I hurried through Hikarizaka Town.
Despite being somewhere unfamiliar, I felt strangely at ease.
I was beginning to understand, at least a little,
why I had chosen this world.
...
I passed the station where I had first arrived.
As Hikarizaka Academy drew near,
I caught sight of cherry blossoms blooming on both sides of the hill road.
The late afternoon sunset shone over them,
while petals drifted slowly on the breeze.
It was a view that drew admiration from me without my meaning to.
"Wow."
But only for a moment.
When I remembered that someone was waiting for me, reality quickly returned.
Had they been waiting long?
I felt really sorry.
Wasn’t I being a nuisance?
...
No.
I hadn’t even met them yet.
There I went again.
I quickened my pace.
[300 m to the Boys’ Dormitory]
[Analyzing the user’s travel speed.]
[Estimated arrival time: 4 minutes, 37 seconds.]
Yeah, yeah.
Still, the upgraded UI really was convenient.
...
The dormitory came into view.
My heart trembled slightly.
A person I would be meeting for the first time.
A place where I would be living for the first time.
It was finally beginning to sink in that this was really the start.
I approached what appeared to be the entrance.
Then,
I noticed someone standing in front of the door.
A young woman wearing a yellow apron.
"...?"
A woman?
"Didn’t you say the boys’ dorm manager was waiting for me?"
[That is correct.]
"Then who is that?"
[Please confirm it yourself.]
"..."
It was asking something of me that was way too difficult.
Maybe this wasn’t even the right place.
I was scared to speak to her for no reason.
What if she thought I was weird?
...
Without realizing it, I stopped walking.
At that moment—
"Hm?"
I jerked my head up in surprise.
The woman in the yellow apron was looking this way.
"Are you the transfer student moving in today, by any chance?"
"N-No, I’m not!"
I denied it without thinking and turned around.
"Wait a second!"
...
Only after taking a few steps did I realize something was wrong.
No.
Why had I said I wasn’t?
[That is a good question.]
Shut up...
When I slowly turned around,
the woman in the yellow apron was waving at me with an awkward look on her face.
"You are the transfer student, right?"
I felt as though I had committed some kind of crime.
With my head bowed, I slowly approached her.
"Seriously, you gave me a scare. You suddenly said you weren’t him and tried to run away."
"I’m sorry..."
The woman pressed a hand to her forehead as though she were dumbfounded.
"I received the paperwork in advance and even checked your photo, but you kept insisting you weren’t him. For a second, I thought maybe I had mistaken you for someone else."
My face burned.
"Morita Shu. That’s your name, right?"
"...Yes."
[Confirmation complete. This is the individual in question.]
Quiet down already...
"What on earth did you see that made you try to run away? Did you think I was some kind of monster who’d eat you?"
The woman let out a dumbfounded sigh.
"I’m Sagara Misae, the acting dorm supervisor for this boys’ dormitory.
I came out here to show the transfer student around, and then..."
"Sigh. Anyway, don’t just stand out here. Come inside."
A woman supervising a boys’ dormitory. This really was an anime world.
I pulled my suitcase after her and went inside.
The instant the door opened, a peculiar air washed over me, mixed with the sweat of male students and the musty smell of dust.
Were all boys’ dorms like this?
"Just put your luggage down by that sofa and have a seat."
Misae gestured with her chin as she entered the supervisor’s office directly beside the entrance.
As I headed toward the worn leather sofa, a pale brown cat curled up in one corner raised its head.
The cat stared silently at me through sleepy eyes, gave a small yawn, and then closed its eyes again.
It was cute.
[Entity identified: Ordinary cat (presumed).]
What do you mean, presumed...?
"Here."
Misae emerged from the office and dropped an old ring of keys and a thick booklet in front of me.
The booklet’s cover bore the straightforward title: “Hikarizaka High School Boys’ Dormitory Rules.”
"Your room is at the very end of the first floor."
"We normally kept it vacant as a single room, but your timing worked out nicely."
Misae glanced at my enormous suitcase standing behind the sofa, then snickered and added,
"Looking at all that luggage, it’ll take you a while to get settled."
"Unpack enough for now, then come down in time for dinner. Curfew is strictly at eleven p.m. Got it?"
"Thank you."
I felt as if I had caused trouble for her in more ways than one.
I walked past the supervisor’s office and farther down the hallway.
"The last room... the last room..."
Looking around the first-floor hallway, I checked the key again.
"Room 103."
[For the user’s convenience—]
[To your left.]
Yeah, thanks...
I slowly headed left.
I even picked up my suitcase, worried its wheels might scrape against the floor.
I couldn’t start causing trouble already.
[You are making needless work for yourself.]
"It’s called being considerate..."
[Is it?]
I proceeded carefully.
My arms tensed on their own as I held the suitcase, worried it might make even the slightest sound.
Finally, at the end of the hall, I could see the door to my room—103.
Thump, thump-thump-thump—!
"...?"
An unpleasant vibration echoed through the corridor from somewhere.
Bwaaaang—! Yeeeeeah—!
