A Hundred Girlfriends Who Really Love You... In Another World! 23 (Patreon)

"Today is the day...!" Megumin excitedly exclaims while eating her breakfast, she looks like a child who has just got a Nintendo 64 for Christmas. "I finally get the opportunity to show my superiority to even more people!" I fear the day your chuuni complex ends and you fall back down to reality.

Still, I raise a very, very tired eyebrow. "What do you mean...? Is today some important date?" If if then my brain is simply too damn tired to remember.

It's been around a week since Aqua's talk with Nanahoshi, and as promised, I have formed a little study group with her. The Human Tongue's writing isn't that hard to learn if I'm being honest, it really does feel like Japanese, but with different characters. Still, even that takes times...

Combine that with my training with Eris... and my sexual activities with Eris... Well, let's just say I'm a very dead inside Subaru Natsuki. It also doesn't help that I'm not having much progress with my swordsmanship, it is just like it has been said before, I have no actual talent. 

Megumin gasps, shocked at my ignorance. "Yeah! Today is our first day in the school!" Oh... Well, Nanahoshi bought everything I needed, so I'm ready. Yeah, I'm ready, that's why my heart needs to stop beating so damn fast already.

I look down, staring at my food. "I see. Good luck in showing your superiority, I guess." If nothing else, it's good that Megumin is excited. I know she has been studying hard, spending every single day in the library.

I can't help, but wonder if the library in question would have some sort of... light novel. Yeah, I miss Light Novels, I really want to read them... Who am I kidding? There's no way they would have something like that in a school about magic.

Magic... something I know nothing about. Nanahoshi has said she's gonna explain that to me more later, when I have a solid grasp on this world's writing, but the fact that I don't know anything about it, and I'm about to attend a class that revolves around it... It's gonna be embarrassing for sure.

The Arch Mage smirks. "I won't need any luck! Everyone will definitely be awed at my Explosion Magic, and after their take their jaws off the floor, they will be begging me to teach them! That's right, by the end of the year, every student of this academy will be a user of the world's greatest magic!" That might mean the end of Ranoa.

I can't help, but let out a sigh. "Just don't raise your hopes too high, if you fall back down it might sting." Ah... For some reason my food doesn't look that appetizing anymore. Would it be okay if I skipped breakfast? 

Probably not. Eris and Nanahoshi are driving me to my limit after all, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say this is the hardest I have ever worked in my entire life, but then why...? I wonder if dad would... For some reason he's coming to my mind.

Eris squints her eyes in my direction, it lasts one second, but I still notice. "Subaru... is someone bullying you?" What kind of question even is that? "You're not eating your food..." Eh, it's not like it's some masterpiece of culinary anyways.

Still, if I'm worrying her... Then I need to send her a bright smile. "Don't worry Eris, I'm fine! I'm just thinking about Mayonnaise..." This world actually does have it. Thankfully. "And when that came to mind I realized this food couldn't compare and s-" A loud noise cuts me off.

That loud noise came from the fact that Eris just got up, and hit the table. "Yeah, someone is definitely bullying you...!" Ah, right. Of course my girlfriend would notice I'm trying to divert her attention by acting like a clown.

But I have no bully after me, the only person capable of ruining Subaru Natsuki is Subaru Natsuki. "Eris... I... I'm fine really, I'm just not hungry right now." If I do something as pathetic as cry to my girlfriend about school, even our soulmate bond will break.

Why am I even scared of school anyways...? I mean, I died right? I have experienced a much worse fate than entering a room and spending a few hours there...! But for some reason, I still feel like throwing up. That's why I definitely cannot eat right now.

Eris' eye twitches, I have a feeling she's gonna blow up, but before that... Aqua extends her hand from across the table, gently putting it atop of mine. My focus immediately shifts to her, wondering what she wants.

There's a trembling smile on her face, her eyes are filled with sadness. "Subaru... eat your breakfast. Got it?" Why is she...? Oh right, Aqua is actually a super empathetic person, just hearing about Nanahoshi's struggle was enough to drive her to tears.

Great going Subaru Natsuki, you managed to make the woman who is helping pay your debt feel bad. Was making her fall for you, and then clearly not giving her any attention just not enough? Do you need a bigger pity party?

