Volume 3 - CH 1

“So?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Don’t give me that. I’m asking for a detailed explanation, Shimono Nanaya-kun.”

Kamijou Touka called out my name and gave me a cold, aggressive gaze. I’m fully used to that gaze since the days when she was my strict superior. However, right now, she’s just a high school student. Long gone are the days of her scolding me at work…Instead, she’s now my strict upperclassman. She’s not Section Chief Kamijou, but Kamjiou-senpai.

…No matter how I may joke about it, her deadly smile would not vanish, and she was still the same section chief in the body of a high school student. It’s been around four months since we traveled back in time. We’re currently fresh into September. Now as I said before, we traveled back in time. A whole eleven years, even. That would bring up the question…why am I being scolded and forced to report on my mistake when we’re not even at the office? And where are we in the first place?

—That’s easy, we’re at her home. I was sitting on a stylish sofa, located in the living room of Section Chief Kamijou’s home, forming fists on my lap. And at the same time, it wasn’t just me and the chief here…

“Now now, Touka, don’t make such a scary face.”

The main criminal behind this case, Kamijou Yuito, sat next to me.

“Silence!” The younger sister roared at her older brother.

Normally, the chief would calmly consider her choice of words during every argument, and yet she became so emotional…As expected of siblings. Also, I’m thoroughly enjoying the chief acting like a little sister—But, this isn’t the time to treat myself. The very fact of them being siblings is what led to this messy situation! All of the problems we encountered over the past summer break had been resolved in a clean way…except one. That is the fact that Kamijou Touka and Kamijou Yuito are siblings.

Before I traveled back in time, there existed the Love Mentalist Yuito-sensei. Turns out that this very love mentalist is the very Yuito-san sitting next to me. Crazy enough, even in this time, he gave me advice once more after we happened to run into each other. And like destiny was making fun of us, he also revealed himself to be the chief’s older brother. At the same time, the chief is also calling Yuito-san Onii-chan.

Ever since I learned of this cruel reality, I had been agonizing over it, but I kept it in the back of my head, focusing on something else. However, by acting like I didn’t see it, once the second term began, I was eventually called over here.

“Why do the two of you know each other, and why did I not hear about this?”

It seems like the chief didn’t know that Yuito-san and I met up from time to time. However, I was in the exact same situation. I had no idea that these two were related. Well, I can’t just ask ‘Why the hell are you siblings.’ Either way, the true criminal of this situation was Yuito-san after all. During the summer festival, he felt that the chief was in danger, and contacted me. That was when I found out the two are related. He knew the answer from the very start and chose not to tell me.

I sent him a ‘Go tell her already’ gaze. He probably guessed what I was trying to convey, and showed a gentle smile.

“We may be siblings, but I don’t see it as my duty to tell you about every small relationship to other people I have. You never introduced me to Shimono-kun either, right? This isn’t anything suspicious. He’s a shared acquaintance. What problem do you have with that?”

As expected of Yuito-san, he brought up good logic. To be perfectly honest, I wanted to know why he was hiding the fact that the person I like is actually his little sister. That being said, since I have a younger sister myself, I can understand his actions. Talking about the romance of family members can be awfully embarrassing. Even more so if the siblings are members of the opposite sex.

More than anything, I just asked him for advice, so I shouldn’t blame him. That leaves only the chief as the major problem. After all, how am I supposed to explain the fact that Yuito-san and I had been meeting up regularly? I can’t just say ‘I asked him for advice on how to win you over.’ Yeah, she’d be clearly grossed out. She’d reproach me.

If we were at the office, she’d probably put her desk the furthest away from me. Luckily (?), we were in different classrooms to begin with. Since we’re not in the same room all day, I don’t have to be conscious of her gaze. Yet, that is also what makes me feel a bit lonely.

Anyway, this is why I want Yuito-san to be the one who resolves things. It’s fine. He may be dealing with the chief, but he still is a mentalist, he should be able to figure out the perfect rebuttal. Now, how will the super-elite little sister respond?

“Huuuh?”

