Chapter 9: Inevitably, the Heroine

I Hate Attention (5)

"What's the temperature?"

"...36.3 degrees."

Normal. He's such a sturdy guy, I didn't think he'd catch a cold. But I had to be sure. No matter how much I dislike him, I don't want him getting hurt because of me.

...But, I don't like how he keeps glancing at me. If he has something to say, he should just say it. I snatched the thermometer from his mouth and glared at him slightly.

"Do you have something to say?"

"...I do."

He did have something to say. I frowned slightly. It's not good to drag things out... but I can't just ignore him. If I just leave when he has something to say, wouldn't that be awkward? I shrugged slightly, asking what he wanted to say, and Xenon hesitated before opening his mouth.

"...Are you hurt?"

"If I were hurt, I would have frozen you for life."

"...I guess so."

If I had been caught in that explosion, I wouldn't have forgiven him so easily. I would have frozen him for a very, very long time, and thawed him out when I felt like forgiving him. Then he would have caught a cold. Suffering from the heat... and coughing constantly.

...Why does my chest feel so heavy when I imagine this? Feeling frustrated by this strange sensation, I looked at Xenon again.

"Is that all? Don't you want to ask anything else?"

It's rare for him to worry about someone he barely knows, so I figured he must have something else to say. Maybe later, but I don't think Xenon has time to care about anyone else right now. His mind is probably filled with hatred for his father.

"No, that's all. I just wanted to know if you were hurt."

"...Really?"

He's not usually like this. My eyes narrowed, and he waved his hands, denying it. It doesn't seem like a lie... Well, if he has nothing to say, that's good for me. Thinking that, I nodded slightly, and he opened his mouth.

"Don't you have anything to ask?"

"...Me?"

I feel like I'm going crazy just being alone with you in the same space, so what could I possibly have to ask? I shook my head, and he lowered his gaze to the floor, muttering.

"Like... why I fought."

"Not really."

"...Really?"

"I don't want to blame you or say anything. You fought because you had a reason to fight, right?"

It was quite surprising that he fought from the entrance ceremony, but I didn't think that action was wrong. I knew what his mother meant to him... Well, it would be strange to stay still if his parents were being insulted.

"...Even so, it's still weird to fight like that from the entrance ceremony."

"I know... Our fights aren't exactly normal, and I don't think other people will understand."

Saying that, he hung his head low. Probably... it wouldn't be easy for anyone but me to understand why he fought. What his mother means to Xenon. And considering the name 'Carmen' I heard earlier, such a fight was practically inevitable from the moment our eyes met.

Edwin Carmen, Xenon's father and the top hero in this world. The animosity Xenon has towards such a father is not simple. A kind of political marriage to obtain a good Ability, but all that was given to Xenon's mother, who bore his child, was oppression and contempt...

The reputation of 'Top Hero' turned the criticism that should have been directed at him towards Xenon's mother. She played with her vulgar body to receive a good seed - or, a whore who deceived the Top Hero and conceived a child. There are many other modifiers besides these, but even I, who was watching it as a novel from outside the world, couldn't help but frown.

How could a child like Edwin Carmen, who had the power to stop it but let it go because his reputation would be tarnished, like him? Even though I was just a reader, I couldn't easily talk about that part.

"It'll probably be expulsion. Fighting like this from the entrance ceremony, the academy won't just let it go. That Carmen family's kid... won't just get a suspension either."

Xenon, who had his head down, calmly brought up the topic of expulsion. As if it didn't matter, but - my position in hearing that was not at all like that. The protagonist's expulsion, if I only thought about my position, it might not be such a bad thing. If I never ran into him for the rest of my life, I wouldn't become a heroine, and I could graduate properly and maybe even make a living as a hero.

But... I couldn't just let it go. Isn't that too selfish? The protagonist becomes a hero later. I haven't seen the ending, but he'll probably surpass his father and become the top hero. How many people are saved by such a protagonist? Even though I'm possessed, I don't just think of this world as a novel.

First of all, I'm alive and breathing. Reisha, who I met earlier, and Xenon, who is in front of me. They were humans living according to their own will and pursuing their goals. Should I abandon the people who will be saved by him in the future with such a meager goal of not becoming a heroine?

I shook my head.