She grasps my hand, it's quite tight, and her smile has now disappeared. "Subaru..." And then it returns, though it reminds me of my clown like one. "If you don't eat your breakfast, then I'm eating! This is my last day living with Lancel, so I'm treasuring my cute little follower's food!" Geez, thief... Thanks Aqua, for holding my hand.

Lancel's face is immediately filled with despair. "Ah, today is truly the day of reckoning...! How will I survive without the blessings of my amazing goddess!?" Just because she's leaving, it doesn't mean you're suddenly cursed.

Darkness' frowns. "Honestly, do you not find this conduct disrespectful to the actual Goddess Aqua? My friend is just a normal priestess." No, it's you who are delusional. Still, as always you take religion surprisingly seriously.

Lancel spits on the floor. "Shut up! A pig like you shouldn't interfere in such matters!" Darkness doesn't even react to his insults, she got so used to it that even her masochistic fetishes aren't activating anymore.

But... even as the happy atmosphere that Aqua tried to bring in starts to fill the room, Eris clenches her fists. "We're talking about this later Subaru." And then she sits back down, now glaring at her food.

She doesn't even look mad at me, instead it's more like she's mad at herself. Welp, I screwed even more, and now my girlfriend is feeling insecure... Today is just not my day, but then again when is it my day anyways?

No, I can't keep spiraling down on this line of thought, so instead I look towards the loli Arch Mage. "Hey Megumin, why do you even like Explosion Magic that much anyways?" It's cool I guess, but she's way more devoted to it than one would expect.

I could just chalk it up to her being a massive chuuni of course, which she is, but... not all chuuni's are built the same. Even if it's some sort of ridiculous reason for her love, there will be a reason, so I might as well listen to it.

Aqua now looks curious too. "Oh! That's a good question, I can't believe I never asked before." Knowing you, it's very possible that you did ask, but just forgot. It wouldn't be completely inaccurate to call you a goldfish goddess.

Darkness smiles. "I for one always thought it was the simple pleasure of... pleasure." Very eloquent my sex slave. "Somethings just feel good, even when they're strange or unusual." Is that how you feel about your masochistic tendencies?

I should have figured Lalatina would be the type of girl who doesn't really understand why she likes something, and just does it because it makes her feel good. I guess I can't talk, I feel the same way about crossdressing after all...

Megumin grins, and then giggles, she actually sounds genuinely upbeat and happy right now. "So my legendary knowledge is finally beeing sought? Well my friends... and Purge King..." Hey, what the hell!? "It is very simple!" No, seriously, what the hell!?

What... what am I even complaining about? Isn't this a good thing? My ultimate goal is to get rid of all the love around me, so the fact that Megumin doesn't even see me as a friend is a good sign. Specially when she's so much younger than me, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a four year difference between us.

The Arch Mage gets up just like Eris did, though she does not strike the table. "You see, there is nothing like the sensation of having all my senses being stimulated by Explosion Magic! The loud noise that destroys my ears! The smell of whatever I have destroyed! The blinding light that's gonna make me need glasses one day!" Those all sound bad!

She raises her two arms to the sky, a blush now on her face, she reminds me of how Darkness looks when she's hearing Eris and I do it. "And of course... that nice feeling you get when your body is just spent~! Every minuscule movement bringing just the slightest amount of pain~...! It's like the best workout ever!" You sound way too lewd, please stop.

No, seriously... Megumin's voice is just way too attractive. I would never cheat on Eris, or go for a girl who's much younger than me, but there's no doubt this Crimson Demon will be dangerous once she grows up... Who am I lying to? She's dangerous right now.

Aqua smiles. "I see, so it's like Darkness said huh? You just do it because it feels good? I suppose there are worse hobbies out there." There are!? 

Megumin sits down again. "Yeah, at least my hobby isn't drinking myself to an early grave." Aqua does not react at all to her comment, probably because she's an idiot and thought it was meant for someone else. "Anyways, why do you do art Aqua...?" Don't even start me with her artistic abilities.

The city has contacted us in this past week, saying that they were gonna put down those illegally made statues, and telling us that we owed them a fine. However, Aqua ended up throwing a tantrum and somehow she got the public on her side... Which basically meant that all of those Subaru's will live on... They're way too embarrassing, someone please save me.