S-Scaryyy?! Wha, hold on, I’m terrified. It sounded like she was cursing him. This isn’t even a proper debate. She’s using peer pressure to win against any argument. I’ve never seen such an unreasonable act from the chief before. Is this her little sister mode? She’s treating her older brother like an insect. However, an older brother can deal with his little sister! Right, Big Bro Yuito?! I looked over at Yuito-san brimming with hope. He showed me another gentle smile and turned towards the chief without batting an eye.

“I’m terribly sorry.”

He apologized! Not to mention with a smile!

“Also, I’ve been trying to get you two together during the bit of summer break we had left, and yet a certain someone always ran away, saying they had something important to do, no? Aren’t you contradicting yourself?”

She latches on without hesitation! Not to mention with a logical argument for once!

“Shimono-kun, I’m sorry. I can’t do this after all.”

It’s too quick to give up!

“Don’t look at me with such a defeated gaze!”

“It’s over. We should just reveal everything to her, Shimono-kun.”

“Hey hey hey, what are you saying?!”

I didn’t expect things to go down this quickly. So what…am I supposed to just confess here, right now? No no no no. This isn’t just on the level of not being mentally ready. I can’t confess in such a situation. I can’t do that. I want to do that when I’m ready…in a situation I choose.

“What do you mean by reveal everything? So you were hiding something from me, after all.”

However, the situation wasn’t calming down anytime soon. It felt like she grasped my heart directly, not allowing me to deceive her.

“C-Chief, that’s…”

“Before that, Touka.”

For a second, it felt as if the temperature inside the living room dropped drastically, as the tone of Yuito-san reached freezing levels.

“W-What do you want now?”

The chief seemingly felt something as well, as she showed clear bewilderment.

“You were hiding something from me as well, no?”

“Huh? Of course not—”

“Is there no secret in the relationship between you and Shimono-kun that you aren’t telling me about?”

“?!”

Both the chief and I froze up simultaneously. Yuito-san’s usual smile was gone, nowhere to be found.

“Are you saying that Shimono-kun and I are keeping a secret between us?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you like this. Just…”

“Just…?”

“Your relationship doesn’t feel like that of normal high school students at all. Almost as if you’re…”

There’s no way that he could have seen through us. No way, right—

“No, I guess that’s enough. But, what do you think? Even you have a thing or two you don’t want to tell others, let alone be asked about, no? It might not be anything groundbreaking, but people have things they don’t want people to touch. So stop with the scary face, and let’s all get along, mkay?”

“O-Okay…”

The chief glanced at me and gently nodded.

“We have such a great weekend day, and with such pleasant weather, you two high school students should be going on a date and enjoying yourselves.”

“A date?! Don’t be ridiculous, Onii-chan!”

“Ahaha, my bad, my bad. Shimono-kun, I’m a bit scared of my precious little sister right now, so do you mind taking her out somewhere?” He said and showed me a skilled wink.

“Hmph, you dummy! Ah, you’re so annoying! Let’s go, Shimono-kun.” The chief blushed and trotted out of the living room.

“Ah, Chief!”

I got up to chase after her when Yuito-san beckoned me over.

“Guess that worked just fine, huh?”

“Do you mean the whole talk about our secret and whatever?”

“Yep. It’s from that scary late-night anime you recommended to me the other day. The one with the girl holding a hatchet. I figured that I might be able to use that famous scene here, so I tried my luck. I couldn’t bring about as much pressure as that girl, but I guess it was good enough.”

“Hold on, so you didn’t catch on to anything?”

“I just went with the flow. Even if you don’t have anything to hide, it happens quite a lot that you falter when someone assumes you do. The whole mentalism I’ve been studying lately played on that, and I was thinking of writing a research paper on that.” Yuito-san explained with a grin.

“I thought I was going to die, seriously.”

“Ahaha, I guess I should have discussed this with you beforehand. I won’t tell Touka about the advice I’m giving you, so rest assured. Come on, if you let Touka wait for too long, she’ll get angry. Off you go.”

“Yes, thank you very much, Yuito-san.”

I did as I was told, and followed after the chief. I was worried for a second, but I guess Yuito-san really is a good person.

*

“Hey, Nanaya-kun, what do you think that was about?”

“Do you mean that whole secret talk?”

“Yes. I wonder, did he find out that we traveled back in time…?”

Right as we left her home, we headed for a restaurant to eat lunch. It was currently half past noon.

