You’re Right, They’ll Expel Me if I Run into the Store with a Weapon!!

“Suzuko, I really had to hide right now, so…”

“Got it! Okay! It’s fine! No problem! I’m Mmm!?”

Standing up from her crouched position, Suzuko shows her flushed face.

However, she immediately covers her mouth with both hands, reacting to the sound of her own voice.

“Sorry, please, be quiet. It might be a matter of life or death for me.”

“Mmm!? ………Hmm.”

Surprised, yet understanding the seriousness in the voice she heard, the girl nods her head.

Gently releasing her, what becomes visible is the girl’s face, still flushed.

Feeling a sense of guilt, yet knowing he must explain, he searches for the right words to say.

“Suzuko, listen calmly. There’s someone in this store I don’t want to meet.”

“…Don’t want to meet? Could it be, the one you mentioned before?”

“Before?”

“Hiroki’s nightmare…the enemy.”

Suzuko’s compounded words. A question arises, but he quickly recalls that memory.

It was the negative feelings he once had towards Shiori.

But now, those feelings had become faint and ambiguous.

“That’s right…but”

“Hiroki, move aside.”

Responding in a strained voice, Suzuko speaks with a voice as dark as her changing pupils.

Huh? Was Suzuko’s voice always like this…

“I’ll wake Hiroki up.”

“From what? ……”

“From the nightmare…so move aside.”

He felt fear.

This sensation, he had felt it somewhere before.

Like a physiological reaction, memories flash by, but he can’t recall any.

“If you don’t move…nothing will change if Hiroki doesn’t move.”

It sounded like some famous quote he had heard before, making Hiroki sweat.

For some reason, he doesn’t understand why, but he feels that if he lets the girl in front of him go, something terrible will definitely happen.

Hiroki places his hands on Suzuko’s shoulders, trying to convey his seriousness and concern.

“Suzuko, this is my”

“Just move.”

Isn’t she listening!? And she’s so forceful!?

Suzuko’s hands, holding him down, begin to steadily lower. Like pressing down a spring, Hiroki’s joints start to bend more and more.

“I’ll end Hiroki’s nightmare. Let’s start over from here.”

Catchphrases abound. Whether it’s the result of continuous gaming, the words Suzuko keeps saying strike a chord.

—If only this were just in a game.

He needs to think of something, anything, to stop her.

And then he comes up with an idea.

“I’ll grant you one wish, anything. I’ll even play games with you all day. So, please listen to me.”

“…Really anything?”

The pressure she was applying weakens, and the girl seems to change her focus.

…Wait, did I just become a bit anxious?

…Isn’t this bad?

…No, it’s definitely bad! We’re talking about Suzuko, a shut-in gamer! If I don’t set conditions, who knows what she might ask for!

Within a safe limit, yet still enough to stop Suzuko.

“…Anything but requests that would harm me.”

“…A twenty-three hour non-stop guild kill. Would that harm Hiroki?”

“That would harm the entire guild.”

He retorts to her outrageous request.

Asking him to destroy an entire guild, breaking an unspoken agreement that no one dares to touch.

Wait… something feels off about Suzuko’s way of fighting… ah.

“…Did you change your account settings three months ago? Or do you have two accounts?”

“…”

“That crazy lone player was you?”

“It’s a player misunderstanding.”

“It’s definitely you, I can tell by the way you fight.”

He should have realized it sooner.

Suzuko’s own strong impression was too overwhelming to connect her to that player.

It’s you, isn’t it! His eyes say, as he begins to feel more and more confused.

“My thoughts are becoming numb… What were we talking about again?”

“About how you’ll be slaving away for me from now on in your life plan.”

That’s definitely not it. Reorganizing his thoughts, he finally lands on the problem he had been carrying.

And he decides.

“Fine, GK Guild Kill, just please.”

At those words, Suzuko nods her head and starts checking something on her smartphone.

He can’t see the guild information screen, so no details are known.

More importantly,

“What do we do from here…”

While saying this, he pinches and peeks through the edge of the closed curtain.

………………………

…Isn’t that girl next door pointing at us?

And just as three faces turn towards us, he quickly lets go of the curtain.

…Isn’t this bad?

Hey, they’re not coming here, right?

Someone say they’re not coming!?

“Here they come~ Here they come~”

What is this girl humming about!?

Don’t sing such flag-raising lyrics while pinning on the open stage map! Before the guild arrives, darkness might come our way!?

What to do, look, yes, just for a moment.

Glance… “Darkness Shiori is approaching”

“Here they come~ Here they come~”

NOOOOOOOOO!——

–Sorry Touka-chan

–Eh?

“!?”

The sight before their eyes darkens. Suzuko’s smartphone was the only remaining light in their field of vision.

“This is…”

“A power outage…”

As their thoughts align, Suzuko calmly brightens her smartphone’s light, but Hiroki quickly stops her.

“Hiroki?”

“We’re getting out of here.”

Suzuko raises a question, but Hiroki, without listening, turns off the girl’s smartphone.

“Now’s our only chance.”

“It’s dangerous in the dark.”

“I’m adding another request.”

Suzuko puts her smartphone in her pocket.

Though he feels joy at her quick understanding, he is also fearful of what comes next.

But, there was something more immediate to consider.

“It’s really hard to see in the dark.”

Peering outside through the curtain, the surroundings are pitch-black except for emergency lights and a few faint glows. Moving without bumping into things was nearly impossible.

As he thinks this, his clothes are tugged.

“Follow me.”

What was handed to him were shoes.

Somehow managing to put on shoes in the lost visibility, he then holds Suzuko’s hand.

“This way.”

“O-okay.”

Led by Suzuko, they walk. He notices small lights floating around them, likely from the devices of other patrons.

Yet, even with those lights, Hiroki wonders if Suzuko’s confident guidance could really be so unerring.

“Remembering terrain once seen is common sense.”

“And not bumping into people?”

“It’s not completely dark even if it’s pitch black. I discern the slight differences in color, identify the color of the pathway, and then just pass through.”

For a moment, he forgets who he’s holding hands with.

Was Suzuko always this capable?

His previous impression of Suzuko begins to crumble, but it quickly settles.

Crumbled in a different way by Suzuko’s own words.

“If you play games with me, Hiroki, you’ll learn in twenty-three hours too.”

Ah, that’s a different kind of collapse.

Mainly, Suzuko’s normalcy…

“What are you doing!?”

“It’s fine now that the power’s back, isn’t it?”

A few minutes after the power was restored, Amano and Touka found themselves in a small, deserted square.

“The shopping mall was in chaos because of the blackout you caused!”

With a shout, Touka slams her sheathed sword down. Amano purposely gets hit and gives a pained smile with eyes full of feigned remorse.