I Became the Final Subjugation Target of That Era’s Light Novel

Ikeda was peeking out from behind Kaneko, turning her head just enough to see.

She squinted at me, looking extremely wary.

It reminded me of a highly cautious cat and was a bit cute, but I couldn’t laugh carelessly since she seemed serious about it.

“…Who?”

Ikeda asked in a voice packed with suspicion.

Wasn’t she the one who was super excited about a new club member just from hearing that someone was passing by?

She even fought with Kaneko about it!

What’s with the temperature difference?

I glanced at Yamashita next to me.

Her expression was as blank as always. I couldn’t quite tell what feelings she was hiding beneath that. After all, Yamashita was more sensitive than she appeared.

Her face was pale. She had put on some makeup, but it wasn’t heavy.

Of course, to Ikeda, who seemed to be the type of plain literature girl who never wore makeup, that faint touch could have looked like a delinquent trait.

…Delinquent.

Is that a term used here in Japan? Was it Yankee here?

I’m not sure how it would be in twenty years, but for now, that’s probably an apt description.

Anyway, if you look at Yamashita from this perspective and describe her appearance piece by piece, the elements of delinquency or yankiness were almost non-existent.

She was pretty, slightly interested in her appearance, had nice hair, a decent figure, and while her skirt was a bit short, it’s a light novel world after all, so I thought, “Is it really that much?”

But if you look at Yuuki Yamashita overall, she gave off a strangely… ‘upper caste in school’ kind of vibe, so to speak.

If you break it down, she doesn’t seem like she’s right at the top, though. Miura and her group have many friends, but they had a strong vibe of wanting to have fun with each other.

Well, anyways.

I thought that it was because of Fukuda and Miura, who stands at the center of that group, that Yamashita seemed emphasized against them, but it seemed Ikeda didn’t see it that way.

“This is my classmate…”

As I said that and looked up at Yamashita, she said,

“…Yamashita Yuuki.”

Yamashita introduced herself.

That’s right. She mentioned her name, but didn’t properly introduce herself.

What was she like at the semester’s start? Usually, on the first day of school, teachers make each student do a self-introduction—it’s a universal rule, right? No, this isn’t my country so it’s not a rule I know, but it’s something that always pops up in light novels and manga set in school.

Did she just say “Yamashita Yuuki” and sit down?

…Now that I think about it, there wasn’t really any way to stop her from doing that.

“She’s a classmate.”

“Is she your friend?”

Kaneko asked.

“…Friend?”

“Ah, it’s a nickname I gave her.”

Seeing Yamashita mumble, Kaneko smiled as she said this.

“……”

Yamashita paused for a moment, forgetting what to say, while Kaneko forcibly pulled Ikeda, who was behind her, forward.

“Hey, Izumi, the other party is greeting you. As the head of the literature club, you should respond. It’s better to have more members, right?”

“Ah, wait, Kaoru! It’s fine now since the club isn’t going to disappear! There’s no need to desperately recruit new members!”

“Oh no. If members keep increasing, the literature club can continue to exist even after you graduate, right? You should be happy as the president!”

It seemed Kaneko was really pleased that she could tease Ikeda.

…But why does Ikeda just call her Izumi? Looking at how she sticks to nicknames, isn’t it ‘It-chan’?

Ikeda, being held tightly by Kaneko on both shoulders, looked quite pitiful as she trembled and looked at Yamashita, then placed her hands on her waist.

“I-I am the head of the literature club!”

“……”

Yamashita looked at me with a face that seemed to be asking, “What are you doing?”

Um… yeah, this doesn’t seem to suit you much. Of course, hanging out with me doesn’t suit either of us, but still.

“Er, so, um…”

Ikeda’s gaze fidgeted around.

“…W-Were you here to join?”

“No.”

“I-I see.”

Ikeda’s face turned bright red, and she quickly hid behind Kaneko.

“Um… yeah, so it’s Yamashita.”

