Yumemiru Danshi wa Genjitsushugisha

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50. East and West

Gathering devoted followers. In order to achieve that, using those who stand out as an advertisement to expand your followers isn’t a bad move. I can understand why she would go for Natsukawa───

“───But, that’s a bad move.”

“…What did you say?”

I subconsciously blurted out what I was thinking.

I said it in a low voice, it should look as if I was talking to myself, Yeah, it should be okay, I can still take it back…. or not, I guess she won’t let it pass by.

“Somehow, I heard some unpleasant words… May I ask what’s the reason?”

“Natsukawa is standing out too much. If you were to have her become your advertisement, the others will just think “Eh? Natsukawa-san isn’t the candidate, but that girl?”, you know?”

“W-What did you say…!?”

“As your average male student, I can guarantee that. If you take in Natsukawa, you’ll just get overshadowed. And just be a side character.”

She looked at me in disbelief. Her eyes saying, “What the hell do you mean?”. But, even without me explaining it further, she should understand it herself already.

It’s true that she has a good mix between a foreigner and a Japanese face, so she looks good with that blonde hair. And between cute and not, she’s cute for sure, so she must be stand out too. I’m sure Claumaty could do it herself with these looks. But, if there’s someone even cuter next to her, she’ll lose all her effort until now and back to the starting point.

“Natsukawa is cuter than you.”

“───!”

Claumaty’s mouth opened and closed, as if she couldn’t believe what I just said. Perhaps in her mind, she was screaming “Seriously!?”.

The other two girls behind her were equally giving “Aren’t you being too much?!” looks, but after they looked carefully at Natsukawa, from bottom to top, I could see their temples were throbbing.

How is my Natsukawa, hmm? She’ll overshadow her, don’t’ you think so?

“M-Marika-san… ! She──Natsukawa-san is from the ‘east’! You shouldn’t meddle too much with her!”

“T-That’s right…! We from the ‘west’ should use the “west” way, we should elegantly gather your followers!”

“…….”

Claumaty’s legs were shaking, and she looked angry.

She must have lost her words because of my unexpected response.

You’re too shallow-minded, if it’s just this much, you won’t be able to use Natsukawa to your advantage. Well, I’m sure you just want to use her to run away from troublesome things, right?

“─── Fu, fufufu…”

“……!”

Claumaty who trembled a lot, showed a forced smile, and the “small fry” atmosphere I felt since earlier had gone, her eyes changed to a curious one. She immediately directed her “You’ve got my attention now” looks over at Natsukawa, from the bottom to the top.

“─── Hiii…!?”

──But, Claumaty realized that Natsukawa had suddenly frozen on the spot. I was getting ready for the worst but, I got curious, so I looked at the end of Natsukawa’s line of sight, and finally understood the reason.

The entire class, or at least almost all students of class c, had gathered at the doors to the classroom, inspecting what we were doing outside. There were those who looked at Claumaty like she was a bother.

Yeah, this is bad, she can’t win over them now… I mean, she totally seems like the bad guy here. Well, her request was unreasonable from the very beginning.

“M-Marika-san… we should…”

“R-Retreat for now…”

“Urgh…”

The three were panicking. Especially the two behind Claumaty were desperately trying to convince her to leave. They probably didn’t want her to stand out in a bad way.

Seriously, I wonder what’s the story of those two, to be okay with being her henchmen…

“…..Then, we’ll be taking our leave here.”

It couldn’t be helped that someone like me participated in this matter. After all, you chose the wrong person, Claumaty. You tried to pick a fight with Natsukawa, who won against you in both looks and personality, not even counting her grades which were close to yours.

Well, this is the expected result. You just get what you deserve.

“Sajo-chi, Sajo-chi.”

“Hmm…? E…”

Ashida, who had been a spectator, slightly showed me a wry smile, pointing in a certain direction. When I turned in that direction, there, I saw Natsukawa, covering her face with both her hands, quivering. Somehow, it looked like she was blushing all the way up to her ears…

“Eh, what? Wha’ happen?”

“Well, this is your fault, Sajo-chi. Cause, you said something crazy like that without batting an eye.”

“Something crazy…?”

“You just called her ‘cute’.”

“Huh? Natsukawa heard enough of that, right?”

“T-That might be true, but… Being told this openly in front of everyone without any hesitation… I’m sure she doesn’t know how to react…”

“Cute”, I’ve said that word countless times, and everybody around us should be aware that I feel that way. There’s no reason for me to be embarrassed if just saying that to her now. I mean, Natsukawa’s gotta be used to that too by now, right?

“… Can you consider the time, location, and situation? Oh my gosh!”

“But, I’ve said it almost everywhere and every time, so should be okay, right?”

“Sajo-chi. It’s because you’re like this… aahh, seriously!”

Eeehh… Don’t be suddenly angry with me. it’s scary, you know…

Right as I felt terrified of Ashida’s attitude, I felt someone pull on the sleeve of my shirt. Turning around, I saw Natsukawa with a flushed expression.

“…….D-Don’t you say something embarrassing like that…”

“Cute.”

Natsukawa being embarrassed near Sajou Illustration

“!!…D-Don’t look.”

“This is, same as always.”

I don’t need that analysis. Also, what’s the difference… ah, is that whether I have an ulterior motive or not? Does she feel happier if I say it with a straight face? Leave it to me, If I can make her happy with this, I’ll say it again and again, with a cool pose.

COOL POSE!!!

Cu─── Don’t glare at me like that, Ashida…

“─── W-Wait a second, Amano!”

“……..”

“I-I told you to wait, did you not hear me!?”

“Eh, ah, me? eh? Amano…?”

Right as I wanted to go back to the classroom, Claumaty called out to someone.

Amano, you better respond quickly

…But when I turned around, she was actually looking directly at me.

Eh, me? Amano…? It happened so naturally that, I didn’t catch the wind of it, But, it seems I’ve become Amano? I wonder why do you think that I’m, Amano… Wataru Amano… That isn’t half bad…

“Are you sure about this!? Even if you’re more elegant than me, the ones to win in the end are those who act!”

“Yes? Eh?”

“I will definitely become the next student council president! For that, even if it’s against the “oh-so-cute” Natsukawa Aika-san there, I won’t lose!”

Claumaty left these words behind, and walked away with the other two girls. Leaving aside the case of her aiming to become the student council president, trying to win against Natsukawa’s cuteness would be futile, rather I felt bad for her and started to worry about her.

“….Claumaty…”

“Claumaty? Who?”

“Eh…?”

◆

After overcoming the troublesome time called end-of-term exams, what immediately came was a disturbance.

I wonder what exactly she means by that ‘west’ and ‘east’? I thought that maybe she was talking about the separation of classes, since class A to C were in the east building, and D to F were in the west building… but is there some tradition in this school that I don’t know…? I thought they did the class separation randomly.

But, this clearly is some kind of discrimination. I thought that this was Claumaty’s identity to say that sort of thing, but the two with her were strangely so prideful of it. Maybe, something happened at the time they enrolled, maybe there was this special circumstance when separating the class?

“There was.”

“There was huh… Really…?”

Iihoshi-san told me like it was nothing. I mean, she somewhat looked like someone who knew a lot of things regarding this school, so I asked her, but to think that she really knew something.

…I underestimated her. Please do your best as the class prez, in the future as well.

“You know, there’s a lot of famous companies around here, right? After making it through the residential district, across the train station, There’s the business district.”

“Aaah, now that you mention it.”

“Also, this is a High-level private high school… For a high-class family, a child’s academic background is to determine the family’s social standing. And, you know that this school is pretty old, right?”

“Yeah, I heard about that.”

Now think about it, at the back of this school, there is an old traffic circle that connects to nowhere…. Right when I enrolled here, I had my hopes up thinking that this might be connected to the train station.

“Then, you can say this as the nature of people from Showa era… Before, the three classes were split into east and west, I mean, you would want to separate those from investors’ families and those who aren’t, right?”

“ ‘Right?’, you say… Ah, that’s why they keep talking about “east” and “west” .”

Isn’t that proper discrimination? Those people’s parents probably have the thought of ‘Plebeian families are snoots’ or something like that to some extent, right? Well, again, it seems like the teachers were treating the students with…out any discrimination. Yeah, just normal.

“But, Class D to F are still three classes. Do we have that many children from rich families here?”

“Hmm～… It seems like, it’s mostly only class E. The others are just those with affiliated relationships I think…”

“Huh? I don’t really get it…”

“Elegant.”

“Eh?”

“The “E” in “Elegant”, is probably the connotation behind this. Though, it’s only a rumor.”

“Eh?”

What are you trying to tell me here, I don’t get it… That’s, the reason? I can’t feel any “High-class” from that reason, it’s so dumb. That’s gotta be some investor getting carried away and just randomly spouting that, right? Don’t say it comes from the school itself, no way right…

“Well, speaking in terms of era, such a thing has been fading for sure, especially this last one or two years.”

“Huh? But, we have some rich students here, perhaps the country put their eye on this school?”

“No, just because the ‘east’ has always been stronger recently, that’s all. In terms of natural virtues, unity, appearances, and grades.”

“Isn’t that an overall victory?”

“When I saw the discipline committee president and the student council vice president, I was certain. They’re both ‘east’.”

“Right, I can definitely see the discipline committee president belong there.”

“Eh…? Hmm, both the discipline committee president and the student council ───”

“Yup, the discipline committee president.”

So that kind of history went down at this school, huh. I thought such a story only existed in a drama or manga. The staff office and the social studies prep room, were in the southern building. The music room and the home-economics room, were in the northern building. Since I never had anything to do in the western building, I didn’t even conscious about it.

“It’s a story that rarely been brought up, so maybe some students from the “East” and ”West” are on the same club? Then again, those rich boys and girls who have been going to school Door-to-Door (By car) since a child, such a pampered kid who has been living their lives mostly indoors, I can’t imagine them joining the sports club.”

“I-I see…”

When I was in elementary school, I went to school by car. Should I hide this from her? I mean, I’m not in a club either, somehow it hit me on the mark… Yeah, it’s me, one of the pampered kids.

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TN: While I’m busy with many things, including editing the old ch of this series (It’s really need much efforts), You may be want to read my other series that I may do, Here (If you like Yandere, you may like it)

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49. The late rival

Upon finishing my business at the toilet and returning to the classroom, I saw a weird group of three standing in front of the door.

Ah, they’re the group of three from before.

The door of class C was slightly opened, and they were crouching down to take a peek inside. On their uniform, I could see the neckties belonging to the first years. Perhaps they weren’t doing anything bad, but it was the group of people with that blonde-haired girl, so it couldn’t be more suspicious.

Sure, this might be different from the hallway in front of the student council room. There were usually normal people passing by here. Only coincidentally, this time, the hallway was empty, with only me and those three here.

Yuuki-senpai ain’t here, you know? Even if you are acting like stalkers, bending over like tha──Wait, bend over?

…H-hooo? Now that I get a closer look at them, their position right now sure seems quite suggestive… Shit, my legs are frozen. Why though? Oh right, lately I’ve been exhausted mentally, and I’m sure my instinct has been whispering my body to focus on healing it.

Can’t help it…… I’ll use my secret technique───Snail pace…!!

“So that woman is “Aika Natsukawa” huh…”

“What’s your business with Natsukawa?”

“Hyaaaaaaa!!?”

“Kyaaaaaaa!!?”

“……!!?”

What did that woman just say? Aika Natsukawa? Since she has a grudge towards my Sis, I’ve put her on my watch list, and now she even put her eyes on Natsukawa? Want me to tie you to the back of a bicycle, and do some circles on the sports grounds? Haah? Want me to turn that blonde hair back to black? Haah?

“Ah, uh, emm… COUGH!!.. Could you not suddenly call out to us like that!?”

“…..Ah”

Being asked that question, I came to my sense. Why did I even call out to them…? I knew that this would only bring more trouble for me… Why did I react this much just because I heard the word ‘Natsukawa’ from her mouth? Oh my, perhaps did I still like Natsukawa that much…? Oh yeah, I sure did.

