My New Life as a Mob Chapter 2

"Come to think of it... didn't the results for the proficiency exam come out just now?"

"Eh? Was that today?"

Narita nodded while stuffing his cheeks with a sweet bun. It had been exactly one week since the proficiency exam we were forced to take the day after the entrance ceremony, so the timing made sense.

I tore open the wrapper of the bread I’d bought at the school store, cautiously peeking toward the hallway. The students didn't seem particularly rowdy.

Ever since the day Narita first approached me, the two of us had started eating lunch together on the staircase landing leading up to the roof.

"Nishikikoji, you're smart, aren't you?"

"No, well..."

"I seriously messed up this time."

Narita was visibly slumped over. True, the game settings didn't exactly paint Narita as the sharpest tool in the shed.

In contrast, Nishikikoji was supposed to be quite sharp. The original game's 'Another Story' mentioned that he was naturally intelligent, but he also put in a lot of effort behind the scenes. I always hated Nishikikoji, but I guess he had some oddly redeemable qualities.

"You didn't get the answers from the teacher this time, right?"

"...Hah?"

"I asked you, but you turned me down, saying 'I don't really know about that.' That's partly why I did so bad. And yet, you still pulled it off. You're amazing, Nishikikoji."

Narita held his head in his hands, completely oblivious to how shocked I was by his grumbling. Come to think of it, I feel like he might have mentioned something like that.

Wait, isn't Narita's ability to just let things slide a bit too high? ...No, that's not the point.

"I used to get the answers for the regular exams?"

"Your family donates a ton to this school, right? If you asked the teachers, they used to just tell you."

His vibe seemed to say, Jeez, what did you forget? That is absolutely not the kind of thing you say to someone who was essentially blackmailing the teachers to cheat.

...I take back my previous statement. There is not a single likable element about Nishikikoji.

This time, I was the one holding my head in my hands. Just as the atmosphere around the two of us turned gloomy—

Tap, tap.

There was the sound of light footsteps. A skirt, slightly shorter than knee-length, fluttered before my eyes.

"Sorry, you two! Just let Natsuki hide here for a sec!"

At the familiar voice, I instinctively looked up.

Silky brown hair in a ponytail, a healthy and slender figure, and a bright voice—it was one of the heroines of Seka-Ai, Asahina Natsuki.

Ignoring us as we sat there dumbfounded, Natsuki quietly peeked from the stairs into the hallway. I could hear a teacher's voice calling for her, but after a while, it faded away.

"Nn, did they go away?... Yep, they're gone. Looks safe now."

"Uh... um, who are you...?"

Narita asked, looking quite confused. Naturally. From Narita's perspective, this was their first meeting.

I knew who Natsuki was, of course, but since this storyline didn't exist in the original work, I didn't fully grasp the current situation.

I instantly straightened my posture, trying to erase my presence as much as possible. If I looked like a normal person—like a mob—then that was fine.

"Sorry for barging in! Natsuki is a first-year, Asahina Natsuki. Natsuki is currently being chased by a teacher. Can you let Natsuki stay here just for lunch break? Hey, please!"

Natsuki pressed her hands together in a prayer motion right in front of my face. Clap!

"No, well, I don't mind that, but... did you mess something up? To be chased by a teacher and all."

Indeed, you don't typically get chased by a teacher unless you've done something significant.

At Narita's question, Natsuki laughed sheepishly.

"Natsuki got under ten points in every subject on the proficiency exam. So Natsuki got slapped with remedial classes."

"And you're skipping them?"

"Ah, no, Natsuki is not skipping! Natsuki did today's portion properly!"

Natsuki waved her hands in front of her face in a panic.

"Eh, then why?"

"Natsuki definitely took the remedial class. But, Natsuki showed zero improvement on the makeup test afterward and got five points again. The teacher went ballistic. So Natsuki just kind of ran away on impulse, and now Natsuki is being chased like this."

"I see."

Narita spoke with exasperation.

That's right... She was like this in the original work too. She was a character set up to be an academic failure, but her athletic reflexes were outstanding. There were already rumors in the track and field club about her being a candidate for the next ace, even at this time of year as a freshman. She was a positive, bright presence that softened the atmosphere and healed everyone.

Actually seeing her in person, I was just as moved as I was with Ayame and Kanna.

"Do you two always eat lunch here?"

"Well, yeah. We figured it was good since no one comes here."

Narita answered, and I nodded.

Since these were the stairs leading to the roof, which was off-limits, it was quiet, bright, and the perfect place to eat.

"Hmm," Natsuki nodded. "Come to think of it, Natsuki might not have heard your names yet! Can Natsuki ask?"

