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

“Hey, have you ever fought before?”

It’s not like they’re talking about fighting with people, right?

I mean, I’ve never actually fought a person before.

Ironically, though, while I’ve never fought a person, I have fought a bear. _Swoosh!_ If you can call it a ‘fight.’

I don’t remember it, but the bear disappeared without a trace. Since it was the bear that bit me, it probably didn’t just randomly let me go and vanish. It’s more likely I just wiped it out.

Unless it was that woman from my dream.

“…I probably have.”

“‘Probably,’ huh…”

Yuuki scratched his head as if mulling over my words.

Then he scanned me again, and asked, “So, what’s your weapon?”

I shook my head. No weapon. I have no idea what was happening back then—why would I have a weapon?

I do know that Yuuki carries a weapon. That long bundle of cloth over there on the couch must be it. There’s probably a Japanese sword wrapped up inside.

Maybe… it doesn’t have a name because it used to be a sword with a name?

“What were you thinking…?”

Yuuki murmured to himself, sighed heavily, and plopped down on the couch.

There are only the two of us in this room. Mako’s dad brought us here and then just went outside. I’m not sure if Yuuki and Yuka requested that.

The place I’m in now is unfamiliar.

It’s not some grand location; it looks like a building that could serve as a headquarters. On the surface, it was just the upper floor of an ordinary storefront building, and in reality, it felt like a small company president’s office.

I don’t think places like this appear much in novels. Well, it makes sense since the background was set in a high school.

With Yuuki Yuka before me, I felt a mix of emotions. She was a heroine from a novel I liked quite a bit.

If the person in front of me had been anyone else, I probably wouldn’t have been that impressed. Of course, I wouldn’t feel no emotion at all, but… how should I put it?

She was the character I found most memorable while reading the novel; someone who outwardly seemed unpleasant but ultimately did good deeds.

“…”

As I fell silent, Yuuki let out a big sigh and wiped at his face.

It seemed he didn’t think of himself as being young at all. After all, the novel mentioned he had lived in that kind of world since childhood, so it makes sense.

“…How much have you fought?”

I asked.

In the novel, it never went into that much detail. In fact, there probably wasn’t any need to specify that. The background of the character merely served as a setup.

But this kid sitting in front of me is different.

The background of Sota and Shii having dysfunctional parents was literally real in this world—as if Yuuki Yuka had lost his mother to a Yōkai and had kept fighting ever since.

He’d moved around too much for work and couldn’t make proper friends, that kid.

In the novel, the reason for his deep care about others served to make the audience think he could never bear to part from Sota, the protagonist, but in this case, every single element had truly left scars from his childhood.

I’m not a counselor or a social worker, so I have no clue how to heal a child’s emotional wounds.

In this world, I’m just a kid too. While Shii and Sota managed to overcome it with their unique personalities and effort…

…no, I guess thinking that way is actually arrogant.

“How much have I fought…?”

At my question, Yuuki paused, thinking, before finally saying, “I’ve never really counted.”

“By yourself?”

“…Not exactly by myself.”

I see. From his answer, it seems Yuuki began acting solo around middle school. Up until elementary school, he must have been with his grandfather and father.

In the main storyline set in high school, if things were too tough, those two would often show up together, too. Usually, it was Sota doing the fighting.

Should I think that it’s fortunate? Honestly, I’m not really sure. He was still just an elementary school student, after all. If he was fighting Yōkai, he probably saw blood.

I don’t know the standards of this world. If he’s been fighting since he was considered an adult at an age that now seems like a child, things might be different.

…Thinking of Kagami, who did her best to protect me despite knowing all this, still makes it hard to fully accept that reality.

“It’s not a problem that you weren’t alone, right? I can handle Kendo and have dealt with Yōkai for sure.”

“Is that so?”

I nodded, agreeing with him.

Debating common sense in a twisted world is pointless. There’s nothing I can change alone.

All I can do is make the best of the given situation and think of a way out.

“…”

“…”

We both fell silent for a moment.

I’m not really the quiet type. Back when I first came here, I met kids like Harumi and Mako who eagerly chatted with me. Shii and Sota weren’t exactly quiet types either.

