Volume 1 - CH 4.4

Chapter 4 Part 4

“Also, if you were to be my friend… I can be your exclusive hero.”

Shiina flinched after she heard those words. When she relaxed her body a little, she,

“You’re such an idiot…”

Smiled at me.

“I can’t believe you said all that just for my sake…”

Tears trickled down from her eyes.

One after another, water droplets fell down from her cheeks.

“…Seriously… Why even?…”

She let out a sigh. It seemed like she had finally decided to yield.

I released her from my embrace and her body slid down the wall she was leaning on. She sat down on the floor.

“Now that you’ve resigned yourself to your fate, I will never let you go.”

“I give up. I can’t beat a stalker like you anyway.”

“Who did you call a stalker, you menhera?”

“W-What?! I-I’m not a menhera! I’m a mentally stable person, thank you!”

“Reflect on what you’ve been doing and say those words again. This time, slowly.”

I shrugged my shoulders as a response to her glare.

She tried to be intimidating but the tears in her eyes made her look pitiful instead.

“…Are you sure you want me as a friend? Am I not a major pain in the ass for you?”

“You are. I know what I’m getting into though, so you don’t need to worry.”

“If we’re going to be friends then we’ll be friends forever, is that what you want?”

“Yeah.”

When I nodded, she giggled.

“Alright then. There’s no reason for me to nag you anymore, let’s be friends. I’ll grind you hard, so be prepared, okay?”

“I don’t think that’s how friends work…”

“But you were the one who offered yourself with such vigor just now.”

“I had to do it because otherwise a certain thick-headed woman wouldn’t even bother to listen to my words.”

“…Pot calling kettle black.”

“At least I’m better than you.”

“Fine, fine, I admit that I’m the most troublesome person in this room.”

She pouted before reaching out her hands toward me.

“What?”

“My legs are weak, help me stand up.”

“Huh?”

“C’mon, we’re friends aren’t we? Won’t you help me?”

I pulled her hands and helped her.

She wobbled before falling into my chest.

“Oi.”

“…Shoulder, please…”

“Is your body hurting again?”

“…My body is always hurting… Today just feels… Worse than usual…”

“You shoulda told me beforehand!”

I held her waist and lifted her. I think this was the so-called legendary princess carry?

“G-Grey?!”

“Don’t call me that. I’m Shiraishi Godou now.”

“…Godou… Put me down…”

“No. It’s faster this way.”

“B-But…”

“But what?”

“…Never mind.”

“Jeez, seriously, you…”

Shinna had a strange expression on her face.

In any case, I decided to carry her to her bedroom.

I found the door to the room when I looked around the spacious living room.

“Is that your room?”

“Eh? Yeah… Why are you asking? …No, wait, can’t we just do it on the sofa instead?!”

“It’ll be more comfortable on the bed.”

“But, am I not… Heavy?”

“You are.”

“W-What?! I’m not that heavy!”

“Oi, stop hitting me! Ouch, my neck!”

Seriously, that was dangerous.

I opened the door to her bedroom while moving my aching neck around. Inside, there was a fancily decorated large bed. It was surrounded by a horde of plushies.

“…”

I took a look at the witch’s face and her bed alternatively.

“…Anyway.”

“Don’t just dismiss it!”

She retorted as she blushed. 

“I mean, I won’t judge you. Everyone has their own hobbies.”

“…Just kill me.”

As soon as I laid her down on her bed, she immediately crawled under her blanket.

Then, she took a nearby plushy and hugged it.

“…”

I sat down on the bed. Her back was pressed against my waist.

The room was enveloped in silence for a little while.

“Godou…”

“Hm?”

“You said you were going to save me… How exactly?”

She asked in almost a whisper.

“There isn’t an easy way to get rid of the curse, you know?”

“I guess so, huh?”

“Well, it’s you after all. You’re probably going to say something like ‘I’ll think of something later’…”

Actually, I had been looking for a solution for quite some time now.

But not a single one came to my mind.

After all, even Shiina didn’t manage to find it even though she was a genius in the field of magic.

The best thing I could do was to ease her burden.

“Your curse… I’ll take half of it.”

“What?!”

She looked horrified.

“If you do that, your life will be in danger!”

“Actually, I don’t think so. I’m an exorcist, remember? We have a stronger resistance to curse compared to normal people. As long as I use my exorcism, I should be able to prevent the curse’s erosion on my soul. Honestly, it’s easier to just transfer your curse as a whole to me. I could dispel it little by little if that was the case, but you won’t allow that, will you?”

