Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330653421290617/episodes/16817330656500299449
Otogi Land
A huge theme park with 10 million annual visitors. The park is based on the theme of a fairy tale-like wonderland, and the inside of the park is truly a complex and bizarre place.
The main street where we were standing was crowded with people, and fancy pandas and stuffed bears were walking around everywhere. If you look up from the sea of people, you can see a number of balloons flying in the air.
And as if to weave between the balloons, LED lights called “fairies” seemed to be flying around in the air, welcoming the visitors.
“I don’t often come to places like this, but …… is amazing.”
I looked at her as if she were an up-and-coming person and let out an exclamation of amazement. I looked at Himekane with the same expression of admiration as a stranger, and for some reason she looked very proud of herself.
“Why are you so good at this?”
“I come here a lot with my friends~. Oh, have you ever been to Otogi-land, Sumeragi-kun?”
When Himekane was asked to talk about it, Sumeragi smiled with a somewhat fragile expression and said, “Only once when I was a child”. Himekane fell down holding her chest with a “Dokyuun” at such a smile of Sumeragi
Something seems to have touched Himakane’s heartstrings.
“What’s the matter, Sumeragi?”
“Eh? What?”
“No, you were acting a little differently than usual.”
“Oh, ……, no, it’s just something from the past.”
“?”
“….I used to come here with my brother.”
Sumeragi Takumi. He was my benefactor and someone who meant a lot to Sumeragi
“Hnn? What’s wrong with you two?”
When asked by the revived Himekane, I simply answered, “It’s nothing.”
“Well then, let’s get going and go around.”
“Yes, let’s go around. But it’s hard to know where to start when the place is this big.”
Seeing me and Sumeragi in such a state, Himekane made a smug face and said, “Well, well, well~”
“Well, well, leave it to me! I’ll teach you two how to enjoy Otogi land!”
And so, the two were brought to the haunted house by the smug Himekane.
“Fu Fu Fu…, stick with Sumeragi kun here,……, and let this and that happen,……!”
I cowered as I watched Himekane mumbling and muttering, “You’re thinking of something so stupid”. Meanwhile, I was unfazed when I heard a woman’s scream from the haunted house.
“Is Sumeragi someone who’s okay with horror?”
“……”
“Huh? Sumeragi ?”
“……”
There is no reaction. It was as if she was just a corpse.
When I looked into her face, tears suddenly welled up from her eyes.
“Are you afraid ……?”
“Yeah…..I don’t want to go into ……Haunted house …….”
“Well, you don’t have to go in if you don’t want to. …… No, wait a minute.”
Then, an electric shock hits my brain.
This is it. Sumeragi and Himekane are frightened like this newborn deer, and by having them enter the haunted house, Himekane might become disillusioned when she sees the pathetic Sumeragi!
“Okay, Sumeragi. Let’s go!”
“Aren’t you being awful to someone who’s so frightened?”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”
Just at that moment, the screams of people came from the haunted house. Sumeragi jumped up at the screams and shook her body.
“I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared.”
“Don’t worry, Sumeragi. Himekane is with you.”
“T-Tazuna-kun, come with me too. ……!”
“No, I’m not intruding. ……, come to think of it, Himekane is awfully quiet, isn’t she?”
Thinking so, I turned my attention to Himekane and saw that, just like Sumeragi, she had a pale face and was trembling and shaking.
“Huuuuh~? Himekane…… no way?”
“…… hey, can we stop with the haunted house after all?”
You too, huh?
“You are the one who brought me here.”
“B-Because! I wanted to have a story like that with Sumeragi-kun, or something like this! I wanted to tell a youthful love story! ”
“Haven’t you been here a few times with your friends?”
“I-I usually don’t go to haunted houses because I’m too scared! I didn’t think it would be this scary. ……”
While Sumeragi and Himekane were frightened, we heard the staff’s voice unceremoniously saying, “Next!” The line moved forward and it was our turn to make our way to the haunted house.
“Come on, you two, let’s go!”
“How dare you say such a thing to a frightened girl!”
Sumeragi shakes her head after Himekane who says so.
“Then what do you want me to do?”
“Come on, Tazuna-kun….. too!”
“Eereeh,…….”
And so we went.
“Hnnn!”
“”……””
I was sandwiched between Sumeragi and Himekane, and we were to enter the haunted house. The two girls are clinging to my arms. They are soft and smell nice, so I have a complicated feeling.
“Uuuu.”
I wonder if the atmosphere inside the haunted house is frightening, but Himekane hugs my left arm, which is holding me, with more strength.
“I’m trembling.”
Sumeragi, who was holding my right arm, seemed to be already full of energy and was hugging me with such force that I wanted to ask her if she was trying to stop the flow of blood.
I admit that as a man I am very useful, but I am a man who is never carried away by circumstances. I have to cut off the temptation to stay like this just a little while longer and fulfill my original purpose.
“……”
But I still wonder if I can stay like this for just a little while longer. ……
I stopped in my tracks and said, “Oh.”
“W-What’s wrong? Tazuna kun?”
“Hey, hey, why are you stopping ……?”
“No, I just wondered what would happen if I left you two here and went on.”
“”Eh?””
