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

There was no choice but to proceed now that the situation had escalated this far.

However, the only person I had ever talked to at this school was Sasaki, and I didn’t have many friends, to begin with.

Honestly, when thinking about the ‘guy who seems to know a lot of people’, the only names that come to mind are Fukuda and Yamashita, but even they aren’t properly dating anyone, and if I think about how there aren’t many people I hang out with, apart from Miura, mentioning those two isn’t really a good option.

So the place we headed to was Yuuki’s class.

There was really no need for me to step in.

Kaneko casually grabbed a student about to enter the classroom and asked him to call Yuuki.

“Where does she get that courage from? Honestly, it’s a little amazing.”

Ikeda remarked in a voice filled with admiration and a bit of embarrassment upon witnessing the scene.

Right? I’m amazed too.

Thinking back, Kaneko just casually hugged me on the day we first met.

Maybe it was due to Kaneko’s completely ‘non-feminine’ demeanor that I, who have no resistance to women, could handle being hugged like that without blinking an eye?

Looking back, she did have a bit of that ‘moe factor’ at the time. A complexion slightly tanned from the sun, with short, dark hair. But the sides were long, emphasizing her femininity.

It’s just my opinion, and if I voiced it, I’d immediately be treated as a pervert, but since it’s only my thoughts, let’s boldly say that figure must have a swimwear or sportswear mark underneath that school uniform.

By the way, ‘moe’? When was that word even used? The otaku of the 20s probably don’t even know that word. Some might not even understand its meaning!

After hearing Kaneko’s words, the kid who entered the classroom with a puzzled expression relayed it to Yuuki.

Yuuki, resting his chin on his hand while staring out the window, turned to us with a slightly surprised expression upon hearing that.

Kaneko waved enthusiastically, just like she did to me.

“What’s up?”

Yuuki stepped outside the classroom and asked.

It seems Yuuki didn’t think he was particularly close to either Kaneko or Ikeda. Though he had his name on the club roster, he didn’t come very often.

Still, Kaneko was acting friendly toward Yuuki. As for Ikeda… hmm, she seemed to think he’s a bit scary. I mean, aside from when she’s dealing with me, she always has a bit of a cold expression, and even though he’s one grade below her, he’s certainly taller than both of them.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I heard there’s a male club member in our club, so we were looking for him.”

“A male member?”

Yuuki made a face that suggested he had never heard that before. Naturally, Ikeda’s face also turned red in real-time.

“Yeah. Apparently, there’s a ghost member who has never shown up after signing up for the club. This is the application form I received from Ikeda.”

Yuuki took the application and tilted his head.

“There’s no mention of what class he’s in.”

“Right? That’s why we came here. It’d be frustrating if he wrote his name down and isn’t showing up, right? If he made it up, that’s even worse.”

“…What are you going to do if you find him?”

“Well, obviously, I’m going to grab him and drag him to the club room!”

Kaneko said, closing her left fist tightly with her right hand as if performing a punch. However, it felt more like a ‘I will smash you’ punch rather than a greeting punch, and there was a smack! sound as her fist and palm met.

Yuuki looked at the application again.

“You don’t have to look at it so hard…”

Ikeda, who seemed to be filled with confidence yesterday, looked a little diminished today.

“If I find out anything, I’ll let you know.”

Yuuki returned the application form, and just as Kaneko reached for it, Ikeda quickly jumped in to snatch it away.

“W-Well, we’ll be heading back now. The break is almost over.”

That was definitely the voice of someone who couldn’t hold in their embarrassment any longer, but I could empathize enough not to let on that I noticed.

“Oh, really. See you both later!”

Kaneko glanced at her watch and then grabbed Ikeda’s wrist and dashed off. Being from the athletics club, Kaneko’s stamina and strength were incredible, and Ikeda barely managed to keep up. Poor thing.

How could those two have become friends like that?

Just my thoughts, but they probably only became friends because they attended the same elementary and middle schools. People often become friends for no reason like that during their teenage years.

“That person seems close with her.”

Yuuki said.

“…Yeah.”

I nodded lightly in agreement.

*

Approximately an hour later, during lunchtime.

Yuuki and I were in the Literature Club Room.

The rooftop we usually went to was a bit hard to access today because of the heavy rain. Using the door near the rooftop, it didn’t seem like we would stay completely dry.

But eating in the classroom… well, it was a bit awkward.

I couldn’t help but notice Yuuki sitting next to me.

Since that day he came to transfer here, he has been having lunch with me.

Thinking back, it was a bit peculiar; our first meeting was just a coincidental moment when we ran into each other at the school store.

Maybe we created a connection while sharing a coffee bread?

Yuuki bought a bread again today. I thought it might be polite to refuse eventually, but I really didn’t want to go back to that coffee bread, so I’ve been pondering lately.

