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Chapter 26
Chapter 2, Princess And I — Episode 26 : Father
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
————Two empty seats remain in the classroom.
One had a vase on the desk with beautiful flowers always in it. On the other side, there was a pile of unbearable abuse written all over it, and the surface was scratched.
【Seedless Watermelon】
I didn’t know who wrote it, but it seemed to accurately describe such a lascivious entanglement between Yamazaki and that girl.
A seat that remained after that person was gone, even though he had already dropped. It was left in place by the wishes of some classmates. Yamazaki’s seat is probably a complete venting.
「Was Kaori’s case an accident? Or was it a suicide?」
「Maybe she killed herself… after all.　Yamazaki dumped her.」
The news reported that she was hit hard all over her body, so the body was in a very bad condition… But only they know which one it was.
I heard a few comments about how jealous they were of her dating Yamazaki even though she was sober, but now most of the girls were sympathetic to that girl.
As for the boys…
「I heard that Yamazaki got his thing cut off by Sendō.」
「Ehh!!? I’m… getting shaken and shriveled up.」
「No, no, no, I heard he had surgery to attach them.」
「That information is out of date. It was probably bacteria that got into it, or it was rotten, necrotic, and fell apart.」
「Hieekk!!!」
「Seriously, it’s Sendō’s curse…」
The classmates who gossiped about her nodded yes to the other boy’s words as they looked at her seat.
As I stared at the seat with the vase of flowers, they put their hand on my shoulder.
「Hanayama…」
I turn around and shake my head without saying anything. What the hell did that girl want? I don’t know. Come to think of it, speaking of guys who don’t know, there was one in another world…
When the rumors were dying down, I was invited to the neighbor’s house by that girl’s father. He told me that the girl’s funeral was a family affair.
「I wasn’t sure if I should show this to Kaname-kun, who has lost his memory…」
They asked me to come by all means, and I couldn’t say no. I had also heard that the aunt was still in the hospital, so…
With the uncle watching behind me, I twisted the doorknob of that girl’s room and went inside.
I looked at the room and was immensely impressed.
Countless photos…
The walls and ceiling are covered with pictures of me…
In red, too faint to be paint, were scrawled「I love you,」and other words of fondness.
I hold my mouth down for such a one-sided favor and feel nauseous as stomach acid rises all the way up to my throat.
There were no cute girlish knick-knacks, and it looked as if she was trying to perform some kind of black magic. However, drops of water fell on the carpet, which was covered with numerous reddish-black spots.
Tears that have no feelings of sadness at all, but only flow as a physiological phenomenon, like when you miss a beat. I didn’t know why my body was reacting the way it was.
It’s not like my eyes hurt or anything…
I asked the uncle and he said she broke into a railroad crossing on her way back to this house. He was trying his best to keep his composure.
She may have turned to me because she had been dumped by Yamazaki, but I was baffled by her approach, which seemed excessive… well, abnormal to me, since I couldn’t remember anything about it.
I can only say that it is unfortunate that she has passed away, but no further emotion moves me, and after joining hands in front of the spirit, I return home.
————Friday after school.
「Kaname… can you come to my house at Saturday?」
「Ehh!?」
「If it’s convenient for you…」
On the way home, we were talking as usual when we came to the intersection at the junction of my and Kagetsu-san’s houses.
Suddenly, I was surprised to be invited by Kagetsu-san, and she shyly asked me about my availability. When I am puzzled by the unexpected suggestion, she runs off. I tried to follow her, but the pedestrian light had turned red and a car had already started to drive away.
Me, a loner on the side of the road on my way out of school…
「Hey～ Kirishima. You’re stopping here to pick up girls?」
Hanayama and Nishino-san were coming toward me, amicably holding hands as lovers.
