My Classmate Whom I Helped Seems to Be Mentally Sick, So I've Been Trying My Best to Hide My True Identity, But It Seems Like I've Been Found Out - Chapter 0.1

Prologue 2

“…What?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, a strange voice escaped from me.

“Ah, I’m sorry for suddenly asking something weird. I saw you talking to the policeman near the station earlier. How is it? Well, I might be wrong.”

“Uh, that’s…”

“But, if you know something, can you tell me? I really want to meet the person inside Momo-nyan.”

I was taken aback for a moment, wondering how she knew that I was the one inside the Momo-nyan mascot who defeated the street thug yesterday.

But it seems she doesn’t actually know.

She seems to have followed me because she saw me at the station and thought I might know something.

On the other hand, I’m a bit disappointed with her assumption that it isn’t me.

I want to tell her it’s me.

But I can’t muster the courage.

Imagining her disappointment when she finds out someone like me saved her, I’m at a loss for words.

“Anyway, I’m sorry for stopping you suddenly and asking strange questions. But, were you talking about something with the policeman earlier?”

“Something… Well, there was an incident here yesterday, so he was just warning me to be careful.”

“I see. Then, it really isn’t you. Sigh… I wonder if I’ll ever get to meet him. I really want to talk to him in person.”

Seeing her dejectedly drop her shoulders, it’s clear how genuinely she wants to find the person inside Momo-nyan.

She’s so conscientious, I thought, admiring her.

At the same time, I wondered if I should reveal my identity to her since she was searching so desperately.

But I still don’t have the courage.

Maybe I’ll just test the waters a bit.

“Hey, Murasaki-san, do you want to thank him in person?”

I tried asking.

If that’s all she wants, it shouldn’t matter who the person is, so I could just admit that it was me.

However, in response to my question, she looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“What are you talking about? I’ll marry him.”

“…Huh? M-marry?”

“He’ll promise to protect me forever. Hehe, wouldn’t it be wonderful to be united with the prince in disguise who saved me from a thug? And I’m sure he was desperate to save me because he thought I was cute.”

” ….. ”

This was more than just a simple thank you.

It was a proposal!

And quite a heavy one at that.

She gazed off into the distance beyond me, her eyes dreamy, trying to cool her flushed cheeks with her hand.

“That presence, I’m sure it’s a boy. You know, I can only think about him now. So I need to find him soon, confess my love, and then…”

After a slight pause, she looked up at the sky and murmured softly,

“…I want to keep him locked in my room forever.”

***

“…Scary.”

Right now, I’m lying on the sofa at home, staring at the ceiling and holding my head.

Sumire Murasaki scares me.

It wasn’t just her last comment, but the distant look in her eyes whenever she spoke about the person inside Momo-nyan was terrifying.

That was seriously intense.

For such a cute girl, it’s surprising to realize she might actually be mentally unstable.

Given her behavior, if she discovers the true identity of yesterday’s Momo-nyan, she might genuinely confine me.

I quickly escaped home, ignoring the dreamy-eyed Sumire Murasaki, but I couldn’t shake off these troubling thoughts.

What would happen if she discovered my true identity?

She’s the type of woman to become infatuated with someone whose face she doesn’t even know.

It’s not just confinement; if something displeased her, she might even stab me… No, no, I want to believe she wouldn’t go that far.

“Anyway, I must make sure no one finds out I was Momo-nyan that day.”

As I turned on the TV, there was news about yesterday’s incident.

The report didn’t go into detail about how the perpetrator was captured.

No one was injured, so it wasn’t considered a major incident nationwide.

It doesn’t seem like there’s an online hunt for the person who caught the perpetrator.

My classmates will probably forget about it over time.

Even Sumire Murasaki.

She’s acting like this is probably temporary.

Perhaps her mind is still confused, grappling with the fear of the incident and the relief of being saved.

But still…

“I wonder if this is my chance to make such a beautiful girl like me?”

Realizing I was entertaining such wicked fantasies made me feel stupid, it was a feeling that was even stronger in the next morning.

 
***
 
TN: There are two prologues. I didn’t split the prologue.