Aqua stays silent for a moment, actually thinking for once. "I dunno. I started such a long time ago... little moments like these just fade away with time..." She slowly begins to look at me. "Subaru, I will undoubtedly forget this conversation one day, so let's just keep making new and exciting memories so it doesn't matter, okay?" Oi...!

Now that she suddenly dropped a bomb like that in my lap, I'm blushing like a maiden in love. How Aqua can be such an idiot, and then shift towards being like this!? Or maybe it's precisely because she's an idiot that stuff like this just hits hard.

Eris' eye twitches. "Hey dumbass, you're talking to my boyfriend so watch your mouth." My girlfriend who lets me have a sex slave steps forward! Her current driving motive is jealousy! Just... just what the hell is wrong with this world?

Aqua huffs. "Whatever, you're just lucky you sleep with one eye open." I... since I'm so tired after our sessions I didn't even notice that... How the hell did you notice that!? "Besides, you see soon enough! It's just a matter of time until Subaru picks me and you die alone! So you better be nice or I ain't reviving you!" Even if I picked you, I doubt they would die alone.

Lancel looks like he wants to cry. "No, the messiah must not fight her mother...! A house divided by itself cannot stand!" You just said a quote you really shouldn't know exists...! But then again, considering how there are isekai'd people around, I shouldn't be surprised.

Darkness sighs. "It's fine Lancel, I doubt Eris and Aqua hate each other." They definitely do. I can literally see the water in our cups shaking, and Eris is slowly moving one of her hands to her sword's hilt.

For once the priest doesn't immediately spit at her comment. "I know, there must be love down there...! But why must I face these trials before that!?" And then... he spits. "By the way, stay silent pig." One day there will be a war between the Axis Order and the Eris Order... And it will be a gruesome one.

Still, before Eris and Aqua kill each other, I try to change the topic. "So Megumin, you said why you like Explosion Magic, but how did you learn it? It doesn't seem like something someone just stumbles into." Or maybe they do. I don't know how her chuuni race operates, so I can't say for certain after all.

Thankfully as Megumin starts her explanation, Aqua and Eris stop fighting. "Ah, it's a pretty whatever story. I helped an amazing mage and she taught me the spell as a reward." Huh, for some reason I expected a much more chuuni story.

But... right now there is a strange light shining in her red eyes, even if Megumin didn't speak much of it, it's clear that this woman is special to her. Well, I have been training with Eris for a decent while now, so I understand how precious a good mentor can be.

I send her a nod. "Well, one day we gotta thank her then." And for that Megumin sends me a nod in return. I'll add this to my list of things I have grant people, not because I owe Megumin something, but as an apology for being her cat's soulmate.

What...? Being who's soulmate? There's no way I would ever be the soulmate of cat, even thinking about that is ridiculous. By the way, I'm not in denial, and if someone argues otherwise they're a weirdo.

Eris interjects. "By the way Subaru, now that your school is starting, let's go easier on your training. Okay?" Ah... But I'm already barely progressing as it is... Which is natural according to Eris, but still.

Nonetheless, I wave her off. "It's fine to keep up the same schedule Eris. I'm a Special Student, which means I can skip class, and I'm not taking any specialized courses anyways." At least not yet.

For now I'll just attend the standard ones that everyone is forced to attend. Maybe in the future I'll attend one about Yin Magic... I'm still curious about my affinity after all. It's the one thing I have which is special.

Besides, since a Yin Affinity is so rare, my education towards it would only last one year. Even the instructors of the academy don't know much about it... It's just my luck that my affinity would be one of the most lacking ones.

Eris frowns. "I don't want you to skip classes though... Being smart is a good thing." You don't get to say that... Or maybe it's because it's you that you do? "So I'll lighten up our training from now on." But...

I point to Darkness. "Screw that, let's make it even tougher. I'm only training with the Sword God and the North God styles right now, but Lalatina could start to teach me the Water God too." It would be nice to learn more about defense and...!

Darkness blushes and swiftly crushes my hopes. "S-sorry, but I don't think I would be the best person to teach someone..." Really, of all times you choose now to not do as I say? Where did the sex slave gimmick go...

