[Interlude]
I, Midorikawa Suzuka, have a secret I couldn't ever tell anyone. I have memories of a past life... Sounds crazy, right? Even I can't fully believe it, despite all the time that's passed, but... I died of cancer. I've been having it for half a year but I discovered slightly late... and by that time, I was almost on final stage... I only survived 5 months after I found out. I had radio therapy by the fourth month, but one day I passed out at home and woke up in the hospital. The doctors told me they missed one growth... they gave me two weeks at best, but I didn't make it all the way through. In my past life, I was just your regular off-the-mill girl, I was living in India, with my parents first, till high school ended... then I moved in with my sister, and enrolled at a literature college. I was 21 at the time of my death, so now I would be... 38? I don't feel that mature thoughh.
Leaving behind my family was painful, and I sometimes wish I could have a chance to see them again, to properly say goodbye... But at the same time, I'm happy for the new chance I've got at life, and I plan to make the most of it! My parents are great, and I've come to love them just as much as my... original parents? Hehee~ Also, I made some friends in high school! I've been even thinking about the future! Maybe I could get to be a writer this time around. I always wanted to be a writer when I was smaller, but then realised I wasn't that good at writing, but maybe I should just chase my dream if I got this second chance. Then again, I'm also good at science, so it would be either of these two... I'm still trying to figure it out.
Oh, and recently I met this boy, Kokonoe Takashi... He saved me from a train molester one day when I was going back from my grandmother, I had to take the day off from school. He is the coolest person ever, who speaks honestly about everything and never hesitates, there's always good amounts of dark humour filled in his speech, soo funny and interesting it is! He's one of the strongest people, who deals with everything head on, yet very soft on the inside, not that he would ever show it.
He kinda reminds me of that Romanian boy I met online before I died, hipp... I wonder what's he up to now. Did he find that genuine he's always been searching for? What about Yumi? Is she still grieving for me?...
"Nee, Suzu-chan, are you listening?", the voice of my best friend, Aizawa Aika, snapped me from my thoughts.
"Sorry, Aika-chan... what were you saying?"
"It's not like you to space out so much, maybe... you have someone you like?~"
That question caught me off guard and I could feel the heat rise up to my cheeks... Do I like Kokonoe-kun that way?... M-maybe... I mean, sure, he's a dear friend, but I.. don't know yet.
"Mou, stop teasing me"
"Haha, sorry... but you gotta tell me all about it~"
Where do I even begin?...
______________________________________________
[Kokonoe POV]
"Too slow...", rang the voice of my tormentor... I mean, training partner as she broke through my wall of ice and delivered an axe kick to my stomach, sending me flying as my back crashed into a nearby tree. Fuck it, does this woman even know the meaning of holding back on beginners? I mean, I know she kicked my ass before basically stealing my first kiss (in this life lol) and forcing me into a date, but you'd think she'd go a lil softer on me now that we're actually acquainted. But nope, no mercy.
To explain how I wind up in this situation... there were, surprisingly, not many activities at the ORC, so I decided to spend my spare time after school training with Yamamoto Haruka-chan. Read: repeatedly getting my ass kicked by her. So now, we're in a forest at the outskirts of Kuoh, and guess what, my training is going nowhere as good as I thought it would. I mean, obviously, I need to get stronger in order to face all the upcoming issues... the priority now would be looking into that serial killer. The immediate priority would be catching a fucking break from this woman and her merciless attacks.
"Haruka-chan, think we could take a break?... I'm kinda beat."
"Haha, I thought you would never ask. It's actually impressive you managed to hold on this much."
Was that remark really necessary? Way to rub salt into my wounds, not only I'm losing to a girl, whose way out of my league (in every way possible), but she decides to give me a hard time about it as well. Gimme a break, I'm trying to be as mellow as I can be and not cause a scene, which is something you're making increasingly harder.
"Oh, come on, don't be so down about it~", easier said than done, woman. "Hey, how about we relax at your place?"
