Miyabi Is.h.i.+hara was indeed a beauty when not wearing her eyegla.s.ses, just as Chiaki said. Although her hair had turned white, this didn"t affect her beauty one bit. In fact, there was a wondrous contrast of moe-ness from the white long hair and black cat ears.
Seiji couldn"t help but recall the Monogatari series from his previous world when he saw how she appeared. There was a female main character who was known as the "cla.s.s president among cla.s.s presidents," and her dark side has white hair and cat ears as well as pajamas and large b.r.e.a.s.t.s… cough! He mustn"t confuse things with his current world.
"What"s going on here!?"
Miyabi, who was just an ordinary female high school student, was astonished to discover that she had grown cat ears and a cat tail just like the main character of her light novel.
Seiji looked towards Matsutani. However, the latter had an expression that said "let the handsome guy handle the explanation."
"Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai… we have currently gotten ourselves involved in a mystical incident."
"Mystical incident?"
"That"s right. Senpai should have noticed that there"s been a lot of gossip about mystical incidents recently, right?" Seiji inquired.
Miyabi nodded slightly.
"Actually, that wasn"t simple gossip at all. There was truth to those rumors. And right now, we have met a mystical incident just like what happened in those stories." Seiji extended his palms.
Miyabi didn"t know what to say to all this.
She revealed a confused expression.
"I know that this may perhaps be difficult for you to accept right now. But, I hope that you can understand quickly, because we need to continue taking action," Seiji told her sincerely.
"Take action… doing what?"
"To try and return to reality."
"Return to reality?"
"That"s right. This place isn"t reality. It"s a dreamlike realm, although it"s not quite a dream. We"re currently trapped inside here." Seiji glanced over at the cl.u.s.ter amaryllis flowers that were blooming everywhere.
Miyabi was evidently more confused by this.
"Senpai, perhaps it"ll be easier for you to understand once you see things for yourself. The moment that you step out of this banquet hall…"
At this moment, the lights in the banquet hall were suddenly extinguished!
This area became much darker, with only the brilliant red cl.u.s.ter amaryllis flowers giving off a faint red glow.
Seiji and Matsutani both detected movements and turned around to see a large amount of skeletons appearing from the darkness!
"What… are those?" Miyabi"s eyes shone just like a cat"s eyes would in darkness. She also now possessed a cat"s ability to see through darkness and noticed the approaching skeletons.
The next second, the skeletons lunged towards Seiji"s group!
Matsutani agilely avoided the skeletons, while Seiji decisively cast [Mana Barrier] on himself and carried Miyabi in his arms.
"Eek!" the female high school student screamed in terror. Even her cat ears were vertically stiff and rigid.
"I apologize, Senpai! We need to leave here right away!" Seiji princess-carried Miyabi while rus.h.i.+ng towards the banquet hall"s exit.
The skeletons chased after him while waving their bony claws!
Matsutani provided cover fire for Seiji. However, Seiji still had to forcefully withstand many bone claw attacks with his [Mana Barrier].
Miyabi now had a definite realization that this place was no longer "reality" after witnessing this scene.
When they reached the hotel"s stairs, Matsutani speedily cast a spell and sealed the fire door just like before.
"What exactly are those?" Miyabi inquired.
"I"ll explain later." Seiji glanced at the cl.u.s.ter amaryllis flowers that were extending up the stairs, then followed the flower trail and jogged up the stairs.
When he turned around at the next flight of stairs, he suddenly noticed that the stairs now extended upwards for an incredibly long distance, no end in sight!
Seiji and Matsutani both paused on the stairs upon witnessing this scene.
"The stairs are so long… What"s going on?" Miyabi widened her eyes in surprise.
"With this, and what you saw just earlier, you should understand now, Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai." Seiji sighed. "This place really isn"t the reality that you know."
Miyabi fell silent.
At this moment, a loud boom came from downstairs.
"The skeletons have broken through the door. We need to leave immediately," Matsutani said while beginning to run up the stairs.
Seiji continued to run up the stairs as well.
