With my vision spinning in circles, my consciousness surfaced in a dizzy, warped haze.
I had no idea why I was in this state.
I had no idea why I was in a place like this, either.
All I could feel was that the space around me seemed twisted, as if reality itself had bent out of shape.
In that strange, chaotic world, the only thing I could see clearly was a girl.
A girl who alone retained a normal shape in the darkness looked oddly out of place.
She had pure white bandages wrapped over her eyes, wore something like a clown’s outfit, and was bound in restraints so she looked like a prisoner.
Clink!
The sound of chains striking each other rang out as the girl’s restraints rattled.
Then the girl opened her mouth, proving she wasn’t dead.
"So it’s undone."
The girl I couldn’t identify was clearly restrained, and yet she muttered that it had come undone.
Even though it had been a tiny sound, there was no other noise in this unknown space, so her voice came through clearly.
In a situation where I couldn’t even bring myself to wonder who she was, all I could do was keep staring at her.
"Ha. Ha-ha. Ahaha. Ahahahahahahahaha――!!!"
Suddenly, the girl started laughing like a madwoman.
Her laughter, almost like pure insanity, echoed through the darkness and slowly invaded my mind, until it finally stopped.
"Haa, how ridiculous. For me to wake up? I can’t even laugh enough at how absurd that is. Truly, the world never goes the way you want it to."
After bursting out laughing, the girl lowered her head and continued in an amused tone.
"This body is still bound, but I’ve awakened, I can speak, I can laugh, and most of all, I feel good. That’s enough to begin."
I couldn’t sense any pain or suffering from her words.
Even while restrained, she never let the smile leave her face, and that gave off the feeling of pleasure soaked in madness.
"Then let the curtain rise. On the tragedy that never stops crying. On the comedy that never stops laughing."
The girl began speaking like a host introducing a show.
"Now then, what you are about to witness is the grand performance of exquisitely lovely girls. Wishes are always beautiful, but no one can know what result those feelings will lead to. For the hopeful girls ahead, will the path before them be a paradise or hell?"
Spouting meaningless words, the girl greeted the ones watching her.
"The one who will face you is me, Len. I sincerely hope you all enjoy a time of indulgence and ecstasy…."
Just as my consciousness began to drift away again, the girl’s head turned directly toward me.
"...An uninvited guest, then. Still, if you’re an audience member, I suppose I should accept you."
With that, my consciousness slowly sank once more.
"...Ugh."
A morning that began with blinding sunlight.
I got out of bed, straightened the rumpled blanket, and recalled the dream I’d just had.
"...Man, that was a really weird dream."
Why had I dreamed of hearing those strange words from a girl I’d never seen before, in a place I’d never seen before?
What’s more, I could barely remember the girl’s appearance, like it had been blurred out with a mosaic filter.
All that remained was the vague feeling that she had been there.
"Tch…."
Those facts left me feeling incredibly uneasy, and I wanted to get rid of that unease somehow, but there was no way to do it, so I decided to just write it off as a nightmare.
"Haaam…."
I was still half asleep, so a yawn slipped out on its own.
The best way to shake off sleepiness was to wash up, so I headed to the bathroom.
Creak—!Sshhhhhhh—!
A refreshing stream of water soaked me and chased away the drowsiness.
As my mind gradually cleared, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
How should I put it? If I had to describe it, it felt like the world had changed a little.
"Is it because of that dream I just had? What a weird feeling."
The dream had been so strange that it seemed to have left me feeling strange too.
So I shook my head, pushed the dream out of my mind again, and left the bathroom.
Since I’d washed up for the sake of waking myself up in the first place, there was no reason to stay any longer now that I was fully awake.
But the moment I put on my school uniform and stepped out of the room, the door caught with a clunk and wouldn’t open.
"Kyah!"
"S-Sachi…?"
When I heard a familiar voice, I peeked through the gap and looked outside, where the Fire Keeper was clutching her nose with tears welling up in her eyes.
I guessed I’d opened the door and hit her nose by accident.
"Why were you standing right in front of the door…?"
"I-I was going to wake you up the way Natsumi told me to…."
"Huh."
What exactly had that Natsumi brat taught our innocent Fire Keeper?