Okay, where did that come from? Isn't it to early to meet my mom or something? Not that she's home at this hour but still, bringing a girl over? Not exactly what I had in mind for the next few decades... though, I suppose I can brag about it to Issei. Not even Midorikawa has been at my place yet, and we've known each other for quite a while. Who knows, maybe we can have se- I stopped that thought before it could catch fire.
"Fine, I'll lead the way", I tried to act groggy but Yamamoto just laughed me off.
"You just thought of having sex with me, didn't you?~"
Fuck. Is she an esper? For the record, I didn't even entertain that thought, but something tells me that if the answer was positive, I woulda been very well set on the path of blue balling. My expertise on such topics is off the charts, so naturally I can predict my own future. What a convinient skill to have.
"But, Kokonoe-kun, it's too early for that. Won't you at least make me your girlfriend first?~"
Yup, I am totally getting blue balled here.
"Let's just get going..."
Of course, my attempt to deflect the situation didn't go unnoticed by Haruka, who laughed her heart out at my expense... Women... I'll never understand em.
(scene break)
We made it to my house after a rather uneventful 20 minutes walk of Haruka teasing me over and over until I shut down my hearing abilities with this unique skill I call spacing out... it really does wonders. I recommend it to everyone that's struggling with: a) a very angry person lashing out at you, b) a girl teasing you, c) your mom. I'm starting to sound like those clowns ridiculing themselves by taking up roles in commercials, but trust me, it's a very effective method. Source: me.
I opened the door to my house and invited Yamamoto in.
"Ladies first"
At least no one can say that I lack manners. Of course, my stalker couldn't help but laugh at me.
"Oh my, Kokonoe-kun, what a gentleman you are"
Yeah, I totally couldn't let that one slide.
"Well, you've been watching this house from outside all this time, I thought you might wanna know how's it to be inside.. so take my positive answer to your self-invitation as an act of charity."
"Who said I wasn't inside?~"
That gave me the chills. Creepy. What the fuck did I get myself into?...
"Relax, darling, I'm just kidding"
Yeah right... moving on, we made our way into the living room and, color me surprised, my life can't get more interesting than this. The sight greeting me as I made my way into my own personal living space was nothing other than Toujou-chan, sitting on my couch, as if she was waiting for me. What the fu-
"I didn't realize you had guests", said Haruka while slightly elbowing me.
"I didn't realize it either... Toujou-chan, what are you doing here?"
Said cat girl looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in the world.
"Buchou told me to keep an eye on you..."
Of course, the Prez had to be behind this... It's not enough that I'm being stalked by a random snow girl, now even my property is being violated, by one of my clubmates no less. See the dogs come running, smelling blood now... to an open sore, ON THE PARASITE... Really, no one? Disturbed was a good band once upon a time, for crying out loud.
"That makes way too much sense", was all the conclusion I could come up to.
"...Who's this creepy woman?"
"Me? Who are you? You seem like a lost little kitten, can I help you?"
Yup, I swear you literally could see the sparks flying around their eyes, glaring at each other with so much killing intent I thought my house would collapse just by their staring contest alone. Is that one of those generic harem moments? Well, I'm flattered, but something tells me if I don't play it safe, I might end up caught in the crossfire for no reason at all...
What a pain.
"Well, isn't that great? We're learning things...", I sighed as the two of them briefly turned their glares on me as if I somehow became their new target. Quickly, turn their attention back to each other.
"Okay, so let me introduce you to each other. Haruka, this is my clubmate, Tojou Koneko-chan. Tojou, this is my...", I stopped as I was trying hard to come up with a way to explain my relationship with Yamamoto to my rather curious clubmate. Friends? Nah. Stalker? Well, technically, but I couldn't exactly mention that without causing a scene, possibly an even bigger one if Tojou-chan told Prez about anything that's happening here. Oh, I got it!
"...my personal trainer, Yamamoto Haruka. She's a yuki-onna, so she can teach me how to control my powers."
That explanation didn't seem to satisfy any of the girls. They turned to me and spoke in unison.
"Just your trainer?... Come on, Kokonoe-kun, we're closer than that~"
"...And you need training from this ice bitch?..."
