Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

About the thing, how did the tale continue?

Ah, I had been trying to find the person who sent the letter, but in the end I found myself back where I started.

If it wasn’t Chiwa, then I had to give up. I had no clue about the "bind ourselves together again", so of course I had not "come to a conclusion" about this matter.

"Maybe it was really just a prank after all...?"

I had no choice but to go back and reconsider the possibility I had initially rejected.

Because the writing was so mystifyingly complicated, I had a.s.sumed it must have been a real love letter. But if I thought about it more carefully, it still could have been a trap to make me think that Chiwa wrote it. They probably wanted to make fun of me and stage an embarra.s.sing dilemma between Masuzu and her. If that were the case, it made sense. My recent actions probably pleased them a lot.

After understanding this point, I could only disregard the letter.

If I wouldn’t have reacted at all and went on with my usual life, the mysterious person would probably think they had failed and gave up. Summer vacation was waiting right after final exams, so there wasn’t any reason to make a big deal out of this.

Thus, final exams started and I concentrated all of my energy on the tests. Even Jien-Otsu activities were suspended. It"s been a long time since I immersed myself in a daily life of only studying. Thanks to this, I had a very good feeling about exams and I could probably keep my rank as number one in the cla.s.s. But just when I started feeling relieved——

Monday morning, the week after exams ended.

After I went to school with Chiwa and opened my shoe cupboard...

—I cannot bear it. I want to see you.

—Today after school, I will wait for you on the roof.

"Ei-kun, is there something wrong?"

Because Chiwa suddenly peaked, I had to shove the letter in my pocket while being fl.u.s.tered.

"Was that a handout from before? The one inside your shoe cupboard?"

"A-A-Ah, that was a sheet of English translations! I thought I lost it, but it seems like a kind person picked it up and put it in here."

"I thought I saw something written like "after school", "the roof", or something?"

"T-That was the question that was supposed to be translated into English. It was a very hard question."

"Hard? "After school"Houkago is just "AFTER SCHOOL[1]", right?"

"No, you missed the trick, Chiwa! It actually reads "after set on fire"Houkago! So "AFTER BURNING[2]" is the correct answer!"

"[...] ...Fu~unm."

Pheww, my ingenious cover-up worked.

After Chiwa left to go to Cla.s.s E, I walked down the corridor towards Cla.s.s A and my brain worked at top speed.

It looked as if the criminal’s strategy was turning more direct to lure me out.

I could only think of two possible outcomes.

First, they’ll watch me wait alone on the roof in vain and then laugh at me from afar.

Second, Masuzu’s and Chiwa’s male fans will appear in a mob, surround me and beat me up.

Neither of which was a good thing.

I felt that my best choice was to ignore it —No, since the other party has finally made a concrete move, it was probably better to accept the challenge directly. Compared to further hara.s.sment in the future, it was better to burst the bubble now and remove it.

I wanted to clearly tell this person: "Stop writing these boring letters!"

♦

So, school finally ended.

I waited in the strong breeze on the roof for the criminal to arrive.

Also, this was my second time visiting this roof.

The first time was to practice confessions with Chiwa, but it was a huge failure. Why did these confessions have to be the black marks in my history? That I couldn"t possibly understand.

It did not seem like there would be happy memories a.s.sociated with today. "Fights that result in a new friendship" only happen in the world of manga, right? I just wanted to protect my dominant hand so my studying would not be obstructed.

I took out my cellphone to check the time, and it was just about four o’clock in the afternoon. Because the letter only said "after school" I didn’t know when the other person would come. Earlier I had checked all around the roof, but there was no sign of anyone hiding. There was only one entrance to roof, so if I just kept watch on it, they would probably come from there.

After about five minutes, the wind started blowing stronger again——

The rusted iron door slowly opened.

"It"s here—"

I prepared myself.

How many people are there? Three people? Five people? If it"s two, then give me a break. Are they in the same grade? Or in a higher grade? If they are cla.s.smates, then I’d honestly admit defeat—

"...Eh?"

But only a single girl appeared.

There was nothing impressive about her appearance.

She was wearing our school uniform, even though I did not know why she was wearing the winter uniform.

While I was unsure of how to react, the girl quickly walked up to me. I thought she was going to say something to me, but she just quietly held out a portable game console from her chest.

