“Here I am…”
My day at school went by without any troubles, but now the real fight begins. I’m standing in front of the main gate to the House of Imaginary Boundaries. I ended up promising I’d come back, and now that school has ended, I had no choice but to come here. Well, maybe I did. I could’ve just not shown up, but since I accidentally promised I’d come, I ended up coming back.
It’s the first time I’ve come here of my own volition. How am I gonna get inside? The last time I was here, Katja was with me, she was the one who took me inside, and I don’t even remember how I got here the first time.
Is the big gate open? In front of me is a set of two gates. One of them is a wide gate for vehicles to get in, while the other is a smaller one for people to use. I tried to open up the big gate, but it didn’t budge. Is there a doorbell I can ring? I tried looking near the smaller gate, and while I didn’t find any doorbells, it turned out the gate was just open. What a surprise.
Do they have this gate open all the time? Doesn’t it defeat the point of having a fence in the first place? The fence is taller than me, so it’s not like it’s easy to just climb over. I guess they’re not too worried. As long as they have Katja around, she can probably take care of any intruders. Maybe even the other girls can keep the place safe.
I’m just hesitating, aren’t I? I’ve decided I was gonna give it a fair chance, so let’s go. I pushed open the gate and headed towards the dorm. I didn’t see anyone on the way there, but that changed as soon as I entered.
“Hmm? Iroha! It’s nice to see you again.” Hecate noticed me as soon as I entered and greeted me.
I still wasn’t used to her, so I awkwardly greeted her back. Hecate was sitting down at the dining table. She was using her phone before I came in, but she quickly put it down, as if inviting me to get closer. I could hear some noises coming from the kitchen, but it seems like it’s just the two of us here. Is she making dinner already? A little early for my tastes, but I think it makes sense. Some things need to be prepared in advance. I only cook quick and simple meals, so I wouldn’t really know.
“Welcome back to our humble domain. You’re later than expected. I was afraid you had rejected our call.” Ehh, uhh, what? Don’t smile at me while saying weird things! Your eye is so distracting that I don’t have any brain power left to process things!
“I- I was at school.” She sounded surprised that I was late, but I’m not really late. I came here as soon as school ended. What more did she want from me?
“Oh! School. I completely forgot that possibility, but that makes sense. We were under the impression that you’d come during the morning.”
“Well… I was at school, so I really couldn’t…”
“It’s alright. Better late than never. But wait, shouldn’t you have been at school yesterday? I heard Katja brought you here right after lunch.” Hecate looked confused about what my school schedule is like.
In reality, I just didn’t go to school yesterday. She’s right to be confused. “I- I skipped…” I was embarrassed to admit it since it made me feel a little guilty, so I invertedly turned my gaze away and my two index fingers touched.
“Really? Fufufu, is that the reason why? I wasn’t aware you had such a devilish side to you.” Hecate seemed to find my answer amusing, which caused me to smile as well.
“Are you gonna look for Katja? She was awaiting you earlier.” Hecate wasn’t asking out of malice, but I really don’t want to go to Katja… I’m fine with learning how to use a sword, but making me run in a forest? No, thank you. I wouldn’t even mind joining, as long as I didn’t have to run.
“Uhmm… Not yet… I need to prepare myself first.” Hecate didn’t understand what I meant, but she decided not to comment on it. Maybe she could tell that I wasn’t looking forward to Katja’s training and just told me to meet her when I’m ready.
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“If you’re not going anywhere just yet, do you mind if we talk a little?” Hecate is too pretty, so I can’t exactly reject a request from her. I thought she put a lot of effort into her appearance, and I wasn’t wrong. She’s wearing a similar dress from yesterday, and pulling off that gothic Lolita style cannot be an easy task.
“W- what do you want to talk about?”
“I want to ask you some questions. Since you’re going to join us, I want to know what your secrets are.” Hecate moved her arms and rested her face on her hand. Her face turned into a smile, which scared me because of her yellow eye. Maybe scared is not the right word. Her imposing look just caused me to shiver.
“My secrets?” There’s no way I can tell her any of my secrets! That would be the most surefire way of ruining my chances with all of the girls here. No way I’m making that mistake!
“I’m just joking. All I want to ask are some normal questions.” Is that what she meant? Her choice of words is a little baffling sometimes, so forgive me for being confused.
“Tell me, Iroha, do you have any allergies? I want you to tell me what your weaknesses are.”
“My allergies?” Is that really the most important thing to ask? Didn’t she ask me something similar last time? “I don’t think I have any, why do you wanna know?”
