Chapter 26: I’m looking for some healing!

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Translator: Soafp

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“Man, this is nice.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Absolutely fantastic.”

Akira, Shougo, and I muttered those words as we watched a group of girls.

It was gym class, and the girls in our line of sight were playing volleyball in their gym uniforms.

Today's class was a joint session with the neighboring class, which meant we could observe girls we normally never got to see.

“Hey, Agatsuma's incredible, huh?”

“Not saying what part, but… yeah, incredible.”

Akira and Shougo were staring at Agatsuma.

She was on the same team as Mari, happily chatting with her while they played. Seeing her laugh like that, I felt relieved that she had finally reached a point where she could smile so naturally.

Of course, alongside that touching thought, I was also watching her enormous chest sway whenever she moved.

Still… it really was good to see.

“This is why joint classes are great. There are more people, so naturally there are more students taking breaks too.”

I nodded in agreement with Akira.

With two classes together, there were more students, which meant more people—boys and girls alike—were sitting out.

That was why nobody complained when we spent our break watching the game like this.

“…Oh.”

While we were watching, the ball came flying toward us, apparently after a particularly bad serve.

A girl from the neighboring class ran over. I had never spoken to her before, so I simply picked up the ball and handed it to her without saying much.

“Thanks.”

“Sure.”

That was what happened when you normally had no contact with someone.

A little while ago, I might have thought, Say something more clever, idiot.

But I didn't need that anymore.

Why? Kukuku… because I had Mari and the others!

“…Boring.”

“Seriously, what happened to you?”

“Hm?”

Akira and Shougo were glaring at me.

Wondering what was wrong, I followed their gaze. Mari and Agatsuma were waving at me with exaggerated enthusiasm.

I naturally waved back, but even that attracted the ugly jealousy of several other guys.

“Still, I don't mind when it's you two. You're actually close with them.”

“…Yeah, those two are different.”

“Those other guys are hopeless.”

I had no problem with my close friends. But being glared at by the popular guys in the class—people I barely even knew—was irritating.

A mischievous thought crossed my mind: Should I send those idiots home again?

But I couldn't waste my precious battery power on them.

“I'd rather use it on Mari and the others. Besides, I have no interest in cutting down boring targets.”

I turned away from the popular crowd and went back to watching the girls play volleyball with my friends.

Then Akira suddenly brought something up.

“By the way, I found a doujinshi I'm really into lately. It's a hypnosis story.”

“Oh? That's a pretty intense interest.”

“…”

My heart gave a small, startled jump.

I had read the hypnosis doujinshi Akira was talking about, so I nodded along at certain points and discussed whether some of its ideas were believable.

“I wish I could use a hypnosis app too. Then I could do all kinds of things to girls… Kukuku.”

“Quit being creepy. But hypnosis, huh… I guess it wouldn't be so bad.”

I wouldn't call it a normal way of thinking, but since hypnosis was only a fictional power to them, it wasn't unusual for them to fantasize about using it to do things to women.

Listening to them, I couldn't help feeling a sense of superiority as I watched Mari and Agatsuma exercising.

But then—

“Like, you put a girl who doesn't want it under hypnosis…”

“Yeah, the usual scenario. Then you release the hypnosis halfway through or something.”

“Not bad.”

“Yeah, not bad.”

For some reason, I couldn't agree with that part.

Sure, the moment I used something like a hypnosis app, I had no right to lecture anyone about another girl's dignity.

But if someone under hypnosis genuinely hated what was happening, I didn't think I could continue.

Sasaki and Someya were good examples. If someone cried that hard, it would kill the mood completely.

Was I the only one who felt that way?

(I'm not trying to pretend I'm a good person. It's simply how I feel. What I'm doing probably isn't what Mari and the others truly want either. But while hypnotized, they take the initiative and act so willingly that I end up going along with it.)

I still found myself wondering about that from time to time.

