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

Chapter

“Kur-chan.”

Lunchtime that day.

As I headed towards the club room like any other day, someone caught me.

It was Kaneko. There were only two people in the whole school who ended my name with “chan,” and among them, only Kaneko was friendly enough to make up nicknames.

But here was Kaneko, grabbing my arm and looking at me seriously.

Finally, I thought, Kaneko has heard about that story too, and I prepared myself mentally.

It seemed Kaneko was also heading to the club room. Usually, she ate with Ikeda in class, so she must have gone out of her way to visit me.

Creek, slam.

“First, want to sit?”

After opening the club room door and shutting it, Kaneko said.

I sat silently in a chair.

Kaneko gently pulled a chair next to me and sat facing me.

“I heard… a rumor,” she started, hesitating a bit.

“Last Saturday, there was a girl with long hair tied at the ends who was bleeding while walking down the hallway.”

Kaneko peered intensely into my face with a very serious expression.

“The girl who helped her… judging by the appearance description, it seems to be Yamashita.”

In fact, if you listened to the description of the girl who was being supported, it perfectly matched me. Kaneko was simply being more cautious with her words.

“It’s you, isn’t it?”

“…”

I paused for a moment, then nodded.

After all, saying it wasn’t would just be a lie.

“…Is it because of the track team girls?”

I nodded again.

Kaneko’s face turned bright red. Her expression screamed frustration.

She looked like she could dash out right now and beat up those track team girls.

“It was resolved well.”

“Resolved well? How can you say that?” Kaneko asked incredulously.

“You got hurt like that—”

“No need to worry. By the time I went to the infirmary, I didn’t have any serious injuries, and afterward, I went to the hospital with my homeroom teacher and got checked again; they said there was no problem.”

“…”

“You know, seniors, my body is different from ordinary people.”

“Still…”

“And, there’s someone who is going to resolve the issue.”

“…Huh?”

“They haven’t been coming to school afterward.”

I didn’t know how it got handled. I asked Kagami not to kill them, so she probably adhered to that.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they transferred schools. They already had the worst image in school anyway.

“…But still.”

“It’s not your fault, senior. Those people are the weird ones.”

When I said that, Kaneko had a look that showed she didn’t know what else to say.

After thinking for a moment, I changed the subject a bit.

“Is the person who was your junior doing well?”

“Uh? Ah, yeah. She’s feeling much better. However…”

“…”

“It seems like coming to school is still a bit tough for her.”

When I heard about her waking up, she had seemed so bright, but her mood felt heavy when she shared this fact. Considering what she went through, it was understandable.

After all, only a few prominent members of the track team got some kind of punishment, while most of the people who bullied her remained at school.

Even if she transferred, I wouldn’t bat an eye at it.

“But she’s gaining strength every time I visit her regularly.”

Kaneko said with a somewhat forced smile.

I silently nodded.

Creek.

Just then, the door opened.

“Oh, senior.”

Yuuki blinked as he entered.

Kaneko stood up.

“Oh, it’s fine. I just finished talking.”

“Ah, okay.”

However, feeling something different about Kaneko, Yuuki stared at her in surprise.

But true to his deep personality, he didn’t pry any further.

“Is Izumi waiting? I’ll go. Enjoy your meal~”

“Yes, see you after school.”

Yuuki waved his hand lightly as he spoke, and I bowed my head.

The door closed again, and Yuuki sat down in the spot Kaneko had just vacated and asked.

“What were you guys talking about?”

“About Kaneko’s junior.”

“Oh, from last time.”

Yuuki nodded with a serious expression.

We didn’t delve deeper into that topic.

We thought it was best not to meddle with Kaneko’s affair. It’s up to her how she wants to proceed with whatever is left.

Guilt isn’t something one can easily shake off until they themselves let go.

After a moment of silence, Yuuki pulled out a bread roll from a plastic bag and placed it before me.

“Here, it’s curry bread.”

Curry bread!

As Yuuki handed me the bread, I grabbed it with both hands and tore open the packaging. Yuuki, who was gazing at me, suddenly said,

“You look a bit like a hamster. Can I pinch your cheek?”

He made a very intrusive comment.

With an astonished expression, I stared at Yuuki, who grinned and opened his own castella packaging.

*

No, how could the weather get worse like this?

Well, it’s June and July, so hot weather is expected. Specifically, it’ll be hot until August, then slowly cool down, and by winter, it’ll be cold.

People often say having four distinct seasons is either good or bad, but I think such opinions are nonsense. I’ve lived in a country with four seasons, and both hot and cold are no fun. People should live in a place with moderately warm weather all year round.

San Francisco supposedly has no days it drops below freezing or goes up to 30 degrees.

Well… that’s what they say anyway.

Anyway, it’s finally July. It’s still the rainy season, but the rainy days are decreasing gradually.

If I can just hold on until the end of this month, there’s summer vacation coming up.

It seems the work hours for my part-time job during summer vacation won’t change much, so I’m only working three hours from Wednesday to Friday and taking off from Monday to Wednesday.

