Volume 2 - CH 4

After we managed to convince the chief, we headed for the location of the BBQ. Near the river, there seems to be an established BBQ area, and Biwako-senpai’s grandmother was nice enough to offer to drive us there. We could even get inside the river if we’d like, so we bought a change of clothes with us and decided to group up in the car. Onikichi and I were the first ones to arrive, waiting for the rest.

“Still baffles me that you and Biwako-senpai get along so well, Nanacchi.”

“Huh? You think so? W-Well, she’s chill to have around, surprisingly.”

I definitely can’t tell him the details of why we’re getting along so well.

“If you two get along too much, Touka will get jelly, you know?”

“The chief will? Nah, not happening. She’s not interested in love.”

“Even though you went on a date before?”

“That wasn’t a date.”

“Ahaha, you’re so dense sometimes, Nanacchi.”

That was just me acting as a proper subordinate. Well, I may have gotten excited about it being a date, and interpreted a bit too much into it. But, since we ended up going to the company, after all, it’s clear the chief didn’t see it that way.

“If anything, I’m surprised you and Biwako-senpai weren’t friends from before. I figured you and that gal would be close.”

“Mmmm…I told you I was planning to head to Tokyo after graduating, right?”

“Yup, sure did.”

“Once I’m there, I want to become the president of a company or something like that.”

Having a playboy like him speak so nonchalantly about such a dream sure felt surreal to me, but I know that he’ll grant himself that dream, which makes things even more amazing.

“So, what does that have to do with Biwako-senpai?”

“I want to keep an objective view on how people who stand at the top of a group act.”

“That sounds hella cool, excuse me?!”

“If I entered their gal community, so to speak, I would end up below them because of my age, right? Well, experiencing the view of an employee is important as well, but I want to learn what the top of such a group thinks. That’s why I’ve been avoiding getting involved with them. Then again, getting along with Biwako-senpai is something I’m always open about! In that way, I’m grateful you acted as the crucial connection, Nanacchi~! Here we!”

“For the first time, I’m starting to feel confident that I could actually be worthy of being your friend!”

“Hey now, Nanacchi, don’t talk about stuff like that. I’ve always liked ya, Nanacchi.”

“Onikichi…”

“Nanacchi…”

“What are you peeps doing here? Looking mighty suspicious, two guys staring at each other.”

Biwako-senpai finished her preparations and walked towards us.

“Ah, Biwako-senpai. You’re wrong, this isn’t what…”

“Indeedo, Biwachosu, Nanacchi and I are kindred spirits…two people transmitting their feelings mentally.”

“That’s a bit too much, Onikichi! Also, who the hell is Biwachosu?! Aren’t you far too close already?! You’re like two F1 racers!”

“Yay, Onikichi~”

“Biwachosu~!”

They put their fists together. He understands gal communication far too well! Those two feel like one of those couple YouTubers. Not like they would understand it in this day and age. Also, I’ve seen her before at the pool, but Biwako-senpai really has a great figure. Even the shirt she’s wearing emphasizes her body greatly. She has the proportions wherever they’re needed, and she’s slim where it mattered. She’s wearing a hoodie shirt with short pants and sandals. Even such simple clothes looked like a dress on her. And she smelled really nice.

“Also, where’s Naopon and Kamijou Touka? Are they still not here?”

“Seems like it…Ah, there they are.”

Glancing over at the entrance, the door just opened, and Nao showed her face. She’s wearing the school’s jersey for some reason. I guess it’s easy to move in, but we’re not on a school trip or something like that. But never mind her, finally, the chief showed her appearance with beautiful twintails—Hm? Twintails?! Not to mention that the tips were curled up, resembling Biwako-senpai’s twintails, although they didn’t have the same volume. Huh? What’s this about? This is the first time I’ve seen her with that kind of hairstyle…She’s way too adorable! Why is she…Maybe she’s excited because it’s summer?

She wore a white and calming t-shirt, looking like a high school girl during P.E. class. I could even pick up faint gal vibes…maybe? Below, she wore tight denim pants. Her white legs are too dazzling for me to look at! She’s so beautiful! I immediately glanced at Biwako-senpai. She was looking at me, her face beet red as she was shaking. I can hear the voice of her heart.

The heck is this! She’s so adorbs!

She’s thinking that, I just know it. Nao and the chief were walking towards us, to which Biwako-senpai immediately regained her composure, showing the face of a demon.

“Sorry for the wait, everyone~!”

“Why’d you make us wait so long, Naopon!”

“Soz, soz, Biwako-chan! Doing the chief’s hair just took so long!”

I see, so Nao had some fun with her hair.

“Kamijou Touka, where did that change of heart come from? That hairstyle doesn’t fit you one bit!”

Why are you such an idiot all the dang time?!

“Eh, wait, it doesn’t look good on me?!”

“Not in the slightest! Right, Nananosuke?”

“No, it looks great on you, really. It feels like an angel has appeared in front of me.”

Biwako-senpai glared at me like I had slaughtered her parents. I could hear her cursing me as a traitor, but I decided to ignore that. I can’t just lie to the chief’s face.

“An angel?! Are you stupid! I’m a human!” The chief howled.

Man, she sucks at retorting.

“Biwako-chan, don’t be like that. I tried my best after the chief asked me for this.” Nao grumbled.

Hold on, what?! The chief asked for this?! So she was actually excited?!

“That’s right, yay! You look cute, Touka! Almost like Biwachosu!”

“In what way, Onikichi?! This looks horrible!” Biwako-senpai screamed.

…Did Biwako-senpai forget her entire plan? Look, the chief’s about to burst out in tears. Though I have to agree, they look like sisters now. Adding Nao (and her enormous chest) into the mix, I’m starting to feel like the manager…No, producer of an idol group during a trip. At the same time, the window of the car rolled down, and Biwako-senpai’s grandmother showed her face.

“Come on, younglings! We’re leaving!”

She wore sunglasses, speaking with a wild tone I never would have imagined from an elderly lady. She’s like a normie now. As expected of Biwako-senpai’s grandmother, I guess. We hopped into the car, and drove to the BBQ area.

*

Driving down the mountain road, we reached a beautiful and clear stream with sparkling water. Looking down, we spotted several groups already enjoying their BBQ, making this area fairly crowded. After dropping us off, Biwako-senpai’s grandmother said she’d come to pick us up in the evening. Despite being such a gentle and kindhearted person, her driving was insane. I felt like I was filming one of those racing movies. Was she actually a street racer in her younger days?

After she left us, we opened up the large sheet we brought with us on the white gravel, and prepared to start the BBQ. We even have a firelighter with us. Once things calmed down a bit, the chief took the lead.

“All right, let’s split up in teams. One group will take care of the heat, the other will precook the ingredients.”

We decided on a 3-2 split-up for the groups, as precooking doesn’t need that much attention. The groups would be decided with rock, paper, scissors. If I can make it so that the chief and Biwako-senpai end up in the ingredient group, they should get closer. I can’t influence it to such detail, so I have to put faith in luck here.

“““Let’s split up in rock and paper~!”””

Three people ended up with paper, two with rock. Beautiful. The chief got rock. And the other person was…me. I looked over at Biwako-senpai with an apologetic expression. She clearly didn’t like this outcome, as she scowled at me. Now I did it…to think it had to be me and the chief in the same group. However, results are results, I should just try to create a chance for her somewhere down the line. Seeing no other option, I joined the chief in carrying the ingredients and cooking utensils stored in the plastic bags, moving down to the water.

Yeah, this was inevitable. I just couldn’t help it. There was nothing I could do, so…All riiight! It’s just me and the chief togetheeeeeeer!!

—Ah! What am I thinking! My goal should be to allow for the chief and Biwako-senpai to get closer. I shouldn’t be happy that me and the chief ended up in the same group—Heck yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! I’m way too happy. Something like this never happened in my first high school life. While walking down along the river, I glanced at the chief next to me.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” She gently smiled.

I’m sorry, Biwako-senpai. I’m just…far too happy right now. Please let me enjoy this moment for just a bit longer. I mean, those twintails aren’t fair. She even has her sleeves rolled up. Her white, bare arms periodically bumped into mine. Ah, what bliss. I should stop acting like a tsundere, running away from skinship with stupid excuses like ‘It’s hot’, and whatever. I have to fix my thought process. Looking at Biwako-senpai’s tsundere act, I’ve finally realized that.

This isn’t the time to be embarrassed and run away. I have to use any chance I can get. I have to work harder than before. But…I’m embarrassed! I can’t focus with the super-duper cute chief being this close to me! I’ll still end up moving away from her!

