I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse: Volume 9

by Namekojirushi

  Last time, he even came backstage... Maybe he will again.

  Mio opened the calendar on her phone excitedly as she checked her concert dates.

  Now then, it was time for me to reluctantly make my way back to Rekka’s town.

  ▽

  I was back in town, but I still had to visit Momone and Midori. Fortunately, they were both at Midori’s house. I could kill two birds with one stone.

  And so, I intruded into Midori’s bedroom... Wow, that’s a lot of books. The curtains were closed, so the room was shrouded in darkness, but the walls were lined with bookshelves that were filled to the brim. Their owner, Midori, sat curled up in a ball in the middle of the room. In front of her was a low coffee table with a laptop on it. Perhaps she had turned the air conditioning down too low; she was sitting there in a plush robe despite it being the middle of summer. Maybe that was just her preferred way to get into the writing mood, but there was someone who wasn’t too happy about it...

  “It’s freezing in here!” Momone, who was apparently called to the room, exclaimed upon first opening the door.

  She frowned and immediately went to turn off the air conditioner, then threw open the curtains and windows.

  “...”

  “No complaints! Stale air creates bad ki. You’re already weak to begin with, so you need to pay more attention to your environment.”

  Momone responded when Midori opened her mouth, but what she said certainly wouldn’t be audible to normal human ears. Perhaps Momone knew what she was saying because they were childhood friends? Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to temporarily enhance my hearing.

  “Ugh... Momo, you tyrant.”

  All right. Now I could hear her properly.

  “Don’t call me by that cutesy nickname.”

  “But Momo is your name, Momo.”

  “Jeez, you’re hopeless...” Momone sighed. “So? What did you call me here for today?”

  “Oh... um...”

  Midori fidgeted with the sleeves of her coat, covering her mouth with one hand and blinking up at Momone innocently.

  “I... want to hold a study camp...”

  “A study camp?”

  Momone made a dubious face at her request. She meant for her light literature club, right?

  “You mean you want to use the school’s camp area? Why do you need to do it at school when you can just type from your computer here? There are only fans over there, you know?”

  “Yeah.”

  If I recalled correctly, Rekka was part of the light literature club. This was getting interesting. I had to investigate this further. Three, two, one... Click!

  “I-I’m writing about school life right now.”

  The story about the girl who wields a drill.

  “You mean you just feel like writing your school life story in a school setting?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll say it once more, but there’s no air conditioner.”

  “That’s fine. As long as there’s a refrigerator.”

  That way, I can have ice cream.

  “Too much ice cream is bad for your stomach.”

  “I’ll use an ice pack, then.”

  And take baths or something.

  “Well, I suppose you could wash off the sweat with a bath...”

  Hmm, I was hoping they’d talk about Rekka more, but it didn’t seem like that was the direction this conversation was headed in. It also seemed Momone had completely mastered reading between the lines with Midori. It was almost like telepathy. Momone crossed her arms and pondered her friend’s request for a while, but she eventually shook her head.

  “I can’t say I’d recommend it. What if you collapsed or—” Suddenly, Momone seemed to realize something. “Wait a second. Come to think of it, that problem child’s in the club, too.”

  “...!”

  Rekka...

  Aha!

  “There would be fewer problems if you weren’t alone, but... that would come with problems of its own.”

  “Like what?”

  “You’re a girl, and he’s a boy.”

  Midori tried to feign ignorance, but Momone pointed it out quite bluntly.

  “I’d support you if it were true love, but what do you really think about Rekka Namidare? Would you mind if something like that happened?”

  Ooh! Nice, Momone! Very nice! Who would’ve expected such a fast ball to come flying right at them like that? This was extremely useful for me. Now, as for Midori’s reaction...

  Hmm, how I feel about Rekka? He’s funny...

  Go on, go on...

  His popularity is funny...

  I guess she wasn’t the type to get jealous about that.

  His reactions are funny...

  Well, you couldn’t really call him cool and composed.

  The people around him are funny...

  ...

  He’s just funny...

  Was that all he was to her? Well, Midori and Momone weren’t exactly traditional heroines. They hadn’t had particularly dramatic first meetings with Rekka or gone through thick and thin with him, so maybe their romantic feelings would take a little longer to develop? It hadn’t been long since they met Rekka anyway, so perhaps they just weren’t aware of their affections yet. Too bad... Midori was the big-breasted, quiet, defenseless type, so this was a little disappointing.

  Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind if Rekka did anything to me.

  “Say what?!”

  Oops, I accidentally responded out loud. Good thing no one could hear me. But wow... Even someone from the future would be surprised at that. Though you could say it was typical of Midori, in a way.

  “It’ll be fine if it’s Rekka.”

  “If that’s okay with you, then fine.”

  Momone slumped her shoulders in defeat. Childhood friends couldn’t really read each other’s hearts. What Midori had said could mean one of two things. Either: “It’ll be fine if it’s Rekka (since he won’t do anything).” Or: “It’ll be fine if it’s Rekka (no matter what he does).” It could be interpreted both ways. Hmm... I wonder how Momone had taken it. Time to use the Mind-Melding Device on her.

