Volume 2 - CH 3.3

Chapter 3: Mikage Saeka Beyond Reach

Part 3

[I’ll report as soon as I confess!]

That was what Shida sent to me a week ago.

There was heavy rain today, a prelude to the rainy season. The downpour continued well after school hours ended. 

I remained in the classroom, blankly watching the rain.

I was waiting for the rain to stop. I was also waiting for a report from Shida.

“I want ice cream. The one at Nanaya, to be specific.” For some reason, Hiura suddenly mumbled.

I recheck the chatroom with Shida anxiously. I was in a bleak position.

Why so? It was because I saw them together during lunch today. From the atmosphere, he was going to confess.

After school, call her to an empty room, confess. That was the plan. So, right now he’s…

“I’m begging you… seriously…”

“What? Who?”

“Not you,” I shooed Hiura away.

To no effect, though, she spun the rooftop key playfully. 

“Don’t lose it.” I warned.

Over the past week, Mikage getting a boyfriend had begun to quiet down to a reasonable degree. Perhaps it was because she had told almost all the information so easily and truthfully that there was no room to speculate. From the look of it, there was no need to mention the Angel. And if so, why was she so fraught over the Angel?

“Ah…”

A new message popped up.

[Angel, I’ve got trouble.]

Trouble?

[‘M listening.]

[Oh, you’re here. That saves time.]

That saved my time too, so get on with it…

[Actually, I’ve tried to call Mikage-san a few times already.]

Today wasn’t the first time he’d called her?

As if sensing my doubt, he sent me a long explanatory message.

[Today’s the fourth time. First time, she said she’s not free, asking if it could be later. I saw no harm, so I waited for the next day…]

Hm… that explains the silence.

[Can’t get hold of her the second time either. Anymore and I’d be pestering her, so I agreed for the next day. And the next and next. Something’s off, she’d been using the same excuse.]

That was certainly strange…

[I tried a different strategy, asking when she’s available. But… this is just the same as an indirect rejection…]

His message seemed to end there.

Perhaps he was right. She must have been aware of his purpose. Afterall, she had been confessed countless times.

And credits duly to Shida, he was working harder than I thought he would.

[What did she say?]

[‘Sorry,’ that’s all.She looked really uncomfortable, so I don’t feel good saying anything more…]

[I see, that’s why you contacted me.]

“Argh… what really…” I groaned to myself.

“What?”

“I’m talking to myself, mind your business.”

“Nope, I wanna know.”

Ignoring her “Tch, tch.” I returned my attention to the screen.

[Should I really do this? I don’t want to trouble her…]

[Nope, you’ll confess. If she doesn’t want trouble, she can reject you outright and be done with it. But she hasn’t done that, something’s up.]

Pardon the language, but she could have just got done with it, it would just save her time as much as ours.

[Was it because she has a boyfriend?]

[Probable. That’s the only thing that has changed. Still, I couldn’t see how these two things relate.]

Picturing the situation, a memory resurfaced.

“Don’t accept requests from people who want to confess to me.”

What if this has something to do with that…

[Angellll… I can’t do this anymoreee… How many more times? She even said ‘Sorry’ to me…”

Right, you’ve done everything you could, Shida. Honestly, I should stop him before he gets traumatized.

But, we’re this close…

[I’ll find out what happened] I texted.

[You will?]

[If we know why then that might be a more satisfactory ending, in the best case, you might even get to confess.]

[O-oh… Thanks a lot. I don’t want to cause any more trouble to Mikage-san.]

[Think of this as included in the package. Cases like yours happens time to time]

Considering that during the course of the consultation, there were practically no difficulties, so this was nothing.

Maybe I’m being selfish. Maybe I’m meddling in his affairs. But it can’t end like this, Shida will surely regret it. One day, he would look back and think, “I should have confessed back then.” If I don’t step in now, all we have done would have been for nothing.

[‘Kay. Counting on you. Ah, just do what you can, right. I have a feeling that you’d do something reckless.]

Wait, why did he think I’d do something reckless

[Don’t worry. Won’t take long, in most cases.] I promised, [I’ll let you know how it goes. Until then, you hold off calling her out.]

With that, the exchange was over.

Okay, what I need to do is—

“Akashi—! I’m bored!”

“Hiura!”

“Hnya?”

“Help me. Strawberry au lait and Thirty-One’s at the table.”

Yep, I’ve traded my dignity for every help I could get.

“What about Nanaya?” she asked.

“You’ll make do with Thirty-One.”