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Chapter 79 – Unfamiliar Place
I was waiting with Ugin near the bookstore where we promised to meet up with the two girls.
One was Niwatari Tsuru, a gyaru who looked like she couldn’t remember the multiplication table to save her life but was actually the smartest person in her grade (A genius).
The other one was Hiwa Arina, an unbelievably fashionable and pretty girl who looked like an actress, yet she was a problematic beauty who had poison as a tongue and always tried to keep people away from her (A problem child).
Those two peculiar characters finally appeared and I couldn’t help but shiver after I thought about the bad influences they would bring to Ugin.
“Amazing! Bro, they look amazing!”
Said Ugin while grabbing my sleeve and swinging it around. I hoped that she didn’t do it so roughly like this, I am not a doll, my arm couldn’t handle too much force. Seriously, if she kept doing it, it would break!
Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes scanned through the two girls in front of her. It seemed like her excitement wouldn’t subside anytime soon.
“U-Um! My name is Sakaki Ugin! Nice to meet you!”
“Ugin, calm down, you look unsightly. They’re still considered as normal organic life forms, similar to the broccoli you love so you don’t need to be so nervous around them. For now, let go of my sleeves, you’re breaking my fingers!”
“B-But but but but! They’re so cute! H-How could someone as cute as them exist? It’s a sin, bro, a sin!!”
“Ugin-kun, try not to speak until you can speak properly again.”
Tsuru seemed pleased to see Ugin’s reaction and chuckled while Arina felt the same way, but she only let out a slight smile. They really treated her well, didn’t they? Wow, so unfair… We had the same genes, you know? Why was I the only one who got abused?
“Nice to meet you, Ugin-chan. I’m Niwatari Tsuru. How do you do?”
“Niwatori… Tsuru-san?…”
“It’s Niwatari, Niwatari as in ‘crossing over’.”
“Ah! I-I’m sorry! I won’t make the same mistake again!”
I burst out laughing when she said ‘Niwatori’. How could she be both chicken and crane at the same time? That wasn’t how it worked, Ugin. (T/N: Niwatori means chicken)
Suddenly I could feel a sharp pain in my stomach.
“Ow ow ow!!”
Arina pinched my side while smiling. The force she put in was so strong, I could imagine her crushing walnuts with her fingers. As expected, this girl’s strength was no joke!
Arina ignored my pained scream and turned to Ugin.
“Long time no see.”
“Yes! Arina-san, you’re so pretty! You shouldn’t get too close to him, he’s dirty!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I always disinfect my whole body with alcohol after making contact with him.”
Now that was just straight bullying! I was no bacteria and even if I were, I wouldn’t be that weak. I would persist on your body even if you used alcohol on me.
“You’re safe, then! By the way, are you two on your way back from hatsumode?”
“Yes, just a while ago. What about you, Ugin?”
“Me too, together with him.”
“My, is that so?”
Arina looked at me strangely.
“What is it? You can stare at me as long as you like, I won’t give you my money.”
“I didn’t expect someone like you would do hatsumode.”
“Well, Ugin forced me to go with her, I was planning to rot inside my home all day long.”
“Wow, what a good lifestyle you got there. They should turn you into a model for a book of lifestyle-related diseases.”
“Hahaha. Funny.”
What was the point of that? Those kinds of books wouldn’t have models in it. Know that we, boys, had been reading health books ever since we were in middle school. There were simply no such things as health book models, you couldn’t fool me, young lady.
“Anyway, where should we go after this? Since it’s new year, everywhere will be crowded…”
“Right… I wish we could hang out at a cafe or something…”
“If you have no plan whatsoever, why did you even call us, Tsuru-kun?”
“Because Arina told me that she wanted to see her beloved Sui-sama!”
“What are you on about?”
Hearing that, Arina glared at me– no, the gyaru next to me. Oi Ugin, stop grinning! Tsuru lied to you! Why are you blushing? No, stop acting like a shy maiden!
“Come again, Tsuru. When did I say that?”
“I don’t remember when~”
“My, that’s a pity. You over there, cut off your ears, take responsibility.”
“Why are you dragging me into this?!”
It was the very first day of the year and I felt threatened already.
After that, we discussed where we should go. We walked around for a while to look for a good place but, as expected, everywhere was crowded. Both Tsuru and Arina were wearing geta, walking around for this long should be hard on their feet. I tried to look for a place to rest but all the benches were full.
At that moment, I heard an ominous sentence.
“Hmm… Why don’t you two come to our home?”
Said the natural airhead, Ugin-chan. At that moment, time slowed down for me. Everyone around me was moving in slow motion.
“Eh? Is that okay?”
No, absolutely not.
“Yes, of course! Our house is close by, too! It’s just a station away from here! Guests are always welcome in our Sakaki house!”
