"Oma-kun! I brought Harukawa-san just like you asked!"
For a while after my motive got derailed, the room had been steeped in a chilly, corpse-still silence. Then Gonta barged into the research lab with that absurdly sunny voice of his.
"Thanks, Gonta! That means everyone except Hoshi is here!"
"S-sorry... But Hoshi-kun was too fast..."
"It's fine! That guy doesn't matter anyway...!"
I stared blankly at their exchange, then looked around.
They really had gathered everyone except Hoshi.
Hadn't Ikusaba said Momota was the one they couldn't catch?
But there he was, standing over there and staring at me in obvious confusion. Judging by that, when I woke up at midnight, Gonta must've gone charging around like a maniac and dragged him here too.
"Aaaalright, then! Time for the next video!"
"Um, Oma-kun! What about the Insect Meet and Greet?"
"Ah, we're on break right now! Bugs need rest too, don't they?"
Gonta nodded along, completely convinced.
And then, all at once, the others urgently turned to Kiibo.
"Hey, Kiibo! Now! Use that 'ability' you talked about and stop Oma!!"
"Please... no more bugs..."
"Bugs are just... modestly impossible now..."
"Shut up... You got ambushed while experimenting on him and got dragged here... This is your fault..."
The others had been too shell-shocked by my video to do much of anything for a while, but now the terror had snapped them back to their senses. They were afraid the bug torture session would resume the moment this so-called "break" ended.
But...
"I cannot do that."
"W-what!?"
"Something inside me is whispering... that now is not the time..."
Kiibo only stood there with a grave expression, solemnly insisting that the moment hadn't come yet.
"Then let's play the next vid—"
"...Subdue him."
""Yes.""
In the end, right before Oma could start the next video, I had no choice but to give the order.
But why was Tojo charging at Oma together with Ikusaba?
"He's subdued."
"No, Tojo... you didn't need to subdue—"
"Nishishi... Tojo, why are you following K's orders?"
"Uh... that's..."
"Because I am K's maid."
After that, silence fell again.
"....."
"...This is seriously driving me insane."
In that silence, the others stared at me with eyes even colder than before. Thanks to that, I started drowning in guilt even though I hadn't really done anything wrong.
"Hey, K-kun! This looks like a pretty awkward situation... Want me to help?"
"...You're the one who created this situation in the first place."
"Even so, I know a way to shift everyone's attention onto someone else!"
"Can someone shut his mou—"
"Don't you think so? O mighty Ultimate Assassin?"
The instant Oma turned to look at Harukawa and said that—
Thwack!Flash!
Harukawa lunged at him so fast I could barely even see it, her arm shooting straight for his throat.
"Move..."
"...Not happening."
Ikusaba caught her wrist by a hair's breadth and stopped the whole disaster from erupting.
Harukawa glared at Ikusaba for a long moment. Ikusaba glared right back with the same glacial hostility. Eventually Harukawa turned away, looked at Oma, and began speaking in a voice thick with rage.
"Oma... You... definitely said... instead of coming here..."
"That I'd give you your motive video? Sorry! That was a lie!!"
"M-motive video...? Don't tell me...!"
"Yep! That's right! I had Harukawa's motive video from the very beginning! That's how I found out who she really was!"
"......"
"Well, sure, I failed to show everyone's motives like I planned, but..."
Oma smiled wider than I'd ever seen before and shouted to the room.
"...This means cooperation is over!"
.
.
.
.
.
Morning came.
"Are you awake, K?"
"Mmgh... five more minutes..."
"You have an appointment in the dining hall at 8 a.m. You need to go now."
"Ugh... fine... wait, what!?"
I'd only just woken up, so I answered in a half-conscious haze—then jolted upright in shock.
"Wh-why are you here!?"
".....?"
"Don't tilt your head at me! Explain the situation!"
"I merely resumed the work I used to do."
Her calm answer made me feel dizzy. I barely managed to steady myself before speaking.
"...Don't do that from now on."
"Yes, understood."
"And stop using formal speech."
"That is impossible. I cannot speak casually to the person I serve."
"Still..."
"That much, I cannot compromise on."
"...Fine. Then at least stop calling me things like 'master' or 'the one I serve.'"
"Then... what should I call you?"
"...Just use my name. My surname still feels weird."
"Understood, K."
