Arc 1 Chapter 5: destiny
One day, I was attacked by some delinquents on my way back to school after finishing my part-time job. This wasn't that unusual, as Hoshino-chan said, "There are a lot of people who target the Abydos Student Council."
"There don't seem to be a lot of people here today."
That's right. At a glance, there are about 30 people there. ...Is this a bit bad? Normally I probably wouldn't lose, but today's part-time job was physical labor, so I'm a little tired. But this is no time to complain. I deploy my shield and aim my gun.
"Just to be safe, is there a way to avoid fighting?"
"No way! Let's do it, you guys!"
Well, that's true. I guess I just have to do my best here. Even though there are a lot of enemies, they are amateurs who haven't been trained in group combat. So in the end, to avoid friendly fire, I'll only be fighting about five people at a time. In other words, it should just be a repeated battle of 1 vs 5. That way I won't lose. The rest is a battle against fatigue.
And so our battle began
"Senpai... you're late..."
I was waiting in the student council room for my senpai to come home from her part-time job. She had said she would be home by 4:00 PM at the latest, but when I checked her smartphone, it was already past 4:20 PM. My senpai is usually a bit absent-minded, always talking about miracles and dreams and stuff like that, and seems a bit unreliable, but she had never broken a time promise like this before.
"Maybe... something happened..."
The moment I thought about it, I suddenly became anxious. My senpai is not the type of person to break a promise, and even if she was going to be late, it seemed strange that she hadn't contacted me until 20 minutes later.
"I have to go..."
I had asked my senpai where the part-time job was, so I went to pick her up.
On my way to pick her up, I heard gunfire, and it was coming from up the road.
"We need to hurry."
I increased my running speed and headed toward the sound of gunfire, and found my senpai surrounded by a large group of delinquents fighting.
"Yume-senpai!!"
"What?! Hoshino-chan?!"
"Whoa, what is this guy?"
"Don't worry! Just get rid of her!"
"Get out of the way!!"
"Guaaaaah"
"Damn it, what is this guy? She's too strong!"
"Hoshino-chan, why are you here...?"
"Senpai is late coming home so I came to pick you up! I'm going to defeat them for now!"
"Got it!!"
I met up with my senior and we worked together to defeat the delinquents. They were just a bunch of random people with a large number of members. I was thinking about unnecessary things like, "Senpai can actually fight," and "Why are they targeting her?", but we were able to defeat them easily.
"Senpai, are you okay?!"
"Senpai, are you okay?!"
"Yeah. I'm fine. Are you okay, Hoshino-chan?"
"i'm good"
After defeating the delinquents, we returned to school.
I was a little annoyed that day.
"Senpai, why didn't you contact me when you were being attacked by so many delinquents?"
"Uh. I'm sorry?"
"Well, just tell me why!"
"Well, I was worried that it might be bothering you, Hoshino-chan... and I thought that I'd be okay on my own if it was that much... I'm sorry."
She always says she relies on me, so why doesn't she rely on me at times like this, when she's in danger? Thinking about this made me even angrier.
"I'm not sorry! And... it's always fluffy, and miracles and happiness and stuff..."
Maybe it's because I'm angry, but I can't control myself. Words I don't mean, words I shouldn't say, just keep spilling out of my mouth.
"Please be more responsible! You're the student council president of Abydos! It would be a huge problem if you disappeared! Why don't you be a little more aware of the responsibility that rests on your shoulders!"
"Th-that's..."
"If you don't want to rely on me that much, then just do it on your own from the beginning!"
"I don't know anything about senpai!!"
With that said, I left my senpai and went home alone.
As I calmed down in bed, I regretted what I had done that day.
Thinking about it, I shouldn't have gotten so angry. It was the delinquents who were at fault, not senpai.
I have an excuse. I was anxious and scared that the delinquents might attack us and take us away, so I was panicking and not calm.
On top of that, the situation remained unchanged, and sandstorms kept coming without giving me a moment to catch my breath. The listless citizens, the irresponsible former student council that pushed everything onto senpai, and... anger at myself for always having high ideals but never actually accomplishing anything. All these things piled up and made me frustrated.