That was a lie, our house didn’t welcome outsiders. We were a family that had cut off any kind of relation with outsiders. Besides, if those girls came to our house, our parents would definitely faint.
Arina’s beauty was out of this world. If I were to bring her home, they would think that I kidnapped her from somewhere and they would treat me like a criminal. That was how low I was on the power structure of our house, they would immediately suspect me if something were to happen.
“If it isn’t a bother, sure… What do you think, Arina?”
“Same, as long as it won’t bother your parents, I’m fine with it.”
But I wasn’t fine with it! I could already imagine the questioning I would receive from my parents after those two left the house.
And most importantly, there was a huge chance that those two would break into my room. Did I leave anything dangerous in my room? Remember, Sakaki Sui, remember! Remember the state of your room when you left it this morning! Remember any suspicious things that you left in your room!
F**k, I can’t remember anything! I could only remember the state of my cheap bed after Ugin dragged me off of it.
There were too many dangers on bringing those two home, I had to stop them! As long as I could stop them from coming over, all the possible dangers could be avoided.
“Wait, our house is dangerous.”
“Why?”
“It’s haunted. You see, before we started living there, there was an accident with the previous owner.”
“E-Eh? R-Really?!”
Just like that, Tsuru was frightened. So easy.
“I’ve never heard about all this.”
“You never asked, also, shut up.”
Ugin interrupted me. I knew that she would be the biggest obstacle to my plan. I couldn’t expect her to help me out here, so I wished that she would just shut up.
“Also, our house is small. Everyone sleeps in the closet like Doraemon.”
“He’s lying, everyone has their own rooms and beds.”
Oh, cr*p, I’m out of ideas.
I could mention about minefields, cluster bomb targets and every way of fear mongering that I could think about, but with Ugin here those two would never be fooled.
“Let’s just go! I’ll show you the way to our house!”
Ugin rushed out with skipped steps and headed for the ticket gate while Tsuru followed her behind with her clattering geta.
I was simply no match for Ugin, the fact was probably engraved in my genes. I followed those two with slumped shoulders.
Arina walked beside me, matching my pace. Her walking posture was as graceful as ever.
“If it bothers you that much, I won’t go.”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s too late.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Huh?”
Arina stopped and leaned her face closer to mine. Her eyes looked as beautiful as always.
“If it really bothers you, I’d rather not go.”
“What happened? Why are you acting so serious?”
“Nothing, I just don’t want to be a bother to you and your parents.”
“Did you eat something strange for breakfast? Why do you sound so reasonable?”
“I have always been a reasonable person.”
“Wow, not only are you beautiful, you’re reasonable too. Amazing.”
“Heh…”
Her steps looked firm but at the same time, they looked heavy.
“C’mon, hurry up, they’re waiting for you.”
“…I really won’t be a bother?…”
“Like I said, it’s too late to say that. They’ve crossed the ticket gate already.”
I told her that, but her reaction was weaker than usual. There must be something wrong with her. Did something happen?
To make her become reserved like this, something big must have happened.
“…What about… The two of us go somewhere else together?…”
I didn’t know what those words meant.
Sometimes, people would hide something behind their words and they would leave a small sign that they were indeed hiding something. And that was exactly what she was doing, her voice was telling me that she was hiding something.
“And you’ll turn me in to the police for kidnapping you? Is that what the punchline is?”
I blurted that out.
I was scared. If I were to use an analogy to describe this feeling I got from her, it would be a ‘sign of confession’.
It was the feeling when someone of the opposite gender asked you to come to a certain place after school.
It was the feeling when someone handed you a letter.
It was the feeling when you got unusually close to someone.
It was the feeling when someone looked at you with a loving gaze.
It was the feeling when someone averted their gazes from yours.
It was the feeling of hoping for unattainable happiness. Even though you knew that things wouldn’t work out, you yearned for that happiness anyway and you’d end up hurting yourself in the end.
“I’ll never do that.”
“See, you’ll never… Huh?”
After hearing that, I could feel my body felt heavy and my feet were rooted in the spot.
It was the clacking sound of Arina’s geta that woke me up from my daze. She started to run ahead, leaving me behind on my own.
“Just. Kidding. I just wanted to see your reaction, you’re so predictable. I recommend seppuku.” (T/N: Seppuku is a suic*de ritual. Samurai who wanted to protect their honor would do this.)
She said with a nasty grin.
After that, she turned her back on me and went through the ticket gate. She said that it was a joke, but I would be the last person who would be fooled by that. It was obvious that she was trying to act tough.
I could see for a moment that she made a weak smile. A fake smile that was painful to look at. I could tell from that smile that she was asking for my help.
I didn’t understand what was going on in her head. We were supposed to be no longer reserved with each other, why was she acting like this?