The timeline is somewhere as usual.
The perspective is Hariu.
There are 10 people.
“Huh…who, who?”
“Come on, Hariu.”
That guy laughed as if he was exasperated and said,
“Yuu Urano. We’ve been in the same club for over a year, right?”
He had a face like he was putting up with a silly friend’s joke. But still.
“No, I don’t know you… really, who are you…?”
I don’t know you!
…Let me recap today’s events. Yeah.
Today, Maito-san said, “We’re out of seasonings! We’re out of seasonings! Mainly salt!” so we went shopping at Deichemoore.
We also sold clothes at George-san’s place, and extended our trip to Aitzoll to fight in the coliseum. That’s when we heard some weird story that started all this.
There was a rumor about strange phenomena occurring in a cave on an island a short boat ride from Deichemoore, and once we heard that, we just had to go.
…So, when we went, it was… like… a horror scene…
There were mysterious talismans pasted everywhere, the place was slimy with seaweed, and it felt uncomfortably warm.
I don’t particularly dislike horror, but I wasn’t in the mood to willingly jump into such a place. Really, it was that kind of cave.
…But then, President said, “The periwinkles here are toxic,” and went inside, and everyone else followed for the sake of the people’s peace of mind at Deichemoore.
We entered the cave and, while exploring, we found an underground lake.
The ceiling of the cave was lined with glowing stones, making it quite bright, and the light shone through the water, creating a rainbow effect. It was exciting.
The sand around the underground lake was white, fine, and beautiful. The water itself was clean (President was disappointed there were no toxins), and it looked beautiful. We decided to have fun since we came all this way and found nothing dangerous.
Maito-san immediately made swimsuits, and we all played in the water. Yeah, it was fun. We played seriously and had a lot of fun.
Afterward, we had a pseudo-BBQ on the sandy beach. It wasn’t too hot, unlike a real beach, and the coolness felt just right. There was no sunburn risk, yet it wasn’t dark either, making it very comfortable. We lost track of time playing.
…That was fine, but after playing a lot, eating meat, playing some more, holding a beach volleyball tournament, with Maito-san almost collapsing, diving back into the water, and watching President drag everyone into the underground lake, we all played a lot. Yet, there was nothing—no monsters, no strange objects, and except for the initial toxic shell, nothing harmful, which disappointed President.
In the end, everyone changed clothes behind random rocks or outside the cave. Since Maito-san was there, we needed at least two changing spaces, but there wasn’t a large enough space, so everyone found a small spot to change.
It had been a while since I changed clothes while wet, so it felt strange, but I managed to change without much trouble.
…Then, when we came out of the cave after changing, there were suddenly 10 people.
There were 10 people.
Obviously, there were 9 of us! Me, Katori, Kadomi-kun, Hagasaki-san, Toriumi, President, Kariya, Suzumoto, and Maito-san. That’s 9!
…But somehow, there was a 10th person mixed in with us!
That’s why I said, “Who are you?” at the beginning! Really, who is this guy!?
“What’s wrong, Hariu?”
“No, what’s wrong is my line.”
I thought, “What happened to everyone?” but everyone, including the 10th person, was looking at me like I was the strange one. It’s really irritating.
“Seriously, who is this guy?”
“This guy… hey, hey, Hariu, it’s Urano, right? What’s wrong? Did you guys have a fight?”
Eh… Toriumi is putting his arm around a guy he doesn’t know… Well, with Toriumi’s social skills, he could quickly become friends with a stranger, but still, what?
“Oh. Could it be that you’re under some sort of status effect?”
Even President! Stop! Don’t try to make me drink some mysterious medicine! I’m normal! I’m normal! Rather, President should drink that medicine!
“H-Hagasaki-kun…”
“…Well, it’s troubling for me if you rely on me.”
I tried relying on Hagasaki-kun, who is notoriously known as the most heartless person in the chemistry club (he’s tied for first place with President, but President lacks common sense and hesitation), but it was no use! Hagasaki-kun looked at me like I was an idiot! Isn’t that terrible!?
