Chapter 15 – Troublesome Me

“The sports festival was fun…”

“Yeah, it was…”

The sports festival had ended, cleanup was done, and I walked home with Iroha.

Perhaps because we’d been active in the heat until just moments ago, the path dyed crimson in the evening light felt unusually quiet.

Incidentally, we’d managed to take first place at the sports festival.

“Hey… Ren.”

As we walked along our usual path, just the two of us, Iroha spoke up as we approached a nearby park.

“Want to talk for a bit in the park…?”

“…Okay.”

The two of us sat down on a bench.

It happened to be the same bench where I’d eaten crepes with Kasumi-chan.

“This park brings back memories. We used to come here a lot when we were in elementary school.”

“Yeah. Iroha was crying on that slide over there because it was higher than you thought.”

“Oh my… why do you remember such things?”

Embarrassed, she lightly hit my arm.

It really was nostalgic.

Back then, I’d climbed up with her, held her hand, and helped her down…

“That monkey bars thing that was next to it got removed because it was dangerous. Now that I think about it, the park has changed quite a bit…”

Comparing the past with now, there were definitely a lot of changes.

Though honestly, I didn’t think removing playground equipment changed much…

Still, parks losing parts of themselves—there was something I disliked about that.

Lost in these thoughts, silence stretched between us for a while.

“About what we talked about before…”

“Before?”

“When you came to my house.”

“Ah, that day…”

The memory was still fresh.

The day I’d told her I would definitely produce results, but she’d asked me not to abandon her even if I didn’t. She’d said she wanted to see me strive because she wanted to be first.

“Ever since then, I’ve been trying hard. Studying, exercise, fashion… and cooking too, I guess.”

“Yeah, I’m watching. Carefully.”

Because I’d made that promise.

“But… at today’s sports festival, I realized something. Ren really is popular. There are so many cute, beautiful, kind, and cheerful girls around you. I’m doing my best, but… I don’t feel like I can win against them…”

“That’s not—”

Who am I to say that…?

I hadn’t been thoughtless about it all. The truth was, I’d thought that if we all got along together, we could develop closer bonds.

…Though that ultimately failed, and I’d ended up needing Hikari’s help.

“I said I’d try hard… I said I’d aim for first… but now, I feel more like I don’t want to be abandoned. I know you keep your promises, Ren… I’m sorry… I’m heavy… I’m troublesome…”

“It’s okay.”

I said this and held her close.

Ever since that day… I’d thought about it too. I’d really thought about it, but I couldn’t see a path toward a happy ending.

As it stands, everyone loves me too much… This isn’t a joke. If things came down to choosing just one person… what would happen…?

“I need courage… I need something from you, Ren. Something to push my back forward… Can I ask…?”

“…Of course. What do you need?”

“Um…”

…In the end, all I could do was maintain the status quo. So at the very least, I wanted to give my all for everyone.

My indecisiveness… if only that “incident” had never happened, none of this would be taking place.

“I want you to bite my neck…”

“…Um… that’ll hurt, and it’ll leave a mark…?”

“I know… but if that pain comes from you, I’ll find it precious. Besides, every time I see the mark, I want to feel that connection.”

“…Okay.”

I accepted her request hesitantly.

I gently placed my teeth against the curve of her neck.

My tongue made contact with her skin, and I tasted a faint saltiness—likely from the sweat of her full-effort performance at the sports festival.

I bit down firmly, and the salt mixed with the taste of iron… There was nothing sadistic about this, so it wasn’t exactly pleasant.

“…Mmph…!”

But if this led to her peace of mind…

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Side:IrohaYuzuki

Side:IrohaYuzuki

Today is the sports festival.

Back then, I told Ren I would work hard to be number one… I said it out loud…

There’s no way someone like me can do that… Ren is surrounded by amazing girls… My heart sinks deeper…

But the cooking I practiced for Ren—I finally get to show it to him. But what if he says it’s not delicious…? No, Ren will definitely say it’s delicious…

My heart sinks again…

“Sigh… I don’t want to think about this…”

But even so, I keep thinking about it.

So today, I’ll push myself to act confident.

Bit by bit… if I don’t do something, nothing will change.

—————————

Ah, how cruel is God…?

He takes away my only emotional support.

It wasn’t like this before.

“Senpai… here, say ‘ahhh’… what do you think…?”

“Delicious…!”

My head goes blank… but my heart is wrapped in darkness… And my emotions bubble and churn.