“Hey~! Why are you staying that far from me~” The chief said, bumping her shoulder into me with a smile.

Oh, I’m die. Thank you forever. The autopsy says that Shimono Nanaya has passed away because of a heart attack. Would it be possible to die from a heart attack because my heart skipped a beat? Sounds like some urban legend.

“Please don’t tease me, Chief. Look, we made it to the water.”

I hid my embarrassment and walked up to a table in the center of the water area. I took out the vegetables from the plastic bags, putting them into the draining basket we took with us.

“Why are you leaving me behind~” The chief pouted, walking next to me.

Ahh, I need to move my hands, or my heart will explode.

“F-First, we should wash the vegetables, right?”

“Indeed.”

Both the chief and I moved to the washing space. We lined up next to each other when I called out to the chief.

“Man, it’s been a while since I had a BBQ.”

“You’re right. It would be even better if we had a beer.”

“Yakisoba and beer do sound great as well.”

“Ah, I’m down!”

“But after traveling back in time, I’m generally fine without drinking alcohol. I haven’t had any since.”

“Indeed. There are times when I’d love to drink any, but I can…hold back, or just live without it.”

“Right, right~ Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were drinking in secret, right?”

“I’m not! Youuu!”

While washing the carrot in her hands, the chief rammed her elbow into my side. Gaaah, what is this! Youth! Is summer break in high school so much fun?! I’m honestly scared to think I could enjoy this for three years. I can’t help but be grateful for my second chance. Thank you, whoever allowed this to happen!

“That reminds me, Nanaya-kun?”

The chief suddenly looked at me with a serious expression.

“Yes?”

“Did Sakonji-san ask you for advice on something by any chance?”

“Huh?!”

Because of the abrupt question thrown at me, I dropped the eggplant I held. Together with a dull sound, the chief’s sharp gaze traced it. Did she…figure me out? Since when? No, I have to play dumb.

“What might you be talking about?”

I averted my face, picking up the eggplant with a quivering hand. All of my excitement a few seconds ago completely vanished. Why? Everything should have worked out perfectly on the train. It wasn’t that suspicious, right? How did she see through us? Is she some kind of detective?!

“You got so friendly with Sakonji-san out of nowhere. She shouldn’t be your type at all, so I figured there must be some special reason. You do, right? She asked you for help in something, and that’s how you got closer, right? No other reason, yeah?!”

“No, um…”

The chief pushed her body towards me with a serious gaze. Judging from this…she doesn’t seem to be angry. Just from a purely objective standpoint, it’s weird that Biwako-senpai and I suddenly became closer. In fact, Onikichi said the same thing a while ago.

“If you’re trying to help Sakonji-san with something, then I don’t mind assisting, you know? Just tell me, Section Chief Touka will provide a proper follow-up. Come on.”

Her tone of voice dropped a lot. She seemed worried…almost anxious, as she looked at me.

“No, there’s nothing like that. We’ve just talked here and there. Nothing to worry about.”

I fully understand that she won’t get angry even if she figured out our plan. I also get that she’s willing to help out. But even so…I can’t tell her. She’s in the center of it all, after all. Even if I told her ‘Biwako-senpai actually wants to get along with you~, it might seem like a good way to wrap things up, but it never goes that smoothly. Unlike Biwako-senpai, who is a genuine high school girl, the chief is an adult on the inside. She’s capable of holding a proper and genuine conversation on the level of an adult.

Surely, she’d be willing to get along with Biwako-senpai. I know she would. However, that isn’t worth anything. She already has trouble dealing with Biwako-senpai, so if I told her, she might force herself to get along instead. Is this really the result Biwako-senpai would wish for? No, certainly not. The way she wants to get along with the chief is from the bottom of their hearts.

Some superficial relationship won’t satisfy her. We’re high school students, not some contractors. And the chief should be the same. The kind of youth she wants to experience shouldn’t be built upon empty friendships. I’m simply playing the role of creating a trigger. There’s no meaning if Biwako-senpai herself doesn’t work for it. Hence, I can’t tell the chief, because otherwise, it would be the same as betraying Senpai. That’s why I tried to declare it again, but the chief didn’t seem satisfied in the slightest.

“Why?”

She calmly put down the carrot she was holding. Only the sound of running water disrupted the otherwise silent air around us.

“C-Chief?”

“Why, why, why, why! At the company, you would always ask for my help! Or what, did you have plenty of fun with young girls that you’re more than experienced!? After saying chief chief chief all the time, you now look away from me?! Casting me aside?! I see, so you can’t tell me! Cool, that’s cool! Fine! I’m glad you’re close enough that you share such important secrets with each other! I don’t care anymore!”

“You’re wrong! Calm down, Chief! I’m not looking down on your good faith or anything!”

“But you still can’t tell me! Also, why are you calling her Biwako-senpai?! You seem pretty close to me!”

“Why don’t you call her Biwako-san instead, then? I’d prefer that!”

“I wasn’t talking about that! You dummy!”

“Huh?! Are you angry because I’m calling her Biwako-senpai? I had no choice, she forced me to!”

“Urk…! Grrrrrr!”

“C-Chief?! It hurts! You’re hurting me!”

With eyes looking like she was about to break out in tears, the chief threw successive punches at me.

“I told you to rely on me! I said that, and yet!”

“I’m sorry. I was really happy about that. But this time, things are a bit complicated.”

“Gaaaah, I’m your section chief, Nanaya-kun!”

“Yes, you’re right! You are my superior and section chief!”

“Don’t call me section chieeef!”

“But, I thought?!”

“Nanaya-kun is only my subordinate!”

“—Who is who’s subordinate?”

What awful timing. In my field of view, I could see another pair of twintails. Following that cold voice, the chief turned around in shock.

“S-Sakonji-san…!”

“First Nananosuke is calling you chief, then you’re calling him your subordinate…are you two actually employed at some company…” Biwako-senpai’s gaze turned sharp.

At the same time, Chief and I started sweating profusely. Biwako-senpai might not look like it, but she’s a clever girl. She may have figured out our secret…

“—Or that’s the setting you go with, indulging in some weird l-lewd roleplay?! Biwa can’t stand stuff like that!”

“Nevermind, she’s stupid! What kind of fantasies are you having, Biwako-senpai?!”

“Huh? I-Is Biwa wrong?”

“Absolutely wrong!”

“But then what were you talking about?”

“T-That’s…”

I glanced at the chief. Ahhh, her eyes are watery. She’s relying on me now.

“Sakonji-san, you know that we were part of Nao-chan’s assisting committee for the student council election, right?”

“Of course Biwa remembers.”

Yeah, as expected.

“We thought it’d be fun to actually act like a company during those election activities, calling each other fitting names. I’d be the section chief, and Nanaya-kun liked it so much that he’s kept it that way. Ahaha, what a dummy, right?”

As expected of the chief. It might be a bit far-fetched, but she’s not entirely lying.

“So what did you call Nananosuke?”

The chief crossed her arms, and started thinking as she looked at me.

“……Managing…Advisor.”

She just used a random term, right?! Are you that desperate to not give me a proper rule?!

“Super weird~”

And she’s not even interested! I know, okay! When girls don’t care, they always show this kind of reaction!

“More importantly, how is the fire looking, Sakonji-san?”

“Onikichi’s hella good, he’s like a fireman or something. Now we just have to keep it a constant flame, so Biwa came over to help. Is that bad?” Biwako-senpai caressed her twintails in her hand.

Why did she have to go tsundere at the very end?

“I-I see. It’s not bad at all. Not at all, really. Totally fine.”

“Your English is weird right now, Chief. Ah, ouch!” She kicked my shin.

“Then Biwa’s going to help with washing the vegetables.”

She sounded disinterested, almost unmotivated, but I just know she’s secretly excited about this. Then again, it helps me get my feelings under control. Especially with how the chief was acting just now. Since I’ve always been a bottom-of-the-barrel employee, I have no way of knowing how it feels, but it must suck to have your subordinate taken from you. But, I remember watching that in a drama before traveling back in time. The chief-of-department of a bank betrayed his director and served the vice-bank president. I wonder how that ended? Guess I’ll have to wait eleven years.

Either way, it seems like the chief doesn’t like me getting along with Biwako-senpai. However! I have already prepared myself for that. I knew I would end up on her bad side from the very start. Even if the chief began disliking me, this is for her sake, and Biwako-senpai’s as well. It might be a complicated situation, but I’m going to have those two get along better. Towards the very end, the chief will thank me, and her affection for me will go up! It’s an investment that will pay out later! This is one of the techniques of love! Or so I was convincing myself…

“Heeey, Nananosuke! Why was it just you and Touka-chan!”

