C3 The First Heroine
“Hey, isn’t it your honor to be confessed to by your Big Bro, got it?!” Two burly-looking delinquents aggressively cornered the red-haired girl.
‘Blonde hair, sunglasses, tattoos, dishevelled clothes… just how stereotypical are these delinquents?’ Hoshimori Shion silently mused to herself.
Leaning against a large tree, the red-haired girl twirled a strand of her hair, tilting her head without so much as glancing at the three boys before her.
“Hey, are you mute?” The two henchmen remained intimidatingly aggressive.
“Now, now, let’s calm down. Is there anything that can’t be discussed properly?” Shion interjected, stepping between the red-haired girl and the three delinquents, a wide smile plastered on her face.
“What are you doing here?” The leader of the delinquents, who appeared slightly thinner than his two subordinates, asked with a disdainful tone. The red-haired girl, now shielded behind Shion, looked surprised.
Shion tugged at her uniform and replied, “Just an ordinary student. Three big brothers, let’s talk things out nicely. Being so close makes people nervous, you know.”
“None of your business! This scoundrel actually dared to reject our boss, an ungrateful wretch…” One of the burly henchmen fumed, swinging his fist. Though it didn’t connect, Shion felt the punch pass barely two centimeters from her nose, a gust of air brushing past her ear.
“Big brother, big brother! There are plenty of good girls in this world; why fixate on just one?” Shion felt her brain on the verge of short-circuiting.
The two henchmen took another step forward, their faces now a mere fist’s distance from Shion’s. She could even smell that they definitely hadn’t brushed their teeth after breakfast.
Despite this, Shion held her ground, shielding the red-haired girl tightly behind her.
‘Should I fight them? But… I can’t win. My Spirit Suppression physique only works against evil spirits. If it came to a real fight, I probably couldn’t even beat a Samoyed,’ Shion thought, gritting her teeth.
“Hey, you over there, what are you doing!” A middle-aged man’s voice called from behind them.
The leader of the delinquents spun around. “Damn, the school teacher’s here.”
“What do we do, boss?” The two henchmen, who had looked so fierce moments ago, suddenly panicked. No matter how delinquent they were, they were still students, and with only one high school in town, it would be all too easy to catch them.
“Run!” The leader commanded, and the three scattered like startled birds.
“Phew, it’s over…” Shion let out a long sigh of relief.
“They ran off again. Those three really slip away fast. I’ll have to talk to their parents this week.” The teacher, dressed in a suit, watched the delinquents’ escape, lamenting their incorrigibility.
“Sister! Are you both okay?” Hoshimori Ayane peeked out from behind the teacher.
Shion walked over and ruffled Ayane’s hair. “Just as expected of my sister, truly clever.”
Ayane enjoyed the feeling of her sister stroking her head, but she also said, “Honestly, Sister, you’re too impulsive. If I hadn’t been here, you might have been beaten black and blue.”
“You two be careful next time. Those three are repeat offenders. If anything happens again, make sure to tell a teacher.” With that, the teacher hurried back to school.
“Thank you, but you don’t need to worry about me next time. They’re just all talk,” the red-haired girl, who had been shielded by Shion, finally spoke.
Shion turned back to the red-haired girl and smiled. “I couldn’t just stand by and watch you in trouble, could I?”
The red-haired girl paused, then smiled. “Yes, thank you, Shrine Maiden.”
“Huh? You know me?” Shion was a little surprised.
“The young lady who performs the Kagura dance at the Hoshimori Shrine every year during the festival – it’s hard not to remember, isn’t it?” The red-haired girl said with a laugh.
‘So, according to the setting, there’s such an embarrassing ordeal? Does that mean I have to dance again this year? Oh my god, wouldn’t that be utter social death (TL Note: A Chinese slang term referring to experiencing extreme public embarrassment or humiliation)?’ Shion felt like covering her face.
Seeing the red-haired girl and her sister engrossed in conversation, Ayane quickly tugged at Shion’s sleeve. “Sister, if we don’t hurry to school, we might be late.”
“Oh, right, okay, let’s head back to school quickly then.” Shion, reminded by Ayane, suddenly remembered they still had to go to school.
“Let’s go!” Ayane grabbed Shion’s hand and began to jog towards the school.
Though Shion ran along with Ayane, she complained, “Ayane, don’t rush! We’re not that pressed for time, are we?”
“My name is Igarashi Rie, from Class 2-A!” The red-haired girl called out to Shion from behind.
‘Igarashi Rie? It sounds a little strange. Second-year, so an upperclassman,’ Shion mused inwardly.
Rie watched the two white-haired girls disappear into the distance. The younger one, presumably the sister, turned back to stick out her tongue at Rie before pulling her sister away without another glance.
‘That didn’t seem like a particularly friendly gesture,’ Rie thought.
Shion wasn’t usually a very courageous child, but the sole reason for her bravery this time was…
‘I remember her; she’s on the game’s cover. She’s definitely one of the heroines!’ Shion thought.
Even so, she couldn’t be certain. After all, this crappy system only gave random prompts, and the only consistent ones were telling her that evil spirits were about to run wild and it was time for an exorcism, or similar warnings.
But even if she wasn’t a heroine, helping a bullied child was perfectly justified, wasn’t it?
Ayane only relaxed after dropping Shion off at the Class 1-A classroom.
“Well, Sister, I’m heading back to my classroom now!” Ayane turned to leave immediately.
“Wait a minute!” Shion quickly grabbed her sister’s hand.
“Eh? What is it, Sister? Missing your dear sister already? Don’t worry, I’ll come keep you company after class,” Ayane said with a mischievous grin.
“Nonsense. I cook for you every day, and you still often forget it. I don’t want to have to bring your lunch to you again at noon; your classroom is so far.” Shion opened her bag and took out Ayane’s portion of lunch. “Besides, if you carry this bento yourself, you won’t forget it. If I carry it every day, you’re bound to forget.”
Ayane pouted. “How far is it, really? Sister just has to go up one floor to bring my bento to the classroom. We have to climb a mountain every day to get back to the shrine.”
Shion rolled her eyes. “You know I’m tired from going back to the shrine every day, and you still want me to specifically bring your lunch downstairs? You truly are a wonderful sister.”
“Hehe…” Ayane scratched her head, laughing.
“I’m not complimenting you, you idiot!” Shion tapped her sister’s head with the lunchbox, then tucked it into her arms.
“See you later, Sister!” Ayane, hugging the lunchbox, waved and ran towards her own classroom.