It felt like I was inputting commands into a program as I finished adjusting Tojo's settings. Then I asked the question that had been bothering me.
"Hey... how did you even get in here?"
"...Do you remember escorting you here after yesterday's incident, when you were exhausted?"
When I thought about it, she was right. I'd been so drained after everything that happened yesterday that I hadn't even had the energy to go persuade Hoshi. I'd just stumbled back to my dorm and passed out cold.
"Yeah, of course I remember. I probably blacked out the second I hit the bed."
"I have been guarding you ever since."
"Oh, I see... wait, ever since? Then... did you stay up all night?"
I asked in renewed alarm, and she answered in that same maddeningly composed tone.
"Your life is currently in danger, so this was the natural course of action."
"Please don't stand guard at night either..."
"But..."
"...Mukuro alone is more than enough for guard duty."
"R-really?"
"Why are you coming out from there too!?"
The moment I mentioned Mukuro's name, she suddenly popped out from under the bed, and I nearly had a heart attack.
"But... who knows what that insane maid might do..."
"I am K's personal maid. I would never do any 'such thing.'"
"But... considering how abnormally loyal you've always been... if I hadn't been here, you definitely would've pounced on K tonight—"
"...I am not you, Ikusaba."
"What?"
"As his personal maid and secretary, for me to harbor such feelings toward K—the man who saved me—would itself be disloyal and rude. Though I suppose someone like you, who was constantly trying to pounce on him, wouldn't understand."
"Why you little—!"
"Wait, wait!!"
Before things could explode, I cut them off and started asking questions.
"You two... know each other?"
"Yeah, we do."
"Yes, of course."
"Mukuro, if you knew her, you obviously should've told me!!"
"...Sorry. I was under restrictions."
"Then what about now...?"
"Because of what happened yesterday, those restrictions loosened a little. So now there are a few things I can tell you."
"Then... tell me everything you can."
At that, Ikusaba closed her eyes for a moment and sank into thought. Then she spoke.
"...The maid, me, and you all worked for 'a certain organization'... and the maid was your loyal subordinate. That's all I can say."
"Tojo, what about you?"
"I only remember about that much as well. I can't recall any specifics, such as what kind of organization it was exactly, or what duties I performed there."
"...Whew. Then I guess it can't be helped."
I let out a sigh, got fully out of bed, and then looked at both of them with firm resolve.
"Then... I need to get changed, so get out."
"I can assist you—"
"Please leave."
.
.
.
.
.
"......."
The moment I stepped into the dining hall, I immediately wanted to turn around and walk right back out. Everyone was staring at me like they'd just seen a ghost.
Of course, walking out on the spot would've been a little much, so I quietly sat down, figuring I'd at least eat breakfast...
Except there was no breakfast.
"Huh...? Why isn't there any foo—"
"Nishishi... You're really asking that, K?"
I looked up at Oma's obnoxious voice and found everyone glaring at me with naked resentment.
"W-why are you all looking at me like that...?"
"...I was wondering where Tojo had gone, since she's the one who prepares breakfast every morning. So K was keeping her all to himself?"
"...Ah."
I turned to Tojo with cold sweat trickling down my back. She tilted her head, then asked me:
"...Shall I add preparing breakfast for everyone to my schedule?"
"No, please... just be quiet..."
"Then I will refrain from preparing—"
"No, make it! Just... please only say stuff like that when we're alone..."
I muttered with my head hanging low, my face burning hot.
That was the final straw. The girls exploded.
"Kyaaaaaaahhh!!! We have to kill that man and take Tojo back!!! Right now!!!"
"D-don't look at me...!!! Th-this time you're trying to seduce me, aren't you? I'm your next target, right!? That's it, isn't it!? I need to hurry up and make a personal alarm..."
"The dating sim capture target... became the protagonist... This is modestly bewildering..."
"K-K... I hereby retract my offer to make you my assistant..."
"Nyahaha~ Now that I think about it, K doesn't seem like he's necessary for the student council after all~!"
"This feels like... listening to Schubert's 'Erlkönig'... How should I put it? It has a very ruinous sort of feeling..."
The girls were looking at me with a bizarre kind of fear, while most of the boys were simply glaring at me with icy contempt.
"...."
Saihara in particular was sticking close to Akamatsu, watching me with unmistakable wariness.