Talking about Biwako-senpai, she moved to the opposite side of me, away from the chief.

“It was a game of luck, how could I have influenced that! More importantly, why did you come over here? This is your chance, so stand next to the chief!”

I responded in a quiet voice in hopes of the chief not hearing me, as I reminded Biwako-senpai. Go and be more assertive, I can’t earn any points here otherwise!”

“It’s embarrassing! You have to do it for Biwa!”

“You’re so hopeless!”

Also, she’s way too close. We’re using a single ink as three people. Also, a virgin being sandwiched by two beautiful older girls is too much.

“What are you two whispering about~”

The chief pushed her soft body against me with a smile. Wow! My left side is practically glued to the chief! I might just die! Die of happiness! A sweet and alluring scent is attacking me from both left and right. This is enough to hypnotize me.

“Doesn’t have anything to do with you, Kamijou Touka!”

Biwako-senpai said, pushing further against me. Why do you have to phrase things this way! Also, too close!”

“I-I see. So it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

The chief’s face tightened up, as she pressed against me even further. What am I supposed to do here? I’m not Yuito-sensei. Don’t raise the difficulty like this. And stop pushing your body against me.

“Nananosuke! Aren’t you a bit too close to Touka-chan? Not fair!”

Biwako-senpai pulled on the sleeve of my shirt. If you complain about that, go head over there right now!

“Hey, hey, Nanaya-kun! Let’s wash these together?” The chief pulled on the other sleeve.

“Nananosuke!”

“Nanaya-kun!”

Come on, you’re tearing off my shirt entirely!

“Are you done over here~? The fire’s doing great, and…Wait, are you still washing the veggies?! You didn’t even start cutting them, and the shrimps are still in their bags?! Come on, what are you people doing~”

My saving grace arrived in the shape of Nakatsugawa Nao-sama. Ah, what common sense she’s using. Why is she more reasonable as a first-year than those two second-years, I wonder? Nao sounded like a mother as she started working on preparing the ingredients. Following her, the second-years joined in. We may have gotten started with the BBQ for real, and yet I don’t feel like I earned any points at all.

*

“It’s delicious, isn’t it, Nanaya-kun?”

We put a net on the fire Onikichi had prepared, and started to cook the meat. We had cut sliced onions, corn, and the carrots the chief washed. Putting these together, we have a large variety of meat or fish, put in the center. The scent is tickling my nose. Around the net, we had several plates and chopsticks prepared for all of us, and yet the chief had been glued to my side this entire time. As a result…

“Ah, this shrimp is delicious. Here, open wide~”

This is what I’m dealing with.

“Thank you very much.”

Of course, I wouldn’t ignore the chance of being fed by the chief (except that one time while eating udon), which is why I accepted the shrimp in my mouth. What was really troublesome was Biwako-senpai glaring at me every single time this happened. The chief harbored the weird misunderstanding that her subordinate might be stolen from her, which is why she’s been acting off this entire time. Though I have to ask myself, was the chief always the kind of person to do such a thing? No…she’s probably just confused and lonely at losing all of her subordinates except one. She’s a caring superior after all.

She’s the type of person to feel stressed out whenever she’s not busy. The type of person who just wants to take care of others…Holy smokes, can I just marry her? But then, finding her a friend like Nao, someone who’s younger and she can take care of, might have been better, I guess. Though recently, it also feels like Nao’s the one taking care of the chief for some reason.

“Here, Nanaya-kun. You have to eat some meat as well. Open wide~”

The chief grabbed a piece of well-grilled meat, put it into the sauce, and carried it to my mouth. At the same time, I continued my train of thought. Even if I had her surrounded by only juniors, her second life might turn out better than her first one, but she probably won’t be much different once she joins the company. Is this really the kind of youth the chief might wish for? The kind of high school life she aspired to the point she gave up on becoming the student council president?

No, that can’t be it. There’s no mistaking it. If the chief and Biwako-senpai manage to get along, it’ll help both of them in the long run. Because of these incidents, the chief’s been going crazy a bit (though an idiotic chief is cute as well), but maybe this whole thing could act as some sort of shock treatment? All right, I have to work harder!

“Biwako-senpai, why don’t you sit over here and eat with us?”

I’ll have to provide a better follow-up. Doing the dirty work is my specialty, after all.

“Y-Yeah, sure!”

Biwako-senpai’s face lit up into an obvious smile, as she trotted towards us. At the same time, a sharp pain assaulted my right arm. The chief’s slim fingers bit into my arm like needles.

“O-Oh, so Nanaya-kun prefers eating with Sakonji-san, is it? Not like I care, though. It’s totally fine.”

“No, that’s not exactly it. You should join us, Chief!”

“I would have done so either way, though. Or what, am I not supposed to be here? Sorry, I didn’t know I needed your permission, Nanaya-kun~ I guess I should have handed out an approval document first~”

“That’s not the case! If anything, please eat with us! Always stay with me.”

At around that time, Biwako-senpai reached us. The chief observed that with a sideways glance, and spoke up.

“Ah, what? You want me to always stay with you? Nanaya-kun, that sounds like a proposal. Are we a newlywed couple? Youuu~!”

Of course, Biwako-senpai must have heard those words. With the paper plate and chopsticks in hand, she froze up. Her face twitched, as she exclaimed.

“O-Oh, are you two actually dating by any chance? That’s not what Biwa heard about, though~ Weird~”

“You’re wrong, Biwako-senpai! We’re not dating. The chief and I definitely aren’t in that kind of relationship!”

“Gaaaah…! You didn’t have to be so forceful when denying it! You dummy! So annoying! Is it that bad for Sakonji-san to think that we’re dating?!”

“I mean, we aren’t even dating, so I don’t see the problem?!”

“You’re not wrong, but…!”

Yeah, I can’t. I can’t argue against this endless barrage of complaints.

“Hey, Onikichi, what are those three over there doing?”

“No clue, but at least they’re having fun. Oh, this meat’s delish! Super-duper delish!”

At the same time, my best friends were thoroughly enjoying their BBQ. At that time, I heard the sound of sandals crunching along the gravel, and two men approached us. They didn’t seem to be students at least…probably in their twenties. I guessed they had a bit of alcohol, as their cheeks were faintly red.

“Excuse me. We ran out of ice over here, so I was hoping you could share some with us.” One of the men said.

He seemed the sporty type of guy, with short and black hair. He had sunglasses hanging on his head. From the shirt he was wearing, I could clearly see his muscles. The other man had a bob cut, with an equally well-built body. I bet those two are popular.

“Think we still have some.”

Biwako-senpai seemed to be fine being talked to by a stranger, probably used to it, as she swiftly responded. She opened up the cooling box, took out a bag with ice, handing it to the two men.

“Thanks a bunch, you really saved us. Are you local high school students by any chance?”

The man with the bob cut smoothly instigated a conversation. They’re probably used to this kind of stuff.

“We’re not from here, but we are in high school.” The chief responded.

Since her expression was a bit more stiff compared to before, she was probably on her guard.

“I see. We’re actually not from here either. Just came over for a trip. How about we eat together?”

Inviting us for the BBQ…sure seems like they’re planning on hitting on the girls, but since we’re guys as well, and high school students to boot, I doubt they’d go that far. Thinking that this would at least be a good memory, we introduced ourselves to each other and had those two men join us. Their names were Iijima-san and Hirai-san. The man with the sunglasses, Iijima-san prepared an iron plate, cooking up some yakisoba by mixing in the ingredients we prepared.

“So skilled!” Nao smiled.

“I was working part-time in that area, see~ Hirai, grab some beer!” Hirai-san threw him a can of beer. “Putting beer on the noodles instead of water makes them even more delicious.”

“But we’re minors, though~”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. By grilling it enough, the alcohol will be gone in no time.”

“I see! You sure know a lot, Iijima-san”

“Ahaha, as a high school student, you should actually know about the volatility of alcohol, dear Nao-chan.”

“Really?! I had no idea!”

Nao seemed to be having fun with Iijima-san. The chief watched this, and walked over towards me.

“Nao-chan seems to be having fun.”

“Well, she’s always pretty open with other people.”

“I’m a bit worried. I think I should warn her to not talk with strangers like this.”

“Are you her mother?!”

“That sounds plausible.”

“You’re not even denying it?! But even so, you can’t meddle too much with your daughter’s life, dear mother.”

“It’s my duty that no weird bugs are clinging to Nao-chan. I will be the one to make her happy.”

“Huh? Isn’t your affection a bit too heavy? You’re like an anime heroine who traveled back in time, but for different reasons.”

“Be quiet, already. Nao-chan is my Nao-chan.”

