Volume 1 - CH 19

Posted on March 18, 2022by Soafp

Translator: Soafp

The atmosphere at the school was getting twitchy as the final examinations were approaching.

I was perplexed by the damned conditions imposed on me by a lousy woman. I was studying, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything.

I decided to hold off on the offer Shirase had made to me.

I had other things to do first.

“It seems you finally want to know more about the last goddess.”

Mahiro has a big smile on his face.

“Why do you look so happy?”

“As for me, I’m curious to see who my friend Shota is going for.”

There is no way I’m going to pick anyone.

However, they are high school students representing puberty here. They all like to talk about topics like their favorite partner or their favorite idol.

In Tenkain, it is the [four-color goddess].

“Who is your current favorite at the moment?”

“None in particular.”

“You’re pushing for something other than a goddess?

“I don’t usually pick anyone.”

“So who are you going to vote for in the Tenka contest?”

“I ain’t voting for anybody.”

As long as I don’t participate in the contest.

” You can’t do that. Voting is for everybody. It’s sort of a student duty.”

‘…… such a disgusting obligation”

“It’s a festival of sorts. Plus, they’ll know who you’re voting for.”

“That sucks.”

“Well, I’ll tell you the details when the Tenkain Contest gets closer. So, who are you going to put in now?”

I have no intention of placing in the current group of goddesses.

Then, the options are narrowing.

I don’t interact much with other classes of people. The only people I interact with are the demons, or goddesses, for that matter. Classmates are appropriate, as I have no intention of joining them.

The most likely candidate would be Nekoda, who sits next to me.

Nekoda also seems to be quite popular. Since they made up, she has regained her former radiance and has become a popular person in the class.

Nevertheless, since she and Akazawa are best friends, I have a feeling that the vote will be split.

However, there is also the problem of putting it in Nekoda’s hands. She meddled to make up with him, but I feel that if I vote for her, it’s almost like confessing that I like her. It would also be troublesome to have people think that I have ulterior motives.

“……I guess at this stage it would be my stepsister.”

“Oh, by the way, you said she was in the first grade.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I have a younger sister too, but we don’t get along. I see Shota is close with her, huh.”

“For now”

Although we are not close friends, hell, we are not particularly close. The truth is that I am not sure how to treat her. She likes me, too, but maybe it’s because we’re at an early stage in our lives, or maybe she’s just a little reserved.

If I talk about my sister for too long, they might find out that we are stepsiblings, so I cut the conversation short.

“I’ll talk about it another time. What do you know about the White Goddess?”

“White Goddess, wasn’t it? As I told you before, she was the only one in a different middle school.”

“…… so you don’t know much about it?”

“Shirase-san and I were in the same class last year, so I guess I know her pretty well.”

Well, that’s promising.

“The characteristics of Shirase-san are by far her outstanding appearance and family background. She is petite, has a childlike face, and yet is a young lady. She is not athletic, but her academic ability is top class along with Kuromine-san.”

The characteristics of Shirase Mayuki are easy to understand. It is in her overwhelmingly conspicuous appearance.

She is extremely cute. By cute, I mean more like a mascot than a beautiful girl. Shirase is in the low 140-centimeter range and has the face of a child who looks like an elementary school student. If she were to carry a school bag on her back, the school would probably still be in active service.

And she is a young lady.

She is the daughter of a company president whose father runs a company.

“She’s a young lady, huh?”

I pretend not to know each time.

“Yes. Her father is the president.”

“…….If it’s a young lady, she must be from Himemiya Jogakuin.”

Of course, I know that girl was a student at Himemiya Jogakuin.

Himemiya Jogakuin is an all-girls junior and senior high school not far from here.

“Oh, terrific. You hit the jackpot. She went to Himemiya Jogakuin, but she went all the way over here to go to school. I don’t know why, though.”

“I see.”

“How did Shota know about Himemiya Jogakuin?”

“……”

Oh, s**t. I did it again.

“T-Truth be told, my stepsister came over here from Himemiya Jogakuin too.”

“I see.”

I said something random. Sorry.

“Continuing with Shirase-san, Lolita-kei ojousama (young lady) is unique. She’s also a bit of a clunker. She’s popular with the boys because she makes them want to protect her, and she’s also looked upon as a mascot by the girls.”

“Makes sense.”

” But I think she’s going to be strong this year.”

“Why?”

“She has a handsome younger brother. That seems to be a high point.”

A handsome younger brother?

