"What even is 'Laas' to begin with? Just because you've got a Skill of
Her emotions really were readable at a glance.
She was clearly having a blast messing with me.
A shameless grin was plastered all over her face, and she looked ready to pile on as hard as she could.
Given the topic, it was only natural. I was at a complete disadvantage.
Chuunibyou.
I never expected to be called that outright.
No, wait—calmly thinking back on it, the name really was the sort of thing a chuunibyou patient would love.
When I changed my name, I hadn't been in the best mental state either, so I just picked something simple that came to mind.
I couldn't deny that it was a decidedly chuunibyou choice.
If I were allowed to make excuses, I never imagined a classmate would have been reincarnated into the same world. I figured nobody here would know what the word meant.
Being called chuunibyou straight to my face made shame wash over me in an instant.
It felt strange—like I'd been suddenly shoved from a dream into harsh reality.
But wait, if I was chuunibyou, then wasn't Shiro basically the same?
"Hypothetically speaking, even if I am chuunibyou, could you say the same about Shiro?"
Sophia couldn't push back against Shiro.
Even in the short time I'd known them, I could feel that hierarchy.
So I looked for a way to reverse the dynamic.
I was disgusted with myself for how low-level this argument had become.
We'd started with a perfectly serious disagreement—how had it devolved into a debate about chuunibyou?
"Bwa—!? Are you an idiot!? Master is, like, that and— that and—!"
She couldn't come up with a good comeback, and it seemed like her language center had short-circuited.
Actually, she was panicking on a whole other level.
Was Shiro really that terrifying?
"I-I wasn't thinking anything like that! I mean, sure, she can't help being white, but matching your whole outfit to white is a bit much, right? And she's not blind, so why does she keep her eyes closed all the time—what kind of fetish is that—I wasn't thinking any of that!"
Did that sound like a complete self-destruct to anyone but me?
I'd always suspected Sophia might be a little dense, but was she actually an airhead?
Oh.
"You called?"
There she was—Shiro had appeared, right on cue, in a way neither Sophia nor I had noticed at all.
Directly behind Sophia.
"I see, I see~. So that's what you think of me~. Chuunibyou, huh~? That's a no~."
?
Something was different about her.
Her tone was off, and her usually pale complexion was slightly flushed.
Most strikingly, Shiro—who I'd never seen without a blank expression—was grinning from ear to ear.
Sophia froze so hard I could almost hear a cracking sound effect.
Shiro leaned over and rested her head on Sophia's shoulder.
"Pwahh~," Shiro exhaled, and Sophia scrunched up her face.
"M-Master? Have you been drinking?"
"I have~! It's super delicious!"
Shiro giggled, clearly having the time of her life.
Alcohol was for those twenty and older.
Well, at this point it was pointless to bring that up, I supposed.
So this was what Shiro was like when drunk.
Sophia had warned me, but it exceeded everything I'd imagined.
She was practically a different person entirely.
"Wearing white is just easier~. I could dye my clothes if I wanted, but it's a hassle so I don't bother~. Fashion? What's that—is it yummy?"
This had to be what people meant by clingy-drunk.
Shiro had pinned Sophia in place so she couldn't escape, and Sophia was thrashing desperately, trying to break free.
Her ashen expression told the whole story of how terrified she was.
"I keep my eyes shut to hide the evil eye, obviously~! It's not some chuunibyou thing—it's a real evil eye! If you look at it, you could literally die! Wanna see?"
"Hyaaaaaa!? Don't show me! You don't have to show me!? Please!"
She was screaming now.
Even I was starting to feel sorry watching this, so I decided to step in.
"Shiro, maybe ease up a—"
"Chomp."
The instant I opened my mouth, Shiro bit down on Sophia's ear.
Not a gentle nip—she bit clean through.
Where Shiro's mouth had been, Sophia's ear was simply gone.
I stood there, dumbfounded, as Shiro's jaw worked up and down.
"Crunch, crunch."
"Nooooooo! I got eaten—!? I haven't been eaten in so long—!?"
"Hehehe. Isn't this lovely~?"
"Hey, hey—!? Don't take off my clothes—!? Wait, wait! My body isn't food! Stop staring blankly and help me!"
—!?
I'd been so stunned that my brain had shut down.
"Shiro, stop, stop!"
I reached out to pull Shiro off of Sophia, and the moment I did, Shiro's eyes opened.
I couldn't help flinching and freezing in place.
What I saw inside those eyes were yet more pupils, layered within pupils—a bizarre, alien gaze.
"King Crimson! Well, not exactly, but—"
"Huh?"
When I blinked back to awareness, Shiro was gone.
She'd been right in front of me a second ago.
Not just Shiro—Sophia had vanished too.
Then, as if completing a circuit, Sophia appeared slumped face-down on the floor, clothes in disarray, utterly spent.
"…Huh?"
Had I been shown some kind of hallucination?
The scene in front of me didn't match what I'd just witnessed.
"Is it back to normal?"
Still face-down, Sophia spoke in an exhausted voice.
Even lifting herself up seemed to be too much—her tone said it all.
"What do you mean?"
"How should I know? You just suddenly froze and stopped moving."
It was like something had taken hold of me.
"The law of the jungle… is pretty scary, huh?"
Sophia's shoulders sagged. I shrugged off my jacket and draped it over her.