Err…did she always have this kind of personality? I’m a bit scared.

“Now now, Chief, why don’t we try out the non-alcoholic beer yakisoba? They seem delicious.”

“I don’t buy that. I get that grilling it with the iron plate might remove the alcohol, but there’s still a chance that a good portion of alcohol will remain. They might be plotting to get my Nao-chan drunk and then take her with them.”

“For starters, could you drop that whole ‘My Nao-chan’ stick?”

I have to say, the yakisoba Iijima-san made does smell nice. The sound of the sizzling noodles plus clanking spatula must have caught the attention of another family close to us. Hirai-san seemed to be happy at his friend getting attention, because he stood up from his folded chair with a can of beer in hand, walking over towards the chief and me.

“He really loves outdoor stuff like camping, and he’s good at it too. That’s what girls like, right? A guy that can cook.”

The chief listened in silence, and returned a smile.

“I wonder? It really depends on the person. At the very least, I believe that Nao-chan cares less about a man who can cook, and more about the cooking itself.”

What a…sharp response. Also, she’s been seeing Nao as a glutton to such an extent, huh? That’s going to hurt her, you know that. No, I doubt Nao would feel hurt just because of something like this. She’s got a mentality of steel, after all.

“That reminds me. You’re pretty close to that Biwako-chan, aren’t you, Touka-chan? You both have the same hairstyle, almost like sisters.”

Hirai-san grabbed some meat and blurted out whatever came to his mind. He’s not at fault here. He’s just a bit too nonchalant. Why…why did he have to step on that landmine? I mean, he probably never saw it, so I can’t blame him…But today, I’m the one who can see all of them and is forced to take care of the clean-up.

Ahh, I can hear it stomping towards us…the explosive gal monster, or Galmon for short.

“Hey! What are you talking about!”

See, it has begun. I know what’s going to happen now. I know how much of a tsundere Galmon is. On the inside, she’s brimming with joy and excitement and being called sisters, but this energy is conveyed into negativity once it leaves her body. I bet she#s going to say something like ‘Who’s close with who?! We don’t resemble each other at all, a-and it’s not like I’m happy you think that or anything!’

“Who’s close with who?! We don’t resemble each other at all, a-and it’s not like I’m happy you think that or anything!”

She said it word for word?! Am I some kind of esper?!

“Oh, really? You’re both super cute, with the same hairstyle, and gals even.”

Not even knowing how the people involved felt, Hirai-san kept on attacking. That last part was awful. Both of them are gals? I mean, the chief with twintails and her shirt cramped up does look like a gal, but calling her one…Now it’s gotta be the chief’s turn. As an esper, I can feel that she’s going to blow a fuse!

“Hirai-san, you called both me and Sakonji-san a gal…?”

See, here it is. Her eyes already locked onto Hirai-san.

“Hey, did you hear that, Nanaya-kun? Sakonji-san and I resemble each other, and we’re even both gals. Maybe because of this hair? I see…So it’s not that bad, right, Nanaya-kun?”

“…Ah, yes. It does seem that way to Hirai-san.”

“Man, do I really seem like that much of a gal? Ehh, I can’t even tell who I am anymore~ Hey, hey, Nanaya-kun. Touka’s a gal?”

“……”

“Hey, Nanapyon! Toukacchi’s a gal?”

“No, not at all.”

“Whyyy?!”

“That’s what I want to know!”

“About what?!”

“I’m worried about you, Chief!”

“What are you talking about!”

“Because of what you just said! Were you happy to be called a gal or something?!”

“Not at all!”

“I don’t get it anymore! What’s going on with you, Chief!”

“I’m the one who doesn’t understand anything!”

“Huh?! About what?!”

“Which is it?!”

“Which is what?!”

“Do you like gals, or do you not like them, Nanaya-kun!”

“Me?! What does that matter right now?!”

“It matters to me, which is why I’m asking you!”

I glanced over at Biwako-senpai. Just a while ago, I would have immediately said that I don’t like them. However, getting to know her, I realized that there’s always more to a person than what meets the eye.

“I don’t…dislike them.”

“Why did you just look at Sakonji-san!”

“Ah, well.”

“I guess no matter how much I style myself up, some woman about to be in her thirties can’t compare to a genuine gal like Sakonji-san!”

“I never said that, Chief! Also, you’re not about to be in your thirties!” I lowered my voice, as I tried to warn the chief.

We’re in front of people we’ve never met. With a cold sweat running down my back, I looked at Hirai-san. However, he just smiled at us.

“Ahaha, what are you talking about, Touka-chan, you’re still a high school student. We’re the old ones here, right, Iijima?”

“Yep, yep, we’re the guys close to their thirties here.”

Oh wow, they look a lot younger than that. I guess they should be around the same age as me and the chief are on the inside. Man, a time leap sure is complicated. But at the very least, we managed to get away from this landmine.

“Oh yeah, are you guys going to the festival tomorrow?”

Hirai-san took a sip from his beer, asking us. The one who answered was Onikichi.

“Of course~! You’re coming with us, right, Biwachosu? Here we go!”

Man, it’s been a hot minute since I heard the ‘Here we go’ from him.

“Of course? The fireworks at the festival are the main event.”

“Oh, really? I’m looking forward to it.” Onikichi said.

“Are you two going as well, Hirai-san?” I asked.

“Since we’re staying at a hotel, we have free reign tomorrow, so we might as well check it out. Right, Iijima?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I heard the fireworks here are pretty famous. Also, the yakisoba is done, everyone!”

The yakisoba dripping with a satisfying amount of sauce, with a variety of fish and meat, were done. This is the best way to finish off a BBQ. The chief already accepted some yakisoba from Iijima-san, and albeit her looking still bothered, she took a few bites, slurping up the noodles. Watching her like that made her so adorable, but I still wonder why the chief was acting so weird, before.

“Also, Chief, you splattered so much spice on your yakisoba again! Even mayonnaise…this has to be bad for you.”

“Hmph, bleh!” She stuck out her tongue, looking away.

Even when sulking, she’s cute. At the same time, we heard loud splashing noises from the river. We all looked over there, somebody placing the chopsticks on their plate because they were worried. However, we immediately heard laughter coming from that area. Ahh, I see. There’s a small cliff upstream that allows you to jump into the river. Another person jumped into the water, creating a large splash of water. I think it said that jumping into the river was prohibited at the entrance of this BBQ area, especially because there are younger children swimming around. I get that they might be excited, but rules are rules. And right as I was thinking that, a person next to me started acting. Not to mention that it wasn’t just one this time.

“This is a bit dangerous, I’ll have to warn them.”

“Biwa’s gonna give them a few words so that they stop.”

It was the genius 2nd-year combination from our Amakusa South High. These two have a personality of not allowing anything that is breaking the rules or norms. However, the problem was that the people they would be dealing with were larger in number, and evidently older as well. Those people who are fine breaking the rules wouldn’t care about the complaints of two children. I can’t help but worry about them. Luckily, we have two adults of our own with us. I looked at them with high expectations, but they kept on drinking their beer.

“I love young people like that~”

“It’s the perfect height for a test of courage.”

They were laughing about it. I thought they were traveling? Either way, I continued to look at them, trying to get my plea of warning those people across. Seemingly that worked out, because they both showed bothered expressions, and spoke up right as our Amakusa South High genius pair was about to go on their way.

“You don’t have to worry about them, Touka-chan, Biwako-chan, we’ll give them an earful. Not like they’d listen much if it’s two girls, so let’s go, Hirai.”

In the end, Hirai-san and Iijima-san warned them, and everything ended safely. The second-year pair might not have been too accepting of this outcome, but eventually, they calmed down. At the same time, after being warned by the two adults, that group of people had no other choice but to listen, and stop their actions. Still, the righteous actions of the chief and Biwako-senpai impress me once again. They’re so similar, so why can’t they just get along?

*

With filled bellies, we said our goodbyes to Iijima-san and Hirai-san. Once Biwako-senpai’s grandmother came to pick us up, we made it back home in the evening. Reaching our rooms, the scent from the tatami mats felt so nostalgic, and the smell of grass so pleasant, we all took a nap. By the time we had woken up, the sun had already set, and we were woken up by the scent of the light dinner prepared by the grandmother.

Reaching the dinner table, I just spotted the chief taking off an apron, so she presumably helped with the preparations. I couldn’t help but imagine the chief in that kind of family situation. I bet she’d make a great wife. Maybe he didn’t enjoy the noise, but Biwako-senpai’s grandfather didn’t join us.

“I’m sorry about him, he’s always so stubborn.” The grandmother apologized with her usual calm tone.

