yeah, because you’re always serious and never ever tell a joke. There’s no way you’re going to go out of your way to make this kind of story.”
Mayumi laughed at me when she said that.
Well, for whatever reason, it helped me that she believed it so easily. Then this won’t take long.
“That ’s why, Mayumi, you should be absent from school for a while.”
“Huh!? Why should I do that?”
When I talked about the subject, Mayumi bit it.
“As I said, if you go to school like this, you might get caught up with Haruka and be summoned to another world. You believed me, didn’t you?”
“No, I certainly believed the story, but will it really happen?”
“I don’t know for sure … but there is a chance that it might happen.”
Mayumi’s environment and personality had changed so much, it was possible it wouldn’t happen like in the manga. However, the more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt about letting Mayumi to go to school.
“Can you even rest while you don’t know if this will really happen? And you said for a while, but for how long exactly? Don’t you know the exact time or location in school?”
“I don’t know the exact date or place since the manga started after the characters was summoned… it was just that the uniform the main character wore was summer clothes and that she was a high school sophomore.”
“Then, I need to be absent during the time everyone is wearing summer uniforms. If I take a break like that, I’ll have to repeat a year, you know?”
What Mayumi said was right.
Being absent from school for so long just because I didn’t know if something was going to happen with such vague information was a bad idea. Then,
“Then, please, at least don’t get too close to Haruka.”
“You know, Haruka is my friend and we’re in the same class. That ’s not possible. Also, it ’s rude to Haruka if I start to avoid her.”
The high school girl returned a straightforward argument and left me speechless.
All she said was right, it was right, but…
“To begin with, in the unlikely event I’m summoned to another world and, as you say, am surrounded by a few thugs, do you think the me now will lose? Rather, I’m the one going to defeat them. “
Certainly, Mayumi, who was now a gang leader, was more likely to do that.
“If that’s the case, then I’m not going to be possessed by monsters. I’m confident I won’t die so easily when I protect Haruka.”
The more she said, the more convinced I became. The female gang leader whom I trained for over 9 years was undefeated in the area.
Not long ago, she was commended by the police for using her bare hands to defeat a robber armed with a knife. (When I heard that, I scolded her for doing dangerous things.)
“Therefore, there is little chance that I will die in a different world. So, are you still worried about that, Miki?”
Mayumi said that and stared straight at me.
Certainly, Mayumi might be okay even if she went to another world. She might even be able to live safely there.
She might end up living happily in the different world just like the manga’s main character, Haruka.
She wouldn’t be able to return to this world … right—in the end, Haruka never returned to her original world after all.
It was because she fell in love with an escort man from another world and chose him …
If Mayumi made such a choice and didn’t come back…
Ah, I’m really afraid …
“Hey, say why you’re worried about me.”
I couldn’t give an answer to Mayumi who stared straight into my eyes.
I decided to live alone, to not seek anyone.
The answer was there, but I just didn’t want to admit it…. I sighed and looked at Mayumi’s back as she left.
After that, it became the summer when Mayumi couldn’t be absent from school.
The students changed to their summer school uniforms and Mayumi had already been wearing her summer uniform for some time.
Although Mayumi often hung out with delinquent children, she was a serious student. She attended school every day without any absents.
Every morning, I saw her off with while praying for her return. Then, when she came home safely, I’d be relieved.
Then, Mayumi’s high school entered summer vacation. By the time the holidays ended, the uniforms will have returned to how they were before.
She might not be summoned to another world.
I was thinking about so much, that became how I came to think of it.
“Teacher, teacher”
When I was called, I hurriedly turned around.
“Oh, what is it?”
“Sensei, why are you spacing out?”
An elementary school girl attending the kendo class stared at me with her clear eyes.
Oh no, I was in the middle of the lesson, but I was completely lost in thought.
“Yeah, I ’m just thinking about something.”
I answered, and elementary school girl said,
“What, teacher, are you in love?”
As I was about to ask her where she learned such words, a slightly older girl said,
“There’s no such thing, grandpa teacher said that teacher never had a girlfriend even to this day.”
Elementary school students these days grow up really fast.
And Master… what are you telling your students?
