VOLUME 3

Chapter 3: Winter (Back Half)

Kagami and the others suddenly vanished from the family restaurant.

I panicked and desperately fiddled with the Oniichan Surveillance Tool, trying to look for them.

Being G.o.ds, Kagami and the others were able to cross unimaginable distances in an instant which would make it quite difficult to locate them.

“……”

I grumbled to myself while laying on my side in my bed, illuminated by the many lights in my room.

“So they really are coming here to see me… but that’s one thing I’ll never let them do. The Ama-no-Iwato should stop anybody from coming in… but this is the Yagami sisters we’re talking about, so I have to make a few more preparations.”

Using a G.o.d’s-eye view, I finally discovered the Yagami sisters and my brother quite high in the sky, directly above the Ama-no-Iwato.

I strongly willed it and created alterations in the s.p.a.ce above me.

“I won’t lose.”

I was a bit reluctant to b.u.t.t heads like this with all the people who had protected me…

But right now.

No matter how much I have to force it, I will not try hard.

“I definitely won’t let you into my room…!”

Everyone was right above my house, which had now turned into the Ama-no-Iwato.

The snow still steadily trickled downwards making everything difficult to see.

The Yagami sisters and my brother had teleported themselves here by pa.s.sing through that water mirror and were now in freefall while still holding onto each other.

“There is something rather ominous in the air.”

If they continued to fall like this, they would reach the very top of the Ama-no-Iwato. However, there was something strange about their surroundings.

The normal little houses crowded around the huge black circle beneath began to go through alterations right before their very eyes.

“Uwa…”

Kagami did not sound pleased.

Many of the buildings had instantly transformed into cl.u.s.ters of military weapons.

Buildings that had been normal houses just a second ago were now completely transformed into infantry battalions, tanks, fighter jets, military helicopters, cannons, nuclear missiles, and even aircraft carriers and gunships which, in principle, should’ve been useless on land. All of them readied their guns and took aim.

Their target, of course, was my brother and the Yagami sisters, who were still in freefall.

Suddenly, an extremely loud voice echoed through the town.

“This is a warning!”

Kagami looked down… and a huge image of me from the bust up appeared on the surface of that large, black, impenetrable Ama-no-Iwato.

“Sasami-san?!”

My brother yelled out, sounding both happy and surprised.

I ignored him, and after clearing my throat, I gave out a clear warning.

I had to make things clear, or else they might not understand.

“If you come any closer, I will fire, even if it is oniichan and you three! You don’t have to worry about me, so just leave me alone! Oniichan, you can just sleep at school or go find a hotel or something! I just want to be alone!”

“That’s…!”

My brother began to grieve.

“Why must you say such cruel things, Sasami-san?! Your oniichan is lonely! Your oniichan doesn’t even want to be separated from you by two feet! If your oniichan doesn’t suck in your breath, doesn’t take in your sweat and your tears… your Sasami juices… then his entire body will just break down and he’ll die!”

What the h.e.l.l are “Sasami juices”…?

“Shut up, pervert! I’m also lonely! No, that’s not it… uhh…there’s a few things I need to deal with, so I don’t want to see anyone! Just leave me alone! Don’t worry, it’s not like I hate oniichan or any of you or anything like that! I’m also not trying to do anything evil or anything, so just leave me alone!”

“Sasami-san, is that not just a bit selfish?”

Kagami calmly spoke to me.

“You shut yourself in completely, and then summon the Ama-no-Iwato, and even though you possess the power of the Supreme G.o.d, you have neglected your duties to take care of the world. If this goes any further, the world will be thrown into chaos and come apart at the seams.”

“I really want to, but it’s impossible! It’s not like I wanted the Ama-no-Iwato to appear… it just did on its own! So I can’t just wish it away!“

That was the honest truth.

It’s not like I had perfect control over the power of the Supreme G.o.d.

This power was way too great to be held in a single human body; so, it tended to overflow, and I often couldn’t control it.

As long as I didn’t want to meet with anybody else, the Ama-no-Iwato would not disappear.

“I’ll try my best to get rid of the Ama-no-Iwato and do something about these issues I’m dealing with, and I’ll get back to being a normal girl soon! So just believe in me and wait for me!”

