"Thank you, Saiki-kun. Sorry about that." Izumi Yuu scratched his head and smiled.
[No problem.]
...
The two of them continued walking home again when a newspaper flew over, heading straight for the top of Izumi Yuu's head. Saiki casually blocked it with one hand.
[That's amazing. How did you catch the newspaper without even looking?]
(Yare yare, this is just too unlucky.)
From earlier, a whole bunch of weird things had been flying toward Izumi Yuu: aluminum cans, newspapers, a baseball, and even a fish.
(By the way, why would a fish be flying through the air?)
"Sorry, Saiki-kun. It feels like you've been dragged into all my bad luck along the way. For me, this is already normal, but it doesn't seem fair to you."
(Normal, huh?)
[Well, don't worry about it too much. Everyone has unlucky moments. Maybe after a good night's sleep, or in a few days, you'll turn into a lucky person.]
(This kid really is ridiculously unlucky, but this should be about his limit, right? This level of misfortune.)
Just then, above their heads, a signboard suddenly came loose and fell straight toward Saiki Kusuo and Izumi Yuu.
(Yare yare, no matter what, this is going too far.)
Even if the signboard hit him, Saiki wouldn't get hurt, but Izumi Yuu was right next to him. So Saiki planned to use telekinesis to control it, making it slide sideways in midair. After all, there was wind, so it would seem reasonable enough.
"Danger!"
A voice came from behind. Shikimori, who had been hiding, finally couldn't stand it anymore. She burst forward with all her strength, leaped up, and delivered a flying side kick that sent the signboard flying away.
Hah~ Hah~
Shikimori panted heavily, then pressed both hands against the wall, pinning Saiki there as she asked worriedly,
"Are you okay, Saiki?"
[I'm fine.]
"That's so cool! Did you see that? That girl kicked the signboard away with one flying kick!"
"Wow, this girl's boyfriend power is off the charts."
"She's got the guy pinned against the wall in a wall-slam. Sigh, first time I've seen a girl do a wall-slam on a guy."
The passersby who witnessed it all exclaimed in admiration.
Realizing how bold and intimate her current action was, Shikimori shyly lowered her hands, looked down while fidgeting with her fingers, and said bashfully, "Saiki-kun, about that move just now, please don't mind it. It's just, you know! When people are in danger, human potential gets unlocked."
[I know.]
(You're not the one in danger, so how are you unlocking human potential?)
"Um, thank you, Shikimori-san."
Only then did Shikimori finally notice Izumi Yuu thanking her from the side.
Along the way, she had observed this boy... yeah, he really was quite unlucky.
Izumi Yuu looked at the cool girl in front of him and couldn't help but marvel.
Sure enough, awesome people hang out with other awesome people. He already thought Saiki-kun was super cool and heroic, but turns out there's someone even more impressive. Whose subordinate is this?
"Saiki-kun, sorry. I almost got you caught up in it again." Izumi then turned to Saiki and said.
[It's fine.]
(Really, making it through these 16 years must've been no easy feat.)
Seeing that Saiki didn't seem to mind, Izumi Yuu felt relieved and turned to ask,
"By the way, why is Shikimori-san here?"
"Ah, well, I'm just heading home too. Yeah, I happened to run into you guys on the way."
Shikimori explained nervously.
[Can't exactly say I was tailing you the whole time, or Saiki would think I'm some weirdo.]
(You're already a pretty weird person in my book.)
"Huh, really? But..."
"Yes, that's right."
Izumi Yuu wanted to ask more, but Shikimori stepped closer, cutting him off with her answer.
Izumi: "Got it..."
After that, the three of them walked together until Izumi Yuu reached home. Once only Saiki and Shikimori were left walking side by side,
Shikimori finally couldn't hold back and asked, "Saiki-kun, I'm really sorry about this morning. When we were changing seats, I didn't mean to act like I disliked you. I was just... a little nervous. Since the very first day of school, you saw my rough side, and I was scared you'd think I was some barbaric person too."
"Because when I was little, I used to train in karate and even made boys cry before. So I wanted to change myself, to become a gentle person. I didn't want others to know what I used to be like."
[Yare yare, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Everyone has secrets in their heart. It's normal not to want them discovered. I won't tell anyone.]
"Thank you, Saiki-kun."
Hearing that Saiki Kusuo didn't mind at all, Shikimori instantly let out a sigh of relief.
[Saiki-kun is really so kind.]
...
[I'm going to stop by the convenience store. You don't have to wait for me.]
"Oh, I'll come with you."
In the end, Saiki walked into the convenience store and headed to the instant noodle section, buying a big pile of cup noodles.
Although he could cook pretty tasty meals himself, instant noodles were still super convenient. Plus, he used to really like them, and with his body type that never gains weight, now that he was living alone, of course he could indulge a little.
Then he headed to the coffee jelly section, just to look, since he'd already bought some yesterday. There was still a big crowd of kids and women checking out the snacks there.
Passerby [It's really that expensive? How can coffee jelly cost that much? Does anyone actually buy it?]
Passerby [Too expensive. Let's go, this value is terrible.]
Saiki Kusuo listened to the voices as he walked forward and saw a coffee jelly priced at 3000 yen each.
Shikimori came over too. "No way, one coffee jelly costs that much?"
Shikimori picked up the 3000-yen coffee jelly in front of her and looked at it. 3000 yen...
[Yare yare, 3000 yen and it's not even a big portion. Just fancy packaging. Who would buy a single jelly like this?]
Five minutes later, Saiki and Shikimori walked out of the convenience store. Then Saiki looked into the bag in his hand and saw the coffee jelly inside.
(I bought it.)
(Why did I buy something with such bad value? With this money, I could've gotten dozens of coffee jellies. But whatever, since I already bought it, let me taste just how delicious this 3000-yen coffee jelly really is.)
(Of course, if it doesn't satisfy me, I'll blow up the manufacturer.)
Then he looked at the coffee jelly with a blissful expression.
Shikimori, watching Saiki like this from the side, felt her face turn slightly red in an unnatural way. [Ara, so Saiki can make that kind of face too. It's pretty cute.]
After that, the two parted ways, and Saiki returned to his apartment. As he stepped out of the elevator, he happened to run into Shiina Mahiru, who was just coming back as well.
=====
New Story posted:
Mushoku Tensei: The Imbibitor Lunae Template