Chapter 4 – My Desired Demise

After finishing all my errands (mainly stuff related to Cosmos and Himawari), I spent the night in my room, thinking.

My room was simple, nothing worth mentioning was there.

I only had the bare minimum furniture installed, a computer and a few mangas.

Let’s not talk about my room. I wanted to go through my current situation first.

Firstly, my current goal would be to help Cosmos and Himawari with their love lives. Both of them loved the same person, my best friend and the ace of the baseball club, Sun-chan. The plan was to pick up whoever among the two of them who’ll get rejected by him.

Yeah, I’m fine with getting the leftovers. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t like I could back down at this point.

Next was Pansy. She confessed to me.

This girl knew everything. From my true personality and the fact that I was helping Cosmos and Himawari out. To put it simply, she was a major nuisance to my plan.

Surprisingly though, she hadn’t done anything major that could be detrimental to me yet.

The only thing she did was tell me to spend my lunch break with her every day.

I honestly didn’t know what the point was. Maybe she really just wanted more screen time.

If that was really her goal, then I guess I’ll go there more often so she could get what she wanted.

Anyway, from now on, my current schedule would be as follows;

Morning: Helping Himawari out.

Lunch: Hanging out with Pansy (Fuck this one).

Evening: Helping Cosmos out.

My schedule looked like something that came out of a galge.

To summarize, my situation was like this;

[Himawari and Cosmos likes Sun-chan] [Pansy likes me]

…Something like that.

Honestly, since there were three flowers involved in this fiasco, I expected that all of them would be gunning for Sun-chan.

Never did I expect that one of them was gunning for me instead.

It would be better if she were to join Himawari and Cosmos and turn the love triangle into a total mess.

[Himawari, Cosmos and Pansy like Sun-chan] [Me], normally it would go that way, right?

Also, why out of the three flowers, it was the weirdo who fell for me?…

Anyway, that was my current situation. Next, my plan for the future.

Since if I were to start thinking about Pansy I’d have an actual mental breakdown, I’ll refrain from doing so.

So, let’s talk about Cosmos and Himawari instead.

If I didn’t support those two properly, those two wouldn’t be able to do anything.

I learned that fact the hard way.

The day before yesterday, I managed to create a moment where they could flirt around with Sun-chan as much as they liked for both of them. But I didn’t do the same yesterday because I wanted to see how they’ll fare without me (With consent from both of them, of course).

The result? Awful. Just awful.

It was to the point that it amazed me on how awful they were at this.

In addition to that, I managed to catch a glimpse of those girls’ dark sides. I was disillusioned by them. (Well, it was my fault because I was the one who held those two in such regards. It was probably a good thing for it to happen.)

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about what happened yesterday, in the morning and after school.

As for what happened during lunch… Just read the previous chapter, the thing that happened wasn’t any different than that. Spare me from reliving that moment, please…

Anyway, I’ll start with Himawari…

* * *

By the time I entered the classroom, Himawari was already talking to Sun-chan.

For today, her goal would be ‘having some skinship with Sun-chan.’

She failed spectacularly yesterday, so I urged her to do it right this time.

I told her, ‘If you can do it with me, then you can do it with him!’ to which she replied, ‘I see! As expected of Joro! Then, I’ll just think that I’m hugging a really tall stick!’

Apparently she had been treating me as a stick, so today I’d be acting as a stick.

And so, I resolved myself to not lend her a hand no matter what would happen.

“Hahaha, you’re as funny as always, Himawari!”

“Hehehe, thank you!”

It seemed like they were having some kind of a funny conversation.

After their conversation ended, Himawari took a step back from Sun-chan.

Ah, she resolved herself to hug him at this moment, huh?

She spread her arms wide and swallowed her own saliva.

“What’s wrong, Himawari?”

“!”

She suddenly freaked out. That was a normal response from him, you know? His conversation partner suddenly opened her arms wide, of course he would be confused.

Ah, it seemed like she noticed that she needed to come out with something quickly.

Slap! With a pose that implied that she had been doing this for years already, she put her hands together.

Now what? You didn’t have the necessary materials for any equivalent exchange shenanigans¹Both the clap and this are Fullmetal Alchemist references. The clap is an iconic pose of Edward Elric, the main character and equivalent exchange is the main principle behind alchemy in that series..

“O-One gnocchi²Gnocchi is an Italian dumpling.!”

Himawari then stretched her combined hand upwards and turned it into a drill that pierced the heavens³Gurren Lagann reference. A quote from Kamina.!

“Um, Himawari? Are you trying to turn into a bamboo shoot? …Is there something wrong?”

Sun-chan looked troubled. I get your feelings.

“Um… I-I… I love bamboo shoots! D-Do you want to eat some with me sometimes?!”

Said Himawari with a trembling body. It would be hard to pierce through the heaven looking like that.

“S-Sure…”

Amazing, Himawari. Good job.

It was the first time I’ve ever seen Sun-chan making a weirded out face like that.

“A-Auu…”

She turned to look at me with teary eyes. At least get out of that drill pose first!

[Help.]

We agreed that I won’t help you for the day.

[Figure this out yourself! Hang in there!]

Alright. Done. Today, my role was to be a stick.

“U-Um… I-I don’t get it, but if you want to eat some bamboo shoots, let’s get some before our club starts!”

Hearing those words, her gaze turned sharp.

Then, she broke her drill pose and slowly opened her mouth.

