Prologue 1

Wednesday. The middle of the week. The bomb was dropped during morning homeroom...

“Rekka, take me to an amusement park this Sunday.”

“Huh?!”

One sentence from Iris’s mouth was all it took to completely wake me up from my drowsiness.

“You will, right? Right?”

“Umm...”

I averted my gaze from Iris, who had slammed both of her hands down on my desk and was leaning over it... If I hadn’t looked away, her two large breasts—looking even larger squeezed between her arms—would have distracted me too much to even speak.

“Why?” I asked, feeling my cheeks turn red.

“Well, I was watching TV yesterday, and they said on a commercial that some huge entertainment facility called an ‘amusement park’ is opening soon! It looked like a ton of fun! So I want to go with you!”

Iris brought her smiling face (and her breasts) closer to me.

“O-Oh, I see...”

I turned away from the approaching mountains of temptation and tried to think.

I’d seen that commercial too. The place was just a few stops down on the train line, and it was opening this weekend. So Iris saw it and thought it looked fun, huh?

Well, it was true that amusement parks could be fun places, but it was only half as much fun if you went alone. It would be a shame if Iris had to go by herself. I didn’t want Earth to disappoint her.

“Well, I don’t have any plans, so if you want...”

But before I could finish my sentence...

“Rekka!”

My childhood friend Satsuki Otomo, who was sitting in the seat next to mine, slammed her fists down on her desk and shouted my name.

“Wh-What? Wait, why are you glaring at me?”

“I am not glaring at you!” she yelled back, but she was still glaring daggers.

Wh-What? Had I done something wrong?

As I sat there, confused by my childhood friend’s anger, she took two slips of paper out from her desk.

“I-If you’re going to the amusement park, go with me!” she said, her voice cracking a little.

Not knowing what to do, I looked down some, but my eyes gravitated towards what she was holding. It looked like a pair of tickets to the amusement park Iris and I had just been talking about. In the corner of one of them, I could see the words “Grand Opening Preorder Ticket.” That made me wonder...

“Where did you get those things?”

And why are you bringing them out now? I asked, but not out loud. I was too scared.

“Well... um... now that I’ve got all these new rivals, I felt like I needed to try harder...” Satsuki’s voice trailed off like she was making an excuse. I wasn’t sure what for, though.

Anyway, now that Satsuki had interrupted, a certain someone was extremely upset.

“I asked Rekka first. Butt out.”

“But I was the first one to invite him! Do you know how long it took me to figure out where to go, or what it took to work up the courage to ask him?”

“Not my problem! First come, first serve!”

Sparks were flying between Iris and Satsuki, and I was caught in the middle. Yup. I thought that it might go down like this.

I sighed a bit... but suddenly Iris grabbed my head and pulled it to her chest, giving me an indescribably happy feeling directly on my face!

“Rekka, you want to go with me, right?”

“Mmfff!”

I couldn’t breathe, much less answer. There really are breasts that can smother people!

“Stop it! Rekka can’t breathe!” Satsuki’s voice was almost a scream as she ripped me away from Iris.

No, no... I wasn’t a little disappointed. Definitely not. That could’ve been fatal, after all. So I really wished the other boys in the classroom would stop gnashing their teeth. And stop scowling at me like that. Well, I guess if I were in their shoes, I might’ve done the same thing.

Anyway, putting that aside... I had more important matters to deal with.

“Rekka, you’re going with me, right?” asked Iris.

“You’re going with me, aren’t you?” asked Satsuki.

What was I supposed to do?

“Oh my. Isn’t this getting interesting?” R had been watching the whole thing, of course.

I was on the verge of getting an ulcer, and she looked like she was having a grand old time.

“So, what will you do, Rekka?” R asked mischievously. There was no expression on her face, but I could tell she thought this was hilarious.

But it was true that I had to do something...

I suddenly came up with a brilliant plan.

“You know...”

I grabbed one of the tickets in Satsuki’s hand...

“Couldn’t you do this instead?”

And handed it to Iris.

“...”

“...”

...Why were both of them looking at me with such cold eyes? The tension that had filled the air vanished in an instant and was replaced with a sense of disappointment.

