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Chapter 2 – The Caring Hero and the Clumsy Witch
Part 1
When we returned to the classroom, all eyes were on us.
Well, this was to be expected. After all, the new student somehow skipped the first class on the very first day she attended.
The witch looked really uncomfortable with all the attention, but she managed to quietly return to her seat.
“Oi, oi, Godou, you sure moved quickly, huh?”
Said Shinji with crossed arms. There was a disgusting grin on his face.
“Shiina-san said that she wasn’t feeling well, so I escorted her to the infirmary. There’s nothing more to it. Right?”
I raised my voice so the witch at the end of the classroom could hear me.
“Y-Yes… M-Maybe it’s because I was nervous, b-but I’ve been feeling unwell…”
Said the witch in a small voice.
Was this really that haughty witch? It felt so weird seeing her like this.
“I understand why she skipped, but why did you skip then? If you had to escort her, then just do that and come back quickly.”
Hina approached me as she asked that question.
“I was sleepy. Since I was already there, might as well.”
I shrugged in response. It was a lie, but there was no way that I’d tell her the truth about what happened.
“Hmm… Still, how did you become so close to her this quickly? There’s something fishy going on here…”
Hina looked at me with suspicion.
“That’s why I told you that you can’t let your guard down, Hina. This guy is a natural at this.”
Said Shinji as he slapped me on the shoulder. Seriously, stop that, it hurts.
Hina glared at Shinji before turning around and walked toward the witch’s seat.
“Are you alright now, Shiina-san?”
“Y-Yes! I-I feel better already…”
“It’s your first day, so there’s a lot to take in. If you have any troubles, feel free to ask me for help, okay?”
Hina puffed her chest as she said so.
Thanks to that, her massive weapon became more pronounced and the witch had to witness it in its full glory.
There was a hint of envy on the witch’s gaze as she stared at Hina in silence. Seeing that, I let out a chuckle.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing the puzzled Hina, the witch shook her head.
“N-Nothing! U-Um, I-I’ll ask you if I need some help, um…”
Girl, your tone is way too stiff. Relax, she is your classmate.
“Hahaha, Shiina-san, we’re classmates! Don’t be so stiff, okay? Just talk to me casually!”
“E-Eh?! U-Um… I-I understand!”
“That’s still too stiff.”
“E-Eh?! U-Um… T-Then… G-Got it… I-Is that how you do it?”
“Hahaha, you’re doing it again. Well, if that’s more comfortable for you, Shiina-san, it’s all right. Have I introduced myself to you? My name is Kirishima Hina. You can call me whatever you want.”
“Ki-Kirishima-san, is it? M-My name is Shiina Mai, n-nice to meet you!”
“Hahaha, I know your name already, Shiina-san. You’re an interesting one, don’t you know that?~”
Hina laughed loudly at the witch’s response.
Seriously, that girl was too far gone.
I knew that she was bad at talking with people, but I never knew that she was this bad.
I saw her talking with the crowds earlier today, but I was only observing her from afar, so I didn’t know the details about their conversation. If it went on like this, then it was no wonder that the other girls were laughing around her back then.
By the way, I just realized that I’ve never seen her talk properly with another person back in the other world.
Now I’m starting to feel uneasy for her.
Could she really adapt to this world? I mean, yeah, she had been living here for sixteen years already, but still…
After Hina left her side, I quickly went to her side and whispered to her,
“Oi…”
“What?”
“Get yourself together.”
“…Easy for you to say! You know I’m bad at this! Witches aren’t supposed to be friendly with other people to begin with!”
“Why are you so smug about it? Don’t you realize that you sounded pitiful just now?”
“P-Pitiful?! I-I’m not! I just love to live in solitude, that’s it!”
“You don’t need to sugarcoat it, loner.”
“Leave me alone!”
She was getting teary eyed by my teasing. Suddenly, Shinji cut into our conversation and called out to her.
“Oi, oi, don’t leave me behind like that. Heya, Shiina-san~”
Seeing Shinji approaching her casually like that, the witch’s body stiffened. Oi, why were you like this? Say something quickly!
She sent an SOS signal with her gaze to me. Well, it can’t be helped then.
“Shinji, you’re troubling her.”
“What do you mean? I was just calling her name!”
“Dumbass, did you look at yourself? You look like a philanderer, you’re scaring her, go away.”
“Do I really?…”
He then took out his phone and took a look at his own reflection there.
“Heya, what are you guys talking about?~”
Another person interrupted our conversation. Shindou Yuuka was her name.
Her black hair was tied in a sidetail. There was a gentle smile on her face, it suited her calm demeanor.
She was well-liked by everyone in class and because of that, she was one of the centers of the class.
“Yo, Yuuka, hear me out–”
Shinji talked about how I told him that he frightened the witch. In response, Yuuka nodded happily.
“He is right, so get away from her quickly.”
Instead of Yuuka, Hina answered him instead. She brought a group of girls with her and kicked Shinji out of the witch’s vicinity.
And once again, people gathered around the witch.
