Episode 10 

Source

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093076684326416/episodes/16818093076715637372

After the third period, Takeru arrives home a little later than usual.

There is a reason for that. He was unable to get the incident during the day out of his mind and spent the class in a daze.

Just before class ended, he came to himself, bowed his head to the professor so as not to erase the blackboard, and hurriedly wrote what’s on the board.

If Chisato found out about this, she would get angry again.

With these thoughts in mind, he was about to pass by a park on his way home when he heard a child crying from the park.

Takeru was curious and looked inside the park and saw a girl of about 4~5 years old squatting in the sandbox and crying.

Takeru became concerned and stepped into the park, but a woman immediately ran up and approached the girl.

One person would be enough.

He thought, and was about to turn back when he stopped at the back of the familiar woman.

Takeru turned around and looked at the profile of the woman, and as he had thought, she was Chisato.

Chisato looked unusually flustered and was wringing her hands.

“P-please don’t cry. W-wait a minute, I’ll go get some bandaids right now.”

After saying that, Chisato started to sit up, but the girl grabbed the hem of his clothes and cried even more, saying, [Don’t go.]

“O-okay, I’m not going anywhere. Huh….um……what should I do?”

Chisato stroked the girl’s head, a troubled look on her face.

Takeru approached and called out to her.

“Chisato san, is something wrong?”

Chisato looked at Takeru and her eyes widened.

“T-Takeru !? I-it’s not what you think, this is not kidnapping or anything ! Yes, I was looking at her because I thought she was cute, but this is really not like that !”

“Calm down, Chisato san, there’s no such misunderstanding. In fact, I think that excuse will arouse suspicion.”

“E-eh….?”

Takeru ignored Chisato, whose eyes were rolling in confusion, and when he turned to the girl, he saw blood dripping from her knees to her shins. She probably fell or something and scraped her leg.

Takeru held the girl in a princess carry and took her to the water tap to wash the scraped knee with water. The girl must have been in pain, but she endured it by biting her lower lip.

Takeru patted her head, saying, [You’ve endured well, great job] and popped her affected area with a damp handkerchief.

Then he took an adhesive bandage from his wallet and put it on her.

When he finished the simple first aid, the girl’s face lit up with a smile as if she was relieved.

“Wow ! Thank you, Onii chan, Onee chan !”

The girl clung tightly to Chisato’s legs as if to express her gratitude.

Then Chisato scratched her cheek and smiled bitterly, [I didn’t do anything, though…].

After parting with the girl and returning home together, Chisato opened her mouth as if impressed.

“How could you have such a bandage? You’re also very familiar with small procedures,…….”

“……It’s a remnant of playing with someone who used to get hurt a lot back in the day.”

Takeru answered while remembering his childhood friend from when he was a kid.

When Akari was in elementary school, she was a boyish child and enjoyed playing games that often caused injury, such as running around and climbing trees.

But after entering junior high school, she became more girly and the bandage was no longer useful, but the fact that he always kept it in his bag seemed to have helped.

“Thank you, that helped. To be honest, although it was good that I called out to her when she was crying, I’m not very good at dealing with kids….”

Chisato said this with her eyes downcast.

Chisato has a strong sense of responsibility, perhaps she regrets not being able to handle the situation on her own.

Takeru grinned and spoke in a deliberately mocking tone.

“I’m surprised that Chisato san would call out to herl. I thought Chisato san’s response would be something like, [Don’t cry because you’re hurt, just do something on your own.]”

Of course I was joking, but given Chisato san’s stoic attitude, I think it’s possible.

Then Chisato’s mouth dropped open and she looked miffed.

[How ride, what do you think I am?] she says, then continues with a smile like a child who just thought of a prank. [Just the other day, I called out to a boy who was crying after being dumped, right?]

The counter flew in, as I had not expected.

Takeru makes a reluctant face and turns his head away.

“Uu……forget about that…….”

Just remembering it now makes my face burn with embarrassment. Having someone comfort me when I’m crying because someone I love has a boyfriend is the biggest regret in my life.

