An after school affair with an unattainable flower - Chapter 4 (Clover): Part 2
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Translator: Noir
Editor: Seventails
Chapter 4: Part 2
The place we arrived at, making sure no eyes saw us, was the rooftop.
“Haa, haa, why the rooftop?”
“Because there are no people?”
What I wanted to ask is, ‘why did you bring me to a place where there are no people, my lady?’
“So, what’s wrong? Bringing me to a place like this.”
“Good job listening to what I said.”
Just what I wonder.
“Muu— Ahh! My frustration is all piled up.”
“What?”
“Well then, Shiranui-kun, I have a question right here for you. What day is it today?”
“Umm, the day when school closes for a break?”
“Correec~t. Now the second question. What will start from tomorrow onwards?”
“Summer vacation…?”
“Ping pong. Two correct answers in a row. And now, the last third question~! When we arrive at the summer vacation, what is it that a boy desires immediately?”
… I think I can see where she was getting at.
“… A girlfriend?”
“Wow! All the answers were right on target! As expected, the person with a perfect score is a different level~”
“Ah, thank you very much for that time.”
“You’re welcome. *gohon* And so, the thing is, over here, the amount of confessions I take from guys increases day after day. Mou~ I am just so exhausted.”
“Does someone get tired of receiving confessions?”
“Yeah, it’s tiring. How can I say it? Everyone’s energy is amazing while they confess, you see… No matter how many times I experience it, I just feel tired and depressed.”
Is this a world that only popular people can understand?
“There are still two more confessions left for today, see?”
“Eh? You still got more?”
“Un. It’s going to be summer vacation soon, so people who want a girlfriend are in a rush trying to confess to girls here and there. Well, in short, there is no shortage of guys with serious and earnest confessions.
Is there really a confession that isn’t serious?
[TL: You don’t know the world, man. There is a lack of serious confessions right now… And more like, the responsibilities that come with it.]
“Say, Shiranui-kun…”
“?”
“Confessions… Is it okay if I skip them?”
THAT IS JUSSSSTTTTT—
“No, you mustn’t.”
“Really, a no?”
“There may be people who are not serious, but there may also be people who are quite serious. You must now trample on their feelings like that as well.”
Those who confess to her seriously will probably understand me better than she does.
If it’s me, I wish I wouldn’t get dumped alone on a confession site.
“I see, I see. Un, unn.”
Then she folded her arms and nodded in somewhat agreement.
“I thought that if it were Shiranui-kun, he would definitely say that. By how I was feeling, I was afraid I would end up skipping the rest of the confessions, so I wanted Shiranui-kun to push my back, saying, ‘All the best!’ with that.”
She slapped her cheeks and, with a rejuvenated spirit, fired up.
“Okay, then, let’s do our best with the other two as well like this~”
Apparently, I also got the 4th answer to her question right on the spot.
I’m honestly happy that I was able to help her.
“Well, it’s about time I have to go. I’m glad I was able to meet Shiranui-kun.”
“I’m glad that I was of any help to you. It’s all thanks to Takamine-san I got a good score on this test.”
“A~aah! … About that. You see, the reason I helped you study at that time was that I had a favor I wanted from you no matter what, so, in order to get an okay from you at that time, I helped you in your studies more than necessary.”
“Favor… what is it?”
I can somehow imagine it.
“During the summer vacation, I want you to let me read the story Shiranui-kun wrote!”
She stated her request in a ‘requesting pose’.
“I thought maybe so.”
“You will show me?”
“I got such a good score all because of you. There’s no way I can refuse.”
“I did it! Then, here!”
Her face lit up in joy as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and pointed it straight at me.
“What is this?”
“What you mean, it’s LINE. Let’s exchange.”
What the heck is LINE?
“I’m sorry, Takamine-san. What’s a ‘line’?”
“EEEEEEEEEHHHHH!? You don’t know about that!?”
As if seeing something unbelievable, she let out a really freaked-out voice.
