The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#Chapter 302 Cat Pago (15) - Diary, Fifth Entry The connection between 'Hanamori Popuri' and 'Hinosaka Ai' isn't anything particularly special. At least that's how Popuri perceives it. They weren't childhood friends who grew up together from a very young age, nor were they a bullying victim and her savior, nor did they have any kind of dramatic episode. In middle school they attended the same school but were in different classes, only catching glimpses of each other's faces in passing without ever having a conversation, and they only started talking after entering high school and being placed in the same class. Naturally Popuri hadn't been the one to approach first, it was just this friend with maxed-out sociability and friendliness stats who had casually struck up a conversation as if it were the most natural thing. "You're Hanamori-san, right? When I saw your surname in middle school, I thought it felt somehow similar to mine! What a connection!" Neither past Popuri nor present Popuri understands what exactly felt similar. She had simply been overwhelmed by the other's energy and bright atmosphere and agreed with "Y-yes, that's right." Even after that, Hinosaka would often talk to Popuri, and Popuri would respond while flustering around. If you could call it a connection, it was only to that extent. A trivial connection with nothing special about it. But when it comes to friendship, something like specialness really isn't that necessary. She prevented her from being isolated in class. Even though she couldn't have been an interesting conversation partner by any stretch, she consistently talked to her without showing any signs of dislike or smugness. That alone is enough for a person to consider someone a friend. When you know they're in danger, you might even grab a baseball bat and charge into a supernatural lair. And this time that friend got seriously hurt trying to help her. It was more than enough reason for Popuri to transform into Super Popuri. That said, her hair didn't particularly turn blonde or defy gravity, but she did have equipment that could serve as a substitute. The next day. After arriving at school. Popuri carefully took out the glasses from the glasses case. As she had felt when she saw them before, they were terribly tacky glasses. The type of design that appears in romance works sometimes, called a 'beauty concealer.' But now they were actually perfect. They suited the character personality she wanted to become. Popuri took a deep breath, then put on the glasses and looked at the supernatural transfer student, Kisaragi. Popuri's eyes see through supernatural beings. She sees what others cannot. Precisely speaking, it's not just her eyes but her other sensory organs as well, though among them her eyes work the best. However, this 'seeing through' varies in method depending on the supernatural being. When there's a supernatural being imitating a human, sometimes she sees the true form separately behind the human appearance, sometimes the human and supernatural forms appear alternately, and sometimes she sees only the supernatural form outright while the human form that ordinary people see is completely invisible. Transfer student Kisaragi was the last type. While everyone else was making a fuss about her being a beautiful girl and having a pleasant scent nearby, to Popuri's eyes she only appeared as a face so swollen it looked ready to burst, with a rotting smell. If she deliberately kept her eyes unfocused, she could roughly see a human form, but naturally the image was blurrier than what others saw when looking directly. So this was the first time Popuri was properly and clearly looking at Kisaragi's human appearance. And she understood. Aha. So that's why. Looking like that, no wonder everyone was enchanted and dazed even when she blatantly taught suspicious rituals and suggested going to dangerous places. There's a saying that face equals plausibility. Whether male or female, once beauty reaches a certain level, no matter what they do people around them will interpret it favorably, or even if they know it's bad they just become fans. You can see this in subculture where the same massacre character gets polar opposite treatment depending on whether they're an ugly middle-aged man or a pretty girl. The transfer student's human appearance was exactly like that. Beauty that could be felt just from breathing. The realm where just the fact of having a conversation feels happy no matter what nonsense the other person spouts. She wasn't seeing her as prettier than she originally looked due to the glasses' effect either. According to Pago, Popuri's eyes and the glasses' power perfectly cancelled each other out. This must be how she originally appeared to other students' eyes. At this point, Hinosaka, who had won a crushing victory in public opinion against 'this' and forced the supernatural being to resort to physical sanctions, might actually be the monster. Perhaps noticing the gaze directed at her, Kisaragi widened her eyes slightly then smiled softly. "Hanamori, what's with the glasses?" "They're just fashion glasses. I like them." "I-is that so?" Rather than using those glasses as a fashion item, nose-bridge glasses would at least be somewhat amusing. Kisaragi looked like she wanted to say that, but perhaps to maintain her 'mysterious beautiful girl' character, she didn't bother to voice it out loud. It was good for Popuri. This gave her more 'material.' Other students also flinched when they saw Popuri's face in passing, but no one specifically approached to talk to her. Hinosaka, who usually served as a lubricant, didn't come to school today, and Popuri's atmosphere itself was several times gloomier than usual. School ended safely. Popuri quietly took out a diary—not one for exorcism, but one prepared purely for resolving this particular supernatural being. What she was about to perform was a ritual. A form of magic. It was time to begin revenge. *** "Month X, Day X. Clear weather. Today after school ended, I followed that supernatural bitch, no, Kisaragi, no, Mizuki-chan (the handwriting is trembling) around. Mizuki-chan leaves school every day in a luxury sedan driven by a chauffeur. Her profile looking out the window appeared incredibly beautiful through my glasses. I carefully followed behind using a rental car secretly borrowed with Sato-san's help. I didn't have a license or anything, but I had skills I earnestly learned through my desire for revenge, no, through my love for Mizuki-chan. Traffic lights, alleys, right turns. I recorded each and every movement of her breathing path in my notebook. The place we arrived at was an estate with high walls. After confirming that Mizuki-chan entered through the estate's main gate, I turned around for