Vol 5 Chapter 3 (1/2)
OreShura: Volume 5 Chapter 3
【Holy Dragon Princess of Dawn】Akishi+no Himeka
Max: LV 70
Attack: 2900
Defense: 2540
Special: Desolate Eagle Pose
♥ Profile ♥
｢My true name is Himeka · Sei · Heavensrain ｣
♥ Love Level UP ♥
｢Hold me?｣
♥ Love Level MAX ♥
｢As long as I have Eita, I don't need anything else｣
3: Himeka, There is Someone She Likes
Ever since Chiwa stopped co room's become so lonely
It was annoying when she was here, yet it was so lonely when she wasn't It was just like an old-fashi+oned air conditioner If you turned it on it was too cold, but when you turned it off it it was too hot
Ugh, it's seven o'clock already?
Saeko-san wasn't coht, so I had no motivation to make dinner for one person
Just when I decided to go with an egg and instant noodles for dinner, the doorbell rang
”Is it Chiwa?”
N-no, probably not
If it were Chiwa, she would have gone straight through the yard and let herself in through the French[1]
As I ondering who it could be at this time of the day—
”Eita, will you hold me?”
She was clutching large Boston bags[2] in each of her armpits
On her back, she was carrying a swelling backpack
Akishi+no Hi for breath as she stood at my front door
”Hi Hie”
”I have been forced into exile”
This is still japan you know, Hime?
”The Prirant 《DRIFTES》[3] The only place I can go to is Eita's”
Even though this was His, she expressed herself very clearly
Then I suddenly realized it,
”Did you run away from home?”
Hiorously nodded her head
”In Hyperdimensional terms, it's IED” [4]
”It's IEDE—”
Even if she forgot one letter, the hyperdi said, I haven't heard her say things like hyperdi already?
Hime lowered her head,
”And that's why, sorry to bother” [5]
”Please come in, my humble home is simple and crude—wait a second! You ran away from home!? Did you really run away from home?”
”Affirmative”
Hiry eyes and spoke
”My precious treasures have been destroyed There's no reason for o back to that place”
♦
I cooked ether with Hime
Even though I cooked the erly finished every last bit Ah, it really is so ful to share dinner with others
”Oh right, what treasures were you talking about?”
I asked Hime this as I refilled her empty cup arm tea
”My Genesis Force from ｢ORIGIN LOW｣” [6]
In other words, I didn't get it
”Sorry, can you explain it a little more clearly?”
”The ｢Holy Scriptures｣ that catalyzed and spun out a good deal of my fantasies”
”T-Try saying it again”
”My precious ames were thrown out”
”That's awfully clear all of a sudden!”
This was probably the ultimate reason for an elementary school student to run away froh schooler!
”Who threw it away? Your mother? Father?”
”My older sister”
”Oh, you have an older sister? What does she do?”
”She's a third-year in college,in business at a university in Tokyo in order to inherit the Akishi+no Hotel She's co time”
That being said, I remembered now that Hime's family ran a hotel business Kaoru once said that their faed an ancestral inn ever since the Edo period
”My sister and I are completely unalike”
When Hime finished her tea, she lowered her head
”When you say unalike, how so?”
”Everything”
That response didn't help at all
Did she mean their personalities were different? For example, her sister was very social and her friends were all very extroverted… in other words, riajuus? [7]
At the
I got off the table and gave it a look—the inco phone call was from ｢Akishi+no Himeka｣
”Huh?”
I looked back at the table, but Hime was empty handed and in a daze
”Where's your phone?”
Hiroped around her pockets with several pats
”I forgot it at home”
No wonder
In other words, the person who made the phone call must have been one of Hime's family members
I took a deep breath, and pressed the talk button
”hello?”
A very calm and youthful female voice seemed to come from the other end of the phone—
”Apologies for disturbing you so late in the night May I ask if this is Burning Fighting Fighter-san's cellphone?”