The hypnosis app worked properly, and I could control them exactly as I wished. Yet lately, even while they were hypnotized, communicating with them had become incredibly easy.

They spoke without waiting for me to say anything. They knew what to do, or even offered to do things for me themselves.

There were endless questions, but these were blissful moments for me. Thinking too hard about them felt pointless.

(Their honesty is nice too. It makes it easier to check on them—to find out whether anything has happened in their lives. It also means I can make sure they don't keep their problems bottled up just to avoid worrying me.)

Again, I wasn't trying to act like a good person.

But since I was doing whatever I wanted with their bodies, they had already become special to me in many different ways.

Naturally, I wanted to look out for them as much as I could.

(Besides, I haven't gone all the way with them, and I probably never will—even if this power lasts forever.)

There was one line I had no intention of crossing.

Perhaps I only thought that way because I was still inexperienced, and because I could touch Mari and the others while they gave me satisfaction without taking things that far.

But if something went wrong, I had no way to take responsibility for it. I couldn't carry that burden.

“Oh, it's over.”

“Looks like it. Let's go too.”

Before I knew it, gym class had ended.

I had started out watching Mari and Agatsuma, but at some point I had become so absorbed in my thoughts that I had stopped paying attention to the game.

“What should we do today?”

“Maybe karaoke or bowling?”

“Sounds good. Let's go.”

As third-year high school students, we worked hard at our studies, but spending time having fun with friends was important too.

Mari had helped me relax during lunch, and my days had been practically perfect lately.

As soon as school ended, we headed toward the shoe lockers.

That was where I noticed something I had never seen before.

“What's this?”

A sheet of paper had been placed on top of my shoes.

For a moment, I wondered whether it was a love letter. But nobody would leave a love letter in such a bland way, so I unfolded it and checked the contents.

“Don't get so full of yourself, you piece of trash.”

“…”

In a sense, this was also a passionate declaration of affection.

The words had clearly been scrawled in anger, and the handwriting unmistakably belonged to a boy. I had expected something like this to happen sooner or later.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

The fact that I could more or less guess who had done it made me feel calm. It also reassured me that I really did have plenty of mental room these days.

I crumpled the paper, threw it into the trash, and went outside.

I was supposed to go out with my friends as planned.

But a few minutes later, I was walking alone.

“I can't believe both of them got calls from their parents.”

Just after we left school, both of them had received phone calls.

Their parents needed them to buy groceries, and apparently there was a lot to pick up. They couldn't refuse, so both of them went home.

I had no particular plans, but going straight home felt dull, so I wandered around town instead.

“…Oh.”

As I walked aimlessly, I noticed a woman in front of me catch her foot on a step.

Some cosmetics fell from the pouch she was carrying. Since I happened to be nearby, I picked up one of the items that had rolled toward me.

“You dropped—”

I was about to say, You dropped this, when the woman quickly snatched it out of my hand.

Technically, “snatched” was a strange word since I had been about to return it. Still, the fact that she didn't even thank me left me speechless.

“Don't touch my things. You're a man, aren't you?”

“…”

The sharp-eyed woman walked away.

I stood there for a while, stunned. But more than anger, I felt baffled.

“What was with that woman? I went out of my way to pick it up for her.”

For a moment, I thought about chasing after her and hypnotizing her.

But she wasn't really my type, so I quickly lost interest.

Still, I wanted to soothe this unpleasant feeling somehow.

That was when I passed a café and spotted something.

“Oh.”

Three girls were sitting together, chatting amicably. They noticed me too and turned their eyes in my direction.

“Mari, Honma, and Agatsuma.”

By pure coincidence, three girls I was involved with had gathered in one place.

I wondered what they had been discussing. But whenever Mari encountered a situation like this, there was apparently only one thing a social butterfly like her would do.

“Kai-kun! Come sit and talk with us.”

“Sure.”

I nodded, happy to accept the comfort I had been looking for.