But here's the thing—Kuroha Akira had only stopped her physically. If he couldn't crush those suicidal thoughts at the root, she'd just try again. And next time, he might not be there to grab her legs.
Sure enough, Tashiro Kurenai started thrashing around, shouting with that raw, desperate energy that made his chest hurt.
"Let go...! Let go of me! This isn't any of your business...!"
Classic denial phase. Kuroha Akira tightened his grip on her legs—no way was he letting go now—and tried to talk some sense into her.
"Kurenai-san, just listen to me for a second! Even if you go through with this, there's zero guarantee you'll merge with your other self!"
"H-How can you say that?!"
"Because Hijikata-san and I aren't dual personalities! And I don't even have the memories of my other self!"
That hit her like a critical hit in an RPG. Tashiro Kurenai faltered, her expression shifting to disbelief.
"You... you don't have any memories?"
"That's right! The three of us all have completely different situations, and there's gotta be a reason for that! Even if you copy Hijikata-san's method, it might not let your other self inherit your memories!"
"Guh..."
"And Hijikata-san didn't want to die! At least the current Hijikata-san has never thought about ending things, right?! He's drowning in debt, yeah, but he's still working his butt off to pay it back! He's trying his best to live!"
"Mmm..."
"If the gods really brought us to this world, then I think this is exactly the outcome they wanted to see. If you selfishly throw your life away, do you really think the gods are gonna be like, 'Okay, here's another chance, go for it'?"
"..."
Kuroha Akira had gone straight for the jugular—calling out her reckless thinking and even bringing the gods into it. Sometimes you needed a little divine fear to snap someone back to reality.
And it worked. She was clearly convinced. The adrenaline faded, and in its place came a tidal wave of fear.
Because what if Kuroha Akira was right? What if the gods didn't cut her a break this time? She'd die—and her other self might die right along with her. That wasn't the happy ending she'd been picturing. That was just tragedy with extra steps.
"So please, come down, Kurenai-san. I don't know how much longer I can hold on... my knees are seriously shaking here..."
Okay, that was a little white lie. Kuroha Akira could probably hold on for a while longer. But to make sure Tashiro Kurenai got down safely and didn't have second thoughts, he played up the struggling act. Desperate times call for desperate acting skills.
"..."
After that final push, Tashiro Kurenai finally abandoned the whole "die to merge personalities" plan. She tilted her head back and started untying the bath towel noose from her neck.
The towel wasn't as strong as a real rope, and she wasn't exactly an expert at tying knots (thank goodness for small mercies), so undoing it wasn't too hard.
But the moment the noose came loose, the towel above unraveled completely. Tashiro Kurenai's upper body lost its support. She gasped—and then gravity did its thing.
Here's a fun fact: when humans feel weightless, they instinctively grab onto whatever's nearby. And the only thing nearby was Kuroha Akira, who was still holding her legs. So as she fell, she wrapped her arms around him like he was a life-sized plushie.
And because of their... interesting positioning, Kuroha Akira ended up as her landing pad. She basically face-sat him. His nose went straight into her—yeah, that area.
Last time it was a face-wash. This time it was a face-butt.
Is this my reward for saving someone?!
This whole situation triggered a flashback to when the class president had dropped her skirt over his head. Back then, he'd only dared to smell—not touch. But today? He'd accidentally made full contact with Kurenai-san's... um...
Actually, wait. It smelled a little... fishy?
Then he remembered something he really wished he hadn't.
People who hang themselves often lose control of their bodily functions. Even though he'd caught her legs in time, she might have still leaked a little "holy water" from the sheer panic.
Oh no. Oh no no no.
Tashiro Kurenai felt it too. Her face went bright red—like, tomatoes-have-nothing-on-this red—and she quickly spread her legs and scooted off him, freeing her human cushion.
Kuroha Akira sat up and wiped his nose with his sleeve. The faint scent of "holy water" still lingered in his nostrils. Great. Just great.
But what was he supposed to do? Complain to the girl who'd almost just died? Yeah, no. That would make him the biggest jerk in the entire isekai multiverse.
Instead, he got up, retrieved the high heels he'd dropped in all the chaos, and placed them in front of her.
"Let's head back, Kurenai-san. I brought your shoes."
But instead of thanking him—or even acknowledging the gesture—Tashiro Kurenai, face still burning red, bit her lower lip and shuffled backward on her hands and bottom like he was some kind of monster.
"...Kurenai-san?"
"Don't... don't come any closer!"
What the heck?!
Now he looked like he was trying to... you know... do things to her. Which was absolutely NOT the case.
Kuroha Akira thought back to this very same shrine—the place where he'd first run into Shinomiya alone. He'd had zero bad intentions then, and he had zero bad intentions now. He wasn't some saint, sure, but he wasn't a criminal either.
If something was consensual, fine. But one-sided forceful stuff? That was straight-up villain origin story material. He fully supported chemical castration for those garbage-tier scumbags who couldn't control themselves.
But Tashiro Kurenai wasn't acting rationally. She didn't thank him for saving her life. Instead, she crawled away from him in terror—literally crawling, her stockings tearing, her knees scraping against the ground, leaving faint streaks of blood behind.
She crawled all the way to the altar in the main hall of the shrine and prostrated herself, kneeling and begging.
"Gods... please... just... just let me disappear..."
Her voice cracked with pain and despair. Then it dissolved into sobs.
"Why... why do I have to keep existing...? If you gods already brought a better me into this world, then why leave the broken one behind...?"
"Why can't you just erase me...! Let me disappear!"
"I... I don't want to be here anymore..."
Kuroha Akira scratched his head. He still didn't fully understand why she'd hit this breaking point. So he walked closer—but kept about five meters of distance, just in case she panicked and bolted again.
"Hey, Kurenai-san... why are you thinking like this? Is it because I asked you to be Shion's manager?"
Silence.
He pressed on. "If it's really causing you that much trouble, then forget I ever said it. Just... please don't do anything this extreme again."
But the truth was, that request was just the trigger. The fuse had been burning for a long, long time. She'd already been overwhelmed—way before he ever opened his mouth.
Tashiro Kurenai knew she'd caused Kuroha Akira a ton of trouble. And despite him saving her, she was still acting so ungrateful. The guilt was eating her alive.
Kuroha Akira was a good person. She knew that. She'd seen it.
She should have been able to get along with him... but she couldn't. Because she was too scared. Too terrified of getting hurt.
She hated men. She hated people. But right now?
She hated herself the most.
That's why she wanted to disappear.
If she wasn't there anymore... everything would be fine. Right?