”…………………………………………Yes”
I wanted to lay on the ground and die
daister me with that naer A several days ago!”
”Is this very long name your real name?”
”No, you could consider it a nickname I'm so sorry”
I didn't knohy I apologized
The voice from the other end of the phone seemed unsympathetic
”It's a pleasure to meet you I am Akishi+no Hier sister visited your residence lately?”
I temporarily covered the mouthpiece with my hand
”It's your sister's phone call”
Hie X's in front of her chest
I nodded slightly and returned to the phone
”No, she never did”
I heard a slight sigh come from the other end of the phone
”Are you Himeka's classmate?”'
Her attitude suddenly turned into ｢adult speaking to child｣ tone
”I'm a fellow club member”
”Club? That girl is part of a club? Which club?”
Her voice sounded rather astonished
Oh dear, how should I respond to this? If it were Masuzu, she'd be able to nonchalantly cook up some kind of nonsense easily
”What's wrong? Is it one of those inexplicable clubs?”
”Uh, it's called the Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self”
”What does that club do?”
”What does it do?”
Although we've been established for three months already, I still had no clue Probably no one had any idea
”I asked you a question?”
”S-Sorry”
Another sigh came from the other end of the phone
”This is just ame-related club?”
”Huh?”
”Because that girl loves those kinds of things the most”
It looks like she made an erroneous interpretation out of my hesitation
”She's been like this since middle school She didn't study seriously, and wasted all of her entire allowance on those kinds of stupid trinkets I thought she would change one day, but after being apart for so long, she hasn't changed at all! She hasn't improved”
I felt a little sorry for Hi that about her
”She just has interest in a You don't need to be that extreme”
”If it were siirl is just too addicted She can't tell the difference between delusion and reality Even if I tell her that, it's pointless”
”But, she's notany trouble for anyone”
”That girl has thisas she isn't ive up your self-respect and intellect, then chase after these inary worlds, what kind of person will you be in the end? In the eyes of society and others, aren't you just a worthlessly ?”
It seerier
”Your opinion is too subjective There are also people who are positively influenced by ht? Why do you only stress the bad part? It's not fair”
”What is this positive influence that you speak of?”
”Um, that…”
I shot a glance at Hi at me
”It can help you make friends”
”Friends?”
”Yes Hia That's e becaood thing?”
I wasn't lying
Hime currently cherishes her Chuunibyou delusions dearly Her fantasies are very similar to the kind I had in middle school This was probably because ere fascinated by the same works Because of this, she identified me as her ｢Past-Life Lover｣ and joined ｢Jien-Otsu｣
”Hm…”
Hi about so
It didn't look like she quite agreed withhow to attack from a different direction—that hat her silence felt like
”Aes, you are the irl never had friends in middle school It looks like that's not the case anyh school”
”Yes, you could say so”
”Could you be dating Himeka?”
”No, definitely not”
Although I was curious about how she would react if I said that she was ave a ｢What's going on? So harsh…｣ expression as she looked at ht?
”Anyhow, has anything happened to Himeka-san?”
”We had a little fight earlier on Honestly, that girl… After she changed her clothes, she even took her textbooks and ran out the door”
”I see…”
”I don't think that girl has the means to run away from home, but that's probably what happened… I know I asked this already, but is Himeka really not at your place?”
At this point, Hime's sister's voice became restless for the first time
I though I was stabbed by sinful feelings and intentions, Hime besidethe truth in front of her
”She's not here… but I'll also go look for any clues about her whereabouts If I find anything, I'll get her to contact you”
'”Thank you very much”'
The phone call ended there
”Sigh…”
I gave a big sigh and sank into the sofa I felt extre with an older person really sucked the energy out of me
”Eita, thank you”
Hied my arm, and peered into my face
”Is ry?”
