Chapter 6 – I Never Thought that this Would Happen

I wonder if Cosmos was doing well?

Friday. I left as soon as the meeting ended, saying that I had an urgent matter to take care of. This was in line with our plan to get Cosmos and Sun-chan to walk home together.

If it seemed like I was only focusing on Cosmos, well, that was wrong. Tomorrow was Himawari’s big day. After all, she’d be going on a movie date with Sun-chan.

She told me that she’d be acting like her usual self, but it was clear that she was really fired up about this.

Come to think of it, I was in a similar state to her last week.

Crazy, it had only been a week since then.

I swear it felt like it had been months. I guess that just showed how much effort I had been putting into this.

Anyway, I was currently in my room, doing my usual thing.

Well, not really since I didn’t really have to do much thinking for the events that transpired today and tomorrow. I still had to think for the next week though.

Then again, if Himawari were to confess her feelings tomorrow and succeeded, this whole thing would end right there and then. I wouldn’t need to think about this anymore and I’d finally attain the peace and quiet I had been craving for so long.

But, I highly doubt that would ever happen.

…Pansy’s words implied that something big would happen on Tuesday.

When I received her words, I was too busy reflecting on my actions that made her mad, so I failed to give her words much thought. I wonder what would happen?

Would both Himawari and Cosmos suddenly find me attractive and a love quadrilateral between us four be formed?

That would definitely count as ‘something big’ and it would accomplish 80% of my original goal. But, that would never happen.

Then again, I didn’t really care about those two anymore.

They only thought of me as a convenient friend and their mind was completely filled with Sun-chan and no one else. It was inevitable that I’d stop caring about them after going through all that.

Even if they were to find out about my feelings, they wouldn’t accept it. They’d just throw me aside coldly and forget about me after a while. Tch.

Nowadays, I just wanted either one of them or Pansy to go out with Sun-chan already.

I just wanted to be free from all this. And from Pansy.

Also, I wish I could find a nice girl…

“Alright, I should start looking for one! Someone who loves me unconditionally, has a pretty face, big chest with a gentle and quiet personality!”

As soon as I shouted that, my phone rang.

[Did you call?]

“I wasn’t talking about you, ugly washboard!”

I replied to her with the same vigor I had when I shouted my last line.

Seriously, how could she reply at a perfect moment like that?!

Did she bug my room?!

No way that she’d go that far, right?

Rather, if she’d really go that far, I’d lose all my dignity. Alright, let’s just stop thinking about this!

“Hm?”

My phone rang again. What? Did Pansy still have something to say to me?

I checked my phone, but the message wasn’t from Pansy. It was from Cosmos.

[Can we meet tomorrow?]

…This meant that something big had happened with her and Sun-chan.

Did Cosmos confess her feelings to him?

I mean, that girl had quite a girly side to her.

It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think that she got carried away by the atmosphere and confessed in an impulse.

Then, she failed spectacularly.

After that, in her gloomy state, she texted me about it. Yeah, this was a quite possible scenario to happen.

There was no way that Sun-chan accepted her, after all, if he did, the message she sent me wouldn’t be like this.

Instead, it would be something along the line of, ‘I did it! Thank you, Joro-kun! It’s all thanks to you! Thank you very much!’

Jeez… This reminded me that we went out together last Saturday too.

I lamented the fact that I had to spend my weekend dealing with someone else’s love life. Then again, I wanted to finish this matter as quickly as possible, so it wasn’t like I had much choice. And so, I replied, ‘Got it,’ to her.

* * *

Our meeting place was the same as last time, near the police box in front of the station.

This time, I didn’t go there an hour earlier than the appointed time.

I decided to go there ten minutes before the appointed time. Like last time, I dressed quite fashionably as well. There was something that I was wondering about though…

Last time, that girl went to our meeting place thirty minutes earlier.

Since she was such an earnest girl, there was a possibility that she’d do the same this time as well.

Well, who cares.

Now, where was she?

I took a look around to find her…there.

She looked pretty awful…to say the least…

Her complexion didn’t look good. It seemed like she was exhausted because of something. She was wearing a pure white one piece dress. Her slumped shoulders expressed her state of mind perfectly. Like her shoulders, her head was also slumped down. With her long hair drooped down, she looked like she came straight out of a cursed tape¹Reference to Ring, the famed Japanese horror movie. It was a reference to the scene where the ghost, Sadako Yamamura, came out of the monitor when they were watching one of the cursed tapes..

Like usual, she attracted some gazes from her surroundings, though this time in a kinda bad way.

I guess she got dumped, huh?

For the time being, I managed to come up with some words of comfort for her. They should be enough to cheer her up.

“P-Prez?”

There was a moment of hesitation when I tried to call out to her.

Honestly, she was scary. In a different way than Dark Cosmos was.

