On the Way Home
“I’ll just leave this here.”
“Good work, Oda. Go ahead and grab yourself a drink on the way home.”
“Thank you, Sensei. I appreciate it.”
After school.
My first job as class representative was to deliver all the collected summer homework to the staff room. Once that was done, I left the school and started heading home.
I stopped by a vending machine near the school store, bought a drink, and strolled along the peaceful route home, enjoying the scenery without the worry of monsters attacking me.
“Japan really is peaceful…”
This morning, I’d been too distracted by figuring out my classroom’s location and trying to remember the names of classmates I hadn’t seen in what felt like five years and one month (five years in the other world plus a one-month summer break) to appreciate the view.
By the way, I bought a cola.
“Ahh, this is so good… It’s been ages since I’ve had that fizzy sensation in my throat. They had beer in the other world, but no non-alcoholic carbonated drinks.”
I tried beer once out of curiosity, but it was so bitter and disgusting that I never touched it again.
So having a fizzy drink for the first time in five years was incredibly refreshing.
It really drove home the fact that I was finally back in peaceful Japan.
The September sun in the afternoon was still blazing on my walk home.
But thanks to my hero skills, my body automatically regulated its temperature, so the heat felt like nothing more than a mild warmth.
“Is it really okay for me to bring such an overpowered skill into modern Japan?”
I thought about it for a moment.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I mean, I saved an entire world. I’ve earned this.”
Deciding to treat it as my well-deserved reward, I gratefully enjoyed the perks.
With my cola in hand, I kept strolling leisurely until I reached the station.
It was the nearest JR station to my school, where students commuting by train caught their rides back home.
Of course, since I walked to school, it didn’t mean much to me.
It just happened to be along my route.
As I passed the station, I looked around,
“Oh, that used to be there… And this place hasn’t changed a bit.”
Feeling nostalgic about my hometown after five years away, I continued past a convenience store near the station.
That’s when I spotted a familiar face in the convenience store parking lot.
It was Hasumi-san, who had ended up sitting next to me after today’s seat shuffle.
She was also the vice-representative of our class and my supposed partner in handling class duties.
But at the moment, she was with two guys who looked like trouble.
“Or rather, it looked like she was being hassled by them. A pickup attempt, huh? Well, she is really cute, after all.”
One of the guys had grabbed the handle of her school bag, and they seemed to be arguing.
Naturally, there was no way I, a former hero, could ignore something like this happening to a classmate—and my seatmate, no less.
“Hasumi-san, is everything okay? Are you in trouble?”
I walked over and called out to her.
“Ah, Oda-kun…”
She looked visibly relieved, her expression softening.
“Huh? Who the hell are you? We’re just having a friendly chat with this girl here. No need for some random outsider to butt in.”
One of the guys—a tall blond delinquent—narrowed his eyes and glared at me.
His pants hung low on his hips, and he wore gold earrings and a gold necklace, giving off a flashy but sloppy vibe.
He looked every bit the stereotypical troublemaker.
“Yeah, exactly! Get lost and stop bothering Aniki!”
The shorter, dark-haired guy chimed in, backing up his friend.
Of course, I wasn’t about to let some flashy punk intimidate me. I’d fought and defeated the Demon King, after all.
“I’m her classmate. I’m not an outsider—we sit right next to each other.”
“Huh? Her classmate?”
“Can’t you see she doesn’t want to be here? Let go of her bag, and I’ll pretend this never happened.”
“What did you just say? ‘Pretend this never happened’? Who do you think you are, acting tough just ’cause there’s a girl watching?”
The blond delinquent finally let go of Hasumi-san’s bag, but then he grabbed me by the collar, pulling me close.