Chapter 46: The Truth of the Matter

《…Man, I’m really bored now》

After parting ways with Yumetsuki-san, the two of us wandered around the courtyard of Tokiwadai.

Kamijou was a no-go. So were the faction members. Mikoto and Stiyl too. …Wait, doesn’t that mean all my social connections are shot? Could it be my circle of friends is super narro—no, wait. Thinking back to my past life, if all my friends happened to be busy, I wouldn’t have had anyone to hang out with either. And since past-me wasn’t a loner, that means Reicia-chan is in the clear too.

《What should we do, Reicia-chan? Wanna go rent an anime or something?》

《I absolutely refuse! At the very least, please use an anonymous home delivery rental service or something so no one finds out what I borrowed!》

《Alright, alright. So how long do we need to kill time for?》

《Let’s see… until four o'clock—ah》

When I casually tossed the question her way, Reicia-chan answered without hesitation.

Yup. That was basically her confessing she’s plotting something.

《U-um, that is… well…》

《It’s fine, it’s fine. I figured something was up ages ago. But if you’re the one planning it, I’m not worried. I’ll just keep my mouth shut and enjoy the surprise》

I said that, half-amused by how earnest she was being, and Reicia-chan pouted.

《…But that ruins the whole surprise…》

Yeah, fair point.

Final Chapter — A Certain Villainess’s Comeback
We_are_“a_Villainess”.
Episode 38: The Truth of the Matter
Let’s_Start!

Well, asking her for more details would’ve been tacky, so I decided not to push it and just focused on killing time.

《Still, playing Othello by yourself is kind of sad…》

《I’m not alone—Reicia-chan’s here with me》

That’s how we ended up back in our room, playing one of those needlessly luxurious, high-end board games that had been sitting around. Apparently, Reicia-chan bought it on a whim ages ago, but never used it because she had no one to play with. Poor Reicia-chan…

Anyway, we were playing Reversi. “Othello” is actually the brand name, it seems. …Not that it has anything to do with black-and-white jagged-edge sawblades or anything.

Still, when you’ve got two personalities, you can technically split up and play board games against yourself, so it’s surprisingly easy to kill time. The downside is how ridiculous it looks to anyone watching.

But well, it’s just a board game. After a few rounds, it starts to get old. Reicia-chan and I both tend to get bored easily anyway.

《What should we play next? Card games are a pain since we share visual perception… we’d have to retreat into the background every turn》

《We still haven’t mastered shutting off shared senses completely, after all》

I get the feeling we could figure out how to toggle which personality sees what, once we’re more experienced… but we’re still beginners (?). We’re not quite there yet.

Which means the only games we can really play are the ones where it’s fine to know the opponent’s moves.

Hmmm…

《Ah, I know. How about we go visit Semi-san and the others?》

《Eh—ah, um, today’s a day off, so I think they’re probably not at the lab…?》

《Aha… so they’re in on this too, huh》

《Uuugh, you catch on too quickly…!》

Can’t blame me—Reicia-chan’s just terrible at lying.

《Besides, Shiren, you have no tact!》

Just as she was getting cornered, Reicia-chan suddenly threw that out there.

…Talk about random.

《Tactless how, exactly?》

《You’ve seen me naked, for one!》

“Gwah!?”

…Damn, don’t spring that on me when I’m drinking tea… I almost spat it all over the floor.

《I do feel bad about that, but it was an accident! And besides, we’re two-in-one, aren’t we…?》

《You say “two-in-one,” but when you saw me naked for the first time, you looked utterly wrecked! And later, when I wore that negligee, you were all flustered, weren’t you!?》

《Ugh… how do you even know that!? Wait, how much were you watching, Reicia-chan!?》

I asked, horrified—and Reicia-chan (for some reason) puffed up her chest and said,

《I saw the important parts, of course》

《You’re saying my flustered reaction to your naked body was important!?》

That’s literally the first part you should’ve discarded! Why that part specifically!?

I fired back, but Reicia-chan just shrugged it off with her usual breezy attitude.

《Shiren staaaared at my naaaaked body in the miiiiiirror》

《I didn’t stare! I just… kind of froze for a second! Also, your character’s acting a little weird, isn’t it!?》

《Even if we’re one and the same, the emotional trauma of an unknown man seeing my naked body was immense, I’ll have you know》

《Ughhh… are you gonna keep teasing me about this forever…?》

As expected of a villainess, her tactics are pretty underhanded.

《But Reicia-chan—if I’d been too embarrassed to wash properly and ended up all gross and unclean, you’d be okay with that?》

《…T-that’s… a different matter entirely》

《No it’s not. You could say it was a… medical procedure. Cutting human flesh with a blade is wrong. But what if it’s for surgery?》

《…………》

Looks like Reicia-chan’s speechless.

Heh. Back then, I’d already crafted a flawless self-defense argument in my head. I won’t waver now over a few cheap jabs!

《Of course, it’s wrong to peek at a girl’s naked body. But if it’s for hygiene purposes… then it’s the right thing to do…》

《Urgh… I was wrong…》

That was quick.