I look around the room, and then after a moment I glare at her. "You know, it's sort of strange how I have never actually seen you fight... Are you really as good as you say?" My tone ends up coming out as spiteful.

That's because I'm mad, I didn't want Darkness to reject my proposal. Right now I'm desperately looking towards any excuses that will let me skip school days, so I'm acting like complete trash. I really am the worst.

However, as soon as those words come from my mouth, I regret them, because Darkness actually looks genuinely hurt that I doubted her skills... She also looks guilty...? Either way, I hurt my friend to satiate my sloth.

And the knight's own friends notice that, coming to her rescue, first Aqua. "No, Darkness' defense really is amazing Subaru. Don't go doubting a girl who wished to become the Demon King's plaything." You just said some absurd stuff.

And then the next one to speak is Megumin. "Purge King... You're doing a bit too much of purging right now, and not enough of kinging." What is that even supposed to mean!? And stop calling me that stupid title...!

The title I threw around, I can't blame her for it. So I weakly sigh. "Yeah, sorry Darkness..." I'm the worst. "Let's just... let's just go to school, and everyone else please prepare your stuff, we are moving to the dorms today." I'm going.

Through the sounds of Lancel's despair full cries at the concept of Aqua is leaving, I neither make or hear any sound. There is one exception however, that of Eris gritting her teeth... That's a sound I cannot escape from.

///////////////

I slowly move my hand to the door's handle. "It's do or die time..." I'm about to attend school again. Please look at your soon Mister and Miss Natsuki, it seems he's leaving out his trashy habits.

Yeah, they're all things I'm leaving behind. Now I only need to spend a few hours surrounded by complete strangers, strangers who don't know I'm a complete fraud. But again, who cares about them anyways? They're just strangers.

Kenichi would get their praise as soon as he began talking. Well... I... I don't care about something as shallow as popularity. I have a hot red head girlfriend, and I doubt she cares about what I'll be doing in class.

Except she will. She clearly will, she was even willing to ease up on our sword training. That's because I have no talent in it, and now she's expecting me to have talent in this... To cover where she can't.

Maybe... maybe I will have some secret talent! I mean, I've been hoping for something like that since I was in the Holy Land of Swords right? This is about to be my moment, even though I have no knowledge I'll impress everyone and...

Megumin speaks up from behind me. "Um... you okay there Purge King? Your hand is all shaky..." Right, she wants to go to class too. I can't just leave her waiting so I can stall for time inside of my mind.

I finally put my hand on the handle. "It's fine, I'm fine." Am I fine? Do I look presentable? A son of Kenichi Natsuki needs to look good. What if I...

I...

I take my hand off the handle. "I'm skipping school today." And before Megumin can say anything in response, I begin walking out. It's totally fine for me to do this, one of the benefits of being a Special Student is that I only need to attend class once a month anyways.

Megumin follows me. "Huh? What do you mean you're skipping school!? We gotta go together...!" For some reason she actually sounds both frustrated and embarrassed. I pay her no mind though.

I just keep walking. "I'm just... I'm just not feeling well. So I'm skipping today, tomorrow I'll go." I'm not feeling well. I'm a bit tired, I didn't sleep well. I forgot to turn on my alarm. I already skipped most days of the week anyways, I might as well skip the last one.

That's right I'll just skip today. I didn't prepare well enough, but tomorrow I'll come back with full force, ready to impress everyone and anyone! 

I feel behind the material. I have no idea what the teacher is talking about, but I don't have the energy to catch up.

Eris will get it, she's the type of person who trains until she's completely tired out, but she understands that the same just doesn't work out for everyone else. That's right, she will get it becaus she has to get it, so she... so she...

People have been asking why I didn't show up. I didn't have any good excuses, It was so embarrassing. I don't wanna talk about this.

Megumin can handle the first day by herself. It hurts to breathe. She's a genius right? So she needs to give a standard guy like me a break. It feels like there's glass on my throat. I've been working so hard anyways.

I'm fine. I told them I was fine, they all said okay and nodded. They didn't... they didn't...! I just hanged out outside, but I told my parents that I went. And then I told them that I went. And them I told them that I went. And then I told them that I went.

