Although An is paying attention to me, I still cannot risk the protagonist dying. I know the chance of that is minimal, but Han is who we should all protect if we want to keep this rolling—not me. If An carries a knife and, for some godforsaken reason, decides Han should be better off dead, everything is gone for good. It is better to be safe than sorry, after all. I cannot trust anything anymore. Simple as that!
"I'll go first,"
I say it like how a hero would in a drama while hiding my shaking legs.
Truth is, I want to disappear. Like, for real!
"Huh? I don't understand, but sure? Be my guest."
I will have to see for myself what she's up to. Thankfully, it is An, so at least my safety is somewhat guaranteed. One thing that separates her from Rachel's ruthless yandere-ness is her type of yandere. Incredibly crazy as the gremlin was, An could tolerate much of Han's infidelity—all in the name of love. Shocking, I know. A yandere who lets others be next to her beloved.
On the other end of the same spectrum is her willingness to sacrifice anything for her love and god—even herself. Imagine Aztec sacrificial ceremonies, people screaming for the Sun God while taking the heart of a virgin out. That kind.
"C!"
Undoubtedly, the trio does not feel comfortable allowing me to be with a dangerous new girl they just learned about recently through Han's words. Even worse, due to his shallow and insensitive nature, that damned protagonist could not get close to the truth—or even a fraction of it. He did not tell us the face An was hiding, only the cute way she usually acted around him. If I were one of the trio, I would have behaved exactly the same.
"I don't think this is a good idea."
Laura frowns.
"Are you sure you two have never talked to each other? The way she calls you is... unusual."
Although her voice is calm, it's filled with concern. I would be, too, if I were in her shoes.
Rachel looks at the exit, aquamarine eyes wavering in distant thought:
"Darling, I don't like her. That girl sounds like bad news."
Their concerns are entirely understandable, but there is not much of a choice for me. It is either face An directly or wait for pandemonium to break loose.
"Girls, I'm not asking for a lot. Just let me talk to An first. I'd like to understand why she knows me—perhaps even more than you all."
I look at Laura, Rachel, and Kurokawa, respectively, letting them hear my most sincere voice.
"Please, trust me on this. I have absolutely no reason to lie."
"C, it's not like we don't believe you, but this feels like a horrible idea. Who knows what that suspicious person might do?"
Laura stares outside the door and grabs my hand, doubt growing in her clear amber eyes.
"We don't know her. You don't know her. There's nothing to gain from this except maybe An getting what she wants. The way she's acting now, that girl might as well be a stalker. Or worse. I don't feel comfortable letting—"
Unexpectedly, Han raises his hand up:
"Um... girls... Why are you thinking about An in such a bad light? She's not a bad person, I swear! I've known her for quite some time now."
"You should be quiet!"
That is Laura and Rachel in unison, their tone harsher than ever. Immediately, Han shrinks down to a subatomic particle:
"I'm sorry..."
"Kuro, are you sure you're doing fine? You don't look so well."
For some reason, I cannot help but worry when seeing Kuro's expressions. Unlike the class representative and the housewife, Kurokawa remains silent all this time. Not only had she been like that the whole morning, but the pale look on Kuro's face had not faded since we boarded the train.
After what we did together on the rooftop, I thought I was able to open her up a little bit. She was able to talk about her family's circumstances yesterday, too. Yet, now, it is the complete opposite.
Something is wrong. I can feel it in my guts.
However, it seems the bookworm does not want to talk about the thing troubling her mind. She shakes her head from left to right, her hand waving, gesturing that there is nothing I should worry about:
"Right now, it's more important to deal with that girl. We'll go together to make sure nothing's wrong. I'm sorry, C, but we must be more selfish, especially at times like these. Rachel, could you be the one in front?"
"...Don't I have any say in this?"
"No, you don't. Rachel?"
Kuro's demeanor is incredibly stern. It feels like she is running out of time of some sort.
"Fine by me."
Blondy nods and immediately heads to the door.
"Wait! Rachel!"
