Chapter 102 : [Past Arc] Squad Leader's Record: III (Part One)

This world is unfair. Here I am, cold, hungry, and suffering, while people exist who complain about their lot in life even as they bask in warmth. I hated them for it.

I've always been alone. Ever since I was born. I've lived my entire life by myself. My earliest memory goes back to when I was about two years old. I've long since forgotten how I survived before that, though.

"…Damn it. What a pain in the ass. Yako, take this. I'm going to beat this guy up."

"Don't bother… Let's get out of here. We'd be in trouble if something happened to you."

The weak were trampled by the strong. Robbed of what little they had. They weren't even allowed a single drop of drinking water to keep themselves alive for another day.

"Cough, cough… Well, there are all sorts of ways around this. Can't believe those idiots didn't notice a simple trap like that."

This might sound conceited coming from me, but I think I've always been fairly smart. I wasn't particularly strong physically, though I wasn't exactly weak, either.

That's why I had to use my head if I wanted to survive. Perhaps smart wasn't quite the right word. I was cautious. I thought things through.

"Honestly… What a bunch of savages. Everyone's having a hard time here. Is it too much to ask them to approach people sincerely and ask for help? Ow, ow…"

Still, I couldn't do much when someone resorted to violence. The best I could manage was to make a few hiding places and… well, not much else. All I could do was drag myself back, battered and miserable, to a hideout where no one waited for me.

As the years passed, I began to feel that my methods were reaching their limits. Living alone was becoming impossible.

"…Hmm. Cooperation, you say?"

Then, one day, an idea occurred to me. The weak were exploited by the strong. That wouldn't change. It was practically a law of the world. So what? Should I die? Give up?

"…Hmm?"

Like hell I would. I wasn't going to die. I would live. No matter what it took, I would survive. Why? Because I didn't want to die.

"Hmm, hmm. I see…"

In that case, I just needed to find a way for the weak to stand up to the strong. I needed to find strength that belonged to the weak. If we could do that, we'd already have won.

"…Allies, huh?"

Cooperation. Sharing hardships and pleasures, disadvantages and benefits, losses and gains with someone other than yourself.

My present self could look back and wonder how I hadn't thought of that sooner, but the idea had never occurred to my younger self. After all, I'd lived alone my entire life.

"All right. Let's start with five people… No, two. Yes, just two will do. I need to find someone whose interests align with mine."

But why had I even thought of that? Why had the idea filled me with such excitement that I hadn't even noticed it myself?

—We'd be in trouble if something happened to you.

"…Heh."

It was simple, really. I wasn't as childish as I'd been back then. I didn't need to put on airs or hide my embarrassment behind a tough act.

"…I wanted to be… like that, too."

I was jealous of people who had someone by their side.

Of course, my younger self hadn't realized any of this. I'd simply decided to do it because it was advantageous.

Once I'd decided to find some allies, things moved quickly… Actually, no, they didn't.

"Hey, you there. Looks like someone really worked you over. And to top it off, they even stole your blanket. Now you're going to spend tomorrow freezing, too. What a pitiful sight."

"…Shut up."

"But it's not as though I'm in any position to judge you for that— Hey! Hey!! You should at least hear someone out before walking away!"

…Right. I take it back. Now that I think about it, I must have been an absolute moron when it came to dealing with people back then. Why had I felt the need to provoke them? Sure, I wanted to make them aware of their predicament, but still.

Well, after spending years alone and turning myself into a social disaster, I'd hardly had the time to consider anyone else's feelings. Even so, if I could meet my younger self face-to-face, I'd make her sit in seiza for a good long while.

"…Hahaha! Hey! What are you making such a fuss about all by yourself? You're quite the amusing little thing."

But there was one peculiar idiot who actually paid attention to me.

"Wh— Who are you?!"

"Ooh, scary, scary… You're just like a rabid dog. …No, that's not quite right."

A woman with long, ash-gray hair that looked as though it had burned to nothing. She was considerably older than me, as I recall. That was twelve years ago, when I was five and she was seventeen. She wasn't a student at the Arius Satellite School, though. She wasn't wearing a uniform.

"You're nothing but a little mutt that yaps and yaps. A puppy, that's all."

"Oh, I see… So you have the nerve to show yourself in public, stand by and watch from a safe distance, and then lecture me? What a wonderful personality you have!"

