Chapter 14

[Reminiscence] More importantly, it's OneShota (Part One)

(tl note: oneshota is the pairing of an onee-san and a shota)

Tiferet, who was an ally in the anime, has turned into an enemy.

This is a serious problem. Why on earth was she… Oh.

It’s that, no matter how you look at it. It’s gotta be Mea-chan, no doubt about it.

Or more precisely, the power of Chesed that she must have felt inside of Mea, perhaps.

In the original, Chesed’s life was merged with Akari Mitsui. He willingly fused with her and granted her his power—but even after the fusion, his consciousness remained intact. In fact, he even fluttered around her as a little bird-shaped familiar. He was basically the mascot of magical girls.

And because of that, Tiferet was able to trust the humans that Chesed believed in, and she cooperated in the negotiations with the holy dragon.

But what about this world?

Chesed’s power is with Mea, but while his will is present, his consciousness is not. It wasn’t a fusion of choice; it was forcibly merged by PSYence.

…Obviously, even the saintly Tiferet would be furious. In fact, because she’s kind and a moderate, she probably feels more betrayed than the other angels. Curse you, PSYence!

In fact, Keter, the final boss who dismissed Chesed as a "failure," might be more exasperated than angry, like, “Oh, that guy again… always trying to talk to humans.” Meanwhile, Chokmah might be the unexpected tsundere here. Although, in the original, Chokmah nearly killed Chesed.

If only Chesed’s consciousness remained so we could talk to him… Now that Tiferet has turned against us, there’s no longer any moderate faction left. This isn’t just hard mode anymore; it’s lunatic level.

Is it possible that the goddess-like person’s fanfiction, actually shit...? ─is what I almost let myself think, but I cut off that line of thought. It’s not too late yet; this could still turn into a masterpiece.

To do that, I have to somehow pull out Chesed's consciousness…? Huh? Draw it out? Draw it out… extract it… steal it… Hah!

“I see.”

I can see it… I can see my original protagonist move!

That’s right! As the original protagonist, there’s something only I can do. If I can’t be useful at the most crucial moment, what kind of original protagonist am I? The goddess-looking person knew it all along. In this world that’s harder than the original, only I can become the key figure in the story!

That’s why she gave me this “Phantom Thief Notebook.” That’s what it comes to…!

Stealing Chesed’s consciousness from Mea—that’s what I, as Eight-chan the Supernatural Abilities Phantom Thief, should do as my protagonist move.

Whether I can do it or not… I won’t know until I try. After all, the supernatural abilities in this world come from the holy dragon scattering the holy beasts’ factors across humanity.

Which means, in theory, it’s not impossible to extract Chesed’s factor by stealing Mea’s special abilities. Damn… I should’ve tried this before coming here.

If I can “compound” the stolen factors with some appropriate special abilities, maybe I can bring Chesed back. But finding suitable abilities is the real problem.

Ahh, I’ve had enough! Ugh! I don’t want to deal with this serious stuff! I just want to enjoy being the original protagonist!

I’m no good at those abrupt tone shifts when a gag series suddenly gets all serious.

That’s right, what I want is to be the perfect cheat original protagonist! I’ll handle Chesed and Tiferet with my unbeatable original protagonist powers!

“Help… not going to…”

“Kyuu?”

“Hm… I’m, getting sleepy…”

No good, I thought too hard, and now I’m suddenly exhausted.

It’s so nice here, like a pleasant spring day. The Carbuncle sitting on my shoulder, with its tail hitting the back of my head, feels like a pillow.

Of course, that’s not the only reason. I did get injured when I protected everyone from Tiferet’s attack. I healed it quickly with Healing Touch, but my body’s still worn out.

Well, I guess it’s okay to take a short nap. En won’t wake up for a while anyway. In the original, Akari and En were unconscious for a whole day.

…Huh? Am I in Akari’s role now? Does that make me the… heroine rather than the protagonist?

Ah, whatever. I’m going to sleep.

Wake me up when En wakes up, Sir Carbuncle. Zzz…

──I'm dreaming.