“Why can’t it be after that?”

Amazing. In no time, she managed to deduce that Cosmos was related to this.

Himawari looked like a mother trying to get an answer from her child, but the truth wasn’t like that at all.

This wasn’t the normal Himawari, but Black Himawari.

The same Himawari who appeared after she heard that Cosmos was also gunning for Sun-chan.

Her tone when she spoke was way lower than usual and it scared me.

Even I, who knew what was going on, was this scared, let alone Sun-chan who didn’t even know anything.

See? He was sweating like a pig.

“W-Well, you see… I-I’m supposed to hang out with Cosmos-san after I’m done with my club…”

“Why?”

Woah, she did a neck tilt! Her eyes were wide open!

This was the yandere thing people had been talking about, wasn’t it?

Seeing it in person felt scarier than I thought!

Then, she moved her head toward my direction.

I could tell what she wanted from a simple eye contact.

[What is going on?]

She was scary, but I shouldn’t be scared. After all, I’ve told her in advance that I’d be helping Cosmos too.

[It’s as he said.]

While suppressing my racing heart, I conveyed that message by using simple eye contact.

“I’m going with you!”

“Huh?”

“I’m going with you!”

“Oi, oi, what is it out of the sudden, Himawari?”

Well, I knew that this would happen, that was why I didn’t tell her anything about it.

Sun-chan was confused on how to handle her. She was in her spoiled brat mode, it was hard to handle her in this mode.

I could never refuse any of her requests whenever she went into this mode.

“Take me with you! I will never let you be alone with that woman!”

“That…woman?”

Hearing this, Sun-chan’s eyes changed.

You messed up, Himawari. You should have never acted like that in front of him.

See what I meant? Sun-chan took a step away from her.

“Sorry, Himawari. I can’t take you with me.”

“Ugh!”

That was exactly what would happen if you talk shit about someone in front of him.

“Look, I don’t know much about Cosmos-san. Maybe you know more about her than me, but from the way you referred to her, it’s clear that you don’t like her that much. Why would I bring you along if that’s the case?”

“Ugh…”

“Sorry. As for the bamboo shoots, let’s get some any other time.”

With that, he turned his back on Himawari, waved his hand and left her, before starting a conversation with another friend of his.

At least you’ll get your bamboo shoots date eventually, Himawari.

Honestly, I expected him to be angry with her and give her the silent treatment for a few days, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Still, with that, his affection points toward her had dropped by 5 points.

After that, Himawari made eye contact with me, asking me with her gaze, ‘What should I do?’ To that, I just turned my gaze away. There were things that I couldn’t do and fixing up this mess of hers was one of them.

…Next, let’s move on to Cosmos’ side.

* * *

Cosmos and Sun-chan promised to meet at the school gate after school.

Before that, we were waiting inside the council room together for his call.

This was the arrangement that we made back when we went to the fast food restaurant.

While waiting, Cosmos read her pink note over and over while reciting the words that she planned to say to him. She reminded me of an actress trying to memorize her script.

Her goal for today would be to have a normal conversation with Sun-chan.

Since she was too flustered to do anything the other day, I told her to fix that first.

Out of concern, I advised her, ‘Just think of it as if you’re talking to me!’ to which she replied, ‘Got it! I’ll treat him like a stick!’

To her, I was nothing but a stick. I could feel my blood boiling.

And so, I firmly told myself that I wouldn’t help her no matter what happened.

“T-Thank you for waiting!”

This time, she did a good job greeting him. Then again, the bar was low. Anything would be better compared to the previous greeting she did.

“Cosmos-san, I’m younger than you, so please, just speak casually with me.”

“A-Alright! I-I’ll do ash you weesh!”

I shoulda known. Yes, that awkward greeting was gone, but the Cosmos accent stayed.

“Hahaha, you’re so funny, Cosmos-san!”

In reality, she was just nervous around you.

“By the way, I have something I want to ask you, Cosmos-san.”

“W-What is it? A-Ask away! I’m prepared for anything!”

“Prepared? Um, I just want to ask what your hobby is…”

“M-My hobby?! T-That’s…”

She tried to sound as natural as possible, but she ended up the opposite as she fumbled her words a lot.

“T-That… I-I wasn’t prepared for that question!”

What do you mean?! That question should be among the questions that you should be prepared for! And you were doing so well!

Now that you were in trouble, you were asking me for help through eye contact? What was it?

[What should I answer?]

Why the hell were you asking me that?

[Whatever you like.]

Do your best, Cosmos. This stick was too busy being burned by the flame of rage to help you out.

“…U-Um! I-I really like cooking! D-Despite how I look, I-I’m really good at it!”

‘Despite how I look?’ You look like you would be good at cooking, ma’am.

You should use those words when you are bad at cooking instead. If that was the case, then we could call it gap moe.

“Huh, sounds great! Can I taste your cooking sometime?”

“S-Sure! I-I’ll cook up something for you next time!”

“Woah, really? Lucky me~”

That was good. If things were to proceed this way, she would be ahead of Himawari in this race.

“S-So, when do you want me to make it?”

I knew that you were excited, but put that note away.

“Anytime. Just give them to me whenever you feel like it, Cosmos-san.”

“G-Got it! T-Then, tomorrow at lunch!”

And things were getting better. She left Himawari in the dust.

Seeing how bright her expression was, she seemed to be really happy about this situation.

