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Chapter 90: A Dream
“What is up with this dead atmosphere? Why are you both dead?”
It was noon in the student council room, and Yoko said to us with an extremely annoyed look.
Not only me, but Koharu’s soul also looked like it left her body. So something must have happened. However right now I just don’t have the mental strength to care about other people.
In the end, I promised to go out with Aoi.
At that time I was confused and panicked because of the time limit, but I still don’t know if that was the right move. No no, it wasn’t the right move, without a doubt.
“Geeze, at least answer me! I can’t stand this atmosphere, seriously!”
“Sorry. My head is a mess right now, I can’t really think.”
“Eh, that sounds interesting! Well, wouldn’t it be better to talk to someone about it?”
“. . .You’re speaking too honestly.”
But Perhaps it would be best for them to hear about it. Not just Yoko, but also Koharu.
I could only see her back in the art club, so I couldn’t tell at the time, but for some reason she is also feeling down.
“Well then, I’ll ask for advice. Wakashima-san, do you also mind listening?”
Koharu nodded as I tried to organize and outline my situation as much as possible. Yoko was enthusiastically waiting for what I was about to say.
Aoi followed me to the prep room.
Aoi and Sara have had a point of contact.
Sara gave Aoi advice to be with me.
When I met Sara yesterday, she didn’t seem to show any signs she did meet Aoi.
I was told that if I didn’t go on a date with Aoi, she would ask Sara out.
That’s all I told them
I didn’t talk about yesterday’s kiss. It was an accident, and above all, it’d be embarrassing to tell these two.
That’s what happened, but after those two heard my story. . .Wait, why is Yoko holding her head!? Eh, Wakashima-san too!?
As I was taken aback by this reaction, Yoko simply said “No way. . .” with an unbelievable impression. No, I don’t understand what you mean by that.
Koharu is Koharu, and her spirits have clearly been lifted a bit, what is this reaction?
To my bewilderment, Yoko looked like she had a headache, and answered with “I’ll explain it as far as I know.”
“I knew about Sara-chan meeting Shimamoto-chan.”
“Eh!?”
I involuntarily got up a little and Yoko quickly said “Call down, stay seated.” with her palms out.
“I’m sorry I kept quiet. Well speaking in order from the timeline. Sara-chan went out with her friends from school, one of them seemed to be Shimamoto-chan’s friend. Sara-chan and Shimamoto-chan were going the same direction towards the train station, so they went together.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah, at that time, Shimamoto-chan seemed to have asked her for advice to help get along with you.”
“. . .So did she give advice.”
“Hey hey, let me finish. Sara-chan said one thing to her. You don’t like people doing things behind your back trying to fill the outer moat, and if Shimamoto-chan wants to get along. She simply said be honest. She was up front about it, so it was advice. . .?”
I see, certainly Aoi has become much more direct now.
If she had done stuff behind my back and scheme, I would have felt even more repelled towards Aoi than now.
“She didn’t want to help her at all, but it was a last resort for Sara-chan, she couldn’t push her away because she is a friend of a friend.”
“Oh, I understand now, but why did she hide it from me?”
“She didn’t want you to worry.”
“Eh. . ?”
Yoko shrugged.
“She knows you aren’t good at dealing with Shimamoto-chan, so she thought you’d worry if you found out she had that exchange with her.”
“Because of that. . .!”
I hate not knowing more.
But, well. This is the result of my own actions. Even if she did confide in me, I would have been quite upset.
Sara cared about me and kept silent, but when I heard she gave Aoi advice I felt like I was betrayed. . . I’m a damn fool.
“Thank you, I understand now.”
“You’re- welcome.”
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, if you didn’t always have to say the usual thing of giving you a thank you with my breasts, You’d be a really good friend.
But then again, maybe she was adding it to signal, “Don’t worry about it”, was that another point for her? No, I don’t want to admit that.
“So, what are you going to do about your promise? Cancel it?”
“I’d like to say I will, but if I reject her, wouldn’t she invite Sara out? Those two getting closer is a little. . .”
“Well about that, all you have to do is tell her not to accept the invitation. Besides, why are you so scared about them meeting?”
“I can’t say. . .”
The real reason is that I’m wary of the “Sara” route’s bad ending. That’s the number one thing I’ve been afraid of since I remembered my previous life.
I’m afraid of the forcefulness of Aoi. I’m afraid of the compelling power of the game world. I’m afraid it’s fate.
No matter how careful I am, I’m always afraid that something small will trigger it, and that horrific scene I saw in my dream will become real.
“You should be thinking more about yourself and Sara-chan, rather than Shimamoto-chan.”
“Me, and Sara?”
Yoko nodded in return.
Until now, Koharu has been silent. But now she added her approval with a “Seems like it.”
“She’s not going to give up, because you won’t move forward with your relationship with Sara-chan.”
“Well that’s. . .Okay, you have a point, but.”
“But what? Huh? You, the person who made a fervent pompous speech to the president and I, can say that so firmly. But when it involves yourself, you’re too scared to even move~?”
“Guu, Today you are awfully confrontational.”
I understand that too. If things stay as is, it will gradually get worse.
In order to protect Sara, bounding Aoi to the “Shiori route” will work.
But even so, there is no way I can just ignore my own feelings and go out with her.
My one and only favorite person is Sara. Her only.
So I thought I’d control the route, so Aoi wouldn’t get too close until I could secure Sara’s safety.
However, is that even okay to do? To play with Aoi’s feelings for the sake of Sara? If I did such a thing, would I have any right to be near Sara.
“Um, Could I have a moment?”
