Chapter 3: TS Girl Starts the ‘Make Team Member Nagisa-kun Fall in Love’ Plan

An endless landscape of piled rubble stretches out. Standing there is a girl with a red ponytail—Kurokawa Kisa. She’s lightly equipped, wearing gauntlet-like gear on her hands. Usually cheerful and smiling, today she carries a sharp, dignified expression.

In front of Kisa—spiders. A swarm of grotesquely enlarged spiders, each about a meter in size. These are Deep Curses, the monsters currently threatening the world.

The forms of Deep Curses aren’t fixed—they shift from moment to moment. However, they mimic living creatures found on Earth. Their outlines are blurred, giving them a deeply unsettling appearance.

"《Soul Flame》—‘Explosive Fist.’"

Kisa slams her fists together with a heavy thud, igniting flames. One of the spiders leaps forward. Skrrr—the swarm surges toward her.

The instant the spider closes in, she drives her fist straight ahead. The moment her punch connects, the flames flare violently and explode.

"—!!!"

A horribly grating scream echoes out—the unique cry of a Deep Curse.

"《Soul Flame》—‘Blazing Barrage.’"

She slams her fists together again—clang—and flames blaze up around both hands.

She charges straight into the horde. One punch—boom, an explosion. The impact launches her upward, and she follows with a rapid flurry against the second. Continuous thunderous blasts resound.

By the time she finishes, the Deep Curses have already stopped moving… However, in focusing too much on her assault, one slips past her.

Beyond Kisa, standing directly in the creature’s path, is a petite girl—Akegami Yuri. With a fragile appearance that makes her seem like she might vanish if touched, she looks terribly out of place here.

Behind her stands a boy—Shinozaki Nagisa. At the sight of the Deep Curse, he instinctively takes a small step back.

"《Saint Arts》—‘Wall.’"

The Deep Curse spits thread from its mouth. It shoots forward like a bullet, but is stopped by a wall of light that suddenly appears in front of Yuri.

"Nagisa-kun."

"Uh, yeah—‘Connect Link.’"

Yuri extends her hand, and Nagisa hesitantly places his hand against hers. A faint glow flows from Nagisa into Yuri.

The Connector’s power—"Connect Link." An ability that strengthens any Curse Seeker it touches. That is the role assigned to Nagisa.

Empowered, Yuri runs forward to meet the approaching Deep Curse, passing through the wall.

"《Saint Arts》—‘Lance.’"

A spear of light appears. Gripping it tightly, she swings at the Deep Curse, severing one of its many legs.

Losing its balance, the creature collapses and stops moving. As it attempts to rise again, a chill suddenly spreads through the air.

"—Freeze."

A cold voice echoes. Frost spreads from Reina, creeping steadily toward the Deep Curse.

The cold engulfs it, freezing it solid with sharp crack, crack sounds. Once completely frozen, fractures spread instantly—and it shatters into pieces.

"S-so cold!!!"

Standing beside the shattered remains, Yuri trembles. Though she wasn’t directly struck by Reina’s attack, the aftereffects alone are enough to chill her. Still, it’s nothing serious—just a bit cold.

Curse Seekers are incredibly durable, after all. This much won’t cause any real harm… though cold is still cold.

"Nice work on your first sortie! You look freezing!"

Kisa—who had been the most active—waves energetically as she runs over to Yuri.

"…Good work. Since it’s already defeated, I’ll be taking my leave."

Reina quickly walks away. As she leaves, she glances at Yuri with a slightly awkward expression.

"Huh, are we disbanding already? Then I’m heading out too!"

Kisa leaves just as quickly.

Left behind, Yuri and Nagisa look at each other.

"Nagisa-kun, it seems they still don’t like you."

"I-is that so…?"

Seeing him genuinely discouraged, Yuri lets out a soft laugh and hugs him from behind.

"Fwah!?"

"Ahh, you’re warm… Maybe I’ll just keep you all to myself like this. Just kidding."

She lets go just as quickly and heads off.

"…Man, interacting with girls is kind of hard."

