***Presence of blood shed.***
The first arc of the story will end with part 2 of chapter 4. I personally consider these 4 chapters the prologue.
I Play the Role of a Villain
– School Life and Reincarnation [Part 1]
Our end result for the ball game tournament is fourth place.
We didn"t get to stand on the winners" podium, but we"re the top of the first-years.
After the end of the ball game tournament, it"s summer vacation.
As usual, I pa.s.s the days with Yui-chan, being prim and proper cla.s.smates.
Kousuke-chan also joins us sometimes and we grow closer steadily.
That event is coming soon! It"s the cultural festival!
Once again, our matching t-shirts make their appearance. Full of enthusiasm, we go around the school wearing those.
Apparently, Yui-chan had some Student Council work to do and she made her way off somewhere.
"Hey hey, Kousuke-chan. Doesn"t going around the cultural festival with just the two of us, kinda feels like we"re dating?"
"Naw, it"s not "Haah", right. Shouldn"t it be "Throb, throb"?"
"… Aah, yeah yeah, that"s right."
We consume fried buckwheat noodles as we converse.
However, to phantoms like us, it"s an everyday experience that we very much appreciate.
"Isn"t it~delicious~."
"It sure is."
The two of us sit on a desk in an empty cla.s.sroom as we eat.
This is translated at nakimus.h.i.tl.wordpress.com, please don’t repost elsewhere.
"Who knows."
"You"re interested in stuff like that…?"
"Well, it"s just, doesn"t it seems like it"ll be cool?"
Kousuke-chan"s face scrunches up in distaste as I speak excitedly.
I see. Perhaps he doesn"t like music.
While I"m thinking of such things and eating the fried buckwheat noodles, we hear the sound of something falling nearby.
The sound was considerably loud; something serious must have happened.
"Kousuke-chan!?"
"Ah, is it the room beside ours?"
We exit the cla.s.sroom in a fl.u.s.ter and open the door of the room besides ours.
There, I see Tomotaka-sama catching the wooden planks with his right hand as he shields Yui-chan.
Yui-chan!? Why are you there!?
It appears that this cla.s.sroom is used to store the lumber.
Kousuke-chan gives a small click of his tongue, rushes up to the two and begins the removal of those planks.
"Oi, give me a hand, Chako!"
Without looking at me, Kousuke-chan desperately tries to remove the lumber.
Yet, I"m unable to go there.
It"s blood.
Tomotaka-sama"s right hand is bleeding.
I can tell even from this distance.
The right hand, which he used to catch the planks, is bleeding.
I want.
I want it.
I feel a burning sensation in my chest at the reward that appeared all of a sudden.
Frantically, I try to suppress it.
No.
NO!
I"ve always been enduring.
Ever since I start to attend school, I"ve been living apart from Tomotaka-sama.
To think that my effort is going to naught despite everything, just because of this.
Just by shedding his blood, that person makes me feel like throwing away everything to leap to his side.
I don"t want to.
I don"t want to!
Slipping within the chaos caused by the incident, I sprint away at high speed.
I then hide at the back of the building where the clubrooms are, hugging my knees and shutting my eyes tightly.
Then, even though I"m thinking that I can calm down if I spend some time alone, a voice calls to me from behind.
"What"s wrong, Chako?"
It"s Kousuke-chan, who should"ve been saving the two.
Did he notice that I"m not around, and came chasing after me?
For a while, Kousuke-chan appears to be thinking about something, but he slowly continues to speak.
"Do you like Kamo-senpai?"
Kousuke-chan"s voice is trembling.
I"m surprised at Kousuke-chan"s words, words that didn"t even cross my mind before.
Do I like Tomotaka-sama, you say?
"Not really."
I"ve been trying my best, pretending to be calm. However, as I still don"t have the confidence to make my sclera show, I"m unable to lift my face.
My words may have sounded dodgy because I spoke while looking like this.
"He"s an onmyouji, y"know. Do you understand?"
