Misaligned Bonds (3)
Perhaps it was because Hino had suddenly closed the distance that I must have fainted at some point.
When I finally came to and looked around, an unfamiliar, lavish space met my eyes. A clean room that seemed modernly designed, packed with various art pieces whose value I could not even begin to judge.
“…Hino?”
—Gulp.
I swallowed dryly without thinking. Whether this was a hotel or someone’s house, I had no idea….
I-if I so much as moved wrong and broke even one of those things, wouldn’t I end up sold as a slave?
Just imagining that possible catastrophe sent chills down my spine, even though I could load a save. Ugh—well, of course. If I got sold as a slave in this body, it was obvious what kind of fate awaited me.
Terrified, I curled up into a ball and could only cry out Hino’s name over and over, like a newborn pup searching for its mother.
“Hino? Hinooo? Hino? Hino? Hino?!”
How many times did I call, raising my voice?
—Creeeak
Just as I was starting to suspect I’d been kidnapped by someone and locked up or sold off, one of the doors in the room thankfully opened. Through a haze of steam, familiar lavender hair appeared.
But then…
“Hiiik, Hino?!”
“Ah. You’re awake.”
Hino was in a state beyond imagination.
As if intending to make me faint again, she was covering her bare body with nothing but a single towel. I didn’t get a nosebleed like in manga….
Ugh. I-if I mishandle my gaze, I might die holding my breath right here.
C-calm down. Yeah, I have to stay calm! Hino definitely didn’t appear with that kind of intention!
I tried to cover my mouth with both hands and steady my rough breathing from excitement.
—Ssslip
Ah. T-this seductive fox of a Hino. As if determined to tempt me, Hino walked around the room without so much as batting an eye, even with her fair skin exposed.
I tried not to think bad thoughts. But I couldn’t take it anymore. So I stopped thinking and started appreciating Hino’s form with wide eyes.
Smooth skin without a single scar, moist from just finishing a shower. The towel clinging tightly to her body, revealing the clear curves of her soft figure. A different charm from Novena, who had firm muscles.
If I could, I really wanted to push Hino down right then and lick her all over.
“Adel.”
How long had I been out of it? Hino, who had been tilting her head and wandering the room, slowly approached me.
“Huuuh…”
Her chest and abdomen gradually enlarged as they came closer to my eyes while I sat on the bed.
I-I can’t hold on anymore!
I managed to suppress the desire somehow, but I couldn’t stop my mouth from moving on its own.
“H-Hino! No! We’re not that kind of relationship yet!”
Half of it was nonsense born from the desire that Hino might jump me.
“What are you talking about? What’s wrong?”
Naturally, Hino just answered innocently, not understanding my reaction at all.
“Excuse me.”
Then what she did after approaching was simply put on the white robe that had been lying on the bed.
“Ah. Yeah.”
Ha. Delayed sage time hit me hard. I knew full well that Hino, who despised human desire, would never do such a thing. Yet because of pointless expectations, I got lost in wild fantasies and got excited without keeping my cool.
If my thoughts had been read, I would have heard a cut-off declaration like ‘Disgusting. So you were just another human after all. Get out. I never want to see you again.’
…Aagh! I’m trash!
But I had plenty of excuses. Acting so defenseless like this was the bad part to begin with. Even if she’d brought someone else, the reaction would have been more, not less. More than anything, my affection for Hino was genuine, so how could I endure a situation where I could see my favorite character’s bare body?
I had to warn her clearly about that.
“You don’t usually walk around like that, right?”
“Yeah. Only when I sleep.”
“M-maybe you’ll sleep with me?”
“No.”
No, that’s not it. I had to warn her.
“N-next time, could you come out wearing clothes?”
“Why?”
“I’m fine, but by accident other people might see Hino’s bare body.”
“No. I’m careful too.”
“Yeah, so I’m telling you just in case. Accidents come in unexpected situations.”
“…Alright. I’ll be careful.”
Phew. That was a relief. There’s no way someone who likes the person I like would want to show their bare body to others, right?
Somehow after I asked if she’d sleep with me, her gaze looking at me felt colder. Mm, this must be a misunderstanding too for sure.
After that, following Hino’s guidance, I changed clothes late and enjoyed my ‘first’ shower since possessing this body. Then I returned to the room I’d be staying in, sat facing Hino, and shared some simple tea she prepared.
It seemed she had something to say to me, so she sent Novena away and arranged this meeting. Even though I knew all the routes, it was hard to guess the true intentions of someone with Hino’s personality. She preferred wrapping and hiding her inner thoughts rather than showing them, and she wasn’t the type to act stupid without thinking.
Like that, Hino who had been staring at me silently finally spoke.
“For the time being, give up on recovering your memories.”
“…Why?”
It was a completely unexpected topic. I even got a chilling worry that maybe there was something wrong with me.