Naturally, I was looking forward to the break.

I had no particular plans to go anywhere. Having worked late nights or overnight shifts at work until I die, I planned to stay cooped up at home as much as possible during summer vacation.

There are episodes in the novels during summer vacation, but it’s not that serious a matter. If anything, it’s a story involving high-ranking government individuals. I probably won’t be risking my life this time.

Well, anyway.

On July 5th, 2004, Monday.

I climbed the stairs, feeling like I was melting.

“…”

And after a long while, I saw the melon bread at the top of the stairs.

Once again, there was a fishing line tied to the end of the bag, and Kaneko was probably waiting at the end of it.

“…”

After a brief moment of consideration, I decided to ignore the bread.

“Gasp!”

As I passed by the bread and opened the club room door, Kaneko’s intake of breath was audible.

The photography club room door burst open, and Kaneko dashed out.

“Kur-chan, is something wrong? Are you hurt?!”

No, I’m not in pain from not being lured by bread.

I was just feeling extremely lethargic today.

Without responding much, I opened the door and went into the club room, slumping at the desk.

“Kurosawa?”

Ikeda looked at me worriedly.

I didn’t know if global warming wasn’t impacting as much as in the 2020s or not, but the summer in this world was indeed hot, yet still bearable. Just stepping outside didn’t feel like getting burned alive.

Moreover, the classroom had an air conditioner. It was the rectangular air conditioner commonly seen at schools, mounted in the center of the ceiling. Since it had such air conditioning from the 2000s, this school must be pretty well-off.

Unfortunately, it seemed they didn’t have the luxury of installing air conditioning in the unpopular little clubs in the old school building, as there was none in this club room.

With just the window open and the fan attached to the wall turned on, just sitting there made me feel like I was melting away.

“Want some green tea?”

Ikeda said, handing me a bottle of frozen green tea. Did he freeze it at home or something?

“Thanks.”

I politely received it with both hands and, instead of drinking it, placed it against my neck for a cold compress. Phew, I felt a bit better.

No, but seriously, wearing black even in summer makes no sense. The uniform absorbs so much sunlight that it becomes warm and toasty.

Well, in Japanese manga, it’s not unusual for characters to wear vests even in summer, so maybe this is mild after all.

“Kurosawa, you’re weak in summer.”

Still hugging the green tea bottle while leaning on the desk, Kaneko said as she stepped in.

“I figured you’d be tough against the heat with that cat-like impression.”

What kind of logic is that?

Cats love hot places, but not me. I’m the type who prefers winter over summer. Last time, Yuuki said I looked like a hamster, and it seems I give off an animal vibe.

I should probably give up on eating bread that falls on the ground.

Just as I was pondering, Kaneko handed me a melon bread, putting it in my arms.

Well, if it’s wrapped, it’s not really discarded, so I guess I won’t miss the opportunity.

“I wonder how winter can be so frigid at this time.”

“True. Makes you wonder if winter will really come,” Kaneko agreed, echoing Ikeda’s sentiments.

“And then, suddenly, it becomes difficult to bear in short sleeves, and afterwards, it gets super cold.”

Kaneko said with a shudder.

Still, isn’t winter in Japan not as cold as it is in Korea? If that’s the case, maybe winter isn’t that hard to endure? As long as I don’t freeze to death while sleeping, that is.

…Maybe I should look into getting something like a kotatsu or an electric blanket too.

But I can think about that come autumn.

Creek.

The club room door opened again, and Yuuki walked in.

“Why is the literature club on the fourth floor, anyway? There’s no elevator in this building…”

“Well, it’s one of the least popular clubs, I guess. Among the clubs in the old school, it’s probably the most minor, right?”

“Ugh…”

Ikeda made a strange sound, sounding frustrated at Kaneko’s words, but he couldn’t quite refute it.

Yuuki sat next to me as usual, while Kaneko pulled out a magazine from her bag like she usually did.

“…Huh? Senior, what’s that?” Kaneko questioned, noticing a large photo on the cover of the magazine.

A large gate surrounding a traditional Japanese style mansion was featured prominently.

…I felt like I had seen that place before.

And at the top of the photo was a main article title in bold letters.

[Unidentified Howling Sounds from a Yakuza Mansion!? What’s the source of the beastly cries heard at midnight?]

“…”

I tried my best to remain motionless, resting my head on the desk.

“Oh, this? Apparently, it seems they caught some kind of beasts at the yakuza mansion in Minato Ward. It’s said to be a dog… or something. It seems they received complaints about animal cruelty, but it just kind of fizzled out.”

“Why would such an article be in that magazine?”

“Well, if there’s nothing scandalous, they just throw in any story they find. This article speculates the yakuza might’ve performed some sort of ritual.”

Yuuki paused briefly, and though I couldn’t see his face clearly since my head was down, he looked deep in thought.

No way, could he possibly know which mansion that is?

Now that I think about it, it seemed Yuuki’s grandfather had some kind of knowledge about Kagami and Miura.

Did he do some investigation in the meantime?

