Katja took me back to the dorm, and I was finally able to sit down. There was no one else around, so Katja told me to make myself at home and disappeared into the corridor. She wasn’t exactly being cold right now, she just seemed too uninterested for someone who should be receiving a new member. I sat down on the couch Narumi was on the other day while trying to figure out what I did wrong. Weren’t her expectations for me just too high? It’s not my fault she was disappointed.

I need a moment to rest after all that running, but after I’m done, I’m getting the hell out of here. I need to talk to Shinji and tell him that it was all just a misunderstanding, and then I hope they leave me alone.

Now is a good time to go over how this whole misunderstanding started.

After how heavy the mood in class felt yesterday, I decided I was gonna stay home today. Everything was going fine, and I had a great morning where I got to play a lot. But things went south when I left my apartment to get something for lunch. I just happened to run into Katja. Though maybe it wasn’t even a coincidence, she may have been looking for me.

She asked me whether or not I had decided what my answer was gonna be, and I couldn’t give her a clear enough answer, so one thing led to the other, and she ended up dragging me to another meeting with Shinji.

But that’s where things should have ended! I actually managed to tell Shinji I hadn’t decided yet, so that should have been it! He asked me what my thoughts were on some of the conditions and details, but I never said I was interested in joining.

“Well, if I did join, I would definitely like to learn how to fight.” Saying this was my big mistake. We were speaking hypothetically, and I do want to get more skills for my VISS Driver, so if I did join, of course I’d want to fight.

But that was only if! If I did join! It should have been fine to say that, but for some reason, both Shinji and Katja got so excited that they started celebrating getting a new member. I tried to tell them I didn’t say I’d join, but they kept interrupting me, and then Katja took me away to run with her for training.

Ughh… I really should have tried to speak up. There wouldn’t have been any misunderstandings if I had just shouted at them. But whatever, Katja’s training is over, so now all I gotta do is go back to Shinji and explain what happened. He told us to go and that he’d take care of the paperwork. I need to tell him to cancel everything.

I hope he hasn’t submitted anything yet. What if it’s already too late? Is he gonna be mad at me? It’s not my fault they got carried away! I’m still tired, I’m gonna rest for five more minutes, then I’ll go.

“We’re back! Where are you, Katja?” The dorm’s main door flew open, and I suddenly heard a familiar voice. “Wait, it’s you? What was your name again? Iroha?” Narumi stopped when she saw me.

I was getting myself ready to talk to Shinji, so her sudden appearance surprised me so much that I could only nod.

“What are you doing here? Are you actually going to join us?” Narumi came over to the couch and sat down next to me. We’re not right next to each other, but the abruptness of it all made my heart pound a little. Narumi pulled out her phone while continuing to talk. “Having someone new around sounds like fun.”

“Are you kidding me? You’re telling me she actually came back? I can’t believe anyone in their right minds would want to join us.” A voice I didn’t recognize passed through the door a few seconds after Narumi.

I looked its way and saw a cute-looking girl. Her hair was radiant and a mix of beige and yellow, a color not too different from my own, but hers was a lot less saturated than my golden yellow. She had a pair of twintails in addition to her shoulder-length straight hair. Her eyes were blue, and I felt like I was staring at the bright, endless ocean.

She knew how to dress herself, and while she didn’t match up to Miyuki, she still looked very adorable. She was wearing a mostly white cardigan with some blue details, a blue skirt, and a pair of thighhighs. It was all relatively simple, but it all looked really nice on her.

The girl was noticeably shorter than Narumi, and Narumi was slightly shorter than me and Katja, but the difference was so small that the three of us are all basically the same height. For some reason, she was looking at me with an annoyed look on her face.

“Carol, over here! See? This is Iroha! She’s the one I told you about. You know, the one me and Katja found near the ice creams.” Narumi was gesturing like she was presenting some kind of revolutionary product.

“Yeah, doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. So what? Is she actually joining us or not? She’s probably gonna quit after a week, so why are you making a fuss?” The new girl looked down at me with her arms crossed. It made me a little uncomfortable, but, like, isn’t that just kinda cute?

“That’s right, Iroha is gonna be joining us.” Katja reappeared from the corridor with her hair down. “She already met with Shinji and everything.”

This is going too fast for my poor head. Since when did I agree to join anything? Stop putting words in my mouth! You’re making it harder for me to clear up the misunderstanding! Well, it doesn’t really matter what they think, Shinji will explain it for them later.

