CH 10

“Hey, you two.”

“What?”

“…I’m wondering how I can get popular.”

“…What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

It was lunchtime.

I was kinda worried for one of my friends when he was about to say something, while looking very serious for some reason.

For a moment I thought that something might’ve happened to him, but after hearing his words, I felt relief and annoyance at the same time.

“We’re in our second year of high school. Starting next year, we will be forced to either go on to higher education or get a job, either way, we will be busy. In other words, there’s only a short amount of time left for us to enjoy our life as high school students!”

“…Yeah, well, that’s true.”

“That’s right.”

I have certainly thought of that.

In this day and age, a lot of students are in a relationship, that even elementary school students are already dating. The number starts to increase when it comes to junior high school students, and even more so for high school students like us.

Among them, a group like us exists, who don’t have any experience in a relationship and have no plan on having one in the future.

“How have you guys been since we met in high school? I’ve been with you guys for almost every holiday, summer break, winter break, and spring break now. It’s not that I don’t like it, I even consider it a great and irreplaceable time spent”

“…I know.”

“I can also say that with confidence.”

I am truly grateful to them for being friends with me. I wonder to what extent I was saved by these two, who always invited me to hang out with them whenever a holiday came around.

As I was thinking this, one of them lightly tapped the table and continued. The one who talked about wanting to be popular.

“But don’t you want a girlfriend? I want to experience the sweetness and sourness of pure love, the joyful and embarrassing happenings that only a high school student, like me, can experience!”

I don’t even know what I would have to do first to even get one, and I don’t see any problems even If I didn’t get one.

“A girlfriend you say. I don’t really like to be cheated on… See, what happened in the class next door recently.”

“… Ahh.”

Oh, yes, there was a lot of fuss about cheating in the class next door. I don’t know the details, but I believe the gist was that a boy was messing around with a girl who already had a boyfriend.

The teachers must have been in trouble because it was between students.

“Just get a girlfriend who won’t cheat on you!”

“…Yeah.”

But having a girlfriend who won’t cheat on you is something else too.

I put my hand on my chin and thought about it for a bit, and then I spoke my opinion.

“I also don’t like the idea of someone cheating on me when I’m in a relationship with them, but I think we also need to make an effort as to not let that happen. It’s important to get a firm hold on her heart and make her believe that you would never cheat on her so she wouldn’t make a mistake as well.”

“… Surely that too.”

Well, in the end it is partly up to the individual.

I’ve never really had a girlfriend and met a girl who said she liked me. That’s why I’m not sure about that talk about love, but if I did have that kind of partner, I would surely do the same as what the guy did… maybe, no, I’m sure.

“…For me though, I’m just glad you both were there for me when I needed you”

“Ah…”

“Hayato…”

Maybe a part of me has been starving for human warmth ever since I lost my parents. I know it may sound like I’m being a bit of a spoiled brat.

If someone just genuinely wants to be there for me, that’s probably all I will need…

“I’m sorry I made the mood weird.”

“What are you talking about? It’s better if you say what’s on your mind.”

“Yes, that’s right. People hold onto things before they know it. We better puke it out before instead of letting something bad happen.”

Vomiting is a little too gross.

But well, thank you.

And then we continued our friendly conversation, but during that we got into a certain topic.

“I heard some rumor on the way home from the restroom. They said that the Shinjo sisters might have finally found a boyfriend.”

“Seriously?”

“Hou?”

That’s news to me.

According to what he heard, When Arisa came to school today, and as soon as she sat down, she suddenly had a longing expression on her face. Her cheeks were flushed red and she looked as if she was in love.

“But her little sister seems to have denied it, so the truth is yet to be known.”

“Hmm.”

Ah, so that’s why the boys in her class were restless. During the time when we were moving for a different class, I saw the boys in her classroom, glancing at each other, murmuring restlessly about something, as if something terrible had happened.

I see, so that was the reason.

I had come to school on the way with the girls, and on the way there with Arisa, she never had that look on her face that her friends just mentioned.

She even answered my words in a matter-of-fact manner.

“As Aina said, I’ll answer anything, even three sizes. Now, Hayato-kun, ask me anything.”

Three sizes aside, she was really nonchalant about the matter. She didn’t even seem to be embarrassed about what she just said, she didn’t even look upset about anything.

She actually seemed like… it was her duty to answer my questions.

I told her that such things should not be said to boys lightly, but she kept tilting her head in confusion. As I thought, Arisa was a natural airhead.

Then, time passed and I saw a familiar sight before me.

