ALL NOVEL chapter 9
9
2, “Anti-Gift”
“Hey, you’re always acting alone, what are you up to?”
A few days after starting elementary school, a foolish-looking boy who took an interest in me, always pretending to be busy or asleep, approached me.
I don’t care about making friends.
As long as I have my Gift, I can bend anyone’s will, just like Emi’s.
“Shut up… Go back to your seat!”
“Don’t be so cold. You’re wasting your good looks.”
“Huh?”
My “Command Dominance” Gift isn’t working!?
Strange, I’m sure I used my ability on this guy.
Could there be a limit to the number of times my ability works?
“Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Huh? What’s up, Akechi-kun?”
I hurriedly call over a guy passing by.
“Could you persuade the guy in front of me to go back to his seat?”
“Look, Akechi-kun is troubled. Let’s go back to your seat, Jumonji-kun.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I haven’t had a chance to talk with this guy in class yet.”
“But he’s bothered by it.”
Weird, the activation is certain.
It doesn’t seem like the effect has disappeared.
“No, it’s fine. You can go somewhere else now.”
“…”
The man in front of me loses his persuasive demeanor, and the passing male student just walks away somewhere.
“Tch… Hand over 1,000 yen to me.”
“Whoa, suddenly demanding money like that is harsh! You’re funny, man.”
“…”
What’s so funny about this.
He’s unaware, but my Gift’s ability isn’t affecting him!?
Not working twice in a row means just that.
If I had to say, it’s like an “Anti-Gift” ability.
“Heh, you’re interesting.”
“You’ve got me beat.”
Both of us laugh together, “hahaha.”
“Hey, be my friend.”
“Whoa, you were totally rejecting me just a moment ago. Sure, from now on we’re friends! My name is Takeru Jumonji.”
“I’m Hidetada Akechi, nice to meet you, Takeru.”
Ah…
The school life I thought was boring is starting to get fun, isn’t it?
I want to wreak havoc on the life of a man who is immune to my gift with my own gift.
Never before has my pride been so shredded by someone immune to my gift!
At the very least, entertain me.
My so-called friend (lol).
—
*Panting…*
I regularly dream about Hidetoshi himself.
This time, it was about my encounter with Takeru.
In the main storyline of the game, it’s the prelude to the tragedy that ruins the lives of Takeru and the heroine.
If this encounter had never happened, the “Breaking the Chain of Sorrow” series of incidents might not have occurred…
Truly, Takeru Jumonji is incompetent.
Even among fans, Takeru’s uselessness is considered abnormal.
I speak to Hidetoshi Akechi.
To bring disaster upon oneself, what have you done…
Elementary school starts tomorrow.
If it’s like the original work, Takeru and I will probably be in the same class.
—
“Hidetoshi, you’ve been looking down lately.”
“Do you understand…?”
“I do.”
With the entrance to school tomorrow, Emi naturally made herself at home in my house.
It feels like we meet about once every three days…
Emi’s mother also looks at us with a warm smile, saying, “You two are close, aren’t you?” It’s incredibly embarrassing…
“Anxious about school life…?”
“I am anxious…”
“I’m anxious too… I can’t sleep thinking I might be in a different class from you, Hidetoshi.”
“That’s so trivial…”
I’m surprised that Emi is worried about such a trivial thing when I’m troubled about avoiding a life-threatening crisis ten years in the future…
“That’s harsh, Hidetoshi! Because being in different classes means just that!”
“Well, yes. What are you even saying…?”
“An apple’s skin being red means just that—an apple’s skin is red!” When I’m told something so self-evident, I’m at a loss for how to respond.
I think Emi’s vocabulary is still quite childlike.
“I’ve realized recently, Hidetaka-kun, you don’t cherish me at all! I’m mad, really mad!”
“That’s not true. I care about you so much that if Emi grows up and still has no one to marry, I’d marry her myself.”
“Really? Then let’s get married now.”
“We can’t right now… when you’re older…”
I almost said, “I hope we’re not dead by then,” but I swallowed the words.
“…Emi will have her fateful encounter too.”
“…It’s already happened.”
“What has?”
“Nothing!”
Emi has a precocious side to her.
Maybe it’s because I play a lot of romance games, but even though Emi is still young, she becomes more talkative when it comes to love.
I guess it’s certain that Takeru and I will be in the same class…
I wonder if a Takeru × Emi coupling could happen?
In the second draft, there were plans for Emi to be promoted to a heroine, or so I think it was mentioned in the visual fan book.
The users didn’t want it, and the staff disliked Emi.
These two factors combined led to Emi not only missing out on being promoted to a heroine but also being cut from the second installment altogether.
And of course, Hidetaka continues as a given in the sequel.
“…Hidetaka-kun, you’re hiding something from me, aren’t you?”
“Is that so?”
I’m hiding a lot, actually.
“If you have something to say, just say it clearly.”
“Well…”
I want to say, live in a way that doesn’t get you hated by the gods of this world—the production staff—but that wouldn’t make sense to you…
“Just make sure you don’t do anything cruel at school, like making people cry or betraying them.”
“What do you take me for? Am I such a despicable person to you?”
“It’s a joke.”
Even if it was under my control, it was all Emi’s doing.
I can only hope that the game’s coercive power or fate doesn’t lead to such a situation.
“By the way… it’s like that thing of Hidetoshi-kun.”
“That thing?”
I have a really bad feeling about this…
“I want another gift! I want to see the ‘Magic’ gift again!”
“…Alright. …Why?”
“Because Hidetoshi-kun said something about a fateful encounter…”
“?”
I don’t quite see how that leads to a gift, but if you want to see it, I guess I’ll show you.
If I don’t use my gift regularly, I might not notice if my “Command Dominance” ability disappears or something. That would be bad.
“So today, I’ll use a marble.”
“I’ve been waiting for this!”
“Chararirarirī”
Humming a self-BGM, I grip the marble in my hand and cover it with my fingers.
“Now, I will transform the marble held in this hand into an eraser.”
“That’s impossible!”
“Here I go, I’m using the gift. Chararirarirī”
After saying the same self-BGM, I immediately cast the gift’s power on Emi.
“【From this moment, forget everything until I say ‘OK’】”
“…”
Emi’s eyes become vacant.
I feel a tremendous sense of guilt.
I need to hurry up and finish the setup.
I stash the marble in Emi’s pocket and grab a brand-new eraser from the desk, gripping it in my hand.
“【OK】”
“Huh… There’s no way a marble can turn into an eraser.”
“It’s already changed.”
Saying that, I release the marble from my hand, and a brand-new eraser appears.
“What!? No way!? How!? Where’s the marble!?”
“Then I’ll warp the marble into Emi’s skirt pocket.”
“That’s impossible!”
“I’ve already warped.”
“Eh… no way… Oh! Found it! Found the marble!”
The guilt of claiming the Gift of “Commanding Obedience” as the Gift of “Magic Tricks” is overwhelming.
It’s possible to turn Emi into a wreck, so I shouldn’t use it carelessly.
“Magi-cat!”
“What’s that?”
“…”
It seems it didn’t get through…
I can feel the generation gap intensely.
“Wow, amazing! Hideyoshi-kun, you’re like a wizard, so cool!!”
“Heh, heheh.”
More like a curse than magic, though…
“Can I have this eraser and marble?”
“Ah, sure… yeah.”
I’d be troubled if my brand-new eraser for school use was taken, but the guilt of having used “Commanding Obedience” makes me feel like letting it go.
I’m probably too kind to Emi…