CH 82

Don’t End Up Like Me, Okay?

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by HamletJr

During the festival, each class had their own exhibit to manage, but that didn’t mean they would be stuck there the entire time, as each student was allotted some free time. Ryuichi and Shizuna each took a one-hour break, and went around the school with Chisa and Satsuki.

“I guess they’ve got some pretty decent exhibits here for a bunch of high school students.”

“Fufu, you don’t sound very convincing when you’re clearly enjoying this a lot, Chisa-san.”

The two beautiful women playing around in front of Ryuichi and Shizuna, a pair of college students who were beyond the confines of high school students, were truly mature women. They were also very beautiful and attracted the attention of not only students but also parents just by walking around.

“These two really stand out, don’t they?”

“Well, can’t say that’s unexpected.”

If it were just the two of them walking alone, it would be one thing, but when Ryuichi was with them like this, the girls engaged in a lot of physical contact, even if it was unconsciously. Whenever Chisa said, “Let’s look at that thing next,” Chisa would take Ryuichi’s arm in hers as if to show off her intimacy with him.

“All right, all right, slow down. The exhibits aren’t going anywhere.”

“I know. But my time here with you will slip away.”

Ryuichi chuckled at how she’d used the same words he’d envisioned Shizuna using the other day. Chisa was the eldest of them all, so one would’ve expected her to show a little more maturity and dignity as their senior, but to Ryuichi, she looked very cute when she was excited.

Damn, that’s one hell of an adorable face she’s making.

It was really rare to see this kind of expression on her face, and it was probably only at events like these that he could see it. That was why Ryuichi wanted to listen to her whims as much as possible, so if she pulled on his arm, he would follow along with her.

“Sorry, Shizuna-chan, for intruding on your time together like this.”

“No, no, it’s totally fine. ♪”

That being said, dragging Ryuichi around on her whims also took away Shizuna’s time with him. Chisa wasn’t the only one; Satsuki also felt bad about it, but Shizuna herself was happy and pleased to see them getting along and didn’t utter a single complaint.

“Ah, it’s a haunted house.”

“…Looks pretty realistic, huh?”

They arrived at a haunted house run by another class of second years, and as Satsuki said, it had quite the authentic feel to it. The girls working at the reception desk also had very realistic blood on their faces, so much so that some small children even started crying at the sight of it.

“How about the three of us girls go inside?”

“Oh, sounds good. I’ll wait outside.”

“Huh…? Huh?!”

“Ah, are you perhaps scared of haunted houses, Satsuki-san?”

It seemed Satsuki wasn’t good with things like haunted houses and looked to Ryuichi for help, but Ryuichi was interested to see how she would react, so he had no intention of extending her a lifeline.

“Hang in there, Satsuki. I’ll hug you as much as I can when you come back.”

“…I’ll do my best!!”

Satsuki was now full of enthusiasm as she clenched her fist tightly, and Chisa and Shizuna smiled at her as the three of them went inside together.

“Ahhhhhhh?!?!?!”

“………”

A ghastly scream could be heard immediately afterward, but Ryuichi chuckled, thinking that this too was just another ordeal she had to overcome. In this chaotic situation, with Satsuki’s screams and Chisa’s laughter, Ryuichi passed the time by playing with his phone until the girls came back.

“Oh, if it isn’t Ryuichi-kun.”

“Hmm?”

The person who’d just walked by was Shinjo. Ryuichi lightly raised his hand in response, and Shinjo made his way to his side.

“Word is you’ve been walking around with three beautiful women in tow… Haha, are the princesses in the haunted house?”

“Yep. Looks like it was scary enough to get a scream from them, y’know?”

“I see; guess that just goes to show you shouldn’t underestimate it just because it was made by high schoolers, huh?”

It all made Ryuichi want to experience it too, but if Ryuichi was not there when the girls returned, Satsuki might seriously cry, so he mused that he’d probably have to wait there like a good boy.

“Say, Sensei. It’s kinda boring just standing around doing nothing, so talk about something.”

“That’s sudden.”

“I mean, do you really have nothing? You could talk about your high school days or something.”

“…Hmm.”

Ryuichi talked about how it would be boring to just sit around waiting idly. Shinjo pondered for a while, then laughed and said that there was nothing in particular about his youth that he could talk about. He then spoke in a somewhat lonely tone.