Then the background music to the role-playing game practically everyone knew started playing on the roof.

"...?"

W-What?

Why did this girl come to this place?

The person who wrote the letter can"t be this girl! Impossible, she didn’t even say anything and continues playing the game. But why is she playing on the roof? And why is she playing next to me?

I stole a peek at the side view of the girl and was taken aback. She really was an incredibly cute girl.

The crown of her head was a kind of "doll-like" hair that was very rare nowadays. With her moist shining black hair, just considering her dark hair could increase her cuteness level by 500%. But if you looked at this girl under the sunlight, she looked absolutely delicate and adorable, especially her big watery eyes that would impress anyone. The wind blowing her long eyelashes made her appearance quite beautiful.

If only she didn"t lack a smile, she could probably be on par with Masuzu as a popular, glamorous maiden. However, her expression was a complete "poker face" and I felt as if her eyes were out of focus, or filled with some kind of foolish atmosphere... Was she sleepy? It was exactly that "drowsy" feeling.

At this moment, the girl handed me the game.

"Huh? W-What?"

The girl still wore a poker face, even as she used all her force to push the game onto my chest.

She seemed to want me to look at the screen.

Well, there wasn’t a choice and I had to look. I discovered that the screen displayed the status information of four units.

Lv.87 Hero - I

Lv.85 Warrior - LOVE

Lv.83 Monk - U

Lv.1 Magician - ♥

"[...] [...]"

What a unique team. Even though a hero, warrior, monk, and magician are part of a common team, the names were too personal. You couldn’t just name the magician… "♥". What was that, and why was it the only one at level one?

If you strung it together, it reads "I LOVE YOU ♥"? [3]

"[...]"

Now that I mention it, this girl’s face was quite red…

Starting just a few moments ago, she had begun to act all shy and uneasy.

Her hands that held the game trembled, and it looked almost as if she was about to drop it.

Yes, she looks like— yes, just like a girl who confessed to the boy she liked.

No.

Wrong, wrong.

It can’t be, it can’t be.

"[...]"

"[...]"

T-The silence is very heavy!

Since she didn’t say anything, the atmosphere was very awkward.

Basically, it is up to me to start the conversation? Should I say something like, "that"s a pretty cool party"? Or "you are all set for dungeon-hunting"? No, why do I even have to talk about games with a girl that I don’t know on the roof? Right, the criminal who wrote the love letter better come now! At least it would be better than this current situation. It doesn’t matter if they are Masuzu’s fans or Chiwa’s fans, just come!

We both remained silent for over five minutes.

There was no one else on the roof.

"[...]"

"[...]"

It can’t be...

This girl couldn’t be the one who wrote the love letter?

But this was inconsistent with "bonds of the distance past". No matter how I looked at it, this was the first time I had met this girl. I figured she was in the same grade as me based on the figure of her body. In reality I couldn’t recall any impression of ever seeing a face like hers before.

"As expected."

"—!"

This girl finally said something!

"I presume Eita has not retrieved all of the memories of his past life, so I will try "communication" with the language of this world."

"Eh?"

What is this girl talking about?

"Have you deciphered the meaning of the "magic spell" I just showed you?"

"Spell? —Do you mean the "I LOVE YOU ♥"?"

The girl blushed.

"It means "revive bonds" in the Hebrew language."

"[...]"

Hebrew is like that?

There’s even a "♥" letter?

"I am called Akishino Himeka in this world, but my real name is "HIMEKA • Sei[4] • HEAVENSRAIN". And——"

The girl who called herself Himeka mustered a noise through her nose and very proudly said:

"In my past life, my name was "Holy Dragon Princess of DawnBURNING PRIN PRINCESS"."

Aahh...

So that"s the case...

It has to do with "past lives"...

"In my past life, I confirmed an intense bond with the "Holy Dragon Knight of DawnBURNING FIGHTING FIGHTER", Kidou Eita."

"Eeehhhh?"

"I"ve wanted to see you all along, Eita."

The girl jumped into my arms and hugged me tightly. Her body was very slender, and it seemed she would break if I tried to shake her off, so I didn’t even move.

"W-Wait! Give me a moment, Akishino!"

"No, I want you to call me "Hime[5]" like you did in the past."

"W-W-Well, Hime, how do you know the thing about "Holy Dragon Knight of Dawn"?!"