"Ooh, someone's angry. I'll throw those words right back at you."

"Gh…!"

She'd hit the nail on the head. Even as I said those things, some part of me had known she was right.

But… I don't know. I was just being stubborn.

"Honestly, I can't stand ill-behaved dogs… But whatever. You want some companions, don't you? Come with me."

"Like hell I will, you old hag!"

"Hmph!"

"Ghk?!"

One insult was all it took for her to land a heavy punch in my stomach.

"Who's an old hag?! I'm only seventeen, you know! Hey, take it back! Take it ba— W-wait, you're unconscious?!"

—Well, that's your fault, isn't it?

I remember that thought vaguely crossing my mind as my consciousness began to fade. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a little clink as someone put a candy into their mouth. Then I felt myself being hoisted onto someone's back, and everything went black.

When I next opened my eyes, I was lying in an unfamiliar house. Though calling it a house was being generous. It was a ramshackle shelter, patched together from scraps, with fabric for walls and little more than the supporting posts to hold it up.

"You're awake, Tou."

A voice came from beside me, immediately putting me on guard. The fear etched into my body hadn't gone away.

"Now, there's no need to be so wary… Sigh… All right, I admit I was in the wrong. There, see? Hands up. I surrender. No need to be so suspicious."

She raised both hands in surrender and waggled them in the air, then apologized for the pain I'd been left with in my stomach.

"Y-you shut up, you old hag! Who just punches someone in the stomach out of nowhere, you crazy, violent old woman?!"

"Where in the world do you come up with that vocabulary, Tou…?"

She sounded a little tired and exasperated as she asked me that. I had no intention of answering, though. There was something else I wanted to know.

"…What's Tou?"

"Your name. The name I'm giving you. There were ten of you when you came here, so I counted you as the tenth. Ten… Tou. It's easier to call you that. A little obvious, maybe, but I don't think it's a bad name."

Ten. Tou. A cheap, makeshift name with no hopes or wishes attached to it. And yet, it was something I'd never had before. Something that made my existence feel real.

"…! Don't get carried away, you old hag!"

"What is wrong with you?!"

That single word made me happy.

"And so, this is Tou, who's going to be living here from now on. She can take the same surname as the rest of us: Amahane. Come on, introduce yourself."

She'd brought me to the only part of the ramshackle house with a little room to spare.

"…Hey. Unless my memory's wrong, there should be ten people living here. Were you lying?"

"No… This place has always been a home for orphans living in Arius. That said, we can't keep them here forever. Once they're able to live on their own, they're expected to leave. Some of us, like me, stay behind to manage the place."

In other words, it was some sort of mutual-aid and welfare facility. There were actually two other children there besides me.

"I-I'm Itsu!"

"I'm Nana!"

Five and seven years old, respectively. Which meant…

"…Hey. Aren't those names carelessly chosen?"

Honestly, I still question her naming sense to this day. Though perhaps someone who hadn't even had a name until then had no right to complain.

"Unfortunately, I have absolutely no talent for naming things… These two personally rejected my suggestions."

"What were the candidates, then?"

"Taromaru, for one."

"Yikes…"

It was a name I'd never heard before, at least not as a common name in Arius. And it certainly wasn't a name you'd give a girl. I could understand why they'd rejected it.

"Hey, hey! You've got some guts, you know that? Calling this lady an old hag and all!"

"N-Nana-chan, stop! You just got here!"

While I was busy thinking about that, the other two approached me. I remember feeling utterly bewildered and flustered. Anxious, very anxious.

"What are you two supposed to be? Especially you, Nana. You seem to possess neither intelligence nor manners."

I answered in my usual manner without thinking. To be honest, I believe I'd already realized by that point that there was something fundamentally wrong with the way I communicated with people.

But what could I do? Back then, I'd never really spoken to people before. Not just exchanged words, but sat around talking about nothing in particular.

"HEY, TOU!! Why is your mouth so foul?!"

"Ow! …W-what was that for, you old hag?!"

"I'm not an old hag! Call me Karia! That's my name!"

"But it sounds almost the same!"

"And what of it?!"

She gave me a second blow, right on the head.

It wasn't the first time I'd been hit by someone, but somehow, this felt different from all the times before.

"Oww… What monstrous strength…!"

"…Hey, hey."

As I rubbed my aching head, that girl Nana came up to me. I glared at her, assuming she'd come to mock me.