“I like you, Shinjo-san. Please go out with me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m not interested.”

Yes, I saw the exact same confession scene as that time, it’s just that, Aina was there instead of Arisa as the one being confessed to.

When I left the classroom after school, I again saw Aina, now following the boy from earlier, with an annoyed expression.

“Were you watching me like this then, too?” [Arisa]

“Yes… though I wonder if it was actually just a coincidence” [Hayato]

I answered Arisa’s question.

Well about arisa being her, I just met her while I was following them.

“Aina has already known about Hayato ever since that time. I’m really amazed at how insightful that girl is.”

“I agree. And yet here I was trying to cover it up desperately, which must have been very amusing sight to Aina.”

We continued to watch the two on the other side of the room as this conversation unfolded. It was a battle between Aina, who assured him that she would never go out with him, and the boy, who was determined to get his feelings across somehow.

I don’t really think they will go out, but we were keeping an eye just in case he were to do something to her in desperation.

“Speaking of which, Arisa, can I ask you something?”

“Anything for you.”

“Is there someone you like, Arisa?”

“Why do you ask?”

I told her about the conversation I had with my friends.

“I see what you mean. Well, to sum up, I don’t have anyone that I’d like to be my lover. And that kind of relationship is not really what I’m looking for.”(E/N: Not the “kind of relationship” she’s looking for, because, hehehehe, you know what I mean.)

“…is that so?”

Arisa said she is not good with men, I wonder if that’s the only reason. Maybe she has some trauma in her past.

It’s probably almost a miracle that she is able to talk to me like this, and I’m both happy and sad to think that we suddenly had such a friendly relationship after that incident in the park.

“…Ah, don’t make that kind of face… don’t do that, Hayato-kun. It’s not like I was traumatized or anything.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I just found something more important than just falling in love normally. I understood how I wanted to live my life and how I wanted it to be used.”

I don’t really know about that…but well, if she says she’s fine, then so be it.

“…After all, If I am desired, I definitely think that I would feel happy. I wonder if that’s love. I know I don’t need to be a tool to be desired, but that part of me is something I decided as a woman.”

She seemed to be mumbling about something, but I couldn’t hear it, it was too faint for me.

Oh well, on the other hand, the conversation on the other side continued as usual, it looks like the boy was very persistent, and I also had the feeling that Aina is no longer wearing a smile.

“That’s why, I would like you to see my mother too, Hayato-kun. Because it seems unfair that we are the only ones who get to thank and talk to you.

“… Ah~”

That means you want me to come over to your house for the weekend?

Now that I think about it, I had never really talked to the mother of these two, but I have seen what she looked like. She has strikingly black hair and the looks of Yamato Nadeshiko(Ideal Japanese Woman). Her face was so similar to these two that if they stood side by side, they would probably look like sisters. And just how many times have I turned my eyes away from her because of her style that surpasses both of them?

“What kind of person is she?”

“What kind of… for us, we’ve been together for so long that I’ve never given a thought to it, but I dare say…”

“Dare to say what?”

“In every way, she’s the mother who gave birth to us.”

I see, so that means she is exceptionally beautiful, I understand.

In the end, he confessed his feelings to Aina and left in a similar fashion to Arisa’s. I am glad that nothing happened, but now, how should I reply regarding that request of Arisa’s?

.

.

.

Sakuna Shinjo, that is the name of Arisa and Aina’s mother.

She looked so young that it was hard to believe that she had two daughters, moreso that they are in high school, since she had the appearance of an older sister.

However, that event that happened a few days ago managed to cast a shadow on Sakuna’s face. That incident that almost caused damage not only to herself but also to her daughters, it is frightening to imagine what would have happened if help had not arrived to them back then.

“I’m so glad… that man saved my life.”

The girls were safe because he was there in time, the savior who appeared wearing a pumpkin.

Of course, she was also safe because of him. Naturally, she wanted to thank him for saving their lives, she wanted to thank him because that is the natural thing for a human being to do.

“It’s all right now.”

He put his hand on Sakuna’s shoulder to reassure her, as well as his daughters. Sakuna could not forget the feel of that big hand, so much so that she could not get him out of her mind. She almost squealed at the thought of herself being a young maiden in love again, the encounter had such an impact on her that it was understandable that she could not easily forget him.

“…Haah.”

Sakuna sighed heavily.

Sakuna did not see her own expression in the mirror, the expression that was strikingly similar to that of her two daughters, an expression that contrasts that of a mother.

That’s right, she is indeed the mother of those two.

Yes, just like the rumours says.