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Chapter 72 – JK-JC Lingo
(T/N: JK is Joshi Kousei, a high school girl. JC is Joshi Chuugakusei, a middle school girl.)
After the teachers’ representative lectured us on how to spend our winter break wisely and final words from the principal, the closing ceremony finally ended.
The students walked out of the gym as soon as they were told to disperse. I found Arina walking among the crowd, so I approached her.
“Can you help me with something?”
“What is it?”
“Can you invite Shirona to the party for me? …It’s hard for me to invite her after all that, you see…”
“…Sigh… You… How long are you going to act like this? Man up already.”
“…Sorry… It’s just… I haven’t talked to her ever since then…”
Ever since Shirona’s confession back at the Rose Garden, I hadn’t exchanged a single word with her except for some greetings whenever we bumped into each other.
It was partly because of the whole thing with Kazawaguchi-senpai… No, that was just an excuse, in truth, I had been avoiding her. Whenever I saw her, I couldn’t mutter a single word to her. My throat would tighten and I ended up swallowing my words back along with my spit. Then, I would just bail out because I couldn’t stand the awkwardness.
“…Sigh…”
“…So, can you help me?”
“Fine.”
“Thank you, I’m counting on you!”
“With one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Stop pitying her.”
Said Arina curtly.
“Think about her for a second. Don’t make her regret her decision to confess to you.”
“…I understand, but–”
“No you don’t. You don’t understand even a little bit of how much courage it took for Shirona to confess to you. Seriously, are you even a human?”
“…Well, the country recognized me as its citizen, so I guess I am a human…”
Hearing my answer, Arina sighed. Thrice.
“I’ll invite her for you, but make sure to hold your words. I’m not in a better position than you either, try to understand.”
“Huh? How come?”
“Y-You piece of… Try to remember the reason why you rejected her in the first place!”
The reason why I rejected Shirona…
It was because I didn’t see her that way. Instead, the one who I loved was…
“AAAAAHHH!!”
“S-Shut up!”
She beat the hell out of me.
I needed to seal this emotion forever. This made me go crazy and made Arina act out of character.
After that, we went back to our respective classrooms. Back then, I told Arina that I liked her on the spur of the moment, but I managed to brush it off by saying that I liked her other self instead.
If I had said that I liked this Arina, our relationship might have been destroyed right there, that was why I decided to bottle these feelings up.
I was curious about what Arina was thinking about, but based on our interactions so far, it was obvious that she was satisfied with our current relationship.
There was no reason for her to get closer to me any more than this.
“…Jeez…”
I never thought that I was capable of having such complex feelings.
Since the closing ceremony was over, everyone started to sort through their belongings before rushing out the building, ignoring the harsh cold of the winter.
As a going-home expert, I had already brought everything back yesterday. I just looked over at the peasants, who were busy sorting through their stuff while downing the tomato juice I had in my hand. My thoughts drifted to the endless possibility of next year. I wonder how it would go?
*   *   *
After school was over, I immediately went back home.
“I’M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!”
“Shut up!! Also, welcome back.”
The break will last for two weeks today, even though I wanted it to last for two years. I mean, think about it, two years lazing around at home? Awesome. But it would probably make me feel lonely and make Ugin worried sick about my well-being…
I didn’t feel like going to my room, so I collapsed onto the couch. I let my body merge into the couch. I am one with the couch, I am the couch, the couch is me… And right before I achieved the zenith state of nothingness, Ugin sat on my back and brought me back to reality.
“Don’t monopolize the couch!”
“Dear sister, can’t you hear that? The sound of my bones breaking…”
“Don’t worry, Bro, they’ll grow back.”
“They won’t! They aren’t lizard tails!!”
After a bit more tussle, we sat down on the couch side by side.
“I can’t wait for summer vacation to start…”
“So you’re that excited to study for your entrance exam, Bro?”
“No, stop! Don’t remind me of that! The winter break barely started, d**n it…”
“Sorry~ Anyway, do you have any plans for the winter break?”
“Yes, me and a few other friends are going to hold a party later.”
“An end-of-the-year party?”
“Yes, smart girl!”
