CH 82

“Let’s work together, Natsume!” (Yuki)

“Y-yes!　I’m looking forward to working with you.” (Natsume)

“Leave it to my personal trainer, Shiori, and everything will be fine.” (Yuki)

After school. Shiori is the manager of the men’s basketball club, which is basically a small and weak club, and she has a lot of free time on her hands. So, in preparation for the Miss Contest, I decided to have Shiori work with Natsume on training.

“But, Kokonoe-san, don’t I have to follow any dietary restrictions or anything?” (Natsume)

“That’s right.” (Yuki)

“…… Eh?” (Natsume)

Shiori and Natsume have a puzzled look on their faces. Yare yare, I’m in trouble.

“Miho, Miho. Come here for a minute!” (Shiori)

“What’s wrong?” (Miho)

“Translate Yuki, please!” (Shiori)

“What do you mean, “translate”?” (Yuki)

“Oon. A diet is something you do to be healthy. Not many college students are overweight. What is important is the metabolism. Instead, you need to do more of it, eat more, and grow up fast.” (Miho)

“You, shut up!” (Yuki)

Despite these words, this fresh and handsome man interprets my words well. This man seems to be growing day by day.

“Listen, Natsume. There is no need for you to restrict your diet. You’re cute and beautiful even without that. Above all, you have a weapon that surpasses Shiori!” (Yuki)

“Weapon ……?　W-what’s with that disgusting stare!?” (Natsume)

“Yuki, no sexual harassment!” (Shiori)

“Ghehehe!” (Yuki)

“I don’t want to be talked down to only by Kamishiro-san.” (Natsume)

“Eeh?!　Natsume, you’re terrible!” (Shiori)

“How can you make such a deliberate gaze?　You’re too dexterous, Yukito.” (Miho)

One of the Class B public information, Natsume is the number one in her class, and she has a fine one at that. Shiori’s careless revelation revealed this, and the girls in the class were very angry with Shiori. Incidentally, she was secretly defended by the boys.

Natsume is chubby now, but she will lose weight as she grows up. There is no need to worry about it. Her usual food intake is perfectly normal. It is not difficult to lose weight by the time of the beauty contest if she is just a little careful.

“But I’m embarrassed to be photographed as I am. ……” (Natsume)

“Don’t say that. It might be the last time you see yourself like this. Think of it as a keepsake.” (Yuki)

Natsume will become beautiful if she loses weight. The current figure and the skinny figure. With that impact, I aim to win the Miss Contest. For that reason, I took a picture of her current appearance. I’m looking forward to seeing her presentation on stage.

“Let’s knock their socks off!” (Yuki)

“Right…… I can be beautiful, can’t I? …… Yes, I’ll do my best!” (Natsume)

Natsume is a literary girl, but she is also motivated. She is truly a gem.

“I always wonder, what’s so shady about you?” (Natsume)

“Haha.” (Yuki)

“I’m sorry for everything, Kokonoe-san.” (Natsume)

“Ghehehehehe.” (Yuki)

“I’m getting used to the way you look at me.” (Natsume)

“That is good to hear. From now on, I’m sure you’ll be seeing more and more of these stares.” (Yuki)

“No way, did you intend to do that all along?” (Natsume)

“Purely out of dirty feelings.” (Yuki)

“Hmmm, that’s.” (Natsume)

Club activities are over, and Natsume, who has just finished changing out of her jersey and into her school uniform, comes to talk to me at the entrance. All I have to do now is go home, but for some reason, Natsume is following me. She seems to have something she wants to talk about.

“Um, ……. Can I really become beautiful?” (Natsume)

“Believe me, I’m having a hard time with women every day.” (Yuki)

“Pfft–you are tremendously persuasive.” (Natsume)

Natsume gushes. Natsume, who is usually reading, is not a very prominent figure in the class, but in this way she has a lot of expression and a great sense of humor.

“I’m sorry I dragged you into this.” (Yuki)

“N-no. I should be the one to thank you for your kindness.” (Natsume)

“That’s part of it, but there’s also the future.” (Yuki)

“The future?” (Natsume)

“When the beauty pageant is over, you’re going to be all over the place. We all know the process, but to the rest of the class, you’ll be the beautiful girl who suddenly appeared on the scene.” (Yuki)

If she suddenly appeared and snatched the Miss Contest championship, there was no doubt that she would become the center of attention. This would inevitably lead to an increase in the number of people of the opposite sex approaching her, and the quality of their gazes would be different than before.

“Aren’t those people only for my looks? …… but maybe that’s the same for him.” (Natsume)

The voice sank and Natsume’s expression faded.

“Um, there’s something I want to discuss with you!” (Natsume)

“Seriously?” (Yuki)

“Yes, Takahashi-kun and I were in elementary and junior high school together, but for some reason I just can’t seem to have confidence in myself. ……” (Natsume)

At a fast food restaurant, Natsume told me about her love life.

Natsume seems to like Takahashi ( the older brother ) who is in the same class with her. When she was in elementary school, her classmates made fun of her for being fat, and Takahashi defended her. Since then, he has been taking care of her in some way. Takahashi (the older brother) has a younger sister, so he is probably very good at taking care of others.

Natsume had been keeping her feelings inside for a long time, but she had felt embarrassed and could not muster up the courage to tell him how she felt about him.

