Today, Itsuka-kun had gone off to date Tohka, and everyone else had already finished their dates, so there was nothing to do.
Since it was a day I didn’t have to go to school either, when else was I supposed to laze around if not now?
I was enjoying some alone time, sitting in front of the computer and playing a game.
“Ah!”
Of course, the game I was playing was a Dark Souls-style one.
There were Souls-like games in this world too, apparently.
Anyway, I’d just died while fighting a boss in that game.
The pattern itself was easy, but each hit hurt like hell, so one mistake was enough to send you straight to the grave.
Which was exactly what had happened to me.
“Haa... I really want to hit ALT+F4.”
As I thought back on all the times I’d force-closed games in a fit of rage, I was testing the limits of my patience when I felt a gaze stabbing into me from behind.
“Hm?”
What, did someone come into my room?
But I hadn’t heard the door open.
Had I just missed it because I was focused on the game?
Thinking that, I turned around.
“...You are?”
What was this now? A blonde girl was sitting on my bed, looking at me.
“...Nice to meet you.”
“?!”
And unlike before, the girl spoke to me.
“You could talk?”
At my words, the girl nodded, letting me know she had indeed been able to speak.
I was about to ask why she hadn’t said anything until now, but she beat me to it.
“Congratulations.”
“...Huh?”
Meaningless words.
Out of nowhere, she was congratulating me, and I had no idea what for.
“Luckily, there was no need for me and [Kerubiel] to step in.”
“[Keru... biel]?”
The girl’s gaze drifted to the window.
No, more accurately, to the giant sphere outside the window.
“Can you see that?”
This time, too, she only nodded silently.
I was stunned by her reaction, but I also noticed something odd in the phrase she’d used: “me and [Kerubiel].”
Me and [Kerubiel].
“Does that sphere have something to do with you?”
“Yes.”
This time she answered properly and continued.
“I’m Mayuri. I’m the administrative personality of [Kerubiel].”
“Administrative... personality?”
That was another incomprehensible phrase.
I understood that [Kerubiel] referred to that sphere, but its administrative personality?
So did that mean the girl in front of me wasn’t a person?
“When a certain amount of spirit waves gather in one place, I’m automatically generated.”
“So that means you—no, Miss Mayuri—were created because Itsuka-kun and I sealed the spirits?”
A certain amount of spirit waves gathering in one place.
In other words, it meant one person had sealed a certain number of spirits.
And last time, Murasame-san had set up a pipe connecting me and Itsuka-kun, causing multiple spirit waves to gather in one place and completing the conditions for Mayuri to appear.
“Correct. And to confirm whether the vessel was suitable—”
“The vessel is... me and Itsuka-kun.”
At my words, Miss Mayuri nodded and went on.
“After observing you two, the system determined that there was no need to activate at this point. My role and [Kerubiel]’s role are over.”
“Your ‘role’...”
Role.
The same word Rinne had used before.
Rinne’s role had been Itsuka-kun’s happiness.
And Mayuri’s role was... the spirits’ happiness.
Thinking about how Rinne disappeared when her role was over and Itsuka-kun sealed her, there was no guarantee Mayuri would be any different.
“Now I’ll only dismantle the composition of my existence and return to nothing.”
“Haa...”
And as expected, my bad feeling had never been wrong.
“What is that supposed to mean... Why would something like that...”
Why did something like that have to happen?
A being born into the world only to carry out the role assigned to it and then disappear.
“Isn’t that too cruel...?”
It was cruel.
Sure, every living thing had an end, but this wasn’t that.
It looked like nothing more than some malicious act by whoever was behind it.
If what she said was true, then Mayuri would be born, never get to properly enjoy life, and then vanish.
A life created only because it was needed, and erased the moment it was no longer needed.
Could that really be called a life?
“Even if it’s cruel, once the judgment is complete, I’ll be extinguished. That’s how I’m made.”
“But—”
“However.”
Just as I was about to argue back, Miss Mayuri said something even harder to understand.