《Still, it was super embarrassing, and that’s just part of being a maiden, okay?》

《Ah, yeah》

That might be true. I mean, back when I was hospitalized, I had a few moments where a nurse had to see some pretty embarrassing parts of me. So I get it. Even if it’s a medical procedure, having someone look at your sensitive areas hits you where it hurts.

《But you see, now you have become me, haven’t you, Shiren?》

《Yeah, that’s true》

If I slap myself, Reicia-chan feels it too. That’s not exactly fair, is it?

《So, I’ve been thinking. How could I make you experience the same shame that I did?》

《Huh? Hold on. That line of thinking is sounding kind of dangerous》

《Exactly! If I see your original body naked, it would even things out!!》

《Absolutely not!!!!》

My immediate reaction wasn’t a clever retort like “How would you even do that?” or “Why would you?”—just pure, instinctive refusal.

《I mean, that’s impossible, right? We can’t share episodic memories right now. And what I saw in the mirror would fall under episodic memory, so…》

《Well, we have lots of notebooks and pens lying around. You could just draw your past-life self’s naked body》

“I! Refuse! That! Plan! I! Refuse! That! Plan!”

I was so horrified, I accidentally screamed out loud in real life. What kind of grotesque idea is that!? This girl’s imagination is more twisted than most actual villains…

《Wouldn’t Aleister find that kind of suspicious?》

《Suspicious that I drew an illustration of Shiren’s past self? That’s too far of a leap in logic. At worst, they’ll just think it’s a lewd sketch》

《So you're okay with them thinking it’s a lewd sketch?》

…So then Aleister’s going to think I’ve started drawing erotic art…

Hanging upside down inside that beaker, muttering something like, “Hmm, the proportions of the body are all off”—and analyzing my drawing like it’s some failed experiment…

Yeah, no thanks.

《…Let’s put this whole thing on hold for now》

《Yes, that sounds best》

For both our sakes.

Just then, my phone’s ringtone started playing. I looked at the screen without much thought—and saw Kamijou Touma’s name.

《Ah, Shiren, maybe don’t—》

…Ah. This is one of those moments.

Reicia-chan tried to stop me, but it was already too late.

By the time she got the words out, I’d already slid my finger across the screen and answered the call.

“…Hello?”

『Ah, Reicia?』

“…Um, this is Shiren speaking”

『I finished setting up a bit early, so could you—uh, ah…………』

…I did say it was Shiren on the line.

Well, I already knew he was preparing something, so it’s not a huge deal. Just a little awkward, that’s all.

“Uh, sorry, I’m outside right now, so it’s kind of hard to hear over the sound of traffic—”

『…R-right! Okay, sorry for the sudden request, but could you head to room 203 at “KARAO!” in District 7? It’s a karaoke box. Reicia can fill you in on the details—see you there!』

Kamijou rattled off all the info in one breath and then hung up like he was running for his life.

《…………That spiky-haired moron is so getting punished later…………》

Yeah, I don’t think I can defend him on this one.

And so, we ended up at a karaoke place.

Come to think of it, we also came to karaoke the last time we had a party. Karaoke boxes are actually pretty spacious, you’re allowed to be loud, and the food is surprisingly decent, so they’re kind of perfect for student gatherings. Totally get it.

《I wonder how things are going inside.》
《…………………………》

Reicia-chan’s been like this the whole time, trying not to let anything slip.

《You don’t have to be so tense, you know? I’m the type who can still enjoy a story even if I get spoiled.》
《That’s not helping at all! …Ah》

I mean, no matter how you look at it, trying to pull off a surprise while sharing the same body—even if they’re different personalities—was always going to be tough... Reicia-chan’s still a middle schooler too, so she’s bound to be a little scatterbrained here and there.

Thinking that, while keeping it to myself (she’d get mad if I said it out loud), I reached for the door to the room we were told to go to.

...Whoa. The tension on the other side of the door—it’s like I can feel it radiating through. No, wait. That’s just Reicia-chan being nervous.

"...Suu, haa."

I took a deep breath, partly to calm myself, and with that I swung the door open.

“Shiren(-san), congratulations on coming back――――!!!!”

Right as I did, pop pop pop!—party poppers went off, and cheers erupted to welcome us—no, me.

Apparently, as obvious as it was, all the sneaking around everyone had been doing was to prepare a surprise welcome-back party for me. Looking around, the karaoke room was decked out with all kinds of party decorations, giving it a super festive atmosphere.

Considering this was done right after the opening ceremony, it must have been quite the effort. I bet Seme-san and the others helped out a lot—even though they’re not here right now.

《…I suppose this is the first time I’m formally saying this. …Welcome back, Shiren.》

…Everyone was speaking in different styles, so the welcome shout was all over the place. Stiyl had shoved a party popper into Index’s hands and just stood there silently with a scowl, and Index, overwhelmed with two poppers at once, looked totally dazed. Honestly, the whole thing was just a mess.

………………

No, no, no.

I knew this was coming—I knew it—but still, it hits you. Stuff like this really gets you. Before I knew it, my eyes were getting a little warm... ngh...

“…T-thank you all for worrying about me――――I’m back.”

…………Yeah. I’m home.