What I saw in this half-asleep state wasn’t some absurd, dream-like fantasy, but a memory from my own past.

I was overjoyed, thinking, "Yes! A flashback to the original protagonist's past!" But it seems this isn’t about diving deeper into my own history.

This was... right, the time when I obtained one of my main abilities, "Curse of Darkness."

At the time, I was in trouble. Mea, with the power of Chesed, had a light attribute. To stand as her counterpart, I needed a fitting dark attribute ability... but finding someone who had it wasn’t going as smoothly as I hoped.

Honestly, even I was surprised by that. I mean, we’re talking about a dark attribute here! In RPGs, it’s the major attribute that opposes light, and in this world, there were indeed people who used similar abilities, like in the anime "Fairy Savers." Well, that character was a villain who got destroyed in one of Chouta's episodes, and now they’re locked up in a detention facility.

I really didn’t want to break into the detention center. It’s heavily fortified against supernatural abilities to prevent escapes. If I went in, I might not make it out and end up as just another prisoner—like a plot out of a doujinshi, and I wanted no part of that.

Even if I managed to steal an ability from there, I doubted it would be useful enough to match Mea.

Rather than grabbing some already-known supernatural ability, it’d be more interesting and rewarding to steal something unseen before. So, I teleported around Japan, searching for a dark-attribute ability user worthy of my skills, but none of the places I visited had anyone suitable for me.

Ahh, isn't there some ordinary person somewhere with a ridiculously strong ability just lying around…? While mumbling to myself, feeling frustrated, I plucked a harp on the rooftop of an unfamiliar elementary school.

It was just a little mood booster.

Why did I choose the roof of a four-story school building, you ask? Because I like high places. I can look down at the town below while playing the harp. On top of that, it looked pretty cool from an objective standpoint, and it just felt good.

It was long past the end of the school day, so with no clubs going on, the rooftop of the quiet school was the perfect place to unwind.

At least, it was supposed to be... but at that moment, the door to my rooftop hideaway unexpectedly swung open.

“Oh dear…”

It was what you’d call an uninvited guest. Well, technically I was the shady one illegally sneaking into an elementary school.

There was just one guest. For a second, I thought it might be a janitor or something, but it was a child. A boy, about a fourth-grader, with a backpack, probably on his way home.

The boy was panting, as if he’d run up the stairs to reach me. If it had been an adult, I would’ve quickly retreated, but since he was just a harmless kid, I decided to stick around and see what would happen.

“Haa… haa…”

“Take it easy. Here, deep breaths. Breathe in, breathe out.”

“Inhales… haa, t-thank you…”

It’s not good to start talking right after running full speed. I gave him a gentle pat on the back as he caught his breath—then he hurriedly started speaking again.

“Wait, no! Uh, um…”

“Yeah?”

He was flustered, but kids this age tend to be that way. I figured it was more normal than if he’d been strangely calm, so I waited for him to continue with an amused smile.

“You… you’re Phantom Thief Olishua, right!? I heard the sound of a harp all of a sudden from the floor below, so…”

Oh wow, even with the door closed, the sound had leaked out.

I guess he must’ve heard it from an open classroom window. I thought all the students had gone home already, so even I couldn't help but laugh at my own lack of caution.

Still, the idea that he figured out it was me just from hearing a harp… Certainly, by this point, Eight-chan’s name was starting to spread, but it seems a bit far-fetched to connect that noise to my appearance just like that in a big country like Japan.

…No, maybe it makes sense for a kid this age. I used to daydream about villains invading my classroom when I was that age, after all.

Realizing that this boy had probably been imagining a phantom thief showing up at his school made me feel oddly honored.

“Did you come to try and catch me?”

“N-no!”

“Oh, I was wrong.”

I thought maybe he wanted to be a hero by capturing the evil thief, but that wasn’t the case.

So why did YOU come looking for me? I tilted my head in curiosity, and the boy nervously blushed. (tl note: YOU is in English here)

Is he just embarrassed because he’s being stared at by an older girl? …No, maybe it’s something else.

“Then, are you a fan of mine?”

