After somehow clearing up the misunderstanding, we made it into the classroom.
Waiting to greet us there was Tohka.
"Shido! Hieta! Good morning!"
"Yeah, good morning."
"Good morning."
After we returned the greeting, Tohka looked at Itsuka-kun with a puzzled expression.
"I heard you left home early today, but aren’t you a bit late?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry. I had somewhere to stop by first."
He’d probably run into Miss Ren and gone to the shrine with her.
Since the only place Itsuka-kun would have gone after getting up early and not coming straight to school was there.
"Is that so?"
Tohka accepted Itsuka-kun’s explanation, then shifted her gaze to the person beside him.
"...Huh? Oh!? Isn’t that Ren? You came to school too!?"
Yeah, seeing Miss Ren standing next to Itsuka-kun, Tohka reacted with obvious surprise and delight.
Then, suddenly returning to a confused expression, Tohka tilted her head and said, "...Hm? But now that I think about it, it feels like Ren was always in this class? What’s going on...?"
I knew the reason she felt that way, but before I could say anything, Miss Ren spoke first.
"Doesn’t matter, does it? Anyway, nice to meet you, Tohka."
"Mm... yeah, I see! It’s a trivial matter!"
Tohka seemed relieved that she wasn’t going to dwell on it.
Well, even if she had, we could just explain the situation, so it wasn’t a big deal.
'Still, they really do look alike.'
Watching Miss Ren and Tohka greet each other face-to-face, I was struck all over again by how much they resembled each other.
It was almost like they were twins. Aside from their distinct vibes, they looked like the exact same person with a different style.
While I was marveling at the two of them, Mayuri had already come over to my side.
"Hieta, you’re late today."
"I overslept..."
"Well, you didn’t get up even after I woke you this morning."
It wasn’t always like that, but sometimes Mayuri or someone else would wake me up. Today, though, I must’ve stayed up all night playing games and couldn’t get up.
This is why all-nighters are dangerous.
"Haha. Sorry."
Since I knew it was my fault, I gave an awkward laugh and apologized.
Then Mayuri gave Miss Ren a quick side-eye before asking me seriously, "So Ren came here, right?"
If she was saying "that," she probably meant Itsuka-kun making a wish.
Instead of answering out loud, I gave a small nod.
Receiving my silent reply, Mayuri let out a helpless laugh and said, "...Honestly, making her come to school. Shido has a strange sense of priorities too."
"I have to agree a little."
There were probably plenty of wishes for a date, or something along those lines, but he’d made her come to school instead.
I was once again reminded that Itsuka-kun had a weird side to him.
Come to think of it, even the very idea of trying to save the girl who had originally tried to kill him wasn’t exactly normal.
"By the way, I don’t see Sachi. Do you know where she is?"
When I looked around the classroom and couldn’t find the Fire Keeper, I asked Mayuri, but she wore a troubled expression and didn’t answer.
Just as I was starting to worry something might have happened, I felt a chill behind me.
"Chosen Undead..."
The Fire Keeper’s eerie voice came from behind.
At that menacing tone, I broke into a cold sweat and slowly turned my stiff neck. Sure enough, the Fire Keeper was properly angry.
She approached me and asked, "Do you know how many times I woke you up today?"
"Oh, today...?"
So it hadn’t been Mayuri waking me up this morning?
"Yes, today. I think I tried more than ten times, but you wouldn’t get up."
"Uh..."
The reason the Fire Keeper was angry was that no matter how much she tried to wake me, I still wouldn’t get up.
If I were trying to wake someone up over and over and they still refused to move, I’d be angry too, so this was clearly my fault.
"S-sorry."
"Just remember that."
As soon as I lowered my head and apologized, the Fire Keeper graciously let it go.
She wasn’t the type to get angry often, so if she was this mad, I really had messed up.
No more all-night gaming next time, yeah.
While I was making that vow, Miss Ren greeted the two of them.
"We meet again, both of you."
"Oh, Miss Ren? Nice to meet you."
"...Nice to meet you, Ren."
