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

Chapter

“Why?”

“Um, no, it’s just…”

Yuuki waved the bread in his hand for no reason. The crinkling of the plastic bag sounded a bit excessive.

“Umm… Since we know each other, I thought I could ask for some of your bread too.”

Hmm.

In the light novel, he was supposed to be a strict tsundere heroine, but that seemed to only apply when he was around the protagonist.

Well, he did have a somewhat kind impression around the other heroines too.

I quietly looked at Yuuki, who was about half a head taller than me, and opened my mouth.

“If we ask for the bread to be prepared in advance, then the people who came early won’t be able to buy any.”

“Ah… uh, you’re right.”

After I made my argument, it seemed Yuuki had nothing to say.

“And personally, we’re not such close acquaintances. It’s just that the lady at the bakery remembers me since I buy the cream puffs every day.”

“Every day? For cream puffs?”

Is it really that remarkable?

…No, objectively speaking, someone who eats the same cream puffs every day might seem a bit unusual.

Honestly, it doesn’t have any real taste. If I had to compare, it would feel like watching someone eat slices of plain bread without anything on it, thinking it’s a meal. The cream puff was just that—“bread.”

But then again, it might actually be right to consider it a meal.

“…Anything else to say?”

“Nope, nothing.”

After seeing Yuuki respond like that, I turned away.

If it were the main character, that would be one thing, but if I became friends with this guy, it might make things difficult later. I was seriously contemplating transferring schools right now.

Having a yokai hunter next to me, who was actually quite similar to the yokai, would be a lot of trouble.

Thinking that way, I walked ahead when suddenly, I noticed an odd sound of footsteps behind me.

I spun around.

Yuuki, who had been following me, was staring out the window, spacing out.

“…”

Squinting and watching quietly, I saw Yuuki start to whistle. The sound was coming out wrong; it was just the noise of the wind. What’s the point of pretending to whistle if you can’t even do it properly?

I turned back and continued walking.

The footsteps followed me as I headed for the rooftop.

When I got to the rooftop, I looked back again.

The door stayed closed for a moment, then slowly opened just a crack after a long stare.

And peeking through was Yuuki’s face.

“…Why did you follow me?”

“No, it’s just…”

Yuuki peeked his head out a bit as he spoke while climbing onto the rooftop.

“I was looking for a good place to eat.”

I squinted and looked at Yuuki.

…Now that I think about it, it didn’t seem like he had many friends either.

In front of guys, he consistently acted aloof, so it was natural that they couldn’t approach him easily, and his manner made it somewhat difficult for girls to think of him as approachable.

Even after transferring, there hadn’t been any descriptions of what he did during lunch time until he became friends with the main character’s sister.

Could it be that he had been eating alone somewhere?

“…”

Let’s not worry about it.

Two loners worrying about each other will only make it awkward.

Besides, this guy—well, he’ll probably get involved with the main character someday. Regardless of the sister situation.

I settled down by the rooftop door connected to the stairs…I don’t even know what to call it, but anyway, I took a seat near the rooftop door.

For reference, this area is always my cleaning spot. Since I always come here during lunch, it would be troublesome for me if it were dirty.

I casually sat down on the floor and tore open the cream puff bag.

Then, I took out a small container from my pocket.

It had a lid that could cover it, perhaps made just for carrying it alongside a lunchbox. I bought this at the 100 yen shop too.

When I opened the lid, white powder appeared.

“What’s that?”

“…”

Yuuki, who had quietly sat down next to me, asked with curious eyes.

“Salt.”

No matter how you look at it, eating only the same bread every day can get boring.

Strangely, nothing serious had happened to my body yet. It wouldn’t be unusual considering I might not even be human at all. If anything, it would be odd to feel hungry.

Anyway, even though I was getting tired of the cream puff, the idea of buying a different bread was a bit burdensome.

So, what I came up with was dipping the cream puffs in salt.

In the 2020s, salt bread was popular in Korea. I think the original was from Japan? Thinking back to what I read on Wikipedia, it seemed it was created in Japan around the time I came to this world.

