Chapter 41: TS Girl Gets Saddled with a Severely Injured Girl

Ugh… the sea really wore me out. I’m just lying around at home, totally drained.

For some reason, there’s still some of Reina’s meal prep left today, so I’ll have that. It’s good. Seriously, that girl keeps taking care of me nonstop.

…Honestly, just having worn a swimsuit feels like I lost something important.

Well, a lot of other things happened too, but still.

Apparently, once you defeat a hybrid-type on that beach, no more Depth Calamities show up for a while. Guess it was worth the effort.

…Wait, didn’t I basically do nothing?

This might be bad. I guess the only thing I did was get a bit acquainted with Mahiro.

I mean, the whole point was that I wanted to toughen up my mental state. That’s why I wanted to exercise! But I don’t really feel like anything’s changed mentally.

If anything, the only difference is that I don’t spiral when I’m talking to Mahiro. She’s just… even more unstable than me.

…Wait, could this be the key to fixing my weak mentality!?

Alright, I’ll just force myself into Mahiro’s life.

Yeah, this is a win.

…Well, I don’t exactly hate everyone hugging me all the time, but my relationship with Nagisa-kun is way too unhealthy, so that’s not great either.

—Bzzzz.

Just as I was thinking that, my smartphone started vibrating.

"What’s this?" I wondered, opening the screen to see a message from school.

In short, it means I’ve got a deployment scheduled. …Yeah, Iijima Kanon can’t fight right now, after all.

I mean, it’s fine if I’m the one paving the way to the Fourth Depth Calamity. In the game, Nagisa-kun and the others were supposed to get there under Iijima Kanon’s support.

Team Blue Sky is pretty top-tier, after all!

…Though when it comes to dealing real damage to big enemies, it’s basically just Hohana.

Hmm, so I’m filling in for Iijima Kanon.

I mean, if I use Abaddon’s power, I can wipe out all the small fry easily.

But to use my power, I need a Connect Link. And I’m kind of barely holding together myself… will I be okay?

Well, I don’t really have a choice.

…I just hope this goes smoothly. Thinking like that made me anxious, and for the first time in a while, I ended up sleep-deprived.

I thought the nightmares were mostly gone already. What a pain. Yaaawn… so sleepy.

—

And so, here I am at school, half-asleep! Being sleep-deprived makes my mood swing all over the place!

…Well, I’m basically attending school through the infirmary anyway, so there’s not much for me to do here.

So, Akegami Sora-chan is free until after school. I’ll do a bit of studying, though.

I attended a short class in a special classroom, then ended up just standing around in the hallway.

"Ahh, I’m bored."

"Yeah, same here!"

…Hm?

"Ah—hello?"

Standing there was a girl covered in injuries—her right arm in a cast, an eye patch, and bandages wrapped around her left arm.

Short black hair, and a strangely bright energy peeking through her expression. I’ve seen her before.

"My name is Iijima Kanon!"

"Uh, um… I’m Akegami Sora."

She came at me so suddenly that I instinctively shrank back a little as I answered.

…Seriously, she’s really badly hurt.

She looked at my face, then suddenly went, "Ah!"

"So you’re Akegami Sora-san? Wow, you’re just as cute as I heard!"

"…You’re really pushy, huh?"

"Ehh, but you are cute. Mahiro-chan said so, and she was right!"

"I-I see…"

She kept staring at me while saying that.

…Um, what?

I thought, “Oh, Iijima Kanon’s here,” and before I knew it, she was right up in my face, staring intensely. From what she’s saying, it sounds like Mahiro’s been talking about me.

I don’t really get it.

Honestly, being called “cute” in situations like this doesn’t make me that happy.

I was wondering why, but then I realized—it’s because I’m basically a game character, so of course it feels weird.

But when Yuri or Nagisa-kun say it, it feels different. Kinda strange.

Maybe she got her fill, because Kanon suddenly stopped and started fiddling with her phone.

She’s pretty laid-back.

"So, you met Mahiro-chan the other day, right?"

"Huh? You know about that?"

"Yeah. She suddenly said she was going to the beach."

"…Wait, we only went because of a deployment."

"Mahiro-chan didn’t have permission. She must’ve really wanted to see you."

"Eh, really?"

Well, she was definitely curious.

So what, when she saw me picking a swimsuit, she thought, “Oh, she’s going to the beach!” and just followed me there?

Mahiro’s the type whose motivation glitches out only when it comes to her favorite things. Normally she’s so timid.

…Well, I guess if you think, “I get to meet my favorite game character!” it makes sense.

No—if it’s just “like a favorite,” don’t go trying to imprison them.

"She messaged me afterward, and she seemed kind of down, but when she came back she was pretty cheerful. Sora-chan, did you do something?"

"Wait, you’re already calling me ‘-chan’? That’s way too fast."

"If someone looks mentally unstable, I just push through aggressively!"

"Who are you calling unstable?"

"Alright, alright. Anyway, did you do something?"

"Hmm…"

I didn’t really do anything. If I had to say, maybe it’s that we realized we’re both reincarnators?

Maybe that alone was enough.

Or maybe it was because we fought that hybrid together.

"Well, maybe just realizing we’re kind of the same?"

"See, you are unstable!?"

"Hey."

"Haha, just kidding. You don’t look like you cut yourself like Mahiro-chan does."

"Don’t just drop something like that out of nowhere!"

"I did say her wrists look like a crosswalk."

"That’s way beyond a joke!?"

She laughed carefree as she said something completely outrageous.

…Yeah, this is what she was like.

Iijima Kanon—polite speech, laid-back, and radiating a kind of brightness that comes from pure optimism.

In the original story, she dragged Nagisa-kun around a lot too.

"Anyway."

"What do you mean, ‘anyway’?"

"I got injured, so the team’s not really functioning right now."

"Ah…"

Since her role is support, I guess it’s tough without her.

"So, I’m entrusting Mahiro-chan to you!"

"…Why?"

"Well, you already know each other. Oh, did you know? My skill is apparently really effective against the Fourth Depth Calamity."

"Wait, hold on, that’s a huge topic shift."

"Mahiro-chan can partially copy it, so she’s useful, you know?"

"Oh, so this was just you trying to sell Mahiro to me…"

Well, having Mahiro around would probably help.

I did get a request asking me to wipe out small fry, after all.

"《Sound Wave》—'Negative Beat.'"

Just as I was thinking about what to do, a low sound began seeping into my head.

A slow, creeping sensation, like something unpleasant soaking into my mind. A gloomy feeling spread through me.

"Hey, Sora-chan."

"…Mm."

Kanon’s voice softened it. The gentle resonance cleared away the discomfort.

Her hand lightly rested on my head. She slowly brushed through my hair. The sensation of being petted felt nice.

"Please take care of Mahiro-chan, okay?"

"…Okay."

Before I knew it, I nodded.

And that’s how it happened—I found Mahiro before heading to the team room and dragged her along by force.

Thinking back on it, it kind of feels like I was brainwashed or something. Didn’t she use her skill on me in a weird way?

…I don’t remember anything like that in the game, though.

I’ll have to be careful next time I see her. Her whole vibe is pretty unique, too.