Kamito and the Little Transparent

When I stand alone at the edge of the world, observing the natural rise and fall of civilizations, I often wonder.

If everything in this world is already predetermined... then what use is effort?

Just like these foolish, deluded subjects.

They spend their entire lives without even understanding... why they run forward.

Morishita Ai crouched on the ground, abandoning all pretense of dignity.

She was holding a magnifying glass, observing the vibrant patch of earth before her.

She had maintained this pose—the so-called Asian Squat—for nearly twenty minutes.

Wearing a miniskirt, she couldn't care less about whether squatting might expose her.

Because... she was wearing safety shorts.

"Is that?"

Morishita noticed a fleeting purple figure in the distance.

"Kamuro Masumi?"

She was no stranger to the pairing of the 'tsundere knight' and the 'princess with a twisted sense of humor' in her class.

Unlike the princesses in fairy tales, this one lived up to her name.

Fortunately... the princess's mischief was reserved solely for her tsundere knight.

For her, the destined hero who would slay the Demon King—

As long as the princess didn't target ordinary people, she could turn a blind eye and pretend not to see.

Though she wasn't entirely sure what psychological state allowed the tsundere knight to devote herself wholeheartedly and unwaveringly to that twisted princess.

But she figured there must be some unforgettable memory behind it.

Thinking this, she suddenly lost interest in the Ant Kingdom before her.

Standing up, she casually brushed off her skirt.

Then... she slowly began walking straight toward the classroom.

The hero set out on the path to pursue the Demon King...

"Sigh... ignored again."

A girl with a lovely face, tinged with frustration, leaned against the corner of a wall, sighing deeply.

Since childhood, she had always been overlooked by those around her.

Because of that... she wasn't good at interacting with others.

She often stayed silent, afraid that after voicing her thoughts, she'd be laughed at and gossiped about.

The girl let out another deep sigh, her deep cyan eyes filled with defeat.

Though she was long used to loneliness, that didn't mean she enjoyed the silence.

She often envied her peers who were warm, outgoing, and good at communicating their ideas.

Just as she was cosplaying as a vending machine...

"Ah la~"

An elegant female voice suddenly rang out beside her.

"You're Yamamura-san, right?"

"Why are you sighing here all alone?"

Yamamura Miki turned her head and looked at the silver-haired little girl leaning on a cane before her.

Sakayanagi Arisu!

During the class self-introductions, everyone could tell just from her name.

She was the daughter of the current Chairman, Sakayanagi Narimori.

She was revered by the class as 'Princess'—someone from a completely different world than a nobody like her.

A flicker of panic flashed in Yamamura's eyes, and her mouth began to disobey her, stumbling over her words:

"Th... that, I... my name is Yamamura Miki. P... please take care of me!"

What a terrible self-introduction. Even Yamamura herself couldn't bear to listen.

Her face flushed bright red, like the fully crimson sunset on the horizon.

"Hehe... no need to rush. We still have plenty of time."

End of May. (Damn, school starts in April, and I wrote March. Should I change it, bros? Or just skip straight to June? It's not like Real Classroom has any plot in June anyway.)

Suzuki Tsubame walked alone on his way back to the dormitory, just as he always did.

Unlike usual, a girl with stone-blue hair sitting by the roadside caught his attention.

The girl wore a side ponytail, with a straight fringe resting on her forehead.

Her eyes were lowered, as if she couldn't care less about everything around her.

The information-gathering Shallow Shadow? (That was the name Kamito had given her; Kamito was Morishita Ai.)

It seemed Sakayanagi thought Kamuro was too familiar with him and had deliberately swapped in someone else to keep watch.

Suzuki Tsubame didn't stop.

It was still too early to strike up a conversation with her now.

Over the next few days.

Suzuki Tsubame's life was filled everywhere with the presence of a character called Shallow Shadow.

As soon as class ended, the girl would reliably respawn in the hallway near Class D.

When school let out, she'd be sitting on the bench along the path that led to the dormitory.

Even on days off, when Suzuki Tsubame went downstairs, she'd be steadily following behind.

Suzuki Tsubame couldn't help but find it both amusing and exasperating.

This kid was a bit too confident in her own low presence.

Did she really think others couldn't see her?

Another day, during class break.

Suzuki Tsubame crept toward the rooftop, as if he'd become Kamuro.

Ten minutes later.

A small blue head cautiously poked out from the rooftop door.

"Classmate, are you looking for me?"

In an instant, a warm, large hand grabbed the girl's thin shoulder.

"Whaaaa!!!"

The girl curled up entirely, squatting on the ground in fright.

A bit like a pangolin, or an armadillo.

No wonder people said: when you're up to no good, you've got endless bull strength.

Suzuki Tsubame had deliberately waited a few extra minutes, just to scare her when she was most tense.

Why did his teeth suddenly feel hot? For some reason, he felt like opening a window to let some air in.