"What does ‘manners’ mean?"

"…Huh?"

I was utterly bewildered by a question that sounded as though she'd distilled every ounce of stupidity into a single sentence.

"Itsu, do you know?"

"W-well… I-I think… It means not being greedy… In other words, being kind!"

That one clearly understood the meaning of the word, yet she dodged the question. In other words, she was trying to spare Nana's feelings. But my younger self didn't understand that.

"…Watch them closely, Tou. There are a lot of things you need to learn from these two."

"…Shut up. I don't remember ever agreeing to live here."

"Oh? Then shall I send you back to being alone? Are you going to keep living by yourself from now on, too? You little beast who's good for nothing but barking."

"…!"

Her taunts infuriated me again. No, that wasn't quite it. It was the anger of someone whose deepest feelings had been exposed, mixed with shame.

"Who'd ever want to live with the likes of you?!"

"Fine. Then get out… is what I'd like to say. But unfortunately, I can't let you do that in front of these children. I'll make you stay here, even if I have to force you."

I tried to defy her, but the moment she raised her fist, I felt death against my skin. It was that visceral, that sharp.

This wasn't what I wanted. But if I was being threatened, I had no choice. Protecting my life came first. That was the smart thing to do, wasn't it? I piled excuse upon excuse in my mind.

"…Oh, for goodness sake. Fine. I'll live here. So put your fist down."

At last, I managed to say it.

"Oh? It seems I've ended up threatening you. Goodness, that wasn't my intention at all. My apologies."

"Who are you trying to fool…?"

"Hey, so you're gonna live here with us, too?"

This time, the two little brats who'd been talking in the back came over to me.

One had a face that showed no sign of intelligence whatsoever, while the other watched me timidly, as though afraid of me.

"Against my wishes, yes."

"You use some big words."

I pointed at them and looked toward the old hag… Karia, wondering whether this was going to work out at all. She raised a hand awkwardly and shook her head.

"Looking forward to being friends, Tou!"

"…Very well. I look forward to it, too. Um…"

Having my name spoken aloud put me in a slightly better mood, and for once, I managed to carry on a fairly normal conversation.

"U-um, I look forward to it…"

"What is this? Speak up, would you? Ah… Sorry. I look forward to getting along with you."

Or perhaps the timing had simply worked in my favor. I'd just started to realize the limitations of my way of speaking—my conversational skills—and then I'd been given an opportunity to interact with people, whether I wanted to or not. I wasn't foolish enough to throw away that opportunity.

"…Good. Now then, I'll explain the rules of this place."

And so, I began living there. I started a new life. For the first time since I'd been born, I was about to spend my days alongside other people.

"Tou, here, you can have this. I'm taking this one in exchange."

"You have some nerve, foisting your least favorite food on someone else and then demanding compensation for it!"

"H-hey, you two, stop it!"

"Can't I eat a meal in peace…?"

Sharing my time with other people came with all sorts of restrictions. No matter what I wanted to do, I had to consider someone else's feelings. Well, I suppose that was the difference between a dream and reality. I'd admired the idea, but admiration was only admiration.

"…And then you do this. See? Now you can maintain it much more easily."

"It-it really works… Thank you!"

"It's hardly worth thanking me for… Nana, how about you?"

"Done!"

"You broke it."

There were so many difficulties. So, so many. If someone didn't know something, I had to teach them. And the reverse was true, too.

"T-Tou, you're hurt… Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing unusual…"

"Who did it?"

"…Why are you getting angry?"

We shared knowledge, time, and emotions. I wasn't particularly good at any of that, so it was exhausting. Really exhausting.

"HEY!! Why are all three of you covered in bruises?!"

"Haha… Sorry…"

"…I was the one who dragged them into it. I'm sorry."

It really was nothing but hardship.

"…But… thank you."

"…I suppose I can forgive all three of you this time. From now on, you must tell me what happened!"

And yet, I loved every bit of it. All of it. Until then, I'd never once known what it felt like to be truly fulfilled. It was something I'd kept longing for, even as I had no idea what it was.

Before I knew it, I wasn't alone anymore. And I'd grown completely accustomed to that.

And so the sun rose, the moon set, and the days passed, over and over again. A year went by.

…Then the civil war began.

Well, that didn't mean it had much to do with us. No, it did affect us to some extent. If we carelessly wandered around, we'd almost certainly get caught up in it. Our movements were restricted. That was all.