Left alone, Nagisa mutters softly as he looks up at the sky.

◇◇◇

I got my daily dose of Nagisa-kun again today. Seriously, being told to deploy out of nowhere is rough.

It doesn’t matter that we’re students—once in a while, teams get assigned missions like this. Now that we’ve formed a team, we’re already part of that system.

But still, telling us to go on a mission the day after forming the team? Isn’t that brutal? It’s a miracle no one died. Apparently, the other teams barely made it through as well. And it was really cold.

…Anyway, with that said, I’d like to proceed with the "Make Team Member Nagisa-kun Fall in Love" plan!

Huh? You don’t get what I mean?

It means getting both Kurokawa Kisa and Kotozuka Reina to fall for Nagisa-kun!

Why? Because if they don’t get along, they won’t grow much stronger.

That’s because they won’t accept using Connect Link—the ability of Connectors like Nagisa-kun.

Without it, things could easily turn fatal. For now, it’s still manageable, though.

All Curse Seekers tend to have rough pasts. Their powers usually awaken when Deep Curses rampage. Apparently, it’s triggered by intense stress at the time.

Anyway, for emotionally closed-off Curse Seekers like them, the story needs to follow the "game route" where they gradually open up to the protagonist—Nagisa-kun—and come to accept Connect Link.

In the game, I was the one guiding Nagisa-kun through all of that.

So basically, I’ll tease them a bit while helping everyone grow closer. …Though honestly, Nagisa-kun holding my hand yesterday—and the hug today—those were pretty nice.

…There’s just one thing that’s been bothering me. When Nagisa-kun first saw me, he looked surprised. I wonder if something happened. Maybe I’ll ask him later.

Anyway, let’s get started right away.

First, my teammates. Starting with Kotozuka Reina.

She’s the cool, aloof type—the classic kuudere heroine. And she has one defining trait—she’s got a huge chest!

No, this isn’t my inner old man talking or anything.

It might sound like "that’s it?", but it’s actually pretty important. Reina has an incredible figure, but because of that, she often gets unpleasant looks from guys. Well, there are other reasons too, but I’ll get to those eventually.

Because of that, she’s not good with men. So the goal is to help her realize that Nagisa-kun isn’t that kind of person.

And because she’s this type of character, once she warms up, her popularity skyrockets. Her alternate outfits were insanely popular too—people kept rolling the gacha like crazy.

Reina simply isn’t good with men, so once she overcomes that, things should more or less resolve.

Next, Kurokawa Kisa.

She’s cheerful and lively. Her red ponytail really suits her—super cute.

But even though she acts bright, it’s actually just a front. Deep down, she’s much darker. The reason is… during a Deep Curse incident, when things were at their worst, a man tried to take advantage of the chaos to approach her.

That’s what made her afraid of men. This one’s a bit harder to deal with—it’s basically trauma, so the only way forward is to help them gradually understand each other.

Because of that, once everything is resolved and she opens up, she becomes the type who pushes forward very aggressively.

So, with that in mind, I’ll start with Reina first.

By the way, even in the game’s story, Reina’s route comes first.

I could explain things to Nagisa-kun, but maybe I’ll check on Reina first.

Maybe she’s in the team room.

"Ah—"

Just as I was thinking that, I ran into her in the hallway.

"…Akegami Yuri."

She used my full name.

Her cold gaze pierces straight through me. Reina is tall, so from my smaller frame, she seems even more imposing. Combined with her beauty, she gives off a distinctly mature aura.

Yet her expression doesn’t shift in the slightest. It’s impossible to read what she’s thinking.

"About earlier… I’m sorry."

"Ah, yeah—it was cold. It’s fine."

"…You’re awfully casual about it."

She looks at me like I’m something strange as I laugh it off. It was just a bit cold—nothing worth worrying about.

"Hey, Kotozuka-san, can I call you Reina?"

I mean, I already do in my head. I know her from the game, after all…

"…You really close the distance fast."

