A Suspicious Presence at the Gathering / Little Bocchi, Heroes Can't Run Away When the Battle Begins!

"Ms. Kashiko Kasumi, there's no need for me to say the code phrase, right? Can't you tell who I am just by looking at the letters on my hat?" The blonde girl awkwardly pointed at her cap.

Three huge letters—"UMR"—were printed on it, revealing her identity.

But Kasumigaoka Utaha merely continued staring at the UMR before her without speaking, as though she were still waiting for an answer.

UMR could only nod helplessly. "I do think You Know Who deserves to die, but do we really have to come up with a code phrase like this? What if Mr. You Know Who is watching us right now?"

The Suspicious Presence at the Gathering

After UMR gave the correct code phrase, the two of them stood off to one side and began chatting while holding their diaries.

Kasumigaoka Utaha did not need to introduce herself. After all, she was currently You Know Who's "favorite."

He wrote novels in his diary, gave her manga offline, and had even entered their group yesterday to upload the entire anime.

Even though it was their first meeting, Kasumigaoka Utaha had not deliberately altered her appearance. Naturally, everyone in the chat group could recognize her easily.

UMR gave a simple introduction of herself.

Doma Umaru, a first-year high school student, currently living with her older brother, who was already working, and fond of video games.

She did not say much about her daily life, but once the subject turned to games, she could not stop talking.

"You might not believe it, but I'm the top player at the arcade near my house. If we get the chance later, I'll show you my gaming skills."

Kasumigaoka Utaha was not particularly interested in games, but she could sense the confidence the girl before her had in her area of expertise.

Before she could say anything, however, another girl's voice came from behind them.

"Being good at just one arcade is enough to make you this proud?"

The two turned around at the sound. A black-haired girl in a black gothic lolita outfit had appeared beside them at some point.

"I'm Black Cat. The code phrase we agreed on in the group last night was 'Voldemort deserves to die.'" Black Cat took out the Diary in her hand to confirm her identity. "Of course, I don't have many thoughts about You Know Who right now. So far, he only mentioned me in passing when talking about that eyepatch girl. To be honest, I'd quite like to learn from You Know Who what my future will actually be like."

After introducing herself, Black Cat looked first at Doma Umaru. "You're UMR from the group, right? If we have time later, we can have a match. How about we pick the game you're best at?"

Doma Umaru immediately thought of the person in the group who spent all day indulging in chuunibyou nonsense with Evil Eye, arguing over fictional settings.

She could already feel that person's sharp tongue in the chat group, but she had not expected her to show no restraint whatsoever even offline.

More importantly, did an ordinary person really have the courage to wear a black gothic lolita outfit to an offline gathering?

But since the other girl had challenged her, Doma Umaru, the number one arcade player, naturally could not back down.

The two gaming masters locked eyes, and fierce sparks immediately flew between them.

Watching the two of them produce such a strong smell of gunpowder during their very first exchange, Kasumigaoka Utaha felt a headache coming on. At the same time, she suddenly realized that this sort of situation would probably become very common in the future.

After all, in light novels and manga aimed at teenagers, it was very common to design a heroine who was good at games or enjoyed otaku culture in order to attract readers.

Just like Eriri Spencer Sawamura in her own story.

A Japanese-British mixed-race girl whose father was also a diplomat—a proper upper-class family.

Yet she was written as a veteran female otaku who had been exposed to otaku culture since childhood, and had even started drawing R18 yuri doujinshi in middle school.

Thinking about it that way, there were definitely quite a few heroines who excelled at games as well.

And combined with gamers' usual refusal to admit defeat, it was likely that the only way to make them listen in the future would be to speak through skill at games.

Kasumigaoka Utaha was still thinking about this.

Unexpectedly, Black Cat suddenly turned to look at her, and her earlier pride shifted into respect.

"Ms. Kashiko Kasumi, I know your debut work is about to go on sale. If you have time, could you give me some advice on the work I've written?"

The girl's bearing changed from that of a gaming master unafraid of any challenge to that of a novelist humbly seeking guidance. Kasumigaoka Utaha could not help but freeze for a moment.

Well, beautiful girl writers were also a popular category. Perhaps in the future, she might even encounter a heroine whose results were better than hers.

"Send it to me privately after today's gathering is over, and I'll take a look," Kasumigaoka Utaha said without refusing. She also wanted to see whether this Black Cat girl might become a formidable rival in the future.

The three chatted briefly for a while longer before Black Cat frowned and looked toward the station, where there were barely any pedestrians.

"But hasn't Lady Kaguya arrived yet? We agreed to gather before noon, but as the organizer, she should have arrived earlier."

Kasumigaoka Utaha also found it strange. Hoshino Ai had an acting class today, so she would not be able to make time until the afternoon.

That meant the only person left who had said in the group that she would attend was Shinomiya Kaguya, the organizer herself.

"Let's ask her in the group. Maybe something delayed her?" Doma Umaru spoke up for Shinomiya Kaguya, then tagged her in the group and sent a picture of three diaries stacked together.

But Little Kaguya's mind, in her current state, simply could not hold that many things at once. It was already impressive enough that she remembered she had to attend the gathering.

Meanwhile, Hayasaka Ai beside her was busy nonstop, handling information sent by the Shinomiya Family bodyguards.

There were currently four unfamiliar girls near Nanshinjuku Station.

Hayasaka Ai checked and confirmed that she had previously investigated one of them—the girl named Kasumigaoka Utaha.

And the three girls, including Kasumigaoka Utaha, were standing openly at the station entrance. They appeared to be the people the young lady intended to meet.

As for the remaining girl?

