CH 51

51. Talk with the other groups 4

When I asked about how far had Atsushi thought of the future, the girls began to go panicked. Their face became pale.

“Souya-Kun, what’s with the sudden question? Well, I haven’t thought about anything yet.”

“Is that so? I’m sure, you’ve thought about it even a little, right?”

When I was talking like that, the girls started leaning forward.

Atsushi tried not to look at them and while looking at me, he said clearly,

“It’s about the future, isn’t it? I think it’s still early to think about it.”

“T-that’s right. W-well, it’s still too early, isn’t it?”

One of the girls said so while glancing at Atsushi.

Even though they were all interested, they pretended as if they were not.

Then, I asked the girl again.

“That aside, what kind of high school life do you all want to have?”

I asked so because I was interested in the “youth” envisioned by the girls of this world.

“Of course, to be help of Kunou…”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean, what do you want to do?”

I knew that in front of a boy the girls would be hesitant, but I still wanted to hear about their ‘greed’, so I tried to ask.

“What do I want to do…?”

“Like, studying hard to become a doctor in the future, or getting good grades in club activities, or chasing after your favorite idol…… is there something you want to do in your three years of high school?”

When I asked them, they began to seriously think, and then, one muttered,

“To prepare for getting a job that allows me to stay in the special ward…”

“Do you want to use your three years of high school for that?”

The girl nodded.

“Now that I’m in the same group as Kunou-kun, I want to do my best for him this year. But if, if that’s not the case, I think I’ll hone myself so that I can get a decent job here.”

It was too solid of an answer, but other girls had a similar opinion as they nodded.

Apparently, it was their “desire”. Or rather, they seemed to be afraid of the outside of the Special Ward.

“I see…… By the way Atsushi, what kind of person is your type?”

PFFT!! PFFT!! PFFT!! PFFT!! PFFT!!

Atsushi and the girls made shocked faces at the same time.

As expected of being in the same group, they really get along very well.

“So-Souya-kun…. What’s with the question just now…?”

“I’m just curious. By the way, I prefer those who aren’t too fragile. It’s better if they look healthy. I mean, if she looks like someone that might break just by my touch, I’ll be too nervous just by getting close to her.”

“I-I see…”

Said one of them while looking at me as if she had found something unexpected.

Atsushi, on the other hand, had a troubled face.

“Are you okay with saying that so openly?”

“Yeah, I want to be open.”

“I’m sorry, Souya-kun. I can’t do it. For this question, let me say no comment.”

“I see……”

It’s Atsushi, I guess I shouldn’t force it too much. Then, it’s better to ask other things… Ah, right…

“Come to think of it, the girls in class seem pressing you about something, but are you okay?… If you don’t like it, tell me. I’ll try to help.”

“Thank you, but it’s okay. I guess. It’s not really a big problem.”

“Is that so? Please consult me before it becomes too troublesome. I may be able to help.”

“That’s, thanks. Well then, can you listen to my story? It’s about my family.”

“Yeah, of course. We’re friends, right?”

You’re the only boy close to me. If you’re in trouble, I can’t leave it alone.

“Friends… I’m happy to hear that.”

Said Atsushu shyly. Then, he slowly told me about the circumstances of his house.

Atsushi’s mother seemed to work for a certain company that was affiliated with a huge conglomerate.

And the conglomerate’s business was various and numerous.

“The company had its own bank, so I think there’s almost no field that the company hasn’t entered.”

“Amazing, as expected of a Zaibatsu.”

In this world, there was no World War II, so there was no dissolution of the Zaibatsu (conglomerate).

It stayed to the present age while still having power.

“My mother works for a huge portal site management company that mainly sells online, and right, the girls here have parents who are working for one of the affiliated companies.”

“I see, that’s why you decided on them right away.”

They probably have a connection through their work through their mothers.

“Because the company has guaranteed their identities. And if something happens, their mother will be contacted immediately.”

Atsushi said that it was much safer to be around them than with girls he didn’t know at all.

“So, what about the girls who were approaching Atsushi yesterday?”

“Even though there are many affiliated companies, there are factions in such a big business, also there are business partners too, right?”

“I see… I can understand somehow.”

The girls outside the faction and the girls whose parents are working in the company of business partners must have wanted to get closer to Atsushi.

In short, all of this is related to the work of his parent, their parents.

Thinking that far, Atsushi decided to keep his group members away at that time. To avoid direct confrontation.

“You’ve it hard too huh.”\

Precisely because they are an existence that can’t be treated badly, he’s in a dilemma.

But, that means, the cause isn’t exactly the girls, but the parent behind the girls.\

“……But well, I guess you can say, this is the fate of men.”\

What a philosophical statement, but yeah, I understand your feelings.

Men in this world are easily influenced by women in authority. And numbers are power, one mess can easily become a violent storm.

Of course, if you want to walk the thorny path, you can stand on your own feet.

Don’t just be behind those in authority, and carve out your own destiny.

However, how many men in this world have the will, and can do that?

If possible, I would like to help Atsushi, but it’s difficult since it’s involving others parents’ work and I’m just a child, but…\

“Hey, Atsushi. When you’re really in trouble, tell me, I’ll try my best to help.”

“Thank you. Just hearing those words made me happy.”\

He’s the only male classmate…

Should I stock up on information so that I can be of help when Atsushi asks?

“Ah, what kind of company do your parent works for?”

“My mother works in the game sales department of Jura company.”

“I see. Well, I like games too… But, if I’m not wrong, I haven’t played that many titles.”

Since I rarely went out with friends, I often had too much free time in the original world.

Like everyone else, I played games, just in a more moderate manner. But the real “Taketo Souya” hadn’t played a game in this world yet, so I didn’t have much knowledge.

“That’s an interesting way of saying it… So, Jura is under the company called Nanahoshi, and among the girls who approached me, there was one whose parent works as the executive of Shintendo, a company which is a business partner.”

“Aaah… I see. In the game industry, it’s a big company.”

Luckily, there’s a memory about Shintendo. But I see, no wonder he’s in dilemma.

Atsushi chose the girls that he considered as safe as group members, but the scale of the parent company is too large and there are many factions. And with the addition of business partners, the situation has become even more troublesome.

Alright, I understand the situation. For the time being, let’s ask Yuuko about this.

Having more knowledge will come in handy in times of need after all.

After that, we continued to talk, but since they were members of Atsushi’s group, I could only ask general questions. They seemed to be hesitant in other questions.

Well, since they all probably wanted to be liked by Atsushi more than me. It couldn’t be helped, there were only two boys in class after all, so as expected, they must have thought that it was better to get liked by one than none at all.

Thus, the talk with the third group came to an end.

Tomorrow would be the start of Golden Week, so the next one would be after that.

And in Golden Week, my grandmother, who lived in the countryside of Nagano, would come to visit.

My heart was restless, but I couldn’t avoid meeting her, so I had no choice but to prepare myself.