He who Protects the Transforming Heroines from The Shadows - Chapter 29 - A Strange Connection

“Your house?”

Sheldia looked into Eito’s face. The sun had completely set, and night, ruled by darkness, had arrived. In the small park where only the two of them were, a somewhat strong wind blew.

The wind stirred Eito’s hair. It was as if that wind were telling him this choice was a great crossroads of fate.

“Yeah. Of course, I don’t have any ulterior motives. My mom and little sister are at home too, and I’m not planning to do anything to you. I mean, I’m probably weaker than you, after all.”

Rather than “probably,” he was absolutely weaker. Pathetic as it was, having seen Sheldia swing her parasol and send a suspicious man flying, Eito had no confidence he could win against her.

“That’s not something I’m worried about. I pride myself on being able to judge people to some extent. What I mean is, is it really all right for me to stay at your house? Like you said, you and I only met today. Why would someone like you be so kind to me?”

Sheldia turned an expression of “why” toward Eito. At first, she’d suspected he might be the same kind of person as that man, but after talking to him, she realized he wasn’t. This boy was a good person, like Youka and Miya. Not as obviously so as those two, but still.

“A reason, huh… Well, you’re younger than me, and you said you’d sleep outdoors, so I’m just doing what I can. I just couldn’t leave you like that…”

Eito had many flaws as a person, but he wasn’t such trash that he’d abandon a girl planning to sleep outdoors in a foreign country. That was what he thought of himself, at least.

“…I see. You’re kind.”

Realizing that was the only reason, Sheldia muttered softly.

“Who, me? …That’s a bit off the mark. I just have a basic sense of ethics and morals.”

He turned his face away shyly at her straightforward words. The fact that Sheldia’s words weren’t a lie but genuine made it all the more embarrassing.

“So, what do you say?”

Eito asked Sheldia for her decision. If she stayed at his house, that was fine. If she didn’t like the idea, then he’d just have to give up. He was only offering her a choice.

“Right. I’m really grateful for your offer. Like you said, camping outdoors during a sightseeing trip would be dreary. I’ll gladly accept your offer.”

Sheldia smiled and extended her hand toward Eito, who stood in front of her.

It seemed she wanted him to take it.

“Hah… Well then, may I have your hand, m’lady?”

Understanding Sheldia’s intent, Eito took her white hand, which stood out against the darkness, with a theatrical tone.

♦

Guided by Eito, Sheldia visited the apartment where he and his family lived. After greeting Eito’s mother, who was the head of the household, and his younger sister, she found herself treated to dinner before she knew it.

Sheldia could essentially live without taking in food. She didn’t even need sleep. As long as she regularly consumed a certain energy—or rather, a certain liquid—she was a self-sufficient being.

So, in truth, there would have been no issue with her sleeping outdoors. Sheldia had teleportation, after all. If sleeping outdoors was unsuitable, she could have simply secluded herself in some mountain overnight and waited for morning.

However, Sheldia accepted Eito’s offer. You could say it was on a whim, and that would be the end of it. But Sheldia did have a certain curiosity about the boy named Kijou Eito.

“Eito, do you have a moment?”
“What is it, Jou-chan? Need something?”

Knocking lightly, Sheldia opened the door. It was Eito’s room.

A plainly simple room with a bookshelf, a TV, a study desk, and a bed. Eito, seated between the TV and the bed, shifted his gaze from the screen to Sheldia.

“Hm? Ah, my sister’s pajamas.”
“Yes. She kindly lent them to me, saying she doesn’t use them anymore.”

Sheldia was dressed in fluffy, pink-themed pajamas that Eito’s little sister had worn until about two years ago.

When Sheldia had been wearing her elaborate gothic dress, she’d looked every bit the refined young lady, but now she seemed like an ordinary, cute girl. Clothes truly were strange things.

“Did you figure out how to use the bath? I heard bathing in a tub isn’t a thing overseas, so I figured you’d be unfamiliar with it.”
“Well, yes. The tub—ah, it’s called a yubune here, isn’t it?—I’m still not quite used to it, but I was taught how to use it when I visited Japan before, so I managed.”

