Anime Crossover: The Losing Heroines Have Become Witches

Chapter 547 542: Anchor

"—Hitori, your mother's cooking is actually quite good."

After dinner, Asakura bid farewell to the Gotō family. Hitori was ushered out by her parents to see Asakura off. Although Asakura felt it wasn't necessary—after all, as a star-shattering level powerhouse, there was likely no existence more dangerous than him in all of Chiba—he still accepted the kindness of his future "in-laws."

"I don't actually like cream gratin very much... though my tongue tells me the flavor is good, I just can't stomach it physiologically. However, the stew Ms. Michiyo made was very mild; I could hardly taste the milk at all. Even I could surprisingly accept it."

Asakura spoke casually as they walked along the nighttime sidewalk. He didn't expect the girl to respond, because he knew very well that Hitori was always overthinking things in her head and constantly missed the timing to reply. She looked a bit dazed, and talking to her felt like talking to oneself eighty percent of the time.

"...Is it really okay like this, Asakura-kun?"

But this time, Hitori suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Don't make it sound so simple. Despite how I look, I'm actually a picky eater. Making cream stew to the point where I can eat it is quite difficult; at least, I can't do it myself..."

"Ah, sorry, I wasn't talking about the cream stew," Hitori apologized hastily.

"Then what is it? If you're worried about travel expenses, I happen to have a bit of money, so that level of cost is nothing at all." Asakura said, clapping his hands as if realizing something. "Do you want an allowance? That wouldn't be impossible either."

"Eh, is that okay? An allowance... ah, no, it's not that either."

Hitori was surprised at first, but then shook her head vigorously. "I... what I wanted to say was, is it really okay to choose me? I'm so gloomy, shy, cowardly, and useless... clearly... well, there seem to be several girls in the Ministry of Magic who feel that way toward Asakura-kun... you know..."

Hitori felt like she couldn't continue. Thinking carefully, she really had no advantages. The girls in the Ministry of Magic all looked glamorous and were true, youth-filled JKs, rather than someone like her who was like a human woodlouse.

Not to mention their personalities were far better than hers, they were pleasant to talk to, and even their ways of addressing Asakura were things like 'Takuma-tan,' 'Takuma-kun,' or 'Takuma-senpai,' whereas she just kept calling him 'Asakura' over and over...

Are?

Hitori lightly touched her chest. She had never cared about such things before, but thinking about it now, her heart felt uncomfortable, as if a fishbone were stuck there—a feeling she couldn't let go of.

Suddenly, she had so much to say, but looking at Asakura's face, she couldn't say anything at all. Her hand, which was over her heart, gripped her collar tightly, as if trying to squeeze her heart to stop it from beating so fast.

Then, the girl asked softly.

"...Asakura-kun, why did you choose me?"

"In the beginning, it was just to prevent your magic curse from running wild, Hitori."

"..."

The girl's face turned pale. She felt her hands and feet go cold, and while a sharp pain like a hole being dug in her heart surged through her, she also felt a sense of relief.

Right. For someone like me, if I weren't going to cause a negative impact on the world, why would someone as powerful as Asakura spend time specifically looking at me—someone who stays in dark corners like a slug? Wouldn't that be a pure waste of time?

At that moment, the girl felt so miserable she was about to cry. But she fiercely commanded herself in her heart: Don't cry! Haven't you been prepared for this for a long time! Asakura did nothing wrong! It's my own fault for having expectations for the future at this point!

So, she forced out a smile that looked worse than crying. "I... I understand..."

"No, you don't."

Asakura tapped her forehead. Usually, the girl would clutch her head and whimper in pain, but now she had no reaction. It was likely because the pain in her heart far exceeded the physical pain.

"Hitori is indeed gloomy, timid, and shy, but she is very cute, so all those things can be forgiven."

"Fa-Face-ism (looks-based preference)?" The girl wiped the corner of her eyes and muttered a small retort.