now. I've grasped the house's location. For perfect love, patience is also necessary." "Month X, Day X. Rain. I infiltrated her house. For a supernatural bit-, she lives in a fairly decent place (there are traces of pen marks crossed out) Even though Mizuki-chan is a special being rather than an ordinary human, her house was surprisingly ordinary. It wasn't a mess like ruins, nor did it have suspicious corpses scattered around or stinking odors—just a luxurious and expensive-looking house. Supernatural beings value their roles. No, they're obsessed with their roles. Perhaps Mizuki-chan is like that too. There were no other family members, but I could see doll servants taking care of Mizuki-chan. When I checked later, the driver was also an articulated doll imitating a person. An ordinary person would have been terrified, but I'm fine. Since I love Mizuki-chan, I can understand even things like this." "Month X, Day X. Cloudy. Today I searched various parts of the house. Nobody noticed me. That's what stalkers in ghost stories are originally like. No, no. This must surely be a miracle achieved by my love for Mizuki-chan. While Mizuki-chan went to the bathroom, I examined every corner of her room. You're doing all sorts of things to imitate a person, no, you're making steady efforts, Mizuki-chan. I'll cheer you on. When I searched through the drawers, a bunch of Hinosaka's photos came out. Photos with the eyes gouged out and curses written in red. After going through the trouble of disguising herself with a pretty appearance and charming students with nearly demonic allure, losing in the battle of public opinion must have been quite humiliating. Because I felt so disgusted that I wanted to smash them with a bat, no, because I hated that Mizuki-chan was looking at another woman, I confiscated all the photos. Instead, I took photos of Mizuki-chan herself, gouged out the eyes and cursed them in red the same way, then put them in the drawer. It's a gift, Mizuki-chan. Please be delighted." "Month X, Day X. Clear weather. Recently, Mizuki-chan's complexion has been bad at school. Sometimes she looks around anxiously, or bites her lips as if feeling restless. But she doesn't seem to know that I'm the culprit. Originally she would naturally suspect me first, but the ritual's effect seems to be working well. It was worth it to sometimes endure dry heaving while writing the diary as disgustingly as possible, no, as earnestly as possible. To think the effect works even on supernatural beings imitating humans—the plausibility of stalkers, no, of love really is amazing! But she still doesn't seem to have given up on cursing those around her and driving them to death. That effort is so very cute that I want to destroy it, Mizuki-chan. This is you tempting me." "Month X, Day X. Cloudy. I researched ways to express love more by referencing many seniors' stories. Today's resting place is Mizuki-chan's closet. Her habit of unconsciously tossing and turning while sleeping, the eerie cursing words she mutters in her sleep. Her real appearance would probably be much more eerie, but thanks to the glasses' correction, she looks very lovable. I applied my lip balm to her lips and left a note telling her to fix her bad habits during sleep talking. Yet seeing that she couldn't wake up, the laws of stalker ghost stories are working properly. I'm so looking forward to her expression when she wakes up." "Month X, Day X. Clear weather. Today I got slapped by Mizuki-chan. It seemed like she had drawn out her supernatural powers to the maximum and figured out what was happening to her. I could have dodged if I tried, but I decided to just let her hit me. Mizuki-chan rolled her eyes back and cursed and blamed me furiously, but the people around were just flustered and didn't seem to believe her words. Well, of course. Even I, who actually did it, often wonder 'is this even possible?' so who would believe that one ordinary high school girl committed countless criminal acts without leaving a single piece of evidence? People overlook somewhat bizarre behavior from beautiful opponents, but show contempt for unseemly behavior and unreasonable demands. Seeing the gazes of people around gradually grow colder toward Mizuki-chan, I felt I could even endure the slimy, viscous fluid-like sensation I felt on my cheek. Sorry, Mizuki-chan. But this is all for your sake. Isolating the one you love is also one of the stalker's methods, isn't it?" "Month X, Day X. Rain. My forehead is throbbing. It wasn't even a moment when I needed diary material, but when I realized I had unconsciously blurted out something like 'I love Mizuki-chan,' I slammed my head against the wall with all my might as punishment. My physical abilities keep rising, and I'm getting more and more skilled at tracking, stealth, and everything else, but I feel like my mind is changing just as much. But it's okay. Mizuki-chan, it's all to love you, destroy you, love you, destroy you, love you, and crush you. I'll endure through sheer stubbornness until it's settled." "Month X, Day X. Clear weather. I heard the news that Mizuki-chan is preparing to transfer schools. It seems she realized that she had been completely consumed by the 'victim' narrative. And that if she stayed here like this, the ending would definitely not be good. But I won't let you go, Mizuki-chan. If you leave here, you'll just make other people victims somewhere else, won't you? Just before she was about to move, I broke into her house. I smashed the doll servants with a baseball bat, broke doors, and basically destroyed everything in sight. How terrifying, the combat power of a stalker. Mizuki-chan fought back against me with a kitchen knife in hand. The blade grazed near my head and my glasses fell off, but Mizuki-chan's true form seen through my blood-soaked vision looked much more human than before. Rather than her essence itself changing, my head had probably reached quite a dangerous territory. As expected, this method of exorcism where you become a supernatural being yourself shouldn't be used as a regular exorcism method. I smashed Mizuki-chan's head with the baseball bat. Perhaps my sense of touch had been less eroded by the stalker supernatural being, as the sensation was close to bursting a water balloon." "?Month ?Day. ????. Pago said he would erase the memories gained from resolving this supernatural being. He said even if I know what method was used, he'll blow away the detailed memories. The price is a large cat tower. Now that I'm half supernatural being, I can understand. That's your rule, isn't it, Pago. Your way of helping people in this world that is terribly cruel to humans. Thank you...." *** --- --- --- "The Terror Transfer Student" ████ (The entire content is covered by cat paw prints) --- --- --- (E/N: What the fuck)