Chapter 71: Side Story 1: What If Hiki Were a Girl?
Back in Chapter 66, I asked for side story topic suggestions.
I received a bunch of different ideas, and after picking one of them...
This one won!
Thanks to Stroheim and everyone else who suggested topics!
All right, then. Side story time! Let’s begin!
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My name is Higakieta Hae.
I’m a woman in my early twenties.
And right now, I’m being asked out by a male student.
“H-Hieta!”
“Yes? What is it, Itsuka-kun?”
“W-Would you go on a date with me?!”
“...Huh?”
The boy who had just asked me out was Itsuka Shido.
He is the primary asset of [Ratatoskr].
He’s the brother of Itsuka Kotori, the commander of [Fraxinus] and my superior, and a man who can seal a spirit’s spirit waves.
And yet, out of nowhere, he was asking me on a date.
“...Itsuka-kun, are you serious? There are plenty of young women besides me, like Tohka or Yoshino.”
At the moment, Itsuka-kun had sealed a total of four spirits: Tohka, Yoshino, and the Yamai sisters.
So why was he asking me out instead of one of them? I couldn’t understand it.
“Th-That...”
Itsuka-kun scratched his cheek and looked away.
“See? It’s obvious the commander told you to do this, right? Honestly, I’m not a spirit, you know...”
I sighed and shook my head.
I’d been saying this all along, but I’m not a spirit.
I’m just ordinary “burning ash” and an “Ashen One.”
My abilities are from Dark Souls 3, so they’re completely different from the powers spirits possess—the ones called “angels.”
And yet, for some reason, the commander decided I was a spirit because spirit waves emanated from my body.
In other words, Itsuka-kun was doing this to seal me.
Because his sealing condition required that his affection level rise above a certain point.
“See, Kotori? I told you! It wouldn’t work!”
After the date request failed, Itsuka-kun seemed to be arguing with the commander through the intercom in his ear.
He asks a girl on a date, then immediately starts talking to another girl. Seriously, he had no manners at all.
“Sigh... Itsuka-kun. You ask a woman on a date and then talk to another woman?”
I decided to tease him, so I took his chin and lifted it slightly.
“H-Huh?”
Itsuka-kun flustered and blushed deeply.
I didn’t waste the chance and said with a smile, “I’ll accept your date request. Go on, then. Try raising my affection level.”
Honestly, I wasn’t doing this because I had some hidden motive.
I was just bored.
I had nothing to do.
The games I used to play didn’t exist in this world, so I’d been bored out of my mind.
“Y-Yes...”
Itsuka-kun suddenly started speaking politely, even though he hadn’t been doing that before.
I tilted my head at the sight.
“Why are you suddenly being so formal?”
“N-No! Right! Then let’s go!”
Itsuka-kun was visibly flustered, and he looked kind of cute, so before I knew it, my hand moved on its own.
“Huh? Eh? Ah?”
“Ah, oops. Sorry. You were just too cute, Itsuka-kun.”
It would obviously be unpleasant if someone patted your head without permission, so I quickly pulled my hand back.
Itsuka-kun, apparently embarrassed, lowered his head and headed out on the date.
Hmm. I guess that was my bad.
“Itsuka-kun. If that bothered you, I apologize.”
So I bowed my head and apologized to him.
Then he waved his hands and said, “No! No! I wasn’t bothered at all! I was just... a little embarrassed.”
I couldn’t quite make out the part after “just,” since he mumbled it too quietly, but it didn’t seem like he’d been upset, so I was relieved.
“So, where are we going?”
I was following Itsuka-kun, but I had no idea where we were headed.
“Ah, I forgot to tell you. We’re going to a restaurant first.”
It was around 1 p.m., so going to a restaurant was a good choice.
I nodded and said that sounded like a good idea.
We arrived at the restaurant—more specifically, a family restaurant—and went inside.
“Welcome!”
The staff greeted us warmly when they saw us.
Itsuka-kun and I gave a light nod in return.
“Right this way! I’ll show you to your seat!”
We followed the staff’s guidance, sat down, and looked over the menu while deciding what to order.
“Hmm... What are you getting, Itsuka-kun?”
“Me? I’m... hmm... ah, this one.”
What he pointed at was omurice with cube steak.
“Then I’ll have the same.”
“Yes! Order received!”
The staff took our order and headed back to the kitchen.
After a little while, the dishes we ordered were brought out.
“Oh, this is tastier than I expected.”
“Right?”
While we were eating the surprisingly good food, I noticed some of it had gotten on the corner of Itsuka-kun’s mouth.
I pulled out a tissue from beside me and wiped his mouth as I said, “Honestly, Itsuka-kun, are you a child? How do you get this much food all over yourself while eating?”
“......”
But Itsuka-kun said nothing, his face turning red.
“Itsuka-kun?”