“As I’ve told you before, I used to be an unruly kid. I got into a lot of fights in high school, so I squandered any chance I had at a regular youth.”

“Man, I seriously can’t picture it just by hearing it.”

“If the people who knew me back then saw me now, their jaws would drop in shock. That’s just how bad and hopeless I was.”

Shinjo continued to speak further, staring at the palm of his own hand.

“But even then, there was a girl who cared about me. She was a studious and well-mannered student, the kind of girl who shouldn’t have been around me, a delinquent.”

“Hooh?”

The fact that Shinjo used to be a delinquent was interesting enough, but the fact that he also used to have a woman by his side back then made it even more intriguing. However, Shinjo seemed to have some regrets. And Ryuichi’s hunch turned out to be right.

“I rejected the hand she offered me. I rejected her kindness. She was the only one who was looking at me, yet I couldn’t trust her, so I selfishly rejected her.”

“………”

“So, I guess I was a little jealous of you.”

“Huh?”

Shinjo laughed. Since being assigned to this school, it was natural that he would learn about the students here, so he knew the current Ryuichi as well as the past Ryuichi very well. In terms of being delinquents, Ryuichi and Shinjo were similar to each other; the difference was that the present Ryuichi had held the hand that had been extended to him and had changed.

“Of course, I didn’t ask too much about you. There’s this really talkative girl in your class, and she told me lots of things.”

“…Who was it?”

“Haha, well, cut us some slack here. So, you used to be a serious delinquent, but one day, with Rindo-san by your side, your atmosphere softened, and now you’re adored by lots of students. Isn’t that right?”

“Well, whether they adore me or not is up for debate, but they do talk to me a lot now.”

Ryuichi understood what Shinjo was trying to say. Like Ryuichi, Shinjo probably had had the opportunity to change, but regretted not taking it to this day. There was certainly the possibility that Ryuichi would have spent his days regretting like Shinjo if he had taken a wrong step somewhere, but he couldn’t help but wonder if that would also hold true if Shizuna had fallen after all.

…No, I definitely prefer the way things are now. This present moment when I have Shizuna, Chisa, Satsuki, and Sakie.

He had been alone for a long time, but not anymore. Now he could always see them next to him, always talking to him, and he knew they loved him dearly. And conversely, Ryuichi also loved them with all his heart.

“Heh, I’ll do my best to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m not going to let anything happen to the happiness in my hands.”

“Yeah. That’s good… I see now. I understand why you’re liked by so many people. Even Someya-sensei said she would’ve definitely confessed to you if she were a student as well.”

“…Seriously?”

“Yeah. If anything, I’m pretty sure she would’ve gone after you if you were single and available.” 

That was information he didn’t really want to hear. Someya was indeed a beautiful woman and a good teacher who cared about her students, but he had never been aware of her as a member of the opposite sex until now, so he had mixed feelings about the matter.

“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that. I’ve got more than enough women on my plate.”

“Haha, I’d love to be able to say something like that too.”

“Well, at the very least, if you’re gonna become a teacher, you gotta be careful.”

“Because a teacher has to be there for their students, huh?”

Then they smiled at each other. He didn’t mean to use Shinjo’s story as a reference point, but he did think that human connections truly were important for everyone. The connections between people were infinite, but the people one would get to know were limited, and it was even rarer for their hearts to be connected—which was why Ryuichi believed that they must be cherished.

“R-Ryuichi-kuun!!”

“Oof.”

It was Satsuki who hugged him tightly from behind, and it seemed that the princesses had finally returned. As he hugged Satsuki, who was probably quite scared seeing as she was shedding tears, he asked them how it had gone, to which he received three different replies.

“It had quite the impact.”

“It was so-so.”

“I’m never coming back!!”

Leaving aside Shizuna and Chisa, the receptionist had a wonderful smile on her face when she saw how Satsuki was responding.

“Seriously, who wouldn’t get jealous after seeing this? Just what I’d expect from you, Shishido-kun.”

“…Well, it’s often crossed my mind how these girls are too good for me.”

“Take good care of them.”

“I know.”

The girls are tilted their heads at the sight of Ryuichi and Shinjo. Afterwards, everyone had a good time as they took Satsuki around in various ways to soothe her weary mind from the haunted house. Thus came to an end the cultural festival in which Ryuichi participated in earnest, and a truly irreplaceable memory was created for him.