As I was overwhelmed by the elementary schoolers, a junior high school student came and said,
“Speaking of which, Mayumi-nee-chan will be on summer vacation from today. I want to see nee-chan practice again, but she’s not here?”
Mayumi would help us with the children’s practice during the holidays.
And the bright Mayumi was also quite popular.
“Are? Now that you mention it, she’s supposed to be here. Where is she?”
That’s right, she said, “I’ll come to practice today”, but I hadn’t seen her anywhere.
My voice seemed to reach Kozo’s ears. He was looking at the students from a little further back,
“Ah, if it’s Mayumi, she went to school to get a set of assignments. She said she forgot about them.”
He answered.
“Oh, is that so?”
Mayumi, even such a talented girl like her had a clumsy side too, huh?
Even though she said, “Now, it ’s holiday starting today. I’m gonna laze around inside my house for a while.” She had to return to school on the first day of the holidays? Surely, she went while complaining and complaining.
“Why this is … It was the first day of summer vacation”
It suddenly revived my memory.
It was the dialogue that the heroine of the manga Haruka said after being summoned to another world.
Unfortunately, the lines that were not in the speech balloons did not remain in my memory.
But I now remembered clearly.
“It was the first day of summer vacation”
I jumped out of the dojo.
It seemed that Kozo was surprised and called me, but I ran like crazy without looking back.
Running like I had never run before in my life, I arrived at the high school Mayumi attended.
The school buildings had I visited several times to deliver to Mayumi’s forgotten stuff were much quieter than usual. Probably because everyone was on holiday.
I wouldn’t normally enter the school without permission, but please forgive me for that day.
I entered the front and looked for Mayumi.
If you forgot something, would you be in the classroom?
Looking for the classroom, I saw light from the back of the hallway.
I had a very bad feeling and ran towards the light.
Was I too late!?
There was a pattern that I had never seen on the floor of the classroom. The light overflowed into the hallway.
Within was Haruka and Mayumi.
No, to be exact, the figure that resembled Haruka in the center of the pattern was already much fainter. Mayumi at the end was still clearly visible.
If I can drag Mayumi away from the pattern, maybe it will be fine.
So I entered the classroom and reached out to Mayumi … but there was an invisible wall there.
Don’t go there, If you go,
“Mayumi! Get away from there!”
“Miki! Why are you here?”
Mayumi who noticed me made a surprise voice.
“That, it’s not important, get out of there quickly!”
“Well~~, I want to do that, but there’s a wall here so I can’t get out.”
Mayumi said with a troubled face.
“… it seems that it’s impossible even from the other side …”
“It looks like that. It seems like I’m being summoned to another world. It’s just as Miki said.”
Hahaha. Mayumi laughed.
“This isn’t the time to laugh! This wall!”
I hit the invisible wall with my body, but I just felt pain in return.
“Fuck!”
When I shouted, Mayumi said something that didn’t fit the situation,
“It’s refreshing to hear Miki, who always has a refined image, say such a violent word.”
Mayumi is still her usual self even in this kind of situation.
“Well, you won’t be able to do anymore than this. Miki, did you find out why you were so worried about me who’s going to a different world?”
“That is……”
To me who was stuck without a word, Mayumi said.
“Now, tell me.”
While wearing a lonely expression like when she was young.
Nine years ago, a girl that I was supposed to save, and while I was with her, I was able to laugh as if I was with my family again.
I was trying to save her but before I knew it, she was the one saving me.
To not make important bonds, to live alone, I was supposed to live strongly like that …
Ah, I had to admit it,
“That’s because … you might not come back . I can’t stand losing you from my side. Mayumi, because you are important! Because I want to be by your side from now on!”
When those words left my mouth, I felt that it was already a matter of course from a long time ago.
The lonely memory of my previous life, my lost family, I seem to be suited to being alone. That’s why … I was afraid of hope.
I want to be near someone.
But it was too late.
The girl who grabbed my hand with her small hand became an irreplaceable and important existence for me… I didn’t want to lose her.
Mayumi who heard my words said,
“You finally said it.”
And she laughed.
In her face was an unreliable feeling of loneliness. There was an expression that seemed to like a child who just did something bad.
“You’ve become someone important to me. You want to stay with me from now on. I’ve finally got those words.”
