Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093094471724561/episodes/822139837099717363
The game kept getting more and more exciting, and before we knew it, evening had fallen.
Is it just the different environment that makes it this much fun? It was so lively the whole time it was actually kind of scary—I kept thinking someone passing by might mistake this place for a club.
“It’s a good time, so let’s have dinner.”
“”“Yes!”””
Tonight’s dinner is curry. It might seem a bit lame after the BBQ on day one, but it’s not. With three heroines around, any meal tastes delicious.
Is hunger the best spice? …Nah, nah, my favorite heroine is the best spice.
Five people aren’t needed to make curry, so the two who lost the rock-paper-scissors game got stuck doing it.
So, the losers—me and Hisada-chan—ended up making the curry.
I’m totally fine with it, but Hisada-chan probably hates it. Not that I care at this point, though. She hates me so much I just push forward anyway. If she really hated me, she’d be trying to kill me by now. No blood’s been spilled yet, so we’re still good.
Chopping veggies away, but this situation feels familiar somehow.
Ah! Orientation camp!
So nostalgic. It’s only been about two months, but it feels nostalgic because we spent such an intense time together.
Back then, Hisada chan would get angry just if I tried to talk to her. Back then, Hisada chan was seriously like a cat. If you even slightly messed with her, she’d scratch you with her claws. Thinking about it that way, maybe we’ve gotten a little closer? Or am I the only one who thinks she hates me even more?
“It’s been since the orientation camp, huh?”
“…Yeah.”
“And now look~ we’re so close~”
I move closer to Hisada-chan, who’s cutting vegetables beside me.
“… ”
Hisada-chan signals with her knife to tell me not to come any closer.
“Sorry.”
Using a knife is unfair~. Before, you’d just kick my shins, but no knives allowed.
I was hoping for something like “…Yeah. I trust Mizuno more than I did at the orientation camp,” but that was way out of the question.
“If you cut your finger, just say the word.”
“…I can put a band-aid on myself.”
“That’s not what I meant. I’ll lick it for you.”
“…If you lick it, I’ll kill you. Seriously.”
It’s a joke, right? It might be gross, but it’s a joke, right? You don’t need to give me that death glare, right?
“…You’re gross. Back up a step.”
“Yes.”
Even I got scared, so I backed up a step from Hisada-chan. Is my grossness really breaking through its limits lately?
And I didn’t mean “lick your finger” in a gross way! I was worried about your finger wound and offered to lick it! Why does anything I do automatically equal a creepy act? Seriously, stop it!
It’s not like I’m gonna lick it like candy, okay? Just a little lick on the wound?
My grandma used to lick my finger when I cut it as a kid, so it’s gotta work. I mean, my grandma did it! My grandma is always right!
If you’re going to deny my grandma, I won’t stay quiet either.
…Yeah. You just don’t want me licking your finger, right, Hisada-chan? Sorry.
“…Hey.”
“What is it?”
Hisada-chan’s voice dropped a notch. Is she about to talk seriously? Alright, I’ll drop the goofy mood from earlier.
“…Shibamura Misaki. Do you know what’s going on with her right now?”
“No idea?”
Shibamura Misaki is that despicable, vile bastard who bullied our adorable, adorable Hisada-chan.
Thanks to my genius plan—the plot twist resolution strategy—we managed to resolve it. Hisada-chan always called it lame, but Saotome praised it to death. That guy really gets it.
There’s no way I’d know what happened to that Shibamura Misaki. Jokes and trivial stuff reach me, but serious topics like love? They don’t.
“…Apparently, Shibamura Misaki’s holed up at home.”
“Oh?”
“…Seems she got exposed”
“I see…”
Well, since that plot twist resolution operation forced Shibamura Misaki into the role of the culprit, the others probably think they got dragged into this because of her.
The others were bullying Hisada-chan too, so they don’t have the right to say that. But since it got exposed and the leader was Shibamura Misaki, they’re taking it out on her.
So, Shibamura Misaki has no allies left and has shut herself in her room.
“…What do you think?”