“H-Heya…”

It wasn’t her usual high-spirited ‘Heya,’ but one filled with a deep sense of despair. It was as if she had seen the world crumbling before her very eyes.

For her to ask other people to meet up while she was still in this kind of state… How rude.

“W-What happened?”

“This isn’t the right place to talk. Can we go somewhere else?”

“G-Got it…”

Upon hearing my response, she pulled my hand and started walking like Sada**²Sadako..

I beg you, please, act like a normal person. Think of the other people’s gazes!

* * *

Sadacosmos³Sadako + Cosmos. brought me to a coffee shop.

It was your usual, plain coffee shop.

With a woman wearing a crown with a star on it with her surroundings painted in green, the logo of the coffee shop stood out⁴Starbucks, if you somehow didn’t get it..

I didn’t want to stand in line with her, so I told Cosmos to reserve a seat for us. This automatically put me in charge of buying and delivering the drinks. A brief moment for me to be alone, finally… Phew…

After that, I received the tray with our drinks on it from the waiter’s experienced hands.

“…Uwah…”

When I went to our seat, I was struck speechless.

Cosmos-san gloomily scribbled on her notebook. Line after line.

From where I stood, I could hear her mumbling, ‘Eliminate, eliminate, eliminate…’ Mikami-san⁵Probably referring to Mikami Teru from Death Note?, where were you?

Should I really go there? Could I just ditch her?

“Um… Are you okay?”

“Ah, yes, I’m fine.”

No matter how I tried to look at it, there was no way that you were okay.

I took a peek at her note. There was a line that said: Things I want to do with Sun-chan.

The horizontal lines that filled the note pages perfectly represented her despair.

“So, what happened?”

I asked her in a worried tone. Though, I already had a guess on what happened to her.

She was heartbroken. It was obvious if you were to take a look at her.

If there was a chance to take advantage of the situation, now would be the perfect chance, but I decided not to take it because I had completely lost my interest in her.

Well, with your look, you could just get another guy easily, so cheer up.

Also, it was hard to bear, but I’ll do my best to endure the gazes people have been giving me.

“Um… On Friday…”

And so, Cosmos started to talk about what happened after school on Friday. (P.S. I wasn’t there, so I wouldn’t be monologuing the next part, enjoy. The place where the conversation occurred was a park on the way to their homes from school.)

* * *

“Thank you very much for today! The lunch you made tasted amazing!”

“R-Really? I-I’m happy that you enjoyed it!”

“But, I feel bad that I’m the only one receiving something from you. I wanna give you something in return, Cosmos-san.”

“N-No, it’s okay! You’ve helped me enough, I don’t need anything else!”

“If I don’t give you something, I’d feel bad about it, so please? Let me do something for you at least.”

“I-Is that so? T-Then…”

“You can ask me anything! Ah, as long as it’s within my capabilities, that is.”

“Hahaha, what did you think I’d ask you to do? I won’t ask you to do something outrageous.”

“Alright, then! Ask me anything!”

“Alright… Um… You don’t need to agree, you can refuse me if you want to…”

“Okay!”

“Can you go home together with me again in the future? I really enjoy this moment with you…”

“Like, without Joro?”

“I-I mean, I’m fine with him being around, but I want us to occasionally have time together by ourselves like this…”

“Sure! I guess there are some things that you don’t want Joro to hear about, huh? We can go home together once in a while. Joro should be fine with it as long as we tell him in advance!”

“R-Really?! T-Thank you!”

“Don’t mind it! But, are you sure this is what you want? You don’t want me to do something else?”

“You don’t need to! I really only want you to do that for me!”

“Alright then! …By the way, Cosmos-san.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Is there someone that you like?”

“E-Eh? S-Someone that I like?!”

“That reaction, so there is someone, huh?”

“W-What is it all of the sudden?!”

“Well, you look just like me when Joro asked me that question.”

“I-I see, y-you talked to Joro-kun about that, huh?… S-So does that mean that there is someone that you like?”

“Ah well, when you ask me that, it feels embarrassing… But, yes, there’s someone that I like!”

“U-Um… M-May I know who?…”

“It’s embarrassing, but I guess I could tell you about her…”

“Um?”

“Alright, I’ll tell you about her, Cosmos-san! I swear you’ll be the only one I’ll tell about this, Cosmos-san!”

“I-I’m the only one?”

“You know, I…”

“Y-Yes…”

“I love Sanshokuin Sumireko-san!”

“Eh?”

“Sanshokuin Sumireko-san! You know, the library committee member? I’ve been in love with her since last year, but I haven’t been able to get closer to her ever since. So, if you know a way for me to get to know her better, can you tell me about it, Cosmos-san? Please give me some advice!”

“S-Sanshokuin-san?…”

“Yes! Since you’re the student council president, Cosmos-san, I figured that you might know how to get closer to her! T-That’s why, um… If you don’t mind, can you help me out?”

