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Wafū Otome Gē de (Akuyaku/Hiroin) Yattemasu
I Play the Role of a Heroine
– The Strongest Phantom In This World 2 [Part 1]
I took many photos during summer break.
I also got to hang out with Chako and go on off-campus shoots with the senpais.
We shot events like the sport clubs" matches but it"s rather difficult to capture moving objects.
Getting sensei to teach us, Chako and I did our best to take photos.
I had a fulfilling summer break.
This may be the first time I did club activities with Chako but it really was enjoyable.
I also steadily became more familiar with sensei and the plan to make Chako and sensei close seems to be going quite well.
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As summer break comes to a close and I"ve my fill of a school life, the cultural festival arrives in the blink of an eye.
I was remarkably busy back when I entered the Student Council. The Photography Club is relaxing in comparison.
We simply have to borrow the cla.s.sroom on level 2 of the new school building and exhibit our own works.
There are guidance and surveillance duties but other than that, we"re free to enjoy the cultural festival.
At the moment, I"m fulfilling that duty with a 2nd-year senpai.
I couldn"t team up with Chako as it"s a rule that 1st-years have to team up with a senpai.
Chako completed her duty in the morning so I suppose she"s in the midst of relishing the cultural festival.
I, too, plan to join Chako once my duty is over.
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Nothing much happened. Just as my duty was about to end, 3 of the exhibition panels fall.
They"re the exhibition panels on the wall at the back of the cla.s.sroom.
We"d used double-sided tape and masking tape to affix it to the wall but it appears that the masking tape came off.
Picking up the fallen panel, I call out to senpai.
"Senpai, do we have masking tape?"
"Ah, come to think of it, sensei may have taken it with him."
"I see."
"Yeah. We do have double-sided tape though."
With that said, senpai rummages through the desk and brings out a roll of double-sided tape.
"It"s not rare that the tape comes off the panel but I didn"t think the masking tape would come off.[1]"
"Yes."
I look at the masking tape that came off the wall. As there"s dust stuck on the sticky side, it appears it can"t be used anymore.
"Sensei has it?"
"Yeah, probably."
"I will go to sensei then."
"Ah, are there any other problematic areas?"
Senpai and I inspect if there are other areas that have to be reported to sensei.
The panels stuck to the wall seem to be fine for now.
There"s no issue with the panels hung on several of the peg board part.i.tions in the cla.s.sroom either.
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"Senpai, this side seems safe."
"Thanks! This side"s safe too."
Senpai inspects the equipment in the table and the nearby panels.
"In that case, I will ask for just the masking tape."
"I"ll leave it to you. Ah, do you know where"s sensei?"
"Yes, I will be fine."
Ending the conversation with senpai, I wave my hand and leave the cla.s.sroom.
I know where sensei is. Because I approached sensei in a slightly pushy manner.
He should be at the rooftop.
Sensei likes the rooftop and is often there.
Taking the crossover corridor on level 2, I enter the old school building.
The new and old school buildings are built in a L-shape facing the sports ground.
Differing from the new school building that was turned into the main venue of the cultural festival, there are barely anyone in the old school building.
Culture-based clubrooms, Student Council room and chemistry labs are in the old school building.
Ascending the stairs, I aim for the rooftop.
Stepping onto the rooftop, a blue sky hanging with spa.r.s.e clouds spreads out.
The autumn breeze is cool and I can hear the distant bustle of the cultural festival.
Sensei"s smoking as he leans against the fall prevention fence of the rooftop.
"No smoking is allowed in the entire school building, you know."
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Laughing teasingly as I approach him, sensei goes "Aah" as he shifts only his eyes upwards. After which, he extinguishes the smoke using the portable ashtray in his hand.
Closing the cover, he then places it in his pocket.
"What"s the matter, did something happen?"
"Some panels fell."
Moving towards sensei"s side, I place my fingers on the fence.
Looking at the sports ground as I answer sensei.
Cultural festival.
Lunch hour.
Sports ground.
This déjà vu.
Perhaps, something will happen. I had that premonition.
And, just as I expected.
Crossing the sports ground right under my eyes. I see black hair.
Aah, I see.
Be it when I had gotten close to Kousuke-kun or when I had gotten close to Tomotaksenpai.
Chako will turn out this way.
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"Sensei, there, can you see?"
"… You mean Tomonaga?"
I point at the ground to the sensei beside me.
It appears that sensei quickly caught a glimpse of Chako"s figure as she disappears towards the back of the club building.
Turning to face the fence he"d leaned his back against, he places his fingers on it.
I couldn"t see the expression of Chako who was too far away from me. However, sensei, a phantom, might have seen it.
Sensei"s eyebrows knit in confusion.
"Was, Chako strange?"
"Yeah… her eyes."
Sensei"s eyes stay firmly on the club building.
Chako"s there.
Her eyes are surely gold as she curls her body up tightly.
Together with sensei, our eyesights remain unmoving. Suddenly, a figure crosses the grounds from the new school building and heads towards the club building.
"Kamo?"
Sensei lets out a shocked voice.
Looking at the brown hair crossing the grounds, I feel my heart chill.
… So Tomotaksenpai"s going.
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Senpai chasing after Chako probably means he"s going to grant Chako his life force.