Let’s calm down a bit. Now that I’ve returned to my senses, it’s an attack chance to breakthrough through this situation. No, I probably shouldn’t attack.

That’s right, be normal. Let’s react as normally as possible. I already met that blondie in front of the student council room. Since she doesn’t seem to be like my Sis, I should take off my name-plate from my uniform, and be calm, yes, calmly… Wait, did I jokingly use some sketchy polite language before?

“It has been a while, my lady.”

“E-Eeeh…? Ara… have we met bef…?”

“We have met once in front of the student council office before. At that time, you had a troubled face and were peek──”

“Wah! Waaah! Waaah!”

“You were peeking inside. It left a deep impression on me!!”

“Why did you still say it!?”

Any stalker actions are. bad. For sure. I won’t back down… the world has to know about these evil deeds…! And then, the embarrassed face of beauties like them will be revealed to the world!! Fuhihihihi!

“Marika-san was… peeking inside the student council room? Didn’t she meet Yuuki-sama…?”

“I guess so… they’re fiancés apparently.”

“T-That’s right! As the fianceé, This I, need to be next to Hayato-sama’s side at all times! B-Back then, I was going to spend the lunch break with him…”

“Despite that, you sure have something against the student council vice pre───”

“Waahh! Waahh!”

JUMP!! JUMP!!

The blondie jumped up and down in front of me, trying to silence me. Now you’re not that suspicious anymore… I’ve never imagined that you’re such an interesting person.

So, is her grudge towards my Sis something like a secret? At times like these, as a rival, wouldn’t you just broadly announce it, blaming her, then pull the mass to support you? That’s unexpected.

Now that I think about it, my Sis must have met the K4 way before I even enrolled at this school. Perhaps, it’s already too late for a rival to appear here. Not to mention that my Sis is a Senpai, moreover two years above her.

“G-Grrrr… As expected of the ‘east’ side. Unlike the ‘west’ side, you don’t show a single shed of consideration towards a lady… That’s why I hate those from plebeian families, who don’t even know how to spell society!”

“Hah?”

Leaving aside the whole blabbering about plebeian families… East side? West side? What’s is that? Did we have that kind of differentiation at this school? For sure this school has a courtyard in the middle, so the school seems like being split into an east and west part, but… are you not allowed to set foot on the other side?

As I was pondering on Blondie’s words, the door the three were peeking inside at suddenly opened.

“Hyaaaaa!?”

“── What are you doing…”

“What happened, Sajo-chi?”

“Eh? Natsukawa? And also, Ashida?”

“Aren’t you easy to understand〜, Sajo-chi. Haah?”

The shocked three girls, The annoyed Natsukawa, The pissed while still smiling Ashida and sometimes me too.

Oh right, things got pretty noisy, huh.

Natsukawa somewhat looked me in the eyes, somewhat didn’t, somewhat disturbed, but also suspicious at the same times.

That eyes, it’s been a while huh… Thank you very much!

“What kind of situation is this?”

“These three said they had some business with you, Natsukawa. So, I interrogated them.”

“Don’t talk like a gangster, can’t you….”

How rude. Ah, perhaps, you think that I picked a fight with them? Even though I interrogated them because my instinct always told me to protect you, Natsukawa… Though, I doubt you really need any protection from small fry like me.

“Ugh… A-aika Natsukawa-san! I have some business with you, you hear me?!”

“Umm… what could that be?”

“Just because you have excellent grades, being on the 2nd rank of the student year, and a bit cute──…Actually, you really are cute…”

“Eh? T-Thanks…”

Nice!

That’s a bit of a confusing development, but I still gave a thumbs-up. Perhaps, because I got to see daily flirting between Natsukawa and Ashida, I felt like a new taste starting to develop within me.

Being able to observe this up so close is an honor for me. I can’t wait to see more pushing and being pushed… yes.

“S-Since you’re a bit cute and have sufficient grades, I shall grant you the right to support the first rank of the student year, which is me ─── Marika Claudine Shinonome!”

“E, Eh?”

“Why don’t you cheer her?”

“Eh? Umm… Do your best!”

“Nooo! That’s not what I meant!!”

SLAP!!

“Ouch, sorry. I’m sorry!”

For some reason, I was the one being hit.

Well, I was playing around a bit after all. But, Clau…Claumaty? You are wrong about one thing! Natsukawa isn’t just ‘a bit cute’, she is ‘Super cute’!! F**king Cute!

COUGH!!

Claumaty cleared her throat, and faced Natsukawa again. Following that, she pointed at her.

“I want you to support me! So that this I, become the next student council president!”

“Eh, student council president…? Can you even become the student council president as a first-year?”

“── Let me explain it!”

“Woaah!?”

Another girl of Claumaty’s group, a girl with straight black hair, stepped in front. But, Claumaty’s attitude that looked like a boss saying, “Tell her”, had me a bit annoyed. And yet, I felt like even without me doing anything, she would just self-destruct.

“All official positions of the student council can be recommended and applied for, no matter whether you’re a first or second year. This school also gives freedom for the election campaign. Anyway, one with the most votes will be elected in the end.”

“Hoo, a walking student handbook.”

“Fufumph.”

“Ka-Kaoruko-san…? I don’t think he was praising you, you know?”

Hearing my words that I just so happened to blurt out, Kaoruko-san showed a satisfied expression. Well, I could understand her feeling, she must be happy getting such an honest response back after delivering such an elaborate explanation. I had a similar experience after all.

“Even so, a first-year student is generally at a disadvantage. After all, the school’s ins and outs are something that you understand as you spend more time at this school. That’s why, most of the time, the candidates would be someone from the second year, well, it’s the trend set by the students themselves. So, a first-year student is having a hard time to even be a candidate.”

“Trend huh…”

Basically, those who don’t follow the trend will be excluded, that’s how the world works… I get that, but is there even someone else who would be willing to put up with the pain of becoming student council president? Ah, I can think of one person.

“Wait, Isn’t Kai-senpai will be the one…?”

“He mentioned that he has no plans of becoming the student council president. If that is true, then nobody else amongst our senpais who is popular and has good achievements, who want to attempt to become the student council president.”

“I see.”

So, Kai-senpai, doesn’t want to be the student council president huh? If so, then I don’t know who would become the next student council president. In the first place, I don’t know any of the 2nd-year Senpais either.

“Even so, there are about 240 students in the second year at this school… so once the election period arrives, there will surely be someone else applying for this position. That’s why I need to gather as many followers as possible until then… So that I become the next student council president.”

I see, her plans make sense. Most students at high school, usually don’t take stuff about the school too seriously, even if you make a really good speech and pledge at the election, the majority won’t suddenly show interest in choosing you. Even so, the easiest way to gather votes ── is to be known by others, I guess? Anyway, you need to sell your name, and have the students remember you, after all, most students will give votes to someone they recognized.

That’s why, the person who becomes everyone’s idol can grasp victory all too easily. That’s how a normal election at school works.

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I’m editing the old chs of this series, so for now, I’m prioritizing that over releasing new ch, after I’m done with it, I’ll release this at a better pace (Perhaps)…

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48. Entangle with class prez

Now that the results for the end-of-term exams were announced, all that was left was to wait for the lunch break. I was getting excited waiting for it.

…Still, do I really need to report these grades to my parents…? Since I got good results last time, and I was bragging about it, but now…

…Yeah, Let’s keep quiet about it if possible.

Finally, lunch break arrived.

Today, I rarely enough bought a lunch box. Natsukawa and Ashida both told me to eat something better after all.

What’s wrong with sweet bun?… It’s cheap and delicious. Also, it’s not that bad for the body either.

After returning from the toilet, I headed to the center of the classroom──where Natsukawa sat. Before, when I went to meet Airi-chan, I happened to agree to her request in the heat of the moment. So, not like I was forced to go or anything.

───The day after I made that promise.

『”Huh? Sajo-chi, where are you going?”』

『”Hmm?”』

I bought some food at the convenience store, so I was about to head to the same usual bench in the courtyard, but then Ashida grabbed my arm, even though she was making her way towards Natsukawa’s seat. When I looked at her with a face saying, ‘What do you want?’, she just silently pointed over at Natsukawa. I looked over at her myself, and,

『”Ah──…….”』

Our eyes met. However, she averted them right away. An awkward mood filled the air.

At that time, I remembered right away that I said something before. To think I would actually forget something related to Natsukawa, I hated myself for that. Met with this deep regret, I couldn’t help but grit my teeth.

『“……Ah?”』

『“Aahahaー, Aichi really is popular.”』

『“……”』

Shirai-san and some other girls were sitting on the empty seats nearby Natsukawa, there── Sasaki came to talk with Natsukawa. Watching that, I really could tell that he liked her. I didn’t even need to think about this dead and cold feeling inside my chest in order to understand it. Becoming aware of that, I thought that the fact I could disappear from there was actually better for both of us.

『”Come on! You promised, right?! Sajo-chi!”』

『“Are your heads linked to her or something? How do you know about that…”』

Whenever I say something or do something to Natsukawa, there’s a big chance that Ashida learns of this as well. Well, they’re friends after all, so they probably exchange this kind of information very frequently. Seems like Natsukawa fully trusts in Ashida. Damn it, I never wanted to be a girl more than I do now…Isn’t Ashida more of an enemy than I am, Sasaki?

Either way, the two of us joined in on that group.

Ever since that day I visited Natsukawa’s place, I would sometimes and sometimes not eat with them.

Well, If I’m going there every day the others may assume, ‘Ah, he‘s clinging to her again’, I don’t want them to start avoiding Natsukawa again.

───With that being the case, I had my balanced food in my hand, and headed over to the center of the classroom. Seeing Koga and Murata showed disgusted faces in the corner of the classroom at the courtyard’s window side, I smiled satisfactorily on the inside, and sat on the outer end of the group.

So Natsukawa’s time has come huh… this means, I can’t approach her or Ashida that much, they’re just too popular.

“Ah, Sajou-kun.”

“Yo”

Iihoshi-san, She’s the class president, but, well… She’s just a normal girl. Personally, I will score her high. She has a straightforward personality to immediately cut off people who say vulgar stuff, she likes to take initiative to talk with others and gently creates an atmosphere for everyone else to join in, which just shows that she has the talent as a class president. As of late, I really started to realize that.

But, well, she’s not necessarily cute or especially beautiful. She can control the mood of the conversation, not giving a chance of going out of control to girls like Murata or Koga. You can get the chills that she will get rid of the obstacles in the ways she wants to do. According to a rumor I heard, there’s a message group established by the class rep, and you only get allowed inside if you’re a girl she accepts, I don’t know if it’s true but….. Well, it’s truly terrifying.

“Hmm… what a large household this is.”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s the Airi-chan boom now.”

“Eh?”

“The second group is, today after all.”

They’re gonna spoil and dote Airi-chan again, huh. That means that Sasaki was part of the first group. Fufufu, the truth is, ladies, you’re the third group. Did you know that the second group had gone there? It’s me, the VIP! VIP!

“Well, I’m going too. If I can meet Airi-chan, then I definitely want to.”

“Eh, really?”

“Because it’s that “Natsukawa’s younger sister”, a lot of people got interested in her, which is why there’s now more who want to befriend with her.”

“Marvelous.”

Sounds like some journalist’s analysis. Is she some kind of manager?… I’ve never thought that someone, other than me, was doing the Great Proposal of Natsukawas’s 100 friends ── Hmm? Is that the name of my plan?── Anyway, she planned to do it all on her own? Well, I figure that for Iihoshi-san’s case, it’s not just Natsukawa’s friendships alone.

“You’re trying to create a comfortable atmosphere in the class?”

“It’s not that big of a deal. I just didn’t want her to be the center of attention and be uncomfortable.”

“……”

Her smile had a mysterious scary vibe to it. Me, who relentlessly approached Natsukawa like a clown, and Me, who talked normally with Murata and Koga, at the end, “which side I am on?”…..

……Yup, let’s stop thinking too deeply about it. It’s bad for my heart.