Perfect sync, girls, perfect sync. In one instant after saying all that, they were back at each other's throats. You know what? Imma just let that scene play out and not interfere, it's not like they are going to destroy the house, right? Also, no, Haruka, I only met you yesterday, at least Toujou-chan I know for way longer.
"What did you say, midget?~ Say it again, to my face this time~"
"...Ice bitch"
Okay, let me grab the popcorn, this is gonna be interesting. Grr, pow! I'ma skip town, see my wrist drown, everybody wanna fuck with me for benefits now, man, I wish my boy Fog could've seen me lit now... For real tho, I used to complain about that guy picking up chicks on the internet a lot.
Haruka activated her ice flame from her palm and Tojou-chan got into a fighting stance. You think I'm gonna try to split em up? Lmfaooo. Who do you think I am? Your generic kind-hearted harem protagonist? Yeah no, I could even make bets on this if it was a match that would make me rich. I bet on Haruka although I want the kitten to win. Go for it, Tojou-chan, you can do it!
I lit up a cigarette and took a place on the couch, waiting to see how exactly will this fight end.
(...30 minutes later)
Okay, remember how I said I would just let them fight over their petty squabble and take a seat back to enjoy the show? That was a BAD IDEA. There's cracks in the wall, the couch has been wrecked (I had to dodge some of Haruka's icicles), the table too, some pictures fell off the wall but remained intact, somehow the TV too, everything else though?... Repair or replace. This is bad. This is fucking bad. I gotta stop them.
Just as I thought that, I noticed they were both slouching on the floor, heavily panting, looking each other dead in the eye. And the time to intervene is now.
"Guys, don't you think it's time to stop?", I said, trying to sound as calm as I could.
The girls turned their glare to me. "Stay out of it", they said in unison. Ara? Do you little troublemakers really think you have a choice here? Nah, nah, you are not gonna take me for a fool.
"YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TELL ME TO STAY OUT OF IT AFTER WRECKING MY LIVING ROOM? LOOK AROUND YOU, MY MOTHER IS COMING HOME AT 7PM, HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN THIS?"
Seems like my angry outburst really sunk in. They immediately calmed down and had an apologetic look over their faces. A lil too late for that, don't ya think? Haah, Imma take a while to get used to this, am I not? My life as a reincarnated side-character is more wrong than I've expected... don't make this a LN title, for god sake.
"Sorry about that"
"...Sorry"
"Are you at least gonna help me clean up this mess?"
"Sorry but there's a long road to Nagano and I gotta make it back... unless you wouldn't mind spending the night with me?~"
"I can ask Buchou to fix things, since it's partly my fault..."
Okay, hold it right there, it's one bad idea after another. I don't wanna get Prez and the others in the club too involved in my current activities, it's something I gotta do alone. Bringing her here would only mean she gets to find out the reason the fight took place, which means she also gets to find out my goals in training with Yamamoto, which raises a lot of questions about the way she would react. It's the last thing I want right now. Oh, and Haruka, nice try.
Of course, Tojou-chan wasn't keen on hearing how Yamamoto "plans" to spend the night so I could swear I hear the lil kitten call the ice girl a slut. And they were back to glaring at each other.
"Yeah, I think Imma just go kill myself before my mom does. I don't wanna die a second death, after all", I sighed.
Yup, realized my mistake, but the two girls were too much into their glaring contest to pay attention to what I said, thankfully. Oh, wait, actually, it would be my third death, so it's not as suspicious. Am I gonna lose count at this point? I'm on my way to becoming Sean Bean. Such a morbid thought.
And, just as I was sitting there about to get lost in one of my classical monologues as the girls stared each other down, the door to my house opened, signaling my imminent doom.
"I'm home"
Watcher, have mercy on me...
"What the fuck happened here?"
Mom cursing. Always a bad sign. Mom doesn't usually curse. For now she was just struck speechless, staring at me, and then at the two girls, who by the time she made an entrance stopped quarreling with each other and turned their full attention to the woman who made my rebirth possible (sorry that you got stuck with me, Watcher's Multiverse started lagging unexplainably 17 years ago).
"The only logical explanation is I don't have a logical explanation", I answered flatly. Although I can perfectly put the blame to the people responsible, it's not in my nature to point fingers.
