nazunyan427

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Parallel World - “The Bad Kid Survival Strategy” Chapter 14

Writer: Akira

Season: Winter

(Later that night. Starmony Dorm. Mashiro Tomoya’s dorm room.)

Tomoya:

……

Nazuna:

Hey, I’m coming in. Huh? Tomo-chin, is it just you tonight?

Lately, all of us have been gathering in your room to discuss our next steps even though no one specifically suggested it; we all just started doing it out of habit.

Tomoya:

Oh, Nii~chan.

Sorry, I was focused on something and didn’t hear you. What did you say?

Nazuna:

I asked you if you were alone tonight~?

Tomoya:

Well, I can sense Ayase-senpai’s presence in the ceiling…

When I get so distraught that I end up groaning or sighing to myself every now and then, he’ll say something like “Please hang in there!” or “Please don’t give up!”

Nazuna:

Like your own personal poltergeist.

Tomoya:

By the way, Hajime was seriously on the brink of losing it so Mitsuru forced him to go to the hospital. Hajime tried to protest, but Mitsuru threw him over his shoulder and forcibly carried him there.

Nazuna:

That happened? I had to go back to college so I had no idea…

Tomoya:

I’m sure things are pretty hectic for you right now with it being the end of the year.

…By the way, has anyone at your college said anything to you about us?

Nazuna:

Hm? No, not really. Part of it is probably out of consideration for me.

But ever since I started attending a regular university, I’ve come to learn something pretty well. That is: the world has nowhere near as much interest in idols as we think.

Tomoya:

Ahaha. I guess that’s for the better, in a way.

It’s actually a relief to hear. If we were some of the most famous people in this country, I can't even begin to imagine the stress we’d be under.

Nazuna:

Yeah, exactly. Everyone at ES basically exaggerates their own importance~

But even though this amount isn’t exactly fatal, there’s no denying that we’re under serious stress right now—enough that even someone as resilient and strong-minded as Hajime-chin had a complete mental breakdown.

Tomoya:

Oh, I get the feeling that Mitsuru might have been overexaggerating about that a bit. Since he’s spending so much time visiting his friend at the hospital, I feel like he’s started worrying way too much about everyone else.

Mitsuru might be a pretty invincible guy, but the rest of us ordinary humans around him aren’t… We have weaknesses, and we end up crumbling sometimes. I think that fact is finally sinking in for him.

And that’s why he started panicking and making such a fuss.

Nazuna:

That might also be why he never told us the entire strategy this Guu~chan or whatever her name is came up with from the start. I guess he did so out of consideration for us. Pretty cheeky of him to make a call like that, if you ask me.

Tomoya:

Yeah, it does feel kind of frustrating. We’re the same age, but it’s like he’s trying to act like our guardian right now.

Though I’m not sure if I'm in the right place to say something like that; not when I’m the one who’s basically taken on the role of Hajime’s personal guardian all this time, even though no one in particular asked me to.

Nazuna:

I get the feeling that your presence has saved Hajime-chin in all sorts of ways, Tomo-chin.

Back when I was at my worst mentally, back when Valkyrie temporarily came to an end—

—I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I’d had a friend like you around.

Tomoya:

Didn’t you have any friends back then, Nii~chan?

Nazuna:

Well, I had Kuro-chin when it came to casually hanging out with someone. But he had his own situation to deal with, so I felt like I’d probably be just a burden if I tried to depend on him too much.

Tomoya:

I really wish you’d turn to someone for help when you’re suffering, Nii~chan.

Nazuna:

Cheeky… But listen, whether you ask me to or not, I’m going to turn to you for help whenever I need it, Leader~?

Let me just get straight to the point. What do you plan to do from now on?

You’re the only one who can make the final decision. Though of course, the rest of us will share our opinions with you.

But ultimately, you’re the one who has the call on the overall direction we’ll go in and steer us towards our goal. That’s your role as our Leader.

Are you really going to go through with the plan that Mitsuru-chin said this Guu~chan came up with?

Tomoya:

Well, if we don’t, all of the prior investment we put into Operation: PR will have been a complete waste. That was basically laying the foundation for the first stage of our plan.

Nazuna:

It’s still possible to cut our losses. Mitsuru-chin said something like that too—it’s totally possible to still pull out before we go past the point of no return.

Tomoya:

But... I do think I want to go the whole way.

Even now, I’ve been laying the groundwork over Holdhands.

Nazuna:

Getting everyone else to help is basically going to be vital when it comes to carrying out the next part of this plan.

The enemy we’re up against is the formidable Bishojo-senpai, after all. We won’t be able to take them down by ourselves.

Tomoya:

And that’s why we’ll have everyone help us out. That’s pretty much how we always do things, isn’t it?

That’s why, in a way, this time is no different;the scale is just way bigger this time around.

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