V1 Ch-3 part 6【Shrinking Distance】 - ◆Part６【On The Futon Is More Exciting Than What's On The Other Side Of The Screen】

Translator: AJ1703

Editor: Matsu

◆６【On The Futon Is More Exciting Than On The Other Side Of The Screen】

When I finally finished bathing, the two girls who had also just finished bathing were waiting for me.

Takarai was wearing a tight-fitting white t-shirt and short gray shorts that showed off her long, white legs. It was not the first time I had seen Takarai after a bath, but at that time she was wearing a sweatshirt with my dad’s goods on the top and bottom, so there was no sex appeal, but now it was different. I had no idea where to look.

Tsumugi, on the other hand, was wearing navy blue pajamas, a familiar outfit to me, but she didn’t seem to be wearing anything underneath her jacket, and I couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of her skin through the buttons.

In front of the large TV in the living room, there was a futon mattress laid out for the two of us. Unfortunately, both Tsumugi and I usually use our beds and only use the futons during horror movie camps, so this was the only spare futon we had in the closet.

Naturally, there was no way the three of us could use the same futon as the two of us.

“I’ll take the sofa. I brought pillows from my room.”

It’s natural. There was no way a man could crawl into a girl’s futon.

However, there was one person in the room who could not accept the obvious.

It was Takarai.

“No, you can’t use the sofa alone, Nagumo-kun goes here.”

Takarai pointed to the center of the two futons.

“Right here, between me and Tsumugi-chan.”

Tsumugi, on the other hand, quickly secured the futon on the right side and was lazing around.

“No, that’s not right. It’s really hard to sleep there because it’s right between the futons.

“Then you can come closer to me if you want.”

“No way.”

“Hmm mou~. Why are you so reluctant?”

“You know it’s not good to share a futon with a classmate, right?”

“Eh, why? Isn’t Nagumo-kun thinking too much?”

Takarai’s eyes narrowed like a fox’s and she went into her devious mode.

“You saw me naked already~.”

“I didn’t see it. You blatantly showed me.”

“Shin-nii, Yua-san is your ‘girlfriend’, right? Isn’t it normal for the two of you to sleep in the same bed?”

Tsumugi’s unwavering gaze pierced me.

She still believes that Takarai is my “girlfriend”.

It would have been nice to reveal the truth, but Tsumugi still needs Takarai to be a regular guest at the Nagumo household. If we were to honestly confess the precarious nature of their relationship as “just classmates,” it might make Tsumugi uneasy at the thought of the possibility that Takarai might stop coming.

I had no choice but to accept the fact that I had to be thorough in front of Tsumugi about my relationship with Takarai.

“…Okay. I’ll just sleep in the space between you two.”

I gave up, and sat down on the border between the futons.

“Nagumo-kun, you can come over here anytime, okay?”

On the futon to my left, Takarai was in relaxation mode, stretching out her legs.

“Shin-nii, just for today, whatever happens next to me, I won’t see or hear it, okay?”

Tsumugi gave me a knowing look and pointed her thumb at me.

“What do you mean by that, Tsumugi? No, you don’t have to say it.”

I shudder lightly in the face of Tsumugi, who is still suspected of being a bit old for my ears.

“Well then… let’s start horror movie camp.”

With an ostentatious gesture, Tsumugi said, and began loading the discs into a laptop with a blu-ray drive, which she connected to the television.

And so began the first event where we invited a guest to watch horror movies all night.

★

Although Tsumugi had announced the opening of the camp with great enthusiasm, she fell asleep halfway through the second session as if she had lost her thread.

Takarai was staying with us today, and she had been over excited even before the camp started. I guess that’s why she was so tired. Maybe it was also because I had darkened the room to make it suitable for watching movies.

I carried Tsumugi in my arms like a princess and tucked her back into the futon.

“What are we going to do now? Are we going to call it a night?”

Takarai said, putting her hand on my shoulder and peering into my eyes.

“Let’s just finish the one we’re watching, so we can censor it to see if there are any scenes that might be bad for Tsumugi’s education.”

We rented it for a week, so we have plenty of time before Tsumugi wants to watch the rest.

Takarai didn’t say it, but she gave me a cynical look.

“It’s only one o’clock.”

Takarai said so, holding her phone in her hand.

“What? Are you a night owl on your days off, Takarai-san?

“Yes, I am. When I don’t have any plans on Sunday, I sometimes stay up late and laze around until noon.”

