Déjà Vu Corpse and Eri's Bedroom Raid
Eri, time to roll out. And sure enough, there was a corpse sprawled out right there. A young guy in ragged clothes, face-down. His skin was already cold and pale—you could tell he was dead without being a forensic expert. And his entire face was twisted in agony. Could a human even make an expression like that? It was downright impressive.
Yep. It was identical to Arikiri Shota's first event. That's how Shota had died. Except it wasn't me this time.
"Kyaaaaah!!"
The students screamed, and the area turned into total chaos. No one in peaceful mid-sized Emoshita City had ever imagined something like this happening.
The cops arrived fast.
"Everyone, back off!!"
"Official police business!"
They quickly dispersed the crowd.
".......!"
"........"
Umi and Eri looked shell-shocked too. Just ordinary high school girls—they couldn't help but be terrified by the sight.
But one guy was different. I turned away. Sashitsu was coolly scanning the body and the scene around it, analyzing what had caused the incident. What a truly ice-cold dude. The ultimate cool guy.
That's when Sashitsu glanced my way. Staring right at me. Our eyes met clearly.
But it was just for a second. He looked away again. Something felt off. Anyway, right now, I had people to look after.
"C'mon, let's go. Everyone."
I grabbed Umi and Eri and pulled them along.
"......Yeah."
Umi replied in a rare, feeble voice.
"Okay."
Eri mumbled, staring at the ground.
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I took them to a nearby park. A peaceful spot—perfect for forgetting that gruesome scene.
Clunk!
I fed some 100-yen coins into the vending machine and pulled out drinks. Basic café lattes.
"Here. Drink up."
I handed them to Umi and Eri, who were sitting on the bench.
"Ah.... Sorry."
Umi reached for her coins, but I waved it off.
"My treat. You came to rescue me all the way up on the rooftop, right? Consider it payback."
I sipped my canned coffee and said so. Aaah.... Canned coffee's making me crave a smoke. But I'm a minor. Damn it. It wasn't my body craving nicotine—it was my mind. Well.... back in my original world, I was a heavy smoker anyway.
"Shota, you're awfully calm."
Umi said.
"Yeah, you okay?"
Eri stared at me like I was some kind of marvel.
"I was shocked too. But.... at the same time, relieved."
Well, as the adult here, I had to play it cool and reassure them.
"Umi and Eri are safe right now. That's what matters."
I patted their heads as I spoke.
"........."
"........."
For a moment, Umi and Eri just stared at me blankly.
Oh crap. Did patting their heads come off weird all of a sudden? Am I getting sued for sexual harassment? I panicked hard.
"Shota.... You a natural airhead? Or are you doing this on purpose?"
Umi stared straight at me and asked.
Natural? What the hell?
"Like.... the fact you can just casually do stuff like this is kinda amazing...."
Eri exchanged a meaningful glance with Umi.
Well, they didn't seem upset. Good.... looked like I wasn't getting dragged to the station again.
--------
Anyway, after chugging the canned coffee, things seemed to calm down a bit.
"Hit me up later then, Shota. Don't ghost my texts, 'kay?"
Eri waved at me.
"Alright, Shota. Let's head to the dojo."
Umi said.
"Yeah, right."
I planned to hit the dojo every day anyway. Umi and I walked toward the Kiryu Dojo.
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I spent one after-school session at the dojo. Asuna smiled when she saw Umi and me arriving together.
"Now you're totally walking home together like a couple. Uhuhuhu. Cute."
Asuna seemed to be jumping to weird conclusions.
"It's not like that!!"
Umi protested, but she stayed glued to my side. Weird. Normally she'd sulk and head straight to her room.
"Hey!! Good to see ya!! Staying till night, right?!! I've got the training schedule all set up till the tournament!!!"
Gonzaemon greeted me right away.
"Nah, after school starts, just one session and I'm out."
I said. Things were gonna get busy, so staying till night wasn't feasible.
"What?! Already losing that beginner's drive!!"
Gonzaemon immediately locked me in a headlock.
"Aaaah!! It hurts!! Master!!!"
I tapped out immediately. I surrender!! I surrender!!
Well, Asuna intervened, so Gonzaemon let go. After that, I trained for an hour. He was dead set on entering me in the summer tournament. Even one session was intense. Sparring matches with the junior students lined up one after another.
Whoosh!
Clang!!
With a clean short hair swing, I took the round decisively.
"One point!!! Nice!!"
Gonzaemon nodded approvingly.
"......You're seriously strong, Shota."
One of the juniors grinned cheerfully.