Asakura ignored her comment and looked at the night sky, saying softly, "I have been lost, wondering what my meaning in this world really is."

"Asa-Asakura-kun is so powerful, you must be a Savior or Hero type character..." Hitori said in a small voice, feeling a bit confused.

Asakura gave an unfathomable smile.

"Though it sounds like bragging... if I wanted to, destroying the Earth in a literal sense wouldn't be difficult. There is no person or power in this world that can force me to be a good person... if anything, my nature is actually quite wicked."

"Hitori, you've probably had thoughts like 'The world should just be destroyed,' right? I've had them too. Unfortuntely, I possess the power to actually do it, and honestly, it's quite dangerous sometimes. I'm not as great as you think I are."

"Don't be in such a hurry to excuse me; please keep listening... Boredom, meaninglessness, emptiness—these negative emotions often surge into my heart... occasionally, in the dead of night, I even feel that continuing to exist in this world is a strange kind of torture."

"Like a small boat without a destination, drifting at sea—though if it were a real small boat, the result would surely be sinking in a giant wave or storm one day. But as for me, rather than a small boat, I'm more like a Apocalypse battleship filled with nuclear weapons. Thinking of it that way, self-destruction would actually be the best outcome..."

At this moment, in Hitori's eyes, Asakura's back was clearly right in front of her, yet it seemed to become ethereal and distant. If this continued, he looked like he might disappear at any moment...

No! That absolutely cannot happen!

Though her brain hadn't figured out exactly what was going on, the girl's body acted before her thoughts did. From behind, while using all her strength to overcome her shame, she hugged Asakura.

However, the result was different from what she expected. Her face didn't press against Asakura's back; instead, she hit something as cold and hard as a wall. Her nose stung, and tears were about to fall.

"Awaaa..."

Even so, the girl had no intention of letting go.

"Little dummy, I have magic curses active on me at all times." Asakura turned his head, a faint trace of color appearing in his eyes.

"Asakura-kun... sob... no matter how gloomy it is in my heart... in reality... sob... you saved me, and you saved many people! At—At least in my heart... Asakura is the savior!"

"Hitori, are you crying?"

"No, I bumped my nose... it hurts so much..."

"Pfft..."

Asakura couldn't help but laugh, and the oppressive atmosphere that had been lingering around them instantly vanished.

"I really don't know what to say about a girl like you." Asakura turned around and looked at the girl. "Just as I said before... I've always been like that. Although I always act all busy and running in circles, most of those things are things I find for myself. If I really did nothing, I'd get that 'whatever' feeling, like it doesn't matter if I exist or not."

"Asakura-kun..." Hitori cautiously raised her head, trying to peek at Asakura's expression, but found him staring straight at her. The girl's face, which had finally recovered, turned red again.

"Although it wasn't my original intention, I think I've started to treat you all as anchors," Asakura said seriously. "You've anchored the meaning of my existence, preventing me from doing bad things just to seek a sense of presence... from that perspective, it wasn't me who saved you, but perhaps you all who saved me. Just being able to stay by my side like this is enough. I'm truly grateful to you all..."

"Ehehe, it's not that worth thanking..." The girl first let out a bit of a silly laugh. Then, she suddenly realized something and her smile froze. "Wait... 'you all'?"

"Yeah, not just Hitori, but Chihaya and the others as well."

"Anchors...?" The girl looked at Asakura blankly.

"For a ship like me, one anchor doesn't seem to be quite enough."

"A-A cheating declaration?!" Hitori was incredibly shocked, her eyes spinning in circles.

"No, to be precise, it should be two-timing."

"Is—Isn't that even worse?!"

"Yeah, super bad."

"You actually admitted it with such a bright smile!"

"That's why I'm a much worse person than you, Hitori. Do you hate this version of me?" Asakura lightly hugged the girl, just as she had hugged him moments ago, leaning in to a distance the girl couldn't escape.