「Is that what this looks like?」
「I think Kiritan would hook a lot of girls!」
Wha—!? Nishino-san… aren’t you too simpleminded for this handsome guy?　When I’m confused again…
「Kirishima! Don’t you dare pick up Natsuho and bring her home!」
「I won’t do that, and I’m not daring to! I’m just talking about a metaphor…」
Hanayama is coming at me with a strong sword, but there is still nothing, or rather, nothing to come of it! I’m not going to sleep with someone’s girlfriend, that’s the worst thing I might ever done.
「Hey～!」
Nishino-san, who cutely asks me for my consent… No doubt she is a little devil, toying with Hanayama.
I don’t want to get stabbed by Hanayama. Now that we can talk like friends. I told them both that I had been left behind by Kagetsu-san before I could get into a shouting match.
「This guy… you’re a real pain in the ass. Alright! I’ll tell her. What are you gonna do?」
「I don’t have anything important to do, so if it’s okay with Kagetsu-san, I’ll go.」
Nishino-san said that she would soon contact her… but since I’m a shitty loner who couldn’t even ask for a LINE, let alone pick up a girl, Hanayama’s offer was a godsend.
「Get proper contraception～!」
「Yoshino-chan’s a virgin, so don’t force it on her～!」
Why’s that going to happen!?
I’m not even dating Kagetsu-san…
「Me and Kagetsu-san don’t have that kind of a relationship.」
「I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I wouldn’t take care of someone who messes with Yoshino that lightly.」
Wait, don’t panic. This is Hanayama’s trap! Or was it… He’s surprisingly quick-witted, even though he’s an idiot.
Hanayama looks at Nishino-san, then narrows his eyes and looks at me. I felt like I was being taken for a ride by the two of them, but I felt warmly watched over.
《I want you here at 10:00.》
《Got it.》
The date and time of the visit is decided after exchanging with Hanayama on the LINE we exchanged. While things go smoothly with the guy…
————Early Sunday morning at 5:00 AM.
This is NOT a date!
I told myself that, but I knew I had to look presentable to go to a stranger’s house, so I waxed up and went out in proper attire. Of course I’m not wearing a beautiful girl Vtuber t-shirt inside!
Well, when I went to the convenience store, I wore a jersey and a T-shirt printed with my favorite character, I used to be hated by the female clerk as if I were the scorpion and she’s the hare, when I bought something, they would only greet me with a blank stare and「T——you」…
I don’t know what happened, when came back from another world and wearing the same outfit, but with a twinkle in her eye, her greeting was had changed to「Thank you for buying to our store!」I’m a little disappointed that I won’t be able to see that clerk who looks at me with such disdain.
I had gotten the address from Hanayama, so I was able to come without hesitation to Kagetsu-san’s house… It had the atmosphere of a young woman with a lot of experience in the ways of the world, but it was so large that it could be called a mansion rather than a house.
The garage with shutters connected to the house is closed, so there is no way to tell what kind of car is parked there. Probably, foreign cars are usually parked there.
It may be rude to look too closely at other people’s houses, but in the large garden, there is a garden table with a parasol and a few chairs, and it looks as if the madams will soon gather for a tea party.
There was even a sunroom that protruded out of the house. Looking through the glass walls, one could see a desk and a rocking chair with legs that looked as if they could sway. It would be great to snooze in a place like that in spring or fall.
This is what I call disparity…
I rang the intercom that was by the gate. While I was admiring the cleanliness of their well-kept yard with no weeds growing out of control, a few moments later I heard a clanking sound and saw Kagetsu-san open the door to show me.
「Step up. Don’t be shy.」
「Ah, okay. I’m sorry for intruding～」
When she saw my face, she looked a little flustered and shyly played with her hair. Kagetsu-san’s dark blue one-piece dress with a white sailor collar with stripes accentuated her ladylike appearance.
It was when I took off my shoes and went up to the wide knocking of the front door. The door to what appeared to be the living room opened and
「My, oh, my, well, well! I can’t believe Yoshino-chan brought a boy other than Miya-chan! I’ll have to cook some sekihan.」
Red rice… Is it really that big a deal?