  Jeez, Midori’s ideas always lead to trouble.

  She meant both the study camp idea and the idea to write a school life novel, I suppose. It did seem like she acted based on her own whims.

  “Just so you know, you’re supposed to put in a study camp application before summer vacation starts. Make sure you follow the rules next year.”

  “Sure.”

  “And I’ve already accepted other club applications for the space, so the only days that are available are the three days of the Obon festival. You don’t mind if the light literature has to do its camp then?”

  “I’m fine with that.”

  “What about the problem child?”

  “I’ll ask him later.”

  “You’re assuming he’s fine with it, huh?”

  Momone sighed again.

  I’m already used to it, but that problem child must have it tough being dragged around by Midori.

  I’m pretty sure he’s very used to being dragged around by heroines in general now.

  Well, it makes sense that Midori would be interested in him. That problem child was the second person to react so calmly to seeing my right eye. But he’s a pretty funny guy, even putting that aside, Momone mumbled in her heart.

  She was probably talking about that ghost and afro incident from before.

  Hmm. I know what I said to Midori before, but really thinking about it, I’m also rather interested in Rekka Namidare. Love has never crossed my mind before, but even I’ve reached the age for that kind of thing. It might be worth expressing my interest in that kind of way once.

  Oh, my... What’s this? It wasn’t quite clear enough to call love yet, but she definitely was fulfilling the “interest” part. Well, I had no experience to go off myself, but I supposed it was normal for love to start from that small spark. This was just as good a start as any.<
br />
  I’ll get in on this study camp, too. I’d be too worried if I left Midori and that problem child alone, anyway.

  My, my, my... What started as a whimsical idea of Midori’s is turning out to be quite a terrific event, Rekka. Just you wait.

  Episode 2: Youth Camp

  Tokiwa had called me out to the school. The rest of the country was celebrating the Obon festival, but I didn’t have any family gatherings to go to and my parents were overseas, so it wasn’t like I had any real reason to refuse her invitation. I told her I’d be there in about 20 minutes or so.

  After letting Harissa know I was stepping out, I hopped on my bike and headed to school. I normally walked with Satsuki to school, but sometimes biking was more convenient. The wind felt great in the summer heat.

  Anyway, once I got to school, I headed around back to the old school building and made my way up to the third floor where the light literature club room was.

  “Good morn—bwah!”

  “Morning.”

  The instant I opened the door, Tokiwa flung herself at me like usual, pressing her chest up against me and cutting off my greeting. I was just wearing regular old street clothes, but she was in her school uniform. Granted, she wasn’t wearing her tie. And her shirt was as wrinkled as ever, not to mention she had the top two buttons undone. I could even smell the deodorant she was wearing when she was this close.

  “Um... remember how we discussed using the computer to communicate through writing while we’re in the club room?”

  “Oh, right.”

  Tokiwa let go of me and walked over to the desk where her computer was, pulling up a seat and waving me over. I took a step into the room and felt the humid air hit me in the face. The sunlight was bright on the third floor, too hot for opening the windows to have any effect. I looked at the computer screen and saw she had her word processor open.

  Welcome to my abode, Rekka!

  “...Why are you talking so weirdly?”

  When I pointed that out, Tokiwa started clacking away at the keyboard again.

  I’m in character. That’s how one of the characters talks in the story I’m writing now.

  “I see...”

  Let’s try that again. Thanks for coming, Rekka.

  “Well, I didn’t have anything better to do... But what’s up?”

  That’s a very good question.

  After a dramatic pause—during which she pressed the enter key a few times to start a new section—she continued.

  The light literature club’s study camp is about to start.

  I had to read that line a few times.

  “...Camp?” I asked in confusion.

  Did she mean one of those overnight stays at school that sports teams usually did for training?

  Momo said the other clubs are on break during the three days of the Obon festival, so we can use the camp area.

  “Ah, okay.”

  President Momone and Tokiwa were childhood friends. It sounded like they’d worked something out to accommodate everyone. But that wasn’t the problem here.

  “...What do you do at a light literature study camp?”

  That was the biggest mystery. It wasn’t exactly like I could write a story on demand, you know?

  Well, I’m writing a story about school life right now.

  “Okay...”

  So I wanted to try some things at school that we normally don’t.

  “So basically, you want reference material for your story? Is that it?”

  That’s right.

  That didn’t seem too difficult.

  “Yeah, sure. I can probably help you out with that,” I said with a nod.

  Suddenly, Tokiwa sprung up from her seat and pressed her chest against me again.

  “Thank you, Rekka.”

  “N-No, y-you’re w-welcome...! And I told you not to hug me when there’s a computer...!”

  Ugh, this was seriously bad for my heart! But anyway... That’s how the light literature club’s summer study camp started.

  ▽

  However, I was a little vague on what “doing things at school that we normally don’t” entailed.

  “Did you have something in mind?” I asked.

  “The pool,” Tokiwa answered.

  And so I followed her to the school pool.