It was disgustingly adorable.

“Got it! I’ll be in your care then!”

“Leave it to me!”

“Ah, can I have one request?”

“Request? What is it?”

“Can I invite my friend? Her name is Himawari…”

“Himawari?…”

Whoa, Sun-chan did something that I didn’t expect!

Why the hell would you bring her up here? You knew that Himawari was hostile toward her, right?

“This morning, she told me she wanted to eat some bamboo shoots, so I figured that we could eat lunch together tomorrow. What do you think, Cosmos-san?”

He triggered the bamboo shoot’s card effect!

Sun-chan activated the set card, ‘Bamboo Shoot!⁴This is a Yugioh reference.’

This card had an effect… I don’t think I need to elaborate on that.

“I think the two of you will get along well! What do you think?”

“N-No, me and Himawari-san are a bit… Our heights are different⁵Pun. I don’t even know how to explain this. She said 丈のことはちょっと…、 literally meant ‘the height is a little…’ It spelled ‘Take no koto wa chotto…’ The pun here is that Bamboo Shoot/タケノコ reads as ‘Takenoko.’ Basically, she thought that Sun-chan was talking about something else and ignored the rest of his sentence. I don’t know how to translate this bit to English, so I just translated it directly, sorry.…”

Cosmos-chan~ You’re impossible~ I can’t do it anymore~ This is so painful~

“Wrong. I was talking about bamboo shoots.”

Nice retort from Sun-chan!

“I’m thinking that it would be fun for us to eat lunch together. What do you think?”

Aha, so you were trying to make them get along. As expected of you, Sun-chan.

Except that it was a bad idea.

You were the reason why they didn’t get along in the first place (Not blaming you, by the way).

“That’s what this is all about?…”

There we go! Another one! Dark Cosmos! Black Himawari was scary, but Dark Cosmos was even scarier⁶Eclipse Cosmos is scarier, if you know what I mean.! Wait, this pattern… Somehow I could guess what would happen next…

She let out a giggle before tilting her neck and turning her gaze toward my direction.

[What is going on?]

I’m genuinely scared…

But, I shouldn’t back down. If I replied to her properly like what I did with Himawari, things should be fine.

[It’s as he said.]

Oh, no. That didn’t go as well as I thought. Well, whatever.

“Um, is that a no?”

“No, I don’t mind. Himawari-san, right? I guess we can invite that brat to come along.”

“That…brat?”

I knew it. She fell into the same hole that Himawari fell into.

I swear, those two were either sharing the same braincells or were actually secretly colluding behind my backs.

As a matter of course, Sun-chan took a step back from Cosmos and looked at her with cold eyes.

“Never mind. Let’s not have that lunch tomorrow.”

“Ah!”

That was when Cosmos realized her blunder. Oh, well.

Sun-chan was an upright person. He wouldn’t take it well if you were to talk badly about someone behind their backs.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I know that you two don’t seem to have a good impression on each other. I don’t think it will be fun if we were to eat lunch together.”

“Ah… U-Um…”

Cosmos looked flustered, trying to somehow improve Sun-chan’s mood.

However, since she didn’t prepare herself to deal with this kind of situation, no words managed to come out of her mouth.

“Let’s leave it at that for today. We should plan our lunch at another time.”

Despite all that, he still promised to eat lunch with her later. He was more thoughtful than I thought.

At least he didn’t cut their relationship off right there and then.

That alone was a blessing in disguise.

He turned his back on her and left.

Meanwhile Cosmos only stood there with blank eyes and opened mouth until Sun-chan’s back left her sight.

Huh, wait, that expression seemed familiar.

Ah, right, a Haniwa. She looked like a regional Haniwa⁷Before someone says it, no, it isn’t a Rance or Evenicle reference. Haniwa is a terracotta figure Ancient Japanese used for rituals. They usually bury them together with a dead body as a funerary object. One trait about Haniwa is that they have hollow eyes and mouths. with an unfortunate face.

After Sun-chan disappeared from her sight, she turned to face me.

“W-What should I do?”

That was my line. What do you think I should do in this kind of situation?

Seriously, I couldn’t fix this kind of mess!

* * *

That was what happened today.

Did you get it? They were that bad. As soon as I stopped saying anything, they went haywire and made a big mess like that.

The problem with them was that they were too passionate. As soon as they heard the name of their rival being mentioned, they immediately let their disgust show. If things were going to continue on like this, they only had one future in store. Sun-chan would definitely dump them both.

Huh, wait… Wasn’t this a good chance for me?

If I could snatch both of them, I could start my own harem!

As I was thinking about that, someone texted me.

[That won’t happen.]

The text came from an unregistered address. Who?

Uh… JoroisminebySumireko@doco… Wait, was this Pansy?

[Correct.]

“Hiiii!”

She really was stalking me! How could she know about my email address?!

And on top of that, she was reading my mind while texting me! Scary!

W-Wait, I gotta calm down… Breathe in, breathe out… Okay…

I turned off my phone and plopped down on my bed.

Gazing at the ceiling, I reflected on the things that happened today and started to think about the future.

Initially, I planned to get one of them together with Sun-chan and snatch whoever was dumped by him.

But, I slowly started to lose the desire to do that.

Those two were pretty and their personalities weren’t that bad either.

It was just, they were too pushy to others.

I bet Sun-chan would have a lot of troubles in his hands if he were to go out with one of them.