“What about you, Sajou-kun? Lately, you sometimes and sometimes not talk to Natsukawa-san, so…”

Isn’t that pretty normal? What’s wrong with two acquaintances talking whenever they feel like it? I understand that it’s not like my normal self, I somewhat know what she’s trying to say, but sorry, me no speak Japanese, speak Engrish.

“Hahhaha, how can I break apart this kind of atmosphere? So, yeah, it’s just that it’s become harder for me to approach her, that’s it?”

“That’s a lie, something must have happened, right? Everyone feels the same way.”

“Are you serious”

Well, I guess that makes sense. I’ve been that clingy after all. If anything, I’m shocked nobody asked me until now. Maybe they’re being suspicious of me…. Using the reason of being ‘rejected’ as a premise… And then, what? It has become a matter of the police, you say? No way, Isn’t this bad?

“I’m innocent.”

“What are you talking about?”

I definitely did not dye my hands in any shady color. Trust me. I did dye my hair though. Oh yeah, this black hair of mine apparently was a big hit. I got many likes when I posted it on SNS. And comments like, I looked less flirtatious now. Well, They didn’t say that “It’s gone completely” though. Perhaps, I really did look that way from the start?…

…But, you may say I’m quite a single-minded person. Anyway, isn’t brown hair popular in high school nowadays? So, it should be okay, right?

Nah, forget about that, Natsukawa is more important. So, it’s finally time for her to show her true talent?… To think things would end up like this just because I stopped clinging to her. As of late, Natsukawa looks brighter and in a much better mood, and it feels like she’s speeding ahead of me. This must be her real strength as the goddess… How fearsome!

“But, Dad is happy.”

“Eh?”

This is good, yeah, this distance really is the best. I don’t understand a woman’s heart after all, be it Natsukawa or Ashida, no matter how much I try and figure out how to interact with them, they still get angry at me. So, supporting them from afar like this really is the most peaceful. Ah, that smile was cute.

“It’s good that you can have fun after classes. For both Natsukawa, and class prez as well.”

“Eh? Y-Yeah. Well, truth is, I’m looking forward to it. I heard about Airi-chan’s cuteness to no end from Shirai-san and Okamoto-san.”

“Right. But, she’s not just cute, she also has a lot of endur── Anyway, yeah, she’s really cute. That’s it, yep.”

── That was close…I almost said something unnecessary. Natsukawa gets very serious when it comes to her younger sister after all. I shouldn’t be leaking too much information like that. Not like anybody would understand, even if I told them that part of her younger sister. She only jumped at me after all.

Surprisingly, Iihoshi-san was quite a talkative girl.

◆

“A game… karaoke…”

The conversation grew more heated, conversing about karaoke, games, etc… Well, in a heated situation, sometimes when you realized it, you felt the urge to head to the toilet. So, slowly, went out of the room. It was pretty hard to go out without being detected by Iihoshi-san.

“…Hm?”

As I was walking down the hallway, I saw three girls walking towards me. Normally, I wouldn’t care about that too much, but one of them was so distinctive and stood out so much that I couldn’t help but stare. Once they had approached me a bit further, I saw the girls who walked at the most front had familiar flashy blonde hair. Seeing that, she reminded me of the one who was peeking inside the student council room before.

…Isn’t she Yuuki-senpai’s, the student council president’s, fianceé?

“As expected, here really feels plebeian. Like I’m living in the countryside, somehow they’re much noisier than us.”

“It can’t be helped, the students here belong to the ‘common families’ after all.”

They probably didn’t care about me at all, as they just walked past me, distancing themselves.

That direction…are they heading towards my class? Well, whatever. Right now, the toilet is calling for me. If I got hit in the gut now, I’d definitely fidgeting in instant, so let me get this done first.

---

So yeah, I had to take a sudden hiatus because of RL problem (C-19), I started Tl-ing again since 2 moths ago but well, I’ll continue this again now. slowly and steadily…
Yeah, I know the LN has gone far, the end of vol 5 = ch 137 of the WN…
As far as I know, there’s subtle change in the details of the story (like some dialogues and monologues) but overall the way it progress has not change that much, basically the same.

Anyway, enjoy….

---

47. My Idol is a Goddess

Motivation───No matter what position you are in, this is the main driving force behind every action. Children feel this motivation rise from deep inside their bodies, and show this on the outside by running around and around, whereas middle school students are entranced by their wild fantasies and tries to bring it into the real world, as this is their motivation (※Only some). Then, while you’re experiencing the transitional period called adolescence, you might awaken to the ‘unforgettable feelings’ to certain someone. And the ‘excitement and desire’ you feel while thinking that person will be the driving force for your actions. Especially boys.

In short, what I’m trying to say here…

“Being in love, sure is a crazy thing…”

With immature feelings, I looked at the paper in front of my eyes, to be exact the upper right of the paper.

“—65th, huh…”

With a heaving breathing like, “Huuuft Huuuft, haa…”, I somehow managed to pass this hellish end-of-term exams. It was so hard to a level where you started to feel pleasure from it. Aren’t all people above me masochists?

At the end of spring, we had the midterm exams, but well, in short, my rank has dropped. I remember I was 32nd. However, back then, studying didn’t feel as tedious as now.

I remember why. I had an iron will of ‘I’ll definitely go with Natsukawa’. If I wasn’t completely infatuated with Natsukawa… I wouldn’t have made it up to this excellent college-preparatory high school. Compared to the last time, I could see that the amount I studied this time was nearly not enough. Or rather, I just didn’t have any motivation.

If I were to take entrance exam here now, I wonder how it will be… I’m sure I got this rank 65th because of what I was makes the basis for what I am. Will I be able to even keep this position next time?… This is bad, I might have to be a bit more careful next time.

“Sajo-chi, how is your rank?”

“Haaa-wha-!?”

“Surprised!?”

When you suddenly coming from behind, of course I am. Oi, ‘me’, don’t just keep your paper open as if you want everybody else to see. Especially with Ashida, who will immediately come to tease if she sees the smallest opening, you can’t show it to her.

I glared up at Ashida, who leaped over her desk to look at my paper from behind. She must have realized how alarmed I was, as she slowly withdrew with a bashful laugh while saying, “Sorry, sorry”.

“I’m 74th!”

“Eh..”

Just when I thought she pulled back she suddenly revealed her own rank. Since she said it at a solid volume, I could pick that up easily, and that’s why I learned of Ashida’s rank even if I didn’t want to.

So, hmm, what? Is it that? ‘I said it first, so now say yours’, is it? …Right?

…Well, okay. The top 100 are shown on the paper in the hallway anyway, and as long as mine is better than hers, it’ll not be a problem.

“Here, it fluctuates quite a bit, you know.”

“Sixty──Well, it’s not that high… but, Sajo-chi, weren’t you even higher before?”

“I-I don’t remember.”

“Really? You’re shaking though.”

How does she even know about my previous rank… We’ve only known each other for two months back then, didn’t we? Is it her information network after all? The girl’s information network…? Eh… then, do the other girls know it too…?

“Huhー, I thought you’d be in the top 50 again, which is why I asked. This is pretty unexpected~”

“W-what a-bout you and your 76?”

“It’s 74. Remember that.”

“Yeah yeah.”

Seems like Ashida’s pretty proud about her own rank. I mean, don’t ‘Hmmph’ me, even though you’re bellow me, how can you be so proud.

“My previous rank! Do you remember it!?”

“Like hell I would.”

“220th! I made some great progress, right!?”

“So, you were an idiot, huh.”

“It’s in past tense! Since that’s the case, I forgive you!!”

Ara, she’s clearly in high spirits. Unlike me, she must have actually studied… I thought since she would be busy with her volleyball club, but I guess she’s also doing her best in this regard huh. Alright, I’ve decided. My motivation is to not lose against this girl.

“Yoo, Sajou! What rank are you? I’m 230 you know.”

This guy (Yamazaki) sure sounds happy.

◆

“Waaaah, ameizing.”

You think I was joking around? No, I was muttering to myself. These words came out of my throat before I realized it.

A few days passed since the individual grades were announced. The rank of the first-grade students was hung up in the back of the classroom. There were those happy to look at the rankings saying, “See, you see?”, those desperately trying to hide them saying, “Don’t look at it!”, and I decided to not care. I just want to forget about the existence of the exams.

The reason I let out these disgusting words was simply because I saw the name correlating to the 2nd rank. It was none other than our class’ goddess, our idol, “Aika Natsukawa”.

Yeah, as high-spec as always!

I think that during the last mid-term exams, she was like 27th whereas I was 32nd. Well, it because I clung to her even during the exam studies… at that time, I was close behind her in terms of grades, yeah, I was stalking her even in that regard.

With this test, she was awakened, awakened Natsukawa. Nobody could stop her any longer. I mean, this is seriously amazing. Seems like I really got in the way of her studies, huh. If I’m not mistaken, she wasn’t at such a rank back in middle school either.

“Ai-chii! Give me half of that!”

“W-What is it!?”

Of course, as the top of the class, Natsukawa was surrounded by everyone else. Normally, I would have been the first person to be there. But as I’ve no courage to be that aggressive, watching her flustered face from afar wasn’t half bad either. Huft… haven’t you grown huh, Natsukawa. As a fan of yours, there is nothing that makes me happy more than this…

“Sajou.”

“Hum?”

Someone called out to me, so I turned around. Sasaki sat on his seat, looking down at me with a strangely proud face.

“W-Why are you in this class?”

“Well, I’m in my class too… Why are you treating me like an outsider.”

Sorry about that, I was just in a good mood, to the point I want to tease you. I think this might be the first time I feel so indifferent towards a handsome guy. Nope, just kidding. I hope that you only have white rice with you for lunch today.

“What’s up, Sasaki. Did it finally get stolen from your little sister?”

“What exactly!? That’s not it, it’s about the exam results!”

Whaa-, it’s not related to his little sister? Impossible…

As I was thinking about something unnecessary like that, Sasaki pointed at the paper with the student rank on it. When I was searching for his name, I found it at a rank much higher than mine.

“29th…not bad.”

“Right? And you went down by quite a bit, Sajou. Couldn’t keep up with your studies, hmm?”

Urgh…what’s this guy, are you provoking me!? Even when you have that annoying attitude, how can you look like someone from a painting, you damn handsome bastard!

This is an alarming situation. For the unpopular group of students, the only thing they can use as a weapon is their knowledge in liberal arts ───in other words, studies. I can’t accept that this would be stolen by some handsome bastard from a soccer club. Alright, now I’m even more motivated!

“All passes from someone like you should just end up in the offside…!”

“You really said something terrible huh…”

Weird. No matter what I do, I can’t see us in the same sumo wrestling ring.

Must be because of the motivation. The reason he’s suddenly so cocky is because he wants to compete with me for Natsukawa, right? In the first place, even our starting line is difference, there’re too much gaps in talent, don’t you realize it? Not to mention that I got rejected over and over. You’re too high in specs alone, so could you not go all out…

“…It’s great to boast about yourself, but if you want to impress Natsukawa, something like rank 29th isn’t nearly good enough, don’t you think so?”

“Uuurgh…”

That girl, she is in the second place in the entire student year after all. Even if you won against me, that doesn’t mean anything. If anything, this road is like a path of thorns, you know? If you can’t even take the top spot, bragging is useless. Damn, that’s harsh…

Also, talking about that, that first place’s name is super long… There’re even English letters mixed in there… Maybe some exchange student? Would make sense why that person so clever.

“Well, just give up on studying, and focus on your soccer career. Just don’t miss any PK¹s, okay? Don’t miss the PK.”

“That doesn’t mean I can just give up with my studies ── Wait, are you trying to put pressure on me right before the big tournament, you bastard…?”

Wait, Sasaki’s a first year, and yet a regular? Stepping further than his Senpais like that, if he doesn’t treat them well, their envy and jealously will be too much to handle. Scary. Well, Sasaki should be fine, he has a reassuring sister called, Yuki-chan, with him after all!