"I'm Narita Shunichi."

"...I'm Nishikikoji Kaede."

I didn't want to say my name if possible.

The name "Nishikikoji Kaede" seemed to be quite famous among the students from the internal middle school. And in our class, my notoriety seemed to be spreading quite a bit already. If Natsuki heard rumors about Nishikikoji's middle school days from someone, I felt like this wouldn't end well.

"I see...! Natsuki has memorized your names. Thanks for today. Since the teacher seems to have gone somewhere, Natsuki will go back to the classroom."

"Oh. Good luck with remedial class."

Natsuki nodded at Narita's words, said "See ya!" waving her hand, and ran off again with light steps.

"She's super fast."

"For real."

Seeing Natsuki in reality, she was exactly like Natsuki.

In Seka-Ai, Natsuki's first appearance was after the final exams before summer vacation, so her introduction was relatively late. The protagonist, who ranked first in grades, would end up tutoring Natsuki during summer vacation after she flunked the finals. To think there was this kind of trouble between Natsuki and the teachers before that...

Whether it was Ayame or Natsuki, seeing background events that weren't told in the game suddenly changed my perspective on the original story. It was probably the same for Sasaki Kanna, whom I hadn't spoken to yet. ...No, it would definitely be better not to speak to her.

From now on, I just hope I don't have any more involvement with any of the heroines. Considering my original personality, I'm definitely a mob. I absolutely, certainly cannot become the protagonist or the villain of a story.

"Saying something like that would probably raise a flag, wouldn't it?"

"Eh?"

"No, it's nothing."

◇

The flag was triggered, surprisingly, the very next day.

As usual, while everyone was watching me from a distance, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom and made an announcement.

"In today's homeroom, I want you to decide on your respective committees, and we'll have you start activities immediately from next week. I'll explain the Student Council later, but first: Class Representative, Beautification Committee, Disciplinary Committee, Broadcasting Committee, Health Committee..."

After the morning assembly ended, the teacher wrote the names of the committees on the blackboard one after another.

I had played Seka-Ai countless times, reading through not just the main story but also the 'Another Story' releases and the setting material books from corner to corner.

According to that information, Ayame should certainly be in the Student Council. The problem was the remaining two. Kanna and Natsuki.

I glanced at the girl with the black bob cut sitting in the front seat. Short stature, yet a slightly glamorous body.

It was Sasaki Kanna, with whom I hadn't had a single point of contact since enrolling.

I didn't know which committee Kanna would join, but for now, if I just avoided raising my hand for the same one, I should be safe.

Regarding Natsuki, since she likes sports, she'd likely choose the Physical Education Committee, or maybe she'd pick a cultural one.

Kanna was talking with her friends earlier about raising her hand for the Beautification Committee, which seemed the easiest.

In other words, my optimal solution here is...

"Okay then, anyone who wants to be on the Library Committee, please raise your hand."

Together with Narita, who had been glancing nervously at me, I became a Library Committee member.

◇

"Wait, are we seriously going? I mean, even the teacher was surprised when we raised our hands."

"...Well, you know, we have to go to the committee."

Naturally, Narita didn't seem convinced by such a desperate excuse. That makes sense; even I thought my reasoning was weak.

"You never even sat on a single committee in middle school, so what's up with you?"

"Like, how should I put it... I thought I might try being serious for once in high school."

A few days later, Narita and I were heading to the library. It was to receive an explanation of the Library Committee's duties.

We arrived at the library exactly five minutes early and sat appropriately in the back.

Looking around, there were mostly plain, serious-looking students, and no Seka-Ai related characters were visible. It was now three minutes before the explanation started, so no other students would likely come.

Good. It looks like a peaceful school life has been secured.

Man, just being in the same class as one of the heroines and the protagonist makes my heart feel like it's going to freeze every day. At least I want the committee to be a safe place for me...

"Hey, hurry up! We're gonna be late!"

"Sorry, Yukka. I forgot my pencil case in the classroom."

"We have two minutes left so it's fine! It looks like it hasn't started yet!"

Just as the library had become relatively quiet, the door was thrown open with a bang.

First, a female student with shoulder-length black hair entered, followed by a beautiful girl with a brown ponytail.

Both of them looked around restlessly searching for empty seats, and then, the student with the ponytail—Asahina Natsuki—spotted Narita and me, her eyes going wide. She said something to her black-haired friend and came over to us.

"You're the people who hid Natsuki the other day! Thank you so much for that time!"

"Natsuki, what do you mean they hid you?"

Before we could reply, the black-haired girl next to Natsuki asked. She had a firm tone but a cute atmosphere.