He was a nice guy, if possible, I didn’t want him to deal with that kind of trouble.

…Whatever, let’s stop thinking about that.

Aside from that small flaw, they had other good points. If he were to hang out with them enough, I bet they’ll eventually try to fix that flaw. Hell, I could just tell them to fix it! Alright, I’ll do my best to help both of them!

Besides, I promised them that I’d help them. It would be dumb to back off at this point.

* * *

“I want to ask Sun-chan out on a date!”

“Date?”

“Yes!”

Next morning, on our way to school, Himawari surprised me with those words.

What the hell was this girl on about?

She made Sun-chan angry with her antics just the other day.

Rather than asking him out, she should make up with him first!

“You see! I’ve been thinking!”

Huh, that was unusual. Alright, I’ll lend my ears.

“What is it?”

“Tah-dah!”

With a made up sound effect, she pulled out two tickets from her bag.

“Those are… Movie tickets?”

“Yes!”

“I assume one of them is for Sun-chan?”

“Correct! Amazing, Joro! You figured it out so quickly!”

It would be more amazing if I didn’t figure it out that quickly after seeing you waving those tickets happily like that.

Besides, I doubt that you’d invite another person to go with you. Me? Nah, hell no.

“Then, do your best asking him out.”

“Joro, can I ask you a favor?”

“A favor?”

“Help me to ask him out!”

“…You want me to ask him out?”

“Yes!”

You deserved some credits for coming up with the idea, but really? Why couldn’t you just ask him out yourself?

It didn’t make any sense to ask for my help here.

“Just ask him yourself.”

“No~ Way~!”

Dumb~ Ass~

I made a blatantly disgusted face, but she quickly embraced my arm.

I could feel something soft hitting my arm. It seemed that she didn’t realize this.

There was no hint of embarrassment in her eyes as she stared right into my eyes with a pitiful look.

“Please~ Joro~”

Bitch! Bitcher! Bitchest!

To make me use ‘The Three Steps Bitch Conjugation,’ this girl was truly a natural bitch!

“You’re the best man for the job, Joro! You two got along really well, after all!”

Ah, well. I guess so, huh? We got along really well indeed. Me and Sun-chan were best friends after all!

You got it, didn’t you, Himawari? Right, right.

Well, since that was the case, it couldn’t be helped!

As Sun-chan’s best friend, I’ll lend you a hand!

“So…”

I told her a plan she could use.

Firstly, Himawari would invite me out in front of Sun-chan. I told her to do it as loud as possible so everyone could hear it. That would rouse Sun-chan’s curiosity so that he could come over to us.

That was the extent of her job. Next, came mine. When Sun-chan joined in, I’ll pretend that I would be unavailable for that day and asked him to go with her instead.

Since Sun-chan was a kind person, he wouldn’t reject it unless he had a very good reason.

Honestly, it was a little petty of me to try to use his kindness like this, but Himawari seemed to be happy after hearing the plan, so I guess this was okay.

Alright, commence the plan!

* * *

I entered the classroom and noticed that Sun-chan was already there.

Himawari wasn’t talking to him, because of what happened the other day.

As soon as I took my seat, I sent a glance toward Himawari.

When she noticed it, she immediately rushed toward my seat.

“Joro. Let’s go. Movie.”

Awful. Just awful. Each of her gestures looked artificial, her tone sounded forced. This girl didn’t have any talents in acting.

The content of her line was awkward too. At least start with a greeting and some small talks before you bring up the main topic!

“I told you. I have other plans on Saturday.”

If this were to keep up, I doubt Sun-chan would come over—

“What are you two talking about?”

Oh, there he was. Crazy. I thought we definitely messed up there, but he actually came over.

Alright, since he was here, we could continue the operation.

“Ah, Sun-chan, hear me out! Joro doesn’t want to come with me!”

At least make it clear what you were talking about. You should mention ‘movie’ somewhere in your sentence.

“Uh… What is this all about?”

With a puzzled look on his face, Sun-chan asked me.

Well, he made the right move. It was better to ask me instead of Himawari in this situation.

I glanced at Himawari, who had moved to hide behind Sun-chan. With a smug look, she made a gesture, as if she was saying, ‘I’ll leave everything to you!’ Did she seriously think that was the extent of her job?

“Well, Himawari got two tickets for a movie, so she asked me to go with her, but I have something coming up on that day, so…”

“Then, can I go in your stead?”

““Really?!””

I accidentally said that together with Himawari.

That caught me completely off guard. I didn’t expect that he would come up with the idea on his own.

“Y-Yeah… I-I mean, weren’t we talking about going to watch a movie a few days ago? Ah, of course I’ll only go if Himawari agrees…”

“Yes! I agree! Let’s go together!”

Our conversation the other day! Nice! For it to come up during this time, it was a fortunate miscalculation!

“O-Okay… Alright, I’ll go with you then, Himawari!”

“Mm! Yay! Don’t be late!”

“Yes, leave it to me! Being punctual is my middle name!”

“That’s reassuring! I’ll believe your words then!”

“Attaboy!”

Himawari seemed really excited.

Like me, she probably didn’t expect Sun-chan to do that.

Also, it seemed like Sun-chan had forgotten about what happened yesterday already.

If it was me, I would avoid her for a day or two. I guess that’s just the kind of person he was, huh?

“Alright, then this is your ticket, Sun-chan!”

Himawari happily handed over the ticket that she prepared.