“That’s right. It’s me, Hariu. What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
“No, really, I don’t know you…”
In the end, that mysterious 10th person started rubbing my back… but it really feels gross…
…Could it be that I really have gone crazy?
No, no, no, no, that’s not possible. That’s not possible. It’s the end if you start doubting yourself. I haven’t done anything to deserve doubting my memory.
…Everyone except me is accepting the 10th person like it’s normal, but thinking calmly, this means they’ve been brainwashed, right?
Which means, I’m the only one who’s sane, right?
…I have to do my best… I have to do my best…
I’ll do my best!
“Alright, today’s meal is Mediterranean-style.”
Dinner came without me being able to do anything.
Well, because the 10th person, ‘Urano,’ was just mingling with everyone else, playing Daifugo and UNO… When I said, “Who are you!” everyone around me looked troubled, which really hurt my feelings. Yeah…
“What’s Mediterranean-style?”
“Basically, it’s seafood with olive oil and tomatoes. Also beans and whole grains.”
“Thank you for the easy-to-understand explanation.”
“Indeed.”
Even if you just say the ingredients, I don’t get it! But I got a vague idea!
“How is it, is it delicious? Is it delicious?”
Dinner was delicious as usual…
“Yeah! It’s delicious as always! …Ah, Suzumoto! Can you pass that to me? I want to try that too.”
“Ah, got it.”
…Having a stranger at the dinner table really feels uncomfortable…
Yeah, I don’t think I’m that bad at socializing. In fact, within this club, I think I have pretty good social skills. But I realized that having a stranger mixed in like this is just unpleasant, regardless of social skills.
“Oh, right. Hariu, you were acting strange earlier, are you okay now? Still don’t know who I am?”
And he’s provoking me! Saying it with a face like he’s ‘worried’ makes me even more irritated!
“No, really, who are you…?”
“Hmm, it seems you’re still not well. Hey, President. Is there nothing we can do but wait?”
“I’ll prescribe some medicine just in case. But since we don’t know the cause, it’s best to observe without interfering too much.”
“I see… Well, it’s sad that Hariu doesn’t remember me, but if that’s the case, it can’t be helped…”
Ugh, how irritating! This guy! He’s so irritating!
Dinner was delicious but extremely irritating, and when Maito-san was preparing dessert,
“Oh, by the way, I want to try out a new skill. Can someone join me for combat training?”
The 10th person said that.
“Sorry, but I’ll pass. I’m tired today.”
“Yeah, I’ll pass too. Sorry. I need to maintain my weapons a bit. They got a bit of seawater on them.”
Hagasaki-kun and Katori politely declined. Good. Please refuse. A new skill from a stranger, that’s definitely bad news.
“I see. Then, how about Kadomi-kun? Are you free?”
“Huh? Ah… Hmm, well.”
Kadomi-kun started to seriously worry about something. Ah, stop it! Stop it!
“Oh, sorry. Kadomi-kun already has a prior engagement with me.”
Then Toriumi offered a helping hand! Thank you, Toriumi!
“Eh, what? Prior engagement?”
“Handmade bingo. Oh, Urano, do you want to join too? Let’s do it!”
Ahhhh! But Toriumi! No making play promises! Refuse it! Refuse the tenth person!
“Well, I guess it’s indoor play today then.”
It’s not “I guess”! Really, what is this!? What’s with this guy!?
Ahhhhhhh!
“Yay! I won first place!”
When we played handmade bingo, the tenth person won first place. Seriously, it’s annoying.
“It’s surprisingly hard to read people in this.”
Suzumoto, who was seriously participating in the game, stared at his paper. Yeah, I get that feeling. I didn’t even get a reach.
“Really? I think I read it pretty well this time.”
Even though I didn’t get a reach, the tenth person won bingo, it’s really annoying!
“Hariu, you seem off. I thought you might get better if we played a game… Kariya, can’t you fix this?”
“Should I give it a try?”
Kariya tried to heal me while we played the game. Yeah. I felt less tired.
“…Hariu, you still don’t understand me?”
Then the tenth person stared at me intently.
“How would I know!”