At this point, I really felt like I had to explain myself somehow.
"Um... maybe I'm actually older than I look..."
"No, there's no way that's true."
"Cut the crap!! Anyone can tell you're seventeen!!"
"K-kun... I think you should stop before this gets any more pathetic..."
"Yeah, yeah. That's a pretty cowardly excuse."
Now even Shirogane had joined in to roast me. I was on the verge of tears.
But when I thought about it, this was seriously unfair.
The marriage...? That was something the deranged me from before I lost my memories had done. Ikusaba was basically just a dog. And Tojo—God knows why—was moving on pure, fanatical loyalty as a maid.
In other words, there was a massive gap between reality and what these idiots thought was going on with me. They were acting like I was some kind of Casanova.
If only that were true...
If I really were living out the misunderstanding in their heads—playing out some sweet romantic sitcom with two girls and building a harem—then maybe I could at least enjoy it.
But reality wasn't that kind.
Instead, I was pouring every ounce of my energy into keeping a savage, violent dog and a maid overflowing with lunatic devotion from doing something catastrophic.
And romance? A harem? I have Kyoko Kirigiri. The instant I did something like that, I'd go from "middle schooler who somehow got married" to "absolute human trash who committed adultery on top of it."
That was why lately it felt like my lifespan was being shaved away second by second. But if I told everyone the truth, that would cause a whole different kind of disaster, so I was stuck. Completely, hopelessly stuck.
And if you really think about it, none of this is even the current me's fault.
The marriage, the dog, the freakishly loyal maid—every last one of them was the result of ties forged in my past.
Just let me get my memories back... The second I do, I'm slapping myself first.
I was standing there, grimly enduring the murderous stares of the others, when something from yesterday suddenly resurfaced in my mind.
Come to think of it... Harukawa... yeah, she's not here.
I looked around the dining hall, but Harukawa was nowhere to be seen. Well, after what happened yesterday, it made sense that she wouldn't want to show her face in front of everyone.
But... it felt like one more person was missing too. And I didn't mean Hoshi, who obviously wouldn't be here after yesterday.
"Huh? Wait, where's Momota?"
"...Momota went to look for Harukawa."
At Kiibo's answer, I tilted my head and asked again.
"Huh? Momota did?"
"Yes. He stopped by your research lab earlier, and then he said he absolutely had to show that to Harukawa before energetically leaving the dining hall..."
"Wait, my lab opened?"
"Yes. Before you arrived, the Monokubs distributed the [object]s again. Then Saihara activated them."
"...."
My research lab had opened. There was no way I could not go check that out. Maybe—just maybe—there'd be some clue about my damned past in there.
And I was curious why Momota had become so obsessed with showing my research lab to Harukawa.
More importantly, I couldn't endure everyone's stares for another second.
"Then I'm gonna head ou—"
"Wait, where do you think you're going?"
"Huh?"
As I stood up, Chabashira urgently called out to me.
"I'm going to my research lab... why—"
"D-d-don't tell me!! This time it's Harukawa-san too!!!"
"......"
At Chabashira's hysterics, the others' already frigid stares somehow got even colder.
"...It's not like that. I'm just going because it's my research lab. Anyway..."
I forced myself to ignore those stares and got to my feet.
Then Ikusaba and Tojo stood up at the exact same time.
"...Why are you two getting up too?"
"She's dangerous. I have to be by your side."
"I have dealt with assassins several times before. I will protect you from beside you."
"Please... can't you just let me go alone? Look at the way they're staring..."
"No."
"Your safety comes first."
As the two of them kept whispering at me, the cold atmosphere in the room suddenly thickened to the point where I could physically feel it on my skin.
I looked around to see what was going on, and found everyone staring at me with a hideous blend of emotions.
Needless to say, not one of those emotions was positive.
"...Haha... ha..."
Before the freezing pressure could get any worse, I hurried out of the dining hall with Ikusaba and Tojo in tow.
Then Chabashira shouted after me from behind.
"You!! If you seduce Harukawa-san too, then I'll twist that thing of yours clean off!!!"
"I told you, I'm not planning to do that!!!!!!"
"Huh? But that's a lie, right?"
"Will you please shut up for once, Oma!!!"
"Nishishi... It was just a joke. Why are you overreacting so much? Don't tell me it's true? Hm?"
Should I just flip the whole damn board over?