…But it must have been the second day after the civil war began. Or was it the third? I don't really remember anymore. The outcome already seemed all but decided. One side's forces were on their last legs, their final struggles looking like nothing more than futile resistance.

I didn't know what methods had been used, but one side had managed to gain a considerable advantage.

"…Honestly, what a dangerous world we've ended up in."

"It's not a problem. It has nothing to do with us."

"…We'll see about that."

Even so, the civil war was a matter for the Arius Satellite School. We were different. We were just orphans. We had nothing to do with it. All we needed to do was wait for the trouble to end, like spectators watching a fire across the river.

At least, that's what I'd thought. Until that day.

"And so, from this moment on, you will become members of the Arius Satellite School. You will come with us."

A few days later, the civil war came to an end, and students from the Arius Satellite School appeared at our doorstep.

They said all sorts of things, but to summarize: the Arius Satellite School was going to be reformed, and the Autonomous District along with it. They needed all the manpower they could get, so we were coming with them. That was the gist of it.

"I don't understand what you're talking about. We're not students of the Arius Satellite School. We have no reason to obey you."

"The Autonomous District exists through the school's efforts. Don't forget that the only reason you're able to live here is because we're here."

"How presumptuous. When have you ever governed this place?"

Naturally, there was no way we would accept that without question. We'd also heard rumors that people had died during the civil war. We suspected they wanted more manpower because of the losses they'd suffered.

Who knew what would happen if we went along with them?

"…Let me put it another way. I don't need a reason. Obey."

"What an ill-mannered idiot… Come here. Let me get a good look at your face."

"What are you—?!"

While we were going back and forth, Karia punched the Arius student and knocked them out with a single blow. I wasn't surprised. I'd already heard about her strength.

"…Good. Everyone ready?"

"No problem."

"I-I'm ready."

"I'm good to go!"

We barely had any belongings to begin with, so getting ready didn't take long.

We were getting ready to escape from the Arius Satellite School.

"You all remember the escape routes, right? Even if you get separated from someone, you must follow the route. Nana, you're the one I'm most worried about."

"I'm fine! I've got it memorized perfectly!"

Karia seemed unusually insistent about making sure we knew the routes. Looking back, why hadn't I noticed? Why hadn't I realized it then, after we'd spent so much time together?

"…"

"What's wrong, Tou?"

"…Nothing. It's nothing."

"Then let's go."

I was a fool. An idiot. Back then, I had a bad feeling, but I didn't have the courage to ask about it. Maybe I was afraid she would dislike me, or something like that.

If only I hadn't made that choice, perhaps… perhaps things wouldn't have turned out the way they did.

"From the looks of things… we'd better take that route. Come on."

There were several ways to escape Arius, but every route was being watched by students from the Arius Satellite School. Even the checkpoints connecting the different parts of the Autonomous District were under surveillance.

The latter could be avoided easily enough. With Karia's physical abilities, carrying three children while crawling along the ceiling was child's play.

"Ueegh…"

"Itsu, please don't throw up on me."

No, to be precise, it was three children and one high schooler. We'd brought along the idiot we'd knocked out, thinking he might come in handy for something.

After we'd made our way some distance, we reached a point where the route toward the outskirts of the Autonomous District looped back on itself. And that's when it happened.

"…Huh? Where's Karia?"

Karia had disappeared. The path was a maze of narrow, cramped passageways, barely wide enough for one person to pass at a time. In the dim light of night, we'd lost sight of her. At the time, I assumed we'd simply gotten separated.

"W-what do we do…?!"

"Calm down. We can't hear any fighting, so there's a good chance we've just lost track of her. In this situation, we should wait near the exit leading out of the Autonomous District. We agreed on a meeting place, too. If enough time passes and she still hasn't arrived, we'll go look for her."

Looking back, that instruction was strange, too. It was certainly the rational thing to do, but something about it felt wrong. Something I couldn't quite put into words.

I hadn't noticed. I couldn't notice.

"Should we go ahead?"

"Yes. That's the most appropriate course of action."

It couldn't have been. It just couldn't have been. What a complete idiot I'd been.

"…Huh?"

We followed the route as instructed and reached the passage leading out of the Autonomous District. The place where there should have been guards… was deserted.

"Why…?"