So I headbutted him with all my might! Take that! Serves you right!
“Ugh, whoa… are you okay?”
Katori was flustered between me and the tenth person, but I want him to be flustered for me only!
“Hey, if you’re going to fight, do it outside, will you? It’s annoying.”
Hagasaki-kun was cold, but if you’re going to be cold, be cold to the tenth person only!
“…Should I prescribe a sleeping pill for this?”
President should stop already!
President prescribed me a sleeping pill, and I pretended to sleep!
No, no, no, I’m not a ninja for nothing! I can pretend to take the pill and trick President.
Specifically, I made a different space in the shadow created by my teeth when the light shone in my mouth, using the ‘Shadow Crossing’ application, and poured the medicine there to make it seem like I took it!
While pretending to sleep, I watched the tenth person having fun with everyone.
…Seeing him blend in with everyone normally makes me feel really complicated and bad.
It pisses me off that everyone is being deceived, but more than that, it’s just… different. We’ve been together for about a year and a half, and we became like this through that time. But whatever he did, he became one of us instantly, and that’s just…
…I’m getting pissed off! I’m getting pissed off! But I’ll keep pretending to sleep!
Because I’m looking for a chance!
The tenth person called himself Yuu Urano, but in my memory, there wasn’t such a guy in our school.
I mean, I might not know underclassmen or upperclassmen, but he calls us by our surnames, and we call him by his surname too, so he’s supposed to be in the same grade. But there wasn’t such a guy in our grade.
Which means this guy is someone born from a mysterious phenomenon in another world or something created by someone’s skill.
…In short, he shouldn’t have any substance. This guy.
I mean, seriously, right? The possibility of someone from our school disguising themselves is very unlikely. Yeah. Because it would mean they’ve been wandering around alone, and there’s no reason for such a person to suddenly attack us. Besides, if such a person existed, we would have found them already. Even if we hadn’t, someone from George-san’s place or senior Itoigawa would have found them. Yeah. Senior Itoigawa would have found them. Absolutely.
So!
I need to keep an eye on this tenth person, and if they start to do something outrageous, I have to kill them even if it means shaking off everyone else… If not, at least I want to find out their purpose.
Because I’m a ninja. It’s my job to investigate the opponent’s identity and purpose. Haha.
So, I stuffed my bag and cushions inside my futon to make it look like I was sleeping, and then I quickly started scouting by hiding in other people’s shadows!
First, I’ll hide in Kariya’s shadow!
“Hey, hey, Kariya.”
“Huh? Oh, what’s up?”
“I got a little hurt, can you heal it?”
Wondering where the injury was, it turned out he scraped his knee. Looks like he fell. Haha, serves you right.
“Sure.”
The tenth person started using Kariya right away, but what the heck! Kariya isn’t a tool! Well, we use him conveniently too! We’re sorry!
“Uh… okay. How is it now?”
After about a minute of Kariya’s efforts, the tenth person’s injury was perfectly healed.
“Oh, yeah. That’s amazing, it’s already healed. …No matter how many times you do it, it feels strange. Thanks.”
“No problem. You’re welcome.”
…They were both smiling at each other, but I noticed something that made me a bit happy.
Yeah. Kariya’s healing took too long.
Usually, it’s instant. Instant. There are times when I’m being taken care of almost every second. If it took more than a second, I’d be dead. Hahaha.
…In short, Kariya is acting like the tenth person has been around forever, but probably, in his subconscious or deep down, he doesn’t think so.
That’s why it took time to heal because he didn’t know what the normal state of ‘Yuu Urano’s’ knee was.
Alright! There’s still hope!
Next, Hagasaki-kun.
“Hey, Hagasaki-kun, I’m a bit thirsty.”
“Ask Maito.”
Ah, Hagasaki-kun is equally cold to everyone. It’s somewhat reassuring and not reassuring at the same time.
“Come on. Just water is fine. Is that no good?”
The tenth person tilted his head and looked at Hagasaki-kun. It’s not cute for a guy to tilt his head! Only Kadomi-kun can get away with that, even if we concede a hundred steps!
“…Here.”