In fact, what Chisato san comforted me at that time was not kindness, but rather a conflict of interest in which she sought the benefit of the lunch box. However, I think it would be foolish to call it kindness now.

Chisato looked at Takeru, who was blushing with shame, and giggled.

Although Takeru looked away, he felt relieved when he heard her laugh.

After laughing for a moment, Chisato abruptly switched the subject.

“I’m sorry about what happened during the day. I didn’t mean to question Sato senpai, but after seeing your tears…..I couldn’t help but notice her behavior, so I just had to speak up.”

Takeru was also curious about what had happened during the daytime.

After hesitating whether or not to ask, Takeru decided to ask the question that had been on his mind throughout the third period class.

“Why did you lie about dating me…..?”

Chisato raises both eyebrows at Takeru’s words.

[Because it’s disgusting.] Chisato answered matter-of-factly, then crossed her arms and wrinkled her brow. [Getting herself a boyfriend and then being in a bad mood when Takeru gets along with another woman is too much. I just wanted to see how she would react if Takeru was dating another girl.]

Certainly, Akari was acting strangely at that time.

Perhaps Akari had seen Takeu and Chisato getting along so well that she felt as if Chisato had taken her friend away from her.

But even so, Chisato is right, it is extremely unreasonable for her to get angry just because Takeru is getting along with his friends. Chisato seemed to be angry at Akari’s behavior and lied to her to see how she would react.

“What, so that’s how it is.”

Takeru was convinced that it was typical of Chisato, but at the same time he felt a little disappointed and muttered unintentionally.

I feel like an idiot for being a little nervous.

Chisato frowned and made a dubious expression, so Takeru hurried to change the subject.

“C-come to think of it, what did you mean by [insurance]?”

The idea that Akari strongly denies.

Takeru had no idea, although he had thought back over the course of the conversation many times since then and considered the meaning carefully.

Chisato opened her mouth while placing her hand on her chin as if thinking a little.

“……After all, if you’re a person who doesn’t think about anything, you won’t understand the meaning, right?”

“Chisato san? You’re saying that……maybe you’re making fun of me?”

“Huh? Ah, I’m not. Of course, I mean it in a good way.”

“How can ‘someone who doesn’t think’ mean something good? You can’t just say “good” and expect to get away with anything, can you?”

“Oh, no, that’s not true. For example,……when you are struggling with complicated things like relationships, you can be helped by simple opinions that are not so complicated, can’t you?”

“……Certainly.”

Sometimes we humans think things are too complicated to take action.

For example, when we give up our seat on the train, we hesitate to do so because we think the other person might be thinking they will get treated like an old person or because we are concerned about the eyes of those around us. Most people do not feel bad about the goodwill they receive and do not pay attention to the people around them. Sometimes it is better to act without thinking.

“Oh yes, sometimes it helps to be an idiot.”

“You finally called me an idiot ! I guess you were calling me an idiot after all “

I want you to give me back the time I spent defending you for so long, even giving you an analogy.

Chisato said, [I was just joking] and after giggling quietly with amusement, she continued her words in a calm tone.

“The reason you don’t understand is because you don’t look at Sato senpai in any way.It’s okay just because you trust her. I think Takeru’s good point is that he’s honest.”

It’s hard to tell whether he’s being praised or taken aback by the fine line between her reaction.

“On the other hand, when I saw that Sato senpai immediately understood what I meant, even though she denied it verbally, it must have been something she had in mind somewhere in her heart.”

“Eh? What does that mean?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Chisato turned her head away as if she did not want to answer any more questions.

After waiting for a while, there was no response, so Takeru gave up on asking any more questions and decided to ask Chisato about another thing he was curious about.

“By the way, you used to be in a tennis club, didn’t you?”

Chisato answered as if she remembered.

“Yeah, I’ve been playing tennis since I was in junior high school, in case you were wondering.”

“I would love to see you play tennis. Isn’t there a match?”

