I started dating a cute girlfriend I met during my eighth grade days when we reunited in high school. - Chapter 1

TL: Mowaso

ED: Anima

TLN: AJ will work with me on this one so you could expect more frequent releases

Chapter 1 – Reunion <Encounter of the Witch of Hades and the Black Dragon Knight >

This is a story from my second year of junior high school. I was bored with everything. The same routine as well as my unchanging days. Today is the same as yesterday, and tomorrow will be the same as today. So I always wished for something to break this vicious cycle of my boring everyday life. Maybe one day, a girl would suddenly fall from the sky or I would be summoned to another world.

I was alone on the riverbank in my neighborhood, watching the stream flow as usual. The sky was dyed in a fantastic crimson hue, the color produced by the transition between day and night.

“The witching hour is drawing near… The demons are coming. I have no choice but to use the power of the black dragon…”

“Witching hour…? Black Dragon…?”

I turned around and saw a girl standing behind me. She was wearing the uniform of a private junior high school one station away from here, with a choker around her neck and an eyepatch over one eye, a rather unique fashion. It was a little… no, it was pretty wild and cool.

Wait, that’s not the point. Eh? Why did she talk to me? Seriously? I’m so embarrassed. What’s up with the witching hour? The heck is with the black dragon? Seriously, I can’t believe that I was bored to death just ten seconds ago.

“You too, were led by fate.”

The girl stiffened for a moment, but then she looked at me and grinned. Oh, I guess she’s like me. Not bad… This kind of exchange is not bad… rather it was great!

“My name is Benihana. In the world beyond the hill of Hades, people refer to me as Benihana the Witch of Hades… What is your name?”

“Kisaragi Shinya. Shinya meaning arrow that can pierce even the gods. A black dragon is sealed within my body… Perhaps that’s why people called me the Black Dragon Knight.”

I raised my bandaged right arm to the Witch of Hades. She smiled at the gesture as if she had found a comrade.

That’s how our relationship began and lasted for almost a year. But then,  she suddenly stopped coming to the riverbank and we never saw each other again. I guess the fun days were over. If only we had exchanged contact information, we might have been able to see each other again, but somehow, we never did. However, I had a feeling that we would meet again someday, even if we didn’t make a promise. I felt that was our destiny.

A few years later, I was living a normal life as a high school student without being summoned to another world. That’s right, there’s no such thing as another world. It was more likely that I’d encounter aliens instead. As I sat in my seat, sighing, my best friend, Okita, called out to me. I’ve known him since junior high school.

“Yo, looking sleepy as ever. Did you just come back from another world?

“Ahー I slayed a dragon. I’ve been slaying dragons, but I can’t seem to get them to drop anything.”

Of course, I was talking about a game. This guy has known me since junior high school, so he made fun of me like this. My classmates often teased me as a joke, but they accepted my so-called “Chuuni” character. I guess that’s partly thanks to Okita, who is right next to me and always helping me out. This guy is pretty strong in kendo, which probably gave him a considerable influence in the class. At first, I talked to him because his last name was Okita and he was in the kendo club, but oddly enough, we hit it off and have been hanging out together ever since. He seems to like Shinsengumi’s Okita, whether it was because of his last name or because he felt some kind of fate. He came to me ranting about not getting a swimsuit skin in a certain social game this year. This guy was happily throwing his allowance away and spending it like crazy on gacha, but isn’t that pretty bad? How can this guy smile while throwing away his allowance? 10,000 yen is a pretty big amount of money for our generation, right?

“I heard that a transfer student is coming to our class today. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Oh, I heard it’s a girl. I hope she’s cute.”

Well, the odds of a beautiful girl transferring to the same class as me are the same as winning the lottery. Let’s not get our hopes up too much.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Tanaka Sachiko. I look forward to working with you all.”

That’s why I was really surprised when she transferred to my school. Even after two years, we hadn’t seen each other ever since we talked on the riverbank. She had changed her class from a crazy fashionista to an innocent-looking girl with long black hair and beautiful white skin, but I recognized her right away. Apparently, she had transferred to our school for family reasons. But her real name was a very common one. What’s with that, Benihana?