"… Yeah."
I know.
That knowledge is deeply ingrained in me.
"What are you gonna do?"
Kousuke-chan asks in a morose voice.
Why is he so irritated?
"… I don"t know."
Even if you get so irritated with me, I don"t know.
Even I"ve no idea what to do with myself.
Kousuke-chan becomes silent at my vague answer.
He remains like that for a moment before speaking determinedly.
"Have a match with me."
"HUH?"
I unintentionally become foul-mouthed.
Sheesh, what are you saying all of a sudden, Kousuke-chan.
But――
"Sure. Let"s have a match."
That"s right. At any rate, I"m not able to make my sclera show and my hunger doesn"t seem like it"ll settle down.
This is the clubroom building at the 2nd sports ground.
As there"s no cultural festival events here and it"s some distance away from the main venue, there probably aren"t many people around.
"I"m coming. Kousuke-chan!"
The moment I say that, I grow claws on my hands and slash at Kousuke-chan.
Kousuke-chan jumps backwards. When he reaches the open s.p.a.ce of the grounds, he cracks his neck.
"I"m not gonna pull any punches just "cos you"re a girl."
With those words, Kousuke-chan squeezes his eyes shut and transforms into a phantom"s form.
His orange fur glistens under the sunshine and his amber eyes glares at me fiercely.
"As expected, Kousuke-chan! You look strong! I"ll change too!"
I, too, construct my body.
The appearance of an enormous wolf.
From there, with neither of us willing to submit, we keep each other in check.
We mutually deal attacks that graze each other, but none of them are fatal blows.
How fun.
My heart dances excitedly at the fight.
Instead of avoiding Kousuke-chan, I thrust my right leg at his mouth.
With no hesitation, Kousuke-chan pierces that right leg with his fangs.
However, he"s too naive.
I immediately re-construct that right leg and capture Kousuke"s fang with the flesh.
Just as an unpleasant snap sound resounds, Kousuke"s mouth becomes dyed in red.
My right leg and Kousuke-chan"s right, upper fang.
With the fang still stabbed in it, and as Kousuke-chan is still groaning from the pain, I grab one of his 9 tails and hurl him.
And, taking the opportunity before Kousuke-chan regains his posture, I bend over his body and bite into his neck.
"It"s my win, huh."
I firmly bite down and Kousuke-chan"s taste spreads within my mouth.
Delicious.
Suppressing the urge to shred him into pieces, I slowly remove my mouth.
I then return to the form of the villain.
"Stay like that for a while okay, Kousuke-chan. I"ll heal your wounds."
Going towards Kousuke-chan who"s still bleeding from his mouth and neck, I lightly blow onto the wounds.
Once Kousuke-chan confirms that, he slowly returns to his human form.
"… Amazing."
"Of course. I"m strong after all!"
I laugh smugly.
"Come to think of it, why did you ask for a match, Kousuke-chan?"
I enjoyed it and was happy that I got to taste a bit of Kousuke-chan, but it was probably nothing but frustrating for Kousuke-chan.
"… Because I wanted to know, who"s stronger."
"Hmm?"
I don"t quite understand but Kousuke-chan probably has things to think about too.
"Ah, that"s right, Kousuke-chan, blow your breath on this."
"Kousuke-chan"s fang."
I show Kousuke-chan the white solid in my hand.
This was what I harvested earlier on. It turned palm-sized at the same time I turned into human form.
"What are you gonna do with such a thing, jeez."
"… You really have bad taste."
Kousuke-chan makes an extremely reluctant face, but he blows a puff of air on it.
With that, Kousuke-chan"s spiritual energy has probably entered the fang.
"It"s been a boggling cultural festival, huh."
"… I know right."
Kousuke-chan sighs deeply in exhaustion.
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[1] Provided it wasn"t the author"s typo, I suppose Chako means Chako reconstructs Chako’s (fore)foot in wolf phantom form, which would be Chako’s right hand in human form.