“Huh? Oh, th-thanks.”
When I called his name, he flinched and answered, then hurriedly started eating again.
I got worried and placed a hand on his forehead.
“Hmm... I don’t think you have a fever. Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah, I-I’m fine.”
No, he wasn’t. His voice was shaking at the end, so he definitely didn’t seem fine.
Still, if he said he was okay and didn’t seem feverish, I decided to let it go.
“This is the game center, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Next is the game center.”
After finishing our meal, we went to our next stop: the game center.
It was the kind of place people in Korea usually called an arcade.
As I looked around after stepping inside, I spotted one machine.
“Oh, Pump!”
“You know this?”
“Yes, I’ve played it a few times.”
Its proper name was Pump It Up.
A rhythm game where you play using five panels total: the four diagonal directions and the center.
Arcades had been disappearing in Korea, so it had been a really long time since I’d seen one.
The moment I saw Pump, one thought came to mind.
“Itsuka-kun.”
“Huh?”
“Want to make a bet?”
“A bet?”
“Yes.”
If you come to a game center, you have to make at least one bet.
And so, an ice cream bet was decided.
Of course, the loser had to buy ice cream for the winner.
“I’ll go first.”
I took off my shoes, changed into the nearby indoor slippers, and stepped onto the Pump platform.
Then I selected a song, grabbed the handrail behind me, and moved my feet with all my might.
After the song ended, I wiped my sweat and said, “Ah, man. It’s hard, as expected.”
Well, I hadn’t played much to begin with, and since it had been so long, I didn’t get a score worth bragging about.
Still, wouldn’t it be fine if Itsuka-kun did worse than me?
“All right, Itsuka-kun, your turn.”
“...Yeah.”
Itsuka-kun sounded resigned as he stepped up.
Of course he did. The song I picked had notes flying up at a ridiculous speed.
I snickered to myself and watched him play.
“Ah! Whoa!”
He was doing fine, and then suddenly slipped.
Startled, he even let go of the handrail behind him, and if he hadn’t been careful, he could have smashed his head into it.
“Itsuka-kun!”
The moment I saw that, I rushed over and caught him.
“Phew... Are you okay?”
I asked while brushing the sweaty bangs stuck to his cheek aside.
“...Huh? Y-Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Seriously, what were you thinking, letting go of the handrail like that?”
I helped Itsuka-kun back on his feet as I spoke.
Honestly, that had really startled me.
“Forget the bet. I’ll buy the ice cream.”
“Huh? But I lost.”
“I’m the one who suggested the bet, and you almost got hurt because of it. So I should buy it.”
“But—”
I cut off whatever Itsuka-kun was about to say by pressing a finger to his lips.
“Shh. If your big sister says she’ll buy it, you just say thank you and accept it, okay?”
Itsuka-kun nodded after hearing me.
I removed my finger, and we went on to enjoy the other games together.
“Wow, today was fun.”
By then, the sun was beginning to set and the sky was turning orange.
I said that while holding an ice cream in one hand.
“Yeah. I had fun too.”
Itsuka-kun had the ice cream I bought him in one hand as he said that.
I looked back and forth between his ice cream and mine.
Mine was strawberry, and Itsuka-kun’s was chocolate.
The moment I finished thinking, I immediately took a bite out of his ice cream.
“Huh?”
“Mm~ Chocolate is good too, as expected.”
Itsuka-kun looked flustered and stared at the ice cream in his hand.
I smiled and whispered into his ear, “What, does it feel like an indirect kiss with your big sister?”
“Hyah!”
Maybe because of the sudden sound, Itsuka-kun let out a cute scream and clutched his ear.
That made me burst out laughing.
“Ahahaha! That was really funny, Itsuka-kun.”
“Ah, haha... R-Right...”
Itsuka-kun gave an awkward laugh and bit into his ice cream.
“Seriously, you get sulky over something like that? Cute.”
“...?!”
At my words, Itsuka-kun dropped his ice cream, eyes wide as he stared at me.
I smiled at him and tapped my lips.
“So, when are you going to seal me?”
Then he blushed and said, “I-Is now okay?”
“Huh? Were you not planning to? That’s kind of hurtful.”
“N-No! I am! Yeah!”
And so Itsuka-kun’s face drew closer and closer to mine.
By the time his face was right in front of mine...
“Agh! Fuck!!!”
I screamed and sat bolt upright.
“Hah...! Hah...!”
When I woke up, I immediately lifted my pants to check whether my son was still safe and sound.
“Haa... It’s there.”
Thankfully, my son was still there, perfectly intact.
“Damn... What the hell kind of dream was that...”
I could still vividly remember Itsuka-kun’s face getting closer in the dream.
I shook my head back and forth to get rid of the nightmare.
“Ugh, I need some water.”
And that was how I had an absolutely terrible nightmare.
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