“……yeah”
Mayumi, influenced by emotion, smiled a smile I had never seen before.
And….
“Okay, then, I ’ll come back after a quick fix over there. After that, let’s get married!”
“…!?”
Suddenly, I became speechless after hearing the content of her words.
“Because you will always be with me, right?! I am already 16 years old, so I can get married. There is no problem!”
I did say from now on, did I say always… did I,
“Why did it suddenly become that?”
“It’s not sudden, it’s been 9 years. Miki was just too dull and didn’t notice. Jii-chan and the others have already given their permission!”
“…”
When I acknowledged my feelings … I did tell you that I wanted to be with you and you’re important … but that and this…
To me who was stunned by such a sudden development,
“Anyway, that’s why, be prepared and wait, Mikihito!”
Mayumi kissed me through the invisible wall and disappeared into the light.
I was so stunned, I couldn’t keep up with reality. I, Mikihito Aida, 24 years old, an adult man.
My head was terribly confused by the sudden confession of a girl who I thought as a cute little sister, no—daughter.
The only thing that was certain was that the expression Mayumi made in the end was so beautiful it captivated me.
And then Mayumi came back really quickly just as she declared and approached me furiously.
And, I didn’t know yet at that time that the outer moat had already been completely hardened. I cannot help but be defeated.
And then the deal was sealed. At that time, I still didn’t know that I had already been defeated.
I, Sakai Mayumi, was a child who didn’t know the warmth of people until that day when I was seven years old.
My mother was basically indifferent to me, but when I made noise and cried, I was beaten.
I didn’t want to be hurt. So I lived my life with as little emotion as possible.
The neighborhood kids always invited me to play because they were told by the adults to get along with me.
It was fun to play with them, but I had to listen to fun stories about their families.
When it was time to go home, I always went home last.
I was alone in the park while everyone was going home happily.
When I went home too early, my mother’s lover would be there. I’d get beaten if I was in the way.
Alone in the dark park, I waited for the time to pass.
At that time, I never thought I was lonely or sad.
Because it was how things were.
It was a cold winter day.
As Christmas approached, everyone was struck by the topic.
I just silently listened to everyone’s fun stories about their feasts and what gifts they could get. As usual, I was killing time in the park.
It was supposed to be the same as usual … but I felt lonely for some reason.
The empty park felt wider than usual.
It was at that time.
“If you stay here, you’ll catch a cold.”
It was a man who spoke.
I felt like I had seen that tall and brutal looking person somewhere.
While I was stunned,
“Just come to my house and warm up for the time being.”
The person took my hand and started walking.
I was told I shouldn’t go home with people I don’t know at school … but my hands were so warm that I didn’t feel like shaking them away.
So I was taken to a dojo where I used to play with my neighbors and enjoyed a warm meal. Maybe that was the feast everyone kept talking about.
I thought that the person who invited me to this place was an adult because of his stature. I was very surprised when I was told that he was still a junior high school student by the grandpa at the Dojo.
As I told the people at the dojo that I always wait at the park for my mother’s lover to leave and that I was beaten if I made a noise, I was supposed to be sent to an institution. Instead, the nice grandpa and the others took me as their own.
And then, I became a family with Kozo Ji-chan, Sachie Ba-chan, and Mikihito.
And then, enjoying my life, time had passed.
I was 16 years old and I became a high school sophomore.
“Iya~~, when Miki pulled your hand and brought you here, I wondered if he had kidnapped a girl.”
Kozo Ji-chan, who laughed and accepted me, was soon be 80 years old, but he was still fine.
Just like always, I was eating delicious looking white rice in the morning.
“Ji-chan, if you eat too fast, the rice will be stuck in your throat, you know?”
“It won’t, so don’t worry. Anyway, tell Miki it’s time to eat.”
“Yes~”
Then I went to call my benefactor, Mikihito Aida, who had been there with me for nine years.
“Hey, time for breakfast, Miki”
When I got to the front of the Mikihito’s room, I opened the sliding door. And then…
“… Mayumi, I’ve said many times, say something before you open the door!”
Mikihito told me with a difficult expression.
The serious and meticulous Mikihito was already ready.
In nine years of being raised together, I had never seen him mess up
“Yes, yes.”
“…… Oh, and Mayumi, your language.”