But that was just an excuse, and it was definitely not anger that should be directed at my senpai.
"Tomorrow... I have to apologize..."
With that decision made, I fell asleep hugging the whale stuffed animal that my senpai had given me.
The next day, senpai didn't come to school.
"Haa... I've done it..."
I was a little, no, quite depressed after Hoshino-chan got angry. The exact reasons for her anger may be different from the original, but it doesn't change the fact that it was my fault. I had planned to prevent this scene from happening in the first place, and for the first time, I felt like I had clearly failed. Thinking about it made me even more depressed.
"Sigh... I need to get back on track..."
And there was another problem for me.
"Now that I think of it... the Shemata railway gun..."
The Shemata railway gun. A legacy of the Thunder Emperor, the main cause of the chaos in Abydos Chapter 3. While the details are unclear, it's a dangerous weapon that Kaiser is determined to obtain with all there might.
That's because in the original story, Yume-senpai had purchased the rights to use the Abydos Desert Crossing Railway facilities from Nephthys through a contract, so Shemata never fell completely into Kaiser's hands.
If I don't go and seal the deal, there's a chance it could end up in Kaiser's possession. These are the kind of people who would even try to seize Utnapishtim's ship, which is likely still lying dormant in the Abydos Desert, in order to gain control of Kivotos. I can't imagine what would happen if it fell into their hands. It shouldn't be in Abydos. I can't hand it over to Kaiser.
...I honestly don't want to go. Because going to sign that contract now? It's the same, the details are different, but the situation is the same. It's the worst fate.
But I don't know where Shemata is, so I have to go and make the contract. If I don't go now, it'll be a straight path to a bad ending. I have to do my best for Hoshino-chan and my future juniors. I'm sure I have better leg strength and stamina than Yume-senpai in the original, and I won't forget my compass. I also plan to bring plenty of water, portable food, and sports drinks just in case. It won't turn out like that...hopefully.
It's getting late today, so let's just get ready and head out tomorrow.
"Okay, I haven't forgotten anything. I've brought plenty of water and about a month's worth of portable food. I also brought two compasses in case of an unexpected emergency."
To be honest, it seems like a bit of an overreaction, but knowing the outcome, it's better to be cautious.
"...Just in case something were to happen, I left a note for Hoshino-chan, as in the original story, in the student council room, and I also left my student council president notebook there. If something were to happen to me, it should be a better situation than in the original story..."
Even after all this, I still feel uneasy, but not going would be even worse.
"Let's get motivated. We have to get to Nephthys..."
"The contract is now complete. Thank you for the business!"
The contract was concluded without any problems. The robot citizen in charge had a smile on his face. Well, from their point of view, they were buying a worthless, useless railway for the princely sum of 1 million yen, so there was no particular reason for them to refuse. After all, Shemata hadn't been found yet.
As expected, no particular problems occurred. The weather forecast said there would be no sandstorms. All that was left was to return to Abydos High School. I hadn't even lost my compass. Nothing should happen.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this..."
I went home thinking about such things.
On the way back I got caught in a massive sandstorm.
"Why?! Why?!"
No, I'll think about that later. It's a terrible sandstorm. I've deployed a shield to block it, but it's not enough. What's more, visibility is so poor that I can't move at all.
"Isn't there Binah there?! If it is, it's all over!"
If it is, then it's all over. I've never seen Binah, but I still don't think I can win.
In fact, this is the first time I've ever experienced a sandstorm of this magnitude. I wonder if it's a natural occurrence? Anyway, for now, all I can do is endure it.
I don't know how much time has passed, but the sandstorm has finally subsided. Since we weren't attacked, I can surmise that Binah was not there, and I feel a sense of relief. Perhaps it had moved on its own due to the sandstorm, or perhaps the terrain had changed, but I'm in an unfamiliar place, but I have my compass. All I have to do is use it to find my way back to school. Thinking this, I search my pocket where I kept my compass...
"...Huh...?"