In an instant, the roar of an electric guitar and an unidentified shriek tore through the hall.
[It seems the resident across from you has no consideration.]
I had nothing to say to that.
[The mental state of the resident across from you is highly questionable.]
I was already depressed before I had even unpacked.
Leaving the continuing racket behind me, I hurried over and opened the door to Room 103.
"Sunohara! You again?!"
With the sudden sound of a door opening, a crowd of people who appeared to belong to an athletic club came pouring out.
"Ah..."
"..."
We stared awkwardly at one another for several seconds.
No words came out.
We only gave each other small nods, and I slowly closed the door.
The people who looked like athletes headed for the room across from mine as though this were routine.
Stunned by the sudden situation, I stayed where I was behind my closed door.
Almost immediately, terrifying noises filled the corridor from the other side.
Bang! Crash! Crash!
"Hey! Sunohara! Open this door right now!!"
"Eeeek?!"
Along with the thunderous sound of a door being forced open, I heard what must have been Sunohara’s piercing scream.
"You play that damned rock crap every single day! If you’re going to listen to it, listen to it quietly by yourself, damn it!!"
"Ahaha... You need to play it loud to really feel the vibe, you know..."
"Die!"
Crash! Bang!
"Aaaagh!"
...
The boys’ dormitory was a terrifying place.
[Correction.]
[The mental state of the resident across from you is not questionable. It appears to be conclusively deranged.]
I know, so please stop telling me...
Ignoring the noises from behind the door for the moment,
I looked around the room.
It was just the right size for one student to live in comfortably, and the sunset light streamed in through the window.
"I should unpack..."
Somehow, I felt more exhausted than I had in reality.
I didn’t want to do anything else today.
I took off my shoes, walked in, and set the enormous suitcase upright in a corner.
Then, without hesitation, I threw myself onto the bed.
The mattress was not soft at all—rather firm, in fact—but to me right then, it was practically paradise.
"Ughhh..."
A strange groan slipped from my mouth without my meaning to.
An unfamiliar environment. Unfamiliar people.
And the real-time bloodshed(?) I had just heard through the door.
It felt as though I had used up an entire month’s worth of energy in only a few hours.
"Is this really resting...?"
Suddenly, I remembered why I had come here.
Peacefully.
Without anything happening.
I thought I had come here because I just wanted to rest a little.
...
I felt as though I was missing something.
If I had simply come here to rest,
was there any reason I had needed to choose Clannad?
If I remembered all the details of the original work,
perhaps I could have found part of the answer.
But right now,
my memories were sealed.
I lacked the material to reason it out.
[The user’s brain cells are experiencing unnecessary overload.]
[I recommend that you stop thinking and rest.]
What was I supposed to do if thoughts came to me anyway?
...
At some point, I seemed to have dozed off.
"What time is it?"
[Current time: 6:34 p.m.]
[Dinner service at the boys’ dormitory has begun.]
[Hurry if you do not wish to go hungry on your first day.]
"Ah..."
I didn’t want to move.
I forced myself to sit up despite every part of me refusing to get out of bed.
No matter how bothersome or exhausted I felt, Misae had strongly reminded me to come down in time for dinner.
I couldn’t get on her bad side from my very first day.
I roughly straightened my clothes and opened the door.
And the instant I stepped into the corridor,
some unidentified yellow lump caught against the tip of my foot.
"...?"
I lowered my gaze.
In front of the room across from mine,
the blond young man who had been screaming as if he were performing rock music only moments ago
was sprawled flat on the floor, at one with it.
A clear sneaker print marked his cheek, and his clothes were torn in several places. He looked utterly miserable.
I was worried he might be dead,
but I also really didn’t want to touch him for no reason.
Just as I tried to sidestep around him—
Twitch.
"?!"
I looked down at the slight movement.
Our eyes met.
...
He was alive.
No.
More importantly, why now of all times?
I didn’t see anything. I saw absolutely nothing.
I turned my head at the speed of light.
Keeping my gaze naturally fixed straight ahead, I tried my best to ignore the yellow lump on the floor and took a step.
Grab.
"...!"
An ominous sensation came with a sudden weight around my right ankle.
I flinched and looked down.
From between the sneaker marks on his face, a horribly desperate pair of eyes stared up at me.
"H-Hey... you, new paint..."
Paint?
Didn’t he mean face?
...
No.
That wasn’t what mattered right now.
I should just go eat.
"Hey, new paint...! Don’t pretend you can’t hear me and walk away...!"
It’s face.
"Um... I need to go eat right now, so could you let go of my foot..."
"Then take me with you! Misae’s dinner service is about to end! If I don’t eat today, I’m really going to die—I’ll dieee!"
His voice was unbelievably booming for someone who had been sprawled on the floor only moments earlier.
...
What a pain.
Honestly, an enormous pain.
But.
If I left him in that state, he really did seem likely to go hungry.
...
"All right."
With a sigh, I held out my hand.
"Oh! New Paint! You really are a good guy!"
It’s face.
He got it wrong to the very end.
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