What was going on here? Iris wanted to go to the amusement park. Satsuki had two tickets. It only made sense for the two of them to go together.

“And how, exactly, did you arrive at that conclusion after everything you just heard? Rekka, is your head as hollow as a balloon?” R asked, seemingly serious.

▽

After that, I somehow managed to get them to agree to both go with me as a group of three. Of course, I would buy my own ticket on the day we went. It was pricey, but... it was well worth it to get out of that mess.

“I’ll have to ask Harissa only to buy the cheapest groceries for the next week...”

I sighed as my thoughts turned to the young wizard in charge of housekeeping at my place. Come to think of it, both Iris and Harissa were adapting to life here really well, weren’t they? Harissa wasn’t even from Earth, but when I left the house this morning, she was telling me how meat was cheaper at the supermarket if you bought it in the evening. At this point, she was basically a Japanese housewife.

It did feel like I was relying on her a little too much, but for some reason, I just couldn’t stop. I figured I should come up with some way to thank her. But as I tried to think of various things that Harissa might enjoy, lunchtime rolled around.

“Rekka, are you going to eat in the classroom today?” Satsuki asked.

“Hmm, yeah, I guess.”

“I’m going to get something from the cafeteria! Don’t start eating without me!”

Iris bolted out of the room the moment class ended. Satsuki and I pushed our desks together. I took a boxed lunch wrapped in a cloth napkin out from my bag. It was Harissa’s turn to make lunch today, if I remembered right.

“...”

Satsuki was staring as hard as she could at my lunch, but I decided not to say anything. Satsuki and Harissa were taking turns making my lunch, and it felt like they had some kind of weird rivalry going on over it. Maybe they were competing to see who could make the better lunch or something. But both of them were good, so I didn’t care.

“I’m back!”

“You’re always so fast at that, Iris.”

“Really? I’m not even using close to my full speed, you know.”

She’d been gone less than a minute. Although, aliens were a lot stronger and faster than humans, so maybe it really didn’t seem that quick to her.

“Anyway, let’s eat,” I said.

Iris dragged a desk over to join us, and I was just about to put my hands together and dig in when the phone in my pocket began to vibrate.

“Oh, sorry. Somebody’s calling.”

I looked at the name on the screen: “Hibiki Banjo.” I hadn’t seen her since we’d gone to the hospital together... What was going on?

“I’ll be right back. You guys get started without me.”

“Huh? But I want eat with you!” Iris whined.

“I can wait for a little while,” Satsuki boasted.

Hmm... I really didn’t mean to make them wait for me.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”

I got up and went out into the hallway before I pressed the answer button.

“You’re too slow!” Hibiki shouted through the phone.

“I was just about to eat. Give me a break.”

“I see... I get nervous when I have to wait a long time, so next time, pick up faster.”

“Why would you get nervous over a phone call?” I asked what I thought was a simple question.

“I-It doesn’t matter to you, does it?!”

“?”

Why was her voice trembling? Oh, wait, Hibiki was always a little timid around men, wasn’t she? That would include me, I guess, so that would explain why she was nervous.

“Anyway, I’ll pick up faster next time.”

“Yeah, do that. Sheesh.”

She seemed a little angry. I just sighed a bit.

We both had our own special “bloodlines.” I thought that had brought us together a little, but it seemed like she didn’t even feel comfortable calling me on the phone. That was kind of depressing.

“So why’d you call? You need something?”

“Of course. There’s something I’d like to talk to you about...”

“To me?”

Did that mean...

“Are you caught up in another story?”

“That’s right. But it seems like you and your friends could handle this one a lot better than I could on my own.”

“That’s fine. But what kind of story is it?”

“Basically, it’s a treasure hunt.”

“A treasure hunt? Like for Ieyasu Tokugawa’s buried gold or something?”

“Nope. Aladdin’s magic lamp.”

“Aladdin?”

Wait, is that the one with the genie who grants wishes?

“You get to go look for a ‘Demon’s Pot’ that will grant any wish.”

“Another fantasy story, huh?”

“Better than another trip to another world, right?”

“Maybe.” I laughed a little.

