We're Friends, Aren't We?
We're Friends, Aren't We?
In front of the 3rd Research District Literature Research Room.
I was leaning against the wall, waiting for Si-woo to arrive. The message I sent earlier was a bit provocative, but hey, what of it?
That's the only way to get him to lift his butt and come running here.
Anyway, how am I supposed to clear up that nonsense misunderstanding from the hospital room...
"Protect me." "Don't leave me!" I wanted to suppress the urge to cut out my own tongue, which had been pickled in sleeping pills, while I desperately tried to come up with a strategy. That was when it happened.
Kwaaaang!
"...Eh?"
Suddenly, the outer wall of the adjacent building exploded, and someone came flying at supersonic speed through the cloud of dust, scattering blue magical residue before landing right in front of me.
The ground caved in, and my hair whipped around violently from the shockwave.
It was a sight I couldn't believe even with my own eyes. To think a human would smash through a building wall and run in a straight line.
Ah, right. He's not human. He's a mage. Then I guess it's doable. You asshole, who's going to pay for the property damage!
Academy students don't get charged for property damage, right? That's the limit of this country's law.
Damn it.
"Haa..."
Si-woo let out a rough breath and grabbed my shoulder firmly.
On his palm, two dice were still spinning like crazy.
It was proof that he had been spamming magic and destroying the terrain on his way here.
Si-woo shoved his phone at me with a trembling hand.
[Si-woo-ya. I have something to tell you face-to-face, so I'll be waiting.]
"...What the hell is going on?"
While I was panicking and just opening and closing my mouth, Si-woo stared intently at me and demanded an answer.
"...You've been acting weird lately. In the hospital, and now this sudden message. Is something really going on? Is someone bullying you? Or... are you really planning on going somewhere far away?"
"No, that's... Si-woo-ya, calm down first..."
"...Sorry. My head's been all over the place these past few days."
Si-woo suddenly let out a deep sigh and covered his face with his hands.
But the apology was short-lived; he grabbed my wrist as if to snatch it. His grip was so strong that I didn't even have a chance to resist.
"...Talk to me for a second. Not here, inside."
"...? Hey? Hey! Let go!"
Without even knowing why, I was dragged by him into the Literature Research Room.
The problem was that inside, Bianca-sunbae, the Magical Girl who had been secretly indulging in her fandom while in a wheelchair, was waiting.
The club room door burst open as if it were being smashed, and Si-woo, with the ferocity of a beast, dragged me inside along with a cloud of dust.
And in there, Bianca-sunbae, who had been leaning back in her wheelchair with a light novel in one hand and tomato juice with a straw in the other...
"...?"
"...."
"...."
Silence filled the room.
In the middle of an otaku sanctuary filled with figures and posters, there was Si-woo, who had come running with a deathly expression, me, being dragged along, and the brown-haired Magical Girl looking at us blankly with tomato juice on her lips.
We all stared at each other, frozen as if our brains had short-circuited.
The first to speak was Bianca. Bianca looked at our joined hands with dazed eyes, then quickly started to look intrigued.
"...Is this, by any chance, DA (Dating Abuse)? Controlling childhood friend characters aren't popular these days."
"Sunbae-nim, please read the room. It's not like that."
I said firmly, twisting my wrist out of Si-woo's grip.
Bianca scratched her head and nonchalantly took another sip of her tomato juice.
"Should I step out for a moment? The atmosphere is... it feels like someone's about to die in here."
"Sunbae-nim, you don't care about being found out anymore?"
When I pointed at the surrounding merchandise, Bianca shrugged.
"He's going to be a member anyway, right? There are no secrets among comrades."
"...? Me? The club?"
Si-woo, finally regaining some of his senses, asked in a stupid voice, so I tossed the club badge I had prepared in advance onto his chest.
"Yeah, Si-woo-ya. You're a member of the [Society for the Preservation of Human History and Cultural Heritage] from now on. I wrote your name down, and I just faked your signature and submitted it."
"???"
"It's not bad to join a club. You're too busy to find one, so I specially picked one where you don't have to study. Grateful, right?"
Si-woo seemed to have short-circuited in the head; he couldn't get his act together.
He had smashed through a wall to get here, only to arrive at a mysterious otaku den and suddenly be signed up for a club with a long name.
Ignoring the dazed Si-woo, I turned my head to Bianca.
"Sunbae. I have something to talk to Si-woo about privately, so could you step out for a moment?"
"Ah, suuure... Then I'll go check if the limited edition sandwiches have arrived at the store. You two, don't fight too violently. I don't care about the club room property, but the merchandise is limited edition."
Bianca operated her wheelchair and slid out of the room. The door closed, and silence returned.
With my arms crossed, I stared at Si-woo, who was still standing there blankly, holding the two dice in his hand.
"Alright, Kang Si-woo. Shall we talk now?"
After Bianca-sunbae left, Si-woo stood there blankly for a long time before letting out a long sigh.
"...You seemed to have changed a bit because of the shock after being attacked by the mages lately. That's why I was worried."
Si-woo continued, holding his aching head.
"But seeing that recklessly confident look just now, you seem like your usual self. ...I must have overused magic. My headache is severe."
"Ha... seriously."
I clicked my tongue and chanted the incantation.
"Epheta, Video. Rota."
Space opened up, and the Watching Eye and the mini versions of the Burning Wheel popped out.
As soon as they appeared, they clung to my shoulders and knees, rubbing against me and acting cute, so I skillfully stroked the eyelids of the Watching Eye.
"Good, aren't you? Don't fight."
[Watching Eye: (Blinks dozens of eyes and winks)]
[Burning Wheel: (Kkiririk, as if feeling good)]
Si-woo's complexion turned pale in an instant as he watched my actions.