Expulsion is not allowed. Since something has already happened, it's natural for him to be punished, but he shouldn't disappear from this academy altogether. Even if the possibility of becoming a heroine remains.

...I can just try harder to avoid it.

"Expulsion or dismissal is not allowed."

"...Huh?"

"...I told you, you fought because you had a reason to fight. No one was hurt, the auditorium wasn't destroyed. Why is this even a topic for expulsion?"

The regulations regarding the use of Ability in the academy are strict, but they are not completely rigid. Since students who use all kinds of Ability are gathered, it is impossible to completely control them. This kind of fight wouldn't be a one- or two-time issue within the academy.

The Carmen family's girl started the fight, and if I reveal Xenon's situation a little... he could avoid dismissal. There was a similar incident in the original work. So the most important thing right now was his will. Not giving up and thinking he should be dismissed, like he is now...

He had to tell the academy about himself to some extent.

"She was the one who insulted your parents first. Tell them that, she was the one who did wrong first. That's why I attacked. I regret starting a fight in a place with many students. Please, forgive me just once. You can just say that."

"Would they be people who would understand if I said that?"

Meeting his eyes, filled with distrust of adults, that terrible feeling, I felt like I was suffocating. He muttered softly after saying that.

"Would there even be anyone who wants me to keep attending the academy?"

I felt like something was welling up in my chest. The end of his pitiful gaze reached the air. His appearance as he closed his eyes and sighed looked lonely, so I blankly stared at him.

"...There might be."

I couldn't bring myself to say that I was, so I quietly muttered. Did he hear my muttering? He glanced at me and smiled, then opened his mouth.

"...Thank you."

"Why are you telling me that?"

"Just because."

"...Anyway, if you tell the teacher that, you'll be able to avoid expulsion."

Saying that, I got up from my seat. I didn't originally intend to talk this long, but even though I talked for a long time, it was only a few words... I felt a little uneasy. Xenon's gaze that didn't leave me, and did I make a mistake in something I just said?

I was trying to lower his affection for me by being a little prickly...

I just wish he hated me. Then I wouldn't have to worry about this.

#

When I returned home, I felt something familiar. It wasn't the house I originally lived in, just the house Aisha lived in. Maybe it's because there were so many things going on today. Stopping the delinquent bastards who were fighting from the first day of school, and moving two people to the infirmary thanks to the teacher who left the cleanup to me and ran away.

And stopping the protagonist from agreeing to the expulsion. Well, I doubt he'll listen to anything I, who he just met today, say. If the protagonist leaves the academy, what should I do?

"What should I do... I'll have to roll around instead."

You could say I'm too invested. You could say why I'm so worried about people who have nothing to do with me, but I'm not completely ignorant of the feelings of someone asking for help.

There was a time when I also yearned for a hero to appear.

...Although it didn't appear.

Anyway, the fact that I, who was like that, entered the world of the novel and became Aisha, who aspires to be a hero, was deeply moving. Heroine, well, that's not a big deal. It's just that I don't like the idea of being in that kind of relationship with a man... The important thing is how to live in this world.

I could have not entered the academy. If I did that, I could be without worrying about becoming a heroine. But... Even though I don't know this world well, I knew that heroes were treated exceptionally well, to the point of being treated like heroes. Hero DC, Hero pension, Hero-only housing, etc...

Heroes risk their lives to subdue villains, so they are treated that well. I wasn't trying to distance myself to the point of giving up on that, and since I had the memory of following the original work for about 200 chapters, I thought it would be better to experience the situation I knew.

I didn't regret coming to the entrance ceremony.

I just don't want to be the main heroine by the protagonist's side. Can't I just be a helper? I can help as much as I want.

Thud-

"Ugh..."

I buried my head in the pillow and groaned. In one day, I became a woman, gained an Ability, got involved with the protagonist, and that protagonist is facing expulsion. The fact that an incident broke out at the entrance ceremony, which would have been quiet otherwise, and this development that is all twisted, made my head throb.

I don't like being the center of attention, and it's all the protagonist's fault. I kicked the blanket covering my stomach with my feet, trying to calm my red face. How am I going to go to school...!

...It seemed better to clear my head. I'll rest today and think about it tomorrow.

Thinking that, I tried to fall asleep.

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