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

Up until now, Kagami has never scrimped on my pocket money.

If you ask if she gave as much as a rich girl, that’s not the case, but at least it was enough for me to occasionally buy something to eat with friends, go to cafes, hit up karaoke rooms, and do some light shopping.

But, to be clear, it’s not as much as a rich girl would give.

Though it was enough for ‘sometimes’ hanging out, it definitely wasn’t enough for ‘every day’ shenanigans.

This is also why I was looking for a suitable place to spend time after school. If I hadn’t bumped into Harumi, Yuuki, and Mako at school, I probably wouldn’t have joined the Literature Club in such a hurry.

So, I visited the Literature Club room about two or three times a week.

Of course, my friends followed me around like little ducklings.

I was a bit worried there might be some resistance from some kids, but,

“Isn’t it fine? The seniors are fun. As long as we don’t act weird like trying to be seniors for no reason, it’s all good.”

Harumi replied that way.

I wonder if she had some trouble with seniors back in middle school.

No need to ask that right now. I’ll probably have a chance to talk about it more naturally later.

Yuuki followed Harumi, and Mako originally liked being with friends.

Me, Koko, Yuka. And Harumi, Yuuki, and Mako.

At first glance, it seemed like a strange combination all mixed together, but that’s how it turned out.

“Whoa!”

Koko, who was merrily leading the way up the stairs, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“Koko?”

As I followed her line of sight, I spotted a korokke (croquette) right at the top of the stairs.

Of course, it wasn’t just lying around on the floor. It was a brand-new, still-wrapped one.

So… that thing is the most popular type of bread at our school’s store.

Kagami is someone who finds pleasure in seeing us live our normal lives, so every morning, she would wake up singing and prepare lunch boxes for me, Koko, and Dad.

This has been a sort of ritual unique to Kagami since I was little.

Waking up early, carefully making bento lunches for Koko and Dad, then sending them off as they leave the house.

Even while working herself, Kagami always did that.

I liked those lunches. Of course, Koko liked them too. They were really delicious homemade meals.

But, homemade meals are still just homemade meals.

When you’ve been eating only healthy things all the time, there come times when you want to eat something different. Koko and I sometimes went to the school store.

If Koko used her powers, fetching a bun wouldn’t be an issue, but then there would be no need to calculate. I wanted Koko to adapt to society and live a normal life, and Koko knew that too, so during those times, we acted fairly.

And we failed. Every time we went to the store, there were only cornettes left.

Of all things, the store was far from our classroom.

Koko liked those buns, but… well, even if she liked ‘things that are tasty,’ it was inevitable she would prefer ‘even tastier things,’ right?

“Whoa!”

As I was about to say you shouldn’t just grab something lying on the floor, Koko had already jumped up the stairs.

Whoosh.

And then, the korokke moved.

“Huh?”

Mako, who was smiling at Koko running innocently, blinked in surprise.

“Whoa?”

Seeing there was no korokke within reach, Koko looked back, confused.

Boing.

Then, like she was a frog, Koko crouched down and leapt back towards the bread.

Whoosh.

And at that moment, the bread moved.

The party followed Koko, step by step.

“Whoa!”

Koko, eyes sparkling as if she had discovered an interesting toy, dashed towards the korokke. This too was a type of ‘play.’

If she hadn’t been playing, she would have just grabbed it right away.

Looking closely, there was a small hole in the corner of the korokke bag. A semi-transparent fishing line was snagged in it.

And that fishing line was connected to the room right next door to the Literature Club.

I raised my eyebrow just a bit.

Of course, if someone knew Koko well enough to prank her like this, they were familiar with her personality. But still, what were they trying to do in the photography club next door?

…

But if they were going to kidnap a girl, wouldn’t they usually just buy her something first? Are they seriously going for ‘real fishing’?

“Whoa!”

While I was lost in those thoughts, Koko finally succeeded in grabbing the korokke.