"Hehe, thanks."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

She sighs in exasperation, though only her eyebrows move slightly. Her expression remains difficult to read. That’s just how she is.

"So your skill is like ice, huh, Reina?"

"I didn’t give you permission to call me that."

"Huh? I can’t?"

"…I suppose it’s fine."

She lets out another small, resigned sigh.

Reina opens her palm as if to show me. A white mist—like breath on a cold day—flows from it. It’s probably chilled air.

"My ability isn’t exactly ice. It’s closer to magic."

"Hmm."

“Skills” are the abilities possessed by Curse Seekers. There isn’t any real standardization.

In the early days, many abilities resembled magic, so there was even a proposal to call them “magical girls” instead of Curse Seekers—but genre-wise, that would’ve been a bit off.

In any case, Reina’s skill is a straightforward, magic-like ability. Its strength lies in rapid, long-range attacks. Even in the game, the basic strategy is to hold the front line while Reina bombards enemies from the back.

As I observe the mist in her palm, she seems to think for a moment before speaking again.

"On the other hand, you don’t really match your image."

"Huh? Really?"

My skill, Saint Arts, does look like something a priest might use. Still, it’s a versatile ability—it can both defend and attack.

"I thought your ability would be more… insidious."

"What kind of bias is that???"

Wait, what kind of image does she even have of me?

More importantly, wasn’t Reina supposed to be the type who isn’t very interested in people? Since when does she casually throw out comments like that…?

Looking more closely, her expression seems slightly softer than before.

Ah—so that was a joke? That was hard to tell.

"…By the way, you seem quite close with the Connector."

After a brief pause, Reina speaks again. This time, her gaze is more serious.

Close, huh… I have been pretty proactive. …Is she saying I’m getting too touchy?

"Are you being sarcastic?"

"Not particularly. It just feels like you’re unusually close to the Connector compared to the rest of us."

"Hmm, that’s just because I like Nagisa-kun."

"…That’s quite an intense level of ‘liking.’"

"Ehh? I’m just holding his hand and hugging him, that’s all."

"…"

She falls silent. Her eyes widen as if to say, Are you serious?

That’s the most emotion she’s shown so far. Kind of funny.

"Reina, on the other hand, aren’t you avoiding Nagisa-kun a bit too much? I get that you’re not good with guys, but still."

"…Did I ever say that?"

Reina frowns. …Did I hit a nerve?

"Well, you can tell just by watching. You’ve got this ‘don’t come near me’ aura."

"I’m not particularly good with you either."

"Wait, what?"

So it’s not just guys—got it. Fair enough.

"Yes, I’m not good with men. But I’m also a bit uncomfortable around you."

…Wait, does that mean she’s somehow seeing through to the old man buried deep inside my soul?

No way—I’ve worked pretty hard to refine myself as a girl, you know???

"Hmm, well, you don’t have to like me."

"I didn’t go that far."

"Just make sure you properly use Connect Link with Nagisa-kun, at least."

"…If the opportunity arises."

She looks away. Wow, she really dislikes it that much, huh… Not like I can relate, with my completely nonexistent chest. I already look small and childish anyway.

"That’s some serious stubbornness."

"…Just leave me alone."

Yeah, I get it. When you’re bad at dealing with people, sometimes you just want to be left alone.

"Nope. I need you to get it together, even after I’m gone."

"…After you’re gone?"

Ah—crap. That slipped out.

I need to cover that up. I raise my index finger to my lips.

"…It’s a secret."

I give her a small smile. That should work, right?

…Whoa, she looks really suspicious. She narrows her eyes and stares at me.

"…I don’t really understand, but I’ll try."

"Huh?"

"That… communication with the Connector and all…"

…For some reason, she’s had a change of heart. Well, that works. I’ll keep an eye on things, but for now—mission accomplished.

"Glad to hear it. Let me know if anything comes up—I can help out a bit, at least."

I wave energetically as I part ways with Reina.

Ahh… now I kind of feel like teasing Nagisa-kun a bit.

The “Make Team Member Nagisa-kun Fall in Love” plan is moving full speed ahead!