It’s as if that racing grandmother when she drove us had been a lie. But then again, my mother also acted differently whenever she was driving, so it’s not entirely unbelievable. Once we finished eating, that very grandmother spoke up again.

“Now that we’ve finished dining, I will prepare a bath. Please, feel free to enjoy it.”

“You say that, but there’s no way we could all take a bath at the same time, Grandma~” Nao commented.

However, Biwako-senpai denied that with as calm of a voice as always.

“We can, though.”

“Huh?” Nao looked at her.

“The bath here can easily fit five people at the same time.”

I was about to comment ‘So you are rich, after all’, but the fact that she counted us boys to reach ‘five people’ made me a lot more curious.

“So she said, Nanacchi. Sounds like fun, right?”

“You can’t be like that, Onikichi. No matter how much space we may have, we can’t just take a bath with the other girls.”

“So no excitement allowed when taking a bath? Got it, Nanacchi~!”

Don’t ask for some misplaced high-five. Instead, I gave him a chop right on the head.

“Stop with the weird old man attitude.”

“Okay, Roger, got it, understood!”

So many unnecessary words! And don’t make it rhythmical!

“Huh? You’re not gonna join us, Nananosuke?”

Biwako-senpai looked at me like a puppy left out in the rain. Uttering words that invite misunderstandings again…This won’t work out, even if you want it to. At the very least, you should work alone and on your own in the bath. No matter what anybody says, I’m not allowing any fanservice scene to happen.

*

“Phew, this feels great!”

“Biwachosu’s family’s bath is seriously the best. Look at how huge this is, here we max!”

There it is. The number one word I don’t get from Onikichi. Here we max. On a side note, it’s currently 9 pm. The girls took a bath first, and after we checked to make sure they were gone, Onikichi and I now get to enjoy this great bath ourselves. Even though we’re two maturing men, this bath was still ridiculously huge. It reminds of a bath you would find in an inn or hotel. There are two shower spaces to use, with even a small bathtub when rinsing off the shampoo. It’s not to the point of a sauna, but I can tell the family is rich.

“Oh yeah, who are you gonna walk around with at the festival tomorrow?”

“What do you mean?”

“Touka or Biwachosu?”

“Wha?! Neither of them?! We’ll walk around as a group, of course!” I panicked, as Onikichi put his arms behind his head.

“Come on, just tell me and I’ll help you out~ Are you sure? Is that your final answer?”

I looked up at the ceiling. The steamy hair from the bath rose into the sky, making it look cloudy, as if to reflect my inner thoughts. If possible, I want to walk around with the chief, of course. I want to make special memories with her. But, this is just me being egoistic. Biwako-senpai likes the chief as much as I do. If not, she wouldn’t rely on her junior to help her and ask for advice. I joined Onikichi in his gesture, putting my hands behind my arms.

“Yep, final answer.”

“Very much like you, Nanacchi.”

“Why thank you.”

A bath between men is the best after all.

“We should be heading out soon, Nanacchi.”

“Huh? We’ve barely been in here for twenty minutes, though? We can go for another 30 minutes easy.”

“Wahahaha! What are you, some old man? How long are your usual baths? All right, then, I’ll take my leave early.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

Watching him walk off along the stone-paved tiles, I sunk my young body into the water once more. Maaan, this feels great. Still, this is supposed to be my second chance…my second youth, and yet things aren’t really working out at all. Since even an adult like me is going through this, children of my current physical age must be even more perplexed, forced to experience all sorts of things. All of these experiences are something I have forgotten a long time ago.

After the time leap, I was excited that I didn’t have to go back to work at the company, but even high school students have their own fair share of problems. But at the very least, I can enjoy the few things I had lingering regrets for. It’s the real charm of youth, really. Once I had washed off all the exhaustion of the day, I started humming in relaxation. However, the door to the bath opened with a loud rattling sound, interrupting me. I foolishly assumed that Onikichi came back, and looked over at him, only to be greeted by a man taller than even Onikichi, a towel hanging down from his shoulder.

“Ah…!”

“Yo, brat. Aren’t you taking your time here.”

It’s Biwako-senpai’s grandfather.

“I’m sorry, I’ll go out right away!”

“Don’t mind me. Rather, won’t you wash my back?” He said and sat down in front of the shower.

“Yes!”

I rushed up from the bath, moving towards him. I tried my best to be careful and not trip, when the grandfather handed me a foamy sponge. His broad and muscular back didn’t match his age. With the sponge in hand, I carefully started scrubbing his back. To think I’d have to do this even after getting a second chance in life…I’m such an unfortunate guy.

“By the way, are you this Nananosuke person?”

“Yes!”

It’s not my real name, but I didn’t bother correcting him. I’d rather not risk him getting angry at me. I won’t go against anything or anybody that is scary. This is the iron rule of an average company worker.

“The small one it had to be. I feel like that brown-haired one would be a better catch.”

“U-Um…what might you be talking about?”

“Huuuuh?”

“Eeeek…?!”

The sharp gaze thrown at me through the mirror made my body tense up.

“It seems like Biwako has taken a liking to you.”

…I see, that’s what this is about.

“That…I’m sure she just enjoys teasing me as her junior.”

“What, are you just fooling around with Biwako on half-baked feelings?”

Come on, why do things happen like this to me?!

“U-Um, this is a misunderstanding, dear Grandfather.”

“You have no right to call me grandfather!”

“I’m sorry!”

“My name is Kumaji. Call me that way.”

“Yes, Kumaji-san!”

“So, you’re just playing with Biwako, I take it, brat?”

“No, we are very serious and on good terms!”

I don’t know how to respond, really. I may have given him a horrible misunderstanding. In a panic, I moved my arms up and down even faster, putting strength into my arms.

“Hey.”

“I’m sorry, I put too much strength into my arms!”

“No, this is just fine. Do that from the very beginning, if you can.”

“Yes!”

Huh?! I should do it with so much force! How thick is his skin on his back?!

“Lad, you’re a lot more muscular than I thought. Are you doing sports by any chance?”

“No, I’m not part of any club…I do some simple muscle training on the side.”

“Hmm…so you are training.” Kumaji-san turned around, and closely checked out my body.

“Yes, although it’s just some self-trained practice, nothing more.”

“For what reason?”

Err, I didn’t expect him to ask me that. Even before traveling back in time, I would sometimes go to the gym and exercise for health reasons, but the idea of training my muscles only came to me after I traveled back in time. It’s something I only picked up recently. However, since Kumaji-san seemed serious enough to ask me that, I had to respond in courtesy.

“…Because there’s someone I want to protect.”

Ahhh, so embarrassing. I’m such a lame guy, really. However, this is what I believe in, so I didn’t want to lie to him.

“Cheeky.”

Crap, he probably thinks I’m talking about Biwako-senpai.

“I’m sorry.”

That being said, even if I resolve the misunderstanding that I’m not talking about Biwako-senpai, he would probably see that as me embarrassing his granddaughter, getting angry at me either way. I can only lose here, sheesh.

“However, I agree that it is necessary for a man to have some muscle. If you really are getting along with Biwako, you need that much backbone. However…you don’t seem like the type of person to fight.”

“Ah, I don’t want to become stronger to fight.”

“Huh? I don’t understand.”

“The thing is…a while back, I punched a classmate of mine.”

“Oh…But that just shows you have your own justice you follow, no? What are you dissatisfied with?”

“I realized that violence is no-good, after all.”

“Huh? Reflecting on it after the act, how much of a coward can you be.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

“I know. It was an idle thought. Even the person I admire the most scolded me right after. That’s why I promised I would never use any violence. However, there are still many other ways to use strength. So I figured I wouldn’t lose out on anything if I kept training.”

Kumaji-san stole the sponge from me, and started washing another body part of his. And after rinsing off the shampoo, he spoke up.

“Get back into the bath and warm up, I’ll join you shortly.”

“Y-Yes.”

I did as I was told, and returned to the bath. Shortly after, Kumaji-san joined me, sitting down next to me. With his large stature, he created a relatively large wave, which splashed outside the bath.

“About what you were talking about, just now.”

“Yes.”

“It’s not that I don’t understand what you’re talking about. However, there’s sheer evil in this world. In order to protect those important to you from this evil, you need the strength of martial arts. Even the police learn martial arts in their training. As young lads, you might not realize this, but there’s evil all over in this world. What if that evil comes for you? Only brats can live while being protected by the adults.”

I started thinking about Kumaji-san’s words.

“I’ll run away. Wait for an opening, and then run away while protecting her. And then, I’ll ask for the strength of an adult. As you said, I’m still a child. And in Japan, we have the talented police assisting us.”