“By the way, when you said ‘you and your friends,’ who else were you talking about?”

“You’ve got that girl who can use the Magic of Omniscience, right? Satsuki?”

“Yeah.”

“If she can look up anything, then finding treasure should be easy.”

“But even if we do find the treasure, is whoever you’re helping going to believe us?”

Magic was a handy tool, but it was something that normal people didn’t even know was real. I wasn’t sure if the person who’d gotten Hibiki caught up in their treasure hunt would be willing to believe it.

“Yeah. You don’t have to worry about that. Chelsea can use a little magic too.”

“I see. Then maybe—Wait a second!”

“What?”

“Did you tell this Chelsea person about the Magic of Omniscience?!”

Satsuki’s family had long feared that the Magic of Omniscience might be used for evil by outsiders, so they’d done everything they could to hide its existence. It was one thing to tell someone she could trust, or someone who didn’t believe in magic, but it would be bad news if another mage from Earth found out about Satsuki’s secret.

“Don’t worry. I just told her that I knew a mage who was good at finding things. And her family might be mages, but she’s a runaway turned treasure hunter.”

“I... I see.”

I guess that made it okay. But I’d have to be careful if she ever ran into Satsuki.

“Anyway, I think I’ve got the basic idea. You want to meet in person and talk about the rest?”

“If possible. It’s probably better for Chelsea to tell you her story herself.”

“All right. So when do we meet?”

“Real treasure hunting isn’t like in the fairy tales. If you’re going mountain climbing or spelunking, you need to get ready for it. Chelsea’s the expert, so I’m having her do that part, but it’s going to take four days or so for preparations. So we’ll meet this Sunday...”

“This Sunday?!”

I almost dropped my phone in shock.

“Huh? Yeah. So I want to meet at...”

Hibiki kept talking. But wait a minute...

“I’m going to be at an amusement park on Sunday.”

I was about to tell her that I was going with Satsuki and Iris, but...

“A-An amusement park? Y-You idiot! W-We’re not meeting up to have fun!”

“I know that! That’s not what I meant. I...”

“Th-Then don’t say something so stupid! A-Anyway, I’ve never even been to an amusement park, or even seen one, so I don’t know what I’d do there...”

“U-Um... Hibiki?”

It sounded like she was freaking out, so I tried talking to her. But she didn’t seem to hear me.

“And meeting at an amusement park on Sunday... That sounds almost like a d-d-d-date! If I went there with you... I mean, no, Chelsea would be there too, I guess... Not that she’d be in the way! Or that I wanted to be alone with you or anything! I’m just saying that... um... uh...”

“Hey, Hibiki!”

Since I didn’t seem to be getting anywhere, I tried yelling her name a little louder. I could hear her inhale sharply in surprise.

“I guess you misunderstood me. But actually...”

“I... I didn’t misunderstand you! Not at all! We can go to the amusement park after this story is solved... um... just the two of us... Oh jeez! I’m just going to bring her to you on Sunday! Come meet me at the station! Got it?”

BEEP.

She hung up on me.

“Huh? Uh, Hibiki? Hey! Hello?”

I quickly tried calling her back, but she must’ve turned off her phone.

“Fine, I’ll just send her a message... Wait.”

I didn’t actually have her messenger address.

“Uh-oh...”

Now I had a scheduling conflict on top of everything else. What was I supposed to do?

“This is getting interesting, huh? Heh heh...”

“It is not interesting at all! And don’t laugh!”

Without thinking, I yelled at R, who had her cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk as she floated in mid-air. The other students, who couldn’t see her, were all staring at me.

I could hear them saying things like, “Namidare stares at things that aren’t there, huh?” or “Namidare scares me ‘cause he just starts yelling sometimes,” or “Not only does Namidare have a bunch of real girls, I think he’s also got an invisible girl that only he can see.” That last one, unfortunately, was the most accurate.

▽

That night...

I was sitting on my living room sofa, absentmindedly watching TV.

“Hmm... What’s on sale tomorrow?”

Harissa was sitting next to me, carefully studying each flyer in the newspaper.