The skeletons soon started chasing after them. They were an incredibly dense horde that took up all the s.p.a.ce on the narrow stairs. It seemed like a scene right out of a horror game.
After being carried in Seiji"s arms for a while as he ran, Miyabi finally regained her senses and told Seiji, "Let me down. I can run for myself."
"It"s alright. I can keep carrying you as long as I want. Senpai, you"re not heavy at all." Seiji smiled at Miyabi who was still in his arms.
"It"s not a matter of being heavy or not…" The now cat eared girl blushed red. "My legs are fine, so let me run for myself."
"Alright… this staircase seems really long, though. If you get tired from running upstairs all the time, just let me know and I"ll carry you again. Don"t force yourself," Seiji told her as he put her down.
"Junior, do you always treat girls like this?" Miyabi asked him softly after she started running.
"Hmm? Did you say something?" Seiji didn"t hear her clearly.
"It"s nothing…" The cat eared girl averted her gaze.
Running up an endless staircase with countless skeletons chasing after them? This seemed completely unrealistic to her. However, there was no denying that it was currently happening.
"I think I"m dreaming…" Miyabi couldn"t help but say this out loud.
"This isn"t a dream." Seiji heard her and immediately denied it. "I just said that this is a dreamlike realm, but this isn"t a dream at all. If you"re hurt in here, you"ll be hurt for real."
"What kind of damage will happen to me?"
"I"m not sure of the specifics. But still, this isn"t a dream, Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai… if this was a dream, there"d be no reason for you to randomly dream of me and Matsutani-senpai here, right?"
"Wrong! There"s only no reason for her to dream about me," the pudgy middle-aged man interrupted. "It isn"t strange at all for a handsome guy like you to appear in a female high school student"s dream, Harano-kun. It would only be strange for her to dream about a middle-aged guy like me!"
Seiji and Miyabi were both rendered speechless.
They felt that it was difficult to counter what he just said.
"Senpai, are you acquainted with Matsutani-senpai?" Seiji changed the topic.
"I don"t know him." Miyabi glanced over at Matsutani.
"See, there you go. You shouldn"t be dreaming about someone you don"t know at all, which is the evidence that you"re not currently dreaming." Seiji went back to the original topic of conversation.
Miyabi remained silent.
"It"s not that easy to leave this dreamlike realm, but it"s still possible," Seiji told her sincerely. "We can definitely break free as long as we all work hard together!"
Miyabi felt more rea.s.sured upon hearing this, and a warm feeling entered her heart…
"Don"t be too full of yourself. Be careful that you don"t raise a death flag," Matsutani interrupted once more.
"Senpai, could you please refrain from retorting at such a time?"
"Sorry for getting in the way of your flirting. But, that was my objective to begin with! If you don"t like it, hit me!"
"I wasn"t flirting. I was merely encouraging her." Seiji felt helpless about the situation.
"But in truth, you were flirting with her as well! How about asking her if she felt like you were flirting with her!" Matsutani gave Seiji a sidelong glance.
Miyabi averted her gaze and her face flushed red once again.
"I won"t ask something like that… Let"s save our breath, since we"re currently running upstairs." Seiji put an end to this topic of conversation. "Is.h.i.+ha.r.s.enpai, just remember to tell me if you get tired. I"ll carry you again… Ah, how about getting on my back this time?"
"See! You"re flirting with her again!"
"Matsutani-senpai, please shut up and run!"
"This is discrimination. I want to file a complaint!"
"Go ahead and complain! See if there"s anyone who will listen to you!"
"You have such a terrible att.i.tude! You"ve finally revealed your true self!"
"You deserve what you"re getting!"
The two of them kept arguing, but this actually helped to decrease the tension as they ran upstairs.
The cat eared girl ran in silence next to them.
If this was reality, she should have long since gotten fatigued from running up so many stairs. However, she wasn"t wheezing even in the slightest.
Was it because she was in a strange place? Or was it because her body had changed? She didn"t know.
She decided to treat this as an adventure of sorts… She hoped that she would be able to return safely with her two companions.
Just as she was thinking this, Miyabi suddenly saw the end of the stairs!