Hijikata Isamu had no idea that sharing his whole transmigration backstory had just given Tashiro Kurenai the wrongest possible idea.
He only now realized that the other two's situations might be different from his, so he asked with genuine curiosity, scratching his stubble.
"Come to think of it... the fact that you came asking me this question means your cases are pretty different from mine, right? So what's the deal with you and Toshiro, Akira-kun? You got a split personality going on or something?"
But Kuroha Akira no longer had time for chit-chat. Not anymore. Not after that horrifying realization had hit him like a One Punch Man serious punch to the gut.
He'd thought Tashiro Kurenai running off earlier wasn't that urgent. Like, maybe she just needed some space, right? Classic tsundere retreat? But now? This was life-and-death. No joke. No second chances.
"I'll explain later if we get the chance! Something super urgent came up—I gotta go! Uncle Yong, you can go back to sleep!"
"Oh... okay then..."
Hijikata Isamu watched Kuroha Akira bolt out of his room like his pants were on fire. He scratched the back of his neck, shrugged, and decided not to chase after him. Well, since he was awake anyway, might as well head to work...
Kuroha Akira's brain was running at full speed as he flew down the stairs.
Should I call the cops?
Would they make it in time?
No way. No chance. By the time the police show up and start searching, she'd already be...
He couldn't even finish that thought.
The most important thing right now was figuring out where she would go. Not panicking—panicking was useless. What he needed was to find the right place. Pick the wrong search direction, and it'd be game over. Perma-death. Bad ending.
He stopped mid-staircase, looked down at his right palm, and took a deep breath.
The class rep's ability—[Academic Ability A]—kicked in. It helped him calm down almost instantly, clearing the fog of panic and letting him think straight. Thank you, random skill distribution system. You're not completely useless after all.
First: methods of death.
Anything that caused major physical damage could be ruled out. Because if the body was too messed up—like, organs failing, massive blood loss, that kind of thing—coming back to life wouldn't even be on the table. So no jumping off buildings, no slitting wrists, no stepping in front of a truck (isekai style).
That meant the most likely method was something that preserved the body. Overdosing on sleeping pills, for example. Classic. But Kuroha Akira remembered seeing Tashiro Kurenai run out of the second floor clutching two bath towels in her hands...
Yeah. She was probably planning to use those as makeshift ropes.
So the real question was: where would she go to hang herself?
This wasn't completely hopeless. He just had to channel his inner detective. Or, you know, his inner isekai protagonist who suddenly gets a brain cell when it matters most.
If I were Tashiro Kurenai... what would I do?
The thing was, Tashiro Kurenai didn't actually want to die. Her real goal was to sacrifice herself so the two personalities could merge. That was it. That was the whole mission.
So even though there were plenty of suicide methods out there, she specifically chose hanging—because she wanted to replicate Hijikata Isamu's experience as closely as possible. To max out the chances of a successful personality fusion, like some kind of dark ritual.
Which meant... she'd probably choose the same location where Hijikata had tried to hang himself!
Bingo.
Kuroha Akira spun around, leaped back up the stairs in what felt like two bounds (adrenaline is a scary thing), and burst back into Hijikata Isamu's room.
"Uncle Yong! One last question—where exactly were you when you first transmigrated?"
Hijikata, who'd been about to close his door, paused mid-motion. "Uh... you mean the place where I was hanging myself?"
"YES!"
"Hmm... I don't remember the exact spot, honestly. That place was creepy as heck, and I bolted out of there pretty fast... but I do remember that not long after I ran out, I ran into Kuroo and Granny Kobayashi. So it should be that abandoned shrine nearby..."
Abandoned shrine!
There was only one abandoned shrine around here!
The same shrine where he'd first met Shinomiya! The one with all the trees and the creepy vibe and—yeah, that one!
"Awesome! You've been a huge help!"
"Uh... Akira-kun, don't do anything reckless, alright?"
"Don't worry! I haven't even gotten to live the easy life yet—no way I'm dying this early!"
Kuroha Akira waved his hand casually, like he was brushing off a mosquito, and dashed downstairs again.
Back on the first floor, he didn't have time to give Shinomiya a long explanation. He just said, "I'm going to find Kurenai!" and ran out the door—still clutching Tashiro Kurenai's red high heels in his hand.
