My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering with My School Romantic Comedy - Volume 2 Chapter 3.5:

Volume 2 Chapter 3.5:

“Uuuh, you’re too cute…”

The person claiming to be Yukihira refused to let go of me, clinging to me for an absurdly long time.

At least a full minute passed before she finally released me.

“Can I… take a picture with you?”

My brain still hadn’t caught up, so I nodded almost on instinct.

“Yay!”

Yukihira (??) clasped her hands together in front of her chest, overjoyed. Then, she excitedly dashed off toward one of the event staff, who was in the middle of packing up chairs.

Still in a daze, I could do nothing but stare blankly at the bizarre scene unfolding before me.

“Umm… Excuse me… I know you’re busy working, but…”

She fidgeted nervously, stumbling over her words—something completely unthinkable for the Yukihira I knew.

“What’s up?”

The so-called Yukihira lowered her gaze slightly and mumbled.

“I… I want to take a picture with Shirobuta-kun, but… um… could you maybe help me out for just a moment…?”

“Oh, is that all? You looked so tense, I thought you were going to ask for something crazy!”

The staff member smiled and gladly accepted her request.

“A-Ah, thank you so much!”

Handing over her digital camera, Yukihira (??) quickly returned to my side.

“C-Can I take the picture while petting you?”

Before I could react, she had already latched onto me and was gently patting the back of my plush costume.

“Alright, say cheese!”

After snapping the photo, the staff member returned the camera to her and went back to work.

“Ehehe~”

Hugging the camera to her chest, Yukihira (??) beamed with pure joy.

…Who are you?

“I never thought I’d get a two-shot with Shirobuta-kun… I wasn’t sure if I should come, but I’m so glad I did…”

She smiled again, but then suddenly dropped her voice to a whisper, sounding almost… fragile.

“…There was no one I knew here… If people found out this was the real me, I wouldn’t be able to go to school anymore.”

…The real her?

No way. This… This was Yukihira’s true self?

No, no, no, no, NO. That’s impossible. We’re talking about Yukihira here. The same Yukihira who, whenever she opened her mouth, spewed either insults or dirty jokes. That Yukihira.

So that over-the-top personality… was an act?

If that were the case, I’d find it a hundred times easier to accept if someone told me she had a twin sister instead.

Without thinking, I stared intently at Yukihira’s face.

“Aahh, you’re just too cute!”

She—no, this person claiming to be Yukihira—attempted to lunge at me for a third hug.

Her enthusiasm was so overwhelming that I instinctively took a step back.

At that, she froze, as if suddenly realizing what she was doing.

“A-Ah… S-Sorry! I got carried away… I’m really sorry!”

Her face turned bright red, and she shrank back like a child who had just been scolded.

“Um… I… I know there’s someone inside the costume—I mean, I am a high schooler, after all—but… um… I just… I really love cute things… Normally, I don’t get this excited, or rather, I’m actually really bad at talking to people, but… Shirobuta-kun was just too cute, and I couldn’t hold myself back, and I kind of… lost control…”

She looked so pitiful that, before I knew it, I was waving my hands furiously in a Don’t worry about it! gesture.

“A-Ah… Thank you…”

Whether it was unconscious or not, the very next moment, she was already fluffing my costume again.

Just how much does she love Shirobuta-kun…?

After indulging herself in the texture of the plush fur for a while, she finally spoke.

“Um… It looks like everyone’s packing up, and I don’t want to be a bother, so I should probably head home now.”

She said this reluctantly, then turned her back to me and started walking away.

However, after only a few steps, she stopped.

She turned back around… and returned.

Standing close now, she lifted her gaze toward me with wet, glistening eyes.

“Um… Just one last time… Can I hug you… one more time?”

…How many men in this world could possibly say no to that?

The moment I nodded, she threw herself at me with incredible force.

“I love you!”

Ah—

Just as those words left her lips, my phone vibrated.

At this timing, it had to be a notification. Most likely, it was confirming that I had completed the challenge.

But right now, I was in no state to check.

“Bye-bye, Shirobuta-kun!”

I watched, dazed, as whoever that was ran off with a smile on her face.

I had just witnessed something incredible… something unbelievable.

I couldn’t even trust my own memory of the past five minutes.

No way… No matter how you look at it, that was impossible.

It felt like I had just hallucinated in broad daylight.

“Hey, good work out there.”

Suddenly, I felt a hand pat me on the back of my head.

“Wow, that girl was a high schooler, right? I mean, sure, we do have some fans that age, but I’ve never seen someone that passionate before.”

At some point, Endou-san had appeared beside me, giving me an amused smirk.

So I wasn’t the only one who witnessed that…

That means… That actually happened?

It wasn’t just my imagination…?

While I stood there, still reeling, Endou-san clapped his hands.

“Alright, one last job. While we’re packing up the venue, I need you to take a lap around town and promote Shirobuta-kun, okay?”

I wasn’t even sure what I had just agreed to, but I nodded all the same.