“So you’re dealing with some ‘issues’ then.”

My words seemed to have been counterproductive.

Kagami still kept her calm.

“Aren’t you forgetting why we’re here, Sasami-san? If there is something that’s bothering you, then please let us help. We’ll all help you.”

Ugh, this is the one time when I really don’t want your help. Thanks but no thanks!

I could feel my annoyance rising, and maybe because of the issues I was dealing with, I also couldn’t keep calm… so I blew up.

“Anyways, that’s all I’m going to say! Go away! If you don’t, I’m going to open fire! This is your last warning! Go away before you get hurt!”

“Open fire, huh…?”

Kagami looked at the giant army under her.

“Do you intend to start a war over this?”

Yes, exactly. That’s exactly what was happening here.

“It seems we are being made light of… actually, it is quite saddening to know that Sasami-san has such little faith in our abilities. Or perhaps infuriating.”

Kagami wasn’t known for showing much emotion, so she just spat out how she felt while her cheeks flushed slightly red.

“Very well then. We’ll force ourselves into your room and make you regret saying these impertinent things. We’ll make you apologize after we bring you to tears with a good spanking. And then, we’ll save you. No matter how much you might not want it.”

“Just give up and go home already!!!!!”

I reached the limit of my patience, and gave an order to my army.

These were G.o.ds who were altered directly through my will, and so, they were all loyal to me.

Of course, their levels of divinity were no match for those of the Yagami sisters… the Yagami sisters were just in a whole different cla.s.s.

But even idiots could be useful when used correctly.

Considering I had been protected by the Yagami sisters up until now, I had complete knowledge of their abilities and their way of doing things.

So don’t think you can beat me that easily.

Don’t underestimate the patience and stubbornness of a hikikomori!

”Fire!”

The tanks, the cannons, the infantrymen… everyone fired at the four falling through the air.

It was an overwhelming amount of firepower, enough to turn an entire nation into scorched earth.

“Laughable. To think a shut-in who has never experienced war would think to challenge me!”

Kagami yelled out and all the weapons in her body came out in full force.

She was a kind of spiritual robot who had been remodeled specifically for battle.

She had enough firepower to match an entire army all by herself… no, she would probably even win that matchup.

So of course, a normal army might not have been a match for her.

But I had already guessed that.

Also, it’s not like I really wanted to kill any of them.

If I had used real bombs or bullets, then somebody might get hurt.

That’s not what I wanted.

These four had come here only because they were worried about me and wanted to help me.

So, it would be extremely selfish of me to actually hurt one of these kind people no matter how much I wanted to shut myself in…

So…

Kagami pointed to the missiles that were closing in on her, and the guns she was equipped with all fired.

The missiles were all shot down.

“Hm…??”

It was right after that.

The missiles all magnificently burst open, and a mysterious, sticky and goopy liquid splashed all around.

“What is that disgusting-looking… agh?!”

Kagami seemed frightened at this clearly suspicious liquid and twisted her body to evade.

But she had been caught so off-guard that she couldn’t completely dodge the liquid… and a drop of it splashed onto her uniform’s sleeve.

Of course, that sleeve melted.

“The liquid melts our clothes?!?!”

Tsurugi’s eyes both glittered.

“Sasami-chan, good job! You’re brilliant!”

Hey, I really didn’t expect anybody to be happy about this…

I might’ve been a bit weirded out, but I still told it to them straight out.

“Did you see that?! Those swarms of bullets and bombs are all nonlethal, but they all have that mystery liquid stored inside of them! And that liquid will melt all your clothes and shoes off!”

“What the h.e.l.l in the world are you thinkiiiiiing?!?!?!”

Kagami jetted through the sky with rocket boosters coming out of her legs like the Mighty Atom, trying to avoid the liquid.

But it was like avoiding every drop of rain in a huge storm, so her clothes continued to whittle down to nothing.

It would take no time before she was completely naked.

“W-Why are you doing something straight out of a perverted shounen manga…?!”

For a clean freak like Kagami, this was probably a nightmare.

The other three people simply screamed as they were tossed around by the torrent.