The school is calling. This is so embarrassing, I just want to die already... Please either ignore me or give me more attention, why is that I only get a single question always...? If I disappeared, people would notice, but they would only shrug and say it's too bad.

Oh, I already disappeared.

"Subaru...!" Huh? Where am I...? Oh, I'm sitting down on the floor, my back is against some random wall of some random corridor. "Ah...! Come on, come on!" Megumins is kneeling down in front of me, she's clearly super worried.

That's just embarrassing. "Sorry, I... I-I...! I...!" I can't put my thoughts in order, I wanna say I'm fine, but it still feels like there's glass in my throat. That isn't all, I'm dizzy, I'm way too dizzy and my vision is slowly going white.

Is this the frogs again? No way, this is way worse than the frogs. This is the curse that chained Subaru Natsuki to his room and drained him of all that he had. The name of that curse is, as expected, Subaru Natsuki.

Megumin looks around. "I'm... I'm gonna get help okay! Just wait for a second...!" Great going, I just... I just what? Had a panic attack? I just had a panic attack and worried a girl who's way younger than me. I'm eighteen by the way, an adult.

Just... I put my hand on her sleeve. "Wait...!" And then feeling of glass rises up on my throat one more time. The nausea is way too much for me, no, it's not just the nausea, it's everything.

I turn around, trying to not get anything on Megumin, and I begin throwing up. It's like I'm choking out the breakfast I ate this morning, cutting my throat on the way out, and it feels neverending. I can't stop.

Megumin looks on, clearly more horrified than disgusted, even if that's also something that her expression is showing. "Yeah, I definitely need to get a healer... Or take you to a healer, yeah, that's probably better..." I don't want to.

They would check my body. They would throughly analyze everything, and then they would... then they would...! They would see that Subaru Natsuki is a healthy man who works out and has a balanced diet.

He also happens to be a pathetic, worthless little piece of shit who can't do anything right. So even though his body is completely fine, he's going to cry and moan to his parents to stay home, and then they will smile and say that it's okay, and that I can have as much time as I need.

I stop throwing up. I have nothing else to throw up. But I still wish I could throw up. Let me vomit please, if I don't do that the feeling of nausea won't vanish.

I don't let go of Megumin's sleeve. "Please don't go." I'm glad Eris isn't here, because she would see just how ugly I am, but it's precisely because of my ugliness that I don't want to be alone.

Megumin nods. "I won't, I promise. Now let's take you to a healer... We're gonna walk nice and slow, okay Purge King?" Ah, I just noticed that she was calling me Subaru before, and only now she has returned to using my nickname.

It hurts to breathe, I'm breathing glass. "Megumin, I don't... Please don't call a healer or anything of the sort. I'm just gonna... I'm just gonna take sometime to rest up and then I'll go home." How am I gonna explain this to Eris? How? How? How?

I don't know.

She frowns. "I guess... I guess Aqua is there right now, but..." She takes a deep breath. "Hey Purge King... are you being bullied? Like Eris said?" I don't want to talk about it. Isn't it obvious that I don't want to talk about it? It's obvious right? So...!

I need to stop before I somehow manage to throw up again. "No, that's not it. No one is bullying me." And now her look of concern is only getting worse and worse. Great, I have literally done nothing right today.

She hesitantly nods. "Okay... then what's wrong?" You aren't assuming I'm just sick anymore? Ah, you're one of the noisy types huh? The ones who ask what's wrong more than one time.

Back home the only ones who were like that were my parents, so they were the most annoying ones of course. Because there's nothing wrong, because everything is wrong. What am I supposed to say? That I am Subaru Natsuki? Of course I'm feeling like shit.

I look down. "I..." I feel like I'm about to die of emb- of everything. "I don't want to go to school, because I'm a NEET. That isn't a joke or anything either, I'm just that pathetic." There, I said it.

I haven't told this to pretty much anyone yet, not even Eris. Because it's pathetic, miserable and embarrassing... All things you would expect of Subaru Natsuki. That why it's natural I would hate someone like Kazuma Satou who went out and made something out of himself. That's why it's natural that I hate myself.

