Chapter 17: The Beginning of a New Story

I walked alongside the school building, heading toward the less-populated area.

At first, I wasn't used to the dark, deserted atmosphere behind the school building, but after coming here so many times, I'd even started to find it strangely comfortable.

As I approached her secret hideout, I caught the familiar smell that I'd long since gotten used to.

I called out to her as a greeting while she smoked her cigarette, hidden behind the corner of the building.

"Raika, smoking is bad for your health. You're still recovering, aren't you?"

"No, actually, relaxation is expected to alleviate psychological damage. So, to me, this cigarette is basically a recovery item."

"You're making up ridiculous lies again..."

The unhealthy-looking white smoke and the harsh smell clearly seemed to be doing more harm than good.

Apparently unconcerned with my words, Usobuki Raika continued speaking with a straight face.

"So, how have things been lately? Going on dates with Mana? Have you at least held hands with Hazuki by now?"

"No, nothing like what you're expecting..."

I felt like I'd gotten closer to everyone than before, but romance and love were still pretty much nonexistent.

"How boring. Oh, well. So, have you managed to get even a little closer to Hibari?"

"No, not at all..."

When I answered while looking away, Raika raised an eyebrow and roughly stubbed her cigarette out in the ashtray.

"You idiot! How the hell has there been no progress when I've been leaving you two alone together like that!?"

"Well, that's because Hibari is hard to read! Honestly, you're easier to understand than she is, Raika!"

Raika hadn't explicitly said anything, but judging from her recent behavior, I'd figured out that she apparently wanted me to get closer to Hibari this time.

She kept conspicuously trying to leave the two of us alone together, and she would constantly try to bring up things for us to talk about.

"Tch... This is why kids are such a pain. How are you supposed to conquer a heroine if you keep needing advice forever? ...Well, whatever. Looking after a kid's backside is part of an adult's job, too."

She said something so adult-like despite looking nowhere near old enough to even be considered an adult herself.

Raika stubbed out the cigarette she'd been smoking, then took out another one and lit it.

"Raika, aren't you smoking a little too much? Your health checkup when you were hospitalized was a little concerning, wasn't it? Actually, didn't I tell you to use this as an opportunity to quit smoking?"

When I pointed that out, Raika inhaled the smoke while awkwardly looking away.

...As usual, apparently whenever she felt stressed, she just couldn't resist smoking.

She was a full-blown addict. Naturally, I was starting to worry about her health.

"No, I'm still making an effort, you know. Look at this."

With that, she pulled a cigarette pack out of the breast pocket of her school uniform. It was a blue paper pack.

"Those are cigarettes."

"No, they're different from before. The white ones I used to smoke were 14 millimeters. These are 8 millimeters."

"......What's the difference?"

When I asked the obvious question, she suddenly became angry.

"You don't understand how much effort I'm putting into this!? The nicotine! It's been reduced! Do you have any idea how hard this was for me!?"

"No, I don't, but... isn't the fact that you're getting so irritable another sign that you're smoking too much? Why don't you take this opportunity to start taking better care of your health? Follow Hazuki's example."

"Shut up!"

Raika angrily threw her lit cigarette onto the ground. She stomped on it roughly, then pulled a white pack out from inside her clothes.

"No, that's the old one..."

"I only smoke these as a special treat when you piss me off."

After taking her frustration out on an innocent object and wasting a cigarette, she lit another one.

The smell in the air seemed even harsher than before.

Raika's face took on an expression of bliss that was absolutely inappropriate for a girl her age.

"Ah... yes... this is it... This is the only thing that can save me..."

At this point, was there any use in saying anything?

Thinking that, I stopped commenting on Raika's unhealthy habits and decided to ask what I'd actually wanted to know.

"So, why are you trying to get Hibari and me together this time?"

Maybe it was something like when it came to Hazuki, and she wanted me to help take care of her mental state. I didn't feel like there was any need for that right now, though.

"Didn't I tell you before? The better the relationship between an Anchor and a Bluffer, the more positively it affects their performance in battle. You aren't particularly close with Hibari, after all. We haven't had many battles lately, either, so use this opportunity to get closer to her."

Ah, maybe that was a lie.

I had a vague feeling that it was, but I couldn't read Raika's true intentions as she exhaled a cloud of smoke.

There was nothing particularly strange about the expression on her face beyond the veil of white smoke.

But for a liar like her, controlling her facial expressions was probably effortless.

In the end, I would probably never be able to see through all of her lies perfectly.