"...A little bit." Hitori's eyes darted around, not wanting to meet Asakura's gaze, as she spoke in a small voice. "But what I hate even more is myself for not being able to get angry with you..."

Asakura smiled.

"Then let's go back to the previous question."

"Ah?"

"Didn't you ask why I chose you, Hitori? Although there are many reasons, the main one is simply that I fell in love during our time together."

"Eh? Love? What? Who? Me?" Hitori fell into a state of confusion.

"That's right. Love. Hitori, it's you." Asakura nodded solemnly again. "I've thought about it. If you said to me at this moment, 'Sorry, I have someone I like,' and threw yourself into someone else's arms, I would probably be unable to stop myself from using 'Magic Burst: Candle' or 'Phosphorus Fist' or something on them."

"That sounds like it would do a lot of damage... bu-but there isn't anyone like that... wait, if I have to say..."

Hitori looked at Asakura like a small animal and went quiet. Asakura nodded understandingly. Before the girl could feel at ease, Asakura spoke up loudly. "At this point, there's nothing left but to self-destruct!"

"Why—?!"

"Just kidding. Although it's a bit cheap, if Hitori could respond to this love of mine, nothing would be better."

"I... I'm not really sure... please... give me a little bit of time..." the girl said softly.

"Mhm, it doesn't matter how long you think about it. I will always be waiting for your answer, Hitori," Asakura echoed.

"Then... then can you let go of me now?"

"Bocchi's body is soft; it feels very comfortable to hold. Maybe I'll be able to get a good night's sleep."

"Am I a body pillow?"

"It's just a general statement. Besides, there's still one more thing to do."

Asakura let go, took a Band-Aid with a penguin pattern from his pocket, and lightly stuck it onto the bridge of the girl's nose. "Now it won't hurt anymore, right?"

"...Thank you."

Asakura held the girl's hand, and they walked together quietly under the lush starlit sky. Hitori remained shyly silent for a moment, then couldn't help but ask Asakura, who was wobbling along the curb, "Um, Asakura-kun, did you come specifically to see my parents today?"

"Actually, it was mainly to get permission to go on a trip with you, since I usually can't run into you. I just didn't expect things to develop so quickly." Asakura said with emotion, "Hitori has a very happy family."

"Mhm..."

On this point alone, Hitori could feel heartfelt pride. Although her status at home was a bit subtle, both her parents and Futari took great care of her. Even if they didn't say it out loud, the girl felt lucky to be born into such a family.

"Ah..." Hitori suddenly realized something else was wrong. "So Asakura-kun, you specifically dragged me to that uniform workshop that had nothing to do with me today..."

"It was to prevent you from running away if you knew I was going to your house, so I intentionally kept you by my side from the start." Asakura nodded.

I was being calculated from the very beginning?! Hitori was dumbfounded.

"After all, those kinds of words wouldn't have had as much impact if Hitori wasn't present," Asakura continued.

"Even though I spaced out for a long time because the impact was too big..." the girl muttered.

"This is far enough."

Asakura stopped in his tracks and looked at Hitori once more. "As for me, please give it some serious thought."

"I-I understand." The girl straightened her back with mysterious tension, like a recruit being called out during military training for spacing out.

In the next moment, the girl only felt Asakura's face suddenly lean in...

☆

Hitori wobbled back home. She had absolutely no memory of the way back; she went straight to her room after arriving. At the door, three heads were lined up from top to bottom peeking in, with a dog's head at the very bottom.

"That dazed and lost look..." Gotō Michiyo thought about it and said with certainty, "They kissed."

"They definitely kissed. There's a Band-Aid on her nose; it seems Asakura-kun is quite passionate." Gotō Naoki also nodded.

"What does 'kissed' mean? Like that gnawing and biting in movies?" Gotō Futari asked, her eyes wide with innocent purity.

"Stop talking about it—aaaaah!"

Hitori fell in her room, struggling like a salted fish toy that was about to run out of battery.