Saying this, Sheldia sat down next to Eito, leaning her weight on the side of the bed just like he did.

“I wanted to have a chat with you.”
“…You’ve got strange tastes, Jou-chan. Can’t imagine what’s fun about talking to me.”

He could understand someone being curious about Spriggan, but this was the first time anyone had taken such interest in him as just Kijou Eito.

“Did you enjoy dinner? It was almost entirely traditional Japanese food.”
“It was delicious. Truly. Though, I’m still not used to chopsticks.”
“Well, that can’t be helped. It’s hard to get used to customs different from your own.”

Eito responded with a faint smile. Being at home in his own room had loosened him up, but more than that, talking to this mysterious girl was genuinely enjoyable.

“Come to think of it, Jou-chan, you let your hair down.”
“Yes. How does it look?”

Sheldia ran her hand through her silky, beautiful blonde hair that looked like it would make a sound when touched. As Eito pointed out, she no longer had it tied into loose twin-tails but wore it straight.

“Well… looks good on you?”
“Why the question mark? Isn’t that rude to a lady?”

Sheldia’s expression visibly soured at his hesitant response. Realizing he’d chosen poorly, Eito hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

“My bad! You’re charming, really. A fine lady.”

He wasn’t lying. Even when her hair was tied in those loose twin-tails that made her look somewhat childish, she was attractive enough to catch the eye of a suspicious man.

But now, with her hair down, she seemed several times more alluring. She gave off a kind of mature, seductive air that no ordinary girl could.

“Fufu, really? Are you sure you’re not just running your mouth at random?”

Sheldia twined her fingers around Eito’s left arm and slowly brought her face closer to his. The suddenness of it made him visibly flustered.

“H-hey!? What’s with you all of a sudden!?”
“I’m just checking if you’re telling the truth. If I’m truly charming, there’s only one thing you’d do… right?”

Her face drew so close he could feel her breath. Never in his life had Eito been this close to a girl’s face, and his mind went into panic.

“I-I-I don’t kn-kn-know what you’re talking about!”
“So innocent. Then I’ll take the lead.”

With that, Sheldia leaned in closer, her lips nearing his—

“Fufu, I’m joking. Just joking. You really are a child.”

—and then she abruptly pulled away.

“T-tough joke, Jou-chan…”

Eito managed a reply, though his heart was still pounding furiously in his chest.

He never imagined he’d be called a child by a girl younger than him. And for the record, that wasn’t meant as a pun. The way he addressed Sheldia had just made it sound that way.

For clarity, the pun would be between joke (joudan) and Jou-chan, which sound quite similar. It didn’t mean anything—it was just a coincidence. Anyway, it didn’t matter.

“Good grief… Jou-chan, you’re gonna be a real man-eater someday.”
“Oh? I’d like to think I already am one.”
“…You really get the better of me.”

Eito raised his hands lightly in surrender. Not that this had been any kind of contest, but Sheldia had him beat in every way.

“Anyway, it’s about time to call it a night. You should turn in early, Jou-chan. You’ve had a long day for the first day of your trip, and besides, kids should be in bed by now.”

Those last words were a petty jab from a boy who didn’t like losing, but they were also sincere. It was already past eleven o’clock.

“Time doesn’t mean much to me, but very well.”

Looking a bit disappointed, Sheldia stood and placed her hand on the doorknob.

“If I’m not mistaken, this is what I should say now, right? —Oyasuminasai, Eito.”
“Yeah. Oyasumi, Jou-chan.”

And so, the day he met this mysterious girl came to an end.

♦

“Hwoaaaam… so sleepy.”

The next day. Eito stifled a yawn at his desk in class.

Eito being sleepy was nothing unusual. It was probably true for most people, but he was not a morning person.

“Two more hours until lunch break…”

This morning, while eating breakfast with Sheldia—who ended up sleeping in his sister’s room—he had been talking with her, and she had said she’d look for a place to stay today. Sheldia was originally only supposed to stay one night, but Eito’s mother had taken quite a liking to her and said, “Stay another night!” So Sheldia was going to stay at their house again today.