It wasn't that we hadn't considered this possibility. We hadn't been instructed on what to do in such a situation, but we'd been told to leave the Autonomous District without hesitation if it happened.

That only made the sense of unease stronger. Why had she given us such instructions? No… It was almost as though she'd known this would happen.

"…"

Looking closely, I noticed bullet marks on the ground. There were signs of a struggle. Had someone trying to escape been taken down?

"T-Tou! Hurry! We can get away now!"

"…Right."

It felt as though dozens of hairs were being yanked out of the back of my head all at once. The unease inside me was rapidly growing into something much worse. But I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Because if I did…

"…Let's go."

These two would get caught up in it, too. I silently made up my mind not to let that happen.

"Whoa! That was surprisingly easy!"

We made it out of the Autonomous District. We escaped without the slightest difficulty.

My unease became certainty. At last, I understood.

"Itsu. Nana."

"…? What's wrong, Tou? You've got a terrible look on your face."

"…I'm sorry."

I struck the two of them at the base of the neck, knocking them unconscious. Fortunately, I'd learned how to do that.

"Wha… why…?"

"Don't worry. You'll wake up soon. I'll bring Karia back. Then we'll all escape together."

I hid the unconscious pair behind some cover, then turned around and headed back toward the Autonomous District. By then, I already understood what was happening.

"Hurry…! We don't have much time left!"

The darkness of the passageway was suddenly dyed crimson. I felt the blast and the shock wave. Rocks came crashing down, sealing off the route.

"Raaah!"

Just before the passage was completely blocked, I twisted my body and managed to slip through the gap. I was back in the Autonomous District. We'd lost that escape route, but it didn't matter. There was more than one way out.

What mattered far more was…

"What the hell was she trying to accomplish…?"

…A student from the Arius Satellite School, probably one of the guards stationed here, was dragging someone along the ground. Someone I knew.

Karia was unconscious.

"…!!"

There wasn't just one Arius student. Several more lay collapsed nearby. Even those who were still conscious were almost completely battered.

"Just as I… thought…"

It was easy to guess what Karia had done, and why.

She must not have been able to think of any other way to get all of us through the guards safely. So she drew their attention to herself, lured them away, and bought us time to escape.

Once she'd blocked the passage, we wouldn't be able to come back.

She hadn't let on in the slightest. Her attitude and her words had been no different from usual. She'd acted just as she always did, as though she'd been prepared from the very beginning to be the only one left behind.

I was utterly disgusted with myself for not realizing it.

"…"

I took a gun from one of the fallen students. A handgun. It was a little oversized for me, but I could handle it well enough. My opponents were barely on their feet.

…I judged that I had a chance.

"Wh-what the—"

"Give her back."

Without a word, I fired. Again and again and again. I kept pulling the trigger, shooting them over and over.

That was my mistake.

"Gah…!!"

I'd let my anger get the better of me. Panic had robbed me of my ability to think clearly. I'd overlooked something so obvious.

If I made that much noise, of course the other students would notice. And once they did, I'd have no chance of winning.

When I next woke up, I was in a prison cell. Shackles bound my ankles, and escaping seemed impossible.

"You're awake."

"…!"

I'd failed. That much was painfully clear.

"Tch… Could you stop looking at me with those rotten eyes? You're making me sick."

"…Still rebellious, I see."

Even so, at the time, I still believed I could turn things around. All I had to do was find a way out of the cell, then find Karia.

She wasn't invincible, but she was strong. Strong enough to single-handedly take down the students entrusted with guarding this place. I just had to find her, and then we'd get out of this place in no time.

"Well, whatever. I have something for you."

"…?"

He wore a vile grin, as though he could see right through me.

"Here."

"…This is…?!"

It was a familiar shade of gray, made up of several strands bound together. I recognized it. I'd seen it every day for the past year.

"You… You…!!"

The shackles clanked. The bars of the cell rattled violently.

I didn't care about any of that. Because that was…

"What did you do to that damn old hag… to Karia?!"

It was Karia's hair.

"We have no use for disobedient personnel. I'll let you keep a memento, at least. Bury it, cherish it for the rest of your life, or whatever else you please."

"A… a memento?"

…Looking back now, I know he'd been lying. There was no reason for them to do something like that. As long as she was restrained, there was no reason to kill her.

"…You're lying."

That's right. He was lying. My present self could state that with absolute certainty.

"Oh, did you want these, too?"

