My Seatmate is Apparently My Wife from My Past Life; She Still Loves Me in This Life as Well

Kamidama clung tightly to me from behind as I followed her directions, navigating through a maze of winding roads. Although spring had arrived and the days were getting longer, it was hard to call it bright after 5 PM.

It wasn’t completely dark, but the time felt more like evening turning into night. Despite this, we showed no signs of reaching our destination and seemed to be heading towards increasingly deserted areas.

I started to worry, thinking, “Is she going to kill me?” But Kamidama, oblivious to my anxiety, said,

“Ah, here. Stop here, Nagiura.”

I slowly braked and came to a stop after advancing a bit. I looked around, but there wasn’t a single building that looked like a library.

Huh? There’s really nothing here. It’s just a residential area… At best, there’s a single café. And that’s not the one we visited the other day.

Even though Kamidama, who frequently catches “past-life waves” and is a bit crazy, wouldn’t call a café a library… So it must be one of these houses, then…

“Kamidama! You tricked me, didn’t you!?”

“Ahaha, I knew you’d say that. But I’m not lying, there’s definitely something like a library here.”

“Did you just say ‘like’ a library?”

“Come on, let’s go, Nagiura!”

“Wait a minute? What about my question? Hey, Kamidama?”

Kamidama, humming a cheerful tune, grabbed my hand and skipped ahead.

She’s trying to bulldoze through this with sheer force…!

I can’t allow such tyranny! I psyched myself up, but then Kamidama suddenly stopped. I ended up bumping into her slightly.

“Whoa. Hey, Nagiura, it’s bad manners to hug someone all of a sudden.”

“Can you reflect on your own actions with those words in mind?”

“Well, well, more importantly, we’ve finally arrived at the library!”

“Don’t brush it off and try to move on! Hey… wait a minute?”

I was about to protest more, but Kamidama silenced me by placing a finger on my lips and lightly shushing me. She indicated for me to be quiet.

I obediently swallowed my complaints, though I couldn’t understand why.

It wasn’t my fault; Kamidama was just too good at shutting me up. Where did she learn to be so efficient at silencing people?

Is this what they call the difference in human caliber…? I wanted to ponder seriously, but before I could, Kamidama said, “Be careful and follow me,” and disappeared—no, wait. Stairs!

A narrow set of stairs going down was discreetly placed right next to the café. Because it was dark, I hadn’t noticed them.

Looking again, I saw Kamidama’s back descending the stairs.

…Yeah, this is scary. I really don’t want to go down there…

It’s like a horror game scene.

I considered just leaving her there and running away, but that would be too heartless.

Reluctantly, I steeled myself and took a step down.

Fortunately, there weren’t many steps, and I quickly rejoined Kamidama, who had already reached the bottom.

“Ahaha, sorry. I should have kept holding your hand.”

“No, it’s fine. If we were holding hands, it would be troublesome in an emergency.”

“What kind of emergency are you worried about…?”

Even in the darkness, I could sense Kamidama’s exasperation. She said, “Well, that’s just like you,” and placed her hand on a door.

The solid-looking door opened with a heavy sound.

Inside was surprisingly like an actual library.

Despite its small size, the well-maintained entrance was brightly lit with soft orange lights, boasting a cleanliness unexpected for a basement location.

Moreover, there were even staff members present. One of them smiled at me, who had been dumbfounded.

I had seriously been trembling with fear, thinking this was some sort of horror game scenario, and the contrast left me blinking in surprise.

Kamidama, slightly mischievously, squeezed my hand.

“See? I told you, it’s a proper library.”

“It’s so proper it’s scary. Why is it in a basement? What do they think of their patrons?”

“Well, I heard it’s a privately-run library. The basement location is just the owner’s preference.”

“That makes sense…”

Indeed, if it’s privately run, it’s understandable. I’d never heard of a privately-run library before, but it’s not impossible.

It must be something only the very wealthy can do, but well, there are plenty of such people in the world.

There are even people rich enough to buy Twitter, after all.

The world is a big place.

“It’s a library filled with the owner’s hobbies, so just being here is fun.”

“That makes me even more uneasy… There’s no traps or anything, right?”

“It’s not a haunted house, it’s fine~”

“Stop talking nonsense and let’s go,” Kamidama said, pulling me along. Her confident steps indicated she was a regular here.

We walked through the small entrance and into the main library.

There were a few other users besides us, but we seemed to be the only students.

Well, given the location and time, it’s no surprise.

Not that it mattered who else was here—there are limited things one can do in a library.

Reading, studying, doing research—these are all solitary activities.

I didn’t know the closing time, but with this many people, there must be plenty of time left.

For now, we should act separately. All right! I’m going to enjoy finding new books today! I thought, starting to walk away, but Kamidama’s hand didn’t let go.

I whispered my confusion to Kamidama.

“What? I was about to go on a quest for new encounters…”

“You sound like someone going to hit on girls! No, no, it’s late, so I thought we could eat something first.”

“I don’t mind, but… wouldn’t it have been better to stop by somewhere on the way?”

“Hehe, you’re too naive, Nagiura.”

She whispered, “I told you, this library is filled with the owner’s hobbies,” pointing to a door.

Above it hung a sign with the word “restaurant” written in hiragana.

That’s too much freedom… Stop calling it a library.