"I sank into the snare of love in my past life, a vowed to fight the Evil Dragon ClanWyvern together with you until the end. But when the Ooi naru yamiDARKNESS advanced in the final battle and all living things perished, I utilized a higher dimension to escape and reawakened my consciousness through alchemy—"

"I wasn’t asking about the "setting"!"

Hime who still clung wrapped around my back, raised her head and said blankly:

"I don’t really understand what Eita intends to ask."

"Where did you hear that I was the "Holy Dragon Knight of Dawn"?"

"Point EKME."

"— Ekemue?"

"This is the way it is written in the language of higher dimensions. But in the language of this world, that would be a "train station"."

"You know, it"s actually EKiMaE[6]!"

This was on the same level as "KWSK[7]" and "WKTK[8]"!

That kind of higher dimension!

"Eh? Wait, you said, "station"... Don’t tell me you’re talking about that incident last month?"

"Yes, I happened to witness Eita launch a Holy War (SAINT WAR) against a minion manipulated by the Evil Dragon (WYVERN). Thanks to Eita"s AURA, the seal on my spirit was released, so I can now recover the memories of my past life."

Even though wild electric waves were flying all about, I had roughly grasped the approximate situation.

After all, since I also suffered from "Eighth Grade Syndrome", I could understand! These so-called delusions have an especially influential nature. For example, when vampires became a popular trend in manga, the whole j.a.pan was filled with deluded people who believed "my true ident.i.ty is a vampire". Because people will continue to be receptive of anime, games, and real events; Thus, the number of new scenarios will only continue to increase.

In front of the station, I played the role of "Holy Dragon Knight of Dawn" to save Chiwa. Akishino Himeka, who witnessed this scene, probably received my delusions and added her own fantasies to the scene. With that on my mind, the words "bind ourselves together again" finally made sense.

I never imagined it would be the bonds of a "past life".

...When you say it like that, how"s one supposed to think of that?!

Hime buried her little face into my chest.

"I will try my best to make Eita recover the memories of our past lives."

"Don’t! That"s nothing to try your best at!"

"No problem, as long as we fight together, we won’t lose to the Evil Dragon ClanWyvern."

"Before that, my heart will definitely lose iiiiiiiiiit."

At this moment, there was the sound of a door opening behind us.

A savior was coming!

At this point, I didn’t care if it was a patrolling teacher or disciplinary committee member.

Just liberate me from this h.e.l.l of electric waves hug-hug radiating around me[9]——

"Eeeeeei-kuuuuun~?"

But mayhem came.

Harusaki Chiwa-san.

Her wide eyes were bloodshot and her legs were open astride. The fried pork bread in her hands was crushed into paste.

—Yes, Chiwa was very angry!

"Hey, what are you doing on the roof? Who is that girl? Why are you hugging?"

"W-W-Wait, Chiwa! WAIT[10], Chiwa! Wait there for a moment!

After I stopped Chiwa from approaching, I whispered to Hime:

"Please, don’t let that person know that we were lovers in our past lives."

"Why? I want to explain how we love each other."

"That’s exactly what you can’t say, or it’ll be troublesome... No, because if anyone from this era finds out, it’ll be disastrous! Try to use the ordinary language of this world, to, you know, say something ordinary fitting for this world!"

For the time being we’ll pretend we know each other and then we’ll think of ways fudge our way through!

"Why are your faces so close to each other?!"

Chiwa ran towards us, with her eyes teary and her heavy footsteps.

"Hey, who are you? What kind of person are you to Ei-kun? What’s your relationship with him?"

"I"m Eita’s..."

Do not say it! Pleases do not say you were my girlfriend in a past life!

"Ex-girlfriend."

Wuahh! That answer is even wooooooooooorse!

"E-E-Ex—E-E-E-Ex-girlfriend?!"

With the tone of tongue twister, Chiwa turned to me and demanded:

"Ei-kun, what’s the meaning of this?"

"N-N-N-No, Chiwa! It"s a trap! Yes, a trap!"

"You went out with this girl before? Without telling me? While you were being nice to me, behind my back, hiding it from me, you two...? I-I really can’t believe iiiiiiiit!"

Chiwa grabbed me by the collar and shook. My head waved back and forth!