“Is that it for the content?”

“Wanna take a look?”

Kaneko seemed to pass the magazine to Yuuki. I could hear the rustling of pages from above my head, and soon, the sound of Yuuki flipping through the pages followed.

After a moment of flipping, he opened his mouth.

“…This really is the end of the content. For a few pages, they just scribbled down some well-known curses.”

“Right? Yet sometimes they mix in something that seems genuine. This month was a bust. Given the summer, it would’ve been great if there were more chilling stories, but the usual tales of solitude and such are way too common.”

I struggled not to flinch at those words.

Yuuki passed the magazine back to Kaneko.

“Well, those kinds of things usually aren’t annual. They typically bring up things that happened decades ago at similar times to remind folks.”

“True. Those spirit spots always seem to be the same ones coming up.”

“…You’re not actually going to go check those out, right? They’re most often private property, after all?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t go that far—”

I let go of my tension at the conversation drifting in another direction.

Yuuki didn’t seem to notice, though.

If he did, he would definitely chew me out big time.

*

“What happened with Yamashita?”

On the way home, Yuuki directly asked me.

“…”

That relief I just felt was just an illusion.

Thinking back, Yuuki in the original story had this strangely tenacious side to him, uncovering traces that others missed and figuring out where the yōkai were hiding.

Given his profession, it’s natural he would possess such talents, but he often discovered where the protagonist was when spending time with another heroine, feeling jealous.

That doesn’t mean he’s yandere or anything, but often there were depictions of him feeling distressed solely due to instinctively uncovering traces.

Yuuki Yuka isn’t a yandere character; he’s a tsundere character. Naturally, his reactions toward Sasaki were usually just “Hmph!”

Yup, can’t even imagine Yuuki acting “Hmph!” here.

“Hey, Kurosawa?”

Yuuki was sticking beside me.

“You were with Yamashita that evening, right? It doesn’t seem like you two walked home together afterwards. What happened between you two?”

Something that could significantly improve our relationship indeed happened.

Yamashita still looked a bit half-convinced. I had helped Mori, however, the method was far too superstitious for modern sensibilities.

But well, Mori seemed to have developed feelings around the same time, so rather than attributing it to mere coincidence, it felt like I helped to settle her feelings or something.

In any case, I had revealed myself as a shrine maiden.

However, if I tell Yuuki such an awkward lie, it would immediately backfire.

He’s literally a professional “miko.” It’d be just impossible for an amateur like me to pass off having resolved a complicated curse without leaving a trace.

I pondered hard.

How could I explain to escape without mentioning that I was covered in blood?

I glanced over, and what entered my sight was—

The back of a girl wearing a sailor uniform with a white base and blue collar, looking absent-mindedly in one direction.

…Of course, I could only see her back, but that was the feeling it gave me.

And I recognized that back.

“Shii?”

As I called her name, Sasaki Shii turned to look at me.

She had an expression as if she had seen something shocking.

What is it?

I shifted my gaze to the direction Shii was staring at.

And—saw quite a shocking scene.

Sasaki Sota was flanked by classmates on both sides.

No, looking closely, it didn’t seem like he wanted to be in the middle. While I could only see the backs of the three of them, Sota looked incredibly flustered as he swung his gaze from side to side.

Ah, right.

That guy is the protagonist of a harem light novel.

Nowadays, harem stories can have dozens of heroines, but in that era, the typical harem story featured heroines defined by profession.

So there were types you’d find. A glasses-wearing heroine, a childhood friend heroine, a big sister-type heroine… you get the idea.

In this particular story, the romantic interest(s) tallied up to three.

If we call Shii a heroine, then she’s indeed one of them, and although she has considerable presence in episodes, she’s still just a supporting character. However, in terms of the regular members with a significant love line, there were three.

Among them was Yuuki Yuka.

…Since I had become friends with Yuuki, and I had already sorted out the incidents that would involve Sasaki Sota and Shii later on, those two weren’t able to confront Yuuki, who was the greatest obstacle in their love line.

As a result, looking confused, Sota found himself squeezed between the childhood friend heroine he had known since childhood and the older sister-type heroine whose position he had just found appealing.

What a lucky son of a gun.

Poke. Poke.

Feeling a little poke on my shoulder, I turned to see Yuuki with a bright red face, staring at the back of that trio.

“Isn’t that… Sasaki Sota?”

Why is he acting like a girl again?

…Oh right.

I’ve been so disconnected from the light novel’s main story that I rarely see this side of Yuuki, but in reality, he does seem to be quite interested in such things. In the original, he had even shown interest while awkwardly flipping through questionable magazines.

I noticed Yuuki’s nodding head, and quietly called out to Shii.

“Shii?”

“Yes….”

She looked completely out of it.

Seeing her beloved older brother in such a state, it was no wonder she was shocked.

…No wait.

It’s not just about liking him.

Shii’s mental troubles run deeper than that.

“…”

I held back a sigh as I pulled on Shii’s sleeve.

Let’s at least move to a different place.

We should go and cool our heads first.

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