In the end, Hagasaki-kun made a cup out of ice, filled it with water, and handed it to him. Ah, it’s annoying that Hagasaki-kun’s kindness is directed at the tenth person and not at me.
“Dispose of the cup as you like.”
“Thank you!”
Hagasaki-kun sighed and went somewhere, so I sneaked into another person’s shadow!
Next, it was Katori, who was nearby!
“Katori, what are you doing?”
“Hmm? This? I’m maintaining my weapons.”
The tenth person peeked at Katori’s hands, and Katori gently pushed him back. Yeah. Of course. Katori’s hands during maintenance are dangerous, next to President’s hands during his work. Entering it is hazardous. Incidentally, the next most dangerous is Maito-san during cooking.
“Wow, so this is how it looks. …This is beautiful.”
“Yeah, the parts with stones are like that. It’s like a battery for us, but it looks like just a gem to others.”
The parts Katori uses for his work are quite fantastical, and they’re really beautiful. Both Kariya and President, who are pretty fond of minerals, often get drawn to them.
“…Hey, do you have any of those battery-like things left over?”
“I do, but why?”
“I just thought they’re beautiful.”
“…Do you want one?”
How shameless!
“Yeah. Is that not okay?”
The tenth person looked at Katori intently, doing the pleading pose again. Man, I’m starting to want to punch him.
“…I guess it’s okay. Here.”
Then Katori took out something sparkly from his pocket and handed it to the tenth person. Are you really going to give it to him? Is that really okay?
“Yay! Thank you!”
Don’t “thank you” me! You should be a little more reserved!
…After that, the tenth person watched Suzumoto and Kadomi-kun maintain their swords and blades, got a bit unnecessarily energized by President’s mysterious special medicine (though it tasted terrible, so it was a zero-sum game), and chatted with Toriumi about something.
Up until now, the only things he’s gained are getting his injury healed by Kariya, water from Hagasaki-kun, a battery-like thing from Katori, and watching weapon maintenance and chatting pointlessly while taking unnecessary medicine.
…What’s this guy’s goal…?
“Alright, time to sleep.”
After playing analog games with the tenth person, we decided to go to sleep.
“Do we have anything to do tomorrow?”
“Ah… We need to check on Hariu’s condition. If we need materials for medicine, we might have to go get them. There’s no guarantee we won’t have to fight a chimera again. We should sleep while we can.”
“Oh, right.”
The tenth person glanced at my futon and said that. …That’s all he said! Just that!? After looking so “worried” about me, that’s all!?
“I’m worried about Hariu. What happened to him?”
“Who knows.”
Suzumoto also looked at my futon… and then he smiled a little.
“Well, maybe things will change tomorrow. Let’s sleep for now.”
“Can’t we play a little longer?”
“No. It’ll affect us tomorrow.”
The tenth person seemed dissatisfied, but since everyone else started getting into their futons at Suzumoto’s words, he didn’t protest further.
…But.
“Hey, where are you going?”
Everyone naturally looked as the tenth person tried to leave the chemical lecture room without getting into his futon.
“Huh? To Maito’s place.”
“…For a midnight snack?”
“Well, if you call it that.”
The tenth person smiled mischievously, which annoyed me.
“Do you need a reason to visit your lover?”
…It made me so mad that I went past anger and felt calm.
I moved to Maito-san’s shadow. She was still up late working. She was sewing something. I didn’t know what she was sewing.
As long as Maito-san was working, there was light, which also meant there were shadows, so I could move around freely. Recently, Kariya’s ‘Light Ball’ had become Maito-san’s night lamp, so there were stable shadows, which was nice.
“Maito.”
“Huh? …Oh, coming.”
The tenth person arrived. When Maito-san opened the door and greeted him, he entered and locked the door behind him.
“Came to visit.”
“This late at night? No, you should sleep. I’ll sleep once I finish this.”
“Come on.”
I thought, “No, it’s not fine,” but I continued to observe his movements. After all, I’m a ninja. I don’t move until the last moment.
“…Hey.”
The tenth person peeked into Maito-san’s face and smiled.
