# Side Story (2)
I live in an ordinary apartment with my family.
Both my parents are alive, and I have no older or younger siblings.
So the house is usually very quiet.
Though that won't be the case starting today.
"How fascinating. You can go up high just by pressing a button. Without even using magic. The world you live in, mister, is quite interesting."
Does that world not have elevators?
Judging from the Hero Party's atmosphere on the way to my house, these guys seemed to have come from somewhere between medieval and modern times.
That's probably why they're showing interest in everything in this house.
"Mister! Can I touch this?!"
"No."
"Why not?!"
"...I feel like it'll break if you touch it."
Luna showed no signs of strain even while carrying me all the way home. So with that monstrous strength, if she touched the TV, it would break immediately. TVs are expensive and precious, so I absolutely can't risk them breaking.
"Tch, I'm curious what it is though..."
"I'll turn it on for you in a bit. We have something we need to talk about first, right?"
Luna hid her disappointment, turned her gaze away from the TV, and approached me. As she suddenly stood before my eyes, I noticed a change in my surroundings.
The living room should definitely feel full, but...
*Why does it feel so spacious?*
I asked Luna, who was clearing her throat to start explaining.
"Ahem... Ahem... To explain in detail—"
"No, wait a second."
"Yes?"
"Where did the others go besides you?"
"Ah!"
Pink hair, black hair, white hair.
The girls weren't where they should be.
Luna looked around in surprise for a moment, then answered confidently.
"It's fine! It's harder to explain with them around anyway! Totally fine!"
"Like I know what you guys will do in my house. I'm not fine with it."
They all need to be where I can see them.
If it's true that these girls came from another world, they'd look at everything in this house with curiosity.
*Crash—*
Just like right now.
"S-someone must have dropped something, hehe."
"...The sound came from my parents' room."
They come home late or rarely, so going in and out is fine. But if something broke, that's a different story.
I grabbed a rag from the kitchen and walked toward the master bedroom.
There sat Estia with white hair in front of the vanity.
"Hehe, this smells good! What's this for?"
"...Foundation. It's makeup that changes your skin tone."
"Oh, oppa!"
"Yeah, oppa."
Oppa is better than mister. I took the cosmetic from Estia's hand and said.
"Get up carefully and watch the floor. Don't cause trouble and go wait in the living room."
"Why should I!"
Does she have a personality that doesn't listen well? But she seems quite simple. Should I say she's like a child? I lifted Estia's body, whose brain seemed too pure, and said.
"Go wait there."
"No! I'm curious about other things too!"
"If you wait nicely, I'll grant you one wish later. How about it?"
"Okay!"
*Patter patter—*
Estia ran toward the living room, happy to get what she wanted. Fortunately, she didn't step on the glass on the floor.
"What fell was a perfume bottle..."
Did she want to smell it more but didn't know how to use it, so she just broke it? The master bedroom will reek of perfume for a while.
I opened the window and quickly cleaned up the glass shards on the floor. But as if this wasn't the end, another sound echoed from a different room.
*Crash—!*
"What did they drop this time..."
Please, just not electronics. I prayed to the heavens and left the master bedroom. Estia was sitting nicely on the sofa as I'd told her. Seeing her nodding off, she'd probably be quiet.
And Luna was looking around the kitchen, bored from waiting. Her behavior felt similar to a predator I'd seen in a documentary.
"...Luna."
"Y-yes?!"
"There's bread on the table. Eat it if waiting is hard."
"Yep, got it!"
They're causing incidents one by one the moment I take my eyes off them. How did my past self think of kidnapping these girls?
Even though it's myself, I couldn't understand the kidnapping at all. Thinking that, I headed toward where the voices were coming from and finally discovered the source of the commotion.
Hare and Saten.
The two were arguing in my room.
"I told you this is mister's room... So why did you drop that...!! It's mister's belonging...!"
"Did I know it would fall? It was a mistake. And, Hare. You're not even the mister, so why are you so angry? I'll apologize to mister, so you stay quiet."
"After doing something stupid that could get you killed..."
"Hmm, are you done talking? Should I understand that as you wanting to fight me?"
They're fighting quite well in someone else's house.
The two glared at each other without backing down a single step. Meaning neither intended to yield. It seemed the situation would only get serious if I didn't intervene.
And in my house. In my room.
Though I was scared of their strength, I gathered courage and stepped between them.
"Everyone stop fighting and go to the living room. I'll clean up what fell."
"M-mister...!! S-Saten dropped your belonging...!"
"I was going to say it myself without you telling him."
Saten, with emotionless eyes, met my gaze, bowed her head, and said.
"I'm sorry, mister. I accidentally dropped the frame. Fortunately, it didn't break."
At least it's fortunate it didn't break. I carefully picked up the frame that had fallen on the floor. As Saten said, it wasn't broken. I hung the frame back on the wall and asked.
"...Did you want to look at the photo?"
"Yes, I wanted to see it up close. What kind of people your parents are. Then I made a mistake. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's fortunate it didn't break. You're not hurt?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Saten turned her body to show me her condition, indicating she wasn't hurt. I couldn't tell from the outside, but I nodded as if I understood.
"You're okay then. So, will you go wait in the living room? I need to talk."
"Yes, I will. Hare. You come out too."
"...Okay."
Hare left the room following Saten with a gloomy expression. Her steps felt slightly unnatural, but I roughly dismissed it as my imagination and followed them out.
*The door... let's lock it for now.*
After confirming the door was properly locked, I walked toward the living room. There, very fortunately, all four members were gathered in one place.
No more accidents will happen now. I sat on the sofa and said to Luna, the Hero Party's representative.
"You said you'd explain in detail?"
"Yes, I can explain in detail! About what your past was like, mister!"
My past. A past in another world, at that.
"To be honest, I think that's nonsense. Because that's something that can never happen logically."
"Eh..."
And yet.
Even though it's something that can't happen logically.
I can't just let it go because something remains in my memory. Because unresolved answers remain in my chest making me feel frustrated, I decided to listen to what these absurd girls had to say.
"But I'll listen and judge. Whether I believe it or not comes later."
"O-okay! Not everything, but! I'll tell you! What kind of person you were, mister! What happened after you disappeared! What kind of existence you are to us! I'll tell you properly!"
"Alright."
Luna answered with an excited voice, shouting loudly. Full of confidence and a bold tone. Though I'm not that girl, I could roughly guess how she'd lived.
*Someone like that probably has nothing to be ashamed of.*
She probably has such a confident personality because she's lived uprightly both to herself and others. Of course, it's just my guess, but that was the feeling the girl named Luna gave off.
*In contrast, Hare and Saten...*
I'm sorry to them, but a lot of negative atmosphere flows from them. Not that they're bad, but that's the kind of feeling I got from them.
*They definitely said it was harder after I disappeared...*
Then does that mean my influence is part of the reason those two became like that? And that leads to "responsibility"? No, thinking about it won't give me answers. Useless thoughts.
I cleared the random thoughts floating in my head and decided to listen to Luna's voice.
"I'm ready, so tell me now. What kind of existence was I in the past?"
"The story will be a bit long, but mister, you were! To put it simply... you're a mister and a teacher at the same time, a kidnapper and someone who makes our hearts race at the same time!"
"...That."
Is that Stockholm syndrome? Isn't that it? The thing where you develop affection for your captor.
When I said that, Luna got angry and raised her voice loudly.
"Abso-lutely!! Not!! Just listen first!!"
"..."
The atmosphere was scary, so I decided to quietly listen to Luna's story.
My past. The story of me in another world.