Megumin's face morphs into shock. "For real!? You don't give those vibes at all." I guess... I try to imitate my father, so it's only natural a person only notices how rotten I am once they bite onto me. "You give cool vibes, like the reverse of Kazuma." That's the power of Kenichi Natsuki for you.

If it's him who's being imitated than even a faker can look cool, even a faker can sound cool, even a faker can make friends, even a faker can bully people into therapy and still throw a pity party. That's why...! I hate myself. Recently I have been forgetting that, and that's unacceptable.

Megumin stops kneeling down, instead she sits in front of me. "So... why did you become a NEET anyways? Is it social anxiety?" Why are you...? "That can't be it right? You seem to do just fine when talking with strangers..." That's not true.

I sigh. "You say that like I'm not constantly saying the dumbest things imaginable. And... and I throw my stress at other people too." Just this morning I was mean to Darkness for absolute no reason.

Megumin seems a bit sad. "I think you sound cool. I get that..." She blushes and looks down. "I get that some of the stuff people like us say, can sound lame, but... You say with such confidence that I forget that, it makes my..." She stops before finishing.

I snort, and respond while stuttering. "It's n-not confidence, it's la-lack of self-awareness...!" The reason why I'm stuttering is because now I'm holding back tears. I already vomited in front of this girl, and now I'm about to cry too, great.

To my surprise Megumin pats my head. "Not true. That's just... that's just what that annoying little voice in your head is telling you." H-huh...? "I... know this other girl who can act just like you sometimes, even though she's actually pretty amazing." 

She blushes and looks down. "Never tell her I said that about her that though...!" I don't even know who she is. "Purge King... if you're worried about not looking cool in front of me anymore, then forget all about that. In my eyes you became cool from the moment..." Our eyes met, because I'm a scumbag. "You played along." What...?

She continues. "Um... I know it's not a lot, but it's rare to find people like you and Eris you know? That just go along with it. Everyone else is always trying to find some flaw or another, and... Look the point is that you're cool. Maybe not the coolest, but definitely not the lamest." I...

I'm definitely crying. "I'm a NEET. Didn't you hear me? I gave up on everything and became a leech because people didn't immediately give me approval. Just how pathetic is that?" Very. It's very pathetic.

But Megumin doesn't stop. "Just because you're a NEET doesn't mean you're not cool. I mean Perugius is like... a massive NEET, but everyone still thinks he's cool, right?" Another person I don't know.

She smiles. "I can't... I can't comment on approval this or approval that, because... I haven't seen anything too pathetic from you." Aren't you looking at me right now? "Sometimes Kazuma will pull some stuff that makes me really mad at him..." Great, you brought him up into this...

She awkwardly scratches her cheek. "He will say something rude, and I'll think he's a mega loser... which he is." Hey! "But I haven't seen you do anything like that, ever. So for me you're just Purge King. I was Honestly surprised by the fact that you're a NEET you know?" I...

I...! "Megumin... I'm just gonna cry for a few minutes, and then I'm going to class. If I try to stay here, please drag me there by force." I haven't acted like a NEET huh? Now that I think about it...

I have been working hard, so why am I afraid of entering a stupid class? I haven't disappointed Megumin yet, and hopefully the same applies to everyone else, so at least for the moment Subaru Natsuki is fine.

A red blush appears on Megumin's face. "Kay...! Then... you can rest on my lap! It will be a lap pillow!" There's steaming coming out from her ears. "F-feel free to cry your heart out!" That sounds great...

I have a girlfriend though, and... "Megumin, there's vomit right besides me. You really wanna spend time here?" It's smells really bad... I need to clean my mouth, so I will definitely drink some water before going to class.

She clears her throat. "True... Let's move somewhere else, then I will give you a lap pillow!" The offer is still on the table!? Well, I guess I can't reject it then...

...

I put my hand on the handle. "Okay, here I go." I drank water, I cried on the lap of a young teen until my eyes went red... And they still probably are. What a way of entering class huh? "Guide me MMT! Megumin Maji Tenshi!" There's no doubt about that!

I open the door, ignoring the girl's shriek. "What's with that nickname!?" It's affectionate, so please take it!

I shall chant MMT as many times as it takes!