“I don’t think that’s the case.”

I munched on the fried meat and vegetable dish that I ordered. By the way, the chief went with the miso cooking. It was probably us students eating lunch here. All the other people around us were salarymen. But, I like how relaxed the atmosphere is.

“I mean, I doubt he would believe the fact that such a thing happened, but Onii-chan can be oddly sharp at times.”

Agreed. His ability to see through people is no joke. I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually caught on to something. That being said, I don’t think anybody would buy the fact that we traveled back in time.

“If it didn’t happen to me, I definitely wouldn’t believe this to be possible.” I argued.

“Yeah, that is true. I guess he was just making up stuff, and I totally fell for it.”

“Ahaha…”

I could only give a weak smile, carrying the food to my mouth to silence myself. I guess I should just be thankful that my relationship with Yuito-san wasn’t leaked.

“Oh yeah, you really look like a high school student today, Nanaya-kun.” The chief commented as she sprayed a lot of spice on her food.

What is with her and spice…

“You think so?”

I was wearing a gray hoodie with a college jacket on top, skinny jeans matching that. I’m actually trying to copy Yuito-san a bit.

“Yep. Then again, I didn’t get to see much of your private wardrobe after we traveled back in time.”

“Well, these are about the only clothes I had back in high school. I guess they are what a high school student would wear, but…do they look weird?”

“Not at all! I didn’t mean it that way…I think it looks…c-cute?”

“T-Thank you very much.”

Cute…Cute, huh. I don’t know if I should feel happy about that. I’m pretty sure the majority of all boys would prefer to be called cool or handsome. I mean, I understand she’s trying to praise me. I really do, but I’m still not sure if I should really be happy. Especially when it comes from a woman older than yourself, being called cute doesn’t feel that good. Well, it’s almost my bad habit that I immediately take everything the negative way.

Well, there’s also Maeshima-chan who was a newcomer like me, who said that ‘Shimono-san, your cheeks are so cute and soft~,’ playing with me only to then vanish into the night with the assistant manager. That’s the reason why I reacted in such a sensitive way towards the word ‘cute’. However, immediately taking everything in a negative way also isn’t good. It’s true that the chief sees me as a cute subordinate. That being said, it doesn’t mean that I have zero chance. After all…after all, the chief hugged me!

I still can’t forget it. This warmth that I felt…The gentle scent enwrapping me. Her slender body…It’s a memory just between the two of us. Thinking about it rationally, I clearly have a chance, no? We must be feeling the same way! That would make sense why the chief has been acting so lovey-dovey since we traveled back in time! In other words, she wasn’t trying to tease me, and simply tried to seduce me. That’s the reason why my strict superior has been acting lovey-dovey with me after we returned to being high school students!

…Or so I was getting excited, but we’re still talking about the chief, who’s uncaring and disinterested when it comes to love. And I’m a good-for-nothing subordinate. I can’t help but lose all my momentum as soon as that flashes back in my mind. I mean, that ‘cute’ of hers sure feels like it was used towards me as a subordinate. She wouldn’t use ‘cool’ for a subordinate, right?

What about back during the fireworks? I think I earned myself some points by protecting my superior. And yet as soon as we entered the second term, she avoided me. I don’t get this anymore. Did she embrace me because I’m her subordinate? Or because she likes me? I want to know it clearly. If it’s the latter, then her words calling me ‘cute’ definitely are her genuine feelings. In other words, she was showing her honest feelings towards me. If so, I have to praise her as well.

She wore a dark red high-neck knitted top with a checkered long skirt. It was a perfect hybrid combination of maturity and youthfulness. It’s not as if I’ve fallen for the chief simply because of her good looks. However, that doesn’t change the fact that she possessed an angelic beauty at this very moment. If I confessed my feelings right here, right now…I wonder how she would react? Those would be her honest feelings, her true feelings.

“You look charming as well, Chief.”

If I went overboard, it’d probably sound like I’m lying. So I chose a simple approach. Her hand moved.

“Huh? Are you stupid?”