…Maybe looking into someone’s face is a condition for his skill activation. I need to be careful.
“Sometimes, let me lean on you.”
The tenth person pulled Maito-san closer and peered even further into her face.
…At that moment, Maito-san’s face tensed up for a second.
“Alright, that’s enough.”
No matter what face Maito-san was making, I didn’t care.
But touching her was the final straw. It’s the right move to stop him before he could harm a comrade.
I stepped out from Maito-san’s shadow and completed my task by stabbing the tenth person’s chest with a knife! Mission accomplished!
“W-What are you… doing…!”
But he was still alive. Stubborn.
“That’s not like you, Hariu. What’s really going on?”
“Look, even I get angry sometimes. I’ve had enough. And saying ‘that’s not like you,’ who do you think you are? Don’t talk like you know me!”
As I went for a second stab, he tried to escape, but he had locked the door himself earlier. It wouldn’t open.
So, I used the stun effect of ‘Shadow Edge’ to immobilize him. Once he fell, I punched him.
“You think it’s okay to attack me here? The others won’t stand for this!”
Then the tenth person said something.
“They won’t forgive anyone who attacks a comrade…!”
…Well.
Now that he mentioned it, it made sense. Everyone had accepted him normally, so it was probably some kind of skill. From their perspective, I was trying to kill a comrade.
Even so, I can’t forgive what’s happening. This is just wrong.
“If you think killing me will solve anything, you’re gravely mistaken! The spell isn’t that weak! Even if I die, everyone will remember me and cry for me…!”
For a moment, I hesitated.
But still, I had to stab him. Even if it meant being hated by others, it would be worse if I didn’t stop him.
So I brought down the knife.
“Hariu, that’s enough.”
Suzumoto, who had somehow gotten behind me, stopped my arm.
A lot of thoughts raced through my mind in an instant.
But then.
“Wasn’t the plan to wait a bit longer? Is this really okay? Is this okay?”
Maito-san started saying something like that.
“It’s fine now. Actually, I’ve decided it’s fine.”
“Eh!? That’s different from the plan! We were supposed to hold out until tomorrow morning!”
“Of course, if you end up like that, I would stop you. It was unexpected that Hariu came out.”
“Yeah, I was surprised by that too…”
“Alright, if you understand, go to Ketorami’s place and get some sleep. Goodnight.”
“Okay. Goodnight!”
Suzumoto escorted Maito out through the window, passing her to Ketorami who seemed to be waiting outside, and then returned.
“…Hariu, don’t make that face. It’s alright. We are sane. We just stopped you because finishing him off would be troublesome.”
…Huh? What does that mean?
“Alright! We can beat this guy up now, right? Let’s go! Toriumi, starting first!”
“Waaah! My skull is caving in from that! Waaah!”
“Kariya, heal him. Next, it’s my turn.”
“Waaah! Kadomi-kun, put away that spiked bat! I’m not a healing tool!”
“Kariya, hurry up. Others are waiting.”
“Waaah! Okay, go ahead!”
…Hmmm?
“Good job.”
As I watched the tenth person being taken away, beaten up, and then healed, President came over to me.
“…What’s going on?”
“It’s simple.”
Then President explained.
“None of us were affected by the skill in the first place.”
…Well, you see.
I was so surprised I couldn’t even speak.
Apparently, everyone was just pretending to be under the skill.
…They were just acting like they were brainwashed.
Isn’t that surprising? I was really shocked. Sure, there were some hints, but I didn’t notice at all.
“To my embarrassment, I was brainwashed once.”
“What?”
“Maito-san had an abnormal status recovery potion, and she cured me immediately.”
Oh, right, Maito-san had dolls in her skirt carrying those potions. Whenever something happened, Maito-san would get soaked in the potion. Haha.
“So, Maito-san was under abnormal status too, at one point?”
“Apparently. Her maid dolls cured her immediately. We also made sure everyone else was soaked in the potion so they wouldn’t be affected by the skill.”
“Even me?”
“Yes.”
“When did that happen?”
“When I dragged everyone into the underground lake. The water was already highly concentrated with the abnormal status recovery potion.”
