Natsuyū looked at Kushida’s eager face and couldn’t help himself:
“What do you mean you chose yes?
— I’m Rurikawa Natsuyū.
Nice to meet you.”
Is there actually someone in the world dumb enough to agree to something like this just because it said ‘make friends’?
And what’s more — the pitch this thing used was different for each person.
His had been about “pursuing what is right,” while hers was about “making friends.” Tailored to the individual.
Honestly, the most Kushida thing that’s ever happened.
By which he meant her IQ.
“Great, so we’re friends now~.
Rurikawa-kun, you said no and still got kidnapped here anyway?”
Internally, Kushida was delighted:
Got him.
Handsome guy, locked in as a friend.
Though… Rurikawa… that name feels even more familiar.
Someone mentioned it before.
Kushida smiled and made a small puzzled sound — and to Natsuyū, it came across as adorable but slightly calculated.
Very green tea.
Not that he particularly minded green tea.
Still, it was funny — Kushida Kikyo seemed far more preoccupied with making a new friend than with the fact that they’d just woken up in the middle of nowhere under supernatural circumstances.
Kishida Kikyo, this girl — someone should really call a specialist.
“Oh, right.”
Kushida tilted her head, genuinely curious.
“What does ‘get rich — punch trees’ mean?”
You heard that.
You definitely heard that.
What does it mean to you?!
Natsuyū’s eye twitched.
He pivoted smoothly:
“Nothing — Kushida-san, you’ve got mud on your clothes.”
He genuinely cared about appearances, so he also paid attention to how others looked.
The smear of dirt on her back did seem out of place, and pointing it out was a convenient way to change the subject — redirecting her attention to fixing herself up.
Phew.
Deflected.
Achievement incantations requiring you to shout things out loud — easily the most diabolical invention of the century.
Kushida patted herself down but kept the conversation going:
“Rurikawa-kun’s back is a little dirty too — want me to help?”
“I’ve got it.” He was already sorting himself out.
“What is this gate?
I wanted to ask about it earlier — do you know, Rurikawa-kun?”
Natsuyū looked at the dazzling gate with genuine attention.
“I told you — I only woke up a few minutes before you.
I want to know what’s on the other side too.
Whether it can get us back.”
“Did we really end up in some kind of supernatural situation?
It still doesn’t feel real…”
Kushida murmured quietly.
“What do you think is on the other side of the gate?”
“AAAAAAAAH!!!!!!”
A scream.
From the other side of the gate — a girl’s voice, raw and absolutely shredded, like she’d seen a ghost.
A scream so piercing it could tear through the soul.
“Wha—!”
Both Natsuyū and Kushida jolted.
Kushida grabbed his arm with both hands, shoulders trembling, staring in horror at the shimmering gate.
“There’s someone on the other side.”
Natsuyū assessed it quickly.
The sound didn’t necessarily come from inside the gate.
The gate wasn’t transparent.
There were people behind it.
“Huh?
H-huh?!”
Kushida’s startled brain hadn’t caught up yet, but her grip on his arm kept her anchored as Natsuyū led them both around the back of the gate.
What they found stopped them cold.
A slender girl with short white hair fading into pink at the tips stood frozen, her cherry-blossom pink eyes wide open, staring at the gate in pure, unadulterated terror.
And it was easy to see why.
The three-metre gate had flowering vines climbing both sides of its frame.
At the top, the vines twisted together around the clockwork mechanism, braiding into a single rope — from which hung the body of a girl in a black-and-red pleated Gothic Lolita dress.
Dark bangs hid her face.
Green vines wrapped her body.
Clusters of vivid red spider lilies bloomed around her — a scene that was brutal and hauntingly beautiful all at once.
The pale, slender girl had clearly started screaming the moment she opened her eyes to that sight.
Beside her, two other girls still lay unconscious.
One had white hair in two braids — European.
The other wore a Far Eastern school uniform with long straight black hair.
Natsuyū was shaken, but he understood.
You didn’t have to be weak to lose it when you opened your eyes and found a body hanging in front of you.
“Don’t look.”
He stepped forward immediately, placing himself between the girl and the hanging figure, and put a hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay.”
“S-someone’s dead!”
Kushida’s voice cracked, her grip on his other arm tightening, her shoulders shaking even harder.
Natsuyū kept his voice steady as he talked both girls down.
“It’s alright.
She wasn’t killed by a monster — by the look of it, she was hanged by the vines.
As long as we stay away from the gate, we should be fine.”
“And even if something does happen — I’m here.”
He wasn’t completely sure himself.
But this wasn’t the moment to let panic spread.
A calm teammate was an asset.
A panicked one was a liability.
So Natsuyū stepped up — the most clear-headed one here, the mature one — and held both girls steady.
I’ve got this.
Kushida and Sakuraba Ema found their anchor.
Looking at his composed face, at that tall, steady presence, the panic in them slowly began to ebb.
“Ugh, what’s all the noise… some of us are trying to sleep…”
The European girl stirred, sat up with a grumble, eyes bleary and irritated — and then spotted the body.
Natsuyū braced himself to talk her down from the panic that was surely coming — but she only looked mildly startled.
She frowned and looked around.
“Where even is this… wasn’t I on the bus to Chongkong City?”
The other girl — long straight black hair — also opened her eyes, fixing her gaze on the body.
Her complexion was slightly off, but she didn’t cry out or scramble away.
Natsuyū looked between them, relieved — and surprised to find both faces very familiar.
Far Eastern high school girl.
Small leather boots, black over-the-knee socks, blue eyes.
Flat chest.
Yukinoshita Yukino?
This strange place pulled her all the way from Chiba?
The European girl had white double braids, sky blue eyes, a white school uniform, black over-the-knee socks, a figure noticeably fuller than Yukinoshita’s — on par with Kushida’s — and was the second tallest person present after Natsuyū himself.
Athletic, healthy build.
Kiana!
Since when does Honkai Impact 3rd have anything to do with this?
Natsuyū could say with confidence that the multi-anime world he came from had no supernatural forces in it.
Well — maybe not with complete confidence, but he’d certainly never encountered any, and nothing as conspicuous as the Honkai could possibly exist there without him noticing.
Which meant Kiana wasn’t from his world.
Multiple separate parallel worlds were in play here.
This might no longer even be Natsuyū’s world — it could be a standalone alternate dimension, just like the Honkai world.
Author’s Note: Please don’t complain about the all-female squad — having a guy along is a small deliberate choice.
To be continued…