Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies Chapter 109: Worm

"Second period is P.E. class. Everyone, head to the gym!"

The class representative called out to the students.

Conveniently, Haruto had just finished checking the train schedules he needed.

Closing the notebook and handing his phone to Suzu, he stood up and followed the others toward the gymnasium.

The bus leaving Itomori Town wouldn't arrive until noon, so for now, he could attend class properly.

Watching Mitsuha from behind, Suzu fell into deep thought.

"Today, we will be learning about basketball. Who would like to volunteer for a demonstration?"

The P.E. teacher announced the lesson plan while scanning the students.

He was looking for soone who didn't know how to play basketball to serve as an example for instruction.

This way, it would be useful for teaching and also relatively easy.

Eventually, his gaze landed on a girl with a single ponytail tied with an orange-red hairband.

She looked like she had decent athletic ability.

But as for basketball skills?

Well, most girls didn't really know how to play, right?

And so...

"Miyamizu Mitsuha, step forward and demonstrate. I'll correct your mistakes."

Haruto: "?"

Being randomly called out, Haruto reached out and caught the basketball.

Looking at the encouraging gaze of the P.E. teacher, Haruto hesitated for a mont, then started dribbling.

"Alright, it looks like Miyamizu has so basics down. Everyone, try to spot the mistakes."

"Hmm, dribbling is stable, wrist positioning is standard, oh? A crossover, followed by an in-and-out..."

At first, the P.E. teacher was explaining as he observed.

But very quickly, he beca numb.

What kind of dribbling skills were these?

Even though the actual ga hadn't started, the P.E. teacher had a feeling...

This girl could probably get past him as easily as crossing an empty street in the morning.

The smooth, fluid dribbling left the entire class—boys and girls alike—staring in shock.

Suzu slightly parted her lips in surprise.

Huh?

My best friend is this cool?

She had no idea when Mitsuha had mastered such godly basketball skills.

"Well... The dribbling seems fine. Next, let's move on to shooting. Shooting is a crucial part of basketball."

"Miyamizu Mitsuha, please demonstrate a shot..."

Before the P.E. teacher could even finish his sentence—

The girl gathered the ball and shot without the slightest hesitation.

The problem was... they were still outside the court, nearly at half-court distance from the hoop.

The P.E. teacher was about to tell her not to shoot from there, to at least move to the three-point line first.

But then—swish!

A crisp sound echoed.

The basketball went straight through the net, nothing but net.

The P.E. teacher was completely stunned.

"Mitsuha! That was amazing!"

Suzu excitedly hugged Miyamizu Mitsuha.

Even though she didn't know why Mitsuha was acting so strangely today...

She was just so cool.

Suzu's heart pounded.

"Suzu, aren't you exaggerating a bit? Was it really that..."

Mitsuha's tone sounded a bit sour.

From her first-person perspective, she couldn't fully appreciate how cool her own actions had looked.

Besides, this was her body!

Just because it had a different user now...

Why didn't she ever get this much admiration before?

Mitsuha clearly saw that her best friend's eyes were shining with excitent. And the other classmates especially the girls, were looking at her with admiration.

This was a strange new experience.

"By the way, I still don't know your na. Why do you know mine?"

Mitsuha was growing increasingly curious about the person inhabiting her body.

This guy... felt completely different from any other boy she had t.

Haruto couldn't respond at the mont.

Suzu was still nearby, and talking would seem strange.

And honestly... wasn't Mitsuha a bit too carefree?

After the initial panic of being possessed, she was now chatting and joking around like it was nothing.

P.E. class quickly ended.

Haruto had a rare chance to enjoy a basketball ga.

Using his own body, he couldn't feel this kind of exhilarating exhaustion. And his well-practiced basketball skills didn't have much use in his usual life.

But the consequence of Haruto's fun—

Now, the boys in the class looked at Mitsuha with deep respect.

And many girls were giving her affectionate glances.

It was easy to predict—

From now on, Mitsuha might receive invitations from other boys wanting to swear brotherhood with her and call her "big bro."

She might even start getting love letters from other girls.

After class, Haruto tidied up and prepared to request a leave of absence from Mitsuha's horoom teacher.

It was ti to depart.

Suzu, looking worried, accompanied him.

"Mitsuha, are you really leaving? This is practically running away from ho! Is there so special reason?"

Haruto thought for a mont, then said:

"I need to et soone."

Suzu's mind imdiately flooded with wild guesses.

"Could it be... a boyfriend? Mitsuha, are you running away for love? This is just like a light novel!"

Haruto chuckled and didn't explain further.

anwhile, Mitsuha complained:

"I don't have a boyfriend! Boys are too immature! Ehhh... though you're a bit different, but still!"

Their footsteps echoed down the hallway.

Then, all of a sudden, they stopped.

This wasn't in front of the teacher's office.

It was just an ordinary stretch of the hallway.

What made them stop was the scene outside the window.

"What is that?"

Suzu's eyes widened in shock, pupils contracting as she pointed at the distant sky, her voice tinged with fear.

Haruto followed her gaze.

Through the corridor's window, they could see the distant sky illuminated by a dark red glow.

In the sky, an eerie, massive worm-like entity writhed.

The dark red form stretched from the distant ground toward the heavens, growing thicker and more unstable.

It swayed in the sky, as if it could collapse at any mont.

What is that?

Haruto wasn't sure, but he could tell; it wasn't a physical entity, but so form of energy. When that energy crashed to the ground...

Sothing bad was bound to happen.

There was no doubt, this was an anomaly.

"Mitsuha, you see that, right? That..."