Even if I may be an adult on the inside, my body is that of a child, and the world sees me as such. It might not seem like much, but it is. Nobody would listen to what a child is saying, unless they were a diligent and caring adult. My position as a child makes me limited, and you always get underestimated when you’re a child. The logical conclusion is to ask for help from the adults who care.

“So you’ll run. As you saw, Japan is a lawful state. It’s safe, and you rarely run into any danger. However, I can’t give Biwako to someone with such a thought process. I was curious what kind of man you were, but you were nothing short of a fool.”

His words were true to an extent, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t annoyed.

“Do you not practice karate, Kumaji-san? Resolving everything with violence goes against the teachings of a martial artist, no?”

“Nobody said I would use it for everything. As I said, the police you praised just now also learn martial arts. There’s nothing else I have to call you except a fool who won’t act when the time comes. You need guts.”

“Urk…But even so, I want to keep that promise.”

“You’re a stubborn brat.”

I would love to discuss who the real stubborn guy is, but I’m too scared to say anything. Things have gotten awkward now, and with nothing more to talk about, I decided to leave.

“I’m about done here, Kumaji-san.”

“Aye.”

I walked through the water, heading for the exit. At the same time, I heard Kumaji-san’s sharp voice from behind me.

“Brat, you won’t get off easy if you lay your hands on Biwako.”

Yep, this grandpa really is one annoying guy.

*

I finished changing into my clothes, and by the time I stepped away from the bath, it was already 10 pm. When I entered the hallway, the lights had already turned off, leaving me amidst the darkness. The hallways were equally large as the entire residence, making the deeper parts exceptionally hard to see, and rather eerie. I guess everybody is probably asleep at this point. I know that summer is the season of excitement and tests of courage, but I’d rather not experience some horror scenario while everyone’s off to sleep. I decided to head for the living room instead. They might still be there, after all. Right after, I started to hear a woman’s voice from behind me.

“…no……dono…”

I stopped in my tracks. From the outside, I could hear bullfrog sounds reverberating inside the hallway. Once more, I listened to the sounds of the depths.

“…no…ke-dono.”

I can hear it. The voice of an elderly woman. I can tell she’s getting closer to me. Even though I had just come out of the bath, my body was cooling down drastically. So this is what it means when your back muscles freeze up. I want to run away. But my quivering legs stop me from doing so.

“Nananosuke-dono!”

“Waaaah!”

I covered my ears, and crouched down.

“Is something wrong, Nananosuke-dono? That was quite the feminine scream, I do have to say.”

That voice sounds oddly familiar. I turned around and was shocked.

“O-Oh, it’s just you…”

“Ohohoho. It appears that I have scared you. My apologies.”

“No, I’m sorry for screaming like that.” I sighed in relief and bowed once.

That was terrifying and bad for my heart.

“It appears you’ve taken quite the long bath.”

“Yes. Mid-way, that old ma—Kumaji-san joined me, so we talked a bit.”

“Oh my. I hope that shitty old man didn’t trouble you in any way? He really doesn’t know how to hold back.”

That…nickname was awfully cruel.

“No, I had a lot of fun, actually.”

That was a total lie. It was awful.

“I’m sorry about him, he can be quite stubborn. I will remind him not to trouble you too much.”

“T-Thank you very much. By the way, is everyone asleep already?”

“Yes, they have returned to their room, so they are either asleep or resting in their rooms.”

Huh? Does everybody get their own rooms?! This is actually like an inn! I was looking forward to talking in the same room with everyone…Then again, I can’t be greedy here.

“I have prepared a room for you as well, so please let me take you there.”

“Thank you very much.”

She really is one polite grandma. However, the way she called him a shitty old man must mean that she was some kind of delinquent in her past. I think I am doing my best to not anger her. I followed her through the creaking hallway, enjoying the scenery through the window. Since we’re in the countryside, the stars are beautiful to look at. I wonder where the Summer Triangle is?

As my attention was taken by the stars, we quickly reached my room, to which the elderly woman put her right hand on the sliding door, opening it. I faintly lowered my head and stepped sideways. Spotting Biwako-senpai laying on the futon while playing with her phone.

“Good evening, Biwako-senpai.”

“Yup, Nananosuke.”

I heard the sound of the door closing behind me. The old lady went to the storage closet, taking out another futon. She skillfully placed it next to the one Biwako-senpai was resting on. I observed this, and crossed my arms. Hmmm…I tilted my head in confusion when Biwako-senpai stopped playing with her phone. We both looked at each other. And then, we looked at the old lady in unison.

““Helloooo?!””

We both screamed at the same time.

“Grandma, what are you doing?!”

I joined in.

“You’re not telling me that this is the room I’m supposed to sleep in, right?!”

Both Biwako-senpai and I were bewildered when the old lady finished setting up the futon, smiling at us.

“Now now, don’t be like that.”

““Why wouldn’t be?!””

“Hehe, aren’t you two close.”

““In what way?!””

“I suggest not screaming like that, or you will wake up the others, and they will rush over here.”

Hearing those words, Biwako-senpai and I immediately covered her mouth. This old lady isn’t half bad.

“When Biwako-chan said she’d bring friends over, she said that she had taken great interest in Nananosuke-dono, which is why I decided to assist her.”

“I may have said that, but not in that way!”

“Biwako-senpai, stop screaming.”

If the chief saw us like this, she’d drag us down to hell. After all, those two futons lined up next to each other speak for themselves. This isn’t the first night of a honeymoon, all right. With a shit-eating grin, the old lady walked back to the door. It seems like not only Kumaji-san, but she also misunderstood our relationship. She quickly stepped outside of the room, and slowly closed the door.

“Then, please enjoy your time.” She spoke with joy, and left the room after.

Taken by surprise, both Biwako-senpai and I had frozen up, not even looking at each other. After a brief silence, Biwako-senpai cleared her throat.

“W-Why don’t you just come over here? Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold.”

“R-Right.” My heart was racing, as I turned my back towards Biwako-senpai, sitting down on the futon.

Contrary to the scent of perfume from today, she now gave off a pleasant after-bath smell. This made my heart beat even faster.

“S-Sorry ‘bout that. She seems to have a weird misunderstanding about the two of us. Soz.”

“N-No, it’s fine. Let’s just head to sleep, and leave the room early tomorrow so that nobody will see us.”

That’s the best I could come up with in that situation.

“Yeah…”

I heard the rustling of a futon behind me. Biwako-senpai must have laid down.

“I’ll turn off the lights.” I stood up, reaching for the light switch.

Since no response came, I grabbed the long thread, pulling it down to erase the light in the room. I tried to be as quiet as possible while laying down, looking at the sliding door of the room. The strong light of the moon faintly illuminated the inside of the room still. I remembered that I still had my phone in my pocket, so I took it out, set an alarm, and put it next to my pillow. Biwako-senpai apparently was curious about that, as she spoke up.

“Nananosuke, you still awake?”

“…Yes.”

“Even though you’re helping Biwa a lot, nothing’s really working out, huh.”

“I’d love to cheer you up here, but it’s true that we’re not making much progress.”

“Isn’t this the part where you should cheer me up?”

“Ahaha, my bad. I get that you’re really trying. And I have to get on her good side as well.”

“Good side? What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s that I have to stay with this boat until it sinks, I guess?”

“Dun get it, and the way you look down at Biwa kinda pisses her off.”

“I was genuinely trying to encourage you.”

Human relationships are so complicated. I don’t know how the other person feels. That’s why I struggle to find the right choice out of the millions ahead of me. I don’t have a selected choice of answers like in a dating sim. With no wiki to trace my routes here, everybody would fear to take a choice. Not wanting to be hated, we hesitate to take definitive action. Both Biwako-senpai and I are the same. But, that’s just fine. Back when I was a new employee, the chief would often say that fearing failure isn’t a bad thing.

Challenges, breaking new ground, expanding…humans love positive words. The higher you rise, the more experiences of success you accumulate, that thought process becomes more prominent. However, only the people who immediately dwell on negative thoughts are those who can obtain true humanity. Consider the feelings of the customer, wondering if you haven’t angered them, not trusting the numbers shown on screen and working through them again, reconsidering the plan and if it really is good enough. What words should I use to not hurt the other person? How should I write my message to get across what I want? Would the use of this expression invite misunderstandings? Hesitating in these kinds of ways is a good thing.

By consistently showing consideration to the people around you, you build up their trust and get more and more jobs from them. You shouldn’t trifle with too much positivity. Become a person who can accept their negativity and weaknesses. When I kept failing at my job, these were the words she told me. That’s why I do fear my mistakes and failures. Accept this fear, face it, and decide for me. Running away is fine, and not facing it is a possibility as well. If you still decide to stand strong despite everything, that shows that you really want to do it. That’s when you use the term ‘challenge’.

