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Chapter 41
Chapter 2, Princess And I — Episode 41 : Festival's Eve
Translated by KaiesV
Edited by KaiesV
————Day before the School Festival.
「Look at this.」
「Is this…」
Hanayama handed me a blue metallic painted helm with white feathers next to each ear. In addition, the armor is deliberately placed on a kendo protective gear stand…
All of them are cardboard.
Is the Defense 0? I almost said something, but I was so fired up that I couldn’t say it even if I wanted to.
「I asked the Art Club to make it for me. Nice job, right?」
「Certainly…」
Hanayama isn’t doing the job anyway.
「But I’m surprised the Art Club even took it on at this busy time of year. Did you give them something as a gift or something?」
「Don’t worry about the details. When they said I’d get them a nude model, you said yes.」
「Wha—!?」
I had no idea he was that stupid… And I’m annoyed that he puts his hands on his hips and makes a smug face like he’s a man who can do the job.
「You, that’s not a good idea!」
Kagetsu-san? Onizuka-san? Kaneko-san? No, no, Nishino-san’s gaze too… not good, just imagining everyone wearing only one piece of cloth and modeling nude is enough to make my crotch go bad in the fall of art.
I absolutely have to stop that from happening, or so I thought, as Hanayama touched my shoulder and answered.
「It’s okay. Kirishima… you’ll do it!」
「Huh?」
Hanayama smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. Apparently, a girl in the Art Club had suggested that I get naked. That’s crazy!
I gulped and mumbled.
「My body that was sold…」
「Stop being a creep and get in a good mood. You’re going to change quickly.」
In the meantime, I want to keep my body in shape until then. I’ve been sharing some of Onizuka-san’s side dishes with her, and I’ve been gaining a little weight lately.
As I was urged to do so, I took off my blazer and shirt and went down to just my innerwear, which was somewhat embarrassing because of the way the girls looked at me. If I’m embarrassed at this level, I’m starting to wonder if I can really be a nude model.
「Kirishima-kun’s chest, it’s huge.」
「K–Kaneko-san!?」
A rotten girl who was seriously inspecting my pectoral muscles through my T-shirt and giving her impressions. I was scurrying around and comparing which was bigger than Hanayama’s.
Gently, Kaneko-san’s hand reached for my chest…
「Don’t touch him.」
「Don’t touch him without permission.」
My left hand was grabbed by Kagetsu-san and my right hand by Onizuka-san, who prevented Kaneko-san from sexually harassing me.
「Both of you… how… how mean…」
She looks really sad with tears in her eyes. I don’t know if I’m helping you or not, but chest/touching each other is somewhat of a fate.
「As long as I don’t get pinched or anything…」
「「Eh!?」」
I think boys touch girls’, if it’s consensual and sneaky, or something. But my chests aren’t worth much, and I had to get used to the modeling thing, so when I gave them permission, both Kagetsu-san and Onizuka-san were starting to panic.
「Now, let me take you at your word, Chest Touch! Mufufu, that’s a nice muscle～! I’m a muscle sommelier, and from what I can tell, it’s A5 rank.」
「What, is he beef? What does Kaneko know about Kirishima’s muscles? Let me handle this.」
「No, Onizuka-san, touching bare skin with bare hands is…」
Onizuka-san came at me from behind, and I almost let out a cry when her cold hand entered through a gap in the side of my T-shirt and touched my bare skin.
I couldn’t believe that after my crotch, my nipples would be the next to get teased…
That’s not all… Onizuka-san’s breasts is hitting my back!
No, what’s going on?
「If Mina does it, I’ll do it too…」
They’re boldly grabbing me from the front. What a strange situation… It’s nothing but a strange sight to have your chest, or rather your pectoral muscles, squeezed by the beautiful girls in your class.
「You girls, stop being idiots and get Kirishima to put on his armor.」
Then a savior appeared. Hanayama.
But…
「Hmmm, I’m in the top ten in our grade.」
「I was called an idiot by an idiot.」
「I just don’t like studying, don’t put us together!」
The three of them were mocking him, and he was quivering with his lips pursed and his fists clenched, his body trembling with a depressed look.
Everyone, stop it!
Hanayama’s pride will be shattered…
I was going to feel weird if they did any more, so I decided to call it quits on the touching time.
I don’t really mean that…
I tried on the helm and full plate, but the cardboard seemed to be reinforced with resin or something, and when I poked it with my fingernail, it made a dry clacking sound.
I wondered what the point of wearing a full plate was to tell otherworldly stories, but when I finally put it on, it was designed to inspire me to get excited about the kitchen, and I felt like I could tell a good story to those who came to listen, with more tension than usual.
I assure them!
I don’t wear any armor in the other world. At best, I wear a breastplate or something that is easy to move around in.
And they gave me a sword that looked like a very legendary sword, but I… I was mostly fighting with Gand and a big machete.