Therefore, it seemed Sheldia would start searching for accommodations she could stay at from tomorrow. Eito didn’t know how long she planned to stay in Japan, but judging by his mother’s attitude, if Sheldia couldn’t find a place to stay, she might very well tell her to live with them for a while.

“…You really never know what life’s gonna throw at you.”

Narrowing his eyes at the sunlight streaming in through the window, Eito prepared for the next class.

♦

For Eito, the incident happened during lunch break.

“…No lunch.”

He opened his bag and was stunned.

This was the worst. And today of all days, it was simply because he had forgotten to put his lunch in his bag, something he only now remembered.

(Did I forget to put it in while I was talking with Jou-chan…?)

Eito’s before-school morning actions were almost completely routine. But today, because of the unusual factor called Sheldia, he must have forgotten.

“And today of all days, I don’t even have my wallet…”

Yesterday, after dinner, Eito had gotten a little hungry and went back to the convenience store to buy some more Karaage-kun. Naturally, cheese flavor. At that time, he had left his wallet sitting on his desk.

“…Misfortune really piles on, huh.”

At this point, his only options were to go mooch food off his friend Satori in the neighboring class or borrow some money. Thinking that, Eito was about to get up from his seat.

“Hey, I heard there’s some super cute foreign girl here.”
“Huh? Our school doesn’t have any exchange students. What are you talking about?”
“Apparently, she came to deliver lunch. She’s asking if anyone knows a guy named Eito.”
“Eito? Which lucky bastard is that?”

Hearing the boys by the hallway talking, Eito froze.

(No way…)

The words “foreign girl,” “lunch,” and “Eito” gave Eito an overwhelmingly bad feeling.

He decided to at least step out of the classroom, but the moment he did, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey, Eito. There’s some really cute girl looking for you. What’s going on?”
“S-Satori…”

Turning around, he saw Satori smiling cheerfully.

“…First, get your hand off me. That really hurts.”

Even though she should’ve let go by now, Satori kept gripping his shoulder painfully tight, so Eito protested.

“Ah, sorry. You’re kind of weak, huh, Eito. So, what’s this all about?”

Making a somewhat unnecessarily hurtful comment, Satori questioned him again. No, judging from her demeanor, it felt more like an interrogation than a question.

“Sorry for being so scrawny… I don’t really know either. I think she’s probably got the wrong guy.”
“As far as I know, you’re the only one named Eito at this school. Also, is it just me, or are you acting way more suspicious than usual?”

Satori looked at him with narrowed eyes. Though her words were the same as usual, for some reason Eito’s legs were trembling.

At that moment, noise began spreading through the hallway. It came from the far end—by the stairs.

“Wow, I never thought I’d see Sheldia-chan at school!”
“Seriously, I was hoping we’d meet again, but I didn’t expect to see you the very next day.”
“Fufu, I feel the same.”

As expected, the “foreign girl” in question was Sheldia. Her hair wasn’t straight like last night’s but tied loosely into twin tails, and she was wearing gothic clothes.

For some reason, Youka and Miya were accompanying Sheldia as well.

“There’s a lot I’d like to talk about, but you came to deliver lunch to someone named Eito, right, Sheldia-chan?”
“Yes. I managed to reach the school after getting directions, but I couldn’t find where Eito was. So I am really grateful when you two offered to help me look for him.”
“Hehe, hearing that makes me happy. But Miya and I don’t know any boy named Eito either, so we might not be much help. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just helping me search is a big help.”

While chatting with the two, Sheldia peeked into classroom after classroom. Students who saw her said things like, “Whoa, she’s crazy cute,” “She’s so pretty…” “Hey, find this Eito guy immediately. Take him out,” “Yes, sir!” The latter part sounded a bit ominous, but best to ignore it.

“Wow, she’s beautiful, like a doll. So, Eito, what’s your relationship—”

While Satori was talking, Sheldia, some distance away, met Eito’s eyes.

“!?”

Strictly speaking, it was through his bangs, but it was unmistakable eye contact.

“Ah, Ei—”

(This is the worst…!)

“Sorry, Satori. Take my lunch from her!”
“E-Eito!?”

The next moment, Eito was sprinting full speed down the hallway.