“I see. She better make herself useful if she’s gonna join. I don’t wanna team up with a deadweight.” The new girl looked at Katja with a disgusted look on her face. “Wait, you’re wearing a tracksuit too? Did you force the new girl to train as soon as she joined? Are you stupid?”

Funny that she called me the new girl when I’ve been thinking of her in the same way. I’m also surprised she’s defending me, given how harsh she was just now. That’s right! What’s the big idea with making me run out of nowhere?! You tell her!

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“We were gonna have to start training eventually, might as well start today. I also needed to assess her abilities, so it just felt like the right thing to do.” Katja had a half-apologetic look on her face.

“So wait, is she seriously going to join us as a fighter? I know we need more fighters, but that sucks.” She really doesn’t mince any words… This is the second time today that my existence has disappointed someone. Did I deserve this?

“Is she really? That’s so cool! I completely forgot about that!” Narumi was excitedly going back and forth between the conversation and her phone.

“She said she’d fight when Shinji asked. Shinji told me to help her get adjusted and to give her all the training she needs.”

“Everyone, calm yourselves down.” Yet another new person entered the room. I think she’s the last one I haven’t met. “If you want to know more about her, you should ask her directly. Don’t you see you’re making this poor soul uncomfortable?”

This girl was much more imposing. It’s impossible not to take notice of her when she enters the room. She was wearing a predominantly black gothic lolita dress filled to the brim with frills. It was so unusual that it demanded all eyes focused on it.

As if the dress wasn’t enough by itself, every aspect of the girl’s appearance served to complement something else. Her hair was black, and it was perfectly neat and straight, as were her bangs. On top of her head was a frilly headband that followed the same black and white colors as her dress, with a black artificial flower on one of the sides.

She’s incredibly beautiful. I don’t want to take my eyes off her, her outfit is so entrancing. She looked at me, and both her eyes had different colors. Her left eye had a dark color, while the other one had a mysterious amber glow to it. Since she was only wearing blacks and whites, her yellow eye really stood out, and it sent shivers down my spine.

“Sorry about that, Iroha. I hope we didn’t make you too uncomfortable.” I don’t understand this girl. She seems really nice when compared to the others, even though she looks so mysterious. What’s up with her eye? I noticed she was taller than the first girl when she passed by her as she approached me. She’s probably as tall as Narumi.

“I- it’s alright… I- it doesn’t bother me…” It’s awkward for me to be sitting here while they’re talking about me, but I’ve been through worse.

“That’s good to know. My name is Hecate Bloodblight. You can think of me as the caretaker of this domain. It’s nice to meet you.”

W- what? I feel like I only caught half of what she said. What kind of name is that? There’s no way that’s her real name. And what does she mean by caretaker of this domain? I remember hearing her name when Katja gave me lunch when they put me in jail. Wasn’t she the one who prepared it for me? Well, maybe I actually got everything she said.

Hecate was a little bent over so we could be more or less on the same level since she was standing and I was sitting, which brought our faces closer than what my heart could take. I know it’s probably just a lens, but her eye is so pretty.

I ended up introducing myself, but with some difficulty.

“Hmm… Is that so?” The other girl turned to the side and started heading towards the corridor.

“Carol…” Hecate called out to the other girl and stopped her in her tracks.

“What?”

“You haven’t introduced yourself yet, have you?”

“I’ve lost interest. There’s no need to introduce myself to someone who’s not even gonna be here after a week or so.”

“There is no way you could possibly be sure of that, and besides, there’s no need to be rude, Carol.” Hecate stared at the other girl, which caused her to jump when she noticed.”

“Carol Angelis. There. Are you happy now?”

“I- it’s nice to meet you.” Is she mad at me? Why is she glaring? She’s cute, but I don’t get it.

“Yeah, yeah, nice to meet you too, or whatever. You probably don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, so you should leave before you end up becoming a burden.”

Don’t worry, Carol. I’m planning to do just that.

“Whether or not she leaves is not up to us. She and Shinji are the only ones who can make that decision.” Katja spoke up and stopped Carol from running her mouth off.

“Whatever, it’s not like I care anyway.” Carol dismissed Katja with a wave of her hand.

“Are you hungry, Katja? You should have told me. I can prepare something to sate your hunger.”

“Sorry, but I already got some bread. No need to worry.” Katja lifted her hand to show Hecate the bread.

