I'm in a Messed Up Situation that I Couldn't Care More. - Chapter 16: Night in the Club Room

Chapter 16: Night in the Club Room

“Aoi-chan… why so suddenly… but I’m so happy.”

It was night in the club room, and no one was around.

Aoi-chan looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

***************

Late Friday night.

I had forgotten my smartphone in the club room, so I went back to get it. 

Even though it was a hassle to go back to campus, I still did it.

I felt uneasy about spending the weekend without my phone.

The university buildings were quiet and deserted.

The area where the club rooms were located was also dark and silent.

(Hmm? The light in the club room is on. Did someone forget to turn it off?)

Light was leaking through the gap in the door.

I opened the door to the Shorinji Kempo Club room with a loud creak.

“Eh!”

I was so surprised to see someone there, as I had thought the room was empty.

To my astonishment, Aoi-chan was sitting alone on the sofa, looking dazed.

“What are you doing here so late? It’s dangerous for a girl to be alone at this hour.”

I spoke to Aoi-chan in surprise.

Aoi-chan looked up at me from her seat on the sofa.

Our eyes met, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

“I forgot my smartphone… Ah, here it is!”

I picked up my phone, which was placed at the end of the long table and put it in my backpack.

“Hey, what’s going on? Let’s go home together. Want to get something to eat at the station?”

I called out to Aoi-chan, but she remained silent, continuing to stare at me.

“….. Koichi.”

“Eh?”

She usually called me “Kashitani-kun” or “weakling” when we were alone.

I wondered what was wrong with Aoi-chan.

“Aoi-chan?”

I asked, leaning in to look at her face as I felt anxious.

“Koichi!”

Aoi-chan suddenly stood up from the sofa and bumped into me.

(Oh! It’s the usual Aoi-chan. I wonder if she’ll choke me today… or hit me, maybe?)

I braced myself.

“Koichi… I like you…” 

She said, and then she hugged me.

“Eh? Eh?!”

I was truly surprised because I had expected her to choke or hit me.

She hugged me tightly.

“Aoi-chan…”

I hugged her back without thinking.

After a while, Aoi-chan loosened her arms, which had been around my back.

Then, she looked up at me.

“Aoi-chan… why so suddenly… but I’m so happy.”

Aoi-chan was looking up at me.

Her eyes were sparkling.

I touched her cheek.

And I kissed her on the lips.

At that moment, I felt a sense of disgust.

(What… what is this feeling?)

I stared intently into her eyes.

“You’re not Aoi-chan…”

I could feel the cold sweat on my forehead.

She looked exactly like Aoi-chan on the outside.

But deep down in my heart, in my soul, I felt a scream.

This woman was not the Aoi-chan I had fallen in love with!

“You’re not the real Aoi-chan!”

I pushed her away by placing my hands on her shoulders.

“Koichi, that’s cruel. Why would you say that?”

The fake Aoi-chan had tears in her eyes.

“I don’t know why, but I can tell.

You’re not my Aoi-chan.”

“…”

She remained silent.

After a while, the fake Aoi-chan glared at me with an intense expression.

“Hmph… You foolish inferior being from a backward civilization.

However, it seems you possess superior instinctual wisdom.”

She spoke in a low voice.

The fake Aoi-chan curled one side of her lips into a sneer and smirked at me.

My Aoi-chan would never smile like that.

“Who are you?!”

“I am Sakurazawa Aoi, from another world.”

After saying this, the fake Aoi-chan took a knife out of her pocket.

She swiftly held the knife to my neck.

“I came here specifically to ask you something.”

“What do you want to ask?”

“Tell me the location of the portal.”