I'm in a Messed Up Situation that I Couldn't Care More. - Chapter 12: The True Nature of the Worm

Chapter 12: The True Nature of the Worm

“And then, out of nowhere, Aoi-chan stabbed a knife between my fingers!”

I finished recounting the incident with “scary Aoi-chan,” and Mamejiro’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on! I can’t wrap my head around this!” 

“Why not!? You’re supposed to be smart, Mamejiro! Why can’t you understand this?”

“I can understand that Sakurazawa Aoi suddenly changed her attitude when she was alone with you. 

I find it hard to believe that the normally gentle-looking girl would act like that.

I could understand that much.

What I don’t understand is…”

“Un.”

I nodded, urging him to continue.

“… Why are you happy about her stabbing a knife between your fingers!?”

Mamejiro stood up from the bench and started pacing back and forth with his arms crossed.

“Ah… well…”

I suddenly felt embarrassed.

But I knew I had to be honest with Mamejiro.

“I might be a masochist. I never realized it until now.”

My cheeks were burning.

I think I’m blushing a little.

“Haaaaahhhh!?”

Mamejiro suddenly exclaimed loudly.

“That’s just weird! Even if you’re a masochist, you shouldn’t be happy about having a knife stabbed between your fingers!

Most people would be terrified!”

“I don’t know! I just got excited!”

I stood up from the lat pull-down machine and glared at Mamejiro.

“What else did Sakurazawa-san say to you? Tell me more details.

There might be a key to this whole incident hidden in her words.”

“Well… She said she knew I was trying to seduce Yamaguchi-senpai.

Her expression was so cute when she said that…

She also mentioned that Yamaguchi-senpai already has a fiancé.

She called me a lower life form and a weakling, looking down on me.

But for some reason, I was happy about that. I don’t know why.”

“You’ve got it bad.”

As I recalled the incident and felt happy, Mamejiro made a disillusioned face.

“Is that it? Didn’t she say anything else?”

“Hmm, let me think.

What else did she say… Oh, she asked if I was a worm or something like that.”

When I mentioned the word “worm,” Mamejiro’s eyes widened.

“Worm!? Did she really say that?”

Mamejiro suddenly fixed his sharp gaze on me.

“What’s a worm? Is that some famous person I don’t know about?

I haven’t been watching TV lately, so I’m not up to date with celebrities.”

I scratched my head and Mamejiro shook his.

“Worm is not well-known to the general public.

It’s a term known in urban legend circles.”

“… Urban legend…?”

“Worms are believed to be intruders from a different world line, a parallel world, from the one we live in.”

“Para… what world…?”

Mamejiro sighed.

“I think it will be difficult for you to understand, Koichi.

Worms are supposedly beings from a different world line who infiltrate our world and quietly work to mess up and take over our world.”

“Hmm, so they’re bad guys, huh?”

“Yes, they’re the bad guys. They want to mess up and take over our world.”

“You sure know a lot of stuff, Mamejiro.”

I was impressed by Mamejiro’s knowledge.

“It’s possible that Hannya is a Worm, and Sakurazawa-san is part of an anti-Worm organization that eradicates worms.”

“So, Hannya is a Worm!? Are they Aoi-chan’s enemy?”

“It’s all just speculation.

We don’t know for sure if Hannya is a Worm or not.

Maybe that woman, Hiruma, is the Worm.

Or maybe they both are?”

Mamejiro made a troubled face and fell deep in thought.

“If Hannya is a Worm, why would they want to set you up with Sakurazawa Aoi?”

“I don’t care about parallel worlds or worms.

All I know is that I love Aoi-chan.”