When Mikihito opened his mouth, he always scolded me.
“Yes yes. I’ll listen about this later. If you don’t eat your food quickly, you’ll be late, you know.”
I then pulled Mikihito into the kitchen.
When I was young, there was a time when I called Mikihito as Mikihito Onii-chan. But after becoming aware of my feelings, I started to call him Miki, the same as Ji-chan and the others.
In front of the always the stern Mikihito that always spoke with honorifics, I deliberately used words like those used by Kozo as an act of rebellion against someone who treated me as his little sister, no—as a daughter … Even though Kozo and Sachie had realized it, he still had not noticed at all.
When I dragged Mikihito to the kitchen, Kozo, the head of the house had already shoved some rice into his mouth.
“Good morning.”
Kozo says so while stirring the delicious looking white rice. Sachie, the wife of Kozo, was standing by the sink. She also turned to give a smile.
“Good morning.”
And then Mikihito returned their greeting like usual,
“Good morning.”
Mikihito always talked to everybody with honorifics, and he also treated everybody the same way.
When I was a kid, I asked him why he did that and he answered with a troubled expression,
“So I won’t make anybody special.”
Or so he told me.
At that time, I didn’t understand what he meant, but by then, I think I understood it a little.
After that, Ji-chan told me about Mikihito’s past. That when he was still a kid, he lost his parents and his sister, and then he also lost his grandmother. In the end, he was taken by various relatives.
One particular relative didn’t really treat him well. His use of honorifics was the effect of that treatment.
Always losing things that he held dear.
Maybe that’s why Mikihito was afraid to take another chance.
Both Kozo and Sachie noticed Mikihito’s feelings didn’t dare to say anything.
But I … I couldn’t just keep watching such a Mikihito gently like Kozo or Sachie.
I, the me who was given something important by Mikihito, I wanted him who taught me happiness to notice this feeling. I wanted him to notice it.
Because I…..
The engine sounds with a Buon Buon,
“Good morning. Anego, I came to pick you up.”
Then, a loud voice sounded from the entrance.
I then returned from being lost in my thoughts.
It seemed that my friends came to pick me up.
“Damn, I’m late.”
I hurriedly got up and left home with the lunch box made by Sachie Baa-chan,
“I’m going.”
In front of the entrance, as usual, my friends were waiting on their own customized bikes.
They looked flashy, but they’re all honest and gentle.
At first, I was curious about the bad kids that hung out near the neighborhood. Then, before I knew it, we became friends.
To pick me up, someone who wasn’t a morning person, really good friends.
And then I went to school with everyone.
“I think it will be faster if I just push him down.”
I, who had returned from school, said that to Ji-chan and Ba-chan.
“Wow, Mayu’s so bold.”
Said Ba-chan,
“You should be a little more feminine.”
Said Ji-chan.
“Because even if I keep going with this approach, I doubt that that Mikihito will notice my feelings….”
He took the lonely me away from that park and then he also treated me nicely.
There’s no way I wouldn’t fall in love with that kind of guy.
When I went to through a difficult time, he stayed by my side and said to me, “I am your friend”.
And then there was that spartan martial arts training that he gave me. I didn’t know why he did it, but I’m sure he did it for my sake. That was why I did my best.
That was the first time I discovered that having an ally stand by your side could make people strong.
I had only lived for 16 years, but I was sure that I loved Mikihito so much that I would never love anyone else the same way.
But … Mikihito didn’t notice any of my advances.
Rather, Ji-chan and Ba-chan had noticed first.
“… If Ji-chan and the others cooperate, things will go faster.”
When I complained, they just answered with their usual answer,
“No, you are certainly our cute child, but Miki is also the same. There will be no preferential treatment. Right, grandma?”
“Fufufu, that’s right.”
“You said that, but he just always keep his distance.”
Mikihito who had lost many things that were dear to him just avoided any intimacy with other people and also refused to get close to anyone.
That’s why he didn’t notice my feelings.
“The darkness in Miki ’s heart is so deep that he is always trying to get out away from other people and live his life alone.”
Kozo told me sometime ago.
Certainly, Miikihito seemed to think like that.
But …
“That’s not true… Mikihito really likes this place, and everyone is important to him. He wants to be together with us.”
