After multiple desperate and increasingly futile attempts to free the pencil, Isshun had eventually sighed and given up.
It wasn’t like Permeation where it would get pushed out.
His working theory was that, due to his Personal Reality, anything occupying the same space as his teleportation target would be displaced somewhere else. Possibly the so-called "11th Dimension."
Or, in simpler terms, violently erased.
So yeah. No more experimenting until he actually understood the mechanics behind the formula.
While relying on the Organic Chemistry Tutor was good, it couldn’t really compare to actual professors. So this inevitably led to the rabbithole of searching for recorded college lectures.
Staring at a screen this long is definitely going to mess up my eyesight...
After an hour of dense explanations, Isshun stretched his short arms, let out a tired sigh, and hopped off the chair.
Juice sounded good right about now.
Halfway to the kitchen, an unexpected sound echoed through the house.
Beep-Beep!
’A guest?’
With an eyebrow raised, Isshun deigned to ignore the ringing door, making his way to the door viewer his parents installed on their home.
...A child?
Well, he supposed he couldn’t judge. He was a kid too.
’Are they the new neighbors who are moving in this week?’
He remembered the family next door had moved out after having their fourth child, opting for a bigger house.
’Damn were those kids loud as hell...’
Snapping out of the memory of endless hero-and-villain games, Isshun focused back on the girl outside. She was inspecting the door with unrestrained curiosity, knocking lightly on the wood and peering at the frame.
’This looks like the type of person I’d not want to hang out with.’
Not that he had much room to be picky. The number of friends he’d had in his previous life could be counted on one hand.
Still...
’She looks really familiar though...’
Sifting through his memories of My Hero Academia, Isshun could somewhat remember who the person in front of him was.
Nej—something. Nejima? Nejimi? Nejire? Man, he really sucked with names.
Even with that nagging familiarity, Isshun didn’t open the door. He was home alone, and while his parents trusted him, he wasn’t about to do anything that might get them labeled negligent.
It wasn’t like his parents were actually negligent, they cared for him, and played with him quite a lot even if it was onesided. It was more of mutual trust.
And damn it if Isshun wouldn’t uphold his end of trust!
Besides, being home alone was easily a top-five life experience.
Even if he couldn’t remember Nej-something’s exact personality, her hyperactive demeanor was pretty obvious—
Wait.
Where did she go?
Isshun leaned closer to the screen. The periwinkle-haired girl was gone.
’Is she a fucking anamatronic, moving away while I’m not looking?’
After a moment, he shrugged and turned back toward the kitchen.
’Guess that solves the problem. At least I can delay meeting her until my parents get home and do that whole Japanese new-neighbor greeting thing—’
THUMP!
...Huh?
Isshun looked around the house.
’A ghost?’
A chill went down his back. Even though Isshun knew that ghosts couldn’t exist, it didn’t stop him from being scared of horror games.
But the question was quickly answered with another thumping noise, coming from the kitchen window.
There she was.
The periwinkle-haired girl hovered unsteadily in midair, supported by glowing yellow spiral waves of energy twisting around her legs and back. The energy pulsed unevenly, pushing her up in short bursts rather than smooth flight.
She was clearly inexperienced. Every few seconds, she’d tilt too far and overcorrect, wobbling like a fish flopping out of water.
But despite the clumsiness, she looked thrilled.
With a wide, beaming smile, she waved enthusiastically whenever she managed to stabilize herself for more than a second.
Isshun just stared.
"...What the hell?"
--<>--
A/N: Here’s the second Chapter. I very much like Nejire. The end. idk about harem, but who knows. Also kind of like a very big info dump, so sorry about that.