I Joined the Sentai Heroes Who Were Beautiful Girls Other Than Me but the Heroines Were All Yanderangers

2. Appointed as Philance Blue!!

“We’re here, Sora.”

When we arrived at our destination, she tried to enter the store while still carrying me princess-style.

“Ah, that, wait a minute! Put me down already!”

It would be embarrassing if someone saw me like this.

“Hm, I guess so.”

She reluctantly put me down.

“Well then, let’s go in.”

――――Jingle――――

The old-fashioned bell hanging on the door rang as it opened. I hadn’t seen the outside of the store, but judging from the interior, it seems to be…

“A used bookstore?”

As I entered the store, the musty scent to used bookstores wafted through the air. I hear that some literary girls like this atmosphere, but I don’t really get it.

“Welcome… Oh, Akane?”

A woman who had been typing on a laptop at the counter stood up.

“Hm? Who’s that next to you?”

She looked to be in her late twenties, with long, wavy hair that was aemon.

“She’s a good and honest girl. That’s why you brought her here without much explanation, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes.”

“How much have you heard?”

“Umm, that she’s Philantrophia, that her real name is Akane, and that for some reason she’s interested in me. Or rather, something strange happened at the station earlier, but what was that all about…”

“I see, you yourself had wandered into their lair.”

“Lair?”

“Alright, let me explain one thing at a time. But before that, I have a promise and a question for you.”

Dr. Gentian’s frivolous demeanor from before had completely changed. He was now looking at me with a serious expression.

“Umm, what is it?”

“As you know, we heroes keep our faces, the secrets of our abilities, and even what we’re fighting for a secret. You may have guessed it from the rumors circulating online, but we use our connections with television stations and the government to regulate information. In reality, it’s become difficult to keep our identities a secret thanks to individuals sharing information, but even so, the public doesn’t know who they are or how they fight. What I’m about to tell you is related to the truth of that, so I need you to promise that you won’t tell anyone.”

Information regulation, I had certainly heard such rumors. It was certainly strange that despite all their activities, no television station had been able to capture any conclusive footage of them for years. Moreover, some of the videos taken by individuals and uploaded to YouTube in Recent years had been taken down by the administrators immediately after being posted. I had guessed that there must be some powerful force at work behind the scenes.

“If any important information leaks from you, we won’t be able to leave you alone. Do you understand?”

“…Yes, I understand.”

From the beginning, I had admired Philantrophia, I was a so-called fan. That’s why I had no intention of doing anything that would put her at a disadvantage. This threat only made me more determined.

“So, what’s the question?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Dr. Gentian smiled broadly.

“Sora, do you have anyone you’re currently dating?”

“…Huh?”

An unexpected question caught me off guard.

“Umm, does that mean whether I have a girlfriend?”

The drastic shift from the tension of before to a comical high school trip-like conversation was too much for me to keep up with.

“Yes, that’s right. Or is there a girl you have a crush on? Oh, it doesn’t have to be a girl.”

“Eh, no, there isn’t…”

Just to be clear, I’m attracted to women.

“I see. So you don’t have a spouse or a girlfriend?”

“Unfortunately… not since I was born.”

I’ve had the unfortunate title of age equals years for nineteen years now. It’s embarrassing to have such a beautiful and s*xy woman expose my lack of romantic experience like this.

But wait, why did he suddenly ask me if I had a girlfriend? Normally, he wouldn’t be interested in the romantic relationships of a man he had just met. Could it be that he’s interested in me because he’s interested in her?

“Umm, why are you asking me this?”

When I looked at her again, Dr. Gentian was mature, intelligent, and had a mysterious beauty. She works in a used bookstore and has a respectable job as a doctor for a sentai hero team, so I think she’s more than ten years older than me, but she’s still attractive. When I think about it that way, I get nervous.

“Why do you want to know if I have a girlfriend?”

I asked with anticipation.

“Because I’m thinking of appointing you to Philantrophia Blue.”

“…?”

Another unexpected statement.

“I understand, it’s scary to fight. You don’t think you have any special powers in the first place. Unfortunately, Sora, you don’t have the aptitude to be a hero like Akane or the other members of the team right now .”

“Umm… then why me?”

In the first place, can heroes really be decided like this, like appointing a part-time leader?

“You don’t have to fight. Just stay by Akane’s side.”

“??”

“Akane needs someone who can support her mentally. And after searching all of Japan, you’re the only one for the job!”

I don’t understand at all. A normal college student like me supporting the national hero, Philance Red? That’s ridiculous.

“As you know, Red has a higher dispatch rate than any other hero. In fact, she works several times harder than the other members. But as you can see, she’s just a girl when she’s not in costume. Don’t you think it’s difficult for her to keep fighting?”

“Well, yes, that’s true, but why me…?”

“Because Akane likes you.”

“Really!?”

I knew she treated me a little specially, like she was interested in me.

“Unfortunately, Akane is isolated within the team. You will become Philance Blue, Akane’s confidant, and if possible, you will help her get along with the other members. You’re the only one who can do that since you’re Akane’s favorite .”

Before I knew it, my sweaty hands were being gripped tightly. Dr. Gentian’s white, chemical-roughened hands were wrapped firmly around mine.

“Normally, this would be my job as their commander and guardian, but as a superior officer, I have a difficult relationship with the heroes. There are some things I just can’t do.”

“Y-yes.”

“As I said before, you don’t have to put yourself in danger at all. It’s better to have Akane work a little harder because you’re there than to have you try your hardest when you’re not suited for it.”