Yep, exactly what I expected…Gosh darnit! I really am nothing more than an adorable subordinate in the end! No, with that cold reaction, I’m now not even so sure about her calling me cute! Am I just some stray cat she plays with from time to time? Sometimes she’d pat me on the head, sometimes she’d stay away if I got too close. What am I supposed to feel?! Damn it! Gaaaaaah!

“More importantly, what should we do after this?” The chief said, munching on more of her food, littered with the seven spices mix.

“Meaning?”

“I mean, what’s our next stop? According to Onii-chan, this is supposed to be a d-date, after all.”

“A date…”

“Sometimes it’s nice to just have fun as the two of us, right?” She said with a somewhat bashful smile.

It’s the kind of smile she never showed at the company, once again making me fall head over heels for her. Ahhh, what a devil she can be. I still don’t understand anything about her, but being led around the nose by her doesn’t feel so bad.

*

After we finished our dishes, we headed for a somewhat worn-down game center near the train station. The outside looked fairly old, but they had a lot of new machines inside, making it a popular spot for students like us. In the back of the game center stood a few photo booths, where the chief and I waited for the pictures to be printed.

“I still can’t believe you would want to take pictures in such a photo booth, Chief.”

“What’s the big deal? I never used this back in the day. If I’m given a second chance like this, I want to try it out at least once.”

“Ahaha, that is true. Oh, they’re done now.”

I picked up the photos we took and moved towards the chief.

“Show me, show me!” The chief moved right next to my shoulder, as her soft body bumped into me.

“I guess they got good technology even during this time. Look how good they turned out.”

“Right. But your face looks so weird, Nanaya-kun. Your eyes are half-closed, ahaha.”

“What about this, then? Look over here, Chief.”

“Eeek! So ugly! Don’t look!”

“Also, why did you write ‘Do your work properly’ on there? We’re high school students! This is what you call mixing of public and private affairs!”

“Hehe, I’m always watching over you!”

“Just let me rest in peace, Chief!”

“Don’t call me chief.”

—Ahhh, what is this? She’s so cute! What the hell is she?! She’s way too cute! I’m so happy right now! But that’s also what scares me! I’m living the ideal high school life right now! And stop rubbing your shoulder into me, Chief! You’ll kill me!

“Oh, what’s that?”

As I was feeling excited on my own, the chief spotted a crowd of people in the center of the floor. I heard faint cheers and screams from that group.

“Ah, that’s a fighting game. The people around those machines are the audience, so to speak.”

“You know a lot, huh, Nanaya-kun. Do you like fighting games?”

“Quite a lot, yes. I also played online RPG games before, but they didn’t fit my taste, so I stopped in middle school. You don’t really play any games, do you, Chief.”

“What are you talking about? I do enjoy playing games, and I’m pretty good at them.”

“Huh?! Really?! That’s unexpected. What kind of games do you like?”

“Minesweeper and Solitaire. Well, I’m better at Spider Solitaire.”

Those are all pre-installed Windows games!

“I’m also fairly good at Tetris.”

God, she’s so cute!

“I see you like puzzle games.”

“Yup!”

Yep, so adorable!

“If so many people have gathered there, that means it must be somebody strong playing, right? Why not try and challenge them?”

“Well, it’s been a while so I’d be down, but are you sure? You’d end up just watching.”

“Of course! I’d love to watch you play!

Ahhh, she’s so adorable, I’m feeling depressed at the fact that we won’t ever be a couple. We moved to the fighting game area when the newest challenger was defeated by the champion. Since nobody else dared to attempt the challenge, I put a 100 yen coin into the machine and sat down. I actually played this game a lot back in the day. Since the series continued for a long time, I played it even past my high school days, so I never had that much of a break from it.

Since I wanted to show off to the chief, I chose my main character. Once we both selected our characters, the scene changed. As for the character the opponent went with…ah, it’s the super-heavy throwing type. Although I’m at a bit of a disadvantage with my own choice, it wasn’t anything grave.

I grabbed the stick, took a deep breath, and the first round started. I kept a bit of distance between us, trying to filter out the opponent’s strength. Throwing characters usually rely on heavy throwing techniques that inflict massive damage if you act careless and get too close. That being said, I have no ranged attack, so I need to get closer or I won’t be able to fight. I spotted an opening in the opponent and closed the distance between us.