“Right. It seems that some girls are befriending Shirase in order to get close to him. That’s why the number of votes is expected to be higher this year than last year.”

Oi oi, if you have a younger brother, why don’t you ask him to play the role of your boyfriend? Why did you go to the trouble of asking me?

I thought about it for a while, but could not come up with an answer.

“Are you willing to take it on?”

After school, I was caught by Shirase again near my apartment.

“Before I go any further, I want to ask you two questions.”

“What could it be?”

“Do you live here?”

“Yes, I started living alone. Just the other day.”

I see why we had never encountered each other before.

So it was just a coincidence that we happened to live close to each other. However, it is unexpected for a young lady to be living alone in an apartment.

“So, one more question. You talk about pretending to be your boyfriend, but you don’t have a boyfriend, right?”

I was in a relationship with this girl once.

I was discarded in that relationship.

It wasn’t just a heartbreak. Within a week of becoming her boyfriend, she brought her real boyfriend to my doorstep.

“Please use common sense. If I had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t have asked you.”

So you broke up with that guy.

“…… Okay, I get it. I’ll take you on if you keep your terms.”

“Thank you very much. You have my word.”

After much thought, no answer was forthcoming. Then it would be more beneficial to accept the reward Shirase offered of staying away from me in the future.

It would be troublesome to make enemies by rejecting their demands. She’s the kind of woman who threatens you with worthless conditions.

Besides, it would be disgusting if an incident occurred. You never know what a stalker will do.

“What exactly are you going to do?”

” Have a date with me next Saturday.”

“……”

I did say that I would pretend to be her boyfriend, but as I said, I couldn’t answer immediately.

“You can’t?”

“Don’t “you can’t” me, how do you know your stalker is going to see that? I don’t mind, but wouldn’t it be most effective to repeat the act of talking like this a few times while leaving school?”

“I’m fine, I’ll let my brother know.”

What?

“You will tell your brother……. Oh, I see. Does that mean your brother will help us get rid of the stalker, too? There is a possibility that the other party will come at us by force, so the more people we have, the better.

“No, my brother is the stalker.”

“……?”

I couldn’t follow the understanding.

“I’m sorry for the confusion. I had a fight with my father and ran away from home. My brother is working for my father to bring me back home.”

“Does that mean you’re just running away from home?”

“In other words, yes.”

I lost it worrying.

My strength drains from my body.

“What’s with your face?”

“Because everything was rapidly getting ridiculous.”

“It’s a big problem for me.”

“……Why did you run away from home?”　

“I was about to be married off to a stranger, so I got into a fight and ran away from home.”

In other words, they are going to make her marry a man she doesn’t know, so she explains to her brother that she has a fixed partner, me.

That’s how they usually find out.

“My brother is very simple. If I tell him that I have a boyfriend and show him that I am dating you, he will be convinced. That should get through to my father.”

“If it’s that simple, you’ll be able to round them up and pull them through to join us.”

“…… No, this is the best way.”

I don’t see where.

“I’m sorry, I’ll pass. If it’s a family problem, you can work it out over there.”

“No, you can’t. I’ve already got your word.”

Looks like a trick.

It would be a bad idea to be so stingy here. If it was recorded or something, I’d be out. If they call me a liar, it will affect my life from now on. I lost because she got my word.

“……Roger”

“Then give me your contact information. Because it’s impossible for me to pretend to be your girlfriend and not have your contact information.”

Shirase takes out her phone, but I didn’t take mine out.

Or rather, I can’t take it out.

“What’s wrong?”

“…… I don’t have a phone.”

I don’t have a phone.

My parents have asked me to have one, but I refused because I didn’t think I needed one, especially if I had a computer. Even at school, people were surprised when I told them I didn’t have a smart phone. I was the only one in my class who didn’t have one, and they made a fuss about it, saying I couldn’t join my class group.

As for the reason, I played the country bumpkin

[“I didn’t need one in the countryside.”]

[“The countryside is the best.”]

[“The countryside is supreme.”]

When I explained it to them, they accepted my explanation in a fluffy way.

In my defense, everyone at my high school before I transferred had smartphones. I didn’t have one because we were poor and I didn’t want to bother my mother. The reason I don’t have one now is a remnant of that.

“…… I see.”

I see?

“Then we’ll meet in front of the station at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.”

“I understand. After that, you’ll have to keep your word.”

“Of course. If you solve the problem, I promise to stay away from Nijitani-san in the future.”

I got her word.