They talked with the witch and occasionally asked her a question or two, in which she only nodded lightly as a response
…I guess I was the only one who could tell how troubled she looked currently.
She sent me another SOS using her gaze.
It seemed like the positive vibes that Yuuka and the others brought intimidated her.
“Haha, really, Yuuka-chan? That’s crazy!~”
She seemed to be especially intimidated by Hina.
Hina looked like a gyaru, but she actually never dated anyone. I knew about that because she was my childhood friend. She received a lot of confessions, but she never accepted any of them.
Maybe she already had someone she liked, who knows. (T/N: Ikr? Who knows.)
“I know right? What do you think, Shiina-san?”
Perhaps noticing that the witch was left out of the conversation, Yuuka tried to drag her into it. As expected, the witch kept stuttering when talking, though she managed to convey what she had in mind. It didn’t show in her face, but it seemed like Yuuka also had some difficulties trying to make her fit in.
There was nothing wrong with Yuuka. What she did was appropriate in that situation. The problem lies in the witch’s lack of communication skill.
I could see tears already forming in her eyes.
…Seriously, wasn’t she supposed to be the Witch of Calamity? Shouldn’t she have more backbone than this?
This part of her really hadn’t changed, huh?
“Oi, the next class is about to start.”
When I shooed the girls away, the witch’s face immediately brightened.
You shouldn’t be that happy over something like this…
Then, I went back to my seat and was greeted by a question from Shinji.
“I knew it, there’s something going on between you two.”
I knew it was impossible to fool him. He was one of my closest friends after all.
Besides, this guy was surprisingly observant and he could read the air really well.
“…I know her from way back. I’m not that close to her though.”
“I see. Why did you hide it from me then?”
I wasn’t lying. It was true that I knew her from the way back.
“Too much of a hassle. Besides, I’m not obligated to tell you everything about my interpersonal relationship.”
I shrugged my shoulders as I said that, meanwhile Shinji chuckled in response.
“Fine, I’ll leave it at that.”
*   *   *
Lunch break.
“Godou-kun, can I have a word with you?”
When I was eating with Shinji, Yuuka approached us.
Yuuka was Shinji’s classmate back in middle school. Since she had a large circle of friends, they didn’t hang out often, but thanks to that relationship they had, me and her got along quite well. Her coming over to talk to me like this wasn’t a rare occurrence.
Both Yuuka and Shinji stood out because of their appearance and because I got along with both of them, the rest of the class treated me the same way as they treated them. Though, I felt that I didn’t deserve that treatment because I didn’t look as good as them.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing much, it’s just… Have you done your assignment for the fifth period?”
“…What? What assignment?”
The fifth period would be math. The teacher in charge was known to be a strict person and they wouldn’t hesitate to lower your grades if you missed out an assignment from them. But, I didn’t remember anything about us having any assignments today.
When I tilted my head in confusion, Yuuka giggled.
“I knew it, you haven’t done it. Sensei gave it to us near the end of the period. You probably didn’t hear it because you were sleeping back then, also because I forgot to tell you.”
“W-Wait a minute… Are you for real?!”
Hina suddenly cut into our conversation.
Her face looked pale.
“Yeah. Sorry, I forgot to tell you too.”
“N-No, it isn’t your fault, Yuuka-chan, it was my fault that I dozed off the other day! Ugh, what should I do? Can I make it in time if I start doing it now?…”
The witch, who was invited to lunch by Hina, was listening to our conversation with a blank stare.
“Sorry, Shiina-san! I have to do my assignment first, so go ahead and eat without me!”
She apologized to the witch and hurriedly took out her math textbook and notebook.
“Hina is an earnest student, isn’t she?”
Yuuka giggled after seeing that scene, meanwhile Shinji and I just shrugged our shoulders.
“That girl doesn’t know how to give up. It’s at times like this that we should just accept our fates.”
“I know, right? Then again, I know about the assignment, but why the hell would I do math, ew.”
“Wait, what was that, Shinji? If you knew about it, then why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“Why would I do that, my dear best friend? If I’m going to get scolded, then obviously I’ll drag you with me.”
“I’m not a delinquent like you! Stop treating me like one! I’m an honor student!”
“Honor students wouldn’t skip classes like you.”
Said Shinji as he let out a sigh.
I couldn’t even retort to that because he was right.
“Yuuka-chan is teaching me, you guys should join in too.”
“Sensei didn’t give us a lot of problems to solve. We should be able to finish it during the lunch break if we do our best!~”
When I looked around the class, there were many classmates that had put their lunches away and were working on the math’s assignment. Yuuka must have been telling them about the assignments. This was why everyone adored her, she was so kind.
“Are you an idiot, Hina? To do the assignments, I have to solve the problems and to do that I have to understand the question first. I have been sleeping in class for the past few weeks, so I know literally nothing.”
“That’s not something to brag about!”
“Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself. You haven’t done anything yourself, have you?”
“You don’t need to tell me that!…”
Said Hina as she scribbled through her notebook with her pen.
