CH 6

The Natural Flag-raiser and the Saviour and the Prince (3)

“Good morning, Makoto.”

Unbelievably, the Prince’s seat was in front of mine. Next to me was Soutarou and during break time Kaname would come over. Could it be this was originally Mitsuki’s seat?

The Prince gave a greeting expressionlessly. Ever since I saved him from the delinquents the week before, for some reason the Prince started speaking to me more.

It seems like the Prince was by nature the type who doesn’t have many friends. There was somewhat an uproar when we first conversed. It was when the news of that Prince talking to a commoner made its way through the school.

“Ah, good morning, Kiritani.”

The Prince who took sat in his seat stared at me hard enough to bore a hole through my face.

Even if you stare at me so much, nothing will come out, you know.

“It became that I’ll be going for the training camp tomorrow too.”

The ears of the surrounding girls who were eavesdropping pricked up and they started a racket, going “kya kya”.

They probably didn’t expect that the Prince with no sense of cooperation would actually participate in the training camp. Since ordinarily he doesn’t even come to school.

“I see. The girls are delighted that you’ll be attending.”

“Who cares about them. More importantly, I want to be in the same group as Makoto.”

Hai? Wait, wait a moment, Prince, why are your cheeks turning red? Stop blushing while looking at me.

Is it that? He never had friends before so he’s embarrassed when he does something that friends do. Like inviting a friend to group up together for the training camp.

It can’t be that the subject of the Prince’s love is a guy, right. After all, he’s the Prince of an otome game. That the Prince of an otome game would fall in love with another guy is impossible.

The Prince whose face had a serious look even when his cheeks were dyed was truly the Prince.

His hair cuticle stands up finely, his complexion was fair and the components of his face were arranged so perfectly that they weren’t off by even 1 mm.

“Ah, I don’t particularly mind.”

“Me too! I, too…… want to be in the same group as Makoto……”

Next to me, Soutarou who had been docily listening to our conversation, interrupted while pulling at the hem of my clothes, gazing at me with upturned eyes.

What’s this. Is it trendy for boys to blush at other guys these days? I reflexively froze with opened eyes.

I can spot dog ears on Soutarou’s head. I can spot dog ears that are standing. It seems I’m weak to this face that Soutarou makes. It makes me want to listen to anything he says.

“Makoto, look over here.”

“Wa? Cho, Kiritani.”

“Makoto.”

While leaning on the table, the Prince’s face gradually edged closer.

I grabbed his wrist with the meaning of “You’re too close, go a bit further”. However, the Prince didn’t move away. Instead, he came closer and closer until it became a surreal situation where the tip of his nose was a mere 10 cm away.

Uwaaー…… what a pretty face. There’s also a very nice smell. I wonder what smell is that? It causes one to be spellbound. Wait, it’s not the time to be thinking of such things.

“Cho, Mako is troubled. Kiritani, please calm down……!”

While going “Awa awa”, Soutarou’s used his huge palm to cover my mouth.

“I am calm.”

Being pulled behind like this is kind of painful. But as it seems like it’s not the kind of situation where I can say that. I shall remain silent.

“Mako-chan, what are you doing with flowers in both handsー?”

Kaname approached us with a bitter smile. But, with Soutarou’s hand on my mouth, I can’t even speak.

Soutarou was sticking to me. Meanwhile, the Prince, with his hand on my chin, moved even nearer.

The students in the class were all looking over and laughing. It’s only been 2 weeks since I transferred but I have a bad premonition that my classmates had already stuck me with a weird label.

“Fujisaki, go over to that side.”

“Oh, the Prince called out my name? What should I do, Mako-chan?”

I realised recently, the one with the most common sense amongst my friends is Kaname. There’s no doubt that if he didn’t rescue me, this situation would be maintained until class starts. That’s troubling. In an unpleasant way I’m finding it hard to breathe, and the encompassing gazes are painful.

I sent Kaname a glare that says, “Help me”. With a “yare, yare”, Kaname shrugged.

“Kora, the Prince and Souta should let go of Mako-chan. A group can have 6 people so you don’t have to fight.”

Kaname pushed the Prince and Soutarou away and saved me.

Soutarou overtly appeared very downhearted, folding his huge body into a ball while looking at me. The Prince scowled at Kaname like a stray cat whose meal had been delayed.

“Thanks, Kaname.”

If Kaname didn’t save me, my stomach would have given up due to the awkwardness.

“Ie. Although I understand that Souta and the Prince like Mako-chan, there’s no point if you trouble Mako-chan, rightー?”

“Mako, I’m sorry…… did it hurt?”

Soutarou looked at me the way a dog who had been scolded would.

“Iya, it’s fine since I’m sturdy. It’s just that the surrounding gazes were painful.”

I began to stroke Soutarou’s head unconsciously. Initially I was worried that he might not like it, but it was a needless concern.

Very quickly, his cheeks turned slightly pink, and his eyes lowered as though he was embarrassed. What’s with the ‘innocent young maiden’-like reaction. This guy is possibly even more feminine than me.

“Makoto!”

Grabbing the arm of the me who had been stroking Soutarou’s head, the Prince glared at me with his crystalline eyes.

Even if you glare at me with such a face, I don’t know what you want if you don’t say anything. How troubling. I stopped stroking Soutarou’s head and turned towards the Prince.

“What’s wrong, Kiritani?”

“……”

There’s no response. It’s the usual Prince.

“Kiritani, if you don’t say anything, I won’t understand? Why are you angry? Or are you sulking?”

With his usual face that doesn’t express much emotion, the Prince softly murmured.

“Because……, Ever since just now…… Makoto……”

“Un? I’m sorry, Kiritani, I can’t hear you.”

The Prince definitely murmured just now, but with such a soft voice, I can’t hear him well.

Even though his voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible, with those pair of crystal clear eyes that reminds one of the sky fixedly staring at me so sharply, I became rooted to the spot. Isn’t it precisely because he’s the Prince that he can make people want to listen to him just with his eyes?

“Because, ever since just now, Makoto has only been paying attention to that guy.”

Etto, could it possibly be, he’s jealous?

Isn’t this too fast? In normal otome games one would usually have to spend a lot of effort to raise a favourable impression?

I’ve only been here for 2 weeks, and only knew the Prince for barely a week, is it okay to get dere so easily? Prince, you need to work harder.

“Oh…… Prince, you’re rather aggressive~”

I felt a bit of irritation towards Kaname who spoke like he’s impressed. He has it easy, thinking it’s someone else’s business.

“It’s not being aggressive or whatever. I just want to get along better with Makoto.”

You meant that in a friendship way, right? It’s okay for me to interpret it that way, right?

I’ll be troubled if it’s not like that, I smiled, trying to convey my feelings.

But getting along well with the Prince is a good thing. If I get along well with him, the encounter rate between the Prince and Mitsuki will naturally go up. This way, love will gradually sprout between them. After all, Mitsuki is the heroine.

“I also want to get along with Kiritani. Let’s be in the same group tomorrow, alright?”

It’ll be perfect if I add Mitsuki into the group that the Prince, Kaname, Soutarou and I are it. It’s impossible that some event will not occur during the training camp. No matter what, if I close the gap between the Prince and Mitsuki, a heart-throb love revolution will definitely take place.

Now that it’s decided, I have to raise Mitsuki’s specs! If I don’t do something about her chemical weapon-like cooking, there’s no way she can move the Prince’s heart.

The training camp tomorrow is my first big step towards returning to the other side.

Thinking of it that way, the training camp I was feeling depressed about suddenly seems moreexciting.