A beautiful older woman who looked like Kagetsu-san with a cute apron… and from her age, she looked like her older sister.
「Shut up, Mama…」
Ehh!?
Mama? She was so young that I thought they were less than ten years apart in age. I know, there’s no way I’m going to be asked out of the blue and have a「my parents aren’t here today」 development!
But Kagetsu-san, perhaps not wanting me to see her face, desperately pushed the body of the woman she called “mama” into the living room, as if she were trying to seal a demon lord who must not be revived.
「I’m sorry, I made you all that to happen…」
「N–No, that’s not true…」
With a squeak, the door slammed shut. 「Ahhn～ Yoshino-chan～ Show me your boyfriend’s face, for goodness sake!」 Kagetsu-san’s mother’s voice came from behind the door.
I think our relationship has been misunderstood…
「She seems like an interesting mother. She seem to have fun every day.」
「Mama always has a lot to say. Without it…」
After successfully sealing the seal, Kagetsu-san wipes the sweat with her sleeve as if she had finished the job. Sure, there may be many parents who have a lot to say, as Kagetsu-san said, but if you were a mother, wouldn’t you be concerned about your children? Especially when a girl brings a boy…
「I asked Kaname to come to my house because I wanted to show you something. Follow me.」
She led me to a room…
She has very austere taste for a highschool girl. There was a brown-toned bookshelf, a desk, and a solid black leather seat, either genuine leather or synthetic leather, I’m not sure.
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The large desk was neat and tidy with only a computer and a pen case, but it lacked a sense of life or seemed to have not been used for a long time.
Looking down at the bookshelves, one sees a miscellaneous collection of European landscape photographs, historical documents, dictionaries, encyclopedias, novels, and mangas. They say you can tell a person’s shape from their bookshelves…
Reading from that, it didn’t seem right for Kagetsu-san’s taste.
What was even more interesting was the layout of the bookshelves.
Several of the ranebooks were neatly arranged in a book stand with one book per shelf.
【Nayuta’s Messenger】
One of the most conspicuous was a light novel with such a title. If I remember correctly, I think it was a boy-meets-girl otherworldly fantasy with a boy summoned by a childhood tsundere witch girl.
Not something I’ve ever read live. As I was staring at it, Kagetsu-san opened her mouth.
「Yamagata Nicom… that’s my Papa’s penname.」
「Wha—!?」
I was familiar with the penanmes that would often go to war over seasoning and ingredients. I saw on the internet news that he had died during the serialization of Nayuta’s Messenger.
The「My parents aren’t here today」thing, actually meant「My father isn’t here anymore…」
「So that means, Kagetsu-san was Yamagata-sensei’s daughter!?」
「Yes… My dad always told me stories about other worlds. Interesting ones, like the one Kaname had…」
When I say my story is interesting, I’m just talking about what I’ve experienced. It would be a misnomer to call my creation a made-up story, but I’m impressed that I can come up with such a story.
It was a time when I was admiring the wealth of creativity of novelists.
「My dad told me not to tell anyone, but… he said he came back from another world, just like Kaname.」
「Ehh!?」
I can’t believe my ears when Kagetsu-san said that.
「He wrote the light novel about it because no one believed him.」
「And who knows about that?」
「Me and my mom… I might have told Miyabi, but I don’t know if he believes me.」
Yeah, Hanayama didn’t believe my story either… I could tell he was guy that didn’t have bad intentions.
「A writer who was a good friend of him wrote it based on the plot that was left and what my mom and I had heard, and it didn’t go out of print. But there is one story that my dad told me that is not in the book. It’s about Kaname.」
「Ehh!? About me?」
Kagetsu-san looked me in the eye with clear eyes and nodded her head. Her father had returned from another world, and he was talking about me? There was so much information overload that it far exceeded my brain’s ability to process it.