“I’ll show you mine, so you should work on yours too, Godou-kun.”
Yuuka pulled out her assignment and gave it to me.
“Oh, my goddess…”
Goddess really existed in this world.
Back in the other world, they only exist as a false image that was created by the church.
“You’re overreacting… Next time, do it on your own, okay? Promise me.”
I made a gesture as if I was praying to her and she giggled when she saw it.
“Ah, that’s not fair! Yuuka-chan, you’re spoiling him too much!”
“That’s just how deep the bond between me and Yuuka is. You just don’t have enough affection points with her, that’s why she didn’t show her assignment to you.”
“What affection points?! This isn’t a game!”
“N-No, I just thought that Hina is able to solve the problems normally, so she doesn’t need to look at mine…”
Yuuka hurriedly defended herself. Seeing this, Shinji crossed his arms and spoke,
“Well, no choice then. If the answer is right in front of me like this, then I’ll have to do it even if I don’t want to.”
“What’s with that haughty tone of yours?”
“Hmph, unlike you and your stupid bond or whatever, I’ll be paying her for her kindness. So, how much?”
“Hm… Just buy me some juice later.”
“Got it.”
After that exchange happened, we quickly put our lunches away and pulled out our notebooks.
The witch looked at us and asked,
“I-Is it okay if I don’t do the assignment?”
“Of course. Sensei wouldn’t be that heartless to scold a new student about an old assignment.”
“I-I see. S-Sorry, I asked something strange…”
“No, don’t be! Also, relax, don’t be so nervous!”
Yuuka tried to be as gentle as possible when talking to her, but the witch was still tense when talking to her.
When our eyes involuntarily met, she glared at me though.
Was it so hard to just act like how she acted around me instead of acting meekly like this?
After things had quietened down, the witch pulled out a book and started to read it. She looked relaxed when she did it.
Reading a book on the first day you transferred in? …I mean, it wasn’t a bad thing, but doing that would just make it harder for you to make friends.
“Alright! Somehow, I finished everything…”
I finished the assignment quickly. It was all thanks to Yuuka.
“I finished it faster than you.”
Said Shinji with a smirk as he crossed his arms. So what?
While taking back her notebook, Yuuka whispered something to us.
“I wonder if she prefers to be alone? Did I do something unnecessary?”
She moved her gaze toward the witch, who was absorbed in her book.
“Hmm… I don’t know… I think we were too pushy, after all…”
Said Hina with a complicated look on her face.
Both her and Yuuka had been trying their best so that the new student could get used to the new environment quickly, but they started to think that their plan backfired and blamed themselves because said new student looked so uncomfortable around them.
In truth, that wasn’t the case.
The witch was just too used to being alone. She had been living alone for half of her life and she knew how to deal with that kind of solitude. That was why she looked relaxed when she was reading a book on her own like that.
But still, just because she was used to being alone, that didn’t mean that she liked being alone.
In truth, that girl, Cerys Flores, hated to be alone.
She longed for the warmth of family, friends or any kind of human interaction.
However, her lack of communication skill as well as the trauma of being detested as a witch made it hard for her to interact with other people. She was afraid that someone might come to hate her. That was the reason behind her nervousness and anxiety whenever there were other people around her.
I was a special case because we were originally enemies. She could act haughtily because she didn’t care if I were to hate her. Or rather, we were supposed to hate each other to begin with.
Anyway, I wanted everyone to talk to her more so that she could overcome her trauma, but it would be really unnatural if I were to ask them to do it openly like that.
“Anyway, Godou, don’t you know Shiina-san? So, what’s with that?”
Then Shinji said that to me.
I explained to Yuuka and Hina that I knew the witch for a bit.
I should talk to the witch later so that we could elaborate a proper backstory to tell everyone.
“Huh, I see. So that’s why you two got along quickly.”
“Mhm. I didn’t notice that it was her at first, but when we talked earlier I managed to confirm that it was really her.”
I went on and explained to everyone. They were all the centers of the class, so if they understood the witch’s personality, everyone else would also understand and they wouldn’t isolate nor avoid her because of it.
“That girl isn’t very talkative, but she does like to be around other people, so don’t hesitate to talk to her.”
While I was busy trying to explain her circumstances, the witch was reading without care. Since her attitude pissed me off, I gave her a rough poke in the shoulder.
“Oi.”
“W-What?!”
“I’m trying so hard to make some friends for you and here you are lost in your own world.”
“I didn’t tell you to do something like that, though?!”
Everyone saw how she was yelling at me.
“Huh, I see. So that’s how it is, huh, Shiina-san?~”
Hina stared at her in surprise.
“Somehow, you two look like you’re about to enter your own world… Should we give you two some space?”
Said Yuuka while giggling.
“Well, anyway, that’s the kind of girl she is. Just think of her as a really shy girl.”
“Wait a minute, what are you saying about me…”
The witch tried to argue, but her voice gradually became quieter as she noticed everyone’s stare. In the end, she fell into silence mid-sentence. Of course, I laughed at her in response.
Right after that, the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break.