“Didn’t you say you had plans to go out with your friends tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I did. But it’s after noon, so I’ll have time to go home and change.”

Takarai rummaged through the bag of Japanese ivy that was next to her laptop.

“So how about another one, just the two of us?”

With a grin on her face, she pulled out a case containing the discs.

I felt uncomfortable watching another film in this state, as if I were continuing the film camp without Tsumugi, but as the host, I didn’t want to leave the guests feeling inadequate.

“I’m sure I’ve chosen a short one, about 90 minutes long. Let’s finish with that. Then Takarai-san won’t have to worry about getting too little sleep tomorrow when you go out with your friends.”

“You’re so kind.”

“You’re a guest, after all. I’ll at least be considerate.”

“That’s the point. You pretend to be cold but you’re really nice.”

Takarai poked my forehead as she let out a sniffle, looking really happy. I wonder if I’ve shown enough kindness to make her so happy.

I set the volume to a minimum so as not to wake up the sleeping Tsumugi, and the screening of the last film of the day began.

Even though we were watching a horror movie, I felt uncomfortable being alone in the dark, since I was sharing a futon with Takarai since Tsumugi had fallen asleep. The sweet scent of beautiful girls wafting through the air seemed to be destroying my judgment.

“It feels like we’re a married couple spending time together after the kids are asleep.”

“I’ve only had my dad for as long as I can remember, so it’s a metaphor I don’t understand.”

Also, don’t get excited. I won’t be able to keep my spirits up.

“…Oh, sorry.”

Takarai began to feel depressed.

“No, you don’t need to apologize, I didn’t tell Takarai-san that my parents are divorced. I don’t really care that my father is a single parent.”

Faced with Takarai’s uncharacteristic depression, I panicked.

I’ve talked about Tsumugi’s mother, but I’ve never talked about my own mother. It’s just that my mother’s existence is now a thing of the past for me. My dad’s annoying presence is enough for me.

I didn’t want to get into a damp mood at a time like this, so I tried to end the conversation and refocus on the movie.

“I’ve never seen my mom and dad getting along so well either…”

Takarai said so, staring at the screen.

“Whenever we go out, it’s always with either mom or dad. Never all three of us together.”

It was probably out of concern for me who had a single parent that she said something that sounded painful to say. She was probably trying to tell me not to worry about it because there are problems even with both parents.

Because of my careless reply, I made Takarai say something she didn’t need to say.

I only know a little about Takarai’s family.

It’s something about how she’s been living her life.

“…My mother was gone by the time I was about five years old.”

I decided to offer a story that would help Takarai offset some of her sadness.

Since Takarai had told me about her family’s situation, it would be impossible for me not to give her some information.

That’s how close I am to Takarai now.

“Once, when I was young, my parents starred in a movie, and apparently the idol or actress who co-starred in the movie was my mother.”

Without taking my eyes off the TV, I continued.

“But their marriage didn’t work out so well. My father wanted to be a top professional wrestler, and my mother wanted to be a successful actress who was still in her early years. I guess she was too young to get married because she was too focused on her career rather than her family.”

I don’t know why they still got married, though I’m sure they were both aware of the situation. I guess they thought that one of them would eventually back out.

“My mother was the first to retreat from this game of chicken, and she suddenly disappeared without my knowledge. I had heard from my father that she was busy filming and was going to live somewhere else for a while, but sure enough, it turned out to be a divorce.”

Takarai was silent for a long time, but I could tell she was listening to me. I knew she was listening to me because she kept her eyes on me and didn’t move an inch. Sometimes she averts her gaze. Probably because of the pressure.

“By the way, I found out about my parents’ divorce from a newspaper.”

When I was a little kid, I went out with my dad, and I saw a headline from a train station’s magazine that read, “Absolute Champion Nagumo Suffers Epic Loss in Marriage!” I asked my father about it and found out.

“Nagumo-kun, you had it hard, didn’t you…?”

Takarai’s voice was trembling. I could even hear her sniffling.

That’s not good. I didn’t tell her this to make her feel sorry for me, I told her this so that Takarai wouldn’t have to worry about her own situation.

My mother was in the past, and I didn’t want her to think that I was still dragging it out.

Besides, my parents’ divorce hadn’t been all bad.

My father had started to pay more attention to the family now that I was on my own.

To be honest, I don’t know if we would have gotten along as well as we do now if my dad had stayed the same. The two of us are polar opposites, with the dad being the sunny one and the son being the dark one. Even though we have blood ties, if my dad hadn’t changed his heart, we wouldn’t have been able to get along like we were friends.