This is what I call a divergence from the legend…
Like, Ako Ronin didn’t wear dandara haori. But I think the people who come to hear the story expect a cool, interesting, and fun story rather than such truth, so some adaptation is warranted.
But I’m more concerned about something else!
I’m talking about my masterpiece, Buckethead. People have told me it’s mobbed, but I love the development of a demon-modified mass-produced machine that eats the lead mecha.
「Uhh, Hanayama. Where did you put that Buckethead?」
「Ah, about that. I’m gonna put it on.」
「Huh?」
「You’re the star of the school festival. I’m a supporting player, and you know it!」
I had dĂŠjĂ  vu.
He was like that otherworldly Scum Hero named Krim, who thinks he’s the star of the show, and he’s just been sucked off by a mob like me…
「Hanayama, please don’t suck it up!」
「What do you mean by that?」
In the end, I didn’t know about the sender of that love letter. But there was only one girl I could think of from that hair color.
Onizuka-san.
However, I don’t think there was anything that looked like a computer or printer at her house. Well, I can’t say for sure, since I can borrow them from a manga cafe. But if it were her, how would I respond?
I kept thinking about it, but there was no answer. I remember Shirakaba-san’s words in my mind, that there are no answers in life… I walked out of the school building, which was now completely dark, and headed to the back of the gymnasium, where the sender had specified.
（I may not be able to respond.）
Still, considering the sender’s feelings, I could not take the option of not meeting with her.
When I turned the corner of the doorway leading to the hallway, I found myself at the back of the gymnasium. The gymnasium is a place for cultural clubs to make presentations, so during the day I saw them busily preparing for the event, but now everyone has pulled out and it is not popular.
Maybe they are taking a rest to prepare for the show.
On the contrary, my racing heart and feelings would not rest. Determined, I quietly peeked around the corner.
「Kagetsu-san!?」
「Kaname…」
I was thinking like the other party might be Onizuka-san, but I was wrong. I almost feel self-loathing for being so self-conscious.
The expression on Kagetsu-san’s face when she saw me was so cloudy and sad that it looked as if it might start raining at any moment.
What does it mean to have a gloomy expression on your face even before you respond to a confession? I can understand if she was nervous and thrilled like me.
I was wondering why she was crying even before I confessed my feelings to her… When I was wondering why Kagetsu-san’s expression didn’t float, she opened her mouth to me.
「I have to tell Kaname something. I lied to Kaname…」
「Lied?」
You’re not lying?
No, she never confessed to me in the first place. Kagetsu-san, who told me the rest of the story, tells me.
「Yes, I wrote it on behalf of Papa.」
「Nhn…? Eehhhh——!?」
As I recall, the last volume of『Nayuta’s Familiar』was published around the time I graduated from middle school. I read it too and didn’t find it strange at all.
I remember being impressed by the writer who wrote it that a professional could write the same way in another author’s work.
I guess talent is a thing…
As I was thinking this, Kagetsu-san took a file out of her bag and handed it to me.
「So, to Kaname, I have a request. I want you to read this.」
「T–This is…」
Inside were about ten A4 sheets of paper, clipped to a stapler, and lined with vertical lines of text. It looked like it was going to be a long one, so we both sat down on the stairs at the base of the gym and turned the pages.
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Kagetsu-san watches me anxiously as I read the manuscript. The moment I read the manuscript, I recognized it immediately, although she had changed the names and other details.
「Did you write my otherworldly story?」
「Yes…」
If she went out of her way to show me, could it be…?
「Are you perhaps thinking of entering this in a contest somewhere?」
「I thought about that too. I was more interested in Kakuyomi. But I haven’t submitted it yet. If Kaname says no, I won’t.」
「I see, so that’s what your confession was about. Thank you, Kagetsu-san. Please post it. I’d be more than happy to do so.」
I think she was quite distressed, judging from her appearance.
The reason for her admission was simple.
【A Requiem for the Heroes Scattered in Another World】
The catchphrase she had written seemed to pull out a big wedge that was stuck in my heart.
I don’t care what I’ve been through.
This is how I made it back home alive. And with Kagetsu-san sitting next to me and my classmates, I am living a life that I consider to be the best.
All I can do is to live and survive for Shirakaba-san and the others.
And in whatever way I can, I want to tell their way of life. I have been thinking about this ever since I came back, as I gradually told otherworldly stories to everyone.
I thought Kagetsu-san was a great listener who got what I wanted to say, but also a storyteller who emotionally touched people’s hearts.
「Kaname… are you crying?」
She wiped my cheek with a handkerchief he took out.
Kagetsu-san’s novel hit me hard, and the deep descriptions penetrated me deeply like a sound. I cannot stop crying, a mixture of sadness and happiness.
「」
I was holding Kagetsu-san’s body close to mine. She responded to my hug, and I felt as if we were comrades… such solidarity had been born.
Less than love, more than friendship——