”She's angry… but she's also extremely worried She's very worried about you”
But then Hime intensely shook her head
”She's not worried aboutthe ｢Akishi+no｣ family name In my sister's head, only the hotel is important”
”I had a different impression”
”I disagree To my sister, I'm just an inconvenience That's why I left”
She stubbornly refused to listen to me
Although her sister's words were very one-sided, Hime actually wasn't that different
In other words, they put labels on each other and faulted each other based on those points Regardless, if this continued, there wouldn't be any resolution
Anyways, since I proo look for ”clues” of Hime's whereabouts
I called Chiwa and asked her to come over, and then explained the situation to the two of them
”Wow―that's one scary sister”
Chiwa had co her pajamas I felt she was extremely blunt
”Since that's the case, Hiht My mom can call your sister, and that way there'll be no probleht?”
However, Hime shook her head
”I want to sleep over at Eita's house Is that not alright?”
”No way!”
Chiwa's expression suddenly beca
Hi her head
”Why? We spent the night together during our club trip”
”This and that are totally different! How can a boy and a girl sleep alone under the same roof? Definitely not okay!”
”Then… how about Chihuahua stay over also?”
Hied on Chiwa's sleeves
”T-That's also no good! No good! No good!”
Chiwa objected extre to convince herself
”Hey, Chiwa There's so I want to ask you”
”Even if Ei-kun asks me it's not okay! Even if there's three of us or whatever, although I'm not Ai, it's simply too shameless!”
”Not that, soames?”
”Ero ones are bad!”
”Can we get away froa when I was in ht? How did you feel when you looked at me then?”
”I figured you must have liked it a lot”
”That's all?”
”What else am I supposed to think?”
Chiwa stared blankly Like always, this girl thought really simply
If Hireat But as soon as she starts to think about positive or negative influences, she'll get stuck and be unable to free herself
”Hey Ei-kun, when you graduated froa?”
When Hime heard this, her eyes ide
”Sold them? Why?”
”Well if you ask me why…”
If Chiwa had asked me, I would have responded, ｢I don't like them anymore｣ But to be honest, that wasn't actually the case I could say I wanted to wave farewell to s I used to love to become a new person blah blah—and then all of these kinds of troubleso out one after another
In short, I shouldn't say contradictory things about the issue with Hime's sister
”I would never throay the books I love theaway things so lightly”
”I see”
I could only nod my head
Anyhow, it looked like the root to this argument between sisters was very deep
Afterwards, Chient home and asked her reed to let Hiht at the Harsuaki's Normally in these kinds of situations, one would speak with the parents, but it looked like they were busy working in the hotel
Perhaps the reason why Hi her best to fill the gap left by her parents
If that was the case, I still thought she could try to understand her little sister a little better
♦
Then the next day came
By the ti pace wore off, it was about ti
I opened the door, and a ghastly pale Hime jumped inside
”Eita, it's bad!”
”What's wrong?!”
Did her older sister charge in or so?
”There's a new inscribed legend that the world will create crystal tears today”
”Sorry, can you say that a little more clearly?”
”A hidden tome descended onto this world in an instant—today”
”Say that again~”
”Today is the release date of o buy it”
This is your second consecutive day co to my place Learn to be better behaved, Hime!
”The closest bookstore to here is the WING bookstore I'll draw a ht now”
I was about to retreat back into rabbed the hem of my shi+rt
”Come with me, Eita?”
”No, I want to study”
”Together?”
Faced with her teary puppy eyes staring up at me, I was unable to refuse her I'd definitely listen to her That being said, was that gaze a superpower?
”Then, let's go out for lunch while we're at it”
”The special edition bookstore is in front of the train station, so I want to go there”
There were a lot of cheap restaurants near the train station, so it was perfectly convenient
I tidied my clothes up simply, and then left the house with Hime
It was only ten minutes by bus to the train station, but ent by Hiether with Eita, is that okay?｣ Again, I was utterly defeated by her endearingness I'hable
I pretended to ignore the gazes around us and said,
”So, what's the naa called?”