“Are we done here?” Carol looked at Katja and Hecate with annoyance. “I’m out of here- Eh?“

Just as she started to move, Carol slipped and started to fall. Hecate immediately reached out and grabbed Carol’s arm, which stopped her from falling. Carol’s momentum caused both of them to spin for a moment before Hecate managed to stabilize them.

“Woah there! Are you injured? Don’t go leaving the mortal realm just yet.” Hecate held onto Carol in a strange pose. One of her hands was holding onto her waist, while the other was holding her hand. It looked like they were about to start dancing.

“T- thanks, I’m alright.” Carol stood up, and Hecate let go of her. She took a look behind her in an attempt to deduce what happened. “Hey, why is the floor wet!?”

“That was me.” Narumi nonchalantly admitted. “I accidentally got it dirty after I was… what’s the best way to explain it? Well, I spilled my drink, so I had to mop that place, that should be good enough.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to say anything. Is there anyone else who doesn’t know how to use a fucking mop around here? If you’re gonna do it, at least learn how to do it right.” When Carol finished speaking, she tapped the pocket on her belly and forgot about Narumi as she started scanning the room.

“I have to agree with Carol on this one. If you need something cleaned up, just tell me, and I’ll have it purged from this world.” Hecate scolded Narumi. “Someone could have gotten hurt.”

“Sorry, sorry. I got distracted and forgot to tell you. My bad.” Narumi lifted her head from her phone momentarily to apologize.

Carol spotted what she was looking for and reached for it. “Hpmf, whatever.” What is that? Is it some kind of plushie? Now that I think about it, I did see something fly out of Carol when Hecate grabbed her. I looked up at Carol’s face and saw her glaring at me with a red face before she vanished into the building. Is she embarrassed? Why? It’s cute, isn’t it? I think it’s cute.

“Don’t let it get to you.” Huh? Hecate said something I didn’t really understand. “Carol told you to leave, but she didn’t really mean it. We’re all happy that you’re here. We need more hands around, and if you’re actually going to fight, I’m sure you’ll be a big help to us.”

“That’s right! It’s been just the four of us for such a long time! I think it’d be really nice if you stayed! Everyone always leaves too quickly.” Narumi looked at me with a big smile.

“Thanks?” I’m not really sure what to say to them. Narumi and Hecate are both pretty nice. Katja became really cold all of a sudden, or maybe I’m just seeing things. And Carol… I’m not sure… Is she a tsundere? Is that what a real tsundere looks like? I’ve never met one before. Maybe I’m being needlessly reductive by thinking of her in that way. There wasn’t even any dere. She was just… prickly? But the plushie there at the end… I’m not sure what to think…

“What now, Iroha? Is there anything you want to tell us about yourself? Is there any food you’re allergic to?” Hecate got closer once again, which made it hard for me to move.

“Uhmm… I should probably get going too…” I have to get out of here and talk to Shinji. The more I speak with these girls, the harder it gets for me to leave.

“Oh? Are you sure you don’t want to stay? Why don’t you join us for our nightly feast?” Nightly…? Dinner? Hecate seemed pleased with herself as she spoke.

“It’s getting late. I should go home.”

“Well… I suppose I can’t force you to stay. You’re coming back tomorrow, right?” Eh? Tomorrow? No way… Why are you asking me that?

“We have a lot of training to do. Just talk to me when you get here. You can come even earlier than today.” Katja spoke up like it was already decided I was coming back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Hecate smiled at me as I left.

The three of them looking at me expectantly was too much pressure for me and I ended up just nodding. What the hell am I supposed to do with three beautiful girls looking at me like that!? Life is really unfair.

Seems like the whole group is just the four of them. They’re all very cute, and it’s nice that it’s just girl. Carol surprised me with the way she was acting, but she was cute. Hecate was also a lot to take in. Her outfit is super unusual, but also super pretty. Her amber eye was also a big surprise, but I think it fits her really nicely. If there’s one thing that I can say, it’s that she takes a lot of care of her appearance. Everything looked just right, it can’t be easy to maintain a style like that. She seems a little crazy, but I kinda like that… It’s hot…

I ended up leaving without speaking to Shinji. That whole conversation exhausted me too much, so I just couldn’t do it. Maybe I can wait a little longer before making a decision. I’m not entirely sold on it, but maybe joining them wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. If I don’t like it, I can always talk to him later.

For now, I’ll just wait and see.