As I looked at her in astonishment, I met her gaze. She looked just as surprised as me, but she smiled immediately and continued to introduce herself.

“Oh, are you curious about the transfer student? Do you want me to assist you?”

“No, that’s not the case. She’s not really my type, or is she your type?”

“Too bad, I’m more into big tits than that kind of girl.”

Ahー surely she’s tall and slender and her breasts are… no comment. When I was thinking of this, I felt her glare at me with her demonic eyes for a moment. What is it? Can you read people’s minds? Isn’t that too scary?

I wanted to talk to her, but the transfer student was very popular and there were always girls around her, so I couldn’t find a chance to do so.

After school, when I was putting my textbooks in my bag to get ready to go home, I noticed that there was a letter in there. No way, was it someone from the organization? I would have thought so in the past. Unfortunately, in reality, there is no such organization. There was a ninety percent chance it was a prank and a ten percent that it was a love letter. I opened the letter with a bit of excitement.

It’s been a while since the last time we met at the riverbank. I was surprised to find you at the high school I transferred to. I have a lot of things I want to discuss with you, so I’ll be waiting for you behind the school building after the class is over. And if you tell anyone about my past, I’ll curse you to death.

Wow, I thought it was a love letter, but it’s a death threat. Give me back my heart-pounding excitement. What’s up with this letter, a murder notice?

I thought of taking Okita with me as a bouncer, but he was busy with club activities right now and I would probably get killed if I told anyone about this. I grabbed my bag and rushed behind the school building.

It is said that there are dead bodies buried under the cherry blossoms trees. The cherry blossoms absorb the nutrients from the dead bodies and bloom into beautiful pink flowers. I have actually read about this in a book and was reminded of it when I saw her standing under the cherry blossom tree behind the school building.

“It’s been a while, Beni… No, Tanaka-san…?”

“Forget about that name… Please call me Tanaka…”

She blushed shyly at me as I struggled to decide what to call her. Okay, I will call her Tanaka-san from now on.

“I know you understand why I called you here. The events at the riverbank are black history for both of us, and Benihana no longer exists. That’s why I want you to forget about those days and not tell anyone about it.”

What she had told me was exactly as I expected, but still, it made me feel a sting in my chest. Yes, that encounter at the riverbank was part of our black history. It was nothing more than a disease peculiar to puberty. It would be embarrassing if anyone knew about it, and it would be natural for me to keep it to myself. But for me, that event was a precious memory. Even though it was black history, it was part of my identity. That’s why I was a little heartbroken that she was going to pretend it never happened.

“Well, I guess that was for the best. We’re both in high school now. Let’s just pretend that it never happened… Okay, I swear I won’t tell anyone.”

She gave me a nod at my words. But was it just my imagination? I thought she looked a bit sad. So I decided to take a gamble. Well, if it fails, I’ll just make a fool of myself.

“Farewell, Benihana, the Witch of Hades! Our encounter was only an illusion. We will no longer meet as you have become an ordinary human being.”

“My name is Benihana, Hades is the ruler of death, and death is eternal, therefore I am immortal! I will hide myself for now, but that doesn’t mean I will cease to exist. I will simply lay low for the time being.”

She and I came forward, striking our signature poses, just like the old days. Time halted… and time began to flow again. Thank heavens. Benihana isn’t dead! She’s alive within her. It seems that she responded to our former exchange in a reflex.

“Fwaaaah, I’ve done it again… I mean, you knew this would happen! I was trying to live a normal life in high school!”

“No, you don’t need to worry about it, you’re a freak… Whoa, don’t try to strangle me.”

“Sacrifice yourself for the sake of my peace of mind!”

Her face turned bright red in embarrassment, and she crouched down on the ground for a while holding her head, but then she lunged at me. What? Was I going to die here?

“Just calm down, people are watching, seriously!”

“Eh…?”

In response to my words, she looked around in panic. The first-year students who had been peeking around to see what was going on ran away as soon as their eyes met Tanaka-san’s. This place is surprisingly more crowded than I thought.

“Anyway, don’t you ever dare talk about the past at our school!!”

All I could do was stare at her back as she ran away, but my heart was mysteriously filled with joy. Because her chuuni soul was not gone yet.


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