”ARCANA DRAGONS (Holy Spirit Dragons)”
”Holy Dragon?”
ARCANA DRAGONS (｢Holy Dragon｣ for short) was an alternate-universe fantasy battle azine The work is targeted at otakus, which was definitely very rare for weekly azines There's a ridiculous amount of bishoujo and bishounen characters With the rich setting and abundant characters, fans have enthusiastically made many doujins I was really into these kinds of works when I was in middle school
I'ht of Dawn (Burning Fighting Fighter)｣ setting is totally plagiarized froon｣ no, I should say it was a key factor that enlightened and inspired me
Was Hion｣ fan? No wonder the coh
”What volu out today?”
”The twelfth volu out”
”How far have they gotten? Are they still fighting the Wyvern Army?”
”I only read the tankōbon[8], so I don't know But that arc is probably going to finish in this volume”
Hime then looked at me with eyes in disbelief,
”You're not reading ｢Holy Dragon｣, Eita?”
”I was still following it last year, but now I'm not anymore”
Hime suddenly revealed a hurt expression
”Why…? Is it not interesting anymore?”
”Well, it's not because of that For so it anymore”
Ever since a and anime world
Because I realized that no s, there's no way to prevail over the harshness of reality
The only way to defeat reality is through reality itself
And inacademic achievements could pave my way into medical school
That was the only way I could overcome my unfavorable circumstances
When I told Hiht that way myself—to be honest, I really was hypocritical
”I hope you'll also read it, Eita”
Hiht hand
”Because they've reached an extreht now I hope you'll take a look, because it's definitely interesting”
”Mhn…”
I didn't kno to respond and inadvertentlythe corner at the crossroads in front of us
It was ely familiar
”Eh?!”
”Eh?!”
The siave were identical
”It's you again…”
”That's what I wanted to say, you disgusting otaku”
Natsukawa Mana
She was an arrogant tails She was also Masuzu's little sister
”Are you practicing riding a bike again? If that's the case, let me teach you”
”I don't need you to meddle in my business! I ride it perfectly fine now! I just happened to be tired right now, so I' with it”
I took a glance below the hem of her red dress, and saw that her knees were plastered with a bunch of bandaids If I pointed that out, she'd be furious, so it'd be better to leave it unsaid
Hime immediately hid behind my back
”Huh? Aren't you the poet from that time?”
””
Hime didn't respond, and wrapped her arms around me like a Konakijii[9]
”Coized about that stuff with the club, right?”
A while ago, Mana crashed our cluband ripped apart the poe to
”I don't mind that anymore”
”Then you can say so then”
”Nice to meet you”
”Now you say it?!”
Huh—
I feel like I haven't seen Hime this afraid in a while
It looks like she's able to talk nor with others
Just then I had a flash of intuition
”Hey, Mana; are you free in a little while?”
”Rather than saying I'm free… it's more like I don't have plans”
In other words, she was free She really wasn't honest at all
”Then will you eat lunch with us? There's so I want to talk to you about”
Mana gave a glance at Hime and then spoke
”If that poet's okay with it, then I don't really care”
”Eita…?”
Hime perplexedly tilted her head
”Hiy to deal with your sister”
”What do you mean?”
”Because this girl hates otakus If we ask her why she hates them, maybe we'll find a way to persuade your sister”
”I understand”
Okay, so it's decided then
I brought the two of them to a fast-food shop in front of the train station
Because it was still rather early for lunch, the store was e on their vacation ho area
I grabbed a piece of french fry and started to depict for Mana the current situation—
”That's all that sister's fault!”
She squished the paper cup with her drink as she forcefully advocated her stance
”T-That's unexpected…”
”Huh? Why?”
”I thought you would say soot throay!｣”
Mana snorted with her nose
”Yeah right, collecting azines that they sell at convenience stores are okay, but a? It's hard to believe there's people who collect that I don't understand it”
”Tankōbon are also no good…?”