I have a really, really bad feeling about this. No, I have a spare. I put this one in my backpack. There's no way it would have been blown away in the sandstorm. Then I look inside my backpack...
"Wh-why!? Why isn't it there!? That's weird!"
Something's wrong, definitely something's wrong. I'm sure I put it in. I checked it several times before I left. It's not like I'd forgotten.
"····a····"
I noticed a small hole in my backpack, near where I used to keep my compass. I hadn't bought a new one in a while because I thought it would be a waste of money, and now it's paying off.
It's bad, bad, bad, bad.
Moreover, I can't find any notes about my knowledge of the original work. What on earth should I do...?
No, calm down, stay calm. Think clearly. It's true that the compass is gone. But I have my smartphone, so I can call Hoshino-chan. And I haven't lost any water or food. No matter how vast the Abydos Desert is, I'm sure Hoshino-chan will find us someday. I should just hold on until then.
If you think about it, the notes on knowledge from the original work were written in Japanese when I was a child, before I learned the common language of Kivotos. If it had been picked up by Black Suit, he wouldn't understand, but if he had been picked up by the Kaiser, he wouldn't be able to read it, so it shouldn't be a problem. Even though they are in a cooperative relationship, I don't think the Kaiser would rely on the Black Suits for everything.
And it flew in a sandstorm of that magnitude, so it's highly likely that it would have been buried under the sand somewhere in this vast desert and would never be found.
We have a month's supply of water and food. There's nothing we can do about the horrific conditions of being outside in the desert, but we have no choice but to trust in our trained bodies and the mysterious power of Kivotos. First, let's contact Hoshino-chan. The sooner we can act, the better our chances of survival will be.
"...and there's no signal...but I have no choice but to call..."
The signal is poor. I'm afraid my message won't reach you accurately. I wonder if I've had too many bad experiences? But I have no choice but to try. I called and Hoshino-chan answered right away.
"Hoshino-chan, I'm sorry. Can you hear me...?"
"@#$-Where are you&#?"
As expected, the signal isn't coming through properly. I can't hear Hoshino-chan's voice properly. But I have no choice but to tell her. It's my only hope.
"I was in the desert on business and got caught in a sandstorm, and my compass just flew away."
"Hoshino-chan....I'm sorry, I need you to come help me."
"Also, I left a note, but I'll let you know here too. My notebook is over there."
"I left it in a prominent place in the student council room, which Hoshino-chan knows well. I'm sure you'll find it right away."
"Hoshino-chan, I am"
The call has been cut off. It's because of the signal. It doesn't look like I'll be able to get through again. Maybe it was a miracle that I managed to get through just a moment ago.
But no matter how unlikely the chances are, no matter how thin the thread, I have no choice but to cling to it. I believe Hoshino-chan will come. That's all I can do.
"Hoshino-chan.....please...."
And so my life as a refugee began.
Three days have passed since the shipwreck. Looking back, I was probably a little too complacent back then. I thought I could easily change the future because I knew the original story. I thought I could prevent tragedies from happening. I knew the problems in Abydos wouldn't be that simple...
And why did I go to sign the contract alone? Hoshino-chan wasn't really angry, so maybe they could have made up and then gone together...
But what if she was really angry and disgusted because I'd made a mistake, because I was different from Yume-senpai? In that case, the Kaiser might have found out about Shemata, and the situation might have become irreversible. Thinking about it like that, maybe I should have gone and signed the contract... I just don't know...
I don't even know how many days have passed. I've been counting about five days... and our food and water supplies are getting pretty low. But I can't give up. I will definitely come back alive. Through the game Blue Archive, I learned to never give up. And Hoshino-chan will come too... I hope.
I wonder how much time has passed since that day. I can no longer think clearly. My consciousness is hazy. My food has long since run out, and so has my water.
"Senpai! Yume-senpai!!"
I felt like I heard a voice. The voice I most wanted to hear, the reassuring voice. Maybe it was just an auditory hallucination. But even so, perhaps I felt relieved and relaxed, and my consciousness melted into darkness...
Author's Note
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