“Aren’t you gonna join us for our feast tonight? I needed to know if I was gonna need to change any of the dishes for you. But since you don’t have any allergies, it should be fine.”
“Uhmm… sorry… I wasn’t planning on eating here.”
“Is that so? No need to be shy, I’d love for you to join us.” As much as I want to get close to Hecate and the others, there’s no way I could join them for dinner. It would be so awkward. They all seem to get along, so I would just be sitting there like the awkward outsider that I am.
“M- maybe some other time.” Yeah, it’s better for me to wait for now. When and if I end up getting close to one of them, I might join. I bet life here is incredibly fun for them. Seems like an interesting mix between chaos and peace. I’ve fantasized about similar living situations with my waifus before, but that’s not really a good frame of comparison. What I’m thinking is a lot more romantic than what they’ve got going here… I think… Either way, even if I don’t get into a relationship with all of them, I think it’d be fun to eat here if I end up being friends with them.
“I’m gonna hold you up to that, Iroha. Don’t you dare go forgetting your vow.” Please don’t. Hecate was amused by my troubled face.
“Next question, what made you decide to join us? And now just join us, but also to fight?”
Wow… her question made me chuckle internally. Isn’t that a good fucking question? Even I’m not entirely sure! What the hell am I doing here?! Isn’t it just because I’m horny? If only it was that simple. It’s true that all of the girls here are very cute and attractive. But I told myself that having any expectations is dumb and that if I were to join, it’d be because of the VISS Driver. I don’t want to waste the VISS Driver after I had to go through so much trouble to get it. So really, why am I here?
If possible, I want to get close with the girls here. Even if it ends up not leading to anything, it’s not like I lose anything for trying. Unlike how it is at school, if I mess up and they end up being disgusted by me, I can just leave and never come back. But the main reason for coming here has to be the VISS Driver. I’ll play along with Katja until she teaches me how to use a sword, that might give me a couple new skills, and maybe I can even get some levels and fight some weaker monsters. I may be more interested in relationships, but learning new skills is what matters.
“I- I thought it sounded fun to learn how to fight with a sword…” I can’t tell her the truth but, I’m technically not lying.
“You know that fighting is serious business, right?” Hecate’s face became very serious momentarily. “But I can’t exactly blame you for being excited. It’s not exactly every day that you get to learn how to use a sword. Have fun learning, but never forget what’s really at stake here.” Hecate’s face went back into a soft smile. I don’t think she liked my answer very much, but it doesn’t look like she’s actually mad at me.
Hecate was back to how she was, but I was still trying to regain my composure. I can’t believe I said something so stupid. She actually scared me a little bit, I thought she was gonna get angry. I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth, and at least she’s not mad, but that was way too close.
“I think I got a good idea of what drove you to accept our request. Now that you’ve been here a couple times and met all of us, what do you think about us thus far? What are your first impressions?”
“I think you’re all very cute.” Eh? What did I just say?
“Excuse me? Cute?” Hecate was genuinely at a loss for words.
“Ermm…” Why did I say that? What was I thinking? I wasn’t! I wasn’t thinking! “Sorry!” I’m too overwhelmed! I can’t think properly!
“Don’t apologize! You’re not wrong. I think everyone’s pretty cute.” Hecate could barely hold back her laughter. “It’s nice knowing that’s not gonna change even after you join us.”
“Wha- Ah- I-“ Dammit! She caught me by surprise, and now I’m flustered! I can’t even respond! Why is she calling me cute? I’m not cute at all! They’re all much cuter than me!
“Are you alright, Iroha? Your face is turning red like a puddle of blood. Fufufu, do you have a fever?” Stop laughing! You’re enjoying this way too much!
“W- w- where’s Katja?” I didn’t want her to see me blushing anymore, so I turned around and started heading for the exit. “She was waiting, right?”
“Wait, Iroha, you’re leaving already?” Hecate was still laughing, but stopped when she was sure I was gonna leave. “She should be near the open area in front of the dorm.”
Kill me. I left the dorm, and Hecate didn’t come after me, but my face was still as red as a tomato. That went terribly wrong. What now? She’s gonna think I’m a weirdo after how I acted. Miyuki said the same thing, and I was able to keep my composure. What went wrong now?
I was so eager to get out of there that I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into.
“Iroha?”
I was walking around, trying to cool my face, when a voice called out to me. That’s right. I wanted to go look for Katja to escape Hecate, but going to Katja means…
Training!
Why did it come to this? I took a deep breath and prepared myself. This is my punishment for running from Hecate. I have to accept my fate. This is it. This is the moment of truth.
“I’m here.”