"Remember Natsuki had remedial class the other day? At that time, they let Natsuki hide from the teacher."

"Hmm? Does that mean you ran away from the teacher, Natsuki?"

"B-But Natsuki went back properly afterward and passed the remedial test!"

"True, you did pass the remedial test..."

The black-haired girl nodded in understanding.

I had been wondering what happened to Natsuki after that, but she managed to pass the makeup test. That's good.

"...Ah, excuse me. I interrupted the conversation. I'm Ikuta Yuka. I'm sorry, may I ask your names...?"

The black-haired girl—Ikuta Yuka—asked hurriedly. When Narita and I said our respective names, she smiled brightly.

The name Ikuta Yuka never appeared in the original work. Even if she did appear, she was surely treated as Female Student A or something similar. In other words, she was a complete mob character.

"Are you two in the same class?"

"Ah, no. Natsuki is in the Sports Course, and Yukka is in the General Course. Natsuki and Yukka were in the same middle school and were good friends, so we promised to do the committee together."

"Yukka" probably referred to Ikuta.

Just as Natsuki said, Ikuta and Natsuki seemed to be quite close.

Since Natsuki's story was relatively gentle and focused on romance, I had never seen her talking happily with a friend like this.

While I was feeling moved from a mysterious parental perspective, a relatively loud voice rang out saying, "Umm, Umm." It was the teacher. It seems the explanation had started while we were getting excited.

"I would like to talk about the duties of the Library Committee now. I assume everyone is seated... This is perfect. We'll have you form groups of four with the people near you just like this. We plan to divide the work by groups, so I'll explain that later."

At the teacher's words, we made eye contact. I have a very, very bad feeling about this.

As a matter of course, with the teacher's words "groups of four," we were lumped together into the same group.

◇

As a result, we became the group in charge of Wednesdays.

"Activities start from the lunch break the week after next, right?"

"So we'll be seeing each other right away."

"And it's once a week after that, too."

I held my head in my hands alone while listening to Narita and the others talk.

It felt like I had to handle explosives marked "Danger: Do Not Touch!" every week.

This is way too different from the plan I initially made.

However, I didn't have the courage to disrupt the current atmosphere and go to a different group alone. It was also very bad that there were no vacancies in other groups, nor were there any extras. Since the teacher had decided it, I couldn't think of any excuse at all.

I looked with distant eyes at the three who were already getting along and getting excited. It seems impossible to turn back now.

In the first place, this story exists for the protagonist to become happy. So as long as I don't interfere with that happiness, it should work out somehow, but there's way too much contact with the heroines for that.

I have to manage somehow to keep my relationship with Natsuki as just "someone I talk to on the Library Committee." I didn't have high communication skills originally, and I don't think we'll become close anyway.

Right now, no matter how you look at it, I'm just a mob. If this were a story, I'd never be involved with the protagonist. So it's still okay, I told myself.

◇

"Hey, Nishikikoji-kun. Just now, Marui-sensei asked me to carry these notebooks for math class. Could you give me a hand?"

During the break after class that week, a single male student approached my seat. My acquaintances from middle school basically avoid me, so it must be a student who entered from high school. No, even without deducing that, I already knew who it was by the voice.

"The ones over there...? 'Saita'."

When I asked, the boy standing right next to me, the protagonist of Seka-Ai, Saita Kanade, nodded with a smile.

The first time he spoke to me was three days ago. Exactly one week after my high school survival death game began.

 It was just a light greeting with the excuse that "we haven't talked yet". And before I knew it, Saita started talking to me occasionally, and now he was even asking for favors.

Why, Saita? In the game, you didn't have any contact with Nishikikoji until he bullied you. There should be plenty of other guys in the class, so why go out of your way to talk to me? Moreover, the setting in the game was that you were an otaku, a loner, and shy, but now you're blending into the class super well.

Honestly, I can't keep up with the distance between us shrinking so rapidly.

"Marui-sensei's classes are always making you sleepy, isn't it? Even though I'm in the very front seat, I was half-asleep just now."

Saita was grinning while walking next to me.

That's an expression he never showed in the game, at least until he got involved with the heroines. Nishikikoji doesn't look like a blatant delinquent on the outside, but he certainly doesn't have the kind of atmosphere that would make Saita actively talk to him.

Even within Seka-Ai, the first time Saita and Nishikikoji interact is one week after the entrance ceremony. Saita, saving Ayame from Nishikikoji's pickup attempt, touches Nishikikoji's nerves. From there, the bullying begins, and simultaneously his involvement with the heroines increases, causing the story to officially begin as an eroge.

In other words, since I didn't persistently harass Ayame, there shouldn't be any point of contact between Saita and me.