Even on that day beneath the eerie blue sky, I hadn't been able to see through her lies.

"...I wonder if I can really get along with Hibari."

I thought we'd managed to build a decent relationship.

But I couldn't imagine anything beyond that.

I thought a truly trustworthy friend was someone you could show all your weaknesses to.

By that logic, Hibari didn't trust me.

"Hibari is always friendly toward me, too. She laughs at my stupid jokes, and we can smile and laugh together. But I don't know anything beyond that. I have absolutely no idea what's hiding deep inside that cheerful girl."

After hearing my words, Raika fell silent for a moment, cigarette still between her lips.

White smoke slowly curled upward, its harsh smell stinging my nose.

She roughly shoved her left hand into the pocket of her skirt. It was a posture she sometimes adopted while smoking.

She remained completely still like that, her gaze drifting aimlessly through the air for a while.

After some time, Raika's slender fingers casually plucked the cigarette from her mouth.

She exhaled.

Apparently, she'd reached some conclusion in her mind.

"Well, yeah. ...The fact that you at least understand that you don't understand her is a pretty good start. It's not like I want to rush you. Mutual understanding always takes time, without exception."

The drifting purple smoke slowly rose toward the sky.

"Kibōgaoka Hibari is a girl who, just as her name suggests, strives to become a source of hope for people more than anyone else. It's true that she's experienced all kinds of despair and buried her true feelings and thoughts deep inside herself. ──But I want you to believe in her goodness, at the very least."

As if to say the conversation was over, Raika tossed her cigarette into the ashtray.

"Well, you'll be able to do it. After all, you managed to save the biggest pain in the ass of them all. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll be watching over you from behind, at least."

After throwing those words at me, she waved her hand casually, turned her back on me, and walked toward the school building.

"The main heroine of Chapter Two, Kibōgaoka Hibari, can be saved by you."

Her final words never reached my ears. They dissolved into the sky like smoke.

〈TIPS〉 For some Bluffers, the maximum Affection Level is unlocked as the story progresses.

【BOG Commentary】Chapter Two... What's It Like?

The moment I started the stream, I greeted everyone energetically.

"Hello, everyone! It's Emotional Potaku-san here. Now then, it's been a little while, but today I'd like to play through Chapter Two of BOG's main story!"

・Hello!

・Stop running away from the horror game

・I thought you stopped playing BOG because you hadn't streamed it at all

"Ah, I've still been playing BOG normally. Just farming materials and stuff behind the scenes. Look, our Raika has gotten stronger, right?"

I immediately started operating the game and showed my character's profile on the stream. All that daily effort had paid off, and my level, skill levels, and everything else had climbed quite a bit.

・She's strong

・You could probably raise Raika's Fantasy Explosion a little more

・Bro's actually pretty invested lol

"So, as for why there was such a gap between streams even though I was motivated to play... well, it's kind of like... I got too emotionally invested, and continuing the story felt a little difficult... I figured maybe it would be nice to spend some time casually doing events and stuff while the story still had this big happy-ending atmosphere..."

・I can understand that

・There really are times when something is so good that you're like, "It's too good, I don't want to continue..."

"Right!? But this new main heroine-looking girl in Chapter Two was cute, so I'm going to keep going. Uh... Kusei Kanon-chan, right? I think that's her name? She seems to be the main heroine. She's a girl who didn't appear at all in Chapter One. I figured Chapter Two would probably be about Hibari-chan or Victoria, since they didn't get much attention with the Fox Squad, though."

・Hibari gets some screen time too!

・Kanon is definitely one of the main characters

"I see... Well then, shall we get started? Chapter Two, start!"

〈TIPS〉 The management of Bluffer combat forces is primarily handled by the state.

"Today, I'd like to introduce a Bluffer who has transferred here──Kanon Kusei, the captain of the Sugar Squad."

"Nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Kusei Kanon, and I've come here from Kyoto. I'm still not accustomed to life here, but I look forward to getting along with all of you."

Standing at the front of the classroom was a gentle-looking girl with a calm smile.

Her eyes were slightly narrow. The blackness deep within her irises had a soothing effect on anyone looking at her.

Her neatly tied black hair was arranged with almost meticulous seriousness.

Her arms and legs were slender and graceful, while her figure had distinctly feminine curves.

At the edge of the classroom, Usobuki Raika's eyes widened.

Her expression was as though she'd seen something unbelievable, almost as if she'd just seen a ghost.

"Kusei... Kanon...?"

No one noticed her reaction.

The other students accepted the new Bluffer without any particular sense that something was wrong.