[Why did I not think of this earlier?! Unlike me, who will make it worse in every way possible, Han can change the story's outcome. If I influence him to change something, the current event has a better chance of being altered. That is his job, after all! As a matter of fact, the protagonist has already done it in the past by saving Laura from the bullies. Besides, I have no reason to fear that my help will become meaningless again.
The current situation may be slightly different, but it is still within what I expect from Rachel's biggest simp... Wait, I got it! He is a SIMPle bully!! HAH!
...Sorry about that lame pun...I will see myself out now...]
"Fu!"
I tilt my head slightly and notice a twitch at the corner of blondy's lips. It seems that Rachel is trying her best to not laugh out loud rather than being mad. C's thoughts can still carry his unique tone even at this time. I find it amazing to see his attitudes change as fast as lightning. After figuring out how to handle the situation, our faceless guy returns to his usual, aloof self. It is always fascinating to hear his thoughts switching back and forth in all emotions.
However, easygoing as C may show, I can sense instability dormant yet apparent in his thoughts. No sane person can switch between two drastic ranges of emotion like him. And that on its own is something worth taking notes on.
I wonder if the other two think the same as well.
[Han is, without a doubt, the Deus Ex Machina of everything. No matter what obstacles other characters are facing, his appearance will bring the conclusion to the story. If I tell Han to do it, he can make it work! I need to go get him asap!]
My poor C, you really do not need to worry that much. Rachel and Laura have already been freed from their shackles by you. That blond girl alone can destroy bully A, not to mention the class rep's beef with him goes way back. The power of those two combined will demolish the bastard in front of us within seconds.
[The only problem is I feel unease leaving the girls like that to find that damn protagonist. On the other hand, if I keep lingering here, nothing will be solved. How the heck am I supposed to choose? Damn my indecisiveness!! Seriously!]
His anxiety is justifiable, though. For someone who has their will and their efforts broken time after time by the system, there will always be a subtle yet constant dread of failure. If I were in his shoes, I would behave exactly the same.
The memory world told the story of a man who fell down and tried to get up so many times but to no avail. Thus, a deep dark fear was born inside his heart. He may try to suppress it by joking and making fun of things, but we three can clearly feel his hidden thoughts.
[Argh! Damn it! Damn you, bully A! Why must you appear now!? I do not want to abandon them again...]
"I'll go get help!" Shouting that, C runs toward the school as fast as he can. "Please wait for me! I will surely come back! Promise!!"
[It is three against one, plus one of them is Rachel herself, so they can at least hold their grounds until Han comes!]
C is technically shouting in his head now. I can somewhat understand the turmoil that he is suffering.
"Look at him running away with his tail between his legs. Pa-the-tic! Bwahahaha!! Go back to your mommy, boy!" Bully A laughs hysterically and points at C's frail silhouette. "I honestly do not understand how you came to like that sort of nobody, Rachel. A goddess like you should be with someone like me."
Rachel does not reply to that piece of garbage. Instead, she calls out to Laura while glancing over her back, seemingly trying to confirm someone is gone: "Did you bring anything?"
Coincidentally, the class representative takes her eyes off someone from behind her and declines: "I didn't..."
"Hey! What are you girls talking about?" Bully A tries to make his presence known to us.
"Is that so..." Rachel replies without care. "I guess we need to do this the hard way."
"But look!" The class rep suddenly grabs the air.
And in front of our mortal eyes, out of nothing, a kitchen knife manifests in her hands. In addition, the said weapon is not just any knife but the one Rachel likes the most.
"What the hell?!!" Unable to comprehend anything, that bastard screams. I can even see cold sweats forming on his forehead.
"You're joking, right?" Rachel's blue eyes widen in disbelief. "Did you see how it happened, Kuro?"
"No, it was like magic." I shake my head.
"It was absolutely brilliant!! Could you teach me how to do that?" We collectively ignore the voice of bully A.
Although I do feel surprised about Laura's sudden showcase, it is not to the extent of losing my composure. In the end, our world is inside of a game. Anything weird can be explained relatively easily by saying that. Still, for the people who did not know such a fact, the feat Laura just did was nothing short of a miracle.
"Was that a magic trick? I didn't know you could do magic!" Oblivious to his surrounding, the bully continues talking. "How did you do it?!"
At this point, I do not want to waste my energy replying to him anymore. There is no need to talk to a soon-to-be corpse. One thing is for sure, though. His ignorance is getting on everyone's nerves.
"I know you two have questions. Let's deal with the current thing, and then we can talk later. Our time is limited because C will not be gone for long." Laura then hands over the knife to Rachel. "I think you know what to do better than me."
"Fufufufu. I certainly do!" Blondy smiles dangerously.
The moment Rachel says so, we all look at the trash bag. Instantly, he turns as pale as a piece of paper and takes another step back. Even though I can not see the expression on my face, I know C would describe our eyes as void of light if he was close by.
"Ah! I almost forgot. Rachel, please don't do anything too drastic. We do not need C to find out about the blood spilling on your clothes. If possible, try to leave the ground untouched, as well. For someone like him, a few droplets of blood anywhere can still be a sign for C to flee. I'd suggest pulling that thing somewhere he would never go unless there is an event or somewhere we have absolute control. The easier to clean, the better." Glancing over Rachel's side, I give her a suggestion.
"And where would that be?" Blondy tilts her head slightly.
"The female bathroom sounds pretty good to me!" Laura says. "C probably will not try to go into that place. It is big enough, and there are cleaning supplies on the inside once we are done."
"Precisely! Now, if you don't mind, girls."
"By the way, Kurokawa." The class rep turns over my side. With a stern look, she says: "Go buy us some time. You are perfectly capable of doing that rather than what we are about to do. You shouldn't mess things up since...you know..."
"...Understood." Baffled by her suggestion, it took me a second to come up with an answer.
Laura is right. While the two of them are unaffected by the invisible chains, I am not yet free from the system, so there may be a chance of this world making everything worse through me. Of course, it can also not do so, but that chance is slim. No one knows what this game will do, and I am not the type of girl to take such a risk. What stunned me was Laura's proposal. I thought she would hate for me to get my own chance of being alone with him after last night.
What are you planning, class rep?
"Hey! Don't ignore..." Before that stupid incel can finish his sentence, Rachel has already grabbed his head tight. Startled greatly, bully A tries to pull her hand off his face while trying to scream. Nevertheless, Rachel's inhuman strength is not something that piece of trash can fight back.
Soon after, he learns that and starts to frantically throw his arms around to get the attention of the shadow people circling us, looking for help. Sadly for him, they do not pay one bit of attention.
"Shhh! Keep quiet! We're going to have some fun!" A knife is placed upon the bully's neck.
"Let's begin, shall we?"
As Laura and Rachel pull the bully somewhere else, I start walking toward the school building.
"Please, make it as painful as possible."