“That ’s right, But if Miki himself can’t recognize it, he will be too afraid to admit that he wants to be together with us. ”
Mikito who became alone, Mikito who was alone, Mikito who was afraid to lose something again.
“Even though I won’t let him be alone anymore. If he just says to me to stay by his side, then I’ll just follow him wherever he goes. ”
“Hahahaha, I’m sure you can do that … yes, if you can just make Mikihito says that he wants you by his side, then we won’t say that we won’t cooperate.”
“Eh? Really?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want you to force him to say it. He will have to say it himself.”
“I understand! If I make Mikihito say it, then please cooperate properly!”
“Yeah!”
Kozo laughed while showing his white teeth.
“Okay! Then, if the Mikihito admits it, we’ll get married so that he can’t run away later! I’m 16 years old now! So you will approve it, right, Ji-chan?”
As I said so, Kozo laughed out loud and said.
“I understand.”
“That’s why Mayumi loses her life protecting Haruka.”
I kept listening silently until he concluded his story inside the Dojo.
Memories of a previous life, characters from a manga—that story was too funny and insane.
But…
“So that’s why, that’s the reason Miki trained me, huh?”
So Mikihito’s spartan martial arts education was all because of this?
I was wondering what I was going to fight, but that was the reason, huh…
…… Well, thanks to that, I was able to become strong enough to not have any enemies around here.
“…… Eh, Mayumi, did you believe me?”
Mikihito said as he was surprised by my answer.
“Because, it’s the truth, right?”
“… That’s right, but don’t you have any doubts?”
To the Mikihito who was more confused than me, I said,
“No, if someone else told me about something like this, I’d be convinced that person is lying, but I’m talking to you.”
“Because it’s me?”
“Yeah, because you’re always serious and never ever tell a joke. There’s no way you’re going to go out of your way to make up this kind of story.”
There was no way the serious and inflexible Mikihito could come up with something like this.
And more importantly, Mikihito who had experienced the death of his family would never joke around with someone’s life and death.
I believed him because I spent my life together with him and I knew Mikihito as a human being.
Then Mikihito who was convinced made a serious face again,
“That ’s why, Mayumi, you should be absent from school for a while.”
And said a stupid thing.
“Huh!? Why should I do that?”
I yelled unintentionally, but the trunk did not budge. With a serious face, he said,
“As I said, if you keep going to school like this, you might get caught up with Haruka and be summoned to another world. You believed me, didn’t you?”
“No, I certainly believed the story, but will it really happen?”
“I don’t know for sure … but there is a chance that it might happen.”
“Can you even rest while you don’t know if this will really happen? And you said for a while, but for how long exactly? Don’t you know the exact time or location in school?”
“I don’t know the exact date or place since the manga started after the characters were summoned… it was just that the uniform the main character wore was summer clothes and that she was a high school sophomore.”
“Then, I need to be absent during the time everyone is wearing summer uniforms. If I take a break like that, I’ll have to repeat a year, you know?”
To be honest, I was aiming for the perfect attendance award, so there was no way that I wouldn’t go.
As I said that, Mikihito was thinking about something and then he said,
“Then, please at least don’t get too close to Haruka.”
“You know, Haruka is my friend and we’re in the same class. That ’s not possible. Also, it ’s rude to Haruka if I start to avoid her.”
There was no way Haruka would believe me if I told her that story about another world. Also, if I just avoided her without saying anything, it would feel like I was bullying her.
“To begin with, in the unlikely event I’m summoned to another world and, as you say, am surrounded by a few thugs, do you think the me now will lose? Rather, I’m the one going to defeat them.”
I was trained a lot in case an emergency happened.
If I fought against someone who knew some martial arts, then I might struggle a bit. But, I doubted I would have any problems against some thugs.
“If that’s the case, then I’m not going to be possessed by monsters. I’m confident I won’t die so easily when I protect Haruka.”
I concluded so. And said,
“Therefore, there is little chance that I will die in a different world. So, are you still worried about that, Miki?”
The Mikihito who picked me up in the past was probably worried that I was going to be summoned to another world. That current Mikihito, I think, was worrying about something else.
It might have been the answer I had always wanted from him.
I stared straight at Mikihito.