“M-Me?…”

“Yes! Ah… Is it impossible, after all?”

“N-No! I-I’ll help you out! J-Just leave it to me!”

“Really? Thank you very much! You’re a lifesaver, Cosmos-san!”

* * *

What the hell did you do, Sun-chan?! That was the worst thing that you could have done!

It would be way better if you were to just reject her instead!

“You…knew…didn’t you?”

Cosmos looked at me with a gloomy look on her face.

Scary. Dark Cosmos was scary, but her current voice sounded like it came from the depth of the abyss. I’ll dub her as Abyss Cosmos from now on.

Wait, this wasn’t the right time to think about that!

“I… did, yeah…”

“Why didn’t you tell me?…”

She began to shed tears after saying that.

This was the first time I’ve seen her in tears like this.

I always thought that she was someone who’d never shed any tears no matter what the situation was.

“There’s no way…I could tell you that…”

“Why?!”

Her tragic aura hit me with a full force.

Nevertheless, I still tried to appeal to her desperately with my words.

“I know how much you like Sun-chan… There’s no way that I could tell you that Sun-chan already has someone in mind.”

I meant it when I said those words.

Yes, it was mostly me who did the dirty job for her, but she was working hard on her own way.

There was no way that I’d just coldly tell her to give up on him just like that.

Besides, there was still a slight chance that Sun-chan might give up on his love.

“Is that really the reason why you didn’t tell me about it? Is that really the case?”

“Eh?”

Her words confused me. What was she trying to say?

“Sun-chan told me, ‘When I was consulting Joro, he told me that whenever I have to tackle a problem, I should believe in the people that I trust and try to solve it with all my strength. In both love and baseball, I have to give it my all!’”

Oi, oi, what the hell was that? I’ve never said anything like that before!

“I-I’ve never even said that!”

“Stop lying. Sun-chan told me that you were the one who told him this when he compared his love problem to baseball.”

Baseball? Huh? Wait… Could it be?…

“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 walk?”

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

You got it wrong, Sun-chan! That wasn’t what I was trying to say!

“It seems that you know what I’m talking about.”

“N-No! That wasn’t what I meant when I—”

“Enough. That just meant you were never on my side. I’m disappointed in you…”

Oi, oi, wait a minute! Just listen to me first!

Why the hell did you take everything Sun-chan said at face value but you never even tried to listen to me?!

I was the one who was helping you all this time!

“Goodbye, Joro-kun. The worst kind of human being.”

With that, Cosmos got up and left the coffee shop.

That was awful… The worst development possible…

…Wait, she didn’t even pay for her drink!

She didn’t even try to listen to me, abused me with her words and just left without paying!

“Just my luck… Huh?”

Just as Cosmos walked away, my phone vibrated.

Who the hell texted me at times like this?

If this wasn’t an important text, I swear… Huh, it was from Himawari.

[Can I see you tomorrow?]

Just by seeing those words, I could tell.

I realized that the worst development possible that I was talking about had barely even begun.

* * *

Sunday.

So troublesome. From the content of Himawari’s text, I could guess what would happen next. If possible, I really didn’t want to meet up with her.

I told her to come to my room whenever.

Honestly, I thought that she’d come by in the morning, but she didn’t.

So, I spent the whole day doing random things in my room. It wasn’t until evening that my mom knocked on my door and said, ‘Aoi-chan is here.’

When I saw her face, I was terrified.

She looked like a zombie. Just look at the way she was walking while groaning.

Dressed in her casual clothes, no, loungewear was the better term to describe her clothes. Her t-shirt was shabby, I could see her bra strap through it.

It was just, she looked too scary for me to get turned on by that.

But, seriously, though. How dare she come to my house dressed like that!

If I was a police officer, I’d arrest her for indecency.

After that, I’d forcefully send her home.

“Jooorooo…”

“…Yes.”

“Jooorooooo…”

No good. I couldn’t even attempt a conversation with her in this state.

“A-Anyway, let’s come to my room first.”

“Jooorooo…”

I grabbed her hand and dragged her to my room. She was swaying and wobbling while following me behind.

It was the first time I’ve seen her like this. Honestly, I got a complicated feeling seeing her like this.

* * *

We entered my room. She was still keeping her mouth shut.

“A-Anyway, sit down first.”

Himawari nodded silently at my words before sitting down on the cushion.

After seeing her seated, I sat down too.

Alright, let’s get down to business… Or so I would say if she didn’t suddenly fall to the side.

This girl couldn’t even sit down properly without support at her current state.

“C-Can you tell me what happened?”

Well, whatever.

Sitting properly or not, she’d still tell me what happened to her either way.

Tears started to stream down her face. Slowly, she moved her mouth.

“On Saturday…”

And so, Himawari started recounting what happened on Saturday. (P.S. I wasn’t there, so I wouldn’t be monologuing the next part, enjoy. The place where the conversation occurred was on their way home after they finished watching the movie.)

