An was the type to be violent.
...Scratch that. What a dumb thing to say. Any of these girls could be portrayed as violent by usual standards. My humblest apologies, people. One way or another, they were fierce and peculiar—but nonetheless dangerous. For simplicity's sake, let us hypothesize that, on a scale from Kurokawa to Rachel, An tends to lean toward the latter rather than the former—about eighty percent of the way. With, you know, detours. Loads of them.
Yep, now THAT makes much more sense. I cannot possibly grade these girls on a numerical scale. It doesn't feel right, as no number could entirely represent them. Each girl has such uniqueness in personality, capability, and appearance that it's difficult for me to make any meaningful comparison. And trust me when I say I'm telling you all of this in the most respectful manner possible.
Let us talk about settings.
I already told you—A's little sister ranks way closer to Rachel than to Kurokawa on the roughness scale.
That was not an exaggeration.
In one corner: a housewife with blonde hair and blue eyes, basically how a certain Austrian painter once envisioned his superior species. Small in size but big in power, she's got inhuman gorilla strength and could bend metal to her will.
In the other corner, we have An—smol ginger, in case you still have no clue. Just smol, not small. Like, legally distinct. Sue me.
And she's got something else entirely. Agility, ridiculous speed, and dexterity. Somehow, A's little sister rolled a Nat 20 for DEX when building her character.
FYI, she rolled a 4 for breast size. I guess the "little" in A's little sister really took its toll on her here. Tough break, An. Haha.
...Do NOT EVER tell her I told you that! Promise me! Promise me you'll take this to your grave! Your browser history may be revealed to the world, but not this! Your favorite hentai tags may be exposed—maybe loli, scat, gore, ahegao, with some NTR sprinkled here and there—but STILL not this! Anything but this! You may come out as some homo erection—I couldn't care less—but you will NEVER let this information escape the confined volume of your cranium!
Please! For the love of Parmesan!
...
Ahem!
If you're a bit slow to understand why I reacted like someone just surprise-pegged me, An hates it when people talk about her humble front.
She will find you.
I meant every word.
Rachel wouldn't let something like that bother her. She's confident. She's strong. Shame doesn't mean a single thing in her book. But An? She's not known for mercy. She'd rip your chest flat with her bare hands, even if you were hiding on Uranus—so beware.
Also, do you think I'm doing all this just for the LOLs? Think again, buddy!
It could help you recognize that An's fighting prowess was something to behold. Even when the tiny little girl couldn't go head-to-head and toe-to-toe with Rachel in a solo fight, she was damn close to actually hurting the housewife.
Hell, do you still remember what I told you before? About An's naked corpse, hanged on the Sakura tree by her entrails with derogatory words carved into her back? Disgusting whore? Yeah, that one.
Before that majestic scene, she gutted her brother Han's best friend, then got gutted by Rachel in their battle fueled by immense jealousy.
Talk about irony.
By the end of their ferocious battle, the girl still managed to mutilate one of Blondie's arms, which was an astounding achievement. Our favorite housewife had a permanent 30% debuff from then on. Thirty percent. Permanent.
Then again, dangerous or not, there should've been nothing that could've affected me. I was not even supposed to interact with An throughout the game. Unlike the trio, with whom I had to maintain a minimum of contact to deliver my lines. To An, I never existed.
"The doors are opening. Dear passengers, please proceed to your nearest exit."
Although the train had long stopped in its tracks, my feet still were not budging. While I mentally prepared for the worst—like how An might target me instead of Han, similar to how the trio reacted, like how she might attack the other girls to show dominance when the time comes, especially Rachel, and many other things that could have happened—I still could not anticipate what was going on. Everything would have made sense if she acted like the trio initially, which meant not knowing me in the first place!
My jaw dropped to the floor when that familiar childish voice called my name, stunned and tongue-tied.
"When are you coming out?"
Once again, An calls me, a voice teeming with excitement and glee.
As I turn my face toward the platform outside, I can make out a little arm stretching upward and waving vigorously. However, its owner is entirely concealed by the shadowy figures exiting. Trying to make herself known, the person starts jumping up and down while frantically moving both arms, resembling one of those inflatable man-things people use on sidewalks to boost their business.
Why is An even here?! She's not supposed to appear for a few days, at least!
At this point, my blood had long gone cold—chilling, even. Absolute zero. Saying waves of shivers went down my spine is a massive understatement. My heart was palpitating, beating at an unprecedented pace, almost jumping out of my chest. Yet instead of feeling blood rushing to my cheeks, the reflection of my face on the window showed a stark difference from what it usually is: a pale white color versus a normal light skin tone.
Magically, that cheeky tiny gremlin remembered who I was without any prior contact.
"C! An's here to pick you up! You must've been bored to death without An by your side. Come on out, hurry!"
What do I do? What do I do?! Why must she remember me?! Why? And what does she remember, exactly? What does she know about me? Does she know how I abandoned her? Does she know how I left her for dead and wants revenge? Does An know I helped Rachel kill her?
No, no... She's too joyous for that.
Then what? What does she remember?
None of this makes any sense! None! With the pre-programmed grudge between An and Rachel, a bloodbath could ensue right now, and there would be nothing I could do to stop it!
"Um... C..."
Heading toward the door, Han looks down at me, who still cannot stand up.
"Do you two know each other?"
His words immediately draw the gaze of others toward me, expecting an answer. All but him wear worried expressions.
Thanks, genius. Now, I feel both terrified and guilty at the same time.
Perhaps noticing the off-color of my face and realizing something interesting, after a quick second, Han smiles disgustingly. Clearly, the bastard is thinking of something naughty and lecherous. His perverted yet seemingly understanding smirk makes me want to punch him in the face.
"As expected of my master. His reach knows no bounds."
As expected, MY ASS! Do you think I want this to happen?! I can hardly deal with these three, let alone another crazy person! You're going to get me killed!
"I don't know her. I only know of her."
I answer Han, breathless and exhausted despite only just starting the day.
I SHOULD not know her. Not now, not ever!
Glancing at the girls, bracing my frail body for some dooming gazes, a sigh of relief goes through my chest. Luckily, everyone seemed not to care much whether or not what I said was the truth. At least the girls aren't trying to devour me with their eyes... That makes me feel like they genuinely care about my feelings, rather.
"Oh, is it?"
Han's gross smile only deepens after my answer. He points at the jumping rabbit standing on the platform outside, now no longer covered by shadowy figures.
"She seems to think differently."
You dick! Are you doing this on purpose?!
"C! C! An's here for you! Do you want An to come up to get you?"
An sounds energetic and full of life. She is happy. Way too happy. That alone terrifies me.
"An is coming up! Why didn't An think of that in the first place, though? Doesn't matter. Coming."
"Han."
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my heart down before going into cardiac arrest—both from worrying about An and from wanting to kick Han in the balls.
"You should step back from the door."
Although An is paying attention to me, I still cannot risk the protagonist dying. I know the chance of that is minimal, but Han is who we should all protect if we want to keep this rolling—not me. If An carries a knife and, for some godforsaken reason, decides Han should be better off dead, everything is gone for good. It is better to be safe than sorry, after all. I cannot trust anything anymore. Simple as that!
"I'll go first,"
I say it like how a hero would in a drama while hiding my shaking legs.
Truth is, I want to disappear. Like, for real!
"Huh? I don't understand, but sure? Be my guest."