Isn't this girl's criteria for an otaku too harsh? Like this, even Chiho collects a nonstop would be considered an otaku
”However, that doesn't ht to just randomly throw her little sister's stuff away Those are two totally different things! The older sister can't force the little sister to accept her own opinions! So a person like this sister really is…”
”O-okay, I get it You can calet it!”
I hurriedly tried to stop Mana as she started to lean forward across the table
”I think you're right”
Hi silently on the side, suddenly spoke
”My sister always thinks she's better and smarter, and frequently looks down on me She always treats o do this, go do that She always bosses others around Furthermore, people always compare us When we meet new people, they always say, ｢The older sisterlittle sister｣ I'm just me I was simply born a few years later, so I don't understand why I have to suffer this kind of treatment”
Mana was struck speechless when confronted with a Hime who suddenly became eloquent ords
”T-That's right! Where'd that come from? I never expected you'd be such a talkative person!”
”I'm not just any person My name is Hime”
”OK Hime! You can also call me Mana!
The two of theether It looked like the two of them reached a connection I simply didn't understand
Woahhhh
Don't tell me all little sisters have a lot of pressure?
”Well, Mana, let et Hinize her interests”
Mana sucked in a h a straith a hiss
”The reason why I think ｢otaku are disgusting!｣ is because ｢I don't understand how they can be so obsessed with certain things｣
”Ah—I see”
I could understand this kind of sentiment
”So then, the easiest way to do this is to a that Hime loves”
Hireement and wore a very serious expression
”I think so too, but the hard part is doing that”
”That's true But how about you go to the bookstore together? See, aren't there specialty otaku stores around here?”
”Yeah, we're planning on going there after a bit”
Suddenly, Hirabbed Mana's hand,
”Mana, come with us?”
”T-To which bookstore? Why do I need to go to that kind of otaku nest—”
”I want to treat it as a test-run for when I bring o?”
The puppy-dog eyes that I suffered fro a beautiful hit on Mana
Looks like it was also super effective on female middle school students
”F-Fine… I have time anyways”
Like that, she succeeded after much resistance to make Mana nod her head
Former Otaku, me
Current Otaku, Hime
Not-Otaku, Mana
Although ere a totally mismatched party, I still looked forward to it with a little excitement
I then remembered that I never had any otaku friends in middle school, so I always sneakily entered bookstores on my own
This was the first time I had anyone come with me
♦
The nadom｣
For short, ｢MangaDom｣
It was a four-story building five minutes away by foot from the train station, rather distant from the don district This is just trivia, but it's the largest bookstore related to h it was a weekday, there were still many customers
As we stepped into the shop, ere greeted by a gush of cold air I then realized there wereIt felt more crowded than usual, on｣
”Alright Hime, where do you want to start?”
”Of course we need to start from the top floor”
Just after she said it, Hiht next to the shop entrance
Mana hurriedly interrupted,
”Wait, why don't we take the elevator? Are you going on a diet?”
”The elevator's really slow and crowded”
Like Hime said, not only was the elevator for this store slow, but it was also used by store employees to transport merchandise That's why it was pretty much useless unless it was before noon or almost time to close the shop
”It's okay I'o up slowly”
”Aahhh, that's fine by me… I'm rather athletic you see? I'm on the track relay team for my school!”
A competitive fire seemed to be lit inside Mana, and she strenuously started to climb the stairs after Hime I followed behind them
In between the second and third floors, Mana was already gasping for breath
”Hey, Hime, which floor is the book you want to buy on?”
”Manga's sold on the first floor”
”First floor? Give me a second… What did you say?! Then why do we have to climb stairs?!”
This was a perfectly reasonable question, but
”When you co you have to do is cli for new merchandise, you descend floors one by one That's just the basics For store regulars, they call this way of exploring the store ｢Cli the Mountain｣”
—Thus spoke Master Hime