Someone save me! Please!

Then I heard the sound of the door opening——

"Ara, ara, indeed "a flower in each hand", Eita-kun."

With wind blowing in her silver hair, Natsukawa Masuzu appeared.

Her eyes were surprisingly gentle.

She was filled with br.i.m.m.i.n.g love as she stared at me, who was presently hugged by Hime with Chiwa grabbing my collar.

"M-Masuzu, this is not, this is not..."

"Then, what could this be?"

Masuzu said as she tilted her head to the side:

"I just heard something in the lines of "I think Ei-kun received a love letter!" from Harusaki-san, So I followed her and just arrived here, but I still don’t understand what’s going on."

Wuah! Did Chiwa figure out the letter at the shoe cupboard from this morning?

Chiwa temporarily let go of my neck and said:

"Listen to this, Natsukawa! Ei-kun used to go out this girl in the past!"

"Ara. Oh, really?"

"She said she was his ex-girlfriend! Did you know about this, Natsukawa?"

"No, this is my first time hearing it. This is very interesting."

Masuzu took a black notebook out of her uniform pocket and began writing notes.

"M-Masuzu? What are you writing?"

"You want to peek?"

*paah*! Masuzu opened the notebook and held up to my face.

She had record dense notes with meticulous handwriting.

Eita-kun let Harusaki Chiwa use the shower in his house.

Eita-kun forced me to wear a naked ap.r.o.n.

Eita-kun rejected my request for a kiss.

Eita-kun kept staring me with vulgar eyes as I wore my swimsuit.

Eita-kun had an ex-girlfriend. (NEW!)

Eita-kun concealed from me the fact that he had an ex-girlfriend. (NEW!)

Eita-kun had a foolish expression as his ex-girlfriend hugged him. (NEW!)

"Masuzu, this is..."

"Ma • su • zu?"

"No Masuzu-sama! What’s the meaning of this notebook?"

My tongue was already tied in a knot.

As Masuzu brushed her hair up, she smiled and:

"Because I am very forgetful, I have to take notes."

ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ•••

I didn’t know where these JOJOJOJO-like sound effects were coming from.[11]

"Well, Ei-kun! Just give an honest confession!"

"You know, Eita-kun, if a human falls from a fourth story building, could he possibly remain unharmed? Don"t you feel like giving it a try?"

"Ah! Wuaaah! Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh."

I stepped backwards and Hime gently pulled at my sleeve.

"Eita, who are these two people?"

Before I could answer——

"I am Ei-kun’s childhood friend, Harusaki Chiwa!"

"I"m Eita-kun’s girlfriend, Natsukawa Masuzu."

Hime’s eyebrows raised only a little bit and "twitched".

Then she pulled at my right arm.

"Eita, it’s too noisy here. I want to go someplace away from these two people."

"Do you think I"m going to allow such a thing?!"

Chiwa grabbed my left arm and yanked. Hime lost her balance, fell onto the ground, and released her hands. Just like her delicate appearance, she was a frail girl.

"I don’t know if you’re his ex-girlfriend or something, but if you think you can monopolize Ei-kun, think again!"

"Yes, absolutely right, the only person who can monopolize Eita is his girlfriend, me."

"Right! Wait... Natsukawa, what are you talking about?!"

Masuzu suddenly began to fight with Chiwa and the situation already appeared like a civil war.

With her rear end on the ground, Hime looked terrified as she stared at the two girls. This girl always had a deadpan expression and this was the first time some kind of expression appeared. But that was understandable, since these two were quite terrifying.

As a result, that pair of big watery eyes slowly began to produce tears——

"No..."

Hime whispered this sound, and it caused both Chiwa’s and Masuzu’s cheeks to stop.

"No! No, n-n-nooo! Eita is Hime’s! Other girls can’t touch him! The only person who can hug Eita close is Hime——!"

Hime kicked her hands and feet wildly like a spoiled child[12], and I could only stand and watch.

Chiwa was the same and even Masuzu was dumbstruck, their mouths simply open in a daze.

"Huph— Huph—", Hime"s shoulder moved up and down with her breath and she glared at the two girls. It took an entire a minute before she regained her calm visage.

After she fully returned to her original poker face, Hime a.s.serted seriously:

"What just happened… Just act like you didn’t see anything"

[...] ...Impossible!