Volume 1 - CH 3.6

According to Yuzu, Sakuraba and Kotani’s date was set for Saturday. It was a day off for the basketball team, which had played a game the day before, and it was a rare day when Sakuraba and Kotani’s schedules coincided.

On the day of the decisive battle, Yuzu and I also decided to have an unusual, yet no different date than usual.

“You’re here! Are you ready, Yamato-kun?” Yuzu, in her school uniform, folded her arms in a spirited manner.

The location was in front of the school’s back gate.

I, also wearing a school uniform, nodded my head with great enthusiasm.

“Of course. My enthusiasm is ten times stronger than yours.”

Kotani and Sakuraba were having a date. This meant that our relationship might be coming to an end.

Then a problem arose.

The RPG we had been working so hard on showed no signs of being finished yet. At this rate, we might not be able to finish before Kotani’s confession. With such a sense of crisis, Yuzu and I decided to go to school on a Saturday wearing our school uniforms and have a mysterious date in the literature club room to play games all day.

“Listen, Yamato-kun. Don’t let your guard down that this is a school you’re familiar with. The school campus is a battlefield. If a teacher, who knows us, spots us, there’s a chance you’ll be questioned. In order to avoid that, we have to keep in mind to maneuver in secret like a ninja, okay?”

“Oh, you should also be careful not to get tripped.”

For some reason, we were smiling fearlessly at each other. I was aware that we looked a little silly objectively.

“Well, then, let’s go!”

With Yuzu’s signal, we started our sneak-in school date. We sneaked in through the back gate, checked for teachers every time we turned a corner in the hallway, and sometimes hid in an empty classroom to avoid the patrol.

As soon as we entered our dear literature clubroom (occupied without authorization), we immediately locked the door.

“Okay, we cleared our first barrier.”

“But here comes the fun part.”

We started to prepare for the game with our own hands. As usual, we put on one side of the earphones on each of our ears and started the game.

The last time we played, when we finally reached the point where we found out the identity of the last boss. From here on, we would be advancing towards the climactic last part–the most anticipating part.

Now I was in control of a long-haired male swordsman. Yuzu was still the loli woodcutter. The two of us worked together to defeat the enemy little by little and advanced the story.

“Thank you.” Suddenly, Yuzu spilled out her words of gratitude.

“I heard from Aki. She said that thanks to Yamato-kun, she was able to go on that date.”

“Well, that’s my job.”

When I answered without looking away from the game, Yuzu glanced at me.

“I heard you played a pretty damaging role?”

“There’s no harm in me being disliked by someone I never had anything to do with. I even got a better score on my report card.”

Personally, I found that job very satisfying, and I even gained some perks.

“I see.” Yuzu nodded quietly, as if she was satisfied with that.

“…Aki said, she’s going to confess today. She’s going to use that momentum from before until this date to finally confess.”

For a moment, my character stopped moving. But soon it started moving again, reflecting the commands from the controller.

“I see.” I managed to get a few words out.

This relationship was promised to end when Kotani confessed her feelings. If that was the case, then today would be the last day we would spend together as lovers. The thought of this date consisting of things we usually did together made me chuckle because it was so awkward.

“Thanks…” Again, Yuzu murmured her thanks.

“I heard that earlier.”

Yuzu shook her head at my reply.

“That’s not it. I’m just thanking you for sticking with me this long. Honestly, it wasn’t worth the work you did, was it?”

“That’s true, when you put it that way. It would have been more time efficient to get a regular part-time job.”

When I nodded my head in agreement, Yuzu puffed out her cheeks and glared at me.

“Hey! There, you should’ve said that you enjoyed the time spent with Yuzu-chan, and that you had only gains in this.”

“You-are-right.” I shrugged my shoulders and sighed in affirmation.

Yuzu glared at me in frustration, as if she understood what I meant between the lines.

I couldn’t help but laugh at her.

“…Well, it’s true that I did have some fun. I’m not sure I’d have been able to keep up with it this well if I hadn’t.”

I was not sure why Yuzu cast her eyes down in embarrassment when I told her how I honestly felt.

“Well, I’m embarrassed now that you say it so directly…”

“You still have no defenses, do you?”

“Leave me alone.” Yuzu roughly operated the controller as if to deceive me.

I didn’t feel like pushing her any further today, so we both concentrated on the game in silence.

“Our relationship is like an RPG, isn’t it?

After a while, Yuzu suddenly muttered as if she had an idea.

“What’s that about?”

I tilted my head, unsure of the intent of the words, and Yuzu replied while looking at the screen.

“You see, in order for both of us to reach the same ending to the story, we’re playing completely different roles than our real selves, and advance the story of Sota and Aki. What we’re doing is the same as this game in front of us right now, isn’t it?”

“…Well, yeah, that’s true.”

A long-haired swordsman, who had not the slightest resemblance to me, and a woodcutter girl, who looked completely different to Yuzu. In the game, we became two people who were completely different from what we were supposed to be, fighting for a happy ending. It was no different from the reality where we fully immerse in this pretend-relationship as we struggled to reach a happy ending..

“Is that why? The reason why I had so much fun.” Yuzu laughed as she looked back on the past days. “I was really reluctant at first. I didn’t think we’d get along, you aren’t my type, and I was worried that you’d misunderstood that you had become my real boyfriend.”

She spun her true feelings without pretense, and I replied with my true feelings. “Me too. I thought it would be a joke to be involved in the mess of the Riajus, and I thought I would never get along with you because you’re such a narcissist and even your reason for choosing me was quite rude.”

But Yuzu tried to get along with me. Despite her anxiousness, reluctance and our inability to find a common topic.She tried to make it fun for herself, and most importantly, she tried to make it fun for me too.

It must have started there. It was there that something clicked between us, the two opposites.

“It was really unpleasant for both of us, but…Looking back, it was still fun.”

“…Yeah, I know.” I affirmed Yuzu’s reflective remark without feeling shy about it.

It was definitely fun. They were special. Even for me who disliked getting involved with others, I felt that it would be such a pity if I were to lose those times.