Several days had passed since I intervened in the battle as the tentacle Monster Villain.
It was lunch break. While frantically copying notes I had borrowed from Niekawa, I reflected on the past few days.
After that battle, I had returned to my dorm room — but strangely, the impulses that had tormented me so badly had faded away like a lie.
Of course, they hadn’t disappeared completely. I was aware that my appetite had increased compared to before becoming a tentacle Monster Villain. My sexual desire had also grown stronger.
I didn’t think my body had reverted from inhuman back to human — rather, I had gained the ability to control those impulses.
As proof, while I still thought Damn, that classmate’s miniskirt is seriously erotic, it no longer reached the point where I felt like I’d suffer if I didn’t immediately violate her with tentacles. At most, my viewing time for uniform-themed erotic videos had doubled.
Honestly, I was grateful. Thanks to that, I was able to return to school under the pretense that my cold had healed.
"...But I still don’t understand the reason."
I muttered quietly.
Being able to control my power and impulses was a joyous thing. If I couldn’t control them, the classroom would probably have turned into a venue for an orgy by now.
However, the fact that I didn’t know why I had gained that control made me anxious.
There was always the possibility that the next moment I would be struck by a violent impulse and end up violating the girls in my class while killing the boys. Just thinking about that made me unable to relax.
"Mu, what’s wrong, Shusawa? Did you run into something you couldn’t understand?"
Niekawa, who had been chatting with another group, must have heard my muttering as he walked over.
"No, it’s nothing—— More importantly, there’s something I want to ask you."
I glanced around the classroom.
For some reason, everyone seemed to be watching me from a slight distance.
At first I thought it was just self-consciousness or that my rare absence due to illness had become a rumor, but it didn’t seem to be that.
It felt more like I had become material for some other kind of gossip.
"Shusawa, haven’t you read the article yet? You’re in the newspaper club, aren’t you?"
"No, I was seriously sick for the past few days, and today I’ve been busy copying your notes. I was planning to check when I had time."
Niekawa nodded in understanding but groaned "Muu..." with a difficult expression and looked away.
What? I thought as I opened the newspaper club’s SNS on my phone. These days, only a few enthusiasts still made physical newspapers. The rest of us, including me, published articles on SNS.
Let’s see... I scrolled through the titles of articles I had missed over the past few days——
’Leas Lot’s Dramatic Rescue! Who is the Student She Carried in Her Arms...!?’
——Ah, this is it. This has to be it.
I silently checked the author’s name. The brilliantly shining text read ’Haga Reiko’.
"...Hey, yesterday when you knew about that incident..."
"Yeah. I read the article."
I see.
I looked around the classroom again.
Some of the boys were sending glances that said Getting carried by a girl? How lame! while others had looks that said Getting carried by Leas-san sounds like a reward though? The girls were irresponsibly spreading rumors like I wonder if that led to a romance?
——That damn Reiko.
When the hell did she take a photo?
Next time I see her, I’m giving her a forehead flick...!
"Uiii-ssu! Senpai, thanks for your hard work on that long absence! Wow, you look energetic, that’s great— Ow!? What the heck!?"
Instant decision, instant action.
I gave a sharp forehead flick to the junior from my club who came running over with a smile.
Ignoring Reiko as she crouched down, I stared at my own palm in surprise.
Honestly, I hadn’t intended to hit her that hard. I was just planning to lightly tap her as a joke.
Even though I could control my impulses, a Monster Villain was still a Monster Villain. It seemed my physical abilities were significantly enhanced even while mimicking a human. I’d have to be careful during PE class.
"What was that for, Senpai!? I thought my forehead was going to split open and awaken a third eye from the impact! Is this that thing? The classic ’bullying your junior’ thing that sports clubs do? In this day and age, everyone records with their phones, so there’s no point in imitating those outdated Showa-era customs, you know~"
"Hey junior, I read the article."
With just those words, Reiko immediately dropped into a dogeza.
"Hehehe, no way, Senpai~ I’m in the newspaper club, you know...? I just couldn’t let a scene like that go. Thank you so much for contributing to our page views."
"Haaah, so you’re not reflecting at all, huh?"
"B-but but! Senpai with the scary face being carried princess-style by the beautiful foreign girl Leas-senpai is just too funny visually! At least if it was the other way around—— wait, that would just be a kidnapper and victim."
This brat, she’s doubling down...!
What should I do with this junior? Should I step on her head while she’s still in dogeza?
While I was pondering that, I suddenly felt gazes from around us.
Not gazes of interest from Reiko’s article.