Yeah, those heels.
He'd originally taken them upstairs to "negotiate" with her—you know, hold her precious shoes hostage to make her give him an answer faster. Classic low-key villain move. But before he could even use them, she'd pushed him into the room and locked the door. Smooth, Akira. Real smooth.
Now he was bringing them along again. Why? Gut feeling. Anime logic. Call it protagonist intuition. Somehow, he felt like these shoes might be the key to talking her down—like a symbolic anchor to the life she was about to throw away.
Once he got outside, Kuroha Akira tried to remember the exact location of the abandoned shrine. It was somewhere in a small grove just outside the residential area... Dang it! He couldn't remember clearly!
If only I had Shirai Shiori's ability [Memory B] right now...
The class rep's [Academic Ability A] did give a memory boost, sure—but that only helped with learning stuff, not recalling stuff. It was like having a high-speed internet connection but no search history. Useless for finding a random shrine he'd only been to once.
A full-area search was out of the question. Way too much ground to cover. So Kuroha Akira started shouting while scanning the area.
"Kuroo! Hey, Kuroo! Are you there?!"
"Meow~"
Kuroo appeared on top of a nearby wall like a ninja cat—sitting up straight, tail curled around her paws, looking down at him with those judgmental feline eyes.
You're here! Perfect timing!
Sure, relying on a cat's intelligence was a long shot. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He'd tested before whether Kuroo could understand human speech, and the results were... well, super Schrödinger-like. Sometimes Kuroo acted like a genius-level familiar from a fantasy anime. Other times she'd completely ignore him, no different from any ordinary stray.
"Kuroo, can you take me to that shrine you showed me before? I'll buy you canned food afterwards—deal?"
"Meow meow!"
Kuroo let out two decisive meows, jumped down from the wall, and ran a short distance before looking back at him. Follow me, idiot.
It's the smart Kuroo today! That was definitely a 'deal' meow!
Kuroha Akira followed the cat, and as he ran, memories slowly started resurfacing. This was the same path he'd walked when he went home with Shinomiya that first time!
With Kuroo leading the way like a fuzzy GPS, he quickly found the entrance to the abandoned shrine.
He never really understood the deal with this shrine. For it to be sitting empty in the prime real estate of Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo—like, prime prime location—was completely nuts. Somebody's tax evasion scheme, maybe? Who knew.
Not the time, Akira. Focus.
He sprinted through the torii gate, pounded up the stone steps, and burst into the shrine grounds.
Trees surrounded the place—what you'd call the Chinju no Mori, or "Guardian Forest"—but none of them were particularly big. Hijikata would've needed a large tree to hang himself from, which meant the most likely candidate was the Goshinboku, the sacred tree wrapped with shimenawa ropes. That thing would stand out like a sore thumb.
No giant tree in sight yet. Kuroha Akira passed through the sandō approach path and ran straight behind the worship hall.
And there it was.
A massive, sturdy Goshinboku next to the main hall.
And there, at the base of the tree—a pair of bathroom slippers, neatly placed.
Japanese people take off their shoes before committing suicide.
His heart nearly stopped.
His guess had been completely correct. Tashiro Kurenai had really come here to hang herself.
And there she was—already standing on the offertory box in front of the shrine, a bath towel tied to a tree branch forming a noose. Her neck was already inside the loop.
"WAIT! Kurenai-san! Don't do anything rash!"
"Mmm...! Gh...!"
His shout only made things worse. She panicked—kicked the offertory box out from under her feet with both legs—and her body dropped.
No no no no NO—
"DANG IT! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO DIE IN FRONT OF ME!"
Kuroha Akira lunged forward, grabbed her swinging legs, and pushed upward with every single ounce of strength he had. Muscles screaming. Teeth clenched. This is not how this story ends!
Tashiro Kurenai's legs found support again—his support—and she was saved before she could even experience the sensation of choking. The noose went slack. She gasped, coughed, tears streaming down her face.
He'd made it.
Just in time.
Narrowly escaping disaster by the skin of his teeth.
Kuroha Akira had successfully stopped Tashiro Kurenai from taking her own life.
Now came the hard part: convincing her to keep living it.