I don’t know what the criteria are, but it’s a little painful for someone who dreams of being a hero to be told over and over that they’re not cut out to be one.

“Besides, you might be able to change the other members…”

“Huh?”

I think there was something eerie in his tone just now.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about that yet. Anyway, will you help us save Japan?”

Being scouted by a shady doctor to become a hero who saves Japan might be the dream of any boy who loves superhero teams. In fact, I think I would have said yes without hesitation if I had been offered this job normally. However, I’ ma little hesitant because my job is not as a combatant but as a support for the hero’s mental health. I don’t even know why Ms. Akane likes me in the first place, and I’m not good enough to be the emotional support of a hero who puts her life on the line every day just because she likes me a little.

“…Can you give me an answer right away? In that case, let’s talk about what you saw at the station and about our enemy.”

He let go of my hand with a snap and crossed his arms with a calm expression.

“You must have seen a mysterious shadow at the station today. You may have also noticed that the station layout was different than usual.”

“Yes, it was as if the station platform was looping. I kept walking, but I couldn’t reach the exit.”

“That’s because you wandered into the Shadow’s Nest.”

“Shadow?”

“I call them that because they look like shadows, but I don’t know if they actually have a name. They always appear as black shadows somewhere on Earth. However, ordinary people can’t see them.”

“Huh? Then what I saw was?”

“When a Shadow appears, it creates a small space nearby, a Shadow’s Nest. As you saw, it can sometimes resemble the original world. However, unless you happen to be there at the exact moment the nest is created, humans can’t enter it. In other words, you were unlucky enough to be there at the exact moment the nest was created, like winning the lottery.”

So that’s what happened. I managed to be incredibly unlucky.

“And the Shadows that grow in the nest affect our world. As you know, the train derailment that happened last night was caused by a Shadow that grew on the tracks. If a nest appears on a road, it causes a traffic accident. If a nest appears on a road, it causes a traffic accident. it appears on a mountain, it causes an avalanche. If it appears in a building, it causes a fire or a landslide. Many of the unexplained disasters and accidents in Japan are caused by Shadow’s Nests.”

“I see. So that’s why the heroes go into the nests beforehand and defeat the Shadows.”

“No, that’s impossible.”

“Huh?”

Now that I think about it, the news last night and all the heroes’ past exploits have been about them physically resolving the situation at the disaster site. I’ve never heard any eyewitness accounts of them fighting mysterious shadows.

“As I said before, humans can’t enter a Shadow’s Nest once it’s been created. That goes for heroes too. That’s why we can only stop the disasters that have already happened.”

“I see… Wait, but Ms. Akane appeared in front of me earlier and defeated that black shadow.”

“Yes. That’s why we have to rely so heavily on Akane. Right now, we have four members: Red, Green, Yellow, and Pink. Like all the heroes who came before them, Akane is the only one who can enter the nests .”

“Why is that?”

“…To put it simply, her power is amazing.”

“Her power is amazing!?”

The explanation is too vague.

“It might not click with you since you’ve only seen Akane, but she’s out of the ordinary. If she can just find a nest, she can force open the wall-like thing between the nest and the gap in our world’s dimension and get inside.”

I don’t really get it, but Akane-san is amazing.

“Well, unless a human gets mixed up in it like this time, it’s difficult for us to find the nest beforehand. Think of it as a matter of the detection system’s convenience.”

“I understand.”

“By the way, did you hear the Shadow’s voice in the nest?”

“Ah, it was saying things like ‘testify’ and ‘left to die’ and ‘it wasn’t suicide’.”

“Hmm. This is just my guess, but the Shadow’s true nature is human resentment. It’s something that’s built up from grudges and regrets. In this case, it’s probably the resentment from a human that was killed on the station platform and treated as a suicide, and the grudge from no one around testing even though they must have been pushed.”

“How should I put this…it’s a surprisingly minor incident. I can’t imagine it being big enough to cause a derailment accident afterwards.”

“Each one is just a minor thing like a grudge against bystanders who must have seen the murder scene but didn’t testify to avoid trouble, but when similar feelings gather from many places, a Shadow is born.”

“Is that how it is?”

I still don’t quite understand, but I can’t help it since I can’t even fully grasp the fact that such a fantasy reality is mixed in with our daily lives. As I was listening to the explanation, the staff room door opened.

“I changed.”

Akane-san appeared, changed into casual clothes of a hoodie and jeans. When Akane-san sees Dr. Gentian approaching me, her expression suddenly changes to a fierce one like a wounded beast.

“Hey, you’re getting too close to Sora.”

Both Dr. Gentian and I instinctively flinch at the husky voice. However, Dr. Gentian must be used to dealing with Akane-san, because he smiles and raises both hands in surrender as he steps away from me.

“My bad, but I was scouting Sora, so it can’t be helped, right?”

“Scouting?”

“Yeah, I asked him to join the Philance Blue.”

The doctor looks at me and winks. This is…

“So, Sora will become my comrade!?”

Akane-san’s eyes light up, and her expression brightens. The sharp expression when we first met, the sharp expression that was full of hostility just now, and an innocent smile that makes her seem like a completely different person.

“Um, I haven’t given my answer yet…”

“Are you scared? It’s okay, I’ll protect you. I’ll defeat all the bad guys, and all you have to do is watch. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

I couldn’t help but nod at the pressure of Akane-san, who was getting excited and talking a mile a minute.