I Became a Time-stopping Narrow-eyed Character

Chapter 15

'......How did it come to this?'

Kitagawa Kenichi lay sprawled on the ground, lost in thought.

Last night, when he opened his eyes, his grandfather's heirloom, an old necklace, had turned into a sword.

Although he had experienced this once before, it was such an absurd memory that he thought it was a dream.

Unable to keep his promise, he fought with his childhood friend Hotaru, got scolded by his math teacher and homeroom teacher Baki, and spent the entire day mentally exhausted, dismissing any possibilities.

......He really did encounter a monster and Ichimaru Shiki that day.

Realizing the truth belatedly, Kenichi, despite the late hour, debated for a long time whether to contact Shiki using the number he had received earlier.

He wanted to ask what exactly Shiki was, and what he meant by those words that day.

There were countless things he wanted to say, but he held back with great patience.

This wasn't a conversation that could be resolved with something as trivial as a text message.

In the morning, he decided to go to school and have a face-to-face conversation.

Until dawn, Kenichi organized his thoughts on how to confront his friend, Shiki.

Perhaps due to nervousness or anxiety, he left home earlier than usual and headed to school.

He didn't know how it would end, but he thought at least they could have a conversation.

"......Cough!"

Within less than ten seconds of meeting, he was slammed into the ground.

This wasn't the kind of fall you get from roughhousing with other boys in the hallway or classroom.

He had been thrown from the third floor of the building to the schoolyard... and with great force at that.

The impact was enough that he might have died if things had gone wrong.

However, Kitagawa Kenichi, who survived, gasped for breath and, despite being covered in dirt, got up with a body that was surprisingly intact.

Fortunately, he hadn't hit his head or suffered severe injuries like broken limbs.

Of course, that didn't mean he was completely unharmed.

His entire body tingled, and his lungs seemed shocked, desperately craving oxygen.

His heart pounded like crazy.

He wanted to deny the reality before him, convincing himself it was just a dream, but his survival instincts spoke otherwise.

"Oh, are you moving already?"

If he didn't move right now...

"This is beyond my expectations."

He might actually die at the hands of that guy.

The moment he barely managed to stand and steady his sword, a sharp blade approached.

A real sword, meant for cutting and stabbing people to death.

It was coming.

With wide-open eyes, Kenichi barely read its trajectory and raised his sword above his head.

Screeeeech─! An unpleasant metallic sound rang out as his trembling hands gripped the sword, the blade pressing closer to his neck, the oppressive force meeting his sharp gaze head-on.

His heart raced uneasily.

He had never experienced anything like this before, but the killing intent emanating from the monster before him instinctively triggered a primal fear of death.

'......I'm really going to die!'

Kenichi desperately struggled to survive.

He didn't know swordsmanship.

If he had even a little breathing room, he might have imitated some kendo moves he had seen before.

Crash! Crash! All he could do was hurriedly block the slashes flying at him from every direction.

His arms, gripping the sword, and his entire body were struck by the impacts.

Amidst the uneasy thought that his sword might break, he somehow managed to block the slashes aiming to cut him down.

To avoid death, he burned his life force.

"Haha! This is great, absolutely great! It's been a while since I've fought with just swords, and it feels fantastic! Doesn't it make you feel alive and full of spirit?!"

"......I never wanted this kind of practice!"

"That's how life is! Who wishes for adversity and failure?"

Screeeeech─!

Right in front of him, Ichimaru Shiki, with his usual smirking face, spoke.

"Aren't you curious about the adversity your beloved grandfather passed down to you?"

"......What are you-"

"Congratulations, Kenichi. You've been chosen as the protagonist of the world, a hero. You're destined to somehow protect the Spiritual Veins, inherit a lineage chased by monsters for life."

"......."

"If you don't want to die soon, you'll have to train hard, won't you?"

Probably the truth.

Though Shiki, who looked like a sinister mastermind, was the one speaking, Kenichi instinctively felt it was true.

It was such an overwhelming story that his grip loosened for a moment.

"Oh dear?"

At that moment, Ichimaru Shiki, with a smiling face, raised his sword high into the sky.

"You might die if you're not careful?"

At those words, Kenichi snapped back to his senses and gripped his sword tightly again, but it was already too late.

The guillotine began to fall from the sky.

It struck with all its might.

Kwaaaaang────!

Kenichi desperately held onto his sword to block it.

However, unlike before, the massive impact drove him straight into the ground, his stance unyielding.

A cloud of dust rose, swirling around and blanketing the schoolyard like a pale mist.

‧

‧

‧

‧

‧

The dust settled.