Kaneko looked at Yamashita as she spoke.

“What brings you here?”

Feeling like it was time to simply stand around, I went over to my usual seat and sat down.

Then, I picked up a dorayaki and held it in my hand.

“That’s…”

Yamashita looked at me again.

After a moment’s hesitation, I handed her the dorayaki.

Yamashita seemed a bit flustered but accepted the dorayaki I offered.

“Ah, right, let’s sit.”

Kaneko said that, pulled out a chair, and sat down. Ikeda did the same. Although, she sat next to Kaneko this time instead of her usual spot.

Yamashita sat next to Kaneko and Ikeda. Right next to me.

After seeing me casually unwrap the dorayaki, Yamashita hesitated a little and started to unwrap hers.

She seemed unsure if it was okay, but the truth was, there was already someone using the literature club’s food and facilities casually without being a member.

“So, can I ask why you brought a friend today?”

It seemed like she hadn’t heard the rumors yet.

Well, that’s fine. I’d prefer it if she didn’t hear.

“It’s because…”

I hesitated for a moment before stating my reason.

Is it okay to say it’s because we’re hanging out together?

Since we were hanging out anyway, I thought I’d explain how we had missed school this morning.

Usually, we would grab some cream puffs from the convenience store nearby, but I felt it would be somewhat awkward to get the same kind of bread for Yamashita. Yet, making Yamashita buy it with her own money felt a bit… how should I put it?

Since I’m letting her stay, it’s not like I have a guilty conscience, but it would feel rather strange if Yamashita was eating something decent while I had some cream puffs.

Fortunately, Yamashita said she doesn’t usually eat breakfast. It didn’t seem like she was saying that just for my sake. Yamashita, who woke up in the morning, looked like she couldn’t even open her eyes properly.

Well, I guess it was quite early, after all.

I hadn’t explicitly heard about it, but somehow it felt like Miho from the other day woke her up.

I pushed Yamashita into the bathroom, tidied up the blankets, and after she came out of the bathroom, I washed up too.

Fortunately, changing clothes didn’t take an hour, at least.

The reason we woke up early was to walk to the station.

Both of us woke up drowsily and stumbled our way to the station, catching a cramped train to Tamachi Station. Just taking the same route without changing trains is what I’d call a good fortune.

For Yamashita, who had lived in Minato ward for quite some time, it must have been a very long journey.

And yet, to think she wouldn’t say just to go back immediately today shows her determination during her runaway, perhaps bigger than expected.

Of course, that didn’t mean we ate lunch together. I did things my style again, having lunch in the cafeteria with Yuuki.

During that lunch break, it seemed Yamashita told Miura and Fukuda where she was spending time now.

“Take care of Yuuki.”

Miura tightly squeezed my hand and said that.

It seemed like there were a lot of things she really wanted to say, but she didn’t spill it all out and just kept her words.

But at the same time, her expression seemed relieved somewhere in there. Is she glad she has someone to spend time with?

“Living away from my friend’s house~ um…”

Fukuda seemed like she wanted to say something but quickly closed her mouth, lost in thought. When I first moved out, I thought it might be quite fun and exciting, but she had actually witnessed that Kanegami in person.

It can’t be helped that the perspectives on someone who’s independent versus one who escaped their parents’ abuse differ.

Though she probably couldn’t hide her slight envy while still being a teenage girl.

Well, anyway, there was that.

I’d probably continue to hang out like this for a while, but I might end up having different times to go home with Yamashita. Today is just the first day we started hanging out, but I’ve got to work starting Wednesday.

“We decided to walk home together.”

I said that because I didn’t want to bother explaining everything separately.

“Really?”

Kaneko shrugged her shoulders. It seemed she noticed something was off in my answer… well, no signs of that were apparent.

We had a short moment of silence.

I was putting bits of dorayaki into my mouth, Yamashita was giving slight glances at my direction while pretending to read, and Kaneko was rummaging through her bag.

