I Became a Background Character?!

[Suzu]

It's time…

Just thinking about it makes you shake a leaf. This reaction is normal. This means you still haven't lost your survival instincts. That, no matter how much pressure was put on your shoulders, you understand how suicidal the idea is.

To kill that man is not unlike trying to assassinate a god.

Spoiler: Kawakami Tensai

Kawakami Tensai, this school's principal, isn't a human. He's a monster. Ordinary people don't know that much about him, but he's an underground legend. He never left a single survivor. Not because he was particularly stealthy, though…

Even if your mission isn't a straight-up assassination, failure means certain death. And if you chicken out now, she will find you. Your "employer" doesn't tolerate deserters; she made this fact clear enough. You had a hard time eating meat for weeks.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Why?

… Just why? Why him? Why you? You never asked for this. And it's not like there's anything special about you, either. There are hundreds of people more skillful than you. Let them risk their necks! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

///

10:00 PM

Kawakami Tensai is old. Ancient, even. No one knows when he was born. It's almost like he decided to pop out of nowhere and the universe just gave up and allowed him to do so. At least, that's what one of the theories says. Yeah, people are strange like that.

So, if he's old, he must also be weaker, right? More fragile? Need his medications? Forget things from time to time? Judging by what you saw at the entrance ceremony, the man clearly was going senile. Until you looked closer…

This man, at his age, had no openings whatsoever. It was scary. Because your eyes told you this was just an old man, but your instincts told to run away as fast as you could. Some students had a similar reaction. Most of them didn't. It takes a special skillset to notice that, after all.

Still, even the legend has a weakness or two. In the old man's case, his daily schedule was too strict. He followed it every day to a tee, which made his predictable. And predictable often means dead.

Right now, he's having tea in the garden, surrounded by cherry trees. Quite a picturesque spot, you admit. Not that it matters. If you want to poison his drink, now is the perfect time. So, you wait in the shadows.

This comes easily to you. It didn't at first, but you practically forced yourself to change. To adapt. To follow this little voice in your head that tells you to hide all the time. Always there. Driving you insane. Telling you to steal things you don't even need.

Finally, the old man leaves for a moment. To "pick some flowers."

You dash forward and…

"Ho-ho! It seems, my paranoia finally paid off!"

///

It's a beginning of another beautiful day and you feel yourself incredibly manly this morning. Maybe it's because of the bruises. After that little sparring, you kinda passed out from the pain and didn't get to see the grand finale. What a shame.

That said, your classmate managed to land a hit, which made you feel proud, too. A victory achieved by the classroom was your victory as well. Vice versa is true, of course. So, on this particular morning, you decided to…

[] Wake Haru up.

[] Go to the classroom earlier.

[] Make some breakfast.

[] Write-in.

 

[Suzu]

"I should better wake that sloth up before he oversleeps again. His track record isn't that impressive already, so let's not make it even worse," I said and knocked again his door. As noted before, out of common courtesy, since…

"Coming! Just get me a minute to put my clothes on!"

… This guy never wakes up early. Yet, for a reason unknown, he wasn't just awake, but quite energetic, too. How peculiar. Maybe, I hoped, he took the first step towards the light after realizing how unmanly his usual lifestyle was.

"Fine," I said with a content smile, not unlike that of a proud parent, "I'll make some breakfast, then. Fried eggs sound nice?"

"Y-Yes!"

Geez. Even if my culinary skills were so good, there was no reason for him to shout like that. Honestly, this guy.

"I mean, I'd like to have some."

I nodded, put my trusty pan on fire and took the eggs I bought two days ago with other groceries out of those tiny fridges that every dorm room had. I heard that people in this country had quite different dishes like miso soup and pickled vegetables, but I never had a chance to try making those.

So, I cooked the dishes I knew how to cook. Besides, some of those were universal. At least, I hoped they were. My friend was never discontented with them so far.

I also didn't forget about the morning coffee. Unlike me, Haru acted more like a zombie from a cheap movie before getting his dose of caffeine. Surprisingly, he preferred his black, with a spoonful of sugar. For such a mellow guy, he had quite a taste.

"Morning," I said, once I heard steps coming from behind me. Since I already put a plate with eggs on the table, I didn't bother turning around, fussing over the coffee machine instead. Haru said it was a present from his older sister and, like his older sister, this thing had quite a temper. Not that I ever had a chance to meet the woman herself. "Sleep well?"

"Naturally," came the voice from behind me, followed by the sound of eating. As the one who made those dishes, I naturally felt quite proud. With a final push, the coffee machine ejected a stream of black liquid, filling the room with the familiar smell.