Staggering through the streets in the mascot costume, I felt the unbearable heat inside it—but right now, that was the least of my concerns.

The only thing occupying my mind was the insane secret I had just learned about Yukihira. (At this point, I had no choice but to admit she was the real deal.)

But even if I accepted that her school persona was just an act… why?

Why in the world would anyone choose to play the role of such a weirdo?

“…Huh? Where am I?”

My thoughts were abruptly cut off as I glanced around.

At some point, I had wandered into a deserted back alley.

There was no one around—not exactly ideal for PR.

What the hell was I doing?

I was getting paid for this job, so I had to take it seriously.

Just as I turned around to head back to the main street—

“Whoa!”

I stepped on something and lost my balance.

“Ow…”

Even though the costume had decent visibility, I still couldn’t see my own feet.

Judging by the feel of it, I had probably stepped on a can or something.

“Sigh…”

I let out a long breath and tried to push myself up—

And that was when I realized something fatal.

…I couldn’t get up on my own.

Shirobuta-kun’s overly round body had betrayed me.

My legs couldn’t reach the ground, leaving me completely stranded on my back.

Wiggle… wiggle, wiggle… wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

No matter how much I flailed my arms and legs, I couldn’t flip myself over.

To make things worse, I had fallen perfectly straight in line with the alleyway, so rolling to the side wasn’t an option either.

I stopped struggling for a moment, contemplating my next move—

When suddenly, a voice called out.

“Huh…? Shirobuta-kun?”

Wait… That voice… No way—

“It is Shirobuta-kun, right?”

No doubt about it—Yukihira.

“What are you doing in a place like this?”

That was my line!

Why did it have to be her?

And why now of all times…?

There was no way a Shirobuta-kun fanatic like Yukihira would just ignore this situation.

I could already hear her footsteps rushing toward me.

“Um… hello?”

She spoke hesitantly.

Of course, I couldn’t respond.

“…Is there no one inside?”

For a split second, I considered staying silent and just letting her help me up without revealing my identity.

But I quickly abandoned that idea.

This costume was heavier than it looked.

Add my weight on top of that, and there was no way Yukihira could lift me alone.

Which meant she’d have no choice but to roll me over, unzip the back, and—

Yeah, no. That was completely out of the question.

My only option was to remain absolutely still and hope she lost interest.

“But really… why are you out here?”

Her presence grew even closer.

“Hellooo~? Ahh, even when you’re not moving, you’re still so cute!”

Yukihira began aggressively petting the costume’s fur.

Okay, yes, I got it already—you love Shirobuta-kun.

Now please go find someone to help me…

“Now that I look closer, you’re pretty dirty… This area is right next to a garbage dump, so… could it be that you were thrown away?”

No one in their right mind would toss a mascot costume into a regular dumpster, but if she was willing to believe that, I didn’t care about the reason.

“Oh, I know! There’s no one around here, so… maybe I’ll hold today’s reflection meeting somewhere other than the rooftop for once. And since Shirobuta-kun is here too…”

Her voice dropped slightly as she leaned against me and sat down.

Oh come on.

I had no idea what she meant by a “reflection meeting,” but if she was planning to stay here—

“Hey… will you listen to me?”

“!?”

At her sudden question, I nearly let a sound escape… Did she figure it out?

“Well…”

It seemed that Yukihira had been speaking to Shirobuta-kun as though he were her confidant, holding a one-sided conversation. I let out a quiet sigh of relief, careful not to make any noise.

Now that I thought about it, she had mentioned something about talking to stuffed animals being her charm point during the showdown before the competition.

I had thought she was joking, but… it seemed like she was serious.

“When I was little, I was really shy, and whenever I tried talking to people, I always got all flustered. I didn’t have any friends until middle school… Then, last year, my dad got transferred, and we moved here… Since I didn’t know anyone, I decided to start over and graduate from the hopeless version of myself.”

Ah, so this was her “high school debut.”

“But you know… It didn’t work. When I tried to hide my true self and talk to people, I ended up acting really weird, and no matter how many times I tried to fix it… When I’m not acting like that character, I just can’t talk to anyone normally.”

So, Yukihira’s school persona was just an act after all.

“Honestly… I want to stop. But once I start talking, I just can’t stop myself, and I end up saying all this weird stuff… And, like, perverted things… When I get home, I feel so embarrassed, I feel like I’m going to die.”

Well, I could definitely understand how that felt. If I were talking about stuff like chest size or bondage, I’d probably want to die too… I’ve been there.

“So, every week, I have a little reflection meeting on the school rooftop. It’s such an open space, and I feel like my little worries just fly away when I’m up there…”

So that’s what the reflection meeting was… Wait, this story was completely new to me, but why did it feel so familiar? Why did it feel like I had already heard it before?

“But, you know… No matter how much I reflect, it never works. Ever since I became a second-year, I couldn’t hold myself back. And there’s this guy, Amakusa-kun, who, no matter how weird I act, never ignores me and talks to me, so I ended up getting carried away and just kept going further…”

The shocking truth. Could I have been partly responsible for this side of Yukihira?