* * *

“How was the movie, Sun-chan? Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes! I had a lot of fun watching it! Thanks for inviting me, Himawari!”

“Yay! You’re welcome! Ehehe~”

“But, will Joro be okay with this? I feel bad for taking you away from him…”

“Jeez, didn’t I tell you before, Sun-chan? We’re just childhood friends! We aren’t dating or anything like that! We don’t even see each other in that way!”

“Is that so? Hehe, my bad… I kept unconsciously thinking that way and ended up saying it out loud…”

“Seriously, you need to stop! It troubles me a lot, you know?”

“Huh? It troubles you?”

“Of course! What if the person I like heard it and misunderstood— ah!”

“Huh? Himawari, you…”

“Stop grinning, Sun-chan! Forget everything I said! Forget it, forget it!”

“Sorry, I can’t just forget it even if you told me to. So there’s someone that you like, huh?”

“Uu…”

“But still, what a lucky guy, to be liked by someone amazing as you. If it were me, I’d definitely say yes if you were to confess your feelings to me.”

“Eh?”

“Oops! If I put it that way, I’d create unnecessary misunderstandings, huh? Sorry, Himawari.”

“No, it’s fine! …I see that’s how it is, huh…”

“Still, it was unexpected to hear that there’s also someone that you like. Is it the start of the famed love season?”

“Huh? Love season?”

“Yeah. Cosmos-san told me that there was someone that she likes. Also…”

“Also?”

“U-Um… A-Actually, there’s something I want to talk to you about for today… A-Also, I might ask you something strange, you can refuse my request if you want to…”

“Eh? O-Okay…”

“Um, actually… T-There’s someone that I like…”

“I-I see…”

“I only told this to Joro and Cosmos-san so far… I wanna tell you about this too…”

“Eh? You’re going to tell me too?…”

“Yes! Actually, I shoulda told you about it first before everyone else!”

“Telling me…first?…”

“You know, I…”

“Y-Yes…”

“I love Sanshokuin Sumireko-san!”

“Eh?”

“Sanshokuin Sumireko-san! You know, the library committee member? I’ve been in love with her since last year, but I haven’t been able to get closer to her ever since. So, if you know a way for me to get to know her better, can you tell me about it, Himawari? Please give me some advice!”

“S-Sanshokuin-san?…”

“Yes! You’re popular and well-liked by everyone, so I figured that you might know how to get closer to her! T-That’s why, um… If you don’t mind, can you help me out?”

“M-Me?…”

“Yes! Ah… Is it impossible, after all?”

“N-No! I-I’ll help you out! J-Just leave it to me!”

“Really? Thank you very much! You’re a lifesaver, Himawari!”

* * *

…I knew it. I wasn’t even surprised anymore. History just repeated itself.

Also, Sun-chan, didn’t you say that you’d only tell Cosmos about this just the other day?

Why did you tell Himawari too? You broke off your words too quickly, Sun-chan!

“You…knew…didn’t you, Joro?”

Himawari said as she raised her body in one big motion.

Alright, here we go again~ I knew that this would happen~

In the end I would be the only one who’d suffer from this. Well, whatever. Not only that I’ve made enough countermeasures, we were also inside my room.

The situation where I had to pay for her drink like what happened with Cosmos wouldn’t happen this time.

Though, the fact that Himawari’s current appearance scared me remained.

This wasn’t Black Himawari, but Bloody Himawari.

She had an aura as if she was ready to turn her surroundings into a scene of bloodbath.

I was ready though, with a magazine underneath my shirt for protection.

“I knew.”

Alright, because this was my second time saying that line, I managed to say it clearly. Huh, wait a second…

If things were proceeding in a similar way like last time, Sun-chan definitely told her about the baseball question that he asked me. In other words, if I were to answer her question in the same way I did with Cosmos, I’d be toast.

“Then…why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t.”

“…Why?”

“Because I know how much you like him. There’s no way that I could tell you that Sun-chan already has someone else in mind.”

So far so good. Those were the exact same words that I used to answer Cosmos’ question.

Like back then, I also meant what I said this time.

I’ve known this girl since we were children. I knew that she was doing her best to make him notice her.

If she wasn’t I wouldn’t even bother to help her in the first place.

…Well, I still had another thing to say to her, though. This time, things wouldn’t end up like before.

“That’s why, I refused to help him when he asked me to. Well, I replied to his baseball question honestly, but that was a separate matter.”

There you go! Before she could bring the topic up, I brought it up myself! Surely, this will work!

Misunderstandings wouldn’t occur as long as I straighten things up beforehand!

Now, what would she say to me—

“Liar!”

“Huh?!”

I couldn’t help but let out my true feelings there. I didn’t lie though?! What the hell?!