My thoughts turned to Sunday. I’d called Hibiki back a bunch of times after we’d talked, but she still had her phone off. If I couldn’t even leave her a message, there was nothing I could do.

But I remembered how happy Iris had looked when she was talking about the amusement park, and I just couldn’t bring myself to cancel on her. And Satsuki didn’t really let it show, but she seemed to be looking forward to it too.

Well, I wasn’t going to spend the entire day at the amusement park. I could just go there in the morning with the two of them, ride a ton of rides, and leave in the evening when they were tired. Then I could go see Hibiki.

Wait, we didn’t decide on a time to meet at the station... I’d just have to call her again tomorrow.

“Um... Sir Rekka?”

“Hmm?”

I felt a hesitant tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Harissa looking up into my eyes.

“Umm...”

She was fidgeting like she was too nervous to continue.

“What’s up?”

I nodded her on, and she blushed a little.

“Do you... Do you want to go to this with me?”

Then she handed me a flyer.

“What’s this? ‘Grand reopening sale’?”

“That’s right.”

The flyer was an ad for a sale at a clothing store. From the map, it looked like it was a department store shop in the next town over. All the clothes in the pictures were for girls. It wasn’t the kind of place I really went to. But...

“That’s right. We haven’t bought any clothes for you yet, Harissa.”

I’d just given her my mother’s old clothes. But my mom was tall, and to be honest, she had a figure that made it hard to believe she’d had a kid. Her clothes were way too big for Harissa. She was practically swimming in them. Most of the time, she actually ended up just wearing my old clothes. She didn’t even own a skirt.

“Yeah, this is a good chance to go buy something for you...”

“Y-Yes. So, um...”

“Hmm?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to tell me what clothes you think I look best in...”

The redness in her cheeks turned a deeper shade as she looked up at me.

Normally I’d never turn her down when she was like this, but there was one problem... The flyer said “ONE DAY ONLY!” in big letters. And it was dated for this Sunday. Now I had something else to cram in somehow.

If I was just going to buy clothes for Harissa, I could do it some other day. But I already needed to buy an amusement park ticket, which was going to put a serious dent in my wallet. It would be tough to afford clothes at full price on a budget like that. I’d probably end up eating nothing but rice with boiled plums for the next month.

Actually, the reason Harissa had waited for a sale to bring this up at all was probably because she knew how tight we were financially. There was no way for her to know that I’d already agreed to other plans for that day.

I didn’t really have the time—or the money—for this, but Harissa was always helping out around the house, and I couldn’t turn her down. After all she’d done for me, I wanted to buy her everything she could ask for.

“Hmm...”

“...Is that not a good day for you, maybe?”

Harissa’s shoulders started to slump when she saw my reaction.

“Oh, no, it’s fine, just...”

“Then it’s okay?!”

“Huh?”

I should’ve known better than to give her a vague answer, but it was too late for regrets now.

“Yay! I’m so happy! I get to go on a trip with Sir Rekka!”

Harissa hopped up and down on the sofa like a bunny rabbit and wrapped her arms around her chest. Then she jumped off the sofa and turned to me with shining eyes and a huge grin on her face.

“I’ll go get the bath ready!” she said as she skipped out of the living room.

...Was there any man on earth who could go after her now and tell her that he didn’t mean it? If there was, he’d have to be a hollow, soulless man. The kind of guy that wouldn’t even care if you told him the world was about to end. I guarantee it.

“She really wanted some clothes, huh?”

All I could do was whisper to myself.

“That’s probably not what Harissa really wants, I think.”

Wait. R was there, so I wasn’t really just talking to myself.

“...”

Instead of trying to escape reality, I decided to get everything straight in my head. Satsuki and Iris wanted to go to the amusement park. Hibiki was bringing a girl named Chelsea to see me at the station. Harissa wanted to go to a department store sale with me. And I hadn’t set a time for meeting with Hibiki yet.

I’d probably have to leave early to make it in time for the sale. And both Harissa’s clothes shopping and the amusement park were going to take several hours, so I couldn’t just do one in the morning and the other later.

“Man, I don’t know what to do...”

Nothing came to me no matter how much I thought. I stared up at the ceiling and whispered...

“Save me, hero...”