“Ah, right!”

Suddenly, Kaneko snapped her fingers as if she remembered something she had forgotten, smiled brightly at me, then quickly shut her mouth.

Her gaze shifted towards Yamashita, indicating it must be a difficult topic to bring up in front of her.

It was likely about the track and field club. Something about fans not showing up at school. While it was a good thing for her, it was definitely not something to share in front of someone she barely knew.

What would Kaneko think if she found out about how the seniors of the track and field club were targeting me and how that boyfriend had done terrible things to Yamashita?

…Kaneko had beaten up her seniors for her juniors. It felt like something catastrophic might happen, so it was probably best not to mention it in front of her.

Fortunately, Yamashita didn’t seem very interested. Yamashita had a characteristic that she doesn’t butt into others’ affairs as long as they don’t cross a line, which worked to her advantage here.

“I’ll talk about it later.”

Kaneko spoke softly toward me.

I nodded quietly.

Just as the usual silence unique to the literature club fell back into the room,

creak.

The door opened, and this time, Yuuki came in.

Having come slightly late, probably from cleaning, Yuuki looked at Yamashita sitting next to me with a surprised expression.

…Now that I think of it, I never called Yuuki until the very end.

Naturally, Yuuki had no idea that Yamashita was staying at my place.

“Hey, Yamashita.”

“Are you friends with Yuuki?”

“…He’s in the class next to mine.”

Yuuki nodded at Kaneko’s question.

“I see.”

Kaneko replied, then continued digging through her bag to pull out a book.

It was an occult magazine.

…Wait, didn’t she say the juniors had returned?

“Would you think I’d give up on starting the occult club?”

Receiving my dubious gaze, Kaneko said.

She pointed her finger at me while continuing,

“On the contrary, it’s revealing that there is another world, right? Therefore, we must explore it!”

“……”

Hearing that, Yuuki, who ended up sitting opposite of Kaneko, rubbed his forehead.

That’s right. Even if Kaneko didn’t make such a move, there are families with a long-standing history of fighting against yōkai in this country for hundreds of years.

“Occult club?”

Yamashita responded.

“Yeah!”

Uh, wait.

“Since we confirmed the existence of the afterlife last time!”

I sneaked a glance at Yuuki.

Judging by the slight parting of his mouth, he seemed to think we had to do everything possible to block whatever Kaneko was planning to say.

Ikeda was looking at Kaneko with a puzzled expression, and Yamashita was staring at Kaneko intently.

“Didn’t we confirm it with the Kokkuri-san?”

“……”

Kaneko winked at me.

Does that mean she intends to keep the secret?

I immediately lost interest in Kaneko and turned back to my dorayaki.

Yuuki let out a deep sigh, and Ikeda shook her head in dismay, focusing back on her book.

Yamashita seemed to lose interest in the topic almost instantly. Then again, Kokkuri-san, huh? It’s hard to believe someone would be genuinely convinced.

“Hey, are you ignoring me?”

Kaneko protested indignantly, but unfortunately, no one else in the occult club seemed to care anymore.

*

After the peculiar joint club activities in the literature club were over, we headed back home.

As usual, Kaneko and Ikeda waved at us and returned home—

While on the way back, it was me, Yuuki, and Yamashita together.

Hmm, it’s not really a combination I could call ‘as always.’ I’ve hung out with both of them, but usually, I either have Yuuki or Yamashita with Miura and Fukuda.

“Um, so…”

Yuuki was the first to speak.

Despite the rain pouring down, it didn’t drown out the voices of the people kind of far away under umbrellas.

“Can I ask what brought the two of you together?”

Yuuki carefully inquired.

Since he brought this topic once we reached the train station, his attitude felt especially cautious.

It was clear he must have thought long and hard before finally asking.

“……”

I looked at Yamashita. She took a long time to respond, then finally nodded.

“Yamashita… is staying at our house for a bit.”