However, Mikihito did not open his mouth at all.
“Hey, say why you’re worried about me.”
Despite my question, Mikihito never answered anything.
When I saw the light appear in the classroom, I thought to myself, “Ah, this is the summoning to another world that Mikihito was talking about.”
I believed what Mikihito said, but I hadn’t taken it seriously. At least, I didn’t until that really appeared, not until that really happened.
To be honest, I also thought there was no way it could happen.
So, I didn’t care when today, the first day of summer vacation, I went to school to pick up something I forgotten about and met Haruka. Not even when the 2 of us entered the classroom.
But … in fact, that happened.
A light appeared from the pattern that emerged around Haruka. I couldn’t think of it as anything from this world.
Then there was an invisible wall that couldn’t be seen around the pattern. I couldn’t get out.
Ah, I was really being taken to another world.
When I thought so, I regretted that I couldn’t get the words I wanted from Mikihito.
If I pushed, pushed, and pushed even more maybe,
“Mayumi! Get away from there!”
I heard the voice of someone who shouldn’t have been there. When I was confused by it. I saw that person standing there.
“Miki! Why are you here?”
Mikihito appeared at the school while still wearing his hakama.
“That, it’s not important, get out of there, quickly!”
I felt that Miki’s flustered appearance was somewhat refreshing
“Well~~, I want to do that, but there’s a wall here so I can’t get out.”
“… it seems that it’s impossible even from the other side …”
“Looks like it. It seems like I ’m being summoned to another world. It’s just as Miki said.”
I laughed and said that.
“This isn’t the time to laugh! This wall!”
Mikihito then rammed the invisible wall with his body. I had never seen this side of Mikihito before.
“Fuck!”
“It’s refreshing to hear Miki, who always has a refined image, say such a violent word.”
Mikihito, someone who always spoke with honorifics, someone who always acted courteously, the good role model for children. I then said,
“Well, you won’t be able to do anymore than this. Miki, did you find out why you were worried about me who is going to a different world?”
“That is……”
“Now, tell me.”
I said that as my last bet, then he said,
“That’s because … you might never return. I can’t stand losing you from my side. Mayumi, because you are important! Because I want to be by your side from now on!”
“You finally said it.”
I ended up thinking about words that I finally pulled out of the stubborn Mikihito.
“You’ve become someone important to me. You want to stay with me from now on. I’ve finally got to hear those words.”
“……yeah.”
Mikihito answered my question. With this, I can have Kozo’s cooperation. Then, I need to finish this quickly.
“Okay, then, I ’ll come back after a quick fix over there. Afte that, let’s get married!”
I quickly told Mikihito my future plans.
“…Huh!?”
“Because you will always be with me, right?! I am already 16 years old so I can get married. There is no problem!”
I did say from now on, did I say always… did I,
“Why did it suddenly become that?”
“It’s not sudden, it’s been 9 years. Miki was just too dull and didn’t notice. Ji-chan and the others have already given their permission!”
“…”
“Anyway, that’s why, be prepared and wait, Mikihito!”
I kissed Mikihito through the invisible wall and disappeared into the light.
The world around me was surrounded by light. The last thing I saw was Mikihito’s shocked face complete with round eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in an unknown place. There were about three thugs surrounding me.
They grinned and approached me, they were full of openings. Let’s get this done quickly then.
“What is a young woman doing alone in a place like this?”
“Say, why don’t you come play with us?”
“… Is this woman even listening?”
It seemed those thugs were saying something … well, that doesn’t matter.
Those words that Mikihito said after 9 years.
With this, I can get Ji-chan’s cooperation. All we needed to do was fill the documents and everything would be perfect.
Then should I make it all happen.
My imagination just kept getting bigger.
I had to return quickly, even if I had to threaten the leader of this country.
Ah, with Mikihito, finally … I clenched my fist with a smile on my face.
A few minutes later, I dragged along the tattered thugs who pleaded to be my underlings. I skipped and headed to the center of the country.
After that, I met Haruka again, we subjugated the monsters at a tremendous speed, I picked a fight with a swordsman that Haruka was aiming for, we usurped the prime minister, someone created a fan club for me in the other world, many things happened… but, all of those are trivial matters compared to being together with Mikihito.