If I don’t make friends, Kagami will worry, so I had to learn to approach kids first.

If you measure by popularity in class, I’d definitely be on the popular side.

But… here, I don’t even know what to say. Yuuki didn’t seem to think it was weird at all, but his past was just as dark as mine.

I already knew he had no friends in his age group.

I didn’t want to feel pity. At the very least, I didn’t want it to seem like I was concerned for Yuuki and trying to act friendly. Just like Shii and Sota, and how Harumi and Yuuki did with me, I wanted us to be friends comfortably.

“Hey, Kurosawa.”

Yuuki called out to me, lost in thought.

“…Just call me Koto Ne.”

“Huh?”

His voice sounded a bit startled.

Even around me, kids would often get flustered when I asked them to call me Koto Ne. I know the reason—unlike Korea, where calling someone by their name can lead to confusion in class, it’s not like that in Japan.

If you aren’t close, you use their surname. Even if you are close, you’d add an honorific. It’s only after you truly become friends that you start calling each other by name or nickname.

But calling me ‘Kurosawa’ is dangerous. After all, I’m using a pseudonym.

At the same time, I didn’t like being told to call him by that. Even if we met under a false name, I wanted my friends to remember me as I am.

So, I was Koto Ne. I’ve always used my name just as it is, even while switching surnames.

That was probably made possible because of Kagami’s consideration. She wanted to make sure I wasn’t too confused. And that I could live with my identity intact.

“Koto Ne.”

“…Koto Ne-san?”

“Koto Ne.”

“…Koto Ne.”

Yuuki awkwardly accepted my name. It was probably his first time having this kind of conversation with someone his age right off the bat, so he might have been a bit flustered.

After going through several brief meetings without making any friends, you inevitably build up walls. I almost did that too. Without meeting Mako, I definitely would have.

But still…

It seems we’re going to be seeing each other a lot for a while. Getting close shouldn’t matter too much for Yuuki anyway.

“…Then, you can call me Yuka too.”

“Yuka.”

“…”

In response to my answer, Yuka looked a bit awkward, shifting her gaze around.

“Umm…”

And with that awkward demeanor, Yuka slowly opened her mouth.

“Today is all we have.”

“All?”

“Yeah. It’s not like our work happens every single day. It has been happening a bit more frequently lately, though.”

“I see.”

“So, yeah. I think you can go home now. It seems you’re already aware of what you need to know.”

“Yeah.”

But I didn’t get up from my seat. Yuka’s expression became even more awkward. It seemed like it was hard for her to keep the conversation going.

Maybe she had never dealt with someone leading the conversation? I tilted my head.

“So, do you want to grab something to eat?”

“Eat?”

“Anything. Drinks would be good, cake would be good too.”

“Isn’t that something you do with someone you just met?”

“Can’t we?”

Both of us were flustered in the conversation.

Harumi had dragged me around like a doll from the moment we first met. And even when socializing with school friends, it’s been a norm to hang out nearby after meeting for the first time.

The two of us stared blankly at each other for a moment, blinking.

*

It was definitely our first meeting.

In fact, this Kurozawa Koto Ne kid had probably never been here before, but she walked out ahead with Yuka like it was no big deal.

As if she was accustomed to talking with someone she just met.

With her white skin, pretty face, and demure impression, her hair flowing as if someone cared for it well, she looked like a princess from a fairytale. Even her strides were light and cheerful.

A kid who had been living in an entirely different world until now. Or perhaps, it was Yuka who had been living in the weird world.

“…”

I still couldn’t fully let my guard down. I called her by name the moment I saw her, but there’s still so much we don’t know about each other.

Yet, how can she be so completely unguarded? I wondered about Yuka.

“Do you have something you like?”

“Uh, yeah?”

What a foolish sound I made.

The other person was just staring at Yuka with deep eyes, quietly.

Yuka felt a bit flustered.

“…Anything is okay.”

After throwing that out there with a hint of grumbling, I felt a bit embarrassed.

The other party just smiled gently and continued walking ahead.

What was this, really?

Grumbling like this, Yuka followed behind her, trudging along.

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