Epilogue – Have We Met Before?

“What do you mean everything is my fault?!”

Tuesday morning, the first day of the week after the Hyakka Festival.

I was chatting with Sun-chan when a high-pitched female voice suddenly entered my ears.

It seemed like there was a catfight between the girls. One of the members of the girl clique, the same group who was trying to ‘enact justice’ on me, was receiving a cold stare from the rest of her cliques.

“I mean, you were the one who said things like ‘Joro is getting carried away lately and he’s getting on my nerves.’”

“Right~ The rest of us didn’t really care about him~”

Ah, I see. This would be one of the tactics exclusive to the charismatic girls cliques, ‘Scapegoat.’

So, the situation here was, back when rumors about me were still going around, they had been troubling me every single day.

However, during the second day of the Hyakka Festival, all the rumors about me were proven wrong.

Since that was the case, all of their justifications to gang up on me was gone. Now, considering what they had done, they wouldn’t be in a really good position if they didn’t do anything about it.

That was why, in order to clear their name, they would ostracize someone and label them as ‘the evil one’ in this case.

Basically creating a situation like, ‘this isn’t my fault, it’s the fault of this girl since she was the one who started everything!’

And so, Girl A-san became ‘the evil one’ in this situation, because she was the one who started shit with me.

“Y-You guys…”

Girl A-san’s lips trembled in anger, but there was a hint of fear in her eyes.

In her head, she probably had imagined what would happen to her in the near future. Getting kicked out of her clique before ending up as a loner in class, living in complete fear and isolation every single day.

“I gotta go for a bit, Sun-chan.”

“Sure! I knew you’d do something like this, Joro!”

Seriously, I thought I was done playing the good boy role, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to do the act one last time. What a pain…

“Uh, you got a minute?”

When I stood up and confronted the girls, their shoulders jerked in surprise.

“Ah, Joro! I-I did a lot of terrible things to you… I’m sorry!”

“I’m really sorry! I overreacted! This won’t happen again, I promise!”

“I’ve seen the article! Sorry that I misunderstood you! Please forgive me…”

As they apologized to me, one of them handed me a sheet of paper.

On it was an article titled, ‘Newspaper Club’s Mistake! The Truth about the False Rumors!’ It was an article that stated all the rumors about me were just rumors and misunderstandings. Well, I already knew about this, of course.

“