Then, her voice grew even heavier, more burdened with sorrow.

“…And then, the day before yesterday, Amakusa-kun saw today’s flyer, and I got so embarrassed that I just ran away without saying anything… Ugh, what should I do? I don’t know how to apologize now, and tomorrow, I’ll have to act like nothing happened… Ugh, I’m sorry, Amakusa-kun.”

So it was a form of embarrassment masking her feelings…

“This is all my fault for being so weak. I don’t have the strength to interact with people in my current state. Someday… someday, I need to be able to reveal the real me and talk to my friends with my own words. I know that… I really do. But… but right now, I can’t handle it. I couldn’t stand the idea of my classmates finding out who I really am…”

I felt the same way. Now that I knew this truth, how was I supposed to act around her tomorrow?

Even if she didn’t realize I knew, there was no way I could treat her the same anymore. This new side of Yukihira would be stuck in my mind, and it was going to be hard to keep a natural attitude around her.

And then, suddenly, I felt Yukihira stand up.

“Ugh… I hate this weak side of myself!”

With a sudden outburst, Yukihira lunged forward, practically throwing herself onto the plush.

Her face pressed against Shirobuta-kun’s upturned eyes, and from my position, her expression filled my vision.

Ugh…

I instinctively swallowed hard.

Her hair was in slight disarray, her eyes shimmered faintly with moisture…

T-This Yukihira… looking so vulnerable, so desperately in need of protection… this was unfair!

【Choose: ① Beg her to let you out of the costume immediately.

② Erase all memory of Yukihira’s “true self” from your mind. (Note: Also deletes the “Path to Philosophy” folder from your PC.) 】

What the hell is this… Both choices… both are equally awful.

First, option ①. If I revealed myself now… I couldn’t predict exactly what would happen, but it would definitely be disastrous for both me and Yukihira.

Next, option ②. The first part? Honestly, I wouldn’t mind forgetting what I just heard. But then… there was that devilish condition attached at the end.

My… My carefully curated collection of skin-tone images, amassed over years, would be erased?!

That’s not something I can just accept! No, I refuse!

“Ugh…”

A sharp, sudden headache struck, forcing a groan out of me.

Luckily, it seemed Yukihira didn’t hear, but if another wave hit, I was done for.

If she realized someone was inside the costume, that would automatically mean choosing ①. If I were to go with ②, I needed to make the decision immediately.

What do I do…?

…… ………… ……… ……… Alright.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I made my choice.

What decided it for me… was the realization that I enjoyed my interactions with Yukihira.

Sure, I always thought she was a hassle, that she was exhausting, that I wanted a break from her antics.

But just now, when I faced the possibility of losing this dynamic between us… I felt an undeniable pang of loneliness.

Yukihira’s feelings only strengthened my resolve.

Rather than her secret being exposed due to some freak accident like this, wouldn’t it be better if no one knew—at least not until she was ready to reveal her true self on her own terms?

And so…

Goodbye, my… my skin-tone paradise!

The moment I chose ②, the options disappeared from my mind.

“Phew… That felt a little refreshing… Maybe having a reflection session somewhere other than the rooftop isn’t so bad once in a while.”

As Yukihira stood up, a strange fog seemed to spread through my mind.

“But what should I do with this Shirobuta-kun? Even if it was discarded, leaving it here wouldn’t be good. I can’t carry it alone, so maybe I should ask someone—”

Before she could finish her sentence…

“──Hey… Hey! Wake up!”

Someone was calling out to me—urgently.

“…Huh?”

“Thank goodness… You’re alright, Amakusa-kun.”

Who…? And what the hell am I doing here?

The man looking down at me let out a relieved smile.

“Do you recognize me? It’s Endou.”

Endou-san…? Oh, that’s right—I was working a part-time job wearing a mascot costume. Then, I spotted Yukihira near the building’s shadow… But what happened after that?

“It’s likely dehydration.” Endou-san looked apologetic. “I’m sorry. This was your first time doing this, so I should have been more mindful about breaks and water intake.”

Dehydration? That doesn’t seem right—I don’t feel particularly thirsty, nor do I feel weak.

And considering my missing memory… This doesn’t feel like dehydration at all.

“But really, I’m glad you’re okay… If that girl hadn’t told us, things might have turned out much worse.”

“…A girl?”

“Yeah, Shirobuta-kun’s biggest fan. She didn’t realize there was someone inside, though—she thought the costume had just been abandoned.”

Judging from the situation, that must have been Yukihira… But I still couldn’t remember anything.

After that, Endou-san kindly offered to take me to the hospital, but since I felt completely fine—if anything, I was the one causing trouble—I politely declined.

***

“Hm?”

On my way home, my phone suddenly vibrated. It was just a regular email newsletter, nothing unusual—except for the unfamiliar message sitting right below it.

“What’s this?”

Curious, I opened the email from ‘God.’

《Yukihira Furano – Cleared》

…What?