“Eh… ah, yes! Actually, I am!”

“Is that so? That’s an honor.”

“Y-yes…”

Oh, I knew it! I’m so happy.

His face, as he looked up at me, wasn’t like some precocious brat but more like someone meeting their idol or favorite professional athlete.

Man, being popular is tough! Kah.

If that’s the case, I must treat him with care!

To an original protagonist, fans—that is to say, registrants who registered the work as favorite, are the most important people. For any fanfiction writer, the number of favorites is far more significant than just UAs. (tl note: UA stands for unique access. In simple terms, you can think of it as page views)

I can’t let down a precious fan who registered me as their favorite.

So, to avoid disappointing him, I responded to him in my usual original protagonist style.

“So, as my fan, did you come because you had something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“…Yes. Actually…”

Sure, go ahead, ask anything! Questions for Phantom Thief Eight-chan, or even life advice—I’ll answer it all! Whatever you need!

I’m even willing to listen to romantic problems. As a TS original protagonist with both male and female perspectives, I’m sure I can give some solid advice. My own romantic experience? There’s no way I have any.

I crouched down to look him sincerely in the eye, waiting for what he’d say next.

And then…

“...There's someone I want you to steal their supernatural ability.”

──The words he spoke were something I hadn’t anticipated.

"I see, it's about your younger sister..."

The boy’s unexpected request quickly turned into a heavy story that cooled down my previously lighthearted thoughts.

What’s with this world? There are too many kids with some kind of problem.

The boy—his name is Kakeru Yamikumo—apparently has a younger sister, Arisu-chan, who is a year younger than him. When I first heard the name, I thought having "Yami" (darkness) in your last name was pretty cool and stirred up my chuunibyou heart. But there was nothing in his story I could joke about. (tl note: her name can be spelled as Alice. I just chose arisu because I was listening to Usagi Flap while editing this.)

Apparently, his sister, Arisu, no longer goes to school. In fact, she won't even leave her room. She's a recluse, a shut-in, and the reason for it was deeply saddening.

A year ago, the two of them lost their mother.

It was a hit-and-run incident that followed a traffic accident.

At the time, their mother had been out shopping with Arisu-chan when they were hit by a speeding car while walking along the road. And their mother protected Arisu-chan in the process.

Their mother was rushed to the hospital, but she had already passed away.

Apparently, she had just been hit in the wrong spot, rendering all healing abilities useless, and she died right in front of Arisu’s eyes.

...That's heavy. Even I went serious for a moment.

I mean, you don’t expect to hear stories like that, right? Well, if telling me lightened his burden even a little, that’s fine.

But to witness your mother die right in front of you... And given the circumstances, it's likely that Arisu-chan blames herself for what happened.

Of course, she'd be traumatized. While this world is more dangerous than the previous one I lived in, it doesn't mean life is taken lightly. The pain she must feel is something even a fully grown adult would carry with them for life.

And Arisu-chan was only in second grade at the time. There's no way she could process such emotions in just a year.

"...Since then, my sister has shut herself inside a wall made of her supernatural abilities... She won’t let anyone in. Not even me or Dad..."

Hmm... If she's still eating, then I’d like to think she hasn't given up entirely, but this situation is beyond me.

She's far too young to rely on time to heal her wounds, and there's a chance she might stay like this for the rest of her life.

If the wall she’s hidden behind were a regular one, Kakeru-kun and his father might have been able to talk to her through the door and do something. But with her using her ability to shut them out entirely, even her own family can't share in her sadness.

She's completely alone, pushing everyone away. The pain Kakeru-kun must feel watching his sister like this is something I can’t fully comprehend as a stranger.

"Arisu was always so full of life... so strong, so amazing... Unlike me, someone without supernatural abilities, my sister’s incredible! I can’t stand the idea of her staying like this forever... Please! Save my sister... Save Arisu!"

The young Kakeru pleaded desperately, bowing his head to the ground.

I see… that’s why he wanted me to steal her ability. It made sense now, but it left me conflicted, and I folded my arms in thought.

Before I could say anything, Kakeru-kun continued.