"Yeah, hasn't even been a month, and he beat Murata."
The other students chimed in.
These guys were good people. I knew it well.
Normally, folks get jealous of quick risers like that.
Back when I first started my paid web serial, same-age aspiring writers were super snake-like about it. That's why I quit SNS. Haven't touched it since.
True to Gonzaemon's teachings, they felt like a bunch of upbeat sportsmen.
"Hmm, peculiar."
That's when Gonzaemon tilted his head.
"You've definitely got strength beyond human limits. Can't describe it any other way."
I hammed it up right away.
"Don't get cocky."
Bonk!
Gonzaemon gave me an affectionate knuckle rap.
"You didn't come to the dojo yesterday.... but your skills shot up. Like you'd been sparring nonstop."
Sharp as ever, this old man. He was a total pro when it came to swordsmanship. I had gained something from yesterday's bloody battle with Gerruk.
"Anyway!! Keep this pace!! We're making the Kiryu Dojo name known at the summer tournament!!"
Gonzaemon bellowed.
"Wooooh!!"
"We ain't losing either!! Let's go!! Pump it up!! Pump it up!!"
"Grit power!!!"
The other students knew how to ride the hype. And so, the hot-blooded session wrapped up.
I showered in the dojo's shower room, changed, and headed home.
Ding!
A text came in.
'When you coming home?'
It was from Eri.
"Huh....?"
Why's she texting me this outta nowhere? I wondered.
'Waiting at your place.'
Eri replied.
"What?!?"
What the hell? Mom's home. Anyway, Eri didn't seem like the lying type, so I rushed back home.
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"Ah, Shota. Welcome back."
Eri was actually at my house. Sipping tea in the living room, chatting with my mom.
Also, her casual outfit was pretty revealing. A crop top showing her navel and tight hot pants. Her killer figure was on full display. Umi too.... these girls were all insanely developed.
"Hey. Why are you here...."
"Oh my, Shota. You should've told me you had such a pretty girlfriend. Not bad, Shota."
Mom said.
"No, she's not exactly my girlfriend...."
Looked like she'd sweet-talked Mom into letting her in by calling herself my girlfriend.
"So shy."
Mom chuckled.
"Mom! It was fun chatting. C'mon, Shota, let's head upstairs?"
Eri linked arms with me and started dragging me toward my room.
"Uhuhu. Take your time. Stay for dinner if you want."
Mom said.
"Whoa, thanks!!"
Eri beamed. Gal trait: friendly with everyone. Well, couldn't turn away a guest. Eri had already won Mom over. No choice but to hang with her.
---------
"Whoa.... So this is a guy's room?"
Eri's eyes sparkled as she looked around my room.
"Guy's room? More like an otaku den?"
Eri said, eyeing the state of it.
Well.... it was like this even before I possessed the body. Arikiri Shota was an otaku. My previous life's tastes matched anyway, and cleaning was a pain, so I left it.
"It's a hobby."
I shrugged and plopped on the bed.
"It's fine. My bro's an otaku too. I'm used to it."
Eri laughed.
"Ooooh!!!! The cliché where the gal is nice to the otaku!!!"
As a fellow weeb, I couldn't help but get hyped by the trope situation.
"Uhaha. What're you on about?"
Eri laughed and sat right next to me.
Yeah. Casually on a guy's bed. Isn't she a bit too defenseless?
Soon, Eri started rubbing around my thigh area.
Wait. What the hell is she doing?!
Smack.
I swatted her hand away.
"Tch."
Eri puffed her cheeks in mock sulk.
"So, what're you doing coming over for dinner?"
I asked her.
"Huh? Just wanted to see you, Shota?"
Eri tilted her head.
Hey, say stuff like that and guys will get the wrong idea. Does she like me or something? I mean, as a 25-year-old guy, I could play it cool, but if my brain was still a middle schooler, I'd have confessed at light speed and gotten rejected at light speed.
"Let's read manga together. I love manga."
Eri grinned, crawled across the bed, and grabbed a manga from the bookshelf.
Her crawling pose was like a cat's, naturally thrusting out her plump, jiggling hips right in my view.
Damn.... modern girls develop way too well. It's criminal.
Ahem....
Honestly, as a guy, I couldn't not react. My lower half activated getting hard skill.
"Let's read this!! Don't have it at my place!"
Eri grabbed the manga and scooted closer.
Then she noticed the situation in my pants.
Yeah. No way she could miss the bulge.
"Heh.... Shota's a guy after all, huh?"
Eri smirked slyly and poked my side.
......I wanted to die from the embarrassment.