Of course, I didn’t know exactly when the salt bread spread all over Japan.

But I wasn’t thinking about buying salt bread; I just wanted to try and apply it a bit.

I carefully set the container down next to me and dipped the bread in the salt just a little.

Then, I took a bite.

Hmm…

To be honest, it tasted really shabby compared to what you would find in a bakery.

But it was better than having nothing.

“Is it good?”

Yuuki asked, looking a bit incredulous.

“Wanna try?”

I held up the container for Yuuki to see.

He contemplated for a moment, then took the bread and dipped it in salt before eating it.

“…Salty.”

“You dipped it too much!”

I took just the tip and put it in my mouth again.

Well, it was acceptable.

…Just eating like this made me feel like I was having a mid-life crisis, just a little.

“Wow, really.”

Yuuki blinked after trying just a bit.

“…But honestly, cream puffs are still cream puffs.”

Well, that’s true. It’s a cream puff.

Finding no way to deny that, I simply nodded quietly.

*

Thus, my second encounter with the heroine ended peacefully.

We had no particular conversation.

Every time I needed something, I would speak briefly, and it seemed she didn’t intend to extend the conversation either.

Yeah, that’s better. You just stick with the protagonist and be a tsundere couple.

Let’s not suddenly bring out knives later.

…That said, it was really time to find a part-time job.

The money in my bank account had visibly decreased. To be precise, the leading digit had turned into one less.

When considering the overall amount, it hadn’t decreased that much, but the psychological impact was significant. You know that feeling when you think something needs to be restored to its original state, or it’ll be a big problem? I felt that way.

“Are you going alone today?”

“Yeah… I have things to do.”

“I see.”

Miura made a slightly disappointed expression.

Well… I feel a bit sorry saying this, but I wouldn’t say we had become that close yet.

After all, we hardly knew each other at all.

But then again, that’s how friends usually are when you’re a student. You meet without knowing anything about each other, and after about half a year of playing together, you gradually learn things like being an only child or having a younger sibling.

At this age, it’s nice just to have fun looking at each other’s faces.

If you don’t get close enough, you’ll end up as adults not even keeping in contact.

Waving back at Miura, who was waving to me, I grabbed my notebook and textbooks from my bag.

Even if I’m a delinquent who missed a week of first semester, I still have to do my homework.

But first, I need to search for a part-time job.

I didn’t have a clue where to start looking.

*

So, I decided to put my all into it today and hit the streets.

The only places I knew in Japan were big cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Okinawa. Among them, the most specific area I knew was Tokyo, and within that, there were names like Ikebukuro, Shibuya, and Akihabara.

In fact, I didn’t even know exactly which areas these names referred to. For instance, “Garosu-gil” and “Myeongdong” don’t cover the same areas, right? Garosu-gil refers to a famous street, while Myeongdong is literally a proper district name.

Well, it’s all the same to me. I just need to go and see.

And I chose Akihabara.

Honestly, this was a choice steeped in my personal desires.

No matter how you cut it, back in 2004, I was a cash-strapped middle school student, and Akihabara during that time was a place I desperately wanted to visit.

Do you know that? The year 2004 was before YouTube even existed. There were no easy machine translations through internet browsers, and even if there were, natural translations like now were impossible.

It means finding information wasn’t easy. Back then, I hardly knew sites like Google.

Anyway, I was filled with desire and headed toward Akihabara.

“…Wow.”

And I was honestly amazed.

In that other world, I was somewhat of an older otaku. And that’s a sad thing. It meant that most of the content I passionately immersed myself in as a kid was now over.

Of course, as an adult, I could still dive into new things, but I can’t replicate that childhood fervor. I could spend 300,000 yen on overseas purchases for a figure, but I don’t have the energy to wake up at 4 AM, take the train, and rush for an hour to buy magazines.

“Wait a second.”

Lost in my thoughts, I murmured again.

This time, I had resolved one of the issues I needed to address.

