I Saved the First Victim of the Horror Game (The Idol in My Class), and She Became the Ultimate Sweet Heroine Who Smiles Only at Me - 20

Chapter 20: The Plot Twist Where I Get Killed Instead by the Girl Who Was Supposed to Be the First Victim (Dere)

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About Murase-san’s… what does that mean?

Still holding Murase-san close, I leaned my ear closer to the wooden frame of the sliding door. At the shock of hearing her name, her body jolted with a sharp “jolt!”

“(H-hey, Murase-san!?)”

It was cramped. Way too cramped in this closet! We’d gone beyond “close contact” at this point, my ribs and her soft curves were colliding head-on in direct physical conflict!

“(…Maybe… I don’t want you to hear this…)”

Murase-san wrapped both arms around my neck in a tight hold. Her slender fingers dug into the nape of my neck, and then a dangerously warm “hafuu…” breath brushed right against my ear, knocking directly on my eardrum.

“Mio-chan said she’d come if Ueno-kun was coming, so that’s why we invited her.”

“Yeah, so I had Ueno talk to her…”

-!?!? What does that mean!? I was sure I invited Murase-san myself. But the way Sato-kun just said that made it sound like I was maneuvered into inviting her!

“Hoshino’s been worried the whole time. Mio-chan hasn’t really been fitting in with the class.”

“I think she’s kinda meddlesome~. I really don’t get that stuff girls do.”

“It’s not like I wanted to come here either! Yamamoto said that if it was a test of courage, everyone would bond whether they liked it or not, so I didn’t really have a choice.”

“And yet we ended up splitting up anyway.”

Hmmmm… The story was starting to look a little different. Was this test of courage actually meant to help Murase-san get closer to everyone…?

“This time, Mio-chan is the main character. Don’t forget that.”

“I know.”

“Even though you were teasing her by calling her Air, Air.”

“It’s just a nickname! It’s just easy to say!”

“You guys are really insensitive about that kind of thing.”

The sound of their footsteps gradually grew more distant.

Could it be…Tthey’re actually good people? 

If what I just heard was true, then maybe no one had bad intentions toward Murase-san.

“But still, Nanase, those two ended up alone together, right? What if they’re hiding in a closet somewhere flirting?”

I almost burst out laughing.

We absolutely are right now! Because of you!

“Well, if that’s the case, then that’s fine. That fits the goal of them getting closer.”

“Then since we’re alone too, wanna flirt?”

“Drop dead.”

Nanase-san’s voice was icy. But somehow, the atmosphere between them sounded almost playful. Completely different from the dangerous image before, they were starting to seem like meddlesome busybodies instead.

“(…Auuuu…)”

Still clinging to me, Murase-san made a glitchy little noise.

“(I-it’s not like that! I just thought maybe I could trust you, Ueno-kun!)”

“(Trust…?)”

“(Um, do you remember picking up my handkerchief once…?)”

“(Handkerchief?)”

“(They call you the ‘Lost Item Collector,’ right? That’s why I noticed you. And I realized we take the same bus too…)”

Lost Item Collector…?

The moment those words hit my ears, something deep in my brain felt like a rusted gear being forcibly cranked into motion. It was true. I got teased like that at school. I couldn’t ignore lost items when I found them. But Murase-san’s handkerchief? The bus? Fragments of memory flickered like an old film reel full of static.

“(…You don’t remember, right? But that’s okay. For me, it made me really happy…)”

Murase-san tightened her grip around me even more. I felt like I needed to remember this properly. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t recall it right now.

“…Huh? Sato, wait a second.”

The footsteps that had been fading away began to return. It was Nanase-san’s voice.

“What? Are you in the mood to flirt now?”

“As if. I was thinking we should try calling their phones.”

“Oh yeah, reception’s bad here. I forgot.”

“But it might connect. Try calling.”

Oh no! My phone… It’s in my pocket—

“(U-Ueno-kun… is your phone on silent…?)”

Murase-san whispered shakily into my ear. My overheated brain spiraled further into panic.

“(I don’t think so.)”

I desperately fumbled for my phone in my pocket. But we were pressed together too tightly, I couldn’t move my arm! If I tried, my elbow would bump into her softness and make us press even closer together.

“(Ahh, Ueno-kun… don’t move…!)”

Murase-san squirmed, her face bright red.

It was cramped. Way too cramped in this closet! Just as my fingertips barely touched my pocket… I heard Sato-kun operating his phone from the other side of the sliding door.

“Alright, I’ll call Ueno…”

Ring… ring… ring…

The ringtone echoed through the silent tatami room.

Thankfully, my phone was on silent mode. But at this insanely close range, there was no way the vibrating “bzzz bzzz” wouldn’t travel through the closet floorboards to where they were standing.

“…Huh? Isn’t something vibrating somewhere?”

Nanase-san’s absurdly sharp hearing began pinpointing our hiding spot.

“(…!)”

In her panic, Murase-san tried to cover my mouth with both hands, pressing her tiny palms against me with full force.

Murase-san! If you do that, you’re covering my nose too! I’ll suffocate! I’ll get killed by the girl who was supposed to be the first victim!

“…I think it’s coming from inside this closet.”

Sato-kun’s footsteps slowly, surely stopped right in front of the sliding door.

“Alright, I’m opening it. Three… two… one…”

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