In a World of Reversed Chastity, I’m Surrounded by a Clingy Older Woman, a Walking Red Flag, and an Exhausted Office Lady - 27-28

Chapter 27: That’s It!!

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Renka Koibuchi was filled with impatience and complicated emotions. After reading the message from Aoi, and then hearing the plan to hold a birthday party where the three of them would celebrate Aoi together, that was part of the reason—but there was something even more troubling than that.

Both Yua Shino­nome and Kaoruko Shiki were more mature than Renka Koibuchi, and in terms of financial power, she would surely be inferior. When she tried to think of what she had that was superior to those two, no answer came easily. That was why impatience and a faint sense of fear seeped out from the depths of Renka’s heart.

Yua Shino­nome. Kaoruko Shiki. From what she had heard from Aoi, both of them were good people—so good that Renka felt it was almost a waste for someone like her to even call herself their friend. On top of that, she had heard they were beautiful and kind.

Part of her wondered whether such beautiful, kind, good people would really issue something like a declaration of war, but since they had deliberately arranged to celebrate him all three at the same time, there must be some sort of meaning behind it. That was how she chose to interpret it.

To Renka Koibuchi, the existence of Aoi Shirasu was one of a kind. He was the person who acknowledged her “cuteness,” the person she loved from the bottom of her heart. She could see no one but Aoi.

It would not be an exaggeration to call her state blind devotion. She generally thought everyone other than Aoi did not matter, but there were exceptions. Those exceptions were the people who liked Aoi, and the people whom Aoi himself recognized as friends. The people who liked Aoi were, without exception, those he had saved, or those he had pampered to the point their brains nearly melted. Almost certainly, they could see no one but Aoi.

They were love rivals. Even so, Renka wanted to know what kind of people they were—people who, like herself, could see only Aoi. What was it about them that attracted Aoi? What about Aoi had attracted them? How much did they understand him? How had he saved them? Had they gone somewhere together? Had they done something together? If they knew sides of Aoi that she did not, she wanted them to tell her.

Unlike Yua, Renka recognized them as enemies, yet she also believed that in order to understand Aoi, it was necessary to know her enemies. And at the same time, just like Yua, she feared being rejected by Aoi more than anything else in this world. If it meant being rejected by him, then she did not have to be number one. She just wanted to remain by his side. She wanted him to continue allowing her “cuteness” as he always had, to dye her mind completely in Aoi’s colors.

She wanted him to make her his number one. She wanted him to look only at her. She did not want him to get another girl. She did not want anyone else to fall in love with Aoi. On one hand, she recognized them as enemies trying to take Aoi from her. On the other hand, she wondered if perhaps, from here on, she might have to get along with them.

With these two thoughts coexisting in her mind, her feelings became tangled and complex. Sensing the difference between herself and the two girls she had only heard about made her anxious and so impatience and confusion filled her heart.

“For now, it’s decided that I’m going… but what should I do?”

The outfit she would wear to the party had already been chosen in advance, so that was fine. But as she had said earlier, the most important thing—the present—was nowhere close to being decided. If she gave something expensive, he would probably be happy. But that was not something Renka needed to do. Renka’s strengths were her “cuteness” and the fact that she had spent longer with him, even if only by half a year, than the other two.

Surely there was something, she thought, as she scrolled through the photo folder on her smartphone, looking back on everything until now.

“Oh, this photo… It’s from the first day we met. And this one is from our first date…”

As she swiped, immersing herself in nostalgic memories, she recalled what had happened back then.

“Ah, no matter how many times I look at it, Aoi from this moment is just too cute! He’s seriously perfect. He was eating so deliciously, it was adorable.”

There were photos she had secretly taken without him knowing, and photos they had taken together. Each and every one was precious. They were happy memories captured in images.

……………………………

…That’s it!!

Renka, who had been rolling around on her bed, sprang upright and immediately began getting ready to go shopping.

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Chapter 28: Here I Am♪

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“Aoi-chan.”

“Nii-san.”

““Happy birthday!””

“Thanks, Mom, Hina.”

Today was December 24th. It was my birthday and also an ordinary weekday. I attended most of my university lectures, so even if I took a full day off, it wouldn’t be a problem at all. Mom had used her paid leave, and Hina had simply taken the day off from school. It seemed the two of them had decided that no matter what happened, they would absolutely take this day off. 

When I said, “I think it’d be totally fine to celebrate after work or after school, you know?” They both shot me terrifying looks.

“If I couldn’t celebrate it with all my heart because I was tired from work on the precious day Aoi-chan was born into this world, then I’d be a failure as a mother. So absolutely not.”

“On the day Nii-san was born into this world, this is no time to be pursuing academics. I must spend the entire day by Nii-san’s side, feel Nii-san’s presence, and celebrate Nii-san from the bottom of my heart.”

Mom gave a reasoning that at least sounded somewhat plausible. Hina, as usual, twisted together some incomprehensible logic to avoid going to school. Well, even though I said all that, I had been playing hooky on my birthday ever since elementary school, so I wasn’t really in a position to complain.

“Nii-san is nineteen this year, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s thanks to Mom for raising me this far, and to Hina for growing up alongside me.”

I had turned nineteen this year. Since I’d died at eighteen in my previous life, this was technically a new personal record.

“Seriously, Aoi-chan, why are you such a good boy? I thought so when I gave birth to you, but that feeling just grows stronger every year. Aoi-chan really is an angel, isn’t he?”

“Why are you stating the obvious? Nii-san is an angel, and a god, and the sun.”

Mom was exaggerating and Hina…Well, she was the same as always.

“I made lots of your favorite things for my sweet, wonderful son Aoi-chan, so eat as much as you like.”

“Nii-san. I helped too, so there’s some karaage I made myself. Please savor it carefully. Ah, and of course we prepared presents as well, so look forward to that.”

“Thanks. Well then, I guess I’ll dig in right away.”

All my favorite dishes were lined up in front of me. I picked up a piece of karaage and took a bite. Just like always, it had been properly seasoned and was juicy, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Ah, I made that karaage.”

“You did? It’s really good. Since when did you get so good at cooking?”

“Hehe. I practiced a lot while Nii-san wasn’t around.”

Hina said and did plenty of strange things, but the part of her that thought about me and did things for my sake hadn’t changed since long ago.

“Aoi-chan. Make sure you eat lots of what I made too.”

“Yeah. …Oh, this is really delicious. Mom’s cooking really is the best.”

“Ufufu. Of course it is. They call it a mother’s home cooking for a reason. I can’t lose to Hina-chan just yet.”

“I’ll surpass you someday, so it’s fine.”

“Okay, okay, no fighting. I’d be happy if we could just celebrate happily.”

Sensing that things might turn into a small quarrel, I mediated while continuing to munch away. Come to think of it, Shizuku had once said, 『If you’re coming home, make sure to contact me. If you don’t… ufufufufu,』 So she had said with a meaningful laugh.

Because of that, I had at least sent her a message today, but even though she’d read it, there had been no reply at all afterward. Well, she was probably at university attending class right now, so that must’ve been why. While chatting with Mom and Hina and thinking about that, the doorbell rang.

“Did we order something?”

“Hm…? I didn’t. Did you, Mom?”

“I didn’t either.”

“Well, I’ll go check for now, so just stay seated.”

“It’s fine, Nii-san. I’ll go.”

“It’s okay. Stay seated.”

I stood up and opened the front door. Standing there was…

“I ended up coming. Happy birthday, Aoi-sama♪”

Shizuku, with her unchanged beautiful white skin and well-proportioned features. She stood there while smiling brightly.

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