“Professor Enut went on a business trip. She won’t be in the infirmary.”
“Ah.”
So that’s why the infirmary was empty yesterday. No wonder the door was locked, so I had to use the key I’d snuck earlier to get in.
Thinking about it, one fact I’d overlooked while focusing on the duel with Burgeng came to mind. The subjugation battle starting in just a few days. As an event where all students are mobilized for various political reasons, professors also had to attend semi-forcibly. As the conclusion of the first episode of Four Crowns, it was also a chance to check the strengths and weaknesses of each faction and the main characters all at once. It was natural that Professor Enut, who had abundant real combat experience as a soldier and could even serve as a healer, would take an important role.
“Haa….”
In the end, reviving my memories would be postponed again. Why does nothing ever go right? Since possessing this world, only frustrating situations seemed to continue abnormally. If gods existed, it felt like I’d incurred that god’s wrath and hatred.
As I rubbed my face to organize my thoughts from the frustration, Hino’s voice continued again.
“Adel. You need to firmly decide your position too. Burgeng has become your enemy. The Crown Prince sent Novena to monitor you. My father wants to use you for propaganda. From the Republic….”
“W-wait. What did you just say?”
…That’s a lie, right? Or did I mishear? Why would Novena do such a dirty thing.
“Ha, haha Hino! Your joke is going too far, right?”
But contrary to my hopes, Hino just asserted the terrible story without a single change in expression.
“Do you really think meeting Novena was a coincidence?”
“That’s…”
My breath caught in my throat. Novena who appeared matching the time and situation so well it was hard to dismiss as mere ‘coincidence’. In fact, it was rarer to find times when I didn’t run into Novena while walking around the Academy.
I fumbled with my hands to pull at the clothes constricting my breath, trying to calm down even a little.
“Huff… huff…”
But no matter how much I pulled the clothes, breathing didn’t get easier. What was the problem?
“It’s not with any other meaning. It’s not to harass you either. It was just Professor Lutera’s request. She asked me to watch so you wouldn’t be in danger. So be careful.”
Hino adding words as if making an excuse. Even without that, I know it’s not a lie. If I hadn’t trusted Hino in the first place, I wouldn’t have sought her out to recover my memories.
But…. Novena also wasn’t the type to casually tail someone. If neither of them was lying, there must be some hidden reason for Novena. If not that… then this world isn’t the Four Crowns world I know.
My insides felt maddeningly stuffy. The situation where what I thought I knew, what I thought was common sense, betrayed my trust. If I could, I wanted to tear open my chest instead of clothes and blow breath directly into my lungs.
As if sensing my inner thoughts,
“Think carefully. Rest easy today.”
Hino left without any more talk. Left alone in the room, the hand I’d tentatively extended to hold her back had no choice but to withdraw desolately.
We’re not that kind of relationship yet.
…Lonely. It would have been better if she just stayed with me like this. Even though it was a luxurious situation incomparable to when I wandered the streets hungry, with nowhere to sleep, camping out or staying up all night. It was empty. The feeling of enjoying something that isn’t mine.
If it was a situation solved by fighting and winning without thinking, it would have been easy. How many days has it been since I vowed to save ‘all’ the heroines belonging to the four factions, and I’m already like this. I don’t know if I can do it.
…If I were still a player, what choice would I have made?
Without a doubt, I would have given up on Novena’s route and switched to Hino or another heroine route. Or without hesitation, load the save file right before the branch and try something new. Thinking about it now, if Four Crowns was reality, I was quite a cruel human. Maybe I’m receiving the retribution for that.
“Haa… In the end, I just talked big too.”
So let’s not give up. At least I can try talking. If the heroines could turn back time like me, most of their endings would have been tragedies. I didn’t want to easily give up the bonds with the heroines that were filled with the only ‘good memories’ in my life. Being isolated alone, crumbling lonely without doing anything was enough in my previous life.
At least Novena hadn’t done anything to harm me or spread bad words about me. Yeah. She’s not someone I hate, so I can understand being tailed by someone I like. It’s not some black-hearted guy stalking to rape me, but someone I like following me around. Maybe she did it to protect me.
Thinking that way, my heart felt a little more at ease. I fell asleep worrying about what to say first when I meet Novena tomorrow.
The next day.
My thought of going back to class and talking with Novena could only end as an attempt.
“Um, Novena…?”
“Busy.”
At first, I just thought she was really busy and couldn’t talk with me. But after several attempts to talk only got cold replies, I had no choice but to realize. That Novena had no will to talk with me.
“Novena, please just once… just listen to what I have to say…!!”
Now Novena wouldn’t even meet my eyes, trying not to create situations where we were alone.
Haha. Really, how did it come to this. With Novena gone and for some reason Hino not showing up either. Isolated from everyone, wandering the streets like a stranger, what am I even doing.
“Aaa…”
I don’t know anymore either.