“Eh, is that common sense?”
“At least in the world I’ve lived in, it’s as common sense as the sum of the interior angles of a triangle …”
[TL notes: For the dumbos who don’t know the answer to the sum of interior angles of a triangle… It’s 180 degrees. —___—]
“… Eh, heeeeh, so that’s how it is.”
Apparently, I didn’t know common sense equivalent to the sum of the interior angles of a triangle.
“Well, it’s kind of like Shiranui-kun. Okay, I’ll let you go after telling me about your email address and phone number instead.”
“Why do I have to give you my personal information for something like that instead?”
“You know, Shiranui-kun, LINE is a means of communication like email and phone, you see? In other words! I want to know Shiranui-kun’s contact information right now.”
‘Is that a no?’ Saying this, she tilts her head.
“No, but I mean, eh? Contact information? Mine?”
“Yes, Shiranui-kun’s contact information.”
As if my center of gravity vanished, my feelings started wobbling, messed up, and without something to stand upon.
Even if I try to say something, the words reach the root of my tongue and get swallowed, and again ride there and swallowed repeatedly
“Which one is it? Is that an OK? Is that a no?”
It seems that she is in quite a bit of a hurry there.
“It’s not a no.”
Just like a typical Japanese person who can’t reflexively say ‘no’ to something.
I would be happy to exchange contact information with her, though, of course.
“If it’s okay with you.”
“Un, then can you please type it in here?”
She takes the smartphone from her slim fingertips and enters my email address and phone number as I instruct her.
“It’s over.”
“Uwaaa. Thank you, Shiranui-kun. I’ll share my email address and phone number with you as well.”
A few seconds after Takamine-san typed in her message on her phone, my phone started shaking.
And there was a phone number from an unfamiliar address and a message with an emoticon saying, “Nice to meet you!”
“Un, nice to meet you.”
“Ahaha, it’s nice and refreshing to use my email once in a while. I really have to go soon. Thank you, Shiranui-kun. See you again during the summer vacation.”
“See you later, Takamine-san.”
Then she turned on her heels, and I was left alone on the rooftop.
As soon as it hits me, my legs lose strength and I fall on my back.
“… I feel tired.”
Being involved with her is exhausting in both good and bad ways.
While feeling a sense of liberation from the arrival of the summer vacation, from parting with her, and yet another from being alone on the rooftop, I gaze at the long cloud trail in the skies.
ーーーーーーーーー
ーーーーーーー
ーーーーー
ーーー
ー
“… I never thought we would exchange contact information just like that.”
I don’t know whether it was because of the closing ceremony that was over or because I exchanged contact information with her but, one way or another, I forgot about the rule of looking at my phone while walking down the stairs while in a rush as I looked at the exchange of contact information that happened a moment ago.
“… And so, the young man and woman who exchanged contact information would eventually get pulled towards each other… Well, such things don’t happen normally.”
That is exactly what a novel is like.
Moreover,
“Because she said that there is someone she likes.”
Maybe that’s me?
I tried thinking about all the possibilities, but as I weighed them, the scale leaned closer to ‘Obviously not you, idiot,’ since I’m just some dull student who loves books.
That was my self-evaluation as Shiranui Amane.
However, it is also true that there is no possibility that says that it is 100% not me, nothing says it’s 100% me either.
It’s the feeling of clinging to something unlikely, like buying a lottery ticket and waiting for the winning result.
What would even happen if I could go out with that ‘Takane no Hana’ at that?
[TL notes: Takane no Hana = ‘An unattainable flower’, synonymous with Takamine-san]
I wonder what things I would do
What will she do to me?
What will the people around us think?
——I wonder what Ayane would think about that.
A memory of a conversation with my stepmother crept into the void of my thoughts.
It’s true that Ayane is very attached to me, and if she were to hear I had started dating, would she feel a little lonely?
“Hahaha.”
For a raccoon, it’s skin calculation.
[ED note: Someone who makes plans based on expectations of an uncertain future.]