Today’s bread was melon bread.

Although it’s called melon bread, it doesn’t actually taste like melon. If I had to describe it by feeling, it would be similar to a soboro bread, but slightly softer than that.

Anyway, the most important thing is that it’s delicious.

“Let’s eat well.”

We both said that at the same time, and just as I was about to tear open the bag to take a bite—

Scrreeech, the door opened.

“Oh, both of you are here.”

It was Kaneko’s voice.

Turning my head, Ikeda was there too. Considering Kaneko had her arm around him, it seemed Ikeda wasn’t too keen on coming here.

“Yeah, yeah, they are very admirable juniors!”

Kaneko said while placing her lunch on the desk. Ikeda did the same.

“Are the seniors coming to eat with us?”

“No? Ikeda and I are in the same class, so we can just eat at our desks, there’s really no reason to come all the way up here, right?”

Ikeda let out a heavy sigh.

“Well, I can understand why you two would be here since you’re in different classes. It would indeed feel a bit rude to eat in someone else’s class.”

I had never thought about it before. In Korea, we just eat in the cafeteria for lunch.

It was common to visit other classes after eating lunch.

Hmm, I’m not quite sure about the Japanese sentiment.

“Anyway.”

Kaneko plopped down on the spot where she placed her lunch and her eyes glinted.

“I’ve been wandering around the first-year hallway for about ten minutes trying to uncover the identity of this name written on this paper.”

…This person’s determination is quite something.

Are you seriously saying you went around with a lunch in hand? No wonder Ikeda looks annoyed for being dragged along.

But upon further thought, Ikeda always looks annoyed.

“If I go to each class and ask, I should be able to find out if there’s a student with this name, right?”

Unless the person who answers is also the same person.

“But there wasn’t.”

Kaneko slammed the paper down as she spoke.

“There isn’t a male student with that name.”

Ikeda’s face turned bright red.

Our gaze met, making it even redder.

“N-No way.”

Seeing our faces, Kaneko chimed in.

“I don’t believe Ikeda would ever forge something to fool us.”

I didn’t think that at all.

“Furthermore, Ikeda’s handwriting is much rounder than this.”

In the end, Ikeda couldn’t bear the shame and buried his face on the desk, leaving his lunch pushed aside.

“Anyway, I took Ikeda along to look at the students’ faces, but I found nothing. What does that mean?”

Yuuki and I looked at each other.

Then we turned back to Kaneko.

“…They’re either from a different school or a different grade?”

“No.”

Kaneko cut off Yuuki’s words sharply.

“It’s a ghost.”

“Like that could happen~” Ikeda said, sprawled out in disbelief.

“My intuition tells me so. Hey, could we use this as the basis for starting an occult club?”

I thought it would honestly be more appropriate to set up a folklore club to organize Yōkai stuff. However, Kaneko didn’t seem interested in such research, so I refrained from making that suggestion.

“….”

Naturally, Yuuki didn’t react either.

Chomp.

I took a bite of the melon bread.

The crunchy exterior and soft inside, along with its sweetness flooded my mouth all at once.

Ah, that’s good.

It’s said that the school store collaborates with a local bakery, and it seems like that’s true. Ordinary factory bread could never yield such taste.

Yuuki, too, quickly lost interest and started eating his bread.

“Oh, ignoring me!?”

“Of course, Kaneko.”

Ikeda said, sitting up again.

Adjusting his glasses that had slipped down, Ikeda opened his lunch.

“Guys can explain in plenty of other ways, right?”

“Still, there’s the possibility of it being a ghost!”

Mmm, the bread is delicious.

In the midst of Kaneko and Ikeda’s argument, I finished my lunch that day.

*

In the past, I used to go home with Miura, Fukuda, and Yamashita, but since I started club activities, I usually went home with Yuuki.

Kaneko and Ikeda frequently stayed longer in the Literature Club. Ikeda was the president, and Kaneko was his friend, so she probably waited for Ikeda to finish up with club president duties.

Still, if he had things to do, he could ask me or Yuuki for help.

Seeing Ikeda engrossed in writing something in his notebook as he told me to head home first, I often felt a strange wall between us.

…Maybe that’s just how novels go. I think I understand a bit why they wouldn’t want to show it to me.

Well, Yuuki and I usually walked home in silence.

Honestly, neither of us is particularly good at dealing with people. Yuuki strangely mumbled something the first time he saw me, but in front of others, he tends to hold back.

It doesn’t mean he has a bad personality. It feels more like he struggles a bit to approach others and become friends. He wouldn’t ignore Kaneko if she was the one who started a conversation.

But I really do wonder why he’s so nice to me. Thinking back, people I meet don’t seem to think it’s weird to talk to me.

