Multiverse travel starts from a crossover right?

"What? A kendo competition?"

"Yeah," Kazuomi said, leaning back like he had all the time in the world. "Didn't you hear?"

I frowned. "I heard, yeah. What I don't get is why you're telling me." I crossed my arms. "What's this got to do with me? I don't even do kendo."

Well… not before I got the template, anyway.

Kazuomi let out the biggest sigh I'd ever heard, rubbing the back of his head like he was about to drop some life-changing wisdom. "Ohhh, right. You don't know how to fight."

Excuse me?

A vein twitched on my forehead. My fingers curled slightly, resisting the urge to introduce his face to the shadow realm. "You say that like you do."

"Hehe, don't worry about the small stuff." He waved me off, grinning like a man who knew he was about to be punched but still pushed his luck. "Anyway, loads of people are signing up. The whole school's talking about it."

I squinted. Something was off.

He wasn't just making conversation. This man had an agenda.

I exhaled slowly. "You signed up too, didn't you?"

His grin froze. "Huh? How'd you guess?"

I gave him the most disappointed Asian dad look I could muster. "Bro. You're talking about kendo like it's my business, and you're looking at me like a puppy waiting for a treat. The math ain't mathing."

Kazuomi scratched his cheek, eyes screaming guilt. "Ehh… well, I was kinda hoping you'd join too."

Oh, hell no.

I narrowed my eyes. "Why? You don't know kendo either, so what's your angle?"

He chuckled nervously, the kind that screamed 'I fucked up, but I don't wanna say it out loud.' "Well… you see…"

I folded my arms, waiting.

He sighed, finally spilling his sins. "Rena."

I deadpanned. "Of course."

Because of course this was about her.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Let me guess—she's competing?"

He nodded way too fast. "Yeah! And, uh… we kinda made a bet on who lasts longer in the tournament."

I paused. Slowly, I asked, "What's on the line?"

Kazuomi suddenly found the floor super interesting.

My stomach dropped.

Oh, hell no.

I squared my shoulders. "Kazuomi. What did you bet?"

His face went bright red. "That."

I blinked. "That?"

He sighed like a man walking to the gallows. "The book you gave me… yesterday."

Silence.

Processing…

Processing…

ERROR 404: BRAIN NOT FOUND.

The book.

MY BOOK.

MY carefully curated, hand-picked, out-of-print, signed-by-the-artist, full-colour, hardcover, limited-edition Kiru-chan…

…

…

FUUUUUUUUUUU—

I dragged a hand down my face, inhaling deeply. "Kazuomi." My voice was so calm, it was actually terrifying. "Where. Is. It. Now?"

He swallowed hard. "She… uh… has it."

My left eye twitched.

"You WHAT?!"

I closed my eyes, exhaled through my nose, and mentally screamed into the void.

Kazuomi was already sweating bullets. "I didn't mean to! I was distracted! She came out of nowhere and—"

"But she has it now." My voice was so dead inside it could haunt a cemetery.

He winced. "Y-yeah…"

I clenched my fists, knuckles cracking.

I have no enemies.

But Kazuomi is testing my patience.

He owes me.

Big time.

"I told her it's yours! I was just… keeping it… temporarily."

I stared at him. "Temporarily?"

Kazuomi scratched his head, laughing nervously.

I took a deep, deep breath. "Explain. Everything."

---

[Skipped 200 words of Kazuomi fumbling through excuses and MC mentally contemplating homicide.]

---

He coughed, voice going up an octave as he mimicked her:

"Then you should participate too. If either of you lasts longer than me, I'll give it back."

I stared at him.

"Kazuomi. Do you realise what you've done?"

"I—uh—"

"You have not just gambled away a book," I said slowly, voice low and full of menace. "You have thrown Kiru-chan's legacy into a bloodsport."

Kazuomi gulped. "W-well, when you say it like that—"

I pointed at him. "No. There is no good way to say this. You put my most treasured possession in a death match."

Kazuomi gave me a pained look, like a man who knew he fucked up but had no way out. "She turned it into a challenge, bro. I tried to negotiate, I swear! But she just smirked and said, 'If you don't have the guts, then I guess you don't really want it back.'"

I shut my eyes. Counted to three.

1… 2… 3…

Still felt like punching a wall.

I opened my eyes, staring at him with dead seriousness.

Kazuomi visibly shrank. "S-so, uh… does that mean you're in?"

I stared at him.

I hated that he was right.

I had no choice.

I wasn't afraid of losing. With the Ghostmaker template, the last thing that would happen was me losing to a normal human in a fight.

But I didn't want to be in the limelight.

…

But for Kiru-chan…

I sighed, rolling my shoulders. "Fine. I'll enter."

*********

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