"Eight-san, you can steal supernatural abilities, right?! If you steal Arisu’s ability, then she can go back to being like before. We can talk as a family again... My dad and I will be able to be by her side. So please, help Arisu! Steal her ability!"

"Kakeru-kun."

"...!"

Well... I know you’re getting heated, but let me be clear.

You seem to have misunderstood something about me.

This is my stance as Phantom Thief T.P. Eight Olishua.

"I don’t know what you think of me, but... I’m a phantom thief. I’m not a noble outlaw, and I’m no hero. A phantom thief doesn’t go after prey handed to them by someone else. A phantom thief is free, whimsical... They only steal what they truly desire from the depths of their heart. That’s who I am, T.P. Eight Olishua."

As I said that, Kakeru-kun looked up at me in despair.

"Then... does that mean..."

"Hold on a second."

But don’t get the wrong idea.

I’ve always done what’s necessary as a perfect cheat original protagonist, freely and according to my will. Sometimes a little sloppy, but still.

That’s why I won’t let someone else’s will mix with mine. Not now, not ever.

And so... just like always, I decided to act according to my own will, as usual.

"I just happen to be in the mood to steal right now. Let’s see... My targets this time will be the abilities of the girl who’s shut out her family and the despair a boy’s been carrying."

"! Ah..."

I coolly smiled, trying to be considerate.

Seeing Kakeru-kun break down in tears, I hurriedly caught him in my arms. After all, the ground was concrete—he’d hurt himself if he fell.

Normally, I'd say that a boy shouldn't cry in front of others... but I'll let it slide this time. He was at his limit. His face when he talked about his sister made it obvious to someone as perceptive as me.

In fact, I believe he should cry his heart out while no one else is watching.

So, I encouraged him to let it out.

"You’ve held it in well until now. You’ve done great, big brother."

“Ugh… Aaahhh, ahhhhhhh!”

“Go on, cry. People are allowed to shed tears…”

As I snuggle up to the crying boy, I gently patted his back and stroked his head.

When you want to cry, it's okay to cry. He’s been strong enough as a big brother, after all.

Saying that, I lent him my chest, comforting him for all his hard work and letting him release everything he had bottled up.

To be honest, when he first asked me to "steal his younger sister’s ability," I was all set to refuse.

But despite how much Kakeru-kun himself must have been suffering from losing his mother, his heart was focused on saving his sister over his own pain. That determination of his got to me. I guess I can be soft, too.

Besides... he didn't ask me to solve the trauma itself. He said he would face that core issue as a family, working together to heal. His words struck a chord with me.

“Being the eldest son... must be tough, huh?”

“N-no, not at all...! I’d do anything for her... anything...!”

“I see… You’re strong, aren’t you?”

“I... I couldn’t do anything! I wasn’t there when Mom was suffering! And for Arisu... I... I didn’t do anything...!”

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay, Kakeru. You have all the time in the world… You’ll find something you can do.”

"...! ...!”

I won’t call him pitiful for crying like a baby.

Let me remind you again, I am a cheat original protagonist.

A cheat original protagonist is someone who uses their powers for themselves, no one else.

This may be a detour from the main story, but sometimes, a detour like this feels right. And so, I shifted into my phantom thief mode, deciding to reward this boy who had fought so hard to find me for the sake of his sister.

Though there’s not much time left until I wake up, this dream seems like it’s going to continue a little longer.

But still, I wonder what this is... ever since I heard the names of this boy and his sister. There’s been this odd sense of déjà vu, a memory tugging at the edges of my mind. It’s been growing ever since this dream started.

Kakeru Yamikumo, Arisu Yamikumo... Their names and the fact that they’re both such beautiful kids—it doesn’t seem like they’re just ordinary people... Ah. Ahh!

—Those kids, are characters from the movie.

Seriously! Realizing this during a dream flashback?! I can’t believe I didn’t catch on sooner! That whole series of events is already over!

Realizing this shocking truth so late, I finally understand why they were so strong—it all made sense with the origin of the "Curse of Darkness."

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