I Got Cheated On, so I Thought I’d Cheat Back and Went to a Group Date, I Ran Into a Classmate Who Used to Boss Me Around and Now We’re Living Together - Chapter 39

~side: Nene~

“Alright then, Nene-san, I’m heading out now.”

“Ah, yeah… have fun~”

The next morning, a little after nine.

While Sousuke left for his practice date,

(Alright, then I’ll follow him too…)

Nene quickly got herself ready, putting on a cap and mask as the final touch, and began tailing Sousuke.

She couldn’t help but think, “What am I even doing?” But the truth was simple. She wanted to see how Sousuke’s pretend date with Mia would turn out.

And why? Because she cared about him.

There was no way she could just sit at home while the boy she liked went out with another girl. Nene wasn’t the type to be that calm.

Of course, she wasn’t planning to get in their way. Just observe.

Still, if things took a weird turn, who knew what she’d end up doing?

Anyway, Sousuke rode the train and finally arrived at—

(…The Land of Dreams…)

That famous amusement park in Chiba that calls itself Tokyo.

The reason it didn’t use Chiba was because, overseas, Chiba was slang for drugs like marijuana or heroin. To avoid that association, they went with Tokyo instead.

Either way, at the front gate, Sousuke met up with the blonde half-Japanese girl, Mia.

Blending into the crowd, Nene managed to get close enough to overhear—

“S-Shiraki-kun… thank you for agreeing to this sudden pretend date at an amusement park… Also, I’m sorry for inviting you here, even though I’m such a hopeless introvert…”

“N-no, it’s really fine… But it’s super crowded, so let’s be careful not to get separated.”

“T-then could we maybe hold hands…?”

“Eh, ah, well… if Mishiro-san’s okay with it, I don’t mind.”

“T-then, excuse me…”

(Hooogyaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…!!)

Watching Sousuke and Mia hold hands, Nene screamed inside her heart.

But if she suddenly barged in now, Sousuke would probably think less of her, so she held herself back.

The two passed through the gate.

And Nene followed after them,

(…All alone at the Land of Dreams…)

As a young woman, the thought stung just a little. But then—

“Grrr… Sousuke, how could you hold hands with Mishiro-san like that…!”

Nene heard a voice nearby and turned to see a tall woman with long black hair and a mask, and she was muttering angrily.

(…Wait a second…?)

Nene recognized her right away, so she couldn’t help but step closer and call out.

“Hey… are you Tokitou-san?”

“—Eh!?”

The woman turned around in surprise.

“W-wait… a-are you Machida-san…?”

“Y-yeah, that’s me.”

Nene lifted her cap a little to show her eyes as she nodded.

“…What is Tokitou-san doing here?”

“W-what do you think… I came to follow Sousuke. I heard from Mia-san that she was going on a pretend date with him here at the park today, and I just couldn’t sit still…”

“…And why exactly couldn’t you sit still?”

“T-that doesn’t matter…”

Umi turned her eyes away and was clearly embarrassed.

Ever since their first meeting, Nene could tell that this girl had feelings for Sousuke. 

He had helped her back in high school, and it showed in the way she looked at him.

Maybe she was here for the same reason as Nene.

“…And what about Machida-san? What are you doing here?”

“Ah, that… I heard about it too and just couldn’t help but be curious.”

Nene kept her answer vague, but Umi seemed to catch on and muttered, “…So it’s the same as me then.”

“Well… Do you want to move together?”

“…Would that even benefit either of us?”

“The benefit is… we won’t look like two lonely girls wandering around an amusement park by ourselves. And since we both have the same goal, if we split up, we’d probably bump into each other inside anyway.”

“Fair point… Then, should I take that as a yes?”

“Yes… But don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not here to buddy up with you.”

“Hmph, I get it.”

And so, Nene and Umi ended up walking through the gate together.

◇

~side: Sousuke~

“It’s really crowded here…”

“Well, it is summer break after all…”

The inside of the park was overflowing with people. The station and the gate had been packed too, but once we entered, it was on a whole other level.

We thought of riding one of the famous attractions right away, but when we saw the wait time was over an hour, we almost rolled our eyes.

“…They’ve got that priority pass thing, right? We could use it to skip the line. Do you want to?”

“Hmm… how about we line up for the first one?”

“Just the first one?”

“…I thought maybe the waiting itself could be good material to write about. But of course, I’m fine with using the pass too if you don’t want to.”

“No, in that case, let’s wait. Just for the first one.”

Standing in line under the blazing sun was pretty much torture, but maybe that was part of the whole experience.

“Shiraki-kun… do you have a dream?”

She started making small talk while we waited. Then she suddenly threw that question at me. I scratched my cheek awkwardly.

“Well, I kind of want to write game scripts. That’s why I started writing novels too, to build up some experience.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“No, it’s really not… I only just started, and nothing I’ve done has really taken shape yet.”

On the other hand, Mishiro-san already had an editor supporting her. Umi was drawing doujinshi and planning to sell it at Comiket. Even Nene-san was training hard every day at Maltvono.

Pathetically, I was the only one who didn’t have anything solid to show for myself yet.

“But even so, it’s amazing that you’ve taken the first step.”

That’s what Mishiro-san told me.

“There are plenty of students out there who just waste their days doing nothing. But you’ve already started moving forward. That alone makes you admirable.”

“…Maybe you’re right.”

True enough, the campus was full of people who didn’t seem to think about their future at all. Maybe it was just that the people around me were unusually talented, and compared to them I felt small.

“Yeah… I feel a little more confident now.”

“I’m glad. Then what kind of story are you writing?”

She asked, and from there we kept chatting about small things until finally, we got into the first attraction. The cool air and the sense of accomplishment that came with it… It might have been the greatest catharsis of my life.