“Huh… ‘Meat Wars: The Beef Awakens⁸Stars Wars: The Force Awakens.?’ Sounds interesting!”

That was one hell of a title. What kind of shitshow was that movie? I would never agree to watch it.

“Ah! Jojoen Skywalker is in the movie!”

He existed?! Jojoen Skywalker existed?!

* * *

Now for the highlight of the day… Lunch.

As promised, I went to the library.

I really didn’t want to go, but I didn’t know what she would do to me if I didn’t go.

Dealing with Himawari and Cosmos made me feel depressed, but this matter made me even more depressed than that.

As I entered the library and walked in, Pansy got up from the reception desk and followed me.

I went to the back of the reading area and sat there. Pansy followed suit and sat right beside me.

The reason why I chose to sit here was simple.

Because it was located in the far back.

I could hide easily if I needed to.

“I’m happy that you’re here.”

“…”

Pansy said while looking at my face. Obviously, I ignored her.

“Hello.”

“…”

I liked a beauty with a big chest, not a plain girl with a small chest like her. Obviously, I ignored her.

“If you don’t talk with me, I’ll get lonely, you know?~”

“What do you want to talk with me about?”

Hearing Pansy’s somewhat sulky voice, I showed her a disgusted look.

“Anything goes.”

“Then I won’t talk.”

“But I want you to talk”

“That’s your problem, not mine.”

While fiddling with her braids, she made a thinking gesture.

After a while, she did a light clap. It seemed like she managed to come up with something.

“Alright, then, tell me about those two. What have you done to help them?”

“And what would you do if I were to tell you that?”

“I can come up with something to help you out.”

What was she planning? She had a happy look on her face. Was she really trying to help me?

…No, I shouldn’t trust her that easily. Remember all the things that she had done to me. There must be a sinister plot going on.

But still, it wasn’t like I could just refuse her. Who knows what she would do to me if I were to refuse her.

“Not much. I’m just trying to bring them closer to Sun-chan. Yesterday, they made him mad somehow, so I was planning to appease his anger, but it seems like he’s already over it, so I didn’t need to do that.”

Sun-chan seemed to not be concerned about yesterday’s events. You could tell it by the attitude he had toward Himawari this morning.

I also asked him about what happened after school yesterday. ‘It’s all good.’ Was his answer to me. That meant he wasn’t mad with Cosmos. What a big-hearted guy, as expected of my best friend.

“You’re a kobachi⁹This confused me. The raw used 小鉢/kobachi which means small bowl. As far as I know it doesn’t have a second meaning to it. However, there is another kobachi, which is 小蜂, which refers to a family of wasps called Chalcidoidea. They are small wasps that have a parasitic relationship with other insects and various plants. The second kobachi fits the context more than the first. Basically, she’s just calling him a parasite. This is either a pun or typo, I don’t know., huh?”

She read me like an open book. Though that wasn’t surprising to me anymore.

If I were to worry about every single detail in our conversation, it wouldn’t be long before I go insane from retorting her words.

“You know, I was thinking…”

“What is it?”

“…Nothing, never mind.”

“Huh?”

She was about to say something, but stopped mid-sentence as she shook her head.

“What is it? If you have something in mind, then say it.”

“By the way, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“Suddenly changing the topic of the conversation… Whatever, what is it? This time, say whatever is in your mind properly.”

“Does Oga-kun have someone that he likes?”

“…Ah!”

Right! I completely overlooked that possibility!

If Sun-chan were to like someone else, that would be bad for me! Well, if it was either Cosmos or Himawari, it would be fine, but if it was any other girl… There was also a possibility that he might already have a girlfriend!

Wait, that one seemed unlikely. I mean, if he already got a girlfriend, he wouldn’t treat Cosmos and Himawari the way he did. Sun-chan was an earnest man, so he would definitely distance himself from them.

“That’s… I…”

“So you don’t know?”

“Yes, I don’t know.”

“Do you feel thankful to me now?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Be thankful to me.”

She pouted while looking at me. So what?

“Impossible.”

“Humans grow whenever they try to take on the impossible.”

“I’m already doing enough of that right now. By trying to communicate with you.”

“Alright, then I’ll do the impossible too. By telling Oga-kun everything–”

“Please accept my heartfelt thanks.”

“Disgusting.”

After that last venom came out from Pansy’s mouth, silence enveloped the library once more.

I wanted to keep my mouth shut, but this braided demon beside me was holding a Kojien¹⁰It’s a Japanese dictionary. Think of it as Cambridge but for Japanese language instead of English. in her right hand.

She wanted me to start the conversation this time it seemed.

“Pansy.”

“What is it?”

When I curtly called out to her, her eyes glittered.

That reaction of hers annoyed me.

“Do you enjoy talking with me?”

“Honestly, it’s boring.”

Her nonchalant voice reached my ears.

“Then, why did you tell me to talk with you?!”

“Because I want to talk with you.”

“Then, why can’t you just lie and say that you’re happy to talk with me?! What’s wrong with you?!”

“I’m not a liar.”

“Then, just keep that to yourself!”

“I don’t want to hide my feelings from you.”

Haah… I didn’t know what was wrong with her head.

She didn’t enjoy talking to me, but she still wanted to talk with me anyway.

What an incomprehensible lifeform.

“Being with you makes me happy, but you keep bullying me…”

“Who’s bullying who now?! Why don’t you think about your words carefully before you say it out loud?!”