There was no way she meant for her to wake me up by seducing me with her body like she had done herself, right?
If she had taught her something like that, I was going to go find her and give her a proper scolding.
"Still, are you all right? Sorry. I didn’t know you were standing there…."
But since someone had gotten hurt right in front of me, I put scolding Natsumi aside for the moment and checked the Fire Keeper’s face.
Her nose was a little red, but she didn’t seem to have any other problems. Still, it was better to look more closely.
"Um, chosen undead…? C-could you please step back a little…?"
"Huh? Ah."
When the Fire Keeper blushed and said that, I wondered why until I realized our faces were extremely close.
The reason was that I’d leaned in closer while trying to inspect her face more carefully.
"I-I’m glad you’re okay."
Once I realized that, I felt embarrassed and looked away as I spoke.
To think I’d unconsciously moved so close to the Fire Keeper. I guess I really had gotten used to her a little.
There was no way I would have even thought of getting that close before.
"Y-yes. I’m glad you’re awake too, so I’ll be going now!"
The Fire Keeper must have been embarrassed too, because she said that and hurried down the stairs.
"[I have to see this kind of thing first thing in the morning?]"
As I watched the Fire Keeper’s back heading toward the living room, Marina, who always woke up earlier than Maria, complained through her phone speaker.
"Ahem. I didn’t mean for that to happen either."
"[That’s exactly why it’s more annoying. I was already jealous enough that you secretly went on a date with Mayuri after school yesterday.]"
"...You saw that?"
"[Of course. I can see everything through the cameras connected to Fraxinus.]"
"……."
At the revelation that she’d seen what happened with Mayuri yesterday, I lost the ability to speak.
I couldn’t help feeling a growing unease that Maria and Marina might know everything about my private life.
"[At least we don’t invade your privacy, Hi.]"
"R-right?"
Hearing Maria, who had woken up next, I could finally relax.
There was no way that was a lie.
If it were a lie, then I’d end up like Itsuka-kun or something.
"That might be a little scary."
"[I don’t know what you’re imagining, but it’s not what you’re thinking. Maria does have a photo of you while you were sleeping, though….]"
"[M-Marina! If you put it that way, Marina has dozens of photos of Hi when he turned into a child!]"
"[M-Maria!]"
"...Mm."
Thanks to Maria and Marina’s war of exposure, I learned something I absolutely did not want to know.
Why on earth did they have those kinds of photos?
I had that question, but if I kept listening to those two expose each other, my mental state was going to take damage, so I quietly muted my phone and went downstairs to the living room.
After breakfast, I went to school as usual and came into the classroom, only to find Itsuka-kun’s seat empty.
My guess was that he had definitely overslept.
"Rinne, where’s Itsuka-kun?"
"Shido, I tried waking him up, but he wouldn’t get up…."
Rinne’s testimony made it clear he had overslept.
Since homeroom was about to start, he could end up being late if he wasn’t careful, and then there was a noise from the back door of the classroom.
Rattle—!
"Hahh…! Hahh…! Safe…!"
Itsuka-kun appeared through the back door, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
It looked like he’d gotten up at home and sprinted here without stopping once, but since that was entirely his own fault, I didn’t really feel like worrying about him.
"Shido! Good morning! Um… after breakfast time has passed, is it ‘late morning’?"
"No, no, good morning is fine. That was close, though."
"Shido…."
"Ghk!"
Just as Itsuka-kun was greeting Tohka, he flinched the moment Rinne called his name and turned his head with the stiff motion of a broken machine.
Of course, the direction he turned was toward Rinne, and since he always woke her up in the morning but hadn’t gotten up today, Rinne seemed to be thoroughly angry.
"Shido! Honestly, you need to get up earlier! I was worried you’d be late!"
"S-sorry, Rinne. My bad."
Watching him get scolded by Rinne, he looked exactly like a husband being completely dominated by his wife.
I wasn’t the only one who thought so, either; around us, people were saying things like, "There they go again," or "You’re whipped, Itsuka."
"The only good Itsuka is a dead Itsuka…."
"Die, Itsuka Shido. Die, Itsuka Shido."
"Ah, Lord. Please punish that serial harem bastard."
Let’s just ignore that crowd, yeah.
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