"Come to think of it, Nishikikoji-kun, you're always awake during class. How do you stay awake?"

I was walking while lost in thought, and before I knew it, he had asked me a question. I wasn't listening at all. Close one, close one.

"No, well, if I just think about staying awake, I can stay awake, or something like that."

"Even if I think about staying awake, it's impossible in Marui-sensei's class. You're amazing."

Just like in the original game, Saita seems to have a serious personality. Though, if asked whether he was the type to sleep in class, I feel like he wasn't...

The reason I can stay awake is because I don't know when I might die. Jokes aside, in the original eroge, Nishikikoji got involved in accidents that couldn't be predicted. It never hurts to be fully prepared.

"By the way, are you and Narita-kun from the same middle school?"

"Well, we're internal students from middle school... why?"

"No, I just thought that you and Narita-kun looked like you got along well."

So, to Saita, it looked like Narita and I were getting along. If we looked close even from an objective perspective, I was a little relieved. Well, true, I decided not to talk to anyone other than Narita, so inevitably I have no connection with other students.

I wanted to avoid talking to Saita if possible... but I can't just ignore him, so it couldn't be helped. If I avoid him strangely, I might be suspected or entangled even more. If I can interact with him harmlessly from now on, let's consider that good enough.

That day, we carried the notebooks to the staff room, and we parted ways once we returned to the classroom.

◇

"By the way, I heard there's going to be a seat change next week."

During the lunch break that day, Saita approached us immediately after Narita and I returned to the classroom. Apparently, it was announced while we were eating lunch.

"Eh, seriously? And I was in the second seat from the back, too."

Narita looked dejected next to me. Of course, Narita doesn't know what direction this world is heading, so he talks to students other than me without a care. In the original game, both Narita and Nishikikoji had bad endings, though. Well, ignorance is bliss. Besides, if even Narita acts differently from the game, it would really become a "game bug" situation.

"I see, Narita-kun, you were in the back seat. I'm in the very front, so I actually wanted to change seats quickly. Nishikikoji-kun and Narita-kun eat lunch on the staircase landing, right? So I thought I had to tell you."

...No, wait a second. Did I ever tell Saita that we eat on the landing?

Even in the game, Nishikikoji ate lunch on the landing of the stairs leading to the roof. It was a prohibited area, but being Nishikikoji, he wasn't scolded by teachers and occupied it. As far as playing the game went, that information came out quite late, and for some reason, other students didn't know about it. Since reincarnating, I asked Narita not to tell anyone. I didn't want to take risks during lunch break.

In other words,  the Saita currently in front of me knows information that cannot be known unless you play the game.

"Man, but a seat change already? That's fast."

"Well, it's been about two weeks since we enrolled. The field trip is coming up soon, too."

"Time sure flies since middle school graduation."

"Totally... Nishikikoji-kun?"

Saita peered into my face. Apparently, he thought it strange that I wasn't speaking at all.

"Ah, um, yeah. You're right."

When I gave a vague nod, the two of them started talking again. Watching that, I thought it over once more.

...True, if I think about it carefully—no, even if I don't think about it carefully—Saita's behavior has been strange the whole time.

A character personality far removed from the original work. A delinquent and an honors student—two people who are opposites no matter how you look at it, yet he actively talks to me. And now, a remark like this that wouldn't come out unless he had played the game.

When Saita first spoke to me, I thought a bug had occurred. A bug caused by the foreign object known as "Me" getting mixed in.

But... thinking normally, it's harder to believe that I'm the only reincarnator.

Seka-Ai was a relatively popular eroge. The number of users who played it must have been considerable. I couldn't watch it in the end, but an anime adaptation had even been decided.

In other words, Saita also reincarnated, and the person inside knew the ending of Seka-Ai. It makes sense if I think of it that way.

...Then what is Saita's objective? Since I didn't know until now, there's a more than sufficient possibility that he doesn't know I reincarnated either. In the main game, he was bullied thoroughly by Nishikikoji, so he should have wanted to keep his distance as much as possible.

"Ah, that's right. Nishikikoji-kun, Narita-kun."

It seems the conversation had progressed quite a bit before I knew it. Picking up on the words I heard, I think they were talking about the field trip.

—The Spring Field Trip. It's the first major event after the story of Seka-Ai begins. It's also the main storyline for one of the heroines, "Sasaki Kanna."

"Want to group up for the field trip?"

Pure, Righteous, and Mob-like.—that is my current motto.

And yet, the ones gathering for this first event were the protagonist, the villain who bullies him, and the main heroine. The rule I had imposed on myself was already beginning to crumble.

<<PREV | TOC | NEXT>>