“Hnn—-“
“Y-You’re not going to do that, are you!? You wouldn’t do something like that to us, would you, Tazuna kun?”
“Hahahaha~ You’ve got to be kidding me~mouu~”
“…..”
Well, it’s true that leaving two frightened people here is the worst thing you can do as a human being. But the curiosity smoldering deep in my chest – I can’t suppress it!
That curiosity easily skipped over the man’s desire to be sandwiched between the two of them for a little while longer.
“”Ah!””
I shook them off and ran out like a hare!
※
“Wow, ……! Did you make all this, Himekane-san?”
“Uh, yeah. ……, well, …….”
It’s been a while since we left the haunted house. After enjoying several attractions, we sat down on a bench on the side of the street, which was relatively uncrowded.
It was just about lunchtime and we were discussing what to do for lunch when Himekane took out her lunch box, “I made it,” she said. We decided to eat on this bench.
“Himekane-san, you can cook. That’s amazing.”
“Oh, no! That’s normal!~”
Himekane seemed very happy to be praised by Sumeragi. So, what are you going to do with your favorability, Sumeragi?
“I see you cook a lot of fish.”
“I like fish. ……”
“Then, I’ll have this boiled fish.”
When I said that, Himekane said, “Yes, no,” and pulled the lunch box away from me protectively.
“Eh? Why?”
“You left me and Sumeragi at the haunted house a while ago, didn’t you? I won’t give my lunch to someone who is so mean to me.”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist the curiosity of what would happen if I left you there.”
As a result, both of them got very angry with me, but I don’t regret it. It was very interesting.
The two of them looked at me jitterily and then let out a sigh at the same time, “Haaa”. Sighing in someone’s face is very rude of them.
“Sumeragi-kun,……, I think you should choose your friends,……?”
“No, Tazuna-kun, it’s not always like this. …… But if I had a time machine, I’d advise my past self to stay away from him.”
“They really are rude, aren’t they?”
I had no choice.
I got up from the bench and walked away from them, saying, “Well, I’m going to get some food around here.”
“Eh? I’m just kidding, you can eat your lunch if you want.”
“You’re an idiot. I’m trying to be considerate, you know.”
My words made Himekane feel uncomfortable for a moment, but as if she understood the meaning of my words, her cheeks turned red and said, “That’s an unnecessary word.”
“Thanks …….”
“Ou.”
“But I’m nervous about being alone with him, so please come back as soon as possible. ……”
I sighed and let out a small sigh. I let out a sigh at that, glanced at Sumeragi, and then walked away from the two of them.
※
“O-Okay, then! Sumeragi-kun! Here’s your bento!”
“O-okay! Well then, I’ll have some ……!”
After I left the two, I moved stealthily to the back of the bench so that they would not notice me. As expected, I was worried that Sumeragi was too much of a loser to leave the two of them alone.
I got close enough to barely hear the two of them and listened to their conversation. The two of them seem to be nervous, but are they okay?
“Wow,…… this is delicious.”
“Really?! I’m so glad……”
“Himekane-san is amazing. You are stylish, pretty, and can even cook.”
“Kyuu, even if you suddenly get praised like that, nothing will come of it.~”
“I’m a little …… envious.”
“Eh?”
“A-Ah, it’s nothing! Well, Himekane-san is really fashionable! I want to know you too! Ahahaha!”
“W-Well, then? If you don’t mind, I can teach you some things. Ah, because I like fashion…? ”
“Yeah. I’d love to learn from you. ……”
“Y-yeah! Then, let’s go look at clothes next time!”
Himekane now has an excuse for another date. Even though she’s nervous, she’s a strong girl. You just gave me an excuse for another date, Sumeragi…. What are you really doing?
“Now that I think about it, you said earlier that you like fashion, but I wonder if there’s a reason?”
“Yeah? Just because I want to be cute?”
“Well, that’s usually the case. ……”
“But I wonder if there was a reason for it. In the past, an angry boy told me that I wasn’t pretty enough. Then I studied a lot of things to be pretty…….”
“What a horrible boy to say such a thing to a girl, huh?”
“Yes,……, but I surprisingly like that boy,…….”
“Eh? You do?”
“Ah, I’m not now! Now, I love someone else…I wonder what I’m saying! ? Anyway, I don’t like him right now! He’s just my first love boy! ”
“Hee, first love, huh? He said some nasty things to you, didn’t he? Do you still like him?”
“W, well,……, he said some nasty things to me, and he’s a jerk now that I remember, and I was really pissed off at the time,……, but I still think it was my first love.”
“…..”
“I only wanted one person to tell me I was cute, and that boy was the only one I kept thinking about later and after that. ……”
“Himekane-san must have really liked …… that boy.”
“Yeah,……, but that was a really long time ago! It’s different now!”
“Really? I didn’t see it that way.”
“Eh?”
“At least, Himekane-san’s expression right now looks very different from the one she’s giving me.”
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I’m still questioning the MC’s logic and what seems to me like excuses for himself…
it’s kinda difficult to understand his personality, although at the moment I’m thinking he has low “EQ” or something. Maybe.
mc is basically just intrussive thoughts like everything he does he barely thinks