“I see. So that’s why you brought me here.” (Yuki)

“Yes. They approach you because you are beautiful. While I don’t like such a person who judges you based only on your appearance, on the other hand, if I could become really beautiful and confident, I would want him to know how I feel about him. Then I would be just like the person I find disgusting.” (Natsume)

Self-imposed. If things continue as they are now, she cannot confess. However, confessing to someone just because she has improved her appearance would also be merely looking at her outward appearance. Natsume had such a depressing anguish.

It is a distressing story, but that is how much she likes Takahashi ( the older brother). She becomes beautiful and confesses her feelings with confidence, and I think that’s all right, but this inability to break the ice is what first love is all about, and perhaps it is a pure feeling that Natsume has cherished. If a person has feelings for someone for many years, they will become that much more sulky.

Suddenly, I remember Shiori. No matter how much I pushed her away, no matter how much I told her I hated her, there was nothing I could do about it. Shiori would never accept a decision that was made with her happiness in mind. Even though I knew it might make her unhappy.

“Well, that might be the same for Takahashi ( the older brother), too.” (Yuki)

“The same?” (Natsume)

“If there was someone who liked you, wouldn’t you think the same thing?　If you confess to him now, he might think that you confessed to him because you have become beautiful.” (Yuki)

“There is no such person…” (Natsume)

“I don’t know. At the very least, if Takahashi ( the older brother ) accepts your confession, you surely don’t want him to think that it is because you have become beautiful and he accepted it.” (Yuki)

“It’s my fault for not having the courage earlier.” (Natsume)

Natsume turns over and puts her mouth on the straw. The non-durable paper straw was beginning to blister. It was called love counseling, but in any case, Takahashi ( the older brother ) was probably the only one who could make her feel better.

“Come to think of it, have you ever read anything about time leaps?” (Yuki)

“Time leaps?　Yes, several times.” (Natsume)

Redo the past. Live without regrets. Stories of people regaining happiness, regaining what they lost, with the knowledge and experience they had before they started over, are very popular.

“Do you think you would like to go back in time?” (Yuki)

“Yes, if I could do that, if I could go back in time, I would wish I could lose weight faster. ……” (Natsume)

“What if you were to go back in time from now, and you were older than you are now?　The future beyond that point is unknown to you. You don’t know what will happen. Or what if the person you are connected to in the time leap dies of an illness or accident?　There might be a misfortune in your family. The subject could be yourself. Can you live your life after the time leap without any regrets?　If things go wrong, if you get in trouble, will you want to time leap again?” (Yuki)

“That’s …….” (Natsume)

There is no SAVE & LOAD in life. You can’t conveniently start over every time you make a wrong choice.

“Time is irreversible and there is nothing you can do about it. In the end, you have to live desperately in the present without regrets.” (Yuki)

“Do you ever have regrets, Kokonoe-san?” (Natsume)

“My regret, you see, that I was born.” (Yuki)

Mother, sister, I’m sorry I was born.

“Because you make statements like that, doesn’t that mean that Kokonoe-san can’t endure hardship?” (Natsume)

For some reason, Natsume is giving me the same dumbfounded look as the goddess senpai…….W-why?

“…… I see, that’s right. I finally understand. Why did I feel this way? Why did I want to be brave, why did I nod my head at Kokonoe-san’s proposal?” (Natsume)

Natsume’s chemistry is broken. After all, the subject matter is probably good. It is attractive enough.

“Regret ……. Yes, I have been admiring you. Because that’s how it is around Kokonoe-san. You don’t fake your feelings, you don’t regret it, and people were desperate. It was dazzling, sparkling, and I hated myself for being timid. So I wanted to change, and I thought maybe I could go to Miss Congeniality.” (Natsume)

It’s a long conversation, but as a matter of fact, the solution has long been worked out. It was really quite simple.

“Natsume, can you muster up the courage?” (Yuki)

“Yes.” (Natsume)

“Enough to go out for yakiniku by yourself?” (Yuki) [TL: yakiniku (uncountable) Meat grilled on a barbecue Japanese-style.]

“Eh?　That’s a bit embarrassing. ……” (Natsume)

This Natsume diet plan. The right person for the job.

The only person who can handle Natsume’s complicated emotions, the process, and the results, is one person alone.

“I’ll leave it to Takahashi (The older brother) to be in charge of your diet plan.” (Yuki)

“Me and Takahashi-kun?　That joke–” (Natsume)

“I’ll give you some advice, so you two work hard!” (Yuki)

“Why, why is Takahashi suddenly–!” (Natsume)

The pounding of the heart must have increased the effect of the diet.

“Now the Miss Congeniality Contest is definitely ours.” (Yuki)

“Um, are you listening, Kokonoe-san?　Hey, what do you mean?　Kokonoe-san?　Hey, Kokonoe-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan?!” (Natsume)

Suddenly, I realized my gross negligence.

“Natsume, we need to get out of here right now!　If the two of us were together in a place like this, Takahashi ( the older brother) might mistake us in the wrong way. If he sees us together here, he will suddenly open the distance between you tomorrow, and things could get awkward.” (Yuki)

“That kind of development that tends to happen in Internet novels doesn’t happen here!” (Natsume)

“But in such novels, the situation is always solved by talking things out between the two parties, isn’t it?” (Yuki)

“Why don’t you reflect on yourself, Kokonoe-san!?” (Natsume)

“Natsume, you know. You are a pretty cute person……” (Yuki)

“Please don’t be interested in me!” (Natsume)

When I got home, I immediately informed Takahashi that he had been put in charge of the Natsume diet project. He was puzzled but agreed to do it, so I guess it will be okay.

When I contacted Natsume about it, she kept hitting cow stamps while saying “Moooooooooooo!”.

It seems like she has more time than I thought?