“Sun-chan told me everything! He said, ‘Joro is truly my best friend! I talked to him about baseball, but he knew immediately that I was using it as an analogy to my love life. He went out of his way to answer my questions properly. He even give me encouragements!’”

I appreciated the first half of your words, Sun-chan, but the second half was just you overthinking about my words!

Back then, I truly thought that you were talking about baseball!

“No! Back then, I was—”

“You were never on my side, weren’t you?! I hate you, Joro!”

Hearing those words, blood rushed to my head.

Don’t fuck with me! I should be the one who said that line to you!

Both you and Cosmos, why couldn’t you two just listen to me for a second?!

It was me who had to deal with your shit up until now, not Sun-chan!

Why the hell did you two only listen to Sun-chan’s words but not mine?!

“You— Ugh!”

“Goodbye, Joro! You big fat liar! Bully!”

Before I could even yell at her, she already made her move.

She threw the cushion she had been sitting on right onto my face before taking off like a hare.

Somehow things turned out like this, how could I not be mad?

Well, let’s think about it positively. At least I didn’t end up showing my true personality to her.

“Hm?”

As I was patting my chest in relief, my phone vibrated. …Let me guess, this was a message from Sun-chan.

I looked into my phone screen fearfully.

[Come over on Tuesday, okay?]

Pansy, huh? Thank God…

I knew that it was shameful of me for feeling relieved over the fact that it was Pansy who messaged me, but I couldn’t help myself.

Seriously, I hope everything will be over soon…

* * *

The situation developed in a worse direction than I expected. I could even say that it was beyond repair.

I tried to come up with something to make it better, but I couldn’t think of anything.

Normally, I would be going to school with Himawari, but not today.

Himawari was nowhere to be found. She didn’t seem to be trying to ambush me either.

This outcome was obvious. She was so mad with me yesterday, there was no way that she’d try to talk with me today. Well, even if she were to do it, I’d just ignore her.

When I arrived at the classroom, Sun-chan and Himawari were already there.

They both noticed me. Sun-chan greeted me but Himawari didn’t. See, she didn’t want to talk with me. Good riddance, the feelings are mutual.

I went to my seat without greeting anyone.

“Oi, Joro~”

“Sorry, Sun-chan, I don’t want to talk with anyone right now.”

Sorry, Sun-chan, I was in no mood to go along with your usual shenanigans today.

“O-Okay, got it…”

“Sorry.”

Sun-chan immediately left me on my own.

Thankfully he was able to read the air properly this time.

He went back to Himawari’s side, both of them seemed to be having a pleasant talk.

I spent the rest of the morning in a daze while watching them talking.

* * *

Lunchtime. I increased my alertness level.

I knew that she wouldn’t come, but this was Pansy we were talking about. She visited me out of nowhere just the other day and managed to become a symbol of fear for me. If she were to actually come to my class, I swear I’d run as quickly as possible.

No running in the hallway? Screw that.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated. My heart started to beat faster. Fearfully, I checked my screen phone to see…

[I won’t go to your class today.]

[You don’t need to tell me that.]

[Are you relieved?]

[Yes, I am. From the bottom of my heart.]

[Hm, should I just go there after all?]

[Give me a break…]

[Can’t be helped then, I’ll put up with it just for you~]

[Thank you very much.]

Thank God she won’t be coming.

Despite her awful personality, she wouldn’t lie. If she said that she won’t come then she won’t come.

Since that was the case, I’ll spend the lunchtime by myself.

* * *

Ten minutes before lunch ended, Sun-chan returned to the class.

He probably had just finished his lunch with Cosmos. He approached me with a satisfied look.

“Man, Cosmos-san’s lunch tasted so good!”

“I see. Good for you.”

I would probably never talk to her anytime soon, who cares.

“…Joro.”

“What?”

“Did you have a fight with Himawari and Cosmos-san?”

“Huh? No, that isn’t the case.”

“Liar. I can see it on your face. You haven’t been talking with Himawari since this morning and as soon as I mentioned Cosmos-san’s name, your face turned dark.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. What happened? Is there something I could do to help you? You can talk with me.”

“Sun-chan…”

“I know it’s embarrassing to talk about something like this, but I consider you as my best friend. I know that you told me to leave you alone, but after seeing your face like this, I couldn’t just let you be.”

I couldn’t help but tear up after hearing his words. My best friend was really a good guy.

Still, I couldn’t tell him anything. Yes, I had a fight with those two, but promises were promises.

Struggling with such feelings, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

“Sun-chan, do you have a minute?”

“Yes, what is it, Himawari?”

Himawari glanced toward my direction, but she immediately turned away after that.

Well, we were still in the middle of a fight, this was a natural reaction from her.

“I want to talk about the thing we talked about the other day, so, let’s move away.”

“Oh, okay. Sorry, Joro, I need to go now…”

“Ah, sure…”

Sun-chan stood up and walked away from me.

