CH 86

Chapter 86: (Extra) Sara’s POV Part 14 + bonus

“But, I hate it when she is like that.”

I couldn’t believe my ears after hearing those words.

Eh, what did she just say? You hate it?

No, no, no, no way. She just spoke so passionately of Shiori-san, and even said she is cute. There is no reason to hate her.

Perhaps I misheard her. . .

“I think it’s cute, but I don’t like what I don’t like.”

I didn’t mishear!?!?

I was at a loss on how to respond. I was frozen with my smartphone held to my ear. As I was in a daze, I heard “Was that a shocking confession?” in a teasing tone. It was really annoying.

“Of course it was shocking! You are so weird! I thought you cared about Shiori-san! And yet, why are you telling me that? Even if you hate her, I am definitely on her side! Absolutely, definitely! !”

I said it all at once. My breath was ragged and my hair now a bit messed up, I was uncontrollable, but the person who should be mad began to laugh.

I’m genuinely pissed off! So annoying!

“Ahaha, no, sorry. It just made me smile. Pfft, haha. Absolutely, definitely. I haven’t heard something like that since elementary school. Geeze, so cute.”

“That isn’t what you should have taken from that.”

“Ahh, yeah, sorry sorry. I understand your love for Shiori. But back to the topic at hand, I don’t hate Shiori as a person, I just don’t like her dreamy fantasizing part.”

“. . . So in short, you are bad mouthing her, right?”

I’m not saying I’m a saint and that I’d never bad mouth somebody. However the important thing is you can’t bad mouth Shiori-san. In my adamant refusal she was at a loss of words, “That’s not what I meant. . . umm”

She said she didn’t just bad mouth her, but also said she didn’t like her. I was waiting for her next words in a fighting stance, Yoko groaned and then asked.

“Sara-chan, what do you think a dream is?”

We were supposed to be talking about Shiori-san. However a very abstract question came out. She sounded serious; it wasn’t intended to be deflecting. In terms of the context of the story, I don’t think she is talking about the dreams you have when sleeping.

After thinking for a bit, I answered “It’s a fun fantasy, or wish for the future?” After she answered in a satisfied voice “Yeah, that’s right. I agree.”

“Why are you asking me what a dream is?”

“Okay, listen to me. It’s just as you said, I also think dreams are fantasies you wish for. However, that also means – – – those are goals you don’t intend to achieve with your own strengths, right?”

With the same cheerful and light tone as usual she said. I can imagine her smiling as she talks about it.

But I don’t why, it’s as if the temperature around her voice dropped, it sent a shiver down my spine.

Why are we talking about this? I should be hearing about Yoko-san and President-san’s confession, but before I knew it, it was about Shiori-san, and now a philosophical question.

“I learned this first hand from my incident with the President. You can’t get what you want just by wishing for it. You have to earnestly reach out with your own strength and grasp it.”

“Well. . . Yeah, you could say that.”

I know what she means, because that’s what happened to me in highschool. Sometimes you do get lucky and things just fall into your hands, but most of the time you get nothing.

Come to think of it, there is a passage in the bible. I think it’s, (Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find.) It was a different time and different place, but humanity thinks similarly.

Based on what Yoko-san is saying. It sounds like she is saying Shiori-san is the type that doesn’t work hard for the things she wants. However I think that just isn’t true.

“Shiori is good at everything, even if she doesn’t move far, just stretch her arm out a little, she gets what she wants. For example, she is at the top of her grade now.”

It was like she read my mind. It’s not as simple, but I get what she means. Shiori-san is a genius.

“But, there are some things that aren’t easy to get, right? It’s the way of life, you’d have to frantically reach for it, but she’s too afraid she’d step on it while attempting to do that. However it seems like the person in question is unaware of that tendency.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, all she does is make excuses. She is so smart, so she can come up with all kinds of justifications for not doing anything back to back. She earnestly believes it’s the reason she doesn’t move, and that’s why she is unaware of it, it’s bad.”