---

---

46. Shocked by how dark it is

Natsukawa put down Airi-chan with a worried face saying, ‘You sure…?’, so I gave her a thumb as an ‘Ok’. Airi-chan walked towards me, opening her arms wide while saying ‘One more time〜’. I crouched down to meet her line of sight.

“Alright, here it comes!!─── Oryaaaー!! ah, Rasha-se-!!” [TN: When a customer come into a restaurant in japan, the worker will say this. it’s a short term of ‘Irashaimase’, which mean ‘welcome’ and mostly used by the worker in a ramen shop]

“Kyaaa~♪!”

“Stop it, you’re not a part-timer in some ramen shop…”

Airi-chan seemed like she forgot about being sleepy already, and raised a loud happy cheer. All of this was a new experience for me, so when I saw how fragile of an existence she was, I felt the urge to ‘protect her’ dwell up inside of me.

So, is this what it means to be a father…?

“Huff…”

“Ah, she ran out of energy.”

After around eight seconds, young lady Airi started to lose her strength.

Perhaps this last ‘dynamic carry’, was out of loneliness rather than actual enjoyment. It was just like when you enjoyed something and suddenly felt, ‘I want to do it once again for the last time’.

Also, seems that humans really became heavier once they ran out of strength. Just because I relaxed my arms, Airi-chan started to lean over. The pressure that I suddenly felt on my chest, it scared me. I couldn’t move freely…

“Well, you can treat her a bit more roughly, don’t worry. Just, I won’t forgive you if you were to drop her.”

“A-ha-ha-ha, I’m just a robot, and it seems there’s a bug in my system.”

“Just because she falls asleep, it doesn’t mean that it’s okay to drop her. Airi isn’t a baby, but a young girl. She will not cry because it’s suddenly hot or cold, and she won’t cry even if you interrupt her sleep.”

“Fueeeeeeh!”

“Doesn’t mean you’re allowed to cry! And don’t imitate her!”

Oops, not good. Natsukawa’s motherly attribute hit me.

But… as expected, a girl who have a younger sister that still young is amazing. Just by taking care the younger sister every day, the future as a good mom is guaranteed.

I kept calling her a goddess before, but I guess the way I saw her was still too naive. I mean, right now she is getting even closer to a goddess. No wait, how you call it….. a divine being?

Anyway, I’m still way too far of being able to take care of someone like her. At least it’s impossible to the current me.

◆

Normally I would have excused myself like I always would, but Natsukawa… she was persistent on seeing me off.

For her to go that far, somehow it made me feel embarrassed…

“Well, you know… I just realized that your girl power… Femininity? is pretty amazing. It’s like, I don’t mind if you become my Mom instead.”

“Hey, stop it. Somehow it sounds disgusting.”

“Thank you very much.”

“I wasn’t praising you!”

It was the same before, but… no matter if what I said annoyed her or not, Natsukawa will always response. I’m sure that’s one of the biggest reasons why she didn’t just leave me aside for the longest time… Normally, you’d just ignore that right…? Aahh….. What a Goddess…

“Unrelated to Airi, what if you do something to your head? I remember that you’re worried more about this before.”

“Sorry, but the only thing my head could evolve into is to get a savant syndrome. Wait a moment, let me get struck by a lightning once.”

“I’m not talking about what’s inside… I was talking about your hair color!”

“Ah, this?”

A brown color hair with the roots looks black, I said that I ‘two-toned’ it just because it sounds cooler, but as expected it’s probably unsightly to look at. Especially during the summer where the heat is annoying enough, to see something half-baked like this, will only makes you even more annoyed, I guess.

“Eventually, I’ll do something about it.”

“mm…..Well, I’m not going to force you, but it’s better to do it as soon as possible, you know? I feel like it’ll change your impression by quite a bit.”

“I’ll take a detour at the drug store on my way home.”

I don’t know why, but it feels like Natsukawa is quite persistent at a lot of things today. I can’t help but to say yes to her words… it’s like I could feel, ‘Do something about it soon, or something bad will happen you piece of shit’, kind of pressure coming from her. And since she said it this far, if I don’t come to school tomorrow with a new dyed hair, I will get minus points from her.

“By the way, between brown hair and black hair, which one do you prefer, Natsukawa?”

“Eh, but earlier…”

“Well, that’s what Airi-chan prefer.”

“H-Hmmm…..”

“Ah….so?!”

I just asked on a whim, but Natsukawa seemed to have taken that serious, and approached me with a stern gaze.

What am I, some mannequin? Is there something stand out about me?

Natsukawa was not even thinking about the distance between us and kept staring at me.

…Well well, I’m just a normal person, it’s just like what you see now, Natsukawa-san. Aaah, your scent… it’s…

At the end of a lot of thinking, she answered me without changing her expression.

“──I think either way is fine…”

“You can’t do that to me.”

“Ah… b-but…”

“Hm…?”

Natsukawa’s gaze wandered all over the place, and she continued after a bit of hesitation.

“If you had brown hair, hmm… I might have not called out to you back then.”

“Wat…”

‘Back then’ ──is she talking about the first time we met two and a half years ago? Ah now that I think about it… a bit after we met, she said something along the lines of ‘I thought you were more of a serious guy’. Well, no one will say that to a guy with this kind of hair after all.

“…So then, I’ll color it, the color of your preferences, black.”

“I-It’s not like that’s my preference or anything…”

“Well, I don’t really care either way, so I’ll choose the one that leave a better impression on you. anyway, see you tomorrow…”

“Wa….”

I wave my hand at Natsukawa, turned my back on her and was ready to head home, only for her to stop me. When I turned back, she showed a different expression from when Airi-chan was with us, grabbing the sleeve of my uniform, perhaps it was starting to become like a habit for her.

Well, let me say this… can you stop giving me a ‘Direct attack’ with this kind of gesture? Do you plan on killing me? You really want me to die young…?

“──T-Thanks a lot for today…”

“So…”

So cute!… welp, this is bad, I almost blurted out my feelings. If I said that now, it’d definitely ruin the mood. Thanks god… my throat could control itself.

“D-Don’t worry about it. I got to meet the legendary Airi-chan after all.”

“L-Legendary…”

Natsukawa showed a salty expression.

Crap, it might sound unpleasant to her. But, since I only saw her in a picture before, I couldn’t help but think ‘Does she really exist?’, you know. Well, I understand the reason why she didn’t want me to meet her until now… If I was in her position, I wouldn’t want to show that cute younger sister to a stalker (me). The only reason I was allowed to today is because we have known each other for more than two years, and also perhaps because she could see me as her ‘friend’.

Though I felt the urge to tease her, since the distance between us was already so bad for my heart, I didn’t do that.

And so, just as I told Natsukawa, instead straight back home I headed to the drugstore to buy hair dye.

◆

“───Yikes, this really stinks.”

“We already finished dinner, so isn’t it fine? Got permission from Mom as well.”

“At least close the door of the washing room…”

I wonder why the scent of the hair dye is pretty bad like this. Can’t they make it more of a fruity scent? I can’t even pinch my nose because of the vinyl gloves on my hands. And now I have to stay like this for twenty minutes, huh….

While taking out a brush, Sis looked at the instruction paper I put down next to the sink, reading the words on there.

“Hm? Dark brown? You gonna make it black?”

“…It really is black, huh? I would have been fine going back to black, but they didn’t have any… I-It’s not like I bought it because ‘dark brown’ sounded cool.”

“This is pretty much black, especially in the beginning, it will look pitch black.”

“…..?”

Hmm? Black is black, right? So, there’s something darker than black…? That sounds cool. My chuunibyou soul felt like it was lit in a burning flame, as Sis walked in circles around me and frowned. [TN: ‘Chuunibyo’ is basically when you’re so delusional about having some special power, this mostly happen in middle-schooler that’s why it’s also called as ‘8th grade syndrome’]

“You’re so suck. It’ll end up uneven.”

“Ehhh…?”

“Move. Get outta the way.”

Sis walked between me in the mirror, took out gloves from the drawer, and ──Wait, Rubber Gloves…? I got a really bad feeling about this… is it just my imagina──Ah, hey…!

“Your roots are black, so don’t do it this arbitrarily.”

“Ahhh! Ouch Ouch! Oi, you’re too rough! You’re going to pull my hairs off!”

“It’s fine as long as you don’t end up bald, right? Everything in this world is hereditary, you’ll be fine. Those who go bald will go bald, even if you try to prevent that or try some treatment to grow it back, something that won’t work will never work.”

Kaede dying Sajou’s Hair

Ah, hey, dear sister? You say it like you don’t really care at all, don’t you?! More than going bald or not, this is hurts so much, you know! it’s gonna be okay right?! Right?! Hey!? I don’t wanna go bald even if it’s just for a short time!!

A bit of time passed like that, when I saw a few strands of hair stuck at her gloves, which I looked at through the mirror, I couldn’t help but to feel sorry for my fallen hairs.

“─────See?”

“Y-Yeah, you’re right, it’s black… Isn’t it a bit too black?”

“Told you. Well, it’ll stay like this for a week. Though it’ll go back to normal after two days if you thoroughly wash them.”

The hair dying ended, and after washing plus drying it, my hair really looked black. However, it was an irregular kind of black. To a level where it wouldn’t even reflect light. I imagine it to be a bit more of a normal black… Well, as far as I touch it, they still feel the same way when I previously colored my hair brown.

The next day, Natsukawa said, ‘Ah, you dyed it’, and I died. ※I actually didn’t.

---

Author notes :

“Ah, you dyed it.”

“How is it? it looks good on me right?”

“…..I-I didn’t say that.”

(Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, so cute!!!!)

TN: so this is what most likely going to happen….

For the one who like seeing VTubers, perhaps you would enjoy this

---

45. She doesn’t know

“……”

“H,Hey… What are you so lost in your thoughts now.”

“Ah, well…”

My thoughts were running wild inside of my head. That must have led me to become quiet, which forced Natsukawa to ask me with a worried look. She put down Airi-chan, approached me, and gently shook my shoulder. Everything that was inside my head ended up jumbled, only to burst.

───The inside of my head went blank.

“H,Hey… say something.”

“Ah… hmm…”

I opened my mouth, but no proper explanation came out. I didn’t know what to say.

This isn’t me. Normally, I would come up with all sorts of idiotic thoughts. Why can’t that work at the time when I really need it…

“Don’t ignore meeー!”

“Woah?!”

As if to cut through the awkward atmosphere, Airi-chan leaped at me who was stuck. Since I was pushing myself up, she shoved me over, turning me around.

“Don’t bully Onee-chan…”

“I-I’m not bullying her! Definitely not bullying her!”

Airi-chan hammered her hands onto my chest, looking like she was about to cry. I was so anxious she might start crying for good, so I tried to make an excuse in a hurry. Since I didn’t have any experience about what to do in that situation, I was frustrated.

Looking over at Natsukawa, she had a similar confused expression as she stared at Airi-chan. It might have been subconsciously, but she also glanced over at me, her eyes watery──Oi oi oi oi, please no!!

“I-I’ll come to you next time! If you’re okay with it, that is! I mean, can I really?! Is that going to be okay?! Is this your final answer?!”

My head was still a mess, but I screamed as loud as I could.

To be honest, I think that I should not get near her yet when we’re inside the class… but well, I said it already, no turning back now I guess.

I’m driven crazy to this point because Natsukawa is different from ‘usual’.  In the first place, she was acting off ever since we left the school. That’s why, I need to bring her ‘usual’ back.

“I might become clingy again, you know? I might say something weird again that would annoy you. Even so, if you’re okay with this, I don’t mind come to you like before.”

Of course not. She should hate it if I go to her ‘acting like that’. Even if she thought of me as her friend even just a little, receiving so much attention from a member of the opposite sex she doesn’t even like must feel unpleasant. And yet, I always bothered her like that. Blinded by love, I couldn’t even realize that.

Perhaps, just like I had a habit to always cling at her, Natsukawa developed a habit to push me away.

That’s why, remember all of it now, Natsukawa. This me, who you rejected over and over and over, a stalker, a clown who—

“──…….That’s a promise, okay?”

“……”

…….

……What just happened? Don’t tell me, am I still dreaming?