Looking at my hairstyle, did I seem a bit scary? From just a reflection in the mirror, I look a bit gloomy, right?

Anyway, we usually went home without much conversation, but today there was a topic worth discussing.

Even though the rain hadn’t entirely stopped, the downpour had diminished enough for us to walk with an umbrella to the station, and we discussed what Kaneko talked about today.

“Do you think she might break into the school at night?”

“…Do you really think so?”

“With Kaneko, it wouldn’t be surprising, right?”

Imagining her excited face talking about ghosts, it somehow seemed plausible.

“…That could be true.”

“Right? Well, it’s difficult for an ordinary person to directly see a ghost. Even if Kaneko seems intuitive, she hasn’t stated she’s seen one yet, right?”

…Hmm?

I stopped in my tracks.

“…Ghosts exist?”

“Of course they do.”

Yuuki, who stopped following me, tilted his head.

“There are ghosts and malevolent spirits people talk about. Well, fundamentally, they’re pretty much the same thing. Even at our shrine, we receive a lot of requests for spirit exorcisms.”

“That’s… Yōkai?”

“No, Yōkai and ghosts are different.”

Yuuki made a gesture you’d often see in Japanese manga. So, raising his hand to wiggle it.

“Yōkai are beings that have invaded this world from another dimension. Ghosts are beings that can’t move to the afterlife and are stuck here.”

…Oh.

“…The place you’re seated has a ghost story related to it, doesn’t it?”

In the original story, the others scoffed at such tales when they came up.

“Well, I performed an exorcism there.”

“…What?”

“It’s not that hard to banish a ghost. Most of them can’t actually harm people. Sure, sometimes there are pesky or dangerous ones that need exorcising, but usually, it’s like that. However, if there’s one bound to that place, it’s sad, so I send them back.”

As I sat there dumbfounded, Yuuki tilted his head again.

“Why? Ah, wait, are you scared of ghosts?”

“…”

“Heh,” Yuuki let out an admiring wow, reminiscent of something from a Japanese anime.

“Who knew? Even in your apartment—uh, never mind.”

Oh, what do you mean never mind!?

“It’s fine, it’s fine. There’s usually nothing dangerous. But, you know, if you’re really scared, at least keep a cat around. That’s usually enough.”

I’m scared, you know.

Hearing this from someone who grew up as a priest at a shrine genuinely freaks me out.

Watching Yuuki walk, I hurriedly followed him.

At this hour, it shouldn’t be dark yet, but the heavy clouds made it a gloomy day.

“Why? Are you scared? Do you want me to go with you?”

“…No.”

Yuuki teased me, so I shook my head.

I wouldn’t be afraid of something like that.

Yeah. Since I’ve never met one, I’m sure I won’t in the future.

As I firmly resolved myself, I noticed Yuuki smiling at me.

*

“…”

Hearing that, I couldn’t shake the feeling that there might really be a ghost in my apartment.

Well, since I’ve never actually seen one, I should be fine, but—

Zzzz.

Just as I was feeling tense, I heard that sound coming from the next apartment.

It was the usual sound of snoring.

Hearing that, I felt a bit relieved, realizing it’s still a normal living space.

Alright, then tonight, I’ll just stay up late playing games.

It’s definitely not because I’m scared to turn off the lights. I’m not trying to endure until I fall asleep out of sleepiness.

Anyway, it’s just because I want to do it. Because I want to.

Thinking that, I turned on my Super Famicom with slightly trembling hands—

Brrring, my phone rang.

Hearing it ring once made me think it must be a message.

Click, opening my phone revealed a message from Kaneko.

[Looking for someone to uncover Nakano Noboru’s identity. In front of the school. 9 PM.]

Wait, are you really going?

Is this person extremely bored with their life or something?

There’s no explicit demand for me to show up. That message was probably sent to other club members too, like Ikeda or Yuuki.

…

Ikeda probably won’t show up, right? After all, he got a serious scolding from Kaneko today, and concluding it might be a real ghost would just freak him out.

Yuuki… he might not come either. After all, he mentioned today that “ghosts can’t truly harm people.”

“…”

I slowly pulled my hand away from the game console.

Huuup.

So now, will Kaneko try to sneak into the school by herself?

If I were Kaneko… I would probably not go in alone. No matter how much I want to enter, sneaking into a shut-down school alone without friends just doesn’t sit right.

It feels wrong but—uhm.

Haaah.

If it’s Kaneko, she’d definitely do it. I could easily picture her nimble enough to leap over a closed school gate.

Scratching my head, I stood up from my seat.

The time was just past seven.

…If I leave now, I’d barely make it.

I sighed repeatedly and slipped on my slippers. Naturally, I was barefoot.

And—

…Do convenience stores sell flashlights?

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