Such gentle and kind words, really. They perfectly reflect the person that is Kamijou Touka. I’m sure Biwako-senpai is the same as the chief, which is why I believe that they can get along just fine. Since no response came from her, I assumed that she had fallen asleep, so I carefully turned around—only to be met with her charming eyes. She also had turned towards me, her eyes wide open.

She had kept the upper three buttons of her pajama open, probably because she felt hot, broadly revealing a deeper gaze into her cleavage, paired with her charming and white skin, I had a lot of trouble not being sucked in with my gaze. I couldn’t process this sudden situation, and swallowed my breath.

“Nananosuke…”

Amidst the darkness filling the room, her beautiful black pupils sucked me in, not letting me go.

“Yes…”

I froze up like I was facing Medusa herself, when finally another sound escaped from her mouth.

“Thank you.” She said with a serious expression.

However, her tone was gentle and pleasant.

“You’re welcome.”

She probably was embarrassed herself. The sight of her reddened cheeks under the moonlight is something I will just store away as a summer memory.

*

Gaaah, I can’t sleeeep!!! I think it’s been about an hour. Biwako-senpai was asleep already, letting out faint murmurs and breathing, but I was way too tense to feel sleepy, my eyes hurting. Can you blame me? There’s a high school girl sleeping right next to me. Not to mention the top gal of the school! I’m not used to girls just falling asleep like that. I raised my upper body, looking at the sleeping Biwako-senpai. As I thought, her blanket was pushed off to the side. Even if it’s summer, she’s going to catch a cold like that. Seeing no other option, I gently put the blanket over her again.

I figured I might as well catch some fresh air, and quietly left the room. I felt a faint breeze upon stepping out into the hallway. Since we’re up in the mountains, even a summer night can be chilly. Takes me back to my field trip back in grade school. I tried my best to not make a sound while I walked towards the hallway, put on sneakers with my bare feet, and stepped outside. The faint sound of streaming water greeted me, as well as the stars up in the sky. The mountains in the distance felt like they watched over us, filling me with a sense of relief, as I dropped my gaze down to the horizon. There stood a beautiful woman.

Her beautiful and long b lack hair shone almost as brightly as the stairs above her. Her beauty felt like an illusion. Before even being surprised that a person was out and about this late, I was simply entranced.

“Oh, Nanaya-kun, what’s wrong?” The chief turned towards me.

“I couldn’t sleep. What about you?”

“Hehe, same here actually.”

“I see.”

I felt the night breeze on my skin, and calmly walked towards the girl.

“Sure is cool out here.”

“Yes, the breeze feels great,” I responded.

“How about we take a walk?”

Asked by the chief with a smile, I simply nodded in silence. We walked down the hill road, stepping out onto the national highway. There’s no accurate path for pedestrians, but with no cars in sight, we just nonchalantly walked next to each other. Realizing that this wasn’t a dream, I was filled with excitement and ecstasy, and still remained calm enough to make sure the chief walked next to the guard rail of the street. If I was a popular guy, I’d probably do that subconsciously, but my clumsiness reminded me of doing so. Well, it’s not that I have any ulterior motive in doing so, I just tried to play my part as the subordinate. After walking for a while, the chief spoke up.

“That reminds me, the lake where the festival happens takes us a twenty-minute walk from here. Why don’t we check it out?”

“Of course, I’d love to check it out, but do you know where it is? I’d rather not get lost in an area I’m not familiar with.”

“Come on, do you really think I wouldn’t put that into consideration? Feast your eyes upon this!”

She took out a smartphone from her pocket. Not to mention the newest model of this day and age.

“Eh, since when did you…?”

“Ehehe, I had Onii-chan buy it for me.”

“The chief is enough of a brocon to have her older brother pamper her this much?! Same as me, then!”

“Not at all. I just helped with his work, so he bought it for me.”

“Ah, you’re using your time leap to cheat.”

“What kind of term is that supposed to be?”

Having such a clever beauty as a consultant, helping you with your work for a single smartphone, the cost-performance here is far too good. As I was envying her older brother, the chief looked up the location of the lake, and started walking in the direction. Whereas we had GPS in our smartphones, back during this time it wasn’t that rare of a sight for someone to be unable to use it, instead of asking for the way. Of course, even older flip phones and such could download maps and applications like that, but the reason people could rely on these kinds of online maps more was thanks to the influence of the smartphone. Being easy to use is always a big plus.

Checking the map, we came about halfway to the lake in question. The lights at the side of the road seemed like a strong shine guiding us.

“I had no idea they had a convenience store here.”

We reached a parking lot with several stopped trucks. It’s probably being used for long-distance truck drivers as a resting space. Thinking we might as well buy something to drink, the chief and I headed inside. Because of me being nervous practically for the past few hours, my throat felt parched. Seeking to cool down my dry throat, I bought a bottle of soda pop. Since the chief seemed busy choosing her drink, I decided to finish the payment and waited outside.

I heard the sound of buzzing above my head, seeing several flies gathering around the light of the fluorescent lamp. It’s not that I’m at the age where I enjoy hunting insects, so the best I could feel at that was disinterest and disgust, but it’s part of summer after all. With these thoughts, I gushed down some of the soda pop down my throat. Ahh, delicious.

When I went for the second sip, the chief stepped out of the store, closing the bottle of soda pop again. At the same time, the chief almost looked like she was jogging towards me, only to stop. She had her hands behind her back as if she was hiding something. I tilted my head, to which she started grinning, and showed what she had.

“Tada~! I bought fireworks!”

First it’s ‘Feast your eyes upon this’, and now it’s ‘Tada’, huh.

“You’re feeling more like a child today, Chief.”

“That’s because I am? We’re in high school, remember?”

“Well, I guess. But, we’ll be looking at the fireworks tomorrow, so why buy some now?”

“What’s the big deal? Handheld fireworks are different, mkay.”

I mean, I was saying all of that, but deep down I was feeling excited at the thought of fireworks myself. But I didn’t want the chief to think of me as childish, so I just played cool. I really can’t complain about Biwako-senpai being a tsundere, I’m the exact same. The chief carried the fireworks as if she treasured them, whereas I was tasked with holding the bucket and our drinks, as we walked down the highway further. Finally, beyond the shore, we saw a large lake. Met with this breathtaking sight, I felt the hair on my body standing on edge. I don’t know if it’s because of me having grown old mentally, but if they played an emotional song now, I may have teared up. Once I get my driver’s license, I should come back here on a drive, while listening to the radio. Perfect would be if the chief was at my side, but I can’t say that.

“Nanaya-kun, just a bit more.”

She kept on walking. Eh, is she not moved at all? Well, she might be used to this kind of scenery. In her twenties, she probably traveled to all sorts of places. But…with female friends, right? She said she had no interest in love after all…so she didn’t travel with another guy, yeah? No way, right…?

“Hey, Chief, are we really walking through here?”

The chief had moved away from the highway, walking through a narrow mountain road. We left the world of artificially created light, as darkness enwrapped us. What appeared were stone stairs, offering no hold or a guard rail, offering only enough space for one person to walk up to them at a time. I was a bit worried, but the stoic chief naturally didn’t stop herself once she started, and we both set foot onto the stairs.

After a few minutes, I was starting to feel thankful for my young body. If the 27-year old me had to go up these stairs, my body wouldn’t have held out. Maybe the casual and regular muscle training is showing results as well, because I easily made it up the stairs. Looking at the chief, she also seemed to be doing just fine, smiling gently. Aw man, I thought I could show off. At the top stood a small shrine. Then again, the shrine gate was only a bit taller than us, offering nothing more than a small wayside shrine.

“How about we go for a visit?”

“I’m worried we’ll be thrown even more into the past, so I’ll decline.”

“Ahaha, don’t worry about it. This shrine is actually on the map this time, so it’s the real thing.”

“If you say so.”

She’s pretty resistant towards all this occult stuff, huh? She has maiden-like tendencies all the same, so maybe she’s into this whole supernatural stick? Coming to the shrine deep in the boonies, it sounds like the perfect horror scenario if you ask me.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?! We’re still going deeper?”

“Yep. There’s another path behind this shrine, and if we make it there, we’ll find a secret spot that allows you to watch over the whole lake. The perfect place for the fireworks.”