…Now that I think about it, President was unusually enthusiastic about dragging everyone into the lake… That action had a purpose…
And come to think of it, Maito-san didn’t ‘clean’ us up afterwards! Normally, she would make sure we were dry before we changed clothes! So that was to keep the potion on us! Makes sense!
“…So, Maito-san and I were covered in the potion, so we weren’t affected by the skill anymore. Since the enemy was unusual, we were curious about their purpose. We all acted to draw out the enemy’s objective.”
“Wait, wait, wait! Why was I the only one not informed about this!?”
“Because it was troublesome.”
“What!? Seriously!? Isn’t that too harsh!? Really, isn’t that too harsh!?”
“…Just kidding.”
Oh, thank goodness! I thought President had become as cold as Hagasaki-kun!
“If there was one suspicious person who clearly wasn’t affected by the skill, the enemy’s attention would naturally be drawn to them. Hariu, unaware of anything, acted as if ‘everyone else was affected by the skill,’ making it seem all the more convincing to the enemy.”
…So, that means… I was used as a scapegoat?
Wow… just wow…
President is amazing…
“But we do have a problem.”
“What is it?”
I thought everything was resolved, but following President’s gaze… I understood. Yeah, I got it.
“We’ve built up quite a bit of frustration.”
…The tenth person was really beaten up. It’s impressive. Techniques I’ve never seen before were used on him. It looks like some people were genuinely enjoying the beatdown. Look at Toriumi, he’s smiling!
No way, were they that frustrated!? No, more likely, Toriumi was probably enjoying the whole sequence of events.
“Being suddenly approached by a stranger is unexpectedly tiring. I learned a lot.”
Yeah, but President looked unusually tired. I get it.
“Of course, it’s annoying. I was annoyed too… It feels like everything we’ve built up until now is being mocked. It makes you angry, right?”
“…Yes, I think that’s what made me angry too.”
While looking at the tenth person, who was being beaten up and healed, I had a moment of reflection with President.
“I actually like everyone quite a bit. Not in a weird way. It’s comfortable being with everyone. Sure, there are times when I get mad, but it’s all good because I like them that much. If a stranger tries to break into that, of course, I’d get mad…”
I couldn’t put it into words properly, but I think this frustration wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t close.
“Yes, I agree… And that’s probably why that ‘tenth person’ wanted it so badly.”
“Oh… I see.”
The tenth person, after being thoroughly beaten and healed by Kariya, was whimpering a bit, looking kind of pitiful.
…Maybe he just really wanted a group of close friends.
“Well, if loneliness justifies brainwashing people, then all crimes of passion should be forgiven, and I won’t forgive him for that.”
“Yeah.”
But that’s a separate issue!
So, in the end.
We never did find out the exact purpose of the tenth person!
Why, you ask? Because after we beat him up and healed him, he started to dissolve and disappear while we were all scolding him!
…It was horror-like. Seriously, it was terrifying. My spine chilled. Seeing a human dissolve is a pretty gruesome sight.
He seemed to dissolve into the air, so we all frantically ventilated the lab, but nothing particularly happened, and that was the end of it.
…Yeah. I think…
Maybe that tenth person was really some kind of ghost.
When I was about to stab him the second time, he said, “Everyone will cry if I die.” Maybe that was his true wish.
Maybe something happened in his life that made him become a ghost, and seeing us looking close, he wanted to join.
If he had some regret, and it was resolved, then that’s good.
…Though I doubt there are many regrets that can be resolved by being beaten up… Yeah, well, haha…
Anyway, we decided to carry abnormal status recovery potions with us from now on, everyone apologized to me, and the incident was over! Good job, everyone!
…But before that, we had one more job to do.
“So, what should we do about the underground lake that’s become a reservoir of potions? That’s our next task.”
“Hey, President. I think, even though it was to keep it hidden from the enemy, did you really need to turn the whole underground lake into a pool of potions?”
“I have no regrets.”
Yeah.
…So, we had to apologize to the underground lake too…
Thus was born the future tourist spot, the ‘Lake of Healing.’