Anxiety fills my entire being as I dash right after Rachel, followed by the rest of the group. Everyone gets off the train quickly, despite my utmost efforts to delay them to let me stand in front. Never had I ever wished for space itself to stretch as far as possible like today. Unfortunately, dreams are dreams for a reason.
"C!"
Out of nowhere, and I mean out of freaking nowhere, a soft yet tiny figure hugs me.
"An misses you so much! How are you today? Have you had breakfast? Do you want to go get breakfast with An? Have these women been giving you a hard time? Do you want An to kill them? How do you want them murdered? An misses you, An misses you, An misses you!"
A bombardment of questions. An is a submachine gun that shoots questions rather than bullets. I could hardly make out a complete sentence from what the girl said.
"How did you... No. That's not important right now. Please let me go." Stunned for a few seconds, I hurriedly push An off. If only it made any sense in the first place, though... For someone who could wound Rachel permanently, my power sadly does not amount to anything, as she keeps sticking to me.
On the contrary to my desperate attempt, thanks to her agility and strength, An somehow grabs me even tighter, digging her tiny hands into any crevices she can find.
It does not take long until the atmosphere becomes unbreathable. Except for the aimlessly walking shadow people, all eyes are on me and the little koala hugging my body while pretending it was a tree trunk.
"An... please let me go..."
I plead, feeling my blood rapidly turning cold due to the deathly stares of the three girls, yet the clutches of An only got stronger.
"An is not letting go! Your sacred body needs An's smell. Otherwise, it will be tainted, and An hates that!"
Hey there, friendo, a gentle reminder. We are in the middle of not one, not two, but THREE yanderes. It is not about you hating them or them hating you right now. I can assure you that! It is more... how do I say it... about keeping our butts alive! I do not want it cooked medium rare!
"Oh crap, this is going to be one hell of a catfight."
Says Han, slowly backing away but still has his mind and eyes focused here.
"I have the front-row seat to see the master at work!"
Just shut the fuck up and leave, will you?
"Let go."
Rachel's chilling voice cuts through the tension like a butcher's knife, heavy and sharp.
"I said. Let. Him. Go."
Each word weighs heavier than stone. And her tone, absolute.
An turns her head to look at the owner of that voice. She knows very clearly who possesses such a presence. Their scripted pass has many... encounters written. Immediately, the tiny girl puts one finger on her temple, pretending to be contemplating hard despite being stared at by three other menacing girls.
I can see that she is not afraid in the slightest. An knows for a fact she can make it out, and she is showing it in full.
Then she giggles.
An has a very high-pitched voice, almost childlike. Combine that with some giggling, and you will get a kind of laughter that says: "I heard you. I don't give a fuck."
"Rachel, my life-long friend! How is it going? You wouldn't mind if I had this reunion with C, would you? I'd love to chat with you later, but it's best for me to absorb C's particles into my being and do the same for him. He needs it. On a daily basis, too."
Once again, a bombardment of questions and one-way sentences.
Rachel does not reply. She takes one more step ahead, cracking her knuckles and creating disturbing sounds made of skin and bones.
Crack
My apologies, did I just see the ground crack underneath her heels just now?! How much force do you need to damage the floor with your feet by stepping forward?!
Still clutching onto my body, I notice An's body starting to shake. Her fiery orange eyes, focusing on Blondy, show no hesitation.
No fear.
Only excitement.
Lord have mercy on me.
This is probably how I die. See ya in the next episode, folks! No extra credits, though. The author is broke AF!
"Hey!" An purrs, rubbing her cheeks onto my arm like a cat marking her scent on her master, "You have him all to yourself yesterday and the day before that, why being so stingy? Why can't I have a moment with C? Huh? Why are they being unfair to An, C? An just doesn't get it!"
...What?
An has been inside the game since the first day? If... the smallest possibility of this being the new normal, then Adora and her maid could very well be...
"Anyway, why don't you go killing everyone else like you did last time to save me some time? An needs to spend her precious moment with C!"