A Late Bloomer's Powerful Restart ~My Second Life Starts at a Prestigious School Where the Gender Ratio Is Totally Off, and for Some Reason, All These Talented Girls Get Attached to Me...!?~ - Chapter 46: Memories Stirring Up

Chapter 46: Memories Stirring Up

Sasa bumped into these two huge guys, and for some reason they’re both just staring straight at me.

What the…?

“Man, I swear I’ve seen him somewhere before… Hey bro, doesn’t he look familiar to you?”

“Yeah, I’m getting that déjà vu feeling too… but I can’t place it.”

They just kept talking between themselves, and me and Sasa couldn’t really keep up.

For the time being I stepped in front of Sasa—who was kinda intimidated—and watched how they were acting.

“Um, sorry my friend bumped into you guys… but can we go now?”

“Whoa, hold up. Protecting your girl like that is pretty manly, but Big Brother here’s trying to remember something, y’know?”

“G-girl…!?”

I heard Sasa’s surprised little voice from behind me.

Look, we’re not actually boyfriend-girlfriend… but given the situation, maybe it’s better if they keep thinking that.

Still, I don’t really owe these two anything.

I was trying to figure out how to get us out of there when finally the one they called “Big Brother” let out this loud “Ah!”

“W-wait… isn’t he the guy from that CM!?”

The big guy was suddenly sweating buckets and had this super dumb look on his face.

Maybe he happened to catch the Limona teaser CM by chance.

When I tried on clothes at the store I took my glasses off, so right now I’m not even disguised or anything. If he saw that, the déjà vu makes sense.

“H-hey, hold on bro… there’s no way a celebrity’s just hanging around here, right? They say there’s three people in the world who look exactly the same, y’know?”

“Yeah, true. Guess it’s just my imagination then. Damn, I really wanted at least one autograph from a famous person though.”

You’re giving up…? Even though you’re actually right.

“Don’t give up yet, bro! This town’s got Teimon Academy, remember? What if this guy really is—”

“Yashima Taiki!? So he really was in that CM?”

He came back… and he’s shaking like crazy now.

Should I be happy that he knows who I am…? I’m honestly not sure.

Anyway, it’s not something worth hiding.

“Uh, yeah. That’s me… Sorry though. Can’t do an autograph right now. My hands are kinda full.”

“…Got it.”

…He suddenly got super quiet.

Is this what power feels like…? The scary vibe from earlier feels like a total lie now.

While I was standing there confused, another person climbed down from the truck behind them.

“Hey you guys… how long are you gonna keep messing around?”

“Ah, Sister…!?”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that… Wait—Taiki? And Sara-chan?”

It was Tsukimi who showed up.

She dropped the heavy-looking load she was carrying and her face quickly turned awkward.

“Tsukimi, what exactly are you doing here? Helping out?”

“Y-yeah, that’s it— Um, well, these guys are, like, Tsukimi’s cousins… and we’re just helping with some family work… kinda?”

Tsukimi explained to Sasa while looking like she really didn’t want to be saying it.

Yeah… calling them “cousins” is definitely a lie.

I’m guessing she’s doing this other part-time job because working at a sweets shop on the weekend would be too risky.

They’re loading stuff into the truck… moving company maybe? Either way, it’s heavy physical work.

When I glanced at the two big guys, they were just standing there stunned.

Their faces don’t look anything alike and the excuse is pretty forced, but Sasa just had this blank look and quietly went, “Ohhh… so that’s what it was…”

She can be kinda slow to catch on in weird moments. Probably just wants to believe her friend, that’s all.

“Come on, you two… we’re cousins, so we mess around and the younger one calls me Sister sometimes, right? Right? Right???”

“Cousins…? W-what kinda nonsense are you talking about…!?”

“You two are the nonsense! Come on, just say you’re helping your cousin out so people don’t get the wrong idea!”

“U… uh, yeah. Whatever Sister says.”

Do these big guys have some kind of dirt on them that Tsukimi’s holding?

They’re clearly acting like they can’t talk back to her… and where did all that intimidating energy from when they bumped into Sasa go?

“Tsukimi, helping out with family stuff is really admirable! But you do know Teimon Academy doesn’t allow part-time jobs, right? Gotta be careful so nobody gets the wrong idea, okay?”

“R-really? There’s a rule like that? Yeah, I’ll be careful~…”

Sasa was genuinely praising her, but Tsukimi is straight-up shady.

Honestly, even if I told Sasa the truth, she’d probably keep it a secret. But since Tsukimi chose to hide it, I guess I’ll keep my mouth shut too.

“S-so anyway… what about you two…? Are you, like, on a date?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

“…We’re just, um, having him help me pick out some clothes… yeah.”

“Hmm～… hmmm…”

For some reason Tsukimi was giving me this suspicious side-eye.

It seriously felt like she was silently scolding me, like “Don’t you already have a girl you like? Should you really be spacing out like this?”

I looked away.

“So they were bothering you guys on the way back?”

The second Tsukimi glared hard at the two big guys, they started trembling.

…Okay, now I kinda feel bad for them.

“Wait, Tsukimi. It was my fault… I wasn’t looking ahead and I bumped right into him.”

“…Really? ’Cause these guys seem like the type who pushy even with strangers.”

“Y-yeah, that’s us…!”

“Totally!”

The two big guys were nodding their heads furiously like puppies, desperately trying to prove they were innocent.

Honestly it did feel like they were messing with us… but maybe that scary attitude was just an act.

If they were real scammers or something it wouldn’t add up, so they were probably just goofing around.

Good thing… If they knew Sasa’s actually the young lady of the Kokonoe Group, no way they’d pull that kind of dumb prank.

Sasa herself seems to be okay with it… or more like she was looking at them with these curious, wide eyes.

Guess I’ll respect what she wants.

“Fine, whatever. Wouldn’t wanna keep interrupting your date anyway. Tsukimi and the others are heading out, so see ya.”

“See you at school too, Tsukimi!”

While we were saying bye, the two big guys were behind Tsukimi with their hands together, basically begging for forgiveness.

Wonder what kind of leverage she’s got on them.

As that thought crossed my mind, Tsukimi easily picked up the heavy stuff she dropped earlier and hopped lightly onto the truck.

Seeing that, the words just slipped out.

“Black ninja…?”

“Huh, ninja? What’s that about all of a sudden?”

“Ah, no… it’s nothing.”

“You’re so weird. You must be tired already, right? Want me to carry something?”

“Nah nah, I’m good physically. Plus you’re the one leading the way home, aren’t you?”

“…! Yeah!”

Sasa started skipping again.

Every now and then she’d spin around and look back at me.

The walk to the dorm felt super short, and the sun set before we even realized it.