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“Mister, you big idiot!”

With these being my first words, it should be easy for anyone to infer my mental state. After I refused non-stop, I was literally dragged out of hiding. I absolutely have no idea why Mister has the ability to enforce that.

“If you’ve calmed down, then let’s start with vocal exercises.”

I don’t think anyone can blame me for being stunned. I screamed and was clearly behaving weirdly in front of her, and yet this person didn’t question it and simply instructed me to practice. Wouldn’t people normally inquire about what’s wrong?

“Umm, Shirose?”
“Time is limited; let’s get on with it.”
“R-right!”

She had a powerful, commanding tone, so I reluctantly abided. I’m somewhat familiar with the vocal exercises from Mister’s memories, so I tried mimicking them, but I was quickly met with criticism.

“Yup, no good. I can understand why Koto-chan wants you to practice.”
“Shouldn’t you be a bit more confused?”
“Reality is something you accept.”

No, I find it hard to accept that there’s a mind that’s so quick to accept this as normal reality. Mister didn’t give any particular explanation, only saying “I’ll switch out now,” before switching with me. Aren’t you accepting this too easily?

“For the rogue’s den, it’s common to see people with characters that mismatch with their appearance. There was even some guy who insisted on being an indoors type despite the absolutely outdoorsy behavior.”
“No, that’s completely different from my case.”

She’s treating it like a similar example, but I’m sure it’s absolutely different. In our case, Mister and I have totally different personalities to begin with. And since I have his memories, even I know that he was a separate individual from me.

“Isn’t that the person who usually seems docile but suddenly bursts into a sprint while laughing maniacally?”
“That was a really unpleasant incident.”

This is a perfect example of words not matching actions. She’s clearly struggling to suppress her laughter. Is everyone in the rogue’s den like this? Do they view all their school experiences as fond memories?

“Shouldn’t the really unpleasant one be the time when mister got angry?”
“Ah, true, that was pretty rough. Still, it was the other party’s fault, so we went on offensive, and it ended too quickly.”

The hardest part must have been stopping Mister rather than overpowering the other party. To my surprise, Isami was the one leading them. Honestly, I’m more impressed that the rogue’s den cooperated at full capacity to stop Mister from charging into the student council office.

“That’s right, I still haven’t introduced myself. It’s a bit late, but I’m Shirose, the music-in-charge of rogues den. Nice to meet you.”
“I am Kisaragi Kotone. This must be the first time I’ve met with someone from the rogue’s den face-to-face.”

Shirose held out her hand, so I thought it was for a handshake, but I felt something amiss. In a handshake, your thumb should be pointing upwards, and yet it’s her palm that’s pointing up. Once I understood the meaning behind it, my eyes naturally glazed over.

“Yup, yup. Like I thought, you really are one of us.”
“I don’t believe asking someone you just met for a dog shake to be a proper thing to do.”
“I don’t find giving someone you just met the stink eye to be proper either.”

I’m aware that I’m looking at her with disdain. But that’s only natural when someone is asking something stupid of you. I have no idea why Shirose did this.

“Normal people would be confused, ask why, or just instinctively put their hand on top. Showing a look of contempt is the normal rogue’s den reaction.”
“What kind of life have you been living?”
“It was a place filled with people who pretty much had personality issues, so it can’t be helped. It was an unquestionably fun place, though.”
“I’d probably snap from the stress.”
“The fact that you think that way proves that you’re aligned with the rogue’s den. Normal people would run away.”

I’m impressed the caretakers were able to endure that kind of class. After a certain period of time, however, their disciplinary actions clearly started to be excessive. And from their faces, you can tell that they’re also enjoying it.

“Now then, we don’t have much time remaining. Let’s train properly now, shall we?”
“It’s irking how you’re casually returning to our main topic, but there truly isn’t much time. Mister is really being unreasonable.”
“Koto-chan improves quickly when she puts her heart into it, so she’ll be fine. The one in trouble here is Kotone with zero experience. Which is why I have to stay over and train you.”

Mister is in charge of the graduation ceremony plan, so there should be no issues with that. The most crucial moment for us is the recording. We really have a short time left until then. And because of that, Shirose was called here and will be staying over until the recording day. I can’t understand why Mister is so driven about this.

“He was so against it at first, and yet here we are.”
“She might have resigned herself to it. Either that, or she wishes to leave a mark in the world.”
“The rogue’s den people really do understand Mister.”
“She’s a friend we’ve shared plenty of time together with, after all.”

It’s either me or Mister, or maybe even both of us, who will disappear. Before that, we want to leave marks that prove that we really did exist. That’s what Shirose believes. However, I’m sure it’s different. After all, Mister decided on this on the fly. Frankly, I believe he really didn’t put deep thought into it.

“Besides, personally speaking, I can’t make a song for you without understanding you, Kotone. With Koto-chan, I can base it on Souji’s characteristics, but without knowing you as a person, the song I make won’t fit you.”
“That’s certainly a fair point.”

“That’s why I’m going to have you sing a lot of songs. We’ll have to identify what kind of songs you’re good and bad at. Now, for the first song. Here are the lyrics.”
“Hmm… Like anyone would ever sing this song!”
“Eh? Is it bad?”
“Why are you even questioning that?! You’re clearly doing this intentionally, aren’t you!”
“No no, I know nothing at all. It’s just a coincidence, an accidental choice. So sing.”

The song’s title was “Big brother, I luv you.” It’ll undoubtedly deal fatal damage to me. Moreover, Mister is not asleep this time. He can normally hear our conversation. So there’s no way I can sing something like this.

“Change this!”
“Embarrassment can be overcome. This is also true in Koto-chan’s case, but this is by far your greatest weakness, so this is a necessary measure.”
“You’re going about it the wrong way!”

While singing in public is embarrassing, humiliating yourself in front of someone close is a different kind of embarrassing. I know that Shirose definitely chose this song for fun. I’m made to recognize that Shirose really is part of the funseekers.

“Souji would have sung with a dead look in his eyes.”
“Don’t make me sing a song that has already caused casualties!”

I haven’t seen all of Mister’s memories, but was he also made to sing this? And does that mean Isami has also sung this? Then again, she’d likely sing it without much thought. What’s wrong with these people?

“Throw your embarrassment in the trash and let’s go!”
“Well, aren’t you suddenly excited!?”

And thus, my special training has officially begun. Sometimes, she would have me sing only weird songs; other times, she would suddenly hand me a serious one. Keeping up with the hard to read Shirose was quite exhausting. Is there a chance that Mister switched with me because he knew this would happen? If that’s true, then that’s unforgivable.

‘Now you understand what it means to associate with the rogue’s den?’
‘They’re barely human.’
‘I have a problem with that opinion.’

If I interact with them as normal humans, I won’t last. In that case, it’d be easier on my mind to treat them as something abnormal. That became my conclusion.

“Ah, so that’s why. It literally is a den of rogues.”

I came to a realization that I frankly regret discovering. Well, not that it changes anything.