It seemed the Fire Keeper hadn’t even realized Miss Ren was here, while Mayuri took the greeting while doing her best to hide her uncomfortable expression.
She probably felt some kind of kinship, but since she didn’t know what role had been given to Miss Ren, she seemed wary.
"By the way, where are Rinne and Origami?"
At Itsuka-kun’s question, we checked their seats and sure enough, they weren’t there.
"Ah, Rinne’s in the bathroom. And Origami is..."
"Did you call?"
Tobiichi suddenly popped out from somewhere and pounced on Itsuka-kun from behind.
"Gah!"
"...Whoa."
Not only Itsuka-kun, who got hit directly, but I was startled too by her sudden appearance.
Honestly, sudden things appearing behind me are already more than enough thanks to Dark Souls.
"I told you to stop showing up behind people all of a sudden..."
Itsuka-kun muttered that while rubbing at his chest, still clearly rattled.
"It wasn’t sudden. I’d been behind you the whole time after Shido came into the classroom."
Of course, Tobiichi didn’t exactly accept his reaction as valid. She just made an excuse while heading toward Miss Ren.
"Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, nice to meet you too, Origami."
"If you want information on Shido, tell me. I can provide it depending on the conditions."
I wasn’t sure if it was right to sell someone’s personal information right in front of them, but well, that was Tobiichi for you.
With only the memories after history changed, maybe I wouldn’t know. But since I also had memories from before, this felt more like Tobiichi to me.
"Hey!?"
Of course, Itsuka-kun didn’t seem able to accept that.
"You’re full of energy as always."
"Why are you talking like this is normal!?"
*
The classroom, now with Miss Ren added to the mix.
Even with her joining us, nothing much changed, and class went on as usual.
Actually, since the setup was that Miss Ren was originally a student here, it would’ve been stranger if anything had changed.
And so time passed until lunchtime.
There was a bit in the middle where Miss Ren questioned the very purpose of studying, and people answered her, but...
Itsuka-kun, Tohka, and Tobiichi handled that themselves, so I didn’t bother getting involved.
Besides, this was Itsuka-kun’s route right now. There wasn’t any room for me to butt in.
So I was just about to eat my lunch as usual when...
"Ah, right."
"Chosen Undead, I don’t have a lunch box."
"You forgot to bring one?"
I’d woken up late and rushed out of the house, so I hadn’t brought my lunch.
That meant I’d have to eat in the cafeteria, but eating alone would be lonely, so I was wondering what to do when Itsuka-kun came over.
"Hieta, we’re going to eat in the cafeteria. Want to come with us?"
"Don’t you have a lunch box?"
"Ah... I didn’t bring one today."
"Then I’ll go with you."
Just in time, he hadn’t brought his lunch either, so I joined the group and decided to go eat in the cafeteria.
"I-I forgot mine too."
"I forgot as well."
Of course, the Fire Keeper and Mayuri joined us too.
I’m pretty sure I saw lunch boxes in their bags, though.
"You two are being way too obvious..."
Seeing their behavior, Rinne sighed and said that.
"W-what does it matter? Come on, let’s go already."
Maybe embarrassed by Rinne’s comment, Mayuri suddenly took the lead and started guiding us to the cafeteria.
When I looked closer, her ears were red. She really was embarrassed.
Anyway, when we got to the cafeteria, it was pretty crowded.
It wasn’t as bad as the store, but I knew a lot of people gathered here, so even though we hurried, there were still plenty of them.
"Oh, wow. That’s a huge number."
"Good grief. I didn’t realize there’d be this many since I always eat lunch in my room."
"Hmm... there’d better be some empty seats."
I could already see students sitting down and eating, so I started thinking we might have to split up and eat separately.
If that happened, it would be a real disaster. Not only Miss Ren, but I didn’t have many friends either, so I’d end up eating alone in misery.
That was one thing that absolutely could not happen.
So I was searching for the emptiest spot possible when...
"A seat that’s open... huh?"
"Keh-heh, the Yamai sisters descend before the troubled vassal!"
"Observation. Coming to the cafeteria is unusual for you."
Kaguya and Yuzuru appeared in front of us.
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