“Of course! If you do that, who knows what kind of burden will you—”

“That’s why I’ll settle for half. If it’s just half of it, I should be able to do something about it. My curse resistance is higher than you anyway, so it should be fine.”

I wasn’t planning on sacrificing myself.

I came up with this plan based on my experience on handling my exorcism. If I were to use my exorcism all the time while taking on the curse, the curse shouldn’t be able to harm me. If I wanted to save her, this should be the way to do it.

Perhaps she understood my intentions. Shiina’s eyes started to waver.

“Don’t try to handle everything by yourself, Shiina Mai. We’re friends, aren’t we? We should share both our happiness and pain. That’s what friends are for.”

She went silent for a while.

I held my hand to her and she took it timidly.

“…Even so, it’s a give-and-take relationship, right? You can’t just expect your friends to help you all the time without giving them something back…”

“Yes. So, I’ll be looking forward to your help whenever I get into trouble.”

“Is that even possible in the first place?”

“Well, of course. I’m not as clumsy as you are, but there are some troubles that even I can’t handle alone. I’ll come to you whenever I come across them in the future.”

Then, there was silence after that.

Only the voice of the cicadas from outside the building could be heard.

We stared at each other’s eyes.

“If that’s so, then…”

Shiina then uttered words filled with determination.

“Please save me.”

I grinned when I heard those words.

After all…

This girl who was hated by the whole world…

This girl who was trapped in constant self-blame…

This girl who always convinced herself that she had no right to be saved…

Had finally asked me, her first friend, for help.

“…Alright, don’t complain after this, okay? Here goes.”

I pressed my lips against hers.

“Mmph?!”

She was surprised, but she didn’t resist me. She probably found out that this was part of the procedure to transfer her curse to me. To build a bridge to her soul, we needed to be in physical contact. For treatment, holding hands was sufficient, but for transferring curses, we needed something more than that.

“Mm… Ah…”

Honestly, I didn’t really want to do it like this, but if I wanted to do it quickly, then, this was the way to do it. Actually, I should speed up the process even more. I put my tongue inside her mouth. In the process, our teeth bumped and it hurted me a little. To be fair, this was my first kiss, so I didn’t really know the details on how to do it, so I wish that she could forgive me about that accident later. I raised my concentration.

The way to transfer her curse over to me was for her to guide me to her soul with her magic. Then, I’d sever the connection between her soul and the curse. After that, she could push the curse over to my soul using her mana. The kiss was to maintain the connection during that process.

My only problem with this method was that I had to keep kissing her the entire time. It was a bit awkward, but whatever, just think of it as CPR or something.

Also, I did this to help her, so I wish she could forgive me for stealing her lips like that.

“…Phew…”

“Nhah…”

When everything was finished, I let her lips go. Shiina looked a little dazed. The work required concentration, so it was no wonder that she was exhausted.

“You okay, Shiina?…”

When I called out to her, she became startled. Her body started to tremble.

Her face started to redden up to her ears. She looked like an apple, but I probably was in the same state as her. My face felt hot, as if it was on fire. It was the first time that I had done this, so this should be normal, right?

“That was my first kiss…”

She gave me a resentful look. Hey, it was my first kiss too!

“Who cares about that right now. How do you feel?”

Her expression was lighter than usual. She no longer looked like she was struggling.

“Don’t just dismiss it! …Well, it’s certainly better than before… What about you?”

When she asked me back, I placed my hand on my chest.

There was a heavy feeling coming from deep inside my chest. However, thanks to my exorcism, I didn’t feel any pain coming from it. My body felt slightly more sluggish than usual, but I should be fine.

“…Hm, yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I think I can take more of your curse if you want me to.”

Her face reddened again as she turned her gaze away and clenched her fists.

“…I don’t want to kiss you again.”

“I mean, as long as we make physical contact, it’s all good. It doesn’t need to be a kiss.”

Oh crap, I shouldn’t have said that. Her face instantly turned uglier as it started to redden even more.

“Y-Y-Y-You?! Are you kidding me?! I’m going to kill you for real now!”

“W-Wait, let me explain myself first!”

I tried to explain myself, but her hand landed on my face first. What an impatient girl.

TL: Iyo

ED: Dodo