  We were barefoot and walked along the poolside rather awkwardly. Surely we weren’t actually getting in... It wasn’t like either of us had changed or rinsed off.

  “Um, I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”

  Actually, I hadn’t brought anything. Should I go back and get my things to stay overnight at school? Wait, was Tokiwa going to stay overnight, too? Just the two of us? I mean, surely the school camp area had different rooms for boys and girls, but...

  My imagination started to run wild, when—

  “......i.”

  Tokiwa placed her butterfly hair clip on the starting block, and then jumped right into the pool with her uniform on.

  “Whaaat?!”

  I was panicking in surprise as Tokiwa’s head resurfaced in the pool. Unfazed by my astonishment, she turned to me and beckoned.

  “Um...” I hesitated.

  “I think she wants you to get in too,” R supplied helpfully.

  So... was this what she was talking about when she said she wanted to do stuff at school we normally didn’t? Jumping into the pool in your uniform... I’d never considered doing it before, but opportunities like this didn’t present themselves often. Although, to be fair, I wasn’t wearing my uniform. Hmm... Well, whatever. Tokiwa was calling for me, and it did look pretty refreshing...

  “Hup!”

  I jumped into the pool with a shout. It reminded me of the water park I’d gone to with everyone the other day, but this time I was wearing my clothes. The water felt different against my skin. I relaxed my body and let myself float to the surface.

  “Ah...”

  Once I surfaced, I wiped my face with my hands and opened my eyes. The blazing sun was blindingly bright, but I was nice and cool in the water.

  “It feels so good...”

  This was a pretty nice break from the summer heat. Now that I’d completely cooled off, I could really appreciate the lapping of the water on my skin as I floated along. The other clubs were on break, so no one else was around. All we could hear were the cries of the cicadas. I looked over and saw Tokiwa floating on the water comfortably too. If she hadn’t invited me here, I never would have known how good this felt.

  “...”

  Suddenly, Tokiwa stood up with a splash. Following her lead, I placed my feet against the pool floor. I could feel my wet clothes weighing me down as I righted myself. Since the sun was so bright today, I wondered if they’d dry out if I left them at the poolside for a while.

  “Hey, Tokiwa—?!”

  I was about to offer my thoughts on what to do with our clothes when I realized something mid-sentence. Tokiwa’s white blouse was soaked through, making her bra underneath completely visible.

  “U-Um, Tokiwa... your shirt...”

  I could feel my freshly cooled cheeks heating right back up as I tried to say it.

  “...?”

  Tokiwa looked down, oblivious as ever, at the pink peeking out from underneath her white shirt... then splashed the water in a shrug.

  No, you might not care, but please cover yourself.

  Evidently, my pleading was all in vain. Tokiwa simply brushed her wet bangs out of her face and started to play with the water, scooping it up in her hands. She seemed to be making the most of her chance to wear her uniform in the pool. I, on the other hand, was at a total loss. Just as I was wondering what I should do...

  “Hey, you two!” a voice suddenly shouted in our direction.

  I was about to freak out, thinking we’d been caught by a teacher. But when I turned around, I was met with the sight of a familiar face.

  “President Momone.”

  It was our school’s student council president. Unlike Tokiwa, she
was wearing her uniform properly... and holding a bamboo sword for some reason. Her one eye unhidden by the eyepatch looked like it was filled with anger. She probably couldn’t overlook us doing something like jumping into the pool in our clothes because of her position as the student council president. Maybe that was why she was mad? I tried to come up with an explanation for this situation, but...

  “Midori, you’ll catch a cold dressed like that in the pool. Hurry up and get out.”

  President Momone pointed her sword at Tokiwa and spoke before I could.

  “......i.”

  Tokiwa frowned in disappointment, then looked my way. It felt like she was suggesting we get out, so we did just that. Once we were out of the pool, Momone marched over and threw me a towel she’d gone to get.

  “You dry yourself with that, problem child. Midori, you come here,” she said sternly.

  President Momone then took out a second towel and forcefully started to dry Tokiwa off. While ignoring all her protests, mind you. It was like watching a kitten being cleaned against its will.

  “Good grief. I came because I was worried and found exactly what I was afraid I would.”

  Apparently, President Momone had come to check up on the light literature club’s camp—or rather, on Tokiwa.

  “...Oh.”

  “Huh? I won’t accept any excuses. Don’t forget you have a weak constitution.”

  “...”

  Tokiwa pouted at being scolded. She was like a little sister sulking over her older sister telling her what to do. It was pretty cute. But as such pleasant thoughts were passing through my mind, a bamboo sword came down square on top of my head.

  “And you should’ve stopped Midori. You know she’s sickly.”

  “...Yes, ma’am.”

  Unable to offer any protest, I nodded obediently and rubbed my throbbing head with the towel.

  ▽

  After we got out of the pool, I decided to go back home to grab a change of clothes and a few other things. Harissa was out shopping, so I left a note for her before returning to school.

  I had been worried at first about staying the night at school alone with a girl, but I was much less concerned now that President Momone was joining us. Nothing seemed like it could get past her, after all.