"And who are the two of you?"
"I am Yamamoto Haruka, Kokonoe-kun's friend... and maybe something more in the future", she muffled the last part but I caught that due to enhanced hearing. No comment.
"...Tojou Koneko, Kokonoe-senpai's clubmate", I'm actually a lil hurt you didn't introduce yourself as my friend, but alas, maybe it's not the case yet.
"We're terribly sorry for the mess we caused"
Woah, their apology was surprisingly in sync as they bowed before my mom. Color me surprised.
"So, let me get this straight... The two of you here fought for this loser of a son of mine and wrecked up my living room?"
Ouch. Why do you put me on the spot like that, Mom? I haven't done anything this time. If anything, I am the victim here. Through and through. Also, I am expecting them to deny I'm the reason they fought, I mean, come on, girls wouldn't be so straight-forward about their intentions.
"Yeah, totally"
"...You could say so"
Ok, this world is totally into breaking every single one of my expectations. I feel like it's gonna be a long evening.
______________________________________________
I woke up the next morning with two girls on each side. Haruka to my left and Tojou-chan to my right. How did it come to this? Well, apparently, Mother was so excited that I started to make friends that she insisted they take dinner with us and stay over, which they readily accepted. She also made them promise to assist me with fixing the living room, and her tone made it clear that it was non-negotiable. What a terrifying woman, to be able to intimidate even supernatural beings like that. Even the ever so stoic Tojou-chan seemed afraid. And trust me, that was quite the picture. Dinner from there went smoothly, for the three woman... I would rather not remember the details. Being in the center of attention sucks.
The fact here, though, is that they've been assigned a separate room for themselves to sleep in. So why were they here? Actually, do I even want to know? Well, this is a historical moment tho, I had to immortalize it, so I pulled up my phone and made a selfie, uploaded to my secret insta and wrote #intredouanuteploua for caption. Man, I wish they could see me now hahaha, last time I shared a bed with a girl was with my cousin in Italy, and that happened when I was 10. And my brother was also there.. I wonder what's he up to now? Prolly married with two kids by now, he takes after our father now... presumably rich too, he was really good at that tech stuff, programming, prolly made it even further than our uncle.
Sigh. I don't wanna get too much into it, though, I really was a loser in my past life, and even my death was characteristic for one. I guess my downward spiral started after Diana broke up with me, the day she moved out was the second most depressing day of my past life. Wait, why the fuck am I remembering it?
"...Harder, Kokonoe-kun, go harder..."
Eyooo WTF! I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Yamamoto-chan, you're not fooling me. When you'll wake up, you'll just go back to blue balling me.
"...Senpai no ecchi..."
I don't know what you're imagining, Tojou-chan, but I'm not Issei. I am much better.
I checked my clock. It was 6am. If Mother catches me with those girls in my bed, I'm likely gon be questioned as a rape suspect so I slowly made my way downstairs. It was a nice Sunday so I thought after the girls leave, I could just take it easy; play some video game, or listen to music. Something relaxing, to take my mind off the supernatural bullshit for a change.
I passed by the damaged living room, courtesy of the two girls sleeping in my room, and made my way into the kitchen. There, I found my mom, making breakfast.
"Morning"
"Good morning"
I made my way to the fridge to get myself an energy drink, then grabbed a chair and sat. I imagined we had a lot to talk about in private. Well, let the mother-son talk begin, I guess.
"So, what happened to the loner forever? It's three girls you introduced me to lately. Are you planning to make a harem?"
I spilled my energy drink when I heard that. Almost got caught in my throat so I had to even my breathing. Damn it, Mom, pay me back for half of my Monster bottle.
"I met every single one of them by chance, it's not like I actively went to talk to each of them..."
If you think about it like that, it makes perfect sense. Tojou-chan I met when I was forced into joining the ORC, Midorikawa I saved from a stalker and Yamamoto is my own stalker. As much as I'd like to brag about it, the circumstances are a big yikes.
"You didn't push them away, though."
"Fair point..."