I felt my sleeve being pulled. I didn’t know why Natsukawa do that, but one thing for sure was that she was not pushing me away.

So, this kind of bittersweet event can happen to me too? And not because somebody set me up?

If so, this is not a bittersweet anymore, it’s way too sweet. Just tasting this once, I might never forget the taste──It’s like drugs. This is what they call, ‘A moment of fascination’, where you start going crazy over heel towards the other person. I know that might be a happy time, but depending on it, it’s more like the start of the torture than anything.

“Ah…..”

I pulled on my arm and freed myself from the binding that was too sweet. At the same time, intense sadness filled my chest, but I tried to bear with it.

Calm down, Sajou Wataru. This isn’t ‘that’ kind of situation. Don’t trust it, it’s just your delusion. Remember everything you’ve done so far! See it from the broad perspective! Restraint yourself!

“…..Leave it to me.”

“W-What are you saying…”

“What are you sayingー!”

Hearing my majestic answer, Natsukawa showed a faint smile. I said it with a straight face, but I guess she could feel my majestic aura. Perhaps seeing that smile, Airi-chan also feel relieved, as she mimicked Natsukawa.

Hey now, stop hitting someone else’s stomach. Ah, hey──!

“───Darashaaaaa!”

“Uwarg…!”

A bit of air that was stuck in my chest came out at once. In the same breath, I picked up Airi-chan, and did the carry Natsukawa showed me before. Perhaps she found it to be fun, she started laughing hard…..Ahh… so cute.

“Hey, be careful with her!”

“It’s fine, I won’t put her in any danger.”

“Jeez…”

Horsey. Protects. Master.

That being said, I don’t want her to grow up the wrong way. That’s why this ‘dynamic carry’ is also a form of light punishment…..or so I thought. Well, if I punish her in a hard way, it will only lead me being hated. But more than anything, it will make Natsukawa sad, so what I could do now is to act as a good Onii-san for her.

“Hey, if you hit other people, you’ll make your Onee-chan angryー”

“I don’t want that!”

“I don’t want it either. That’s why you can’t hit others, okay?”

“Okay, I understand, Sajoー”

“Onii-chan.”

“Sajoー”

“…..”

…..well, as long as you understand it. Wait, now that I think about it, I’ve rarely can be in a higher position than someone else. And so fi this unreliable me, could be a person who teach someone else, then I’m happy. Please, grow up healthy and like Natsukawa, an intelligent and beauty per── it hurts, hurts. don’t pull on someone else’s hair too…!

“Heyyy, don’t pull someone else’s hair!”

“Ouch!”

I corrected her position, which helped me free myself from her grasp on my hair. She must have understood that what she did was wrong, as she didn’t try to do something so violent like that anymore. Since Natsukawa gave a worried expression, I quietly returned Airi-chan to her.

“Huft…..she sure is energetic.”

“Right… She’s not this playful with the other children at the kindergarten though. Maybe you’re just so easy to bully.”

“If that’s true, it sounds like my true nature being leaked, so can you not say it anymore, please?”

Easy to bully… Is it even fine for such a sad existence like that to be a part of this planet?…. No! Of course not! The other person is just a child! I’m sure that there must be something about me that she prefers over that certain handsome guy! Like how funny I am! Maybe I should ask her.

“Airi-chan, who’s more of a hottie? Takaaki or me?”

“What are you asking…”

“Hottie~?”

“What a wonderful education you are receiving.”

“I would never teach that word to her this early!”

You don’t learn about this word from someone else… Once you set foot into the outside world, a battlefield awaits you. With so much miscellaneous knowledge filling this world, it’s impossible to filter out which isn’t important for you. Yet, young lady Airi will not remember the new word unless she hears it at least 3 times in a day. What an incredible talent! While now my dear elder sister is being surrounded by handsome guys only to waste it, that was because when she was a child, she kept shouting ‘hottie’ ‘hottie’ without knowing the real meaning! She was so noisy you know! Anyway, it’s good for young lady Airi to know the meaning of that words from child!

“Who’s cooler? Takaaki or me?”

“Is being discouraged even a concept for you?”

“Takaaki!”

“Let’s study some more, okay?”

“I’ll smack you.”

Sorry, it just happened.

The atmosphere was so awkward before, but I feel like it’s improved drastically. Don’t think Natsukawa would gain anything from hearing what I feel deep inside of my heart. As expected, maybe our distance is a bit too close as of right now. Come on, look at me with a sharp gaze like usual, I’ll just melt like a slug. In fact, I feel like my brain is melting away.

◆

I realized that the outside was starting to turn red. When I checked the time, I judged that this was a great time to leave. Ah, I forgot that we’re in a season where the sun is still high.

“──Jeez~……”

“Huft… She’s still naive.”

“What are you talking about…”

Natsukawa showed me a dubious expression, as she had Airi-chan in her arms. She was fallen asleep as, I squeeze out all of her energy. At the mid-way, when she looked tired already, I provoked her and so she apparently mustered up the rest of her energy. However, a young girl has no chance of winning against a high school boy’s energy! Fuhahaha!

“It felt like you were the same age as her…”

“That just means our compatibility is good. Becoming a real ‘Onii-san’ like Sasaki is impossible for me.”

“Aren’t you pretty exhausted despite saying that…”

We somehow ended up doing practice in bumping into each other on the mid-way. According to Natsukawa, Airi-chan rarely got the chance to go all out like that with someone. Their father apparently was the type to immediately give in.

….Wait, why is she even trying to win against me in terms of strength…?

I personally was acting pretty considerate despite that. Even there was a joint mat on the floor, but doing those things were still dangerous. It was pretty exhausting to accept her in a way that wouldn’t leave her injured.

All you dads in this world…! Try even harder! Do your best!

“….. I think this is a good time for us to call it a day.”

“Ah… R-Right.”

“What, are you ‘reluctant to part’ with me….?”

“I-I didn’t even say anything…!”

Yeah, I knew. SAD

Just like Ashida said, I feel like Natsukawa was seeking out some kind of connection. If not, she wouldn’t have invited me here.

What should I do about this… Seriously, why did this kind of situation even happen…Even though I should have known myself that I can’t see Natsukawa as anything but my romantic interest…..

Just thinking about everything that happened today, I couldn’t help but feel complicated about it. Perhaps that came out on my face, Natsukawa showed me a troubled expression. But I let it past with just awkwardly scratching the back of my head.

Sure, Natsukawa is cute, and Airi-chan is also cute, but I feel that not even my exhausted mind could handle this situation much longer.

“……Sajoー…”

“Hm…?”

“Sajoー…… One more time.”

“Okay, got it!”

Seems like Airi-chan liked my special technique── ‘dynamic carry’. Be it with our ‘head-to-head training’ (temporally name), this girl seemingly really likes the thrill. I’m sure, she’ll definitely enjoy a rollercoaster… Can’t wait for her to grow up.

---

44. Pure Temptation

Visiting the house of a girl… it was like a dream come true event for every high school boy out there, and definitely not something that happened frequently. However, this happened to me, in reality. It made thinking that perhaps I was in heaven all along.

I was happy to be where I was now, but that was because I had not realized yet how exhausting it was to actually play with a child.

“──Forwardー! Sajoー!”

“Huff… huff…..”

“Horsey! Faster!”

“Y-yeeee…”

Out of breath, I couldn’t even give a proper answer. Yet, the 5 years old girl sitting on my back, as I was on all fours, raised her arm and slapped on my back energetically. Since we were in a child’s room, it wasn’t all that big in size. However, running around in circles like I had been doing for a while now, it felt like I had just finished going around the world.

“H-hey, are you okay…?”

“P-perfectly fine…”

“You don’t have to force yourself like that…”

“Y-yeeeee…”

At first, I was happy that she was so friendly to me. That was why I wanted her to rely on me, while asking Natsukawa for advice, and tried my best to respond to her requests with all of my strength even if it was just a small request, I thought she would eventually get tired playing with me, but…

『”Sajoー!!”』

『”Hm? Ah, you shouldn’t run like that, it’s dangeroug…”』

A child’s mood couldn’t be more unstable. On just a whim, they would come charging at you. In the beginning, I was just joking around with ‘Oh, you’re so strong’, but with that said, she judged that being rough like jumping to me was totally fine.

“I-I give up…”

“Kyahahaha!”

Horsey fell to the ground. Perhaps Natsukawa’s dear younger sister felt like she was going down using a lift and found it fun, she burst out laughing. They said that a child had infinite endurance, but I felt like it was me who used up all of my stamina.

“Excuse me… are you always playing around so hard like this…?”

“No, we play house at best…”

“Umm, Hey, Airi-san?”

“Whaaat?”

“Whyyy?”

“Disgusting”

“Natsukawa-san…”

“I-I didn’t teach her that!”

For the first time ever, a young girl called me disgusting.

That hurts even more than hearing it from any girl my age… What a shock. So, being told like that by a pure girl like her is this hard huh? This is the first time I feel discouraged so bad like this.

“I’m tiredー”

“I’m the one tired you know.”

“Nooー!”

“C’mon…”

“C’moonー!”

Urkk…She sure is enjoying herself. Ah, hey, don’t pull my hair! Aahh, don’t kneel on my back, it huuurrrttts, Auuh, that spot, nice, keep going…!

“Hey, you really don’t have to force…”

“I don’t think that’s the problem right now…”

“Ahh, jeez…”

Airi-chan let my hair go, but she was still riding on my back. I could feel her body sticking to me, perhaps she was mimicking me. From an outsider’s perspective, this kind of distance might be a total out.

I saw Natsukawa panicking while saying something, but I really couldn’t bother with that right now… You get it, right? The feeling of suddenly doing some exercise after months of nothing.

Suddenly, my back felt lighter. Guess Natsukawa picked up Airi-chan. I would never have imagined I could lay down at the floor of a girl’s house.

“Jeezzz.”

“Aah”

The dear younger sister was lifted from my back and ended up carried by Natsukawa. Compared to her energetic attitude from before, she was now really calm, and just looked at me with a relaxed expression.

Well, well, she definitely thinks that she didn’t do anything wrong… right?

I got my breathing under control, while still laying on the ground, I looked on the side and observed the two sisters.

“……”

“W-What is it?”

“… Nothing, it’s just fresh seeing you with that kind of expression.”

“m!…. D-Don’t look!”

Since I never had much contact with Natsukawa’s family, I always felt like she was an only-child. That was why, seeing Natsukawa making an elder sister-like face like that, I couldn’t help but admire… and at the same time, I felt something new has awaken within me.

“──Are you satisfied now?”

“Eh?”

“You were worrying about something, right? I could tell it clearly you know.”

“Ah…”

In the end, I couldn’t hear her true words from her mouth, but it was probably something along to what Ashida said.

Well, as long as Natsukawa is feeling better, that’s all that matters…

“…..N-Not yet.”

“Ehh…”

Not yet? I feel like I already used up most of my stamina though… So even after introducing me to Airi-chan, she’s still not feeling better? I’m pretty sure Airi-chan will remember me even after today though.

“───N-Not yet. There’s still some things I want to ask you…”

“…..Huh? something to ask me?”

Huh? There’s something she want to ask? Wasn’t the goal of today just to have Airi-chan remember me? So, it’s not only that?

“Hmm, for example?”

“……”

While embracing Airi-chan from behind, Natsukawa started thinking. Airi-chan herself looked up at Natsukawa with a ‘You’re not going to let go?’ expression.

She really energetic huh? Even though she said that she was tired not long ago. Well, it’s true that she barely used her stamina though.

After waiting for a bit, Natsukawa seemed to have made up her mind, and threw the first question at me.

“──A-afternoon! Where do you usually go on lunch break?!”

“Ehhh…? Hmm, I eat on a bench in the courtyard, or if it looks like there’s an open seat in the cafeteria, I’ll eat there.”

“W-With who?!”

“SNIFF…..Alone.”

When I returned a sniffy voice with some fake crying, Natsukawa muttered ‘I see…’ in a really low voice.

