Classmate wa Isekai de Yuusha ni Natta kedo, Ore dake Gendai Nihon ni Okizari ni Narimashita - Chapter 36

 Chapter 36: A Certain Little Sister’s Recollection (3)

——Side: Kana

The grotesque puppet floating beside Seina had no mouth, no nose—just a single unblinking eye. And yet… it felt like it was smiling down at us.

But Seina didn’t even glance at it. Calmly, she pulled her phone from her jacket pocket and tapped the screen.

"H-Hey! What the hell is that?! What are you planning to do?!"

The tall girl—the one who used to bully Seina—was screaming now, panic in her eyes.

Seina didn’t answer. Instead, she turned the phone’s screen toward me.

"——Remember this?"

The second the girl saw the video, all the color drained from her face.

It was footage—clear as day—of her and her friends bullying students from another school. Shoplifting, too.

"H-How the hell do you have—?!"

"He got it for me."

Seina smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

"This city’s full of people who act as his eyes and ears. No matter where you go, no matter what you do—he sees everything."

Was this justice? Or something much darker?

"Originally, I was just going to threaten you with this and leave it at that. But then… I found this."

She swiped to another video.

This one showed the same girls, crouched beneath a building’s eaves, whispering.

"Ugh, she’s so annoying."
"Freaking loser, crying over some gross otaku manga."
"Hey, I’ve got an idea—let’s frame her for something!"
"Your uncle’s a cop, right? Should be easy."
"She sided with that freak and grabbed me by the collar. She deserves it."

The trio went ghost-white.

They were planning to target me next.

A storm of rage and disgust churned in my chest—but above all that, I felt something colder.

Something wrong coming from Seina.

This wasn’t her.

"T-That was just us talking! We didn’t actually do anything—"
"Y-Yeah! We were just messing around!"

"—So what?"

Seina’s voice was ice.

"You were going to take away the only precious thing I had left."

A moment later, a tentacle lashed out from the puppet—piercing one girl’s thigh with a sickening squelch.

Blood sprayed across the others as they screamed.

"Don’t worry. I missed the artery."

Seina’s hollow smile widened.

"You’ll suffer much more before I’m done."

The puppet moved again—its needle-like limbs striking out, piercing arms and legs.

"Kana-chan is all I have left."

Her voice was calm. Too calm.

"So I’ll make you pay for trying to take her from me."

——No.

This wasn’t right.

This wasn’t Seina.

Without thinking, I ran forward and wrapped my arms around her from behind.

"You can’t, Seina!"

My voice shook.

"Don’t stain your hands over garbage like them! We can tell your parents, go to the police—there has to be another way!"

Seina gently pried my arms off and turned to face me. Her eyes were filled with sorrow.

"Kana-chan… my parents never cared about me."

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"They only ever loved my brother, Seiya. Every birthday, every Christmas—it was always about him. Then, after he died in that accident two years ago…"

Her hands trembled as they curled into fists.

"They said, ‘Take your brother’s place.’ They threw away everything I cared about. And when they found out I was being bullied? They blamed me."

She let out a bitter laugh.

"You really think I can rely on people like that?"

"Seina…"

"But he saved me."

She looked at the puppet.

"He appeared when I had nothing left. He gave me the power to take revenge. That’s why… I have to see this through."

This was her real voice—the voice of someone who’d been suffering alone in the dark for far too long.

I couldn’t imagine what that must’ve felt like.

But even so—

"Then rely on me!"

I grabbed her shoulders.

"If it hurts, I’ll be there. I’ll help you carry it. So please—!"

"Kana-chan…"

She stared at me in disbelief.

Then, slowly—

"…Can I really depend on you?"
"Yeah."
"You’d really… spend time on someone like me?"
"Yeah."
"You’d really… stay with me?"
"Of course."

Her stance wavered.

Then, with a choked sob, she collapsed into my arms.

As I held her close, I glanced over her shoulder.

The three bullies had passed out. Foam bubbled from their mouths. The terror had been too much.

Good. It’s over.

But just as I thought that—

"How pathetic."

A voice—distorted, inhuman, dripping with contempt—echoed through the room.

The puppet's single eye blazed with fury as it glared at Seina.

"To be bound by such worthless sentiment."

A tentacle whipped out—wrapping around her waist.

"Kyaaah?!"
"Seina?!"

The puppet forced her to move, like a twisted marionette. It dragged her toward the unconscious girls, her hand snatching up a knife along the way.

"Your purpose is to complete the ritual. To offer blood and hatred to the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons. You will not forsake your duty."

"K-Kana-chan…!"

"Let her go!"

I grabbed a bamboo sword nearby and swung—

"Hmph. How feeble."

With one sweeping blow, the puppet knocked me aside. I slammed into the wall so hard I tasted blood.

I promised… I swore I’d help her…!

"Now, my vessel—plunge the blade into them!"

"No… stop…!"

Seina’s body lurched forward, the knife trembling in her grip.

I tried to stand. I couldn’t. My body was frozen in fear.

Is there really nothing I can do?

Just as despair closed in—

"Now, drive the blade into—GYAAAAAAAAAH?!"

A ship made of ice crashed through the window—shattering the frame and sending curtains flying—slamming into the puppet with crushing force.

The tentacles snapped apart. Seina tumbled to the floor, free at last.

"Seina!"

I caught her before she could fall.

"…Kana-chan?"
"Thank God… You’re okay."

Then I saw him.

Standing atop the glimmering ice ship—

"Cutting it close, huh?"

It was someone I knew all too well.

My brother.

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Translator's Notes:

1. Night Parade of a Hundred Demons (百鬼夜行 - Hyakki Yakō):

   • A classic theme in Japanese folklore where a procession of supernatural beings—yōkai—march through the streets at night. In this context, the puppet's ritual seems to be channeling or initiating such a parade, turning revenge into a supernatural pact.

2. "He" (彼 - kare):

   • Seina consistently refers to the puppet with masculine pronouns, giving it a disturbingly intimate presence—more than just a tool, almost a savior or manipulative protector.

3. Puppet Motif:

   • The puppet serves as both a literal and symbolic figure—it represents Seina’s loss of control, her trauma manifesting in a supernatural contract. The theme of being “puppeted” ties directly to her emotional manipulation and descent into darkness.

4. Contrast in Powers:

   • The grotesque puppet’s organic, tentacled horror is juxtaposed against the cool, crystalline elegance of the ice ship. This contrast highlights the thematic divide between corrupted power (revenge) and righteous intervention (Kana's brother).

5. Family Pressure and Isolation:

   • Seina's backstory mirrors real-world issues in Japan—familial expectations, emotional neglect, and seken no me (the fear of how others perceive you) play a heavy role in her downward spiral.

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