I thought Himawari was going to follow him afterwards, but for some reason she was staring at me.

“…You are the bad guy here, remember that.”

She said in a small voice before chasing after Sun-chan’s back.

Oh, am I the bad guy now? Fuck off.

Still, it was great that she did that.

I was wondering how to chase Sun-chan away.

Guess I’ll give her credit for finally doing a right thing once.

* * *

After school. I had council duties that I couldn’t just skip, so I went to the council room.

After knocking on the door, I heard a voice saying ‘Come in’ from inside the room.

As soon as I heard that, I opened the door to see Cosmos writing something in her note. Of course she wasn’t even trying to look at me.

I sat down on my seat. I wasn’t stupid enough to stand around just because she hadn’t given me permission.

““…””

For around five minutes, silence enveloped the room.

“…Here.”

Using her slender hand, she took some pennies from her lovely looking purse and gave them to me.

I guess this was the money for the drink she didn’t pay for the other day.

“This note is useful for something like this too.”

With her Cosmos Note in her right hand, she smiled at me. Though she didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

I guess the thing that happened with Sun-chan was taking a toll on her.

“I had a little chat with Himawari-san earlier.”

After I took the pennies, she said that to me.

“And we’ve decided on what we are going to do.”

She bit her lip as she said that. I guess those words were hard to say for her, huh? I mean, she looked like she was about to cry.

“We’re going to help Sun-chan with his love life. You are not needed anymore.”

With those words, she returned to the usual Cosmos. The following student council meeting was resolved without any issues.

* * *

Tuesday. The day after Monday, the day where I finally gained the peace I’ve been craving for.

When I woke up in the morning, I found that someone texted me while I was still sleeping.

It was Pansy. I didn’t need to open it to know the content of her message.

[Make sure to come, okay?]

Tch. I really didn’t want to go to the library anymore, but if I didn’t go, the matter from the other day wouldn’t be resolved.

Whatever, let’s go.

* * *

As soon as lunchtime began, I immediately left for the library and opened the door forcefully.

Seeing me coming in, Pansy gestured for me to come closer to the reception desk.

With a forceful motion, I obeyed her and sat right in front of her.

“What do you want?”

“Oh my, you were the one who came here with your own two feet, you know?”

“You were the one who told me to come.”

“Indeed.”

She turned her gaze downward before taking a deep breath.

Almost immediately afterwards, she turned her gaze to me.

“Don’t you think things are getting interesting?”

“What?”

“You did your best to help them, but all that effort went down the drain.”

“Y-You…”

“Akino-senpai and Hinata-san knew that their love was unrequited. Yet they still decided to support Oga-kun with all their strength. They’re quite pitiful, don’t you think?”

Her words pissed me off. I gotta say that she was a natural at this.

I came here to atone for the thing that I did to her the other day, but seeing her treating me this way just made any kind of guilt that I had for her disappear. This would make things between us even…no, she owed me an apology for this.

There were things that she couldn’t simply say freely.

“What are you…”

“But, Joro-kun.”

Just as I was about to lash out at her, Pansy interrupted me with her words.

“What is it?”

Fiddling with her hair, she kept her expressionless gaze on me. Then, she opened her mouth.

“This is when things get really interesting.”

I turned around after hearing the sound of the library door being opened, only to find three familiar faces standing there.

Sun-chan, Himawari and Cosmos.

Seeing me and Pansy together, they looked surprised.

Especially Sun-chan. There was a clear anger in his eyes.

Why the hell were these guys here?!

People wouldn’t normally visit the library during lunch!

They would occasionally come to borrow a book or two, but even that would only occur once a week or so!

“Joro… What the hell is this all about?!”

Sun-chan took a strong step forward while clenching his fists.

“T-This is… Um…”

“I’m wondering about the same thing as him, too, Joro. Why are you and Pansy together?”

“Um… Uh…”

Of course.

Of course they’d react like this if they saw me together with Pansy.

They’d think that I lied to them about wanting to spend my lunchtime on my own. I was just using it as an excuse to ditch my duty to help them.

“I assume that Oga-kun is here because he wants to know me better? Then you two must be here to help him out.”

“Sorry, Sanshokuin-san, but can you please be quiet for a moment?”

Pansy, just shut the fuck up! So you knew that this would happen, didn’t you?!

That was why you told me to sit here instead of my usual sitting spot at the reading area! You were trying to seal off my escape route!

“Correct.”

Hearing her mutter that word in a small voice just made my blood boil even more. Too bad that I didn’t have the lenience to show my anger.

There were three distrustful shuras that I had to deal with right in front of me.

“Joro-kun, can you tell me why you’re alone with Pansy-san here?”

Cosmos’ words were gentle, but there was no gentleness in her tone.

“Joro, I’ve told you about my feelings, haven’t I? Was everything that you said to me back then a lie?”