“So what I’m trying to say is…”

I didn’t like talking about this kind of thing because it sounded like I was bragging about my misfortune.

“I’m just saying that I’m having trouble with my family, too…”

I couldn’t say it well.

I have a good relationship with my father, which is different from Takarai’s, so I risked offending her by saying, ‘Don’t be like me.’

“So I wanted to say that Takarai is not alone…”

I tried to think of a way to say it in a way that wouldn’t be misunderstood, but my brain was getting dull from sleepiness.

“I’m, you know, Takarai-san’s father…!”

I don’t know what I’m saying, but it’s a very strange thing to say.

I’ve never wanted to disappear as much as I do today.

I wanted to switch places with the characters who were being savagely murdered on the other side of the screen right now.

Takarai laughed. But I’m glad she laughed.

As if to stifle her laughter, perhaps concerned that Tsumugi was asleep, Takarai finally cowered on her stomach.

“I don’t mean to sound too high and mighty, but I’d like to be a place for Takarai-san to go back to. That’s what I’m trying to say.”

I was sluggish, and it was probably impossible for me to convey my true intentions to Takarai.

Takarai, however, raised her body.

“I understand.”

She put her fingertip to my lips as if to say, ‘It’s all right now.’

“Well, keep up the good work, will you, Shinji-Papa?”

Takarai clung to me so tightly that our arms were almost touching.

“Isn’t this normal for you, Papa?”

She even put her arm around my waist.

“That sounds like a different kind of daddy.”

The softness, the fresh scent of the same shampoo in my hair, and the fact that Tsumugi was sleeping beside me gave me a mysterious feeling of immorality that nearly knocked me unconscious.

But I didn’t want to leave Takarai alone, so I didn’t have the option of shaking her off.

“If Nagumo-kun is my father, then I am Nagumo-kun’s mother.”

“That logic is ridiculous.”

“We’re even now.”

I don’t know how it makes us even, but maybe this is Takarai’s way of showing concern for me.

Takarai was doing this out of goodwill. I have to somehow focus on the movie and purify my mind of the ulterior motive.

And yet…

“Hey, Nagumo-kun, if you ever get lonely, you can give me a hug, okay?”

While a splattering slaughter scene was unfolding on the screen, she said something I couldn’t believe my ears.

I thought I had misheard her because her voice had just been drowned out by the screams of the blonde riajuu character, but judging by the way she was waiting for me with her hands outstretched, I hadn’t misheard her.

“…I’m fine, I’m not lonely. I’ll just take your sentiments, thanks.”

I knew that it would be bad if I was approached any further, so I refused, trying to keep my composure.

“You don’t have to be shy. Then let’s do this instead.”

Takarai, who for some reason was insistent, pulled away from me and wrapped a light jacket around her body.

“This way, it won’t hit you directly, so Nagumo-kun won’t be embarrassed, right?”

Direct or indirect, embarrassing things are embarrassing.

Maybe it’s Takarai who’s lonely.

If that is the case… I may have to hug Takarai here.

“…If only for a little while.”

I stretched out my arms towards Takarai.

Before I could even reach her, Takarai, who had somehow become a beetle, leaned towards me.

I was caught up in the momentum, and I fell down. At that moment, Takarai closed the distance between us even more, and even though there was a jacket between us, our bodies were right on top of each other.

I was surprised to find that my arms holding Takarai were so relaxed, thinking that it was okay since we weren’t touching each other directly.

Takarai said that she didn’t mind because it was hard to feel her because she was a beetle, but her bare head was so close to my nose that I felt like I couldn’t think anymore.

“Hey, Nagumo-kun.”

“W-What?”

My voice trailed off due to the sweet sounding voice. It’s not a good idea in this situation.

“When are you going to call me by my first name?”

Takarai’s gaze turned to me.

Her black eyes reflected the pale light of the television, her only source of light.

“Someday, I will…”

It was a high hurdle for me to call her in this situation.

“Call me now.”

Takarai walked toward me. She was rubbing her body against mine.

When I thought about it, it had been quite a while since I had been involved with Takarai. When I ran into her on the fire escape, she was still wearing her winter uniform.

Maybe I was also waiting for the right moment.

It would be sad if there was no change after all this time.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself.

“…Y-Yua?”

I wondered how much tolerance I had for the fact that my voice betrayed me even though it was only two characters. [TLN: JP characters btw.]

“What is it, Shinji?”