Until now, Koharu has just been a devoted listener, but now she modestly raised her hand and entered the conversation.
“By all means.” Yoko urged. It was as if we were in a meeting. It does fit the place, we are in the student council room. The topic is love though.
“Aoi-chan’s name just came up, and I’d like for you both to hear my story.”
“Yeah go ahead, what happened?”
Such a simple reply! No, I don’t mind.
Yoko was the one that answered, but Koharu turned her head towards me. What she was going to say she wanted me to clearly hear.
“I confessed to Aoi-chan.”
A breath leaked from my mouth.
It seems that I’m unable to move when I am too surprised. Koharu smiled wryly saying “You don’t have to be that shocked.”, as I was just at a loss for words.
After all, this is the true ending of the “Koharu” route, where Koharu gets rejected, but that seemed like it’d be a long way from now. . .this deviates from the game.
“Yesterday, Aoi-chan came over to my house. See, a little while ago, a Senpai told her she should talk directly to me, didn’t she?”
“U-Uhh, come to think of it. . .”
“I was surprised because it was really sudden, but we did talk about a lot of things. The reason why I left her group, and I heard how she felt about it. In the flow of our conversation, I ended up confessing, and was splendidly rejected.”
“. . . You did your best.”
Today, Aoi confessed to me again, so I knew the ending before she even got to it.
But, so it goes? Koharu did her best. Even though she knew what the answer would be, she stuck it out. And managed to confront it directly. It’s really amazing.
“It’s all thanks to you both Senpai.”
“No no, we didn’t do anything. Right Shiori?”
“Yeah, I didn’t do anything senpai like.”
At first I couldn’t just leave Koharu alone, so I called out to her, but in the end she ended up listening to my problems more than I her’s. It’s actually shameful of me that I can’t even move despite having this much support! I’m useless!
It’s because if I moved poorly there was a possibility of a bad ending! A clumsly done confession can put Sara’s life on the line. . . wait.
Since Koharu was rejected by Aoi, does that mean they achieved the true ending?
. . . No, perhaps it’s best to not think that way.
This is definitely the world of “Fragmented Rhapsody” that I knew from my past life, however many things have already changed. The fact that I met Sara, the way Koharu talks, and now the fact Koharu confessed to Aoi so quickly.
Beyond this point, I don’t think the current Koharu would ever pull a knife towards Sara.
“So then, I have a request for Sugimura-senpai.”
“For me? What is it?”
Suddenly I was called out. Despite having a slightly troubled expression, she clearly said.
“I want you to talk to Aoi-chan.”
After those unexpected words, I just replied “Didn’t we just talk?”. She said “True, but that’s not what I mean. . .”
She chose her words carefully, and slowly began to say.
“I know that Senpai doesn’t like Aoi-chan, and I also think Aoi-chan’s attitude doesn’t help, but. . .”
Yeah, honestly she scares me.
But most of all, that isn’t the only reason to avoid her.
“Or how should I put it? When it comes to Senpai, her gears frantically spin while also going nowhere. Often repeating things without really thinking them through. She is also aware that she is disliked. I know it’s hard to tell because she’s always smiling, but that’s just kinda like her armor. . . just because she’s smiling, doesn’t mean she’s not hurting.”
“Ah, I can see that. I get that Shiori’s plan was always not to encourage her, so I didn’t say anything but honestly I kind of felt bad for her at times.”
“Yeah, that’s right. It may be strange for me to ask this after I was just rejected, but she is still an important childhood friend.”
Koharu bowed her head saying, along with saying “that’s why I want you to face her properly.”
Seeing that, a sense of guilt spread throughout my heart.
After it was pointed out, have I ever had a serious one-on-one talk with Aoi?
For me, Aoi had always seemed like the key figure, a person who had the fate of Sara, Koharu, and I in her hands. She was like a god of death that threatened Sara’s life. That’s why I tried not to get involved with her as much as possible, and that was even before she turned her affections towards me. I was desperately pushing her away, and even just now, I was just thinking about taking advantage of her feelings.
Objectively, I am the worst.
Despite me seeing Sara and Koharu as people rather than just characters in a game. I only ever saw Aoi as the character “Aoi”.
“Understood. Yoko, may I borrow this room for when we talk?”
“By all means.”
Koharu’s expression suddenly brightened up.
Even though it involves the person who just rejected her, she cares this much. She is a good person.
“Oh, Wakashima-san. I also have a request.”
“What is it?”
I also have a favor to ask from this good natured junior.
I’ve actually been wanting to ask this for a long time.
“Is it alright if I call you Koharu?”
Yoko barked up “Hey, that’s cheating!”. Claiming she wanted to call her that too.
The person in question looked really shocked. Her soft cheeks turned bright red, and her mouth began to tremble.
“Oh, is it not alright?”
I already know what will happen, even if she says no I’m still gonna call her that anyways.
Koharu replied with a frustrated look, in response to me putting pressure on her with a smile.
“I-It’s fine. Doesn’t matter. Call me whatever you want.”
“Thank you Koharu.”
“Tsk. . . ! Senpai you are a good for nothing, and are only carried by your grades and face, it isn’t fair!”
“Oh, yeah you tell her! Say it more!”
“You’re all so rude!”
Maybe I was the only one that was willfully bound by the game. You might not have thought, but there was only one possible future, but repeating so many choices within it, before you knew it, somehow it seems she strayed from that route.
I have a deepest respect and admiration for Koharu, as she escaped her fate on her own, and made me aware of it. And to her, I’d like to extend my heartfelt friendship.
I’ve kept running away with excuse after excuse, it may be time to change that.