"You should be more honest with what you really want, else one day you will sit there contemplating not grabbing the chance when you could... Trust me, it's not a great feeling.", she chuckled at that. It was laced with bitterness, and for once in my lifetime, I could see Mother in a different light. It doesn't take much to realize she's talking from experience.
But then again, I could also feel the weight of her words myself. There's so many things in my past life I wish I would have done differently. And I'll never have the chance to. All this talk about hating people when really, the one I hate most is...
"Good morning~ hey, what's with the atmosphere, you guys look like you just heard someone died.."
I was snapped from my reverie by no one other than Haruka, who came down to the kitchen, Tojou in tow. The nekomata prolly wanted to speak her own greeting when she noticed the rather morbid atmosphere that's taken over the room.
"Oh, Yamamoto-chan... I was just thinking about some things, none of which you children should worry about"
"We got a serial killer on the loose in Nagano, it's possible someone died just now...", while I'm idly sitting here feeling bad about myself. I got another chance at life, but were the last victims, will the next victims, be that lucky? I'm inclined to think the crack in the Multiverse getting me here was a one time fluke. Watcher playing with some clouds or something.
Looks like Haruka and Tojou understood my implications, as both were looking at me like they were ready to offer their help. Well, I could use a hand, it's a particularly hard case. Not even Holmes and Watson could solve it. For Chloe and Lucifer, it would be just another Tuesday tho.
Couple of minutes later, Mother decided it was time to break that icy atmosphere, and served us breakfast. Steamed rice, miso soup and some grilled fish. I must admit, even though I like Japanese food, I miss the traditional Romanian dishes. I would kill for sarmale and mamaliga. And some beef salad. I don't understand why people only make it on traditional holidays, that shit is supposed to be made regularly every now and then.
"So, Tojou-chan, what's Taa-kun like in club? How much does he participate in activities?"
Oh, yeah, you just gotta open a topic about me, especially when I was having some pleasant thoughts about home.
"Yes, Tojou-san, I think we would all like to hear the answer to that~"
"...He's a slacker."
Ouch. That hurt my pride. My dear, sweet kouhai... Do you really gotta be so blunt?
"Expected", my mother and Haruka said in unison, with their face a deadpan.
"Hey, cut me some slack, I was a proud member of the going home club up until recently!"
"...Lazy Senpai"
"I sometimes worry about your future, I don't want you to become a NEET, I'll fail as a mother"
"Kokonoe-kun is already a NEET tho~"
Great, we are having a repeat of last night's dinner aka let's bully Kokonoe. Women are fearsome creatures, I tell you that. Wanna hear about it? The answer is no. I'll save myself the embarrassment of telling you what they discussed that time, but it seems they obviously haven't covered all topics. Lucky me, right?
"...but he's also dependable, in his own way", I swear I could see the tiniest hint of a smile on Tojou's face at that point.
"He'll never let you down if you rely on him. Have expectations of him, though, and you'll be disappointed, because he always does his thing", Mom said that with a sweatdrop.
"Kokonoe-kun is such a tsun-tsun~"
Ok, the last one is inaccurate. Me? A tsundere? Don't compare me to that trash, I'm way more violent...
"Aight, if you're done bullying me, then we can-"
And I was interrupted as my phone started to ring. I checked the caller ID and it was none other than Midorikawa. I felt some sense of relief, that confirms she's still alive. Meanwhile, the girls around me watched this scene with tilted heads, likely curious about who would call me at a time like this. I pressed the answer button.
"Hey, what's up?"
And all I could hear were muffled sounds. She was crying... I got a bad feeling about this. Something definitely happened.
"Kokonoe-kun... Aika-chan is..."
Aika-chan? Oh, her best friend, yeah she talked about her on couple occasions. If this is what I think it is...
"She's what, Midorikawa?..."
"She's... dead..."
WHAT?
"What?! How'd that happen? Where are you now?!"
"I... she..."
"Hold up, I'll be there."
I pressed the hang up button and made my way out of the kitchen, hurriedly grabbing my jacket and putting my shoes on. The three women were confused by my actions and followed after me, eyeing me suspiciously. Oh come on, I ain't got time for this now...
