A hero who wants to help others wants to live a normal life - Chapter 44

Chapter 44   Kujou Sakura’s Engagement

“Huh? is he looking this way?”

Could Oda heard our conversation? No, that’s unlikely. Even though we weren’t exactly whispering, there’s quite a distance between us. If Inori tried, she could probably pick it up, but I can’t hear sounds clearly from this far away. I bet someone with a Skill would be in the same boat.

“Huh? Oh, you’re right. Maybe he’s looking at Sakura or something? Aren’t they friends?”

“Friends is not exactly the right word…”

Ah, Oda smiled. It’s a confident smile.

But I still don’t get why he smiled while looking over here. At least, from the look of things, it doesn’t seem like he was listening to our conversation.

“Eww… gross.”

Even though he’s a pretty good-looking guy, and that smile wasn’t bad either, Toudou seemed to be seriously creeped out, looking at Oda like she’d seen something disgusting.

“That’s a pretty harsh attitude. Is there some bad blood between you two?”

“Not really bad blood… but he always looks at me with these creepy eyes for some reason.”

“Whoa, maybe he’s got a thing for one of Kujou’s friends? I mean, I don’t know his name, but…”

“You mean me? Look, there’s no way he likes me. He’s been raised as Sakura’s fiancé since we were kids. No way he’s looking at another girl.”

“Nah, guys are just animals at the end of the day. Some will go for any girl that crosses their path.”

Rinrin nodded with a knowing look, but seriously, what do you even know about guys?

“…Seriously?”

“Hey, don’t lump me in with that. Sure, some guys are like that, but not all of us.”

Why am I getting dragged into this? Sure, plenty of guys our age think about nothing but dumb stuff or girls, and maybe Oda’s one of them, but not everyone is like that.

“Well, I guess I can understand where you’re coming from.”

“What? Are you taking his side? I knew it, you’re just another beast like him!”

“No, that’s not it. I just mean, you said his fiancée was decided when he was a kid, right? But judging by the way he fights and his personality, he seems like the type who wouldn’t like being restricted by that kind of thing. I think he’s acting out of rebellion, wanting to do things his way.”

When you’ve got good looks, money, status, and talent like he does, you probably want to live however you want. Even if you have a fiancée, if she doesn’t let you “play around,” it wouldn’t be surprising if you started looking elsewhere. Though, I say that like I know what I’m talking about, even though I don’t have any experience myself.

“That could be the case.”

“But even if that’s true, keeping up a relationship with Sakura while going after other girls is just terrible! And if he’s looking at me, someone close to Sakura, that’s seriously creepy! If he really doesn’t want the engagement, he should just break it off and do whatever he wants!”

“Yeah, but saying that to me isn’t going to solve anything…”

I was just speculating on what might be going on. Don’t get mad at me about it.

“Hikari. We’ve already discussed this. It’s something decided by our parents, so personal preferences don’t come into it. As long as there are no issues in the future, it’s acceptable to indulge in a little fun while we’re students.”

“No, that’s totally unacceptable!”

Kujou’s reasonable tone was met with Toudou’s growing frustration. This was starting to heat up.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with arguing, but maybe now’s not the best time?

“Hey, Toudou. Maybe keep it down a little? If you want to talk, this probably isn’t the place.”

“Oh, sorry.”

It seemed my words reminded her that we were surrounded by other students. Toudou fell silent, albeit reluctantly, and Kujou didn’t say anything further, bringing this conversation to a temporary close.

“That wraps it all up. Alright, everyone, make sure to reflect on today’s battle on your own. That’s all. Dismissed.”

After a while, all the teams finished their mock battles, bringing the last class of the day to a close. From here on, everyone is free to go home, head to their clubs, or enjoy their free time. However, we were told to reflect on the battle, so what should I do?

“Looks like that’s the plan. So, what’s next? Should we all head to a trendy café and discuss things?”

“I apologize, but I have other obligations. I’ll submit my reflections as a report later, so please excuse me.”

Kujou responded to my question with that, gave a slight bow, and quickly walked off. Toudou, looking a bit flustered, hurried after her…

“Isn’t she pretty upset?”

Rinrin asked after Kujou and the others disappeared from sight.

“She probably is. I mean, if your future spouse was messing around with other people before you even got married, that’d be pretty rough.”

If the roles were reversed, it’d be a scandal, and probably grounds for breaking off the engagement. It’s really that bad.

“But don’t you think it’s a bit harsh? Wouldn’t her parents say something? Normally, wouldn’t they just blow up the engagement?”

“Oda’s family runs a huge company that makes tools related to Skills. Even if they’re royalty, they can’t just do something reckless. If that company moves its operations abroad, it’d cause a lot of trouble.”

“Wow… must be tough for important people, huh?”

Yeah, exactly. There’s no nobility or aristocracy in Japan anymore, at least officially. But even though those titles don’t exist, there’s still a lot of inequality based on social status. Even within the upper class, there are probably plenty of complications.

“Sometimes, I wonder if things would be better if they all just disappeared.”

Out of nowhere, Moriya muttered that in the now quiet space.

I wasn’t expecting that from him, so I looked over, a little surprised.

“Yeah, that’d probably be interesting, but it’d definitely cause a lot of problems, right?”

“Without a doubt. There’d probably be guerrillas, terrorism, or civil war—something like that.”

“Ugh, that sounds awful.”

There’s definitely a gap between the upper class and regular people, and it’s understandable to be frustrated by it. But you could also argue that because the upper class exists, our way of life continues.

If the current political leaders and company executives disappeared, Japan’s economy would probably collapse.

I can see why some people think it might be better to tear it all down first in order to make changes, but still…

“Anyway, without Kujou, there’s no real point in us doing a reflection session. We all know what we did wrong individually, don’t we?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

We never formally decided, but it’s clear that Kujou is the leader of our team. Without her, holding a reflection meeting wouldn’t be very productive. Rinrin and Moriya seemed to agree, nodding along.

“So, how about we just write up reports and either meet up later or share them with each other?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Ugh, really? I don’t like writing reports.”

“Nobody really likes writing reports.”

And so, the first team battle leading up to the final exams before summer break came to an end.