She knows an awful lot, huh. Did she come here before…? But, normally you wouldn’t come to that kind of location with female friends…No, I shouldn’t be thinking about unnecessary stuff like that. I get to be alone with the chief, so why am I putting myself down? The place we reached after walking the backside path was riddled with grass, about the size of a single classroom. There’s a cliff in the back, but it’s far enough to not bring any danger as long as we stay away from it. Naturally, we were pretty high up after all those stairs.

In front of us was the lake. It was a beautiful scenery worthy of being called a secret spot. I want to copy all my previous impressions and paste them here, because I once again felt close to crying. If anything, I’m starting to feel embarrassed about saying that earlier. What is this sight in front of me…

“It’s beautiful…” The chief commented with a gentle tone.

I stood next to her, responding.

“Yes.”

If we got to watch the fireworks from this place tomorrow, I wonder how great they would look…how breathtaking they would be.

“All right, now that we found the location, I can call this reconnaissance a success.”

“Reconnaissance?! You really are prepared for everything…B-By the way, how did you know about this place?”

“Here’s a question. Why do you think so?”

“Why are you throwing a quiz at me?!”

Is this kind of joke popular nowadays?

“You’ll get the correct answer after giving me yours!”

“Even your answer is complicated! I want to know who told you about this?”

“Sakonji-san’s grandmother.”

“I-I see…”

I couldn’t hold my relief for a second.

“Why are you grinning like that, Nanaya-kun?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing! Still, when did you hear about this?”

“When I helped prepare dinner. She mentioned that she often comes here with her husband, watching the fireworks across the lake. She seemed happy about it, because it was a precious place to her.”

Kumaji-san comes to such a romantic place? I can’t see that all.

“Indeed, this definitely is a memorable place if we watched the fireworks together from here.” I blurted out.

“Huh?”

“Ah, just as a possibility! If there was a couple coming here, I’m sure it’d be a great memory for them!”

“Y-You’re right! Ahaha, some random couple, yep. I’m sure of it!”

“Right! Ahaha!”

“A-Anyway, let’s use the fireworks I bought! Come on!”

“Yeah, let’s do that, Chief!”

I placed the bucket on the ground, taking out the bottles of water, and filled the bucket with water. Slowly, I managed to calm down. It’s just the two of us here right now, so why did I say that and chicken out again…so embarrassing. I’m an idiot. I hope she didn’t take it the wrong way. The chief had bought some small candles, which we lit up with a lighter. The gentle light faintly illuminated the area around us. As I just looked at the color in a daze, the chief handed me one of my own. As sparks flew around, it didn’t take much longer for them both to turn out again. We looked at each other and laughed.

“Fireworks during the summer are the perfect example of youth.”

“You can say that again. It’s like I’m taking back something I have lost before.”

“Haha, Chief, your eyes look so devoid of energy.”

“Yep, they’re blasting off into space, using these fireworks as a rocket.”

“What a romanticist!”

“At least call me a poet.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“What was that?! Are you making fun of me, Shimono?!”

“Woah! Be careful!”

The chief pointed the burning candle at me. It’s been a while since she called me Shimono.

“Hey, hey, this is what you get for making fun of your superior! We can always bring this to court!”

“I’m sorry, Chief, but please spare me!”

What horrible power harassment using official means!

“Ah, it’s gone already.” The chief put the rest of the candle into the bucket of water.

“Guess it’s my win.” I raised my candle that still had a bit of life, and puffed out my chest.

Did you see that? This is the endurance coming from an average employee. You can’t erase the flames burning inside of me that easily!

“Wha…?! Normally you would do that with sparklers, no?!”

I put the rest of my own candle into the bucket, when the chief glared at me, looking like she was sulking. She really hates losing, huh.

“Then let’s do a competition.”

“Ohh! I like your guts, Employee Shimono! I accept your challenge!”

We’re not some knights here.

“Err, the sparklers are…”

I looked through the bag, but because it was so dark, I couldn’t fully see inside. Right as I moved closer to the faintly burning flame in the bucket, the chief’s fingers slid down right past my hand.

“This is it, right?”

She took out two sparklers. Our hands were about to touch, making my heart race like I was some middle school student, and I accepted one sparkler with a quivering hand. Or rather, I think our hands touched a faint bit. However, the chief didn’t know about my feelings at all.

“Come over here, Nanaya-kun. Let’s do this contest.” The chief’s brimming with motivation, huh.

We both crouched down in front of the candle, waiting for the moment to start.

“Now that we’re doing this, I’ll go all out, Chief.”

“Fine, how about we add a punishment for the loser?”

“A punishment? What do you have in mind?”

“Hmmm, let me see. Maybe the loser has to listen to the request of the winner?”

“So meta…”

“What’s bad about doing something meta like that? It’s become meta because it worked out so well.”

“Fine. But no going back on that, okay?”

“Y-You can’t force me to do anything lewd, okay?!”

“I know that. I’m not that clumsy of a subordinate to ask my strict superior for anything lewd!”

“Hm? I feel like I heard quite the insulting word just there. I couldn’t quite catch what you said, so could you say it one more time?”

Ah, crap.

“No, I didn’t say anything.”

“What was that? St…something?”

“Um…”

“St?”

“Stunning superior!”

“Very well.”

“Phew…”

“Wait, who’s stunning?!”

“Huh?!”

“A-Are you stupid?!”

She’s angry at me either way?! I can’t keep up with all these choices! I feel like she’s not used to being praised for being beautiful or cute. I bet customers and contractors she dealt with connected to the company must have praised her for that, which doesn’t make any sense. Not to mention hitting on her. I won’t forgive them.

“Let’s do this, Chief.”

Well, I’m pretty much used to the chief acting like this, so I’ll just move along.

“Your calm attitude is annoying me. Anyway, it’s time to start. One, two…”

We both turned on our sparklers at the same time. Small sparks filled the darkness, and although the light may be weak, it was comforting. It’s almost like only the chief and I existed in this world. I felt oddly embarrassed and looked up at the sky. The stars shone brightly, all of them like small sparklers, making me realize how beautiful the world could be. And then, I asked the chief.

“Chief, do you know which one is the Summer Triangle?”

“Hm? Over there, the three stars that shine a lot brighter than the rest.”

“Ahh, now I can see the triangle.”

“And over there, we have Altair, with Orihime and Hikoboshi.”

“From Tanabata?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh wow, first time I learned of that.”

“Well, it’s hard to see during July, so now is the best time to look at them. By the way, if it rains during Tanabata, it raises the water in the river in the heavens, and then Orihime and Hikoboshi can’t meet.”

“Oh, really? That sounds hard.”

“It’s cruel that they can only meet once a year. Personally, I would always…want to be with the person I like…”

At the same time as she muttered these words, the light at our hands grew weaker. I dropped my gaze, and saw the last sparkle of the chief’s sparkler fall to the ground.

“It’s gone…” She said with a somewhat saddened tone.

Shortly after, my light vanished all the same. Only the faint light of the candle was left behind.

“Ah, I lost again. I guess I just haven’t had any luck lately.”

“Huh? Did something bad happen?”

“N-Nothing at all…Doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“R-Right, sorry.”

I meddled too much. The chief has a part to her that I don’t know about. Surely she wouldn’t want some stranger from work or school to invade her privacy.

“More importantly, what about the punishment? What do you want me to do? Just to let you know, but anything lewd is banned! R-Really, okay! Not even if it’s just a little!”

“I know, I know. Err…”

“Yeah…?”

“……”

“…?”

I didn’t even think about that. Now that I actually have the freedom of choice, I can’t think of anything. There’s countless things I want to ask from the chief. Ask her to go out with me? No, that’s awful for a joke. A kiss? I’d just be a pervert. She said I can’t ask for anything lewd, so only a bastard would press for a kiss. Holding hands? Barely doable? No…that’s a thin line. I might be able to play it off as a joke, but if she were grossed out at that, I might just throw myself down the cliff. Yeah, I can’t think of anything. At the very least, nothing that is barely passable.

“Hey, is there nothing?”

“…Rather than nothing, I just can’t think of anything good.”

“Indecisive bastard.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, that’s just like you, then again.”

“Thank you very much.”

“I wasn’t praising you!”

Yeah, I figured as much~ I really feel like I’ve missed out on a huge chance here. Just as she said, I’m a pathetic and indecisive man. Sometimes I really hate myself.

“What would you have asked for if you won, Chief?”

“Huh?! N-Nothing much. Do I have to say it?”

“I was just curious, is all.”

“……Well.”

The chief lowered her voice, and continued as she averted her face.

“Tomorrow, I want to watch the fireworks here…together.”

Because it was dark, I couldn’t tell, but her ears, illuminated by the Summer Triangle, looked a bit more red than usual.

—That night, I didn’t get a wink of sleep.