I didn’t tell you any lies, Sun-chan. You were just misunderstanding things.

“Joro, didn’t you say you were going to help us? Then, why are you here? Are you actually stabbing us in our backs?”

“I’ve heard from Himawari-san that you always disappear somewhere during lunch break, but I never thought that I’d find you here. What have you two been talking about?”

“U-Um…”

“By any chance, are you two actually going out? After I told you about my feelings…”

What the hell?! Why did they keep turning me into the bad guy here?!

Besides, the reason why I came here in the first place was because I had been helping those two girls out!

It wasn’t like Pansy and I were dating or anything!

Pansy liked me, but I hated her.

So, why did they keep treating me like the villain?!

Why must I suffer through this shit?!

“Joro!”

“Joro-kun!”

Cosmos’ and Himawari’s voices echoed in my ears. Both of them were staring at me intensely.

What did I do to earn that kind of gaze?

I’ve been helping you two all this time!

Himawari, who did you think was the one who covered all your mess ups?!

Cosmos, when you were unable to do anything because of your embarrassment, who was the person who gave you a way out?

Couldn’t you two just believe in me for a second? I had my own circumstances too!

“I always thought that you’re an important childhood friend of mine, Joro. I guess you don’t feel the same way about me…”

“Me too. I always thought of you as a precious kouhai and a reliable friend. But, it seems like you don’t feel the same way about me…”

Okay, change! Joro! Switch! On!

“Don’t fuck with me!”

Fuck this. I don’t care anymore. To hell with everything.

I need to give those two fuckers a piece of my mind or else I wouldn’t feel satisfied.

I’m done acting like their doormat.

“What the fuck are you two talking about? Important childhood friend of yours? Precious kouhai of yours? Bullshit! If you two actually thought of me that way, you would at least listen to my words, but what did you two do?!”

Seeing my sudden change in temperament, the three people in front of me widened their eyes in surprise.

“Don’t you think that I’ll just keep quiet forever! You know what, fuck it, since you guys are running your mouth off about me like that, I’ll just do the same to you. Fuck you!”

Since you guys wanted me to be the villain so badly, I’ll gladly entertain you guys.

I’ll show you guys my real personality.

“I’ll let you off Sun-chan. You don’t understand the full situation and I get where you’re coming from. I can’t blame you for acting this way. Those two however…”

Seeing the anger in my eyes, they flinched.

Ha?! Don’t you think I’ll let you guys off easy just because you are scared!

“W-What is it?”

“W-Why are you treating Sun-chan differently than us?”

“You two couldn’t even figure that out? Pathetic.”

I sneered at them.

“Think about how you two have been treating me. Whenever it was convenient for you two, you’d come to me and use me like a convenient tool. But as soon as the situation turned the worse for you two, you abandoned me and turned me into a villain. Even when I tried to convince you two that I’m on your side, you two never listened at all. I doubt that you two even give a single shit about me.”

They kept forcing me to do a lot of troublesome shit without even trying to pay me back.

First they treated me like a stick, then they treated me like a traitor. Bitches.

“Even after all that you two have the galls to call me your important childhood friend and precious kouhai? As a joke, that was a good one, I gotta admit. Haha.”

The moment I said those words, both Cosmos and Himawari looked taken aback.

It seemed like they had finally realized the way they had been treating me.

“Were you guys even being sincere when you said those words? Well, I doubt it, honestly. Seriously, why can’t you two just be honest with me?”

““…””

“Oi, Cosmos, Himawari.”

When I called their names out while glaring at them, they shrunk a little, but they were still able to return my gaze.

However, their gazes were weak.

“W-What is it?”

Those words were from Himawari. She was clearly frightened, but she still managed to squeeze out a reply.

Meanwhile Cosmos was patiently waiting for my next words with a fearful gaze.

“I’m neither your childhood friend nor precious kouhai!”

I knew this all along. It was hard for me to say the truth out loud, but it was harder for me to bottle it inside any longer. Consequences be damned.

This would at least destroy the relationship between me and the two of them, but I didn’t care. I had enough. I refuse to put up with their bullshit any longer.

“I’m just a convenient tool to both of you!”

““…””

“And you two got the galls to talk shit about me!”

I said those words in a strong tone. They could only shut their mouth in response.

Hah! Good, do that. This was the perfect moment for those two to reflect on what they had been doing!

…Finally! I won against them!

“O-Oi, J-Joro… Don’t you think you’ve said enough?”

Sun-chan rushed to stop me.

“I guess so.”

Hahaha! How was that, Cosmos?! Himawari?!

Bet you two were feeling guilty about this! How did it feel? Suck that! This was my perfect victory!

Under this circumstance, if I were to tell Sun-chan about everything, we’d be able to resolve the misunderstandings that he had about me.