“Something is strange. The vessel split into two, and now there’s an error in me and [Kerubiel].”
“Ah...”
Come to think of it, she had said earlier that it had to gather in one place.
But right now it had split into two parts: me and Itsuka-kun.
At first I’d thought it was fine because my spirit waves had been shared one-way with Itsuka-kun, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
“So, while monitoring you was part of the job, I also followed you out of my own personal curiosity.”
“Your personal curiosity?”
At my question, Miss Mayuri pointed at one of the drink cans in my room.
“A drink?”
“The first time. The day you gave me one of those for the first time. I felt something floaty. Normally, as just an administrative personality, I shouldn’t have feelings.”
Then Miss Mayuri held out the necklace hanging around her neck.
“And this. When you bought me this necklace, I definitely felt the emotion called ‘joy.’ After that, when you looked at me...”
“When I looked at you, what?”
For some reason, Miss Mayuri stopped speaking and shut her mouth.
Her lips weren’t completely frozen, and she seemed to be fumbling for words, so it didn’t look like she had nothing to say. More like she was hesitating.
And a few seconds later, her mouth finally opened with difficulty.
“W-when you said I was cute... I felt joy, and also the emotion called ‘embarrassment.’”
“......”
I’d completely forgotten, but I definitely had said something like that when I bought the necklace.
Yeah, this one’s probably my fault.
But joy?
“I’m sorry about that, but joy?”
“......”
At my question, Miss Mayuri pressed her lips shut.
Unlike before, she kept them tightly sealed, so it didn’t seem like she intended to answer.
“Leaving that aside.”
Then she changed the subject.
“When I look at you, somewhere in my heart feels warm. Floaty. Soft and fluffy, too. It feels like I’m flying through the sky.”
“Uh...?”
Something about that sounded very familiar.
“I want to know why those feelings happen when I look at you.”
“Uh...?”
Something was making me uneasy.
“So, go on a date with me.”
“...Pardon?”
Out of nowhere, a date request?
“Didn’t you hear me? I want you to go on a date with me tomorrow.”
“No, I heard you. I heard you, but...”
Why me, of all people?
“What about Itsuka-kun? Don’t you feel anything from Itsuka-kun?”
“Nope.”
Miss Mayuri answered with a look that said, What kind of question is that?
I pressed my temple and thought.
“What exactly did I do that could’ve made her feel like that?”
If I thought about everything I’d done for Miss Mayuri so far...
1. Bought her a drink.
That was way too trivial to justify asking for a date.
2. Bought her a necklace.
That wasn’t even expensive, so her reaction was a little hard to understand.
3. Is there anything else?
No.
Those two were basically it.
I couldn’t know what was in her head, so the only answer was to ask directly.
“Why me?”
“I just told you. Only from you did I feel something warm, floaty, soft, and like I was flying. I just want to know what this feeling is.”
With the same answer again, I imagined the future.
-H-Hieta...?
-Hmm~ A noble one. Who is that woman?
-Hieta. Who is that woman?
-Question. Are we not enough?
Let’s stop imagining that.
If I went any further, it felt like I’d be seeing a NICE BOAT ending.
-Drown in your romantic troubles, Higakieta Hae.
Shoo, shoo. Get lost.
You don’t belong here.
After pushing away some white-haired, tanned punk muttering nonsense in my head, I focused back on Miss Mayuri in front of me.
“So you want me to go on a date with you tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Even though I’m a nobody with nothing going for me?”
“Yes.”
“Th-that’s not...”
What was I supposed to say when she wanted it that badly?
“Then come to the fountain at Tengushi Quintet by 9 a.m. tomorrow. Since you promised, I’ll cut off your finger if you don’t show up.”
“No! When did we ever make a promise!”
“Then, I’ll be going.”
And with that, Miss Mayuri literally vanished.
“Noble one! What happened?”
And with my shout, the Fire Keeper from the next room came into my room, bringing Miss Mayuri’s one-sided date promise to an end.
By the way, even if my finger got cut off, it would just regenerate anyway.
Maybe I didn’t have to go.
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