My attack broke the guard of the opponent. I followed up with a combo attack, and since the heavy character has a lot of HP, they won’t go down immediately, but I can win this battle as long as I can replicate this attack. It didn’t take long for the opponent’s HP to be in the red. One more combo, and the fight should be over. I was a bit confused, seeing that my opponent’s movement resembled that of a beginner. They didn’t seem too strong when it came to guarding or throwing moves.

However, on the top of the screen, it stated [13 WIN], which hints at the fact that they’ve been winning consecutively for thirteen matches. Thinking about this fact made me careless, as I was hit by the opponent for the first time by one of their throwing moves. Immediately after, my health depleted greatly.

Not good, not good. I have to focus again—is what I thought, when the opponent quickly closed the distance between us. I tried my best to move away with a quick step, but the opponent followed with a dash, continuing with a strong throwing move that only worked on low HP. Before I realized it, the difference between our HP had practically vanished.

I see…so they’re playing more on senses…There are a myriad of techniques you could use in a fighting game. No matter the knowledge or skills you may have, if you can’t read the technique, you’ll suffer severe damage. And the ability to read these techniques is what you would call game sense. In terms of movement, the other person is a clear beginner, but their senses are special. Especially when it comes to the usage of throwing moves, you need that sense a lot.

You could also say that, as long as you can land your throwing techniques, you can win just fine without any strong skill. If I get hit by another throw, it’ll be my loss. I underestimated them because I thought they were beginners. I guess it’s over…

“You can do it, Nanaya-kun!”

Ah, that’s right. I can’t lose here. I have the goddess of victory by my side. And I can’t embarrass her! My left arm, grasping the stick, is burning strong with her passion! My right hand pressing the buttons is overflowing with her kindness, giving me courage! For Touka’s sake, I can’t falter here! Let’s go, Nanaya! I am filled with endless power! Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

—YOU LOSE—

“I lost…”

“Are you okay, Nanaya-kun? You look awfully pale.”

“I’m sorry, Chief, I couldn’t win after all…Please scold this useless subordinate of yours…Urk…”

“Is this really something to be crying over?!”

We moved away from the machines, and I simply howled in the face of my inability. To think I would get decimated without winning a single round. The second round ended in my complete loss. It had to be the most pathetic pattern out of all. Why am I always like this, really.

“Come on. Get up, Nanaya-kun. I had fun watching you.”

“C-Chief…”

What a kind person she is. O, my holy mother Maria.

“Biwa’s gotten tired of this game now. You can keep playing Kazuki, I’ll go to the nearest Staba.”

“Wha, hold on, Biwako! W-Wait! Ah, the next match is starting!”

We heard voices from the opposite side of the machines. The champion who had defeated countless opponents now walked towards us—as her drilled twintails shook left and right.

“Bi…Biwako-senpai?”

“Oh, it’s Nananosuke! That’s so funny. Was Biwa fighting you just now? You were so weak!”

Gaaaaah! It was heeer?! I lost against this gal?! And I could even see her having a good sense for this game, which hurts even more! Damn you, Sakonji Biwako!

She’s another senior of mine, in the same year as Kamijou Touka, also one of the top beauties of Amakusa South High. With her charisma, she’s admired by everybody, and if we were eleven years in the future, she’d probably be one of the top influencers to exist. As always, she wore her oversized pink hoodie, her blonde hair shining brightly under the fluorescent light. The strong scent of perfume coming from her practically acted like a wall that blocked the average me off from stepping into her realm.

“Um, Biwako-senpai, was that possibly…”

“Hm? Yup, that was Biwa’s first time playing the game.”

Tsk.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“Kazuki from Biwa’s class wanted to talk about something and called her over. But Biwa got bored and thought of getting something from Staba.”

A wild guess would be that Kazuki invited her out on a date in order to confess. God, I feel bad for him. Hearing that Biwako-senpai is bored must be a huge shock. My pain goes out to him.

“Oh my, if it isn’t Biwako. What a coincidence.”

The chief spotted Biwako-senpai and called out to her. Since they’re both second years, they do know each other and are friends.

“Wait, Touka?! Didn’t you say you had something important to do today?”

“Well, yeah. That’s already been resolved…and personally, this is the real deal for me…”

“Heeey, don’t tell Biwa that you and Nananosuke are out on a date now, heeey.”