Perhaps she didn’t hear about this from Ashida…? I’m sure Ashida told her though…

Right when I was wondering why Natsukawa suddenly asked me that, she gave me a ‘There’s still more, prepare yourself!’ expression….. Alright, bring it on!

“W-Why are you eating all on your own? You can just eat together with everyone else, right?”

“Hm?… Oh, that’s true.”

It might sound like a delicate topic, but there’s no sad reason for it. Why did I even start eating all on my own…? It wasn’t necessarily because I didn’t have any friends. Well, in the beginning… I just wanted to distance myself from Natsukawa, thinking about stuff, alone. I was basically on a search to find myself. Even now, I eat lunch on my own. Before, I always (forcefully) ate together with Natsukawa after all. Eating together with someone now after all that is probably too much for ask.

“You know, when Aizawa got back together with her ex-boyfriend, somehow I ended up like that. Ah, but, today I ate lunch with the people from the Discipline Committee. I was with Shinomiya-senpai, Inatomi-senpai, and… Hmm, what was her name again…”

“Eh…? S-Shinomiya-senpai? You did?”

“Ah, hm, Yeah?”

She stared at me in disbelief.

Wait, she saw me being called over by Shinomiya-senpai, right…? Also, was there anything weird about it…? P-Perhaps, she’s thinking, ‘Someone normal like you has nothing to do with them’, or something like that?!

“W-Why? What kind of relationship do you two have?”

“Eh? We just met in the cafeteria by chance──Hmm? relationship? My relationship with her is, hmm…..I’m sure we’re just senior and junior. Ah, she’s a friend of Sis as well.”

“I-I see…”

“Yup…”

“……”

“……”

H-hello? What is this awkward atmosphere about? Why’d you suddenly go all quiet, Natsukawa-san! Questions! Next Question Please! I don’t have the strong mentality to deal with this silence!

As I was thinking about what to do, Natsukawa looked up with an expression like she wanted to say something. Right as she opened her mouth, I focused on my hearing.

“W-What about us…?”

“Eh…?”

“Can’t you just… eat together with us, like ‘before’ ?”

“That’s, as I said be───Well, you know.”

I feel like I said it before when she visited my home, but───I gave up on trying to continue that. Those words I said back then… were pretty much said in the romantic sense. But, I don’t think that this is what Natsukawa wanted to hear.

It’s not about between a boy and a girl in a ‘romantic’ sense, nor in a sense of ‘friendship’. What she means is we──we’re a ‘group’. Including Ashida, Natsukawa is probably wanted to ask, ‘Weren’t we a group, who were always together, talking and having fun?’.

At the very least, I’m being included in her group. Well, I’m really happy to have such a beautiful girl like Natsukawa in my group, and an energetic and talkative girl like Ashida isn’t bad either. But from a boy’s point of view, it might be hard to completely take away the romantic aspect of that. I’m sure that being with them would guarantee an enjoyable and fun high school life though. At the very least, I, who had ‘cut everything away’, since I gave up and stopped hoping for anything, it would surely be doable. I think. Maybe. Probably. Surely. Probably not.

When I was keeping my distance, something changed. In fact, through losing the nuisance called ‘Wataru Sajou’, Natsukawa got new friends. Once I’m with her, someone else will stay away. With I’m being near her, there’s a possibility that she cannot spend the youth she deserved.

In that sense, although it’s painfully difficult for me to accept, perhaps ot’s not bad to just support Sasaki’s feelings for Natsukawa instead. That guy is pretty handsome after all.

Well, I don’t like it though.

---

43. Demon Lord’s Castle (Utopia)

Is it the Demon Lord’s castle…?!

From the outside, it looks like a normal home, and yet, why does it look so big and imposing? Perhaps, my home was not a house, but just a stable?

“W-well, let’s go inside.” (High-pitched voice)

“Don’t you continue that character in front of Airi, okay…”

“Urrg…”

“W, Why are you about to break out in tears?”

My plan to pretend as a girl was denied.

What else could I do in this situation? Well, that’s to just give up.

I had no other choice than to accept my quivering legs, and blank head. Nothing could be done.

I think, I just attained enlightenment. Please take me away, Buddha.

“D-Do you hate to go into my home that much…..?”

“Oh, crap, now I really want to meet your younger sister. Can I give her a hug later?”

“I’ll punch you.”

“Hiii~”

That was close, I almost sat down like a dog. Even though ‘Hiii~’ came out from my mouth, in my heart, it was ‘woof~’.

She sure is good at not flinching in the slightest and yet emitting scary amounts of pressure. If I was a dog, I would have wagging my tail, woof~

“Come on, let’s go in now!”

“GULP, I-I get it, I get it already…!”

Is Natsukawa actually a carnivore girl? [TN: In japan, there a term of Carnivore and Herbivore for men and woman, in which carnivore is the one who is assertive and like to take initiative first when in come to romance]

I mean, from an outsider’s perspective, this looks like she’s dragging a boy into her house. And I feel quite honored to be placed in such important role. By the way, what should I do about my impulses that it’s hard to hold back anymore? What? Jump into the sea? Got it, I’ll take a trip to the sea later.

“G-Go in silently, okay.”

“Eh, we’re going in like that?”

“Otherwise, Mom will find out.”

“So, your dear mother is at home.”

It was like the spirit of a business salesman suddenly possessed me.

Anyway, nice judgement, me. Let’s go with that in case something happens. Also, is it that bad for your mother to find out? I can just greet her normally, you know. Though I don’t bring any gifts. Ah, you don’t want her to see me? Really? That’s not true…right?

I followed after Natsukawa, who was sneaking ahead of me.

Is this going to be okay? If she finds us now, she’ll only think we planned on doing something ‘guilty’, right?

“…..!”

Natsukawa opened the front door, and I joined her right after. T-This is…! The air is filled with the sweet scent of Natsukawa…!

Eh, isn’t this bad? The entire atmosphere in this house feels like Natsukawa. Well, this is her home, after all. Even so, it’s too stimulating for an adolescent boy like me. The scent of someone’s home is exist, right?… Well, when I went to that bastards’ houses, it was just for playing games, so I was never too conscious of it… Anyway, I need to deal with this. Hang in there, me…! This is a do-or-die situation…!

Time to reboot my mind… Mission starts! The goal of this mission: Meet Natsukawa’s dear younger sister without being caught. The time limit is until it’s dinner time at the Sajou Household.

“───Aah! Onee-chan!”

“A-Airi…!”

“Mission complete! Time to withdraw from here!”

“Wait, where are you going!”

Airi

A girl about five years old poked out her head from the stylish door connecting the hallway to the living room. Through transparent glass hanging in the middle of the door, I could see the figure of Natsukawa’s dear mother. It seems, Mission failed.

That’s why, could you maybe let go of me, Natsukawa-san? We got busted. And more than that, my blood pressure does not stop rising.

“Onee-chan! ───And, who?”

“I’m Sajou Wataru. It’s my utmost pleasure to meet you, Airi-san.”

“Don’t give such a distanced greeting…”

It’s the spirit of the business salary men who’s possessing me, okay! I’m a kind elder brother. I got used at dealing with children, so please don’t worry, I can act properly to whatever a child may do ──I have little sisters myself, you know?… Across the screen that is. [TN: Which mean a 2D]

As I was making weak excuses in my head, Airi-chan was lifted up from behind her back. The sudden appearance of Natsukawa’s dear mother, froze me up.

“──Ara? Did you bring another friend from school over again, Aika?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Ah, hello. My name is Sajou Wataru. Nice to meet you.”

O, Oooh… my greeting went more smoothly than I would have expected. I guess my ‘glib tongue’ really show itself when the time comes. Well, well aren’t I actually not much of a lost cause?

In a bit of relief, I looked at Natsukawa’s mother. From her face, I could see that she was indeed Natsukawa’s mother. Rather than being kind, it felt like she was a very diligent and honest person.

“Sajou-kun, I see. Nice to meet───Wait, it’s only this boy alone today?”

“Urk… Y-Yeah.”

“A-Arara… perhaps today it’s your room, Aika?”

“N-No, aren’t you getting the wrong idea, Mom?! Airi’s room! We’re using Airi’s room, okay!”

“I-Is that so?”

Ah, so she’s that kind of mother. The type who talks with her daughter on equal terms, like she’s her age. That left me a bit more relieved and calmed my tremble a little. Since this is Natsukawa’s mother we’re talking about, I figured that she would be a strict person. I’m glad she’s not some uptight company president-type… Anyway, I think it’s better for her to not know about me. I mean, if she knew I was bothering her daughter……

“Stareeeeー”

Oh, Airi-chan is looking… staring at me like crazy. Getting a good look at her, she is really cute. An angel without a doubt. Her big round pretty eyes are adorable, I can see why Natsukawa would be so obsessed with her. As I thought younger sister is the best. I’d love to have a little sister like her too. Guess I’ll break the screen once I get home.

◆

“S-sorry about my Mom.”

“Don’t worry, more than that, I’m sorry for suddenly barging in here.”

“Don’t worry about that…!”

“Cu──Mgh!”

“H-Hey! Don’t do that in front of Airi!”

R-Right. Whenever it’s about her younger sister, Natsukawa gets really serious. I need to refrain from that kind of stuff… I hope I can keep my impulses down, though…

Natsukawa brought me to a child’s room, with a joint mat on the floor, creating a colorful feeling in the room/ There was a small slide and even a jungle gym. Besides those, there were many other things like building blocks. I could tell that Airi-chan was really being loved.

I was told to sit down at the small round table in the middle of the room, and soon Natsukawa returned with some tea.

“This is quite the situation.”

“D-Don’t say that, I’m trying hard not to be conscious of it.”

“…..Even though you went this far just to have me meet her?”

“………”

Even if the situation become like this, Natsukawa is persistent on making me meet her younger sister. According to Ashida, if it’s not because of that, Natsukawa wouldn’t accept this situation. I haven’t heard it from the person in question though… but she didn’t deny it either, and more than anything, I could guess from her attitude.

“Ah.”

As we were exchanging words like that, Airi-chan walked towards me, and stood in front of me, who was sitting cross legged.

“…..Takaaki?”

“…Hm? Takaaki?”

“T-That’s…”

Maybe the name of the father? No, she wouldn’t call his name like that…..Then, it must be the name of another man. Ah, I heard that she was pretty clingy towards Sasaki. Hmm, I feel like his mother called him ‘Takaaki’ when Yamazaki and I came to his house to play ‘Winning Eleven’.

“Airi, this Onii-san is ‘Wataru’.”

“Waataaru?”

“Pfft, what’s that way of saying his name.”

“……”

What is this scenery… Heaven? Is this heaven? I’m being surrounded by a Goddess and an angel. Since when I was being summoned to heaven? In the first place, am I even allowed to be here?

Because of this dazzling sight in front of me, I could only narrow my eyes. It felt like I was watching something I shouldn’t be. Seriously, what should I do now…

“Come on, introduce yourself, Wataru.”

“O-Okay.”

Natsukawa showed me a gentle expression that I had never seen on her face before. Even the tone of her voice was kind enough to keep me spacing out, let alone her calling me by my name.

Eh, are all elder sister in this world supposed to act like her? Is it weird for me to be this confused…? No, that just means my Sis is the odd one out.

“…Isn’t that name pretty hard to say? Airi-chan, just call me ‘Sajoー’.”

“Sajoー”

“That’s right, Sajoー”

“Sajoー!”

“Sajoー!”

“You don’t need to act like a child too…”

Ah, not good, my desires just went wild. I guess that my internal younger brother attribute got attracted to Natsukawa’s elder sister attribute. Subconsciously, I was regressed into a small child for a moment there. Well, I give up, I’m a pervert after all. I just want a lap pillow.

Airi-chan kept repeating ‘Sajoー’, she even shouted that while raising one hand like an Ultra*an pose.

More than anything, I’m glad she managed to remember it. I feel like my family name have a nice ring to it.

‘Sajoー! Weird head!”

“Natsukawa, wait here, let me dye my hair really quick.”

“Give up on that right now.”