Pain runs through my heart as I recall the Cultural Festival of the 2nd round.
Will Chako make such a painful face again?
Shouting "Don"t come"…, beseeching "I beg you".
And, smiling with a face on the brink of tears.
"Sensei… Chako, please save Chako."
Unknowingly, my voice came out.
So hoa.r.s.e that I didn"t think it was my own.
"Chako"s Kamo-senpai"s familiar."
It"s fine already, right?
Sensei"s concerned about Chako, right?
He"ll surely save her if I tell him, right?
"… Really?"
"Yes."
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Giving a positive reply to sensei"s voice that"s lower than usual, sensei gives a small sigh.
"Naba… I knew you were trying to make me do something."
"Yes. My apologies."
"You wanted me to save Tomonaga. So that was it."
"Yes…"
I know it"s a selfish wish.
I"m the worst for using sensei"s feelings and his kindness.
"I did think Tomonaga was shouldering something too but… to think she"s a familiar, huh."
Sensei"s face bitterly distorts.
"Sensei, is there no way to stop being a familiar?"
"No. Unless either the onmyouji or the familiar disappear, the contract will not."
Perchance, I spoke with hopes but the low voice bluntly smashed them.
It"s the same as what Tomotaksenpai said.
Even then, unable to give up, I look up at sensei desperately.
Sensei sighs again at my behaviour and slowly continues to speak.
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"When phantoms are born, they"re told how frightening onmyoujis are and how dreadful it is to become a familiar. A contract that will never disappear in a lifetime. There"s no phantom who"d purposely want to be enslaved by an onmyouji."
"… I wonder if Chako didn"t know."
"Perhaps. Tomonaga doesn"t have parents… It"s Kamo after all; there"s a possibility that, without telling her the truth, he pressured Tomonaga into a contract so she can"t escape."
I see, Chako might have gotten into the contract without knowing what a familiar was.
The relationship between Chako and Tomotaksenpai that I caught a glimpse of had appeared warped somehow.
"May I ask on what occasion would a phantom want to be a familiar?"
"Who knows… One could be contracted because one fell head over heels in love with that onmyouji and wants to stay by his side for a lifetime, or became unable to oppose him because one was captivated by his life force… or being threatened right before erasure. Phantoms who become familiars are like that."
"Chako"s a strong phantom, right? I wonder if Kamo-senpai"s[2] able to threaten her…"
"Tomonaga can probably escape… It"s difficult to imagine she was threatened."
In that case, I suppose she fell in love or was captivated.
Sensei and I probably arrived at the same conclusion.
Sensei heaves a big sigh.
"Of all people, she had to be Kamo"s familiar, huh… there"s no saving her."
Words I heard the previous round too.
However, anguish and vexation can be felt from his words now.
"Sensei. I… had thought that Chako was a liar. That she deceived me to approach me."
That"s right. I was unable to stop my own feelings.
Because of that, I couldn"t even bury the gap that sprouted.
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"Even then, Chako laughs. She said that she enjoys being with me. We took many photos and our memories together grew."
That"s why it"s not a lie.
Even as she acts in accordance with an order she can"t defy, she laughs with me.
That"s why I want to let Chako laugh forever.
"Chako, she… lives each and every day wistfully. Although she laughs, it’s like she knows it"ll come to an end."
It"s like she knows she"ll disappear someday.
I don"t want that.
I don"t want to give up.
Save her, sensei.
Looking up at sensei unmovingly, sensei"s eyes sways.
"… Naba, I"m, like that too."
Sensei"s eyes narrow in anguish.
"『The Strongest Phantom In The World』or so I"m called but I can"t suppress my own power."
"Can"t suppress?"
"Yeah. My power’s too strong. I"m always desperately trying to stop my ego that"s on the verge of going berserk."
When my eyes widen in surprise, his amber eyes smile gently yet desolately.
Eyes that are somehow similar to Chako"s.
Sensei"s going to disappear too?
"Wanting to leave behind a little bit of something, I tried my hand at being a teacher and at taking photos. The reason I can"t leave Tomonaga alone may be because she has the same eyes as me."
After closing his eyes once, sensei looks at me.
The colour before no longer dwells in those eyes.
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"If there"s something that I, who"s disappearing, can do. … It"s fine even if it"s just what you know, Naba. Tell me about Tomonaga."
At sensei"s words, I frantically convey information to him.
How Chako"s a phantom with no totem.
How Chako can turn phantoms" life force into her own.
How her growing power affects Tomotaksenpai too.
When I finish speaking, sensei makes a thinking posture and nods.
"I see. Tomonaga seems to be slightly different from normal phantoms."
He then slowly looks towards me.
"Naba, can you suppress my power with yours? With that, Tomonaga too…"
The corners of his mouth raise up in a grin.
"――I"ll s.n.a.t.c.h her from Kamo."
Sensei holds the fence with his right hand and looks down towards me.
Those amber eyes shine with provocation.
Under the blue sky hanging with spa.r.s.e clouds.
That colour scorches my eyes.
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[1] My interpretation is that the double-sided tape tends to come off but the masking tape usually doesn"t.
[2] She"s not close to Tomotaka in this round. Just like how she can"t act all familiar with Kousuke, even tho she calls him Tomotaksenpai in her head, she calls him Kamo-senpai when talking to others.