Suzu started speaking but suddenly clutched her head in pain.

Haruto imdiately reached out to support her.

"That's the Worm! The gate has opened! We have to stop it, we must stop it!"

Suddenly, Suzu blurted out cryptic words.

Haruto frowned.

Worm? Gate?

"You know what that is?"

He asked in a low voice.

Suzu was still holding her head, as if in agony.

"I... I don't know. So mories... I think I've seen the Worm before. Anyway, we have to stop it!"

Suzu's state made Haruto think of so kind of psychological trauma. Because she had experienced imnse pain, her body had instinctively sealed away those painful mories.

And now, recalling them once more, the pain was unbearable.

"I understand. Let's go."

Haruto said decisively.

Hearing this, Suzu's eyes widened.

Her words just now must have sounded like complete nonsense. Surely, no one would take them seriously. No one would understand, right?

Yet, the person before her accepted and believed her without hesitation?

This feeling of being trusted made Suzu's heartbeat suddenly accelerate. At this mont, Haruto quickly ran toward the teachers' office.

Without hesitation, he pushed open the door and barged in.

Among the many bewildered teachers, Haruto imdiately found Mitsuha's horoom teacher.

"Sensei, I need to take a leave of absence. Please mark down for three days of sick leave."

The middle-aged female teacher was just about to get angry when she saw a flash of red light in Haruto's eyes.

The illusion of the Sharingan activated.

"Alright."

Following Haruto's words, she recorded Mitsuha's three-day sick leave.

"Also, lend your car."

Haruto pushed further.

The female teacher, her eyes vacant, handed over her car keys.

Taking the keys, Haruto grabbed the utterly dumbfounded Suzu and ran out of the school.

"Mitsuha, how did you... convince the old hag?"

Suzu was completely lost.

Moreover, she quickly realized another issue.

"Mitsuha, do you even know how to drive?"

"I'm a skilled driver, a veteran." Haruto patted his chest confidently.

...Soft. And rather well-developed.

Mitsuha's family clearly wasn't particularly well-fed, yet sohow, her developnt was a bit beyond her age.

"Hey!"

A mortified voice echoed in Haruto's mind.

Haruto awkwardly laughed and brushed past the matter. Opening the car door, the two of them got into the female teacher's car.

Haruto skillfully started the engine.

With the car roaring to life, the two of them sped toward the distant calamity, the ominous red Worm Wrath.

On the road, Suzu finally started to process what she was doing.

Skipping class... to save the world?

anwhile, Haruto frowned as he looked at the massive, dark red Worm Wrath in the sky.

"Suzu, can you explain the Worm and the gates in more detail?"

Suzu, hearing the question, tried her best to recall those hazy mories.

Her head began to ache again.

However, given the urgency of the situation, she ignored the pain. Large drops of cold sweat trickled down her face...

Just then, a hand rested on hers.

That touch filled Suzu with warmth.

Unexpectedly, she cald down.

The once-blurry, chaotic mories gradually beca clearer.

Suzu opened her eyes and glanced at the person beside her, her heartbeat unconsciously accelerating.

If she were alone in this situation, she would probably be panicking.

But with this person by her side, she felt strangely reassured.

Suzu couldn't shake the feeling that her familiar best friend didn't quite seem like the Mitsuha she knew.

"The Worm is a manifestation of disaster energy from the Netherworld. It represents calamity itself. Normally, the Worm is sealed in the Netherworld. It only escapes when a gate is opened. If we don't close the gate in ti and the Worm touches the ground, it will trigger a massive earthquake."

Suzu sorted through the information in her mories.

"My... my mother was a Gatekeeper, responsible for sealing the doors between the Netherworld and our world."

"But ten years ago..."

Suzu's voice gradually weakened, choked with emotion.

(A/N: For the sake of the plot, Suzu's family background has been modified, essentially swapping the male lead's backstory from Suzu no Tojimari onto Suzu.)

Even though she hadn't finished her sentence, Haruto already understood the situation.

According to records, Japan had experienced a nationwide earthquake ten years ago. The casualties had reached astronomical numbers.

Moreover, that earthquake had stopped earlier than expected, as if soone had forcibly ended it.

Otherwise, the death toll would have been several tis higher.

Now, based on Suzu's story, her mother must have stopped that disaster. And the reason Suzu lost her mory...

It was likely because her mother sacrificed herself to stop the catastrophe.

Silent, crystalline tears fell.

At this mont, words were aningless; listening and companionship were the best forms of healing.

Outside the car, the scenery blurred past.

The massive, sky-darkening Worm was now seemingly within reach. Ahead, the road was no longer passable.

A vast ruin lay before them.

It was the remains of a town abandoned after an earthquake.

And the Worm had erged from here.

Haruto opened the car door, stepped out, and looked up at the Worm. His eyes turned blood-red, and the black three-pronged tomoe spun rapidly.

Kamui activated.

Haruto attempted to use space manipulation to cut the Worm Wrath apart.

For a mont, the Worm's middle section was severed.

But soon, it reconnected.

The Worm was a semi-physical energy entity; its true nature was energy itself, making direct attacks ineffective.

Suzu also got out of the car, her eyes still slightly red, but now filled with determination instead of confusion.

The two exchanged glances before rushing into the ruins.

Leaping over broken walls, jumping across fallen power poles.

Haruto recalled the records about Itomori Town.

Three years ago, Itomori Town had experienced a significant earthquake. However, the magnitude was relatively small, and there weren't many casualties.

Only one person had died.

Haruto recalled the report and unconsciously glanced at Suzu.