Holding it high above her head, she was suddenly wrapped in the arms of someone who had burst from that room.

A pervert…? Oh, it’s Kaoru.

“Oh, that’s so cute!”

Kaoru exclaimed while hugging Koko tightly. Koko, not really paying much attention to Kaoru, was busy tearing open the korokke bag with sparkling eyes.

“Can’t I take her home with me? You already have two of the same at your house.”

“Take her home?”

“Yeah, Koko, do you want to live with me?”

“Not really.”

“Gasp….”

Koko, munching on the korokke, firmly rejected with no hesitation, causing Kaoru to dramatically clutch her chest in faux dismay. Of course, it was just playful acting.

By the way, she really did attempt a kidnapping here, huh?

“To take Koko, you’ll first have to get past my mom.”

“…I’ve never met her, so I’m not sure how that would go.”

As I brought up my mom, Kaoru started looking around nervously.

That’s right? No matter how much of a tease Kaoru is, it seems she’s not immune to Talula.

“But you know, seeing how innocent Koko has grown, your mom must have put in an incredible amount of effort.”

“…”

At those words, I fell silent.

Well, it isn’t entirely wrong. Koko has been living at our place for several years. If Kagami had abused Koko during that time, either we wouldn’t be safe or Koko would have escaped by now.

Somehow teaching her to read and how to deal with people.

I can clearly picture Kagami earnestly teaching Koko how to greet and introduce herself while watching an educational program on TV with her sitting on her lap.

And that scene looked like Kagami was trying to make it up to Koko for something.

Something Koko couldn’t have, her childhood from the past.

Not just me, but Yuka and the others all fell silent too. Yuka knew Koko’s true identity, and the others knew Koko hadn’t lived with me during my childhood. Yuuki must be feeling confused thinking about our relationship too.

“Um…”

“That’s right.”

Noticing us falling silent, Kaoru got flustered, so I quickly replied.

“She was very, very loved, right Koko?”

“Yeah!”

Koko replied, sparkling, with korokke crumbs on her mouth.

“Mom made tons of tasty things and hugged me a lot, that was really nice.”

“R-Right? I thought so.”

Kaoru seemed to realize something was off, but since Koko answered without any darkness, she seemed to understand in whatever way she could.

It could have been a coincidence, or she might have thought differently. She probably made her judgment that way.

“Okay, let’s go in. The photography club members should be arriving soon.”

Were we not supposed to get permission?

Before Kaoru had a chance to explain why she was in her club room to the photography club members, we quickly closed the door and moved into the Literature Club room.

“Hello.”

Izumi, sitting in the corner like a literary girl, unfolding a folding chair and heavily engrossed in reading a book, waved her hand.

Perhaps because our members had increased suddenly—or rather, probably because the juniors had increased, Izumi seemed to want to look more like a senior these days.

In fact, she still seemed to look a bit scared of Harumi and Yuuki.

But.

“Great! Now that the Occult Research Club has grown so much, we could do some kind of ritual, right? Shall we clear the desks and try summoning a demon or something?”

“This is the Literature Club, how many times do I have to tell you!?”

With just a single word from Kaoru, Izumi lost her composed literary girl image and exploded in frustration.

Hearing those two bicker, we settled down in our respective places.

Koko, Yuka, and I took up one side of the table, while Mako sat across from me.

Harumi sat next to Mako, and Yuuki opened a folding chair he had leaned against the wall and sat in the opposite corner with a light novel in hand.

It’s strangely ironic how Yuuki, who seemed to have a flashy gyaru style at first glance, matched the term ‘literary girl’ better than Izumi when it comes to that posture.

In reality, Izumi seemed like she would fit better in the Occult Research Club. Kaoru looked like she belonged to the athletics club.

“So, it’s better when there’s a larger crowd, right?”

“Not at all! Don’t change things on your own!”

…

Given the situation, bringing up such a thing would probably only rub Izumi the wrong way even further, so for now, let’s just read quietly.

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