"Goodness gracious! Is that for me? I would like a cup with those eggs. Would you kindly give me one?"

"Coming right up," I said and, while turning around, it finally clicked.

… This wasn't Haru's voice.

Looking at the unknown visitor, the first thing I noticed was a white shirt. Mostly, because it was the only thing the girl was wearing. Then, I noticed how little she was wearing, which made a blush appear on my cheeks. For I still was an adolescent and had the wants and needs of one. The girl was, I should note, quite attractive, too. Her table manners were impeccable as well, I admitted, seeing how gracefully she ate the food I made… for my friend.

"Oh, where are my manners?" the unknown girl chuckled and waved her hand at me. "Hello. A pleasure to meet you."

[] "Ha-a-aru!"

[] "The pleasure is all mine."

[] "And who are you exactly."

[] Write-in.

 

[Suzu]

"Were you training by yourself?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered. "I didn't want to bother you guys. There are better things to do than… me."

I put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Whatever the case," I said. "I will gladly help you train to be a better man!"

Yes, this guy never thought about himself, so his friends – me included – had to take care of him, too. He belonged to the troublesome kind of people that are too ashamed to seek help from the others. I wondered often what was the cause of such an attitude, but this guy really hated speaking about his past.

"So, don't forget: I'm always here to lend you a hand," I said. "Because I want to. Understand?"

"It's always like that with you," he complained, but didn't refuse. "Yeah, I understand."

"Glad to hear that. Now, let's make you some breakfast before it's too late."

"The rumors about you two were true, I see," the girl chimed in. "What a cute couple you are!"

Oh, hell no!

---

After the misunderstanding was settled and the fact that we were friends and nothing more was spelled out clearly, the girl borrowed my tracksuit, promising to return it later that day. It was obviously too big for her, making the already petite girl look like a child wearing their parent's clothes.

"Thank you," the girl said, as the three of us left the dorm room, ready to begin another day. "Come to think of it, I never had a chance to properly introduce myself."

"My name is Mary Talbot, the sixth chairperson of the disciplinary committee. I thank you for your hospitality," she said and left with a wide smile.

Haru and me could only gape in wonder. This girl is the main enforcer of the school? The disciplinarians of a school like this were forced to deal with the trouble-makers and such, so it was no wonder they had lots of tough students among their ranks, but compared to them all, the chairperson was the strongest.

The reason for this was quite simple: they had to defeat other contenders for the title. And "defeat" not only in the physical sense of the word, but had better grades and adhere to the rules with almost religious fervor. It was no surprise such a dissonance was shocking to us, normal students.

"Man, that's insane," I muttered.

"Yeah," Haru said.

"Agreed," Nana added.

""Huh?""

Just where did she come from? Not a few seconds ago, there was no sign of this girl. For someone who visits our dorm room so frequently, she wasn't here this morning, either.

"I-It's nice to see you, Nana," my friend said, but his voice wavered in an unmanly fashion.

Surprisingly, unlike how she acted normally, the tiny girl harrumphed and made a show of ignoring him altogether.

"I-Is something wrong, Nana?" he probed again. To no obvious success.

That said, on our way to the classroom, before we had to separate, as the first-year students' classroom were located on the first floor and the second-year students had the second one, I heard her mutter something peculiar.

"I won't let that thieving cat take him away."

---

"I – the ever-glorious Maki Yayoi – will act as a substitute teacher once again! Now then, who wants to learn some history?"

I was pumped. The same super-manly teacher from before was here. Ignoring my classmates' groans, I grinned broadly. If she was here, it would mean that…

"Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to randomly add PE lessons into your curriculum. That old bag of bones already scolded me for that," she said.

Again, there was too much unnecessary information. My hopes were crushed, too. There would be rematch for now.

"Now then, I need to make an announcement. There's a new student transferring today, and they'll occupy…" the teacher pointed at an empty seat. "This seat. Since it's empty and all."

Come to think of it, who was sitting there. If my memory served me right, there were no empty seats in our classrooms, but I still couldn't remember the person that used to sit there. Judging by various grunts from my classmates, neither did they.

"A transfer student this late? Must've had some kind of incident to attract the school's attention like that."

"I hope it'll be a cute girl…"

"It would better be a really hot guy, though. You know, the cute, elegant type. We don't have many of those in our class."

"Hey," I called my friend. "What do you think about this? Do you think the transfer student is a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know. Don't care, honestly. What about you?"

[] I think it's a girl.

[] A boy, maybe.

[] Don't know, either.