Me!? You’re asking me for my opinion!? What do I do? …Huh, what should I say?
“Maybe she got what she deserved.?”
I gave a safe answer. Not sure if that’s what Kudachi-chan wanted to hear, though.
“…Yeah.”
Huh? Did I give the wrong answer? Did I mess up?
“…I felt a little sorry for her.”
“…”
Oh, I see.
“…I know. The pain of having no allies.”
“Yeah.”
“…Even though it’s what I wanted.”
“Yeah.”
“…But I also think, ‘Serves you right.’”
“Yeah. I think that’s a natural feeling.”
I stop messing around and just listen to Hisada-chan now. It’s not the mood for jokes anyway.
“…I also feel happy. Refreshed. Satisfied. I think it serves them right.”
“Yeah.”
“…Hey, about me being happy about this—”
“It’s okay.”
I brought my index finger to the corner of Hisada-chan’s mouth to stop her from saying more. Don’t worry, I kept a proper distance between my finger and her lips. If I’d actually touched her there, I’d be dead.
I did this because I didn’t want Hisada-chan to say those words. I wouldn’t normally do this, okay? Really.
“Haruka-chan is kind, isn’t she?”
“…”
Good. Looks like she’s actually listening to me. If she’d been in a bad mood, she might have bitten my finger off.
“You bought me all kinds of stuff when I had a fever, right?”
When I had a fever, Saotome came to visit. She said something was caught on the doorknob, so I went to check. It turned out Hisada chan had bought me sports drinks and instant rice porridge.
There was a note saying “Do this,” so it was definitely Hisada chan. She went out of her way to buy it and bring it to my house?
“Also, when I said I felt lonely on the train to the training camp, you came to see me, right?”
I totally thought Saotome make would come, but it was actually Hisada-chan who showed up.
“When I were kneeling on the ground on the way to the villa, you waited there so I wouldn’t lose sight of you, right?”
She waited while I was kneeling on the scorching asphalt, so I didn’t get lost.
If I gotten lost there, it was so hot that Niiro and I would’ve dried up like earthworms.
“When we were deciding who’d go shopping for the BBQ, Haruka-chan was the first to volunteer, right?”
Everyone wanted to help prepare, but Hisada-chan was the first to step up for shopping.
“See? Even in such a short time, Haruka-chan is overflowing with kindness.”
There’s no way someone as kind as Hisada-chan should ever feel self-loathing.
Hisada-chan is so kind she even feels sorry for the kid who got bullied. Grandma said it’s because she’s kind that she’s so easily hurt. If it were me, I’d just think “serves him right” and move on.
Has Hisada-chan rarely ever resented anyone in her life? Maybe she’s one of those rare, pure people who can’t take pleasure in others’ misfortune. That’s probably why she felt self-loathing.
“It’s okay. Everyone knows how kind Haruka-chan really is.”
Even someone like me noticed it, so surely everyone else thinks she’s kind too.
“So don’t even try to say something like that, even as a lie. Once you put it into words, those words will haunt you.”
You know how it is—once you say things like “This is just who I am,” or someone tells you that, or you convince yourself of it, you start acting that way. Grandma always told me I was kind, so I was a kind kid through elementary school. Middle school brought the proper rebellious phase, though.
People with that “middle school syndrome” definitely fit this pattern. Fumi-senpai probably still thinks she can actually cast magic.
“It’s my fault for making Haruka-chan feel that way.”
Me and Saotome. Especially Saotome. I’m not that bad—he’s the one who’s totally at fault.
“I’ll make sure it’s a day so happy and busy that you won’t have time to feel that way.”
“………Oh, okay.”
She turned away with a huff. Was I that creepy?
Guess my words just don’t cut it. Saotome needs to be the one to say it. And I bet he’d say something way better. he’d say something better and save Hisada-chan again.
My words can’t cheer Hisada-chan up. All I can do is report to Saotome that Haruka-chan was down. I’m such a loser.
“…For a Mizuno, you try too hard to be cool. Creepy.”
…Can I cry now?
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