Chapter 6 Part 2 – Our Night – Part 2

Translator: Chaos

Editor: Riciel

Riko likes me…!?

“I knew something was wrong during the field trip, so I observed her attitude, and it became quite obvious. Princess Riko looked at you several times a day. And with the face of a girl who’s obviously in love! I’m telling you, it’s really depressing! I was so excited that she was looking at me because she liked me, but it wasn’t me she was looking at, it was the guy next to me, Shinyama. … Reality is awful, isn’t it… sniffle…”

“Stop it with your disgusting weeping.”

“Shut up. You’re a popular guy now…”

“You know, it’s Sawa’s misunderstanding no matter what I think. Because she likes-”

I was about to say that, but I hurriedly shut my mouth.

I mean, I’m an idiot.

Who would blurt out the fact that Riko is in love with someone else?

“It’s nothing.”

“See? You can’t deny my intuition, can you?”

“… Hey, Sawa. Who else did you tell about it?”

“No one yet.”

“Not yet, huh. Then just keep your mouth shut.”

“What? Why not? You’re the star of hope for us mediocre guys. Let’s spread this fact secretly to cheer up everyone.”

No offense, but that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard.

“If you do that, it will be bad for Hanae-san…!”

“Why? It’s not like I’m trying to spread bad news. If the rumors spread first, it might be easier for Riko to confess her feelings.”

No way.

It would cause the opposite effect and turn things awkward. It wasn’t up to me to say, but unless Sawa did something about this lack of delicacy, it would be difficult for him to get close to girls, disregarding his wishes.

“Hey, Shinyama. When you start dating Princess Riko, introduce me to her cute friends.”

I raised my eyebrows at Sawa, who had clasped his hands together in a begging pose.

“So that’s what you’ve been up to all along, huh?”

“Heh, did you find out?”

“I’ll tell you something, even if Sawa spreads this strange rumor, there’s no way Hanae-san and I will ever go out.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“That’s…”

I can’t say that Riko has someone else she likes.

I’m in trouble because I can’t reveal her secret.

If I can’t stop Sawa with this, he might really start a rumor. If that happened, Riko would be in a lot of trouble, and I had to prevent that at all costs.

… But how in the world can I convince him that we won’t date?

I thought about it for a few seconds, and then I came up with a painstaking plan.

… It’s improbable, but I can’t think of anything else to spark it…

I hope I can keep Sawa’s mouth shut this time…

Okay-

I’ve decided, and placed my right hand on Sawa’s shoulder.

“Sawa, listen to me carefully. Hanae-san and I won’t ever go out. This is the first time I’m confiding in you, but… I already have a girl I like!”

“…Eh? Ehhhhhh!?”

“I can’t go out with her even if Hanae likes me, as Sawa said. So please don’t spread any rumors that she might like me. I can’t answer her feelings, and it would be a pity if her feelings were known to everyone, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s… very true.”

Even Sawa, who was dull in regards to romance, seemed to understand if I explained it carefully.

“But are you serious? To dump Hanae-san, that would be too much of a waste…”

She wouldn’t ever confess to me, so I didn’t have to reject her or anything.

“It’s not the same to fall in love with a beautiful girl as it is to admire her. You’ll understand when you fall in love.”

“…So, that’s what it is?”

“Yes, yes. So, no spreading rumors. Okay?”

“…Well, I’m not trying to hurt Princess Riko. But the girl you like is… And what’s more, it’s a love so serious that you can’t change your mind even if a beautiful girl likes you …”

“Haha…”

I was glad Sawa was such a straightforward guy. Anyway, this solved the problem.

I let out a breath of relief and tilted my head, feeling like I had forgotten something.

Oh…?

Didn’t I have a bigger problem…?

And yes, I did!!

It’s about this evening!!

I had to prepare myself for tonight, even though it had been completely forgotten in my mind for a while because of Sawa’s ridiculous topic.

As I hurriedly looked out the window, black clouds came into view. The wind was also somewhat unsettling, shaking the large trees in the schoolyard.

It looks like the weather was going to be just as predicted…

I squinted with mixed feelings as I looked up at the heavy clouds.

◇◇◇

Even though I wasn’t prepared for it, the time passed relentlessly-

“I don’t have any work today…!”

I slammed my forehead against the wall of the elevator in my apartment building.

It’s not that I don’t like it…!

It’s just that I feel crushed by a mixture of anxiety, nervousness, and a faint anticipation that I shouldn’t have.

Not good. Oh, no.

My heart is going to come out of my mouth…

For now, I’ll just be mindless.

I had to remind myself of that.

Mindless, mindless…!

While chanting frantically, I rang the intercom.

“Yes, yes! Welcome back!”

Ah.

Riko’s voice over the intercom was different than usual.

This is not good…

I’m even more nervous when I think Riko is aware of it…

I don’t know if I’ll be able to live until tomorrow…

I’m really starting to worry that I’m going to die from overworking my heart.

That’s why my heart is beating so loudly.

It’s only a little after 9:30pm…

The night is quite long from here–

“Oh, Minato-kun, you can go take a bath…”

“That’s right. We forgot to play rock-paper-scissors this morning.”

“Oh, yeah.”

When we first started living together, we had a lot of trouble because we kept giving each other turns to take the bath. After that, we made a rule that every morning before breakfast we would play rock-paper-scissors to decide the bath order for the day. But today, due to an irregular incident, I forgot all about it.

“Okay. Let’s go! Rock, Paper… Pon!”

“Ah, Riko wins. Do you want to go in after dinner?”

“…Yes, I will.”

Riko glanced over at the living room table with a pink tint under her eyes. That’s when I first noticed the unfamiliar box on the table. It was a box a little larger than a notebook with a floral pattern printed on it. It looked like something a girl would like.

It was probably Riko’s, but what was it?

“Riko, that box is…”

Ah, … ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, that’s nothing important! It’s just that I’ve been curious about it for a long time! I just bought it today because I wanted it so badly. I wasn’t imagining that it could be…! It was just a coincidence!”

“I see. What’s in it?”

“… Body scrub.”

After saying that in a muffled voice, Riko turned over with a bright red face.

What’s a body scrub…?

Is it something that you should be so embarrassed about…?

It’s not a topic that a man should pursue because Riko looked so embarrassed. In the end, I took the opportunity to look it up on my phone and found out that it is a kind of soap that contains salt and sugar and is used to remove dead skin cells.

But why did she look so embarrassed about it…?

I mean, it’s just soap, isn’t it?

I tilted my head, more and more confused.