What remained on the schoolyard was a squinting swordsman and a single sapling.

Kenichi, still holding his sword above his head, was embedded in the ground, unconscious.

"Oh my, what a mess. At least I don't have to plant a gravestone."

Muttering at the pitiful sight of his friend, Shiki turned his gaze to the thoroughly dug-up schoolyard and nodded slowly.

"I guess it's time to clean up."

Cleaning up such traces was easily resolved with a simple use of sorcery.

The bigger issue was what to do with this unconscious Kenichi...

"It's too bothersome to explain everything, so should I just kidnap him?"

Once that decision was made, the cleanup was swift.

After erasing all traces of the battle, Shiki, now carrying the tidied-up Kenichi over his shoulder, moved to the classroom.

He leaned Kenichi diagonally against the door.

To others, it would seamlessly connect to the previous scene, perfectly matching the earlier appearance.

He inserted the sword into the air.

Then, time resumed its original flow.

Creeeak......

The unconscious Kenichi began to collapse.

***

'What's going on?'

As Kitagawa Kenichi arrived, Ichimaru Shiki immediately stood and approached him.

Though they were known to be close friends, the atmosphere was different today.

At least Kenichi, who had been considered an ordinary person, seemed prepared for a confrontation.

Sawamura Sento watched them with a curious expression.

How long had it been since their gazes clashed?

Creeeak─

Suddenly, Kenichi's balance collapsed.

Sento's eyes widened.

Knowing that Ichimaru Shiki was someone extraordinary, the scene felt even more remarkable.

'......Could it be possible to kill... no, make someone faint just by staring?!'

Sawamura Sento's misunderstanding deepened.

Meanwhile, Shiki, who caught the collapsing Kenichi, shouted with a serious expression.

"Kenichi! Kenichi! Are you okay?!"

While asking this, he intermittently shook his body, but Kenichi, like a lifeless corpse, only swayed weakly.

At that moment, Hotaru, their childhood friend, who had been watching blankly, also ran to his side.

"......What's going on, Ichimaru-kun? What's wrong with Kenichi?"

"I don't know. He suddenly staggered greatly, and then this happened!"

Ichimaru Shiki, who was looking down at Kenichi with a serious expression, suddenly touched his forehead and, for some reason, let out an astonished exclamation.

"Goodness, his forehead feels like a burning furnace."

"......What? It's, it's true!"

Hotaru, who immediately checked the heat of his forehead, looked dumbfounded as if she had never touched such a hot forehead before. Then, realizing the seriousness, her pupils wavered.

"An, an ambulance! This is serious; we need to get him to a hospital!"

Certainly, if a fever is too high, even a simple cold could become dangerous.

So, taking the limp Kenichi to a hospital was a rational decision.

However, for Sawamura Sento, who had learned a simple sorcery spell yesterday, the scene looked different.

'......Wasn't that just a Heating Spell?'

When Ichimaru Shiki touched his forehead, suddenly, his hand was imbued with magical energy.

It was probably a very simple spell that heated the object it touched.

Sento, though unsure of its meaning, vaguely realized that this situation was Shiki's fabrication.

At that moment, her gaze met Shiki's, who had turned his head.

Ichimaru Shiki, still maintaining his squinting face, shouted in a desperate voice as if acting.

"Class President! Since it's almost time for class, may I quickly take Kenichi and return?"

Sento thought his acting was despicable, but she nodded with a worried expression as if wearing a mask.

"Yes, please do that."

Soon, personnel from the Shihei Family disguised as an ambulance arrived due to Shiki's report.

They loaded the protagonist, Kenichi, into the vehicle.

The abduction was complete.

***

"......Hah!"

Gasping for breath, Kenichi abruptly sat up.

His last memory was of being struck by a sword attack and buried into the ground, so he hurriedly looked for a sword to fight back, but the Demon Sword had already reverted to its necklace form.

"......Ah."

Could it have been a dream?

For a moment, Kenichi felt a sense of relief and briefly harbored an unwarranted sense of hope, but soon realized that the place he was in was unfamiliar.

It wasn't the school's infirmary or a hospital's emergency room.

It was a tatami room exuding the antique elegance of an old mansion, a remnant of the past.

"No way......."

The tatami room, though innocent of any crime or grudge, made Kenichi feel uneasy as he stared at its unfamiliar ceiling.

Staggering as he got up from the bed, he cautiously approached the door and pressed his ear against it.

.......

Alright, there's no sign of anyone.

No one is here.

With that certainty, he opened the door.

"Oh my, good morning!"

"......."

He was immediately greeted by a grinning man's face.

It's a nightmare.

Kenichi tightly shut his eyes.