I mean, she called my two-tone hairstyle weird…! Well, I knew it myself. Anyway, I really need to do something about this hair of mine. I don’t mind leaving it like this for a while. I don’t really have any preference in what color my hair should be. But, having brown mixed into it must look dirty, it’s yuck, right.

“Sajoー! Carry!”

“Eh?”

“Carry!”

C-Carry? How to do that? Just normally pick her up and…what should I do after that? Urgg… N-Now that it’s come to this, I need to make a new way of carrying, and it shall be named, the ‘princess carry’…!

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, well…”

“Stand up.”

“O-Okay…”

Natsukawa must have figured out that I was at a loss, and provided a follow-up. I stood up as she told me. Without moving I was standing ‘at attention’

“It’s not that hard. Just do what comes to your mind.”

“Sir yes, sir.”

“Just ‘yes’ is fine.”

“Y-Yesh.”

That’s Natsukawa for you. Her skill as an elder sister is on another level. If we’re not in this kind of situation, I might just regress to a young boy, be her younger brother and get spoiled by her… I always wanted an elder sister like her…

“Airi-chan, I’ll carry you, ready?”

“Mmm?”

“Is this your final answer?”

“No way she would understand that….. Just do it already.”

“Okay.”

Ehm, what should I do again… Just normally pick her up beneath her arms, and put her on my chest…? Hmmm…? I feel like that’ll be hard to do at her size…

As I was left confused, Natsukawa approached me to give some instructions.

“Listen to me, okay? First, you create a chair with your left arm, then put her on there. Your right arm is the back of the chair in that case. That will get her in a secure position, and so she can relax.”

“O-Ooohh.. that’s much easier.”

“Right? Also, put her on the same level as your line of sight. Airi is looking up at you.”

“M-my bad”

I put a bit more strength into my arms, pushing Airi-chan up. Right when we were on the same level, Airi-chan put her hand on my head, touching my hair.

“Eh? Eeh? What is she doing?”

“Touching your hair. That hair… How about you dye it soon?”

“Right… Hmm, Natsukawa, which one do you prefer? Black or brown hair?”

“T-That’s ───”

“The same as Onee-chan!”

“Got it.”

“Please no.”

Same color with Natsukawa…Not bad. Our affinity will be better than way, also I actually wonder how I will look like in a reddish-brown hair. The compensation is the distance of our hearts… What kind of compensation is that…

“Whyー?”, Airi-chan tilted her head in confusion.

Doing that while up in my arms had quite the destructive power. Really, have two sisters, both of them cute and beautiful makes me wonder, what kind of a good deeds they did in their previous life… Me? I might be just a normal farmer in my previous life.

“Hey heyー, how can you change the color like that?”

“Once you become an adult, you can change it as much as you want.”

“Ehhhー, not fair.”

“Adults are never fair.”

“Hey!”

“Uhee”

Adding a needless comment at the end, Natsukawa pulled on my cheek, stretching it to the side.

I’m sure that I must be showing a weird face right now. But, Airi-chan is laughing hard. What a great smile, I’ll do the same for you later once Natsukawa isn’t looking.

“Ehehe, ehehehe”

“Whawt?”

Airi-chan joined in, and pulled on my other cheek. She enjoyed playing with it. She was laughing while trying to squeeze or pulling it. And the more I let out a weird voice, the louder her laughter got.

She sure laughs a lot. She’ll surely be popular later, like Natsukawa… no, maybe even more than Natsukawa.

“Fufu, fufufu.”

……Hmm? Excuse me, Natsukawa-san…? Aren’t you enjoying yourself as well? You don’t show any intentions of letting go.

Airi And Aika play with Sajou’s Cheeks

… Well, whatever. It’s rare for her to touch me like this. This may be the last she do..ouch ouch Airi-chan your nails, your nails…!

---

42. Unreal

“───Eh?”

“L-Like I said…! I-If you’re okay with it, then───”

I slaughtered all the wicked desires with the bursting emotions that strong enough to tear my body apart, and right when I wanted to put on my outdoor shoes, I dropped my loafer shoes to the ground. And more than I thought, it rolled quite far, so I went to pick them up, showing my lame side to her.

Umm, Natsukawa-san?… you mean, ‘today’?… seriously?…

What a sudde──No, maybe not that sudden? I completely ignored the possibility of her bringing me along to her house, alone. Though, I never thought that it would happen today.

“Eh… Hmm…? didn’t you said that you need to prepare some things first?”

“T, That’s… I, I need to mentally prepare myself.”

“Cute.”

“S-Stop calling me cute, idiot!”

“Sorry, my libido just…”

“…Kei said the same thing before, but what does it even mean…”

Eh, Ashida said the same thing…? Ashida felt her libido towards Natsukawa? Does it mean that I’m her rival all along? Well, well, I can smell the scent of girls’ love in the air.

Ah, Ashida, you don’t need to mind me, I’ll withdraw, so please let your libido out as you please! I love it! Just, please do it in front of me.

No, I don’t think I can say or ask for something so luxurious like that. I’m already way too blessed because Natsukawa is actually came to talk to me. Anyway, when can I get the ticket for the handshake event?

…..So, what? Am I going to visit Natsukawa’s place right now? Seriously? Isn’t this pretty bad? Perhaps this is what Ashida mean by ‘bad’? If so, it’s really bad then. Anyway── should, I buy a box of sweets for Airi-chan? Hmm…  something like ‘HimoQ’? [TN: ‘HimoQ’ is a real name of snack in japan, it’s a long gummy string]

◆

The way home felt nostalgic. Even though, things had been like this until not long ago, but this kind of emotion filled me. How many times did I walk this way home next to Natsukawa since April? Well, I was just chasing after her, though. Hahah.

Anyway, the only difference was that Natsukawa wasn’t speeding ahead of me, but rather walked next to me. It made me feel somewhat self-conscious and embarrassed.

“Hey, Natsukawa.”

“W-What?”

“More than I thought, I’m so nervous that it’s killing me.”

“W-Why are you nervous!”

“Because I’m alone with you right now.”

“W-Wha…!?”

“You can’t tell? Look at my legs, it’s about to give out.”

“…… it’s shaking.”

You don’t need to say it out loud. You know how I feel about you, don’t you? Does she know what I feel right now?….I feel like I’m heaven, yet I’m being tortured. It feels like I’m already full, but suddenly someone put my favorite hamburger, some more a big one, in front of me.

Then again, that might be the case because I didn’t get to mentally prepare myself properly. That’s my conclusion of my situation, sergeant! This isn’t the time just to be quite and accept everything, I mean it’s not the time to joke around. (Excited)

“You don’t have to be so nervous…..”

“Correction, the nervousness is changing into power.”

“I-I see…”

Right, think about it. This isn’t some erotic development. Natsukawa is just going to introduce me to her younger sister. That’s all there to it. We’re only going home together like this is just a procedure to achieve this. That means, this situation is like a business transaction.

That said, what am I supposed to talk about here? Sure, I want to ask something like, am I even allowed to know where you live? Are you sure about letting me inside? But, if I asked her that, it would get us back to ‘So, why was I not allowed before?’, that’s why it’s not an option. I’m sure it will only make Natsukawa feel conflicted again, so I need to bring up something else.

“…What kind of person is your younger sister? You know, I only saw a picture of her. By the way, my Sis is a gorilla.”

“You made up with your elder sister, right…?”

“I think so. I stuffed some steamed buns into her mouth, after all.”

“What are you doing?! You’ll just make your elder sister angry!”

Natsukawa screamed angrily at me.

Well, she’s cute isn’t she.

Of course, I didn’t stuff the food into her. After all, that primate stuffed it into her mouth voluntarily.

But, that’s just one of many ways how we two siblings should be, I guess? Like we’re reporting to each other on what happened lately, something like a timeline. I mean, doesn’t many other siblings out there would do the same thing like us?

“We talk with fists rather than words. It’s just how we express our affection towards each other, it’s just a normal skinship. Not to mention that it was her who was being honest with her stomach… Though I don’t know how she feels.”

Thinking about it, I’m the only guy in this entire world who saw her bare stomach. If that was anybody else, wouldn’t that be pretty dangerous? If she was Natsukawa── No, stop. Not now! Or else it’ll be dangerous later.

“I-Is that so? I guess that kind skinship exists as well…..”

“I’m your Senpai when it comes to siblings. Once your younger sister slams steamed buns in your mouth, just let me know. I’ll try my best to give you some advice.”

“There’s no way Airi would do something like that. Not today, nor in the future. Never.”

You may never know. Even young girls can change in ten years. You see, it’s not like my Sis was always a gorilla──Wait, that strange… I think she was? I mean she ever ordered me something impossible like to make one rotation when I was playing swing.

“Airi is… yeah. Airi is…”

“Hm?”

“───An angel.”

“Yeah, I can tell how much you love her.”

She was not lying. Not to mention that I know another Senpai who loves spoiling a certain angel at school. That’s why I can guess how much Natsukawa adore her younger sister. Well, from the super cute picture that I’ve seen, it’s not that I don’t know from where she’s coming from.

“Then? What’s the best points that you love about her?”

“Eh? Umm… The part where she feels comfortable around me.”

“Eh, is that something you can tell?”

“You see, when I lift her up, she entrusts herself to me and leans against me… and then she relaxes and falls asleep right away.”

“…….”

Mmmm…..Cute! Natsukawa whose tone goes all soft whenever she talks about her little sister is so cute! Wait, has she ever shown such a kind face towards me?! I’ve never seen this expression on her, even though I’ve been around her for so many years, aren’t I?! Seriously… am I going to die today?!

“…Just to let you know, but don’t expect some elder brother vibe from me like what you saw in Sasaki. I’ve never really interacted with children after all.”

“Ah…. That’s true. You’re a younger brother after all…”

“Did you perhaps, expecting something like that from me?”

“N-No, I didn’t! Don’t start getting carried away!”

“Well, hmm, you see, I’d like to get some reference on how Sasaki was acting towards her…”

“… Now, You’re immediately trying to lower the hurdle for yourself, huh… Well, just act as you always do.”

I mean, I don’t want to be hated…Act like I always do? Like what is okay to do? You keep calling me disgusting in whatever I did, aren’t you…?

No really, how can I get her to like me? I don’t know how to get along with a young girl that you met for the first time. Am I going to be alright? For anyone who see me for the first time, my hair color may look like some gangster, right?…. Aah, this is pretty bad…

“Um, Natsukawa-san…..”

“W-What is it?”

“…Can I go home?”

“H-huh?! You’re going to say that now?!”

“Cuz I feel like the nervosity almost overwhelmed me, y’know…”

“Don’t ‘y’know’ me! I-It’s because you keep talking like that!”

“Urg…..”

Despite me not feeling hurt no matter what Natsukawa said to me before, hearing an objective argument like that makes me feel weak. Aah, My self-respect is…! My self-respect is vanishing…! I feel like I’m in a poisonous stage right now, gradually losing my HP…!

“J-Just come with me already! Since you’ve come this far, I won’t allow you to go back now!”

“Ah, hey…”

She grabbed my arm and pulled me down the different path I would always take.

Ahead this path must be Natsukawa’s home. Oops… the mapping function in my head started by itself, despite me being against it. After all, my body is still wholeheartedly belonged to Natsukawa, I guess? Sorry all you Natsukawa fans out there… Today, I’m going to Natsukawa’s place.

“aaaaaaaaaaa……”

“Don’t growl with a low voice like that! You don’t need to be that nervous…”

In the first place, I’m going to go inside the house of the person I loved all this time… You get me, right? You don’t? Then please do! You know my feelings aren’t you, Natsukawa-san…! I’m happy, but not happy either! I’m scared! Scared of ‘Onigashima’, the mythological island of demons!

Also, what if I act suspicious from start to finish… If that happens, there’s no option other than to put a lot more distance with Natsukawa… Cuz it’s hard on me, y’know… Ah, is this ‘that’? Is this what she means by being disgusting…?

“Natsukawa… I know it’s a bit late for saying this, but you can be so assertive in dragging a boy to your home too huh.”

“D-don’t say that I’m ‘dragging’ anyone!”