"......, do you really think those are cute right now?"
"Yes. They're so cute. Don't you think?"
"...Yeah. If you say so, then it must be."
Si-woo squeezed his eyes shut, as if his head hurt even more.
"Si-woo-ya. I might not be the Han Seo-yeon you used to know. The Seo-yeon in your memories is just a fleeting moment of the past, and I keep changing."
Si-woo's pupils wavered.
"I realized it after this attack. Heaven's Gate isn't just a simple healing magic. It's an angel summoning art that summons beings from beyond. I don't need you to protect me anymore."
I put my hands on my waist confidently and stared straight into his eyes.
"So don't just cling to me, go meet other girls now. Got it?"
Si-woo's face turned blue. He rubbed his face with his hands and asked in a trembling voice.
"...That sunbae outside, that's Bianca Lucia-sunbae, right? The famous one."
"Yes, that's right. She's our club president."
"You... how often are you going to come to this club? Our class curriculums are completely different, so we won't have many chances to meet."
"I'll probably be here almost always, except when I have to go to the research institute? Why?"
Si-woo thought for a moment before looking up.
"...Then I'll come often too. I'll try to participate in club activities diligently. Instead, show your face often. You can promise at least that, right?"
Huh? He's more cooperative than I thought?
The fact that he comes to this club room often means the probability of him running into Bianca will skyrocket.
"Great! I'm glad we could come to an agreement."
I was de-summoning the disappointed angels, but Si-woo looked around the room as if he were dizzy, saw the figures and the piles of comic books, and gave up on thinking.
"...So what exactly does this club do?"
"Hm? Ah, right now it's just Bianca-sunbae, me, and you, but we just gather, watch anime, read books, and kill time. Achievements aren't really important."
Of course, what's important to me isn't achievements, but the events that occur here.
Once the club system is activated, sweet events like rivalry between heroines or joint training will pour out. Hehehe.
"...Let's stop here for today. My head feels like it's going to split."
"Yeah, take care! Get some rest!"
I waved at him to send him off, but Si-woo stopped before leaving the door and turned back to look at me.
"...If you have any worries, don't hide them and tell me. We're friends, aren't we?"
"Of course! Absolutely!"
I just hope my sincerity—that I'll pay a large congratulatory money if he gets married—reached him.
I mean, I've seen him so many times while playing the game, there's no way I don't have feelings for Si-woo.
I just don't want to be the one getting stuck with him.
If you meet a good woman and get married, I'll be happy for you, man.
After Si-woo swept through like a storm, a strange peace returned to the club room, and since I had some time, I sat on the sofa next to Bianca-sunbae and grabbed a portable game console.
The game was <Super Academy Brawl>, a competitive fighting game notorious among academy students for being a friendship-destroyer.
"Alright, here I go! Bianca-sunbae, prepare yourself!"
"Hmph, trying to beat me, the pinnacle of Majihoi, at a game? You're 100 years too early!"
Bianca tapped the buttons skillfully, as if operating her wheelchair controller.
Just as Bianca's character was about to land a flashy combo on the screen, I landed a counter with frame-perfect calculation and unleashed a ruthless barrage of attacks.
KO!
"Gyaaaah! Using a barrage while I'm talking is too evil! That's a foul, this is invalid!"
"Reality is cold, Sunbae-nim. Want to play one more round?"
"Of course! Let's do one more! This time I'll really go all out..."
Watching Bianca whine and adjust her grip on the pad, I secretly checked the clock.
"But hoobae-nim. Do we really not need to recruit other members? Thanks to that scary friend, we filled 3 spots, but what are you going to do about the remaining 2? If we get kicked out of the room in a week, I might actually die."
"Don't worry. They'll come on their own."
"...? They'll come on their own? The club room isn't a magnet..."
That was the moment.
Kiiiiiing!
Along with a high-pitched sound that felt like it was tearing my eardrums, Bianca's eyes turned sharp.
"Danger!"
Bianca instantly operated her wheelchair to push me away, and I rolled on the floor from the recoil and immediately chanted the incantation.
"Epheta, Rota!"
Kwaaaaaang!!!
A flame wall of the Burning Wheel, deployed in an instant, blocked our front.
But the attack was persistent, piercing through the middle of the club room where we had been enjoying our game just a moment ago, carving out the wall.
Our precious game console and limited edition monitor vanished into dust without even a scream.
"Ah... my save data."
While I was staring blankly at the destroyed wreckage, the sound of heels clicking came from through the thick cloud of dust.
"My, excuse me. The barrier was sturdier than I thought, so I raised the output a little."
Revealing herself through the dust was a girl with dazzling blonde hair braided elegantly.
The girl, perfectly dressed in a red uniform, held an elaborate magic staff in one hand and looked down at us with an arrogant smile.
The daughter of a prestigious British family, and the next-generation ace planted in the Academy by the Victoria Union.
"Penelope L. Gladstone...."
At my mutter, the girl elegantly tilted her head.
"I'm honored that you know my name. Then let's get to the point. We, the 'Chivalry Society', have decided to take over this club room. You don't need such an undeserved space for a club that can't even fill its quota and wanders around like a ghost, right?"
Bianca trembled and gripped the handles of her wheelchair tightly.
"You... my limited edition goods... how dare you... my sanctuary...!"
"Ah, those vulgar toys? It'll be a bit of a hassle to clean them up."
Penelope declared, waving her staff lightly.
"Academy Regulation Article 14, I request a club room takeover battle due to a dispute over club room occupancy rights! I will consider a refusal as a defeat."
So you've come.
The second sacrifice among the 3 main heroines of <Dice and Academy>.