“I feel like you’re mocking me somehow…”
“Anyway, what about you, Ugin?”
“All my friends are busy studying for the exam, so I have no plans… Well, I guess I have one if I count hatsumode…” (T/N: Hatsumode is the first shrine visit, a Japanese tradition on new year)
“I’m glad to hear that… If you were to tell me that you have a date or two planned, I was ready to go ballistic…”
“I told you. Multiple times. That I don’t have a boyfriend. I got confessed to a few times though.”
“What?!… Who? Who are the fools who dared to try and get closer to you?!… Tell me their names and faces, I’ll rip their livers out and feed them to the fish!!”
“What’s the point? I rejected them all. Besides, it’s too late for me to go out with anyone at this point. Well, I guess I’m your sister after all… My way of thinking is starting to become similar to yours…”
“Here’s an advice, don’t follow your instinct too much, dear sister. That’s what made us, humans, differ from the beasts. We can suppress our instincts with the sheer power of our will!!”
“Yeah yeah sure, look at the TV, there are a bunch of crops there.”
“Crops?! Where?! Where are the tomatoes?! Stop showing me cucumbers! No one gives a s**t about cucumbers!!”
*   *   *
10 pm.
After telling Ugin that thing about summer vacation, I got the sudden urge to read ‘The Door into Summer’, so I was currently lying on my bed while reading it. Just as I reached the good part, my phone rang. Arina messaged me. (T/N: The Door into Summer is a novel by Robert A. Heinlein)
[I’ve invited her. She said she’s going.]
Short, concise and to the point, it was an Arina-like message.
I decided to make fun of her in response, so I left my room and knocked on the door to Ugin’s room.
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
Ugin was still awake it seemed.
I briefly explained to her about the party and the message that Arina sent. After I was done, she raised her eyebrows and stared at me with a suspicion in her gaze.
“Anyway, with your JC power, can you write me a message? I need a message that’s written by those random JC whose brains are made of tofu, filled with emojis. I want to see how Arina would react.”
“Are you implying that my brain is made of tofu? Wow, Bro…”
“Of course not! You know you’re my Goddess! Anyway, can you?”
“Sure, give me that.”
Ugin took my phone and started typing on it at high speed. If there was a typing on phone competition, I’m sure that she would snatch the first place easily.
“Here you go.”
“‘Kay, lemme see…”
[ Arinan~ Thank wuu~ (*≧∀≦*) I’ll contact Tsuwu  later uwu~ I’m looking forward to the parteh~ I still have to do my homeworks though  But I’ll do my besties ヾ(´∇｀)ノ I’ll  miss wuu  ]
“…What the hell is this? Is this even a real language?”
“It is a proper language! What are you on about?!”
“I-I’m just… speechless…”
“So, will you send it or not?”
“Of course I will! Here I go! Radio waves! Fly through the air and reach Arina’s phone!”
“Why do you feel the need to say that out loud?”
I sent it, now I just need to wait for her reaction.
I was about to leave Ugin’s room when Arina called me. Ugin grinned at this and put her face close to my ear. I turned the speaker on to make it easier for her to hear.
“Hello, this is Sakaki.”
{Are you okay? I’m calling you because you just sent me a strange message… Are you okay? If someone’s threatening you, try to blink twice.}
“Eh? No, I’m okay?”
{Are you sure? You have no problem whatsoever? Are you sure that you’re alright?}
“Wait, wait, that message was a joke! I told Ugin to write it to see how you would react…”
{…}
“Um.. Hello?..”
{…I’m going to kill you…}
“Eh?”
She hung up the call.
Out of all things, she showed her genuine concern, I didn’t expect that. She was actually worried about me, now I felt bad. Sorry, Arinan…
“Dear brother, have you prepared yourself? She’s going to kill you for real now. At least, delete your browser history before you die.”
“Dear sister, how did you know about my browser history?”
“I saw those popping out when you were using the search engine, you know?”
“Oh f**k.”
“Language!”
…I want to die. Arina, please end my misery.
Ugin hummed the song of victory as she smirked at me, chased me out of her room and closed the door on me.
I should never let my guard down around her…