Although it was not in my image, I would love to see Chisato san running on the court with her beautiful black hair, because I felt it would be a picturesque image just by imagining it.

“Not happening. I’ve already resigned my membership.”

But Chisato answered so curtly.

“Eh? Why?”

“Well, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a little bit about the relationships in our circle.”

“Ah, I see.”

Takeru nodded his head in understanding.

Indeed, with Chisato sab’s personality, I was strangely convinced that the hierarchical relationship unique to athletic clubs seemed to be harsh. She is strong-willed and doesn’t bend, so she won’t be able to become a beloved junior.

Then Chisato frowned in disapproval.

“…..Takeru, did you just think of something rude?”

“N-no, I didn’t…”

“Let me tell you, I can use honorific language with people above me, and I never had any problems with interpersonal relationships in club activities even in junior high and high school.”

Now that she mentioned it, when she met Takeru’s father, she was able to use honorific language without any hesitation. It was the same with Akari in the afternoon.

“But then, why were you so aggressive with me when we met?}

I remember the first time I met Chisato, she forced me to eat the school cafeteria’s ginger-set meal.

Come to think of it, the only person she didn’t respect from the first meeting was Takeru.

When Takeru thought of this and had a subtle expression on his face, Chisato opened her mouth in a tiresome manner.

“At that time, I thought it was a pick-up because you were staring at me, I didn’t know Takeru was my senior.”

Chisato then stood in front of Takeru as if blocking his way and looked up at Takeru as if to make fun of him.

“Or should I call you something different now? Takeru se-n-pai?”

Takeru’s brain froze at the sheer sweetness of the sound.　

The voice sounded so cute that he doubted it was really coming from her mouth, and being called senpai by such a voice almost opened a new door for him.

Chisato gushed when she saw Takeru’s mouth puckering in astonishment.

“Pfft…haha, just kidding. Don’t look at me like you’re looking at something weird like that. I know I’m not good with this kind of thing. Yeah, I’m more comfortable calling you Takeru.”

Chisato said, turning around and walking away.

Strange? Not at all. I was just short-circuited by the sheer destructive power (cuteness).

I’d like her to call me [senpai] again.

I thought, but I didn’t want to go to the trouble of asking her to change the way she called me, for fear of making her feel uncomfortable, so I persevered and followed behind her.

In the meantime, Takeru’s house came into view.

As I was feeling a little disappointed that my time with Chisato san had come to an end, I saw Mayu’s figure coming from across the street.

“Ah, Chisato chan, yoo-hoo—“

Mayu noticed Takeru and Chisato, she reacted to Chisato before her brother, and ran up to her.

Chisato lightly lifted the corner of hiermouth and answered Mayu.

“Hello, Mayu chan. I know it seems a little early, but are you on your way home from school?”

[Yup. I’m in the go home club so I’m early.] Mayu answered, then took Chisato’s arm and pulled her towards the house. [Rather than that, Chisato chan, why don’t you come over to my house? I found a new combo the other day, and I wanted someone to fight with.]

That was a nice assist, even from my own sister. Takeru took Mayu at her word and invited Chisato to come.

“You should definitely do that, Chisato san. I’ll join you today.”

The other day, Takeru was too busy making ginger-set meals to participate in the game, so he wanted to play a game with Chisato.

Mayu looked uncomfortable at Takeru’s words.

“Eh, you want to play too, Aniki?”

“Yeah? What’s wrong, Mayu? Are you afraid of losing?”

Mayu clicked her tongue at Takeru’s obvious provocation and turned her gaze back to Chisato, ignoring Takeru.

“Well, just ignore Aniki, please, Chisato chan ! Even if it’s just for a little bit !”

Mayu claps her hands together and bows deeply, to which Chisato gives a troubled smile.

“Erm…well, shall I interrupt you for a little bit? Just for a bit, okay?”

–

–

If you enjoy our content, feel free to donate, Thank you in advance !

https://ko-fi.com/dasuitl

https://saweria.co/dasuitl