"Something's came up, I'm sorry, can we leave it for another time?"
My voice came out as hoarse, and I don't even wanna think of the way I looked.
"Hold up right there, young lad, you were supposed to fix the living room."
"MOM! It's urgent..."
"Something happened to Midorikawa-chan, didn't it? What happened?"
Asking the most stupid questions, again, at a time like this. Way to go.
"Yes, mom, it did, and right now she needs my help so I would appreciate it if you stopped questioning me and just got off my case. I'll be back by dinner."
"O-okay..."
Mother was baffled by my sudden outburst, as were the two girls, but I had no time for that. I exited my house, shutting the door on my way out, and broke into a run, maybe the fastest I ever ran in my entire life.
It's as I suspected, the serial killer made their next move, and Midorikawa was likely a target. The scum actually killed someone important to her. I had her text her location on LINE, and I hurried to the destination. I will put an end to this, no matter what.
______________________________________________
[Midorikawa POV]
I was sitting on the bench in a park where Aika-chan and I used to hang out from time to time.
It all happened so fast... Aika-chan and I decided to hang out at the karaoke. She wouldn't stop asking me questions about Kokonoe-kun, what's he like, what are his hobbies... She said she wanted to meet him in person. I guess that won't happen now... and it's all my fault... We were just getting out and...
A bullet to the chest. It was aimed for me, and she jumped right in front of it... to protect me...
"Aika-chan..."
"Hey... don't cry now, Suzu-chan... you have to stay strong... for me, for that boy you like..."
"Aika-chan, no... don't talk like that... Please!... I'm going to call an ambulance, you're gonna be fine!"
I frantically reached out for my phone and began dialing 119, but she tapped my hand, and my phone fell on the ground.
"Hey, stop that... it's fine, really..."
"NO!..."
I began to cry, as her life ended then and there... in my arms...
A light tap on my shoulder brought me out of my stupor. It was Kokonoe-kun.
"Hey"
"Hey..."
His tone was gentle, and it made my heart ache... I called him on a whim, but right now I don't want him to see me like this...
"What happened?"
Slowly, I began to recall everything that happened. I gathered all my strength to surpass my sobs and watched him listen to me intently, never once interrupting me. I watched his expression starting to darken bit by bit as I went through all the details, I couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"... And Aika-chan is dead and it's all my-..."
"No. It's not your fault. It's the fucker who's behind this. I swear, I will catch him and murder him with my own two hands"
I didn't catch what he said at the end as his words came out lower than a whisper. But I didn't agree.
"No, Kokonoe-kun, if I took the bullet instead, Aika-chan would be... Aika-chan would be here now!"
"But you would be dead!"
It's the first time I've seen him so desperate, it made me back away a little. His expression softened, almost as if he understood what I was going through, and he calmed down.
"Trust me, I know what you're going through..."
"How could you say that?! How could you say you know what I'm going through?! Have you ever lost someone dear to you?! Have you watched them die in your arms?!"
"I did... A long time ago, there was this girl I used to know. I fell madly in love with her, but I guess we weren't meant to be together", he laughed bitterly, eyes filled with longing and regret. "She died of cancer"
Oh... I guess he does know what it's like...
I couldn't hold it in any longer, and I started to cry. To my surprise, he gently pushed my head into his chest, but I didn't move. I don't know for how long I was sitting there, just crying into his chest.
"It's okay.. just let it all out."
And I did, for minutes, hours, I don't even know how much time passed, but when I finally calmed down, it was already dark outside.
"Hey, can I walk you home?"
I accepted. The walk home was uneventful, none of us spoke a word to each other.
"You know, Aika-chan, she wanted to become a painter. She was in the Arts Club, she used to draw the most beautiful pictures..."
"Sounds like she was talented."
"Yeah, she was..."
"I may not be able to help much, but if you need anything, I'm just one call away."
"Thanks, Kokonoe-kun, I..."
The words caught in my throat as he hugged me. And in a split second, he fell to the ground, blood dripping from his back.
"KOKONOE-KUN!"
"Yknow, Midorikawa... I really... hate this fucking world"