As long as I manage the distance between the protagonist and the heroine well, and find a way to secure tuition fees, I could sustain my life in the Tokyo area reasonably well.

What that meant was that I’d have the opportunity to attend major events held once in summer and winter.

Feeling that idea brought some shivers down my spine.

I had been so busy worrying about my living expenses that I hadn’t had the luxury of thinking about anything else until now.

True, I still didn’t have that luxury, since I was searching for a job.

Considering the subway costs, it would’ve probably been smarter to look for a convenience store job nearby, but what could I do? I’m already here.

Since I came all this way, it would be a waste not to see if there were any jobs available.

…

Living life like this, sometimes you need a good excuse or two.

*

While I was busy exploring Akihabara and feeling moved, I noticed a figure approaching from far away.

The boy in a black collar-less uniform, which looked like something from an old movie, was actually more plain than the sailor uniform.

If the person wearing it wasn’t someone I recognized, I would have just passed by thinking he was from a different school.

The person in the uniform was the protagonist.

Sasaki Sota.

The girl beside him wore a sailor uniform with a white base and blue collar, which was the uniform for Hanagawa Middle School.

Or perhaps it’s called junior high uniform. In any case, it’s run by the same foundation.

So, that middle school girl must be his younger sister, Sasaki Shii.

Although she wasn’t wearing glasses now, she would wear them when she needed to read or study. I assume that’s how she became a target. That much wasn’t revealed in the novel though.

Wondering why the two of them—then I remembered that the protagonist has a personality that likes manga and stuff.

Is it enough to say he’s a blatant otaku? Well, it’s not that far off, but there was indeed a character setting where he had a habit of reading manga or playing games sometimes, probably to get readers on his side.

As for the younger sister, she fits the position of a “perfect little sister,” often saying something like “Really, brother!” and filling in for the gaps in her brother’s more careless traits. Mature for her age.

Moreover, I remember she used to call him “Oniichan” and even used polite speech. Honestly, that setting feels a bit over the top. I guess that’s a feature of mid-2000s light novels.

The distance between us… well, I wasn’t quite sure, but knowing each other’s faces was enough to recognize one another. Especially since I was able to recognize Sasaki Sota.

So my next move was to slip into the side alley.

And I thought to myself.

Why am I hiding?

After all, I’ve only seen Sasaki Sota from a distance. The difference between character art and a real person’s appearance is often bigger than you think.

From this angle, I’d have to say it looks like he’s done a great job cosplaying, or maybe it just feels natural—it’s somewhat of an impression. The girl beside him looks the same.

I wouldn’t think that I couldn’t recognize them just based on appearances, but my biggest reason for recognizing Sasaki Sota is that I knew where he usually sat. I’d only looked through the classroom window to know that.

But conversely, they wouldn’t know my face.

No, even if they recognized me, there would be no reason to acknowledge it. We’ve never even spoken.

I could just casually walk by them without any problem.

“Right, why am I hiding?”

I asked myself that and stepped back out of the alley with a confident stride.

“Wah!?”

“Oniichan!?”

“Geh.”

And at that very moment, I collided head-on with Sasaki Sota, who was passing by.

What bad luck.

With my wrist cut and communicating with the outside world, while my body resembled that of a high school girl on the verge of severe malnutrition, the physical weight difference between someone with a standard masculine body and someone whose height barely meets average for girls was obvious.

He only stepped back a little in surprise, but I bumped into his shoulder and tumbled backward, hitting my rear hard.

…That hurt.

Both my rear and the hand I stretched out to break my fall hurt, but most importantly, my pride was hurt.

If it had been my old body, I would’ve been a head taller. I might even have been able to lift him up if I really tried.

“Ah, sorry!”

Sasaki Sota quickly exclaimed and reached out his hand toward me.

I pushed that hand away.

He’s young.

That was my first thought.

While I got the impression that Miura, Fukuda, and Yamashita looked young too, Sasaki Sota looked particularly younger. Being a guy, his face had not developed any features at all yet, which likely contributed to that.

