Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: I Don't Want to Be the Heroine (3)
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Plop—
As I stepped out the door, something plopped down from above onto my head.
I picked it up, wondering what it was, and saw it was a pink petal. I looked up at the sky.
"...Ah."
It was unmistakably spring. Pink petals danced through the air on the breeze, adorning the heavens.
Like a shower of rain, yet soft. My nose tickled from the pollen, and I sneezed for a moment.
I lifted my head to greet the full bloom of spring.
The season of enrollment, the season of beginnings.
Many words described it, but it was hard to deny how pleasant spring felt. If not for... this situation, I’d just soak in the sentimentality.
But that wasn’t possible. I had to avoid those flags.
Looking around, I saw people bustling about. Chased by time and tasks.
The only difference was their colorful hair—otherwise, not much unlike the world I’d known.
"Huh."
Thud—
Correction: everything except the 'abilities' was similar. A person about 6 meters tall passed nearby.
His skin covered in rock, wearing only underwear—it was enough to draw stares, but I was the only one gawking. In this ability-infused world, was even that commonplace?
Looking closer, there were plenty of oddities. People flying in the distance, fighting. They surrounded a masked figure, shouting something.
Someone floating in the air. Another pulling multiple hands from the ground to aim guns. And one in a coat—out of season—gripping a sword.
I muttered to myself, wondering who they were, when a voice came from beside me.
"Heroes!"
Heroes, huh. Well, they didn’t look ordinary. So the masked one in the center must be the villain.
Even as buildings crumbled and tensions flared like a fight could erupt any second, no one looked anxious.
Just curious, expectant faces wondering what would happen next. Scenes like this must not be rare.
"...Is this okay?"
What if those so-called heroes slipped up a bit, and the villain took a hostage? What if an accident injured or killed someone? People acted like such risks didn’t exist, utterly nonchalant.
If most saw this as normal, then it probably was. Of course, I couldn’t adapt to that normalcy in a single day—I felt terribly out of place.
For starters, people wielding abilities everywhere didn’t feel real yet. It was like walking through a dream. Too vivid, even the pain felt real.
I pushed through the crowd glued to the spectacle. Some noticed my uniform and asked, "You an aspiring hero too?" I just nodded and looked away.
I wished I could be that carefree, but I had too much to do.
To avoid expulsion, I had to diligently train my ability. Dodge flags with the protagonist. And build decent relationships around me.
...I preferred being alone, but total isolation? Not quite.
"Haa..."
After walking a while, my eyes caught a building in the distance. A white structure rising amid squat, dark ones. Students in the same uniform headed there.
"Guess I’m on the right track."
I’m bad with directions, so I’d asked around. Good thing no one sent me astray. After more walking, a massive school gate loomed ahead. Human height tops out under 2 meters—why was this gate so huge?
Big enough to pass for a flagpole if you hung a national banner on it. I stared blankly at it for a moment when a sigh came from behind. Was someone annoyed at my dawdling? Feeling guilty, I turned to see a white-haired man sighing.
"...How the hell did you make it this far."
Muttering to himself with no one around. It was kinda funny, so I smirked—then a thought flashed through my mind.
White hair. That moronic mutter. Unmistakably... the protagonist’s traits. Goosebumps crawled up my arms.
The more I looked, the more it matched. Handsome face, average height. And... that sword at his waist.
By then—I was already backing away. Seriously, running into him before the entrance ceremony even started? Did being the main heroine mean contact this soon?
No, their first meeting was later. No need to plant a flag myself.
I mentally defused the situation and hurried inside. Someone called from behind, but I ignored it.
Visually, it didn’t differ much from the school I knew. Students in uniforms, teacher-like folks wandering.
Some were far from human, but no one batted an eye.
—Alright! The entrance ceremony’s about to start, so follow the signs here to the main auditorium!
"...Huh?"
No one was shouting nearby, yet the voice rang clear as if from right beside me. No speakers, no one with a mic.
It took a bit to realize this was one of the 'abilities.' Convenient—human loudspeaker.
"Main auditorium... main auditorium..."
As I followed the signs, a thought struck. Why was I going to the auditorium? Sure, I was the type to chime in with a "yes" when everyone else did.
Not rebellion against orders... but it felt like if I went, I’d end up as the heroine for real.
Go to the ceremony, follow along there. Then class assignments come out—and boom, same class as the protagonist.
"No way."
But what if I skipped the ceremony? What if I wasn’t there when assignments started? Classes are assigned by drawing lots yourself. Objectively unfair, but fairest from a student’s view.
In the original, Aisha drew and got the protagonist’s class. But if I don’t draw?
Out of sight, out of mind—maybe no heroine fate?
I halted mid-stride to the auditorium. The ceremony was just an event anyway—no roll call. I’d dressed neatly in uniform thinking they might check at the gate.
Nothing said they took attendance. Sure enough, I overheard students saying they’d skip it.
So what I was about to do? Totally legal.
Let the protagonist handle the ceremony and assignments. Ah, the knot in my chest loosened.
Even in a woman’s body, I’d once been a man. Me, tangled with the protagonist, falling in love?
"As if."
The revulsion wasn’t as strong as in my guy days, but still weird.
And with this body, loving women feels off too? Yeah, solo suits me. Yep.
Heading back outside, it felt quieter now. Everyone must’ve gone to the ceremony.
Still, scattered students kept it from feeling desolate. Deeper past the buildings, a path lined with cherry trees appeared—made for walking.
A straight lane through blooming sakura.
I’d once vowed to walk it with a girlfriend someday. Now a girl myself—could I even stroll here?
Still, walking alone cleared my head. What to do next... how to dodge the protagonist.
"But come to think of it, no same class means it’s over already, right?"
Most flags between Aisha and the protagonist hinged on being classmates. Escape that?
...Was it done?
My steps lightened. Who cares about a girl’s body if I’m not the heroine? Pretty, capable. Family’s poor, but heroes make bank later.
Could it end this easily? No need for all that agonizing earlier?
"Hey?"
A voice from behind. It sounded familiar, so I stopped.
"Didn’t you see us earlier?"
Recognizing the gate voice, I turned.
"......."
"...You stared just like that before too..."
That face—the protagonist I knew. My expression crumpled.
Why the hell are you here?