Takarai… No, when Yua’s lips spoke my name, it made my heart skip a beat, and it made me feel like I needed to take care of this person from now on.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“I’m not satisfied with just being called by my name.”

She was still not satisfied.

“Give me a tighter squeeze. ♡ “

Unlike in the past, where there was an air of teasing, the tone of her voice had changed to one of clear pleading.

After all, it was Takarai… or rather Yua, who was lonely.

Yua’s family problems must be very deep-rooted.

Although I only had a single parent, I’m still able to have fun thanks to my father, who is like a close friend, but I guess Yua didn’t have anyone like that in her family.

“It’s okay.”

I hugged Yua back and said so.

“I’m here for you, Tsumugi is here for you, and I’ll take you to see your parents next time. If you get lonely, you can always come here.”

“Really?”

Takarai looked up at me. Her eyes were clear and moist.

“Yeah. If you want, I can even give you a duplicate key.”

It was a bold move on my part, but I had to do what I said.

“That’s a bit much, though, isn’t it?”

“It’s fine, don’t be shy. That’s not like you. What happened to your usual sense of superiority?”

“What kind of image does Shinji have of me?”

Yua giggled in my arms.

“Thanks. I’m fine now.”

Yua smiled.

“I’m sorry I embarrassed you so much.”

“It’s okay. In the middle of the night, things can get a little weird.”

“I know.”

A teardrop appeared in the corner of Yua’s eye as she yawned.

“Sorry, I think I’ve reached the limit of my sleepiness.”

“Well, I guess we’re done for today.”

I pulled away from her, turned on the orange light bulb, stopped the movie and put the disc back in its case.

“I’m going to take my contacts out.”

When Yua came back from the bathroom, she covered her face with her hands and crawled into the futon mattress.

“What’s wrong?”

“I have no makeup on.”

She must have washed her face in the bathroom while taking off her contacts.

“I was wearing a little makeup earlier, right?”

Come to think of it, for someone who’s just come out of the bathroom, she looks pretty much the same as she does when I see her in class.

“…What does Yua look like without makeup?”

I thought it might be rude to ask, but I did.

The fact that I had been in close contact with her just a few moments before had made me feel much closer to her.

“…If you don’t laugh or hate me, I could show you.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Then first, say, ‘Whatever it is, Yua is cute to begin with.'”

She gave me a troublesome condition, but now I found her humanity in such a troublesome condition, and it seemed cute.

“Whatever it is, Yua is cute to begin with.”

“Why does it sound like you’re reading monotonously?”

“I’m just embarrassed to say ‘cute’ to a girl. I did the best that I could say with my courage.”

Yua seemed to be convinced, and lowered the palm of her hand that had been covering her face, and turned her face to me without makeup.

Yua’s bare face is not as flashy as when I see her in the classroom, and she looks a little younger, but her simple appearance seems to have broken down the gap between her and the rest of the world, which makes me feel even closer to her.

“You have a face that makes me want to protect you more than usual.”

“Can I be happy about that?”

“Of course it is. That’s my own compliment for you.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the compliment without laughing at my lack of makeup.”

Yua smiled contentedly and rested her head on the pillow.

“I’m really sleepy, so I’m going to bed.”

“Okay, good night.”

“Good night, Shinji… Oh, can I have one?”

As I was wondering what was going on, Yua held out her left hand.

“Now that we’re next to each other, let’s chain our hands together.”

“You’re just like Tsumugi, getting scared by horror movies.”

“That’s not it, you silly.”

Yua smiled, her face more youthful than usual, her palms fluttering in the air. I turned off the light and placed my right hand on it.

This mysterious training, which started with me holding Yua’s hand in the name of getting used to the opposite sex in order to understand Tsumugi, has come full circle and I’m back to the beginning.

But unlike before, Yua’s palm was familiar, as if it had been there for a long time.

“Today was fun, thank you.”

Yua said, almost falling asleep.

“If you want to, we can do this kind of event every day, you know?”

“Every day? I’m really looking forward to it…”

From that point on, Yua didn’t say much more, and I could hear her sleeping peacefully.

It was only a short time before dawn, but I felt strangely sad that I couldn’t talk to Yua.

I couldn’t wait for the morning to come, I wished it would come sooner.

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Translator’s Afterword: Ah, finally, first-name basis. I was waiting for it, this chapter was full of sugar. Next chapter (not parts btw) would be the last and then after that would be the Epilogue. So I guess more or less, this is finished by Wednesday or Tuesday even. Also, hand-holding is l*wd.