The Heroine Is In Love With Me

We're Talking, Part 3

   So, I’m sure…

   “I’m sorry, I don’t remember that.”

   “… I see.”

   … Why did I expect it to have been requited?

   Even though I knew that Mika had confessed to someone else,
   that day I saw it clearly with my own eyes.
   [INS: :INS]

   “… So then, Marshall!” Mika said.

   “… Yes?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

   “What was your name before you came to this world?”

   “That’s right… huh?!” I cried, unintentionally making a voice
   like the glasses-wearing husband in a certain Japanese anime.

   “Geeze, did you think I didn’t notice it at all?” Mika asked.

   “Ah, no… when did you notice it?” I asked.

   “Huh?” Mika asked. “Well, you know, when I brought the
   replacement doors with Pomegranate, you mentioned things like
   black companies, web novels, other things that aren’t in this
   world, and you were acting like a straight man.”

   “Oh… yeah, that’s right…” I muttered.

   I wondered why I thought she hadn’t noticed that till now…

   “Fufufufuh, you didn’t try very hard to come to see me, so I
   was wondering if you were different from the Marshall I knew,”
   Mika said.

   “I see…” I said.

   Did Michaela suspect it from the beginning? Despite it all, I
   was always trying to act like the Marshall of Darkness, and I
   was worried that she might be shocked if she knew there was a
   different person inside her… which is why I’m suddenly
   embarrassed.

   “Come on, Marshall,” Mika said. “Everyone has a dark history of
   edgy behavior while dressing up.”

   “If you think that, don’t dig it up…” I muttered. “But, more
   importantly.”

   “More importantly?”

   “I’m sorry to go back to an old topic, but why are you so
   obsessed with me? Even though you know I’m a different person.”

   “Fufufuh, the current Marshall who’s a hard-working straight
   man is also cute,” Mika said.

   “I see…” I said.

   “And that behavior is similar to the girl I talked about
   earlier, so I became more and more in love with you.”

   “… I see.”

   Yes, it’s rather refreshing to have it stated so clearly. After
   all this, I felt like an idiot for worrying so much…

   “Come on, Marshall,” Mika said. “Everyone lives with the weight
   of their dark past, so don’t look so depressed!”

   “Yeah, that’s true…” I said.

   “Well then, what’s your name?” Mika asked. “If you really don’t
   want to say it, I won’t force it.”

   “Oh, no, it’s fine,” I said. “My name is Saki Hamura.”

   “Ms. Saki… yeah, that’s a nice name!”

   “Thanks,” I said. “Also, we’re probably about the same age, so
   you don’t have to be so polite.”

   “Got it…” Mika said. “Well then, a pleasure to meet you again,
   Saki!”

   … Yeah, I expected it, but when she’s not being so formal, she
   almost looks like Mika.

   “Ah, were you thinking about your ex-girlfriend again, Saki?!”
   Mika said.

   “…?! Y-You’re mistaken, she wasn’t my ex-girlfriend…” I said.

   “Oh, so you don’t deny you were thinking about her?” Mika said.

   “S-Sorry!” I yelled.

   “Fuh-fuh-fuh, I’m not going to accept it,” Mika said. “If you
   keep thinking about that girl, I’m going to hug you!”

   “Kyaaa!” I yelled. “Please don’t do this!”

   “Fuhahahaha!” Mika laughed. “This is fun though, isn’t it?!”

   … I wonder, this makes me feel like I’m playing around with
   Mika again. I’m sure Michaela also recalls the time she spent
   with her beloved girl. She looks somewhat lonely.

   “… Hey, Saki,” Mika said as she clung to my arm, then tilted
   her head and looked up at me.

   “What is it, Michaela?” I asked.

   “I want to know more about you, not the Marshall of Darkness,”
   Mika said. “What do you like and how was your life back in your
   original world?”

   “Yeah, I also want to know more about you, not the Saint of
   Light,” I said.

   “Then, let’s talk about that,” Mika said.

   “Yeah, let’s do it,” I said.

   So, we started talking about our time spent in our original
   worlds, somehow avoiding the topic of how we thought about each
   other.

   While we talked about what was popular at school and about the
   playground near it, I began to realize that I’d lived a good
   amount of time in that neighborhood.

   “Maybe I went to the same school as you, Saki,” Mika said.

   “Seems like it,” I said. “Based on what you’ve said so far, I
   may have been in the next class.”

   “Ahaha, that might be possible!” Mika said, laughing gleefully
   as she tilted her head slightly. “By the way, Saki, do you want
   to go back to your original world?”

   … On that note, I didn’t even consider that because I thought
   it was impossible to return to my original world.

   I thought I’d died then. However…

   “… If I can go back, I might want to go back,” I said. “I think
   my parents are worried about me, too.”

   Besides, Mika was worried about me as a friend.

   “I see,” Mika said.

   “How about you, Mika?”

   “Well, like I said, when that girl went far away, I thought I
   didn’t need that world, I thought I’d rather see it destroyed…”
   Mika said.

   “Isn’t it pretty extreme to want it destroyed?” I asked.

   “Fuh-fuh-fuh, a maiden in love is always extreme,” Mika
   replied.

   “Well, I wasn’t that extreme, was I?”

   “You’re too kind for that, Saki!” Mika said.

   “Oh, is that so?”

   “Definitely!” Mika said. “That’s why I think the original world
   would be better if you were to go back to it, Saki.”

   “Well, then, I hope we can both go back together!”

   “… Yeah. I think so too!”

   … Huh?

   Somehow, I feel that her expression had become unsure when she
   replied, but… I wonder if it was all in my mind.