Act 1: Ibuki Ibusuki’s Misfortunate Day
Suddenly, but一 my house, the Ibusuki household, has a tabletop radio.
It’s a retro-style piece with a dark brown base, the very same one I fell in love with at first sight and begged Kushina to buy for me.
Back in my first year of high school, Kushina一already as responsible as she is now一told me, “You’ll just get bored of it, so don’t bother.” But I whined like a spoiled child until she finally gave in.
And, as expected, it quickly became nothing more than a silent decoration.
Fortunately, it doubled as a Bluetooth speaker (or rather, Kushina probably only allowed the purchase because of that feature), so lately, it had been serving as background music for household chores.
At least, until about half a month ago.
[The winged guardian, still fresh from their heroic deeds at the Centennial Festival, continues to impress this week!]
A hyper-energetic male voice blared from the tabletop radio.
Winged Guardian Excia Angel Order.
A segment called “This Week’s Angel Highlights!”一some kind of news corner I’d only recently learned about.
One of the angels had explained that it was part of the media strategy for [The White Scales of Cyclic Protection Prim-Libra], a group that demanded not just strength but also idol-like appeal.
I’d learned that through a TV broadcast, but unfortunately, I hate electronic screens, so I couldn’t watch it.
But I, the ever-persistent Ibuki, wasn’t about to give up. I figured if it was a popular segment, it’d probably be on the radio too一and sure enough, I found it. Thus, all the Ibusuki Ibukis across the nation were saved.
[Wow, a high school student pulling off feats like this? The future’s looking bright!]
The radio continued showering my favorite with praise.
Still, while I hear about Hinata-chan’s reputation almost daily, I haven’t heard a peep about Rui all week.
The last time I saw or heard anything about her was exactly a week ago一the final day of the Centennial Festival Satanalia.
If that was the last sighting…
“Did she lose her edge… because she let me get away?”
A mix of self-awareness (“That’s just narcissistic”) and suspicion (“But if it lines up with that day, it’s possible…”) swirled in my head.
As I leaned back on the sofa, listening to the radio一
“Hm?”
Kushina, who had just made coffee, was staring at one of the two cups in her hands.
“What’s wrong?”
“Hmm… looks like there’s a tiny crack. Nothing’s leaking, but… maybe it’s time to replace it.”
“We’ve been using them for a while.”
They were matching cups, differing only in the color of their rims.
We’d bought them years ago at a shopping mall, back when neither of us knew anything about brands.
The one Kushina was inspecting was hers, but since they were the same age, I figured I should replace mine too.
“I’ll buy the same set again.”
At that, Kushina blinked in surprise.
“You don’t have to get the same ones, you know?”
“No. I want the same ones.”
“Pfft… geez. You’re such a kid about the weirdest things.”
She sat beside me and handed me my coffee.
“It’s not weird to me!”
Even I could tell how childish I sounded.
But in response, she gave me an equally childish grin.
“一Me too.”
◇◇◇◇◇
Later, despite Kushina’s rare concern (“You sure you’ll be okay alone?”), I insisted (“I can handle this much!”) and headed to the shopping mall by myself.
Result一
“…………”
“…………”
一I should’ve just come with Kushina…
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
I was walking down the main road stretching from Sakuramura Station when, from a side alley, emerged a girl in a gray parka, its hood pulled low over her face.
Even through the hood, her beauty was unmistakable一Utsurugi Rui, the very girl I’d been thinking about this morning.
Speak of the devil.
“Why are you一”
“Why are you一”
She glared at me like she’d just lifted a rock and found a slug underneath一only for our overlapping words to make her scowl even harder.
Apparently, there wasn’t just one slug under that rock. A classic post-rain phenomenon.
…Thinking calmly, if I had come with Kushina and she’d gone “Hey, this guy’s a Nega Messiah grunt,” things would’ve gotten way messier. So maybe this was lucky.
Rui, who should’ve despised me,
did nothing beyond glaring.
With no Hinata-chan around to act as a deterrent, this was her perfect chance to finish me off.
Yet, ignoring me一frozen like a frog under a snake’s gaze一she turned on her heel.
“……Huh?”
At my involuntary mutter, Rui stopped.
Without turning around, she snapped:
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m on leave today. I’m sparing you for now, but make no mistake一I could crush you anytime. Be grateful your life’s been extended by a day.”
Despite me not even asking, she rattled off her reasons for not attacking.
I doubted our grudge was shallow enough for her to let me go just because she was on break… but that wasn’t what bothered me.
“Uh, hey…”
Ignoring my confusion, she started walking away一
but I had to call out to her. Because一
“That alley’s a dead end…”
“一一一一”
The girl froze mid-step.
“It doesn’t lead anywhere… Wait, how’d you even come out from there…?”
Her shoulders trembled, as if holding something back.
Watching her, I recalled a detail from the original [The Dreams I Saw / Watayume]
“Oh, right, you’re directionally一”
“I’m not!!”
Still facing away, Rui spun around in one sharp motion.
Her hood flew off, her pale blue hair fluttering in an arc.
Her stunning face and clear, lake-like blue eyes left me momentarily dazed一
“I am not bad with directions!!”
一but before I could admire her, I was already looking at her with that warm, knowing gaze.
Her fair cheeks flushed bright red.
“Grr一stop looking at me like that!! When I’m flying, I know exactly where I’m going! Not that a slug like you, crawling on the ground, would understand the perspective of someone looking down from the sky!!”
She lashed out like a wounded animal.
Sure, navigating a maze from above versus being in it are completely different difficulties一but walking back into the dead end you just came from with such confidence? That’s next-level.
This wasn’t just bad direction sense一this was super-ultra-level lost.
Getting to see this side of Utsurugi Rui一the same one that warmed hearts in [Watayume]一in person? As a fan, I was moved.
I pressed a hand to my mouth to hide my grin.
“You okay? Want me to guide you?”
“Guh…! You’re mocking me!! Stop making that shady, irritating face!!”
“I’m being completely sincere…”
But now that I thought about it, something was odd.
“Last time, when you chased us with Hinata-chan at the mall, how’d you keep finding the right path?”
“Hah?”
She furrowed her brows like she was dealing with a particularly slow child.
“The path from the station to the mall is a straight line. No matter how far, I’d never lose sight of even a single strand of Hina’s adorable hair!”
“That’s weird. The first and second halves don’t connect…”
“Huh? You can’t do that?”
“No, I can, but一”
“Creepy…”
“You just said the same thing two days ago???”
That’s a massive self-boomerang.
Anyway, it seemed last time, she’d used Hinata-chan as a distant landmark to track us down. That would make direction sense irrelevant. 一Wait, is she a genius?
“That’s why, if it’s somewhere I’ve just been, I can find my way alone.”
“‘Just been’… the shopping mall?”
“What else?”
“Oh. Same destination, then.”
“Tch!”
A loud click of her tongue.
She yanked her hood back up, hiding her face, and glared at me from its shadow.
“If this is harassment, it’s pathetic. Typical slug behavior.”
“No, I didn’t一”
“But too bad for you一I’m not nearly weak enough to let someone like you affect me.”
“That’s not what I一”
“I’ll go ahead. If you follow me, I will crush you this time.”
“Are you listening?”
“Bye.”
Ignoring me, she brushed past and stepped onto the main road.
I called out to her retreating back.
“That’s the opposite direction of the mall…”
Her slender shoulders jerked一and her long legs didn’t take another step forward.
◇◇◇◇◇
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