On top of that, if I were to tell him that there was nothing going on between Pansy and me, everything would be resolved on a good note!

I ended up revealing my true personality, but knowing Sun-chan, he’d definitely just laugh it off with a ‘I didn’t know you are this kind of person,’ and accept it wholeheartedly.

That should settle everything! Things might turn awkward between me and the two girls, but who cares!

Being able to say what was in my mind felt good!

Eat that, Cosmos! Himawari! Ha!

That is why you shouldn’t get carried away! Karma finally caught up to you two!

“Even though you were on your own, you handled it splendidly, White Elephant, Joro-kun.”

Pansy said while holding the book ‘Obbel and Elephant’ by Miyazawa Kenji⁶The book was about Obbel, a greedy man who tried to exploit the kindness of a white elephant and came to regret it after things that happened in the book afterwards..

Hoho, it seemed like Pansy was agreeing with me.

I wasn’t in the wrong at all, glad you knew that, Pansy!

“You tried so hard to make at least one of them happy and yet they treated you cruelly after all that.”

You were completely right! I tried so hard just to make them happy!

Seriously, there were more bad things than good that came out of it! Besides, the things that I said earlier was—

“Then, why did you tell me to go out with Oga-kun, Joro-kun?”

…Um, Pansy-san?

Why would you bring that up now?

Wasn’t this the part where you would be taking my side?

Didn’t you say that you like me? Was this the right way to treat the person that you liked?

The moment he heard Pansy’s words, Sun-chan gripped my collar tightly.

“What did she mean, Joro? I thought you said that you were on Cosmos’ and Himawari’s side?”

“U-Um, you see…”

Strange. Why did this happen?

I thought this was the moment when they started to feel sorry for me and apologize to me. After that, we’ll reach a happy end together.

Was I wrong?

“He said something along the line of, ‘I’ll make one of the girls to be mine.’”

I never said that! At least I never said that to you!

I’ve only ever said that in my monologue!

At that moment, the two girls who had been in a depressed state were instantly revived.

Uwah! Both of them had blank looks on their faces. They even exuded black auras behind them.

“Joro-kun, can you explain?”

“Yes, I wanna hear your explanation too, Joro.”

“I-I swear I don’t feel that way anymore!”

“‘Anymore?’ So you used to feel that way.”

I dug my own grave. A deep one at that!

It was so deep that I couldn’t even see the bottom of it!

“Ah, could it be that you told me to go out with Oga-kun so you could go out with both of them at the same time?”

PAAANSSYYYY!

As soon as I shouted her name in my heart, Sun-chan opened his eyes wide and punched me.

Watch carefully, Cosmos, Himawari.

If you got carried away, karma would catch up to you.

“Gya!”

Yes, just like what you two were seeing with your eyes.

Sun-chan hit me with all his strength.

The force of his punch was so strong that I ended up falling to the floor.

Sun-chan… You’re a pitcher, take care of your hands more…

“O-Ouch…”

While I was writhing on the floor, he approached me with a heroic gait. I could almost hear the BGM accompanying him.

I guess this was the perfect moment for me to reflect on what I had been doing.

“You piece of trash! Apologize to both of them!”

“Ugh!”

He didn’t even give me any chance to say anything before he sent another punch to my face.

My face was swollen. The nose that I was proud of became deformed. Seriously, you need to take care of your hands more…

“A-Ah… Ugh…”

Meanwhile, Cosmos and Himawari were only staring at me.

“Joro… This is shocking. You look like natto being boiled in the deep sea⁷I don’t understand what this is supposed to mean. Some people do think that natto is disgusting, so I guess this is just her way of calling him disgusting..”

Could I assume that she was calling me pretty? Well I would be sticky though⁸If you don’t know, natto is sticky as hell..

“I’m shocked too… You look like you could be stewed along with taro sludge.”

I would be dirty then! But it seemed that I’d still be sticky.

“You should… No, never mind. From now on, we are through. Don’t even try to approach the three of us anymore.”

“Agh…”

Sun-chan said calmly as he dragged me out of the library. He did that far to separate me from the three of them. It was as if our friendship was a lie.

“It’s unfortunate, Joro. I wished that we could be friends forever.”

“I-I… Alsho… T-Thought the shame…”

“I see. But, we’re through now…”

His words were like the scythe of the grim reaper that cut through my heart.

Phew… Everything was finally over.

Himawari looked at me in dismay. Cosmos looked at me with a sad look. Meanwhile Pansy gave me a blank stare.

By the way, Pansy, why did you do this to me? I thought you said that you like me?

Was that a lie?

“I wasn’t lying.”

Pansy’s words were the last thing I heard before I got dragged out of the library by Sun-chan.

* * *

“See you, Joro. You hypocrite, irredeemable loser.”

After tossing me in the abandoned men’s toilet, Sun-chan said that to me and left.

And so, I lost everything.