Suspicious. Extremely suspicious.

Dressed in a pink tracksuit, she was sneakily hiding in an alley, only daring to occasionally poke her head out for a glance. In the end, after hesitating for ages, she still did not dare step outside.

Could this be the person Lady Kaguya had gone to so much trouble to find?

Hayasaka Ai did not intend to act rashly, but when the Shinomiya Family bodyguards reported that the girl had suddenly looked around in panic, as if she had noticed something and was preparing to leave immediately, she made her decision.

"We'll be there in a few minutes. Stop that girl first. Be polite—tell her Lady Kaguya wants to speak with her and ask her not to leave. See how she reacts."

That was Hayasaka Ai's instruction.

But just as they were about to reach their destination, a somewhat panicked report came from the Shinomiya Family bodyguards.

"Our people merely appeared in front of that girl. Before they even finished speaking, she was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground!"

Hayasaka Ai's face twitched.

Fortunately, they had already arrived.

Before joining up with the other three girls, they should first figure out what exactly was going on with this suspicious girl.

Hayasaka Ai led the dazed Little Kaguya out of the car, then pointed at the pink-haired girl in the alley and asked her young lady, "My lady, do you recognize this girl?"

Kaguya looked curiously at the girl surrounded by several Shinomiya Family bodyguards, curled up on the ground with her head in her arms, trembling.

She stared at the other girl while searching through the little memories in her small head.

At the same time, her gaze caught the other girl's attention.

When she saw that the person who had arrived was Kaguya, the pink-haired girl immediately looked as though she had seen her savior.

"Ah... I..." She seemed to want to say something, but the more she tried to speak in that situation, the more she realized that her nervousness had left her unable to say a single word.

The two girls' gazes met in midair.

Taking the opportunity, Little Kaguya carefully examined the pink-haired girl from head to toe. Finally, beneath the hopeful gaze of the pink-haired girl, she gave an honest answer.

"I don't know you~"

At those words, the light immediately vanished from the pink-haired girl's eyes.

But in the next instant, another girl's voice came from behind her, pulling her out of hell.

"Will Guitar Hero from the group really spy on us here like You Know Who said... Huh? Kaguya, why are you here? Did you come because you saw the diary just now too?"

Little Bocchi, a Hero Can't Run Away at the Last Moment!

Ten minutes later, inside a café not far from the station.

Since there were not many customers in the morning to begin with, Hayasaka Ai did not spend much money to temporarily reserve the café and have the Shinomiya Family bodyguards stand guard outside.

The three girls looked at the pink-haired girl sitting in the corner, curled up with her head lowered, completely unable to look at anyone.

Then they looked at Hayasaka Ai, dressed as a maid.

Finally, their gazes fell upon Little Kaguya, who looked dazed and unaware of anything as she happily ate pastries.

Kasumigaoka Utaha's foot-stomping was especially noticeable in the café, where their table was the only one occupied.

Although she knew stomping her foot was not a good habit, Kasumigaoka Utaha truly could not hold it back in this situation.

What the hell was this mess?

As the organizer of this gathering, Shinomiya Kaguya's image had undergone some subtle changes in everyone's minds because of yesterday's diary.

But considering the calm temperament she had always displayed in the group, as well as You Know Who's description of Shinomiya Kaguya's future, her position in the group had not been affected much. Instead, they only felt that the Shinomiya Family's young lady was rather "down-to-earth."

Who could have imagined that Shinomiya Kaguya had a setting where her personality changed depending on her mood before bed and the quality of her sleep?

Who even came up with such an absurd setting? Had the scriptwriter watched too much Martin Morning?

And then there was Guitar Hero, Little Bocchi.

This posture truly fit the "social anxiety" image described in the diary.

They had no reason to doubt her identity.

After all, that extreme social anxiety—where even someone initiating a conversation with her made her jump in fright and pull an exaggerated expression—really did not seem like an act.

Besides, they had all followed Guitar Hero's account after You Know Who first wrote about it in his diary. Guitar Hero herself had also been among the first members to enter the chat group after it was made public, though she had barely spoken in it.

But the problem was the diary entry You Know Who had updated fifteen minutes earlier.

The time returned to fifteen minutes ago.

At that time, the three girls were still discussing at the station entrance why Shinomiya Kaguya was not replying in the group.

Then, in an extremely rare occurrence, the Diary refreshed in the morning.

Good morning, everyone~

Are you wondering why today's diary is being updated at such a strange time?

No need to wonder. Today is the day of your first offline gathering since receiving the diaries. Although not many people are attending, I'm still very concerned about it.

So when I discovered that poor socially anxious Little Bocchi had clearly arrived near the station early in the morning, only to cower in an alley and secretly observe for ages without daring to approach, how could I, a companion of justice, possibly stand by and do nothing?!

@Guitar Hero, a hero can't run away at the last moment. Since you've already arrived, stop giving up on yourself in the alley and just go for it.

@Kashiko Kasumi, to help you recognize her, I'll send out some reaction images first to give you a little assistance, okay?

Anyway, don't let her run away. For this kind of socially anxious person, you need to push her hard.

@Black Cat... Forget it. Since today is your first gathering, I won't talk about you. Just discuss relationship issues with Ms. Kashiko Kasumi more.

Lastly, @Lady Kaguya, where are you? You organized this gathering, so why haven't you arrived yet?

Don't tell me you got too emotional after reading the diary last night, so you woke up as Little Kaguya this morning.

Come to think of it, that really does seem possible. After all, according to the setting, Kaguya's emotions are unstable. Sometimes, she can even hold meetings with herself inside her own head.