As if to twist the knife, he tossed into my cell some fibers that had merely been made to resemble the hair colors of Itsu and Nana. They were fakes. There was no reason for them to kill children, after all. Someone later saw through the deception and pointed it out to me.

But I couldn't tell at the time. I wasn't accustomed to other people's malice… No, that wasn't it.

"You're lying…!! You're lying! That can't be true!"

"It's not a lie. I'm a generous person, you know. I'll let you keep those."

I'd spent a whole year in a place where life was warm and gentle, living alongside other people. That was all it had taken for my fangs to be pulled.

"You're lying… You're lying, you're lying, you're lying, you're lying, you're lying! Stop lying to me! How could you do that?! How could you…?!"

"Shut up."

"Gah?!"

"…Stay there and cool your head. I'll let you out in a few days. After that, you can do whatever you like. Until a year from now, anyway."

The door opened, and the guard stepped outside. Then the door closed.

In the darkness, doubt and fear churned inside me. The pain no longer mattered. There was a far worse pain coursing through my body, one that felt as though it were tearing me apart from the inside.

"…It's all right… It's going to be all right… It's a lie. It has to be a lie… Because… because, otherwise, I'll be… alone again…"

I couldn't bring myself to say the rest. I waited alone for time to pass. I was alive. I was all right. For days and days, I kept telling myself that.

After a few days, I was released. I returned to that ramshackle house.

The place I'd once thought cramped now seemed unbearably vast. A hollow void gaped open inside it.

"…Hahaha! Honestly, that damn old hag! What a nuisance! She's even forgotten how to find her way home! Fine, I'll wait a little longer!"

A day passed.

Karia didn't come back.

"Hmm… I'm starting to get worried. Now then, Itsu, Nana… Ah, that's right. They're not here either. Honestly, what's wrong with all of them?! Could you at least try to be as smart as me for once…?"

A week passed.

"I’m home… Well, there's no one here, is there? Ow… They didn't have to beat me up that badly just for breaking in. I was looking for someone…"

A month passed.

"…Not today, either, huh?"

Another day passed. Then a week. Then a month. Over and over again.

By then, I'd begun sneaking into the Arius Satellite School to search for Karia… to search for everyone. Sometimes I was caught. Sometimes I was shot. But it didn't matter.

It let me turn away from reality.

"…Everyone… Where are you…?"

—I'll let you keep a memento, at least.

"…! You're lying…! You have to be!"

Then, in the middle of the night, I heard a clatter from outside the door.

The nights alone were so terrifying, so unbearably lonely, that I woke at the slightest sound.

"That sound…"

Could it be?

Clinging to that faint hope, I rushed toward the door and flung it open as though I meant to kick it down.

"You damn old hag! You're late getting ho—"

There was only a single cat.

"…Ah."

Loneliness filled my heart until it felt ready to burst.

"…Are you alone, too?"

I reached out my hand. Everything around me was silent, and the ringing in my ears was deafening.

That was when, I think… that was when…

"…Me too."

At long last, finally…

"I'm alone, too… All alone… I've been alone for so, so long…!"

I gave up.

I gave up on the comforting delusion that everyone was still alive.

"U-ugh…! Aaaaaaaah…!! Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!"

With a clean, sharp snap, the heart that had never once broken before was shattered beyond repair.

A few years passed after that day. I lived alone. All alone, for so, so long.

I never wanted to experience that kind of pain again. That kind of fear. Those days when I couldn't sleep because of anxiety.

In that case, I thought, it would be better to be alone from the very beginning. To live in isolation. All I needed was enough strength to stand on my own, a strength that would let me exist without ever needing anyone else.

With that in mind, I devoted myself to training. Before I knew it, I'd earned the grandiose title of squad leader.

I displayed my martial prowess to those around me and rejected them. That alone was enough to keep everyone away. No one approached me anymore.

That was fine. That was how I wanted it. That was how things should have been.

"…Who are you?"

And yet, for some reason…

"Nice to meet you! This is our first time meeting face-to-face, isn't it? I look forward to working with you!"

I wanted to be left alone. And yet, for some reason…

"My name is Kirihana Suou! I'm a squad leader, and…! From this very moment on, I'm your big sister!"

"…Poor thing. You must be insane."

"N-no, I'm not!"

Another peculiar idiot who refused to leave me alone had appeared right before my eyes.