“Hmm, I still think our situation right now is pretty bad…”

“Urk…”

This is bad. I know I said that I would do anything and go anywhere for her sake, but the realist side of me is screaming and telling me to run from this situation. I can’t just stay silent and tag along, aren’t I?… Aah, I need to keep silent, keep silent and stay still.

“……..W-What’s so weird about it?”

“…..Eh?”

“Y-you’ve been around me for two and a half years, right?! So, what’s weird with me inviting you to my home… It’s not weird at all, right?!”

“It’s not… weird? Not weird, not weird…”

“E,eeehhh…..?!”

That’s right… Thinking about it now, it’ll be soon about two and a half years huh… Right, just as Natsukawa said. Even if I’m a member of the opposite sex, it wouldn’t be weird for her to invite me to her home… right?

To be honest, it’s surprised me to find out that Natsukawa was actually aware of our time together. Since I feel that the distance between our heart is so far, I don’t realize that we’ve been ‘hanging out’ or ‘chilling out’ together. [TN: well, the MC only feel that he’s chasing after her and not really spending time together.]

Since she’s already saying that, I can only bear with it. I can do it, surely I can. My stomach aches because of nervousness? It’s 100 times more painful than when Sis punched me in my solar plexus. My rational sense, hang in there…..! I just need to use my secret skill, ‘Run from reality’ three-fold!!!!

---

This illustration sum up about this ch

Natsukawa grabbed Sajou to her house

---

41. Entangling emotions

“Sasaki…..? Why’re you holding your head like that?”

“Whose fault do you think this is…..?”

Between classes, after I returned from the toilet, I spotted a man who seemed to be lost in thought. He held his head in his hands and his upper body bent forward to the desk.

Hold on a second, is he saying that it’s actually my fault? Nah, no way, right? The only trouble that could make him like this must be caused by his bro-con younger sist ── Hm? Sasaki’s younger sister…..?

『Thank you for the photo. I will become a little girl too』

“───Ahh.”

…..that one? When he showed me the picture that he took with Airi-chan, and since he did that with a smug face and full of pride, I told that to his younger sister Yuki-chan, that time, huh? Well, she sure surprised me with that declaration which sounds like she would go through a metamorphosis. But, no way that’s true right?! Hahhahhah!

“…..What happened with Yuki-chan?”

“She started carrying an elementary school ba──No, it’s nothing.”

“I heard most of it, though?”

Yuki Sasaki-chan (14 years old)… what I could imagine from her was a scene where a younger sister clung to her elder brother with a bright smile.

When I visited their place before, I was pretty happy that she asked for my contact information, but I had never expected her to request me to report Sasaki’s behavior in school.

Well, if she was my own little sister, I would still think her behavior as cute….. after all, if you get spoiled by someone, you probably think that person as cute regardless of that person personality, right?

But, as expected, perhaps if I were her actual elder brother, I might see her behavior in a different way.

“That’s because you went cheating on her with Natsukawa’s younger sis, idiotー.”

“No, that’s not true! Rather than Airi-chan, I prefer───Ah…”

“……….”

Sasaki frantically stopped his own words. Of course, I immediately understood the reason for that. The second I did, as expected, I couldn’t help but to feel a rush of cold feelings filling deep inside my chest. Still, even though, I let it stay there, I didn’t plan to let it out.

“……………I see.”

“Don’t just ‘I see’ me… you…”

“I’m not going to say this to her. Rather, is there even anybody who wouldn’t fall for her?”

“I mean, not like I know, but….. but, you like…”

“The one to decide will be the person herself. No matter what action you may take, the only person who has the right to judge that is Natsukawa. I don’t have any right to change her opinion. I don’t like it very much and I may give you a cold shoulder after that though.”

“So, you will give me a cold shoulder huh.”

“Of course, what do you expect?”

If suddenly beside your favorite idol that you like very much, you see other guy’s shadow, you will hate that guy, right? And if you were to meet the real person of that shadow, then you would want to say ‘I hate you’ right at his face, right?

I don’t mind if we stopped talking because of that. I mean, even if we keep talking, we will feel awkward towards each other anyway… and perhaps we will stay like that forever.

“Sajou, I’ll seriously go for her.”

“What are you suddenly getting all passionate for?”

“……………”

Before I could say any further than that, Sasaki stood up, and left the classroom. His confident gaze as he passed me was burned into my chest. I felt annoyed because every little action of his was exactly what a popular and handsome guy would do.

…seriously damn it. Why does it feel like he can do anything just because of his looks? As expected, in the end, being stylish is about ‘who is doing it’ after all…..

But, the things that I didn’t expect was that guy was actually seeing me as a rival. I mean, usually the rival of someone as handsome as him should be someone more handsome than him, right? If he sees me as his enemy and going all-out against me, without a doubt, he’ll beat me to a pulp… could he not doing that please…

“But, Sasaki…..huh.”

Ever since I announced my plan, ‘The Great Production Strategy’, to make Natsukawa more popular, I knew that this day might come eventually. Since I was always around her, I was practically in a position where my role was to protect her from boys, as a place for her to run away from other boys.

But now that I’m gone, every other boy around will become fully aware of Natsukawa’s cuteness, and they definitely won’t leave her alone. Well, I had predicted all of this since I announced that.

I myself, don’t know if I can accept Sasaki or not. Me and Yamazaki are close enough to insult him as a ‘handsome bastard’. And the girls around us tell us to shut up. That’s what usually happen between us… Huh? Do I even stand a chance against him? And also, why Yamazaki, who is in the basketball club, fairly handsome and tall, is on my side?

Well, I already stopped hoping to be with the girl who is out of my league like Natsukawa. So, at the very least, I want her to be together with a guy that would make me say ‘Hah, of course right’. That’s why, if Sasaki is going for her, I’ll confirm it for myself. whether he is a guy who is not only handsome on the outside, but also on the inside. Since his younger sister likes him very much like that, he can’t be a bad guy, right? But, at best what I can do is to ascertain that myself.

◆

Well, who cares about that… Sasaki? Who’s that?

I already forgot about all of that, seeing Natsukawa fidgeting in front of my eyes. As I stood in front of the shoe lockers at the entrance, someone suddenly pulled on my sleeve, and when I turned around, Goddess or something like that….. a very cute existence that I couldn’t put into words was there.

…Sorry, more than someone who is called Sasaki, what are you?

My determination is the same as minced meat. Before I realize it, it crumbled easily. Who cares about Sasaki… Anyway, Sorry about this, Natsukawa, but this attack won’t work against me. I’m made out of rubber… Nah, I lied. Tehe.

“So…..what’s up, cutie?”

“I, I’m not cute!”

Natsukawa averting her face mid-sentence with a cute pout had my heart skip two beats. Her expression she made in the short conversation we had was cute enough for me to threw away my glove and run to the middle of the baseball stadium right after I caught the ball, and then screamed how cute she was as if I planned to do that from the start….Seriously, my self-control, where are you?

…. Anyway, I could see flower blooming in the part that she hit while sulking. And Thus, I was taken captive by the fairy of the forest ─── Huh, wait! I’m not some mandrake.

Natsukawa held onto my sleeve, not showing any signs of moving away.

…This is bad. All of my nerve is focused on it. My head is frozen, I can’t think of anything.

Natsukawa had her face cast down, so I couldn’t see her expression.

…Wait a moment, was Natsukawa always this small? She and Ashida didn’t look like so much of an odd couple when they stood next to each other…

I lowered my hip to take a look at her face, and asked at the same time.

“…..So? Is this about your younger sister…..?”

“H-her name is Airi…. remember that…”

“Y-Yesh!”

I’ve received an endless amount of attacks from Sis. And the me who stood all of her attack is here. Yet, what is this? Even though killing intent and impact is barely non-existent in her attack, I feel like I’m about to die right here. As if I’m about to disappear after being purified. Even though what she did was just looking up at me with a beet red face, Why I’m being purified? Because she’s a goddess? Eh, that means, I’m an undead?

Well, she changed her mind after said that she would never let me meet Airi-chan, of course she would feel awkward, right? Anyway, would she get angry if I touched her cheeks?…. She probably would….. I might probably get reported…..and beaten to a pulp…..

“Um… is this about when you’ll bring me?”

“……….”

Natsukawa awkwardly nodded along, and just when she let go of my arm, she grabbed it again at the same spot. Yet she let it go again, but she hesitantly grabbed it again, and then, she slowly lowered her hand… Let’s get married, okay?…

…….Well, maybe I should just give her a bit of space. If what Ashida said wasn’t a lie, then Natsukawa put me in the same group as her. However, that is only Ashida’s subjective observation, and by what I can see from Natsukawa actions towards me, I feel like nor I or her can’t accept that statement.

The reason for this is because Natsukawa and I see each other as a member of the opposite sex. I have romantic feelings for Natsukawa, and she hates me as a man. However, Ashida doesn’t put the focus on that. That girl, she probably sees the relationship between me and Natsukawa as friends.

Friendship between a boy and a girl is possible. After all, my relationship with Ashida feel more like a friend than anything. And if I were to deny that, then all the various groups with boys and girls around me must have very complicated relationships. Well, these guys might just be trying hard to not be conscious of each other. But, if their relationship is not called friendship, then what else? Aren’t the society has too many dark secrets? It’s friendship, alright.

Ashida kept saying over and over that I’m part of the group around Natsukawa. So, there’s a part of Natsukawa that keep denying to see me as the ‘opposite sex’, even so she want me to meet Airi-chan, and there’s a part of her that couldn’t accept this, that’s why she’s being conflicted. But, this actions that Natsukawa showed to me, is a proof that I can take as what Ashida said wasn’t exactly wrong.

If so, what I can do to make the choice easier for Natsukawa ── is to be neither a man, nor someone from the opposite sex, but simple ‘Sajou Wataru’, where she can easily talk with.

“…..Hey, I don’t really mind.”

“Eh…..”

“You’re concerned about you having been strictly against me meeting Airi-chan up until this point, right?”

When I get carried away like this, she become relaxed. If so, what I need to do now is to be like that time when the aura around me was ‘I know everything about you (say while smiling)’. I’m sure if I let her feel annoyed to me like that time, she can be honest with herself more easily.

“I-I’m not really conce───”

“Yeah, right, it’s impossible. I mean, everyone could tell that, Natsukawa.”

“Ah, urg…..”

It’s not that I understand it because it’s me. Everybody else who would see her right now could tell that she’s been acting strange. That’s just how cute she is now. To be honest, I don’t want anybody else to see the current Natsukawa. Hmm? My desires are leaking…..?

“If I could meet her, then I’d be delighted to. I want to meet her after all. Anytime is fine, so it’s okay take it slow, Natsukawa.”

“a…..”

In reality, I wanted to meet her ever since I first saw that picture of hers… wait what did I just thought about a young girl like her….. I’m not some single guy in his thirties excited for his first matchmaking dating. Well, at the point I call someone else’s younger sister a ‘young girl’ is out (not good), I guess. Well, since I could get along with Yamazaki, perhaps I’m that kind of man.

“── Ca, Can’t be helped then! If, if you’re that desperate, I’ll introduce you!”

“Oooh”

That’s it, that’s how things are supposed to be, Natsukawa. Now you can pull through this without needing to blame yourself, right? And you can be honest with your honest feelings too, right? Then, you don’t have to worry about my feeling either. As a man who loves Natsukawa ── No, as her fan, I want her to keep smiling. Because that is my own happiness. For that, I’ll swallow whatever unreasonable complaint or frustration she might throw at me. That’s why, I must throw away all wicked thoughts now, and—

“…..Thanks, Natsukawa.”

“u.. um… u…”

See, now Natsukawa doesn’t need to think about this so mu ─── hmm? Why is she holding her mouth and shaking her lips wildly like that? Eh, is she smiling? Is my face that weird? I guess not even a Goddess could stay quiet if I seriously made a weird face. But, just now, I said it in a straight face though…..Wait, why would you get so red ──  So cute. Why the fuck, are you so cute. Ahh, my wicked thoughts──