“But, I did. I gave it a good thought before saying it out loud. Though, I think you are the one who needs to think carefully before you act.”

“Ugh…”

She said that nonchalantly. Her words frustrated me, but she was right.

I really should think carefully before I act. All this time, I left out Sun-chan’s feelings from the equation.

Thanks to her, I managed to realize this before things went out of hand.

“…”

I couldn’t say anything back, so I just stared at Pansy’s face. She returned my gaze with a blank expression.

There was a hint of anticipation in her eyes, though.

Fuck. I get it. I just need to say it, right?

“…Thank you, Pansy.”

“You’re welcome.”

Her tone was lighter than usual. My response must have satisfied her.

Anyway, I really need to find out about the person that Sun-chan liked…

I hope that person was either Cosmos or Himawari and he didn’t consider anyone else. But that was the best case scenario here.

As for the worst case scenario… No, let’s not think about that. Thinking about it would just make me unhappy.

I’ll stop thinking about it.

“Joro-kun.”

“What?”

“Can this be considered as our first time cooperating with each other?”

“No way in hell!”

After saying that final remark, I left the library, trying to escape from her clutches.

* * *

When I decided to do something, I would immediately do it. That was my motto.

Conveniently, there was a P.E. class in the afternoon. The girls were playing volleyball, meanwhile the boys were playing basketball.

It was self-practice time for now.

Sun-chan was trying for a three-pointer. He was dribbling the ball, trying to look for a good position.

I approached him and called out to him.

“Mitchi¹¹Slam Dunk reference. Mitchi is the nickname of Shokoku’s shooter, Hisashi Mitsui.— No, I mean, Sun-chan.”

“Hm? What’s up, Joro?”

While talking to me, he took a shot. He didn’t even take a glance at me.

“So, is there anyone that you like, Sun-chan?”

“W-Whoa! W-What are you saying out of the blue?!”

My question made him panic and he missed the shot. Was that question too inappropriate?

Or that question was just too abrupt, that was why he reacted that way.

Also, there was no point in beating around the bush when it came to dealing with someone like Sun-chan.

Just get to the point, that was the best way to go.

You could tell by his reaction that he was an honest guy.

He looked flustered and his face was red. That meant he really did have someone in mind.

“That reaction… So you do have someone you like…”

“You could tell just by that?… You’re as amazing as always…”

“So, who is it?”

“You don’t beat around the bush at all…”

“Are you keeping it a secret from your best friend? I see how it is.”

“No, I’m not! I-I just didn’t have the chance to talk about it to anyone! S-Since you’re my best friend, I guess it’s fine for me to tell you… No, I mean, I’ll tell you!”

“Thank you. I’m happy to hear that.”

As expected, he hadn’t told Cosmos and Himawari about this.

Which was good because those two were doing their best. If he were to do it, they’d feel like their efforts were wasted.

Well, if the person that he liked was among the two of them, there was a huge possibility that this secret would be leaked, but honestly, that didn’t really matter. Rather, it would be good if it was one of them.

“We barely spoke to each other…”

So that meant Himawari was out of the picture.

After all, they talked with each other every day.

What about Cosmos then?

“Is she a senpai or a kouhai?”

“N-Neither! We’re in the same grade!”

Cosmos was out of the picture!

She was a senpai after all. Oh well, thanks for your hard work, you two.

Both of them went down together. That was the real world for you. Harsh.

If the girl that he liked was better than those two (personality-wise), then honestly, I think that might be the best outcome for him.

“So, who is it?”

“I can’t tell you here! Come with me!”

“Got it.”

Sun-chan stopped his practice and brought me outside.

“Alright, that place should be good! There’s no one there!”

We went to a bench a short distance away from the gym. It was located under a large tree.

Sun-chan sat down.

…Wait a second.

Bench?!

At that moment, my life flashed before my eyes. A certain memory resurfaced from the bottom of my mind.

No good. The memory was related to three girls.

All three of them had names that were related to flowers.

Could it be? The person that Sun-chan liked was… No way that would be the case, right?

“Um… Do you mind sitting next to me first?

“S-Sure…”

I followed his instructions and sat down next to him.

However, he didn’t continue his words.

Okay, time out!

Sun-chan fiddled with his hair as his eyes wandered around. It was a gesture that totally didn’t fit his 180cm height.

“Um… Uu…”

He tried to open his mouth a few times, but he always ended up closing it back.

I beg you, don’t say anything, please. Let’s just end this here.

“I-In truth… Um… T-There is someone that I like…”

I knew what you were going to say. You were in love with me, right?

That would bring balance to the equation. You had two people gunning over you and I had two people gunning over me.

“When I think about that person, my chest feels tight. Just being able to see them every day makes me happy. I know this is selfish of me, but I always force myself to make an excuse to see them…”

What are you on about, Sun-chan? We met and talked to each other every day.

You know what, just let it out. I’ll accept whatever preference you had, Sun-chan. It was because you were you.

“I-I…”

Slowly, but surely, he brought his face closer to mine.

He had the face of a man in love. Oh no~ My heart started to race~

When our faces were close enough to the point that we could feel each other’s breaths, he closed her eyes.

Sun-chan… If you really wanted to go that far, then I…

“I’m in love with a girl called Sanshokuin Sumireko-san!”

…Ding. I could hear the sound of a bell.

A Buddhist bell. It echoed in my head.