“D-Don’t be ridiculous, Biwako!”

“Kyahaha! You’re panicking way too much, Touka!”

“G-Geez! You’re the same as always!”

“Ahhh, this is great. Nananosuke, got a minute?”

“Yes?”

Biwako-senpai beckoned me over.

“Sorry, Touka, Biwa will borrow him for a second. We’ll be right back. Nananosuke, over here.”

She walked through the crowd, and I rushed to follow after her. We reached an empty corner of the floor, equipped with several vending machines. Biwako-senpai stopped and then smiled at me.

“Nananosuke, come over here.” She urged me to stand in front of the vending machine.

“Um, Biwako-senpai…is something wrong?

Wham!! Biwako-senpai’s foot grazed the back of my hand, as it slammed right into the vending machine. From the depths of the hoodie’s lower part, I could see her juicy thighs. I-Is this…a wall-slam leg version?

“Hey, Nananosuke. Why are you getting in the way of Biwa and Touka?”

She’s super pissed!

“Biwa didn’t hear anything about you hanging out, though? This isn’t an actual date, is it?”

“No, of course not. We just happened to stop by here to play some games..”

I completely forgot that this charismatic girl’s got the absolute hots for Kamijou Touka!

“Were you really just playing games?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Hm. Nananosuke, could you jump?”

“Huh?”

“Jump.”

I did as I was told, and jumped up.

“What’s that rustling sound about? Show me what you got in your pockets?”

What kind of shakedown is this?! Also, hold on, in my pockets I have…

“Nananosuke, hurry it up.”

“Yes!”

I took out the picture from the photo booth, offering it to my terrifying senior.

“Hey. What the hell is this?”

Scary, scary, scary, scary, scary! She’s threatening me with a straight smile, and it’s terrifying! Why are all the girls around me so scary?!

“I’m sorry, I, Shimono Nanaya, took pictures with Kamijou Touka-san at the photo booth.”

“Aren’t you enjoying yourself, Nanaya-chan?”

The fact that she suddenly changed her way of calling me makes things even scarier.

“Biwa will take pictures as well.”

“Huh?”

“Biwa is saying that she’ll take pictures with Touka as well!”

“Yes! Let’s do that! I’ll make sure you get to take some great pictures with the chief!”

“All right, then let’s go, Nananosuke!”

“Understood!”

As expected of a gal, she recovers quickly and swiftly puts things into motion.

“Ah, you’re back. What was that about?”

“It wasn’t anything important, really. Rather, there’s something Biwako-senpai would like to do. Go on, tell her.”

“………”

I looked at Biwako-senpai, who gave no response. She just had her hands stuffed into her pockets, sulking. This damn gal…We’ve been working together for quite some time, so I’m used to her attitude and personality. My money goes on her being too embarrassed to ask the chief about the pictures. Look at her, she’s kicking my leg. She’s urging me to say something first. God damn lazy girl.

“It seems like Biwako-senpai would like to take pictures with you at the photo booth.”

“Huh? Biwa’s already tired of that, so she doesn’t care much. Well, if you’re that desperate to take pictures together, Biwa wouldn’t mind joining you.”

She’s still not gotten over her tsundere tendencies despite becoming friends with the chief?!

“Huh?! Taking pictures?! Yeah, let’s go! Let’s take pictures together, Biwako!”

And she’s awakened to the joy of photo booths! She’s like a little girl!

“R-Really? Then let’s waste no time!”

Look at her all excited, dang it.

“Biwako-senpai, if we’re going to take pictures, why don’t we invite Kazuki-san as well.”

He deserved at least that much.

“Huh? Why?”

“Show some sympathy! Don’t you feel bad for him?! Come on, invite him.”

“Why do you sound like Biwa’s mom? So hilarious. Okay then~”

Biwako-senpai reluctantly walked towards Kazuki-san. Don’t worry, Kazuki-san, I am your ally. As guys who can’t be popular, we have to work together. While sending off Biwako-senpai, the chief trotted towards me, poking at my shoulder. And then, she showed me a gentle smile.

“Guess this is where our date ends, huh? What a shame.”

Her smile made my heart beat louder than all the noise around us.