Despite not needing to add this forced excuse, she said it all in an exaggeratedly fed up voice “I’m getting sick and tired of listening to her excuses.”

“I said earlier that she has a firm grasp of reality, but that’s half true. She has a firm grasp of her reality. She doesn’t even see a reality that is convenient for her.”

Yoko-san angrily said “She is always so wary of an uncomfortable world, that she simply treats a more comfortable reality as a “dream”.

“She is such a child, she is the type of person that if she falls in love with someone, she’d act so ridiculously clumsy that she would ruin it herself. Geeze, I’m like a worried older sister.”

“Ahaha. . .”

If Shiori-san heard you say you were her older sister, she’d angrily say

“Who are you calling my older sister!”. I’m sure Yoko-san would also enjoy that as well. 

Other than this, Yoko-san has been giving me a lot of hints for a while. I’m not an idiot.

This is after she told me that she tends to dream a lot when it comes to relationships and romance. Moreover, she is saying it with confidence.

That means she knows what Shiori-san wants, right? And she hears directly those excuses on why she doesn’t move, right?

If you think about it, the reasons for why she’d even bother telling me this are limited. Because Yoko-san is always working for Shiori-san’s sake.

“Yoko-san still has a long way to go. That just adds to Shiori-san’s cuteness.”

“Hahaha, you’re telling me! Well you see, I know the cuteness of the President, and she is as much trouble, plus has that bad personality trait Shiori has.”

“Thank you for showing that off. I’d like to meet her if I get the chance. Ah, now that you mention it, we were in the middle of you telling me your confession story.”

I was so engrossed by the Shiori-san talk that I totally forgot about what we were originally talking about. I’d like to hear more about the confession.

“Confession? Oh yeah, How far did we get. . .Ah, Shiori came up with a compromise. And um, let’s see. She then left the President and I alone to talk in the student council room so we could talk it out”

“Wahh, and finally the confession happened!”

“Yeah, well, It wasn’t that good. I asked the President if it was true that she liked me? She said yes, and I replied “I like you too.”. . . Well, which one do you think confessed?”

. . . . . . . .Um, which one confessed? I was more surprised at how she confessed. Rather than confessing after confirming it, I wanted it to be a crisp resolution. 

Even though it’s rude to criticize somebody else’s confession, I can’t help but think. Why bother confirming it first? Yoko-san’s a wuss!

“The President saying she liked me was my first win.”

“Eh, why are you saying it’s a win or lose?”

“Everything is!”

I would never make such a lazy confession! After all the arrangements have been made, I want to astleast look cool when I confess my love to her, and have her heart flutter in a way that she would never forget. If it’s mutual, it would be the best confession that will make her fall even more in love.

And the next day, when Shiori-san leaves the room, we’d surely be lovers. I will make it happen!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well then. Think about it. It’s up to you to decide what to do from now on.”

While squatting in the hallway before the student council room, Yoko broke into a cold sweat thinking about how she managed to keep her affair with the president a secret up until now. Normal voices were fine, but loud voices and noises could be heard quite clearly even in the hallway.

It was either her or the president or maybe both, that had great luck. Because it was Shiori who found them. It was especially good, because it was only because of her that she could hear the president’s true feelings leaking from the room.

Now that the discussion was over, only the President remained in the room. With her eyes locked onto the President, Yoko walked in closing the heavy door behind her. The President had already begun to retreat.

The sound of the poorly constructed door slamming shut made the President look hopeless, from there Yoko smiled a little, wondering what she should say.

Everytime Yoko took a step, the President retreated a little. Unfortunately for her, the room isn’t that big. Immediately she was cornered by the window, as she frantically looked around her, but when she saw her junior slowly approaching she hung her head in resignation.

“President.”

She called out to her, but she only feebly shook her head. It still seems like she is not yet ready to follow Shiori’s order.

Just as she was about to reach out her hand, Yoko realized at this rate they’d be completely exposed to the outside from the window, so she closed the pale yellow curtain.

“. . .President.”

Once again, she called out as gently as possible, but instead of a reply, large teardrops fell to the floor.