Kagami was a strong girl who had been tempered by lots of experience, so in a normal gun battle she should’ve been able to adapt to any situation.

But she wasn’t used to more vulgar situations like this.

”I do not want to hurt any of you.”

The four of them couldn’t come any closer due to the hail of bullets, giving me an opening to tell them my true feelings.

”But if you really want to force your way into my room, then I’ll strip you bare, post all these videos online, and introduce you to the world as the Mysterious Flying Nude Model Excellent Kagami!”

“Have you no heart?!?!”

Kagami screamed out.

For a shy girl like her, this was probably a sentence worse than death.

”But that’s not all! You might only have an underground cult following on the internet at first, but I’ll use all of my power to turn you into an international phenomenon! There’ll be live action films, you’ll become a social icon, and your name will be engraved into legend…! If you don’t want that, go away!”

I was serious.

And I would show no mercy… and send them down into the seventh circle of h.e.l.l!

”Don’t think it ends there! After all your clothes are melted away, if that liquid touches your skin, you’ll feel an unnatural pleasure running through your entire body! You’ll start moaning and convulsing and doing other pervy things like that!”

“W-Why are you doing something straight out of a vulgar late-night anime?!”

”I don’t want to hurt any of you! But I can make you all feel good with a clear conscience! So fly around up there completely naked and struggle with your body twisting back and forth, and let me display your shame to the entire world! If you don’t want that, go away!”

“I thought… Sasami-san… I thought we were friends!”

Kagami was seriously crying now.

“Kagami-chan, calm down.”

Maybe she finally began to pity her little sister, but Tsurugi spoke up in a calm voice.

Usually, Tsurugi would’ve probably enjoyed a situation like this, but in her bugged-out state, she looked completely serious.

I had a bit of a bad feeling about this…

It felt like something unexpected was about to happen…

“Sasami-chan, I’m not too sure what’s happening on your side, but if you are so dead set on keeping us out, then you must be suffering from some dreadful problems. But, if that’s the case… then shouldn’t you be able to understand all the more how much Kagami-chan wants to help you?!”

Tsurugi’s eyes shone bright like the sun as she continued to hold onto Tama with one arm.

Meanwhile, at some point, a familiar double-edged blade had found its way into her other hand.

I felt an incredible amount of power begin to gather in that small body of hers.

“All these bombs and bullets flying around are under the protection of the Supreme G.o.d’s power, so it will be difficult to use an alteration to disable all of them… but this blade is a different story.”

This was bad.

“Kagami-chan, when I give the signal, use those rocket boosters to head straight for the Ama-no-Iwato! Tama-chan! Normal G.o.ds can’t break through the Ama-no-Iwato, but as a next-generation G.o.d, you can ignore the rules and just eat through it! Just open a hole big enough for us to fit through!”

“U-Understood.”

“Hueh? O-Okay, Tsurugi-nee…”

Tama and Kagami were both a bit bewildered at Tsurugi’s unusual show of earnestness.

But along with that surprise, I could see a hint of admiration in their eyes.

Even if she had lost her memories… no, perhaps because of it, Tsurugi was able to show us her pure, unadulterated courage and willpower. And both shone brightly up there in the sky.

Tsurugi exhaled sharply as if she was a Chinese martial artist…

–

“Mow them down, Ame-no-Murak.u.mo!!”

–

Tsurugi carelessly swung the sword she had gripped in her hand.

The next moment it was like the clouds had been blown away, allowing the sunlight to stream down…

The countless bullets that were closing in on the four of them and the torrential winds… they all disappeared.

The Ame-no-Murak.u.mo was a divine, holy blade that could exterminate evil.

Also called the gra.s.s-mowing sword, this divine instrument could purify anything and had even broken through the tough barrier surrounding the Tsukuyomi Shrine in the past. I had completely forgotten about that.

And to think that the normally lazy Tsurugi could be so proactive like this…

I was stunned, and while I was still trying to figure out a way to deal with this, the three Yagami sisters swiftly carried out the plan that Tsurugi had laid out before, breaking through the black Ama-no-Iwato and rushing into its interior.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES

(1) Once again, I’ll footnote this once per volume. A hikikomori is a shut-in; someone who refuses to go outside and interact with society.