Yuuki’s mouth dropped open.

“So since our directions are the same.”

“Um, wait a moment.”

Yuuki interrupted.

“Therefore… why?”

“……There’s no reason to worry.”

Of course, for Yamashita, it was a situation worth being concerned about, but at least for me, it wasn’t. I wasn’t being forced or threatened by Yamashita to lend my house, or anything like that.

“Just some happenings occurred for a bit.”

Yuuki looked back and forth between Yamashita and me.

Then he stiffened his expression and said,

“…Um, Kurosawa.”

Hearing Yuuki’s words, I briefly closed my eyes.

For some reason, I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say next.

“Can I come over to your house today?”

Well, that sounded about right.

In terms of how long I had known them, I’ve known Yamashita longer than Yuuki.

Yet if we’re talking about how well we know each other, it would be fair to say Yuuki had a bit more of a connection.

Of course, even though I just found out about Yamashita’s family situation on Sunday, the way Yamashita’s father treated me was completely different from how Yuuki’s grandfather treated me.

Yuuki’s grandfather treats me similarly to how you’d treat your true grandchild, while Yamashita’s father had a more formal demeanor. Though I felt that he looked at me with pity.

Of course, it wouldn’t surprise me if Yuuki would help me out, regardless of how intimate they were.

“…You’re not being bullied, are you?”

I thought it was quite an unconvincing statement.

Just the day before, I had shown my ‘mom’ being abused, and then said that abominable line about, “It’s fine as long as I don’t do anything wrong.” It sounded like something a kid who had been gaslit their whole life would say.

Yuuki knows, but Yamashita doesn’t.

I glanced over at Yamashita.

She slightly frowned. Did it seem to Yuuki like he was interfering in a strange way?

Perhaps she felt it upset her that she appeared easy to misunderstand.

“…The furniture in our house, I got it from Yuuki’s place.”

I said to Yamashita.

Yamashita looked at me with a somewhat surprised expression, then turned back to Yuuki.

Yuuki was proudly puffing out his chest.

“Sorry Yuuki, but—”

I also find it quite enjoyable when Yuuki visits. There has never been a bad experience when Yuuki or his family visited my house.

But still, the thought of having Yamashita and Yuuki both in one house felt…

“Let’s have shabu-shabu tonight.”

“……”

I paused my sentence and shut my mouth.

“Don’t you need a portable burner? It wouldn’t hurt to have at least one, even if it’s just for home use. It has a surprisingly wide range of use. You can’t go out every day and eat meat, can you?”

Yuuki spoke fluently as if he had prepared from the beginning.

“Meat can be bought from the local butcher, and the ingredients are simpler than you’d think. I’ve cooked at home often, you know. What do you think? I’m sure both of you would be satisfied.”

I met Yamashita’s gaze.

Sure, I only have curry at home. Even though I did buy a variety of tastes, I felt it could get boring quite fast.

I was starting to think about scouting for different ready-made foods.

…But still.
You can’t invite a guest to your home and then call another guest who’ll have suspicions about that guest, can you?

“Alright.”

There’s no reason not to accept.

If it’s someone I know, it would be unreasonable not to allow it for a chance like this when Yuuki says he’ll provide meat.

After I simply agreed too quickly, I noticed Yamashita looking at me.

Well, on the plus side, it’d be great for you to eat meat too. If not, we’d seriously be stuck in a cycle of curry–cup noodles–curry–cup noodles.

I can assure you, Yamashita probably can’t cook. She didn’t seem to think about cooking at all despite staying at my place on Sunday.

“Are you planning to stay the night?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“There might not be enough blankets.”

“I’ll decide during the subway ride. Anyway, it takes about an hour.”

As we talked casually, Yamashita looked at us in disbelief, but she didn’t protest.

Well, for now, she was the one crashing at my place.

At any rate, thanks to Yuuki, the walk back home felt more vibrant than the walk to school.

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