What a helpless person, Yoko thought. Continuing the relationship by lying, got caught, and despite that she was simply quietly crying.

There are many things she wanted to say, wanted to ask, even complain about. Still that wasn’t what was on her mind, she wanted to hear it from this hopelessly stupid lovable person.

“Is it true that you like me?”

The President’s shoulders jumped in surprise.

She must have misunderstood that she was being condemned. In a tiny apologetic trembling voice, she gave a small “I’m sorry”, but that wasn’t what Yoko wanted to hear.

She couldn’t stop her urge to pull her closer and hug her tightly. With a foolish voice she raised “Hyo!?”. What was that voice? It was so cute.She had heard many kinds of voices during their affairs, but this was the first time she heard that kind.

Her tension began to loosen. With their spirits being lifted, she felt more collected. Thinking back on it, this was the first time Yoko hugged her like this.

They had always “hugged” or grasped with a certain goal in mind, but never hugged to communicate feelings. She was afraid that if she had done that before, her feelings would be discovered.

“I want to hear you say it. Directly from you.”

She knew it was okay for herself to say it first, as it’s like a half-confession already, but an unknown stubbornness that she didn’t quite understand compelled her not to.

She wanted to hear that she liked her, earnestly. She wanted this person, who had been lying to her cruelly the whole time, to say it first. With just that much, she felt like she could forgive her.

“. . . .I like you.”

She prayed as she waited to hear those words, and finally the President said them. The long awaited sentence. The moment it spilled out of her mouth, in a small tone, so small it seemed to melt into the air, but it was definitely audible.

If it was the usual Yoko, she would have said “What?” and made her say it again, but she was too happy to do that to her.

“I like you too. I’ve liked you for a long time.”

As soon as she said the words she had swallowed for so long, exhilarating feelings swept through her. As if a great weight was put off her shoulders.

She had been in an unrequited love for nearly three years, since she was a second year in junior high school. Although it was put into casual words, this confession was filled with three years worth of anguish. She couldn’t think of a cool way to say it.

“I truly like you. . . I really like you.”

“I’m not worthy of those feelings. . .”

“I like you, and you like me. What else could be more important than that?”

The President had her breath taken from her, it suddenly became silent. For a while she released small groans as she was conflicted, but eventually she gave in, and sighed. Gently wrapping her arms around Yoko.

“You have bad taste in people.”

“You’re the one for me.”

Perhaps they did it in the wrong order. Protecting themselves too much, scared of what could happen, afraid to be hurt, it happened in such a roundabout way because of it.

However they had arrived at their love. This time, there is no confusion about what their hearts held for each other. It’s not going to end with a good memory, as Shiori said, but Yoko kept it to herself because it’d cause trouble if she said it now.

“I owe Shiori a huge debt.”

“I know. But do you really need to be talking about other girls right now?”

“Oh~ Are you jealous?”

“Yeah, I am actually very jealous.”

It was pointless fighting back against her lover, and hearing the truth made Yoko burst into a smile.

Probably it’s because she has complimented Shiori’s style and face so many times, but she is determined to make herself feel better.

To her friend, and benefactor. She thanked her very much. She intends to return the favor in some way. Though Yoko did not have the slightest idea of how to. She thought Shiori owed her because of Sara, but the favor came back with a too large amount of interest.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch break. Outside the window they could hear the voices of lively students coming from the sports ground. 

If they hurried they would still have time to make it in for afternoon class, but neither Yoko nor the President said anything. Yoko knew that as the Student council president, the President is an honor student by all accounts, so she began to realize the President must have felt restless about not leaving.

When the President gently slipped from her arms, she felt a little lonely thinking she would head back to class, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

With her lips pursed, she took Yoko’s hand and said.

“I like you Yoko. Would you be my girlfriend?”

What was she going to say?

She already knew the answer. These have been words she dreamed of for a long time. A hope that she could not give up no matter how many times she tried. Now it was in Yoko’s grasp.

Tightly she held her hand, the two’s faces lit up with laughter and tears as happiness filled them both.