I contemplated for a moment looking at his extended hand.

Then I reached out to grab it. Instead of holding just his hand, I clasped his forearm just a little higher.

It seemed that Sasaki Sota understood my intention and pulled me up by my arm.

He didn’t seem particularly strong.

Well, in the novel, it showed that he didn’t have much physical strength early on either.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

My face heated up.

To be honest, those two didn’t know at all, but it was literally me just messing around and falling down. There was no need to dodge; I just entered the alley and popped out again at the wrong timing.

“…I’m fine, really.”

“Really? It looked like a pretty hard fall.”

“…I said I’m fine.”

“I see. That’s a relief.”

Sasaki Sota looked at my uniform and remarked, “You go to Hanagawa High too, don’t you? So do I.”

“…Yeah.”

I let go of his hand, but it seemed like Sasaki Sota hadn’t thought about letting go of mine; he continued talking.

“Ah, by the way, are you Kurosawa from Class B?”

“Oniichan.”

The girl beside him opened her mouth shyly.

Sasaki Sota’s shoulder was poked and prodded by her fingers as she pointed at my gripping his hand.

“Wah!? Ah, sorry!”

“…”

The surprise on his face looked like something out of a manga.

Well, when you’re the protagonist of a light novel, that’s to be expected.

“Oniichan caused me trouble. I’m sorry.”

The younger sister bent and politely bowed to me.

“It’s fine, really.”

I waved my hand in response again.

I’d like to just pass by now.

As I had the urge to say something like “Why don’t you just enjoy your date, brother and sister?” it got stuck in my throat when I saw his genuinely nice expression.

And—

“How should I introduce myself?”

—Yeah, this is somewhat concerning.

As I said before, I haven’t even had a conversation with him.

“Ah, well, there’s a friend in Class B. And, uh…”

After opening my mouth and realizing that I had nothing to say, I hesitated.

Sasaki Sota momentarily stalled his words.

As I stared directly at his face, he got flustered.

“Um… it’s just that usually someone who doesn’t dress up suddenly did for once, and I thought it was surprising.”

Ah, is that so?

It would be impossible for there not to be conversations among male students about female students. From simple beauty assessments to somewhat vulgar comments, they just need to ensure that the subject of their discussion doesn’t hear it.

“…Right.”

I replied.

I then smoothed out the wrinkled sailor uniform slightly and turned my body to the side.

“Um, wait a second!”

Sasaki Sota called out to me.

I turned my head.

“…What?”

He seemed just as puzzled as I was by his own question.

…Wait, hold on a second.

Thinking it over, isn’t this far more dangerous than being with Yuuki?

Yuuki cuts yokai with his sword, while Sasaki literally deals with yokai using his blood.

In other words, there’s no difference between Sasaki and Yuuki’s sword ‘Mumei.’

“Um, since it was my fault, even if you aren’t hurt, I want to make up for it somehow.”

“No, you really don’t have to—”

“I was going to have a meal with my sister. If you don’t mind, would you like to join us?”

“…”

Upon hearing Sasaki’s words, I quickly closed my mouth.

A meal?

“What’s on the menu?”

“Um, maybe tonkatsu?”

Tonkatsu?

Meat? And it’s batter-fried in oil? The chance to consume both animal fats and vegetable oils together?

And I wouldn’t have to use my money?

When Sasaki said that, Shii, who was next to him, looked stunned.

And yeah, that reaction made sense. Her beloved older brother was in the middle of a date with her, and suddenly, a gloomy girl barged in between them.

Even if it’s not a relationship, it could understandably be uncomfortable.

But since I already heard the word tonkatsu, there was no going back.

My stomach had already pushed aside any hesitation. An opportunity to eat some protein after not having much since things deviated from hanging out with Miura.

“…I’d love to.”

“Oh, really?”

Sasaki Sota seemed surprised by my answer, as if he hadn’t expected it.

Thus, I begrudgingly joined Sasaki and his sister for the meal.

It was only for today, but still.

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