I felt a little strange that I was now that that kind of proverb applied to me.
“What’s wrong, Onii-chan? you suddenly laughed.”
“Uwaaa! Don’t startle me like that, Ayane.”
Today has been a really tiring day for my heart…
Before I knew it, my little sister Ayane was next to me as I walk down the stairs.
“Mou~ Isn’t it Onii-chan who got surprised yourself? It’s not my fault at all.”
“No, well. That’s true, but still…”
“Onii-chan, are you going home now?”
“Un, that’s what I am thinking.”
When I answered like that, Ayane smiled with a smirk.
“Then let’s go home together?”
And she invited me to accompany her.
I had no reason or reason to refuse, so, of course, I accepted.
“How was Onii-chan’s test result?”
“This was the first time I got a perfect score on my test.”
“Eh, a perfect score! That’s amazing, Onii-chan!”
“I was also surprised too. I haven’t gotten a perfect score on a test since I was in elementary
school.”
“In which subject did you get it?”
“Mathematics.”
“Perfect score in mathematics, haaaah. I was completely useless, though.”
I know exactly how you feel.
I also don’t have an image of someone good in mathematics, but as soon as that talented lady taught me, my understanding suddenly leaped far past normal.
I think she might also have talent as a teacher.
“But it’s all okay! Starting tomorrow, it’s summer vacation, after all!”
“Does Ayane have any plans for summer vacation?”
“Un. Kumi-chan and I talked about staying the night over together. Ah, onii-chan, let’s go somewhere during the summer vacation.”
“Ayane is… —isn’t there a boy you’re in love with? With whom do you wish to spend the summer vacation together?”
“Is that about having a boyfriend? … I have no such thing.”
“Like see, Ayane is so cute that the boys in the class wouldn’t leave you alone, would they?”
“It’s true that I’ve gotten confessed to several times, but I’ve refused them all.”
“I thought it wouldn’t be strange if it was Ayane.”
“Where in my life did you see the shadow of a man? Besides… I don’t need a boyfriend in my life ever.”
The smile gradually faded from Ayane’s face, revealing a rather sullen expression.
Just why?
“I mean. When someone is at Ayane’s age, won’t they start wanting a boyfriend or two for themselves… maybe?”
“I said that I don’t want it, didn’t I? Why is it? Onii-chan, why are you suddenly asking me questions like that? Am I in your way or something!?”
Without limiting her response to her expressions alone, she raised her voice and exposed her anger with her entire body.
“No, no, wait a bit. How the hell did you come to that conclusion at all?”
“Because Onii-chan, you asked me that just because you wanted to force me on some boyfriend! AM I WRONG?!”
“Calm down, Ayane. You are thinking way ahead. I am not asking something like that at all.”
I haven’t seen Ayane this angry in a long time.
Was this such an unpleasant question for Ayane?
“No! That is absolutely the reason! It’s because you find me irritating that you continuously asked me that!!!”
Ayane was no longer listening to my words.
“No, trust me. I was just curious as your Anii, that’s all. I just wondered if there was a child who would go shopping or go to the beach all alone during the summer vacation.”
“It doesn’t matter. Isn’t it okay if Onii-chan takes me shopping and to the beach…?”
Is that a line alright for a normal high-school girl to say?
That was something I realized the other day when my stepmother pointed that out to me.
Ayane may be having the so-called brother complex.
It’s true that being loved so dearly by my stepsister does make me a lot happy, but it’s not something normal.
If Ayane doesn’t want to get a boyfriend just because of her brother complex for me, I’d like to somehow change her mindset.
But I ended up saying the exact opposite thing of what I wanted to say.
“… If you’re okay with me, I’ll go out with you as much as you desire, so please, cheer up already.”
“Then let’s go see a movie together tomorrow. With that, I’ll forgive you.”
“… sure.”
At that time, I decided to help my stepsister lose her infatuation with her Aniiki, even if only a little, by the end of this summer vacation.