Why? How?

What did I do wrong? I knew that I was a bad person deep inside, but not everyone knew that. They only knew me as a good-natured person.

I mean, just look at what I did after hearing those two girls’ confessions. Did I scorn them on the outside? No. I helped them with their love life, for free.

Yet, I still had to suffer like this.

Seriously, what did I do wrong? I swear I’ll never do anything bad in my life ever again.

…But, well, actually… When I think about it, this development looks interesting.

Yes, he fell in love with another girl instead of those two, but I could try to make him fall in love with any of those two. This wasn’t something that I could do often.

Alright, now I’m pumped up!

Oi, Cosmos, Himawari! This is where the real work begins!

I’ll come up with something, so you two have to take this opportunity and firmly grasp it, okay?

…Alright, now that’s out of the way, I have something to inform you all, dear readers.

Unfortunately because of various circumstances, I have to cut the story short here.

I wish I could continue on with the story, but I couldn’t even if I wanted to!

Please forgive me. Though, I still have one last thing to say to all of you, dear readers.

I hope I can see you all again in a better circumstance!

The End

AS IF! DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT THE STORY WOULD END THAT WAY?!

“It started last year, when the baseball club went to the finals at the regionals!”

It started from there too in your case?! Well, I had a feeling that it would be the case, but still…

Seriously, you need to increase your repertoire, Author! We did this setting thrice already!

“That time, I was cheering on the other members who were crestfallen after losing the match. Though, honestly at that time, I was the one who felt the most disappointment. We lost because my pitch was a little off… If only back then I used the rosin bag¹²It’s a bag with rosin powder inside. In baseball, they usually let the pitcher carry it to the match and use the powder so that they could have a better grip on the ball. properly!”

Sun-chan told me while staring at the distance.

By the way, the rosin bag he was talking about was the bag they placed by the pitcher’s feet.

It wasn’t an old man’s bag¹³A pun. Rosin and 老人/Rojin/Old man sounds similar..

“Yeah, I could tell back then too…”

Still, it was thanks to him that our school’s baseball team managed to reach the finals in the first place.

This was just him downplaying his own achievements for a single failure.

That said, it felt odd.

Based on what I knew, the Azure Dragon (Cosmos) and the White Tiger (Himawari) were staring at him from the east and west exit respectively¹⁴\The Four Auspicious Beasts. Azure Dragon, the guardian of the east and the White Tiger, the guardian of the west..

So, why didn’t he meet those two?

“After that, I left the room. Because I couldn’t take it anymore, I cried right there. But, I didn’t want to let anyone see how pathetic I looked, so I left from the south exit.”

Doraemon! Bring out the time machine¹⁵Doraemon reference. They got a time machine in the show.!

I’ll go back in time and make him go to the west or east entrance! Just bring out the time machine!

“Then, on my way back home, I happened to meet Sanshokuin-san…”

The Vermillion Bird (Pansy) of the south¹⁶Another member of The Four Auspicious Beasts, Vermillion Bird, the guardian of the south. descended! Seriously, what the hell was she doing there?!

“Back then, she praised me, ‘That was a good match. It made me excited.’ But back then, I was too frustrated and angry to take her kindly. So I lashed out at her and said, ‘There’s no point if we ended up losing anyway!’ After that…”

Why did he approach the cursed princess when the sky and the earth were right there?! Did he do it because the sea wasn’t there¹⁷Again, The Four Auspicious Beasts. The dragon of the east symbolized the sky/heaven, the tiger of the west symbolized the earth. The sea he is talking about is the symbol of the guardian of the north, Black Tortoise, which is missing in this situation since there was no one standing by the north exit.?!

“She told me, ‘The fact that you’re angry and shedding your tears is proof that you haven’t given up yet. You’re a kind person. I can tell from the way you hide your frustration and put up an act in front of everyone. With that kindness and strong will, I believe that you’ll win the next time around. So, you don’t need to worry.’ She looked so dazzling when she said that…”

What the hell was that girl doing?

Was this the same girl I knew? What was with those kind words? Where did her sharp tongue go?

No good. If she were to say those kind words to him in that kind of situation, there was no doubt that he’d fall for her. Seriously, why did she go out of her way to do something unnecessary like that?!

“I know that this is so pathetic of me, but I’ve already said this much, so I might as well go all the way! Joro, can you help me get together with Sanshokuin-san?”

He begged me with a desperate look.

Just looking at his expression made me understand that he was serious about this.

“I-Is that a no?”

With moist eyes, he looked up at me.

Looking at his expression made my heart weak.

“Sorry, I can’t.”

Regrettably, I had to refuse him.

“Don’t be like that~ Please? If it’s you, Joro, I know you can do it!”

“No, I can’t.”

Seeing his pleading look, for a moment there, I thought I could just cooperate with him and create a situation where he would be able to confess his feelings to her. But, I refused anyway.

I was still cooperating with Cosmos and Himawari. I couldn’t risk it.

Eventually, they’d find out about it and those natural disasters wouldn’t hesitate to attack me mercilessly.

If that were to happen, I’d be finished. Mentally, physically and socially.

“I see… You can’t, huh?… Then, can I ask you something else?…”

“What is it?”

If the question was something related to his love life, I didn’t want to answer it. Well, let’s decide whether to answer or not after hearing it.

“Um… Assuming I’m in an important baseball game, when the opposing team’s fourth batter comes out, what do you think I should do? Should I let him walk¹⁸In baseball, the fourth batter is usually the best batter in the team. Letting him walk means that as the pitcher, he intentionally misses the strike zone (ball) four times so that the batter will be allowed to walk to first base. The purpose of doing this is to prevent said best batter from pulling something like a homerun or a strong hit that will make him get a score or run for multiple bases at once. I hope this explanation makes sense.?”

Was he talking about last year’s final? Eh, whatever.

If this was his question, I guess I could answer it.

“Hmm… Well, if it was me, I’d give him the walk… But you are different from me, aren’t you, Sun-chan?”

There was a reason why I admired him and wished to support him with all my heart.

All I needed to do was to tell him that.

“You trust in yourself and your friends. Never run away no matter how tough the situation gets. That’s the Sun-chan I know.”

“Right… I guess so, huh? Thank you, Joro! I’m happy to hear that coming from you!”

Satisfied with my words, Sun-chan took my hands and waved them up and down.

While letting him do whatever he liked, I was thinking about something else entirely.

Seriously, every time something happened, the situation would just turn worse and worse…

* * *

Alright, originally, I wanted to slack off a little, but it wasn’t like I could just do that.

I’ll just forget about the shocking confession during P.E. and continue doing my thing.

I stood in front of the student council room. When I knocked on the door, a voice saying “Come in,” could be heard from inside.

From her elated tone, Cosmos seemed to be aware that it was me who knocked on the door.

As soon as I entered the room, Cosmos opened her note and started talking to me.

“I think we need to fix the mess I left yesterday!”

Mhm, that was the correct decision to make. Himawari should learn a thing or two from her. Sun-chan wasn’t angry anymore, but Cosmos didn’t know that. Even if that was the case, she should be trying to fix her mess regardless.

Correct, Cosmos. Fixing your mess was important. Indeed. Fix—

“Therefore, I would like to ask you to open up an opportunity so he and I could have lunch together! Please accept my plea!”

Stop talking politely like that, it’d just make you sound like a weirdo¹⁹Cosmos talked in an overly polite way in the raw and her words sounded out of place, hence his reaction..

Firstly, you should write ‘how to reconcile with someone’ in your note instead of relying on me.

You even said ‘Please accept my plea’ when asking me, what was up with that?

It seemed like she was hellbent on trying to make me invite him instead of doing it herself.

“What about trying to ask him yourself?”

“That’s impossible!”

That’s foolish.

“But…”

“Joro-kun, please! I’m begging you! I even wrote it down here!”

She opened her note and showed it to me.

‘Joro-kun will invite Sun-chan’ was written on it.

If I were to do as she said, I wouldn’t suddenly die of a heart attack²⁰Death Note reference. If you write someone’s name on the death note and you don’t specify the cause of their death, they’d just die of heart attack., right? I would be fine, right?

“…Fine, I’ll see what I can do…”

“Thank you, Joro-kun! Yay~ Now I can have lunch with Sun-chan!”

Well, you should thank Joro-san if you ended up having lunch together with him.

* * *

When we were on our way to the school gate, we noticed that Sun-chan was already there, waiting for us. He noticed us and waved at us. So, we quickened our walking pace a little.

“Good work, Sun-chan.”

“My bad, Joro!”

Sun-chan was here to ‘dispel the strict image that President Cosmos has.’

Even though he was busy with his club activities, he still spared his time for this, what a nice guy.

Meanwhile, Cosmos hid half of her body behind me. I already told her that Sun-chan wasn’t angry with her, but it seemed like that didn’t dispel her worries completely.

“Sorry, Cosmos-san. Because of me, you have to stay to wait for me until this late!”

“I-It’s fine! I-I could just study in the meantime!”

Okay, I knew that you were nervous but, stop sending me morse code by using my back.

“So, what are we going to do for today?”

‘Hurry up and do something!’ was the code that she sent me this time.

It felt ticklish.

“Right. Well, I have something to say about that. In the meantime, let’s start walking first, we’ll talk while walking.”

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Okay, what do you think about having lunch together with her every day? Like she said yesterday, Prez will make

some lunch for you.”

Cosmos sent me another message. ‘The plan is a success!’

It was too early to tell.

“E-Eh? Is that really okay? I-I’m a big eater, you know? Won’t it trouble you, Cosmos-san?”

“Of course not! R-Rather, I’m afraid that I’ll be the one who‘s troubling you instead. W-Well, if you have someone else you’d rather have lunch with, I’m…”

Her voice sounded feeble. It was clear that she was nervous. Her forehead even bumped into my back because of it.

“Ah, don’t worry, I don’t have anyone like that!”

“Alright, it’s decided then. Starting from tomorrow onwards, you two will have your lunch together. That will help in getting rid of the strict image that Prez has.”

“Got it!”

“I-I’ll do my best!”

“Alright, Cosmos-san, I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow!”

“I may not meet up your expectations, but I’ll do my best!”

‘Bravo bravo bravo!’ She sent me that message this time.

It hurts.

Seriously, don’t use your head to send me morse code.

Well, I understood her feelings. It felt nice to finally have a smooth conversation like this.

I didn’t even have to say the line I prepared in case Sun-chan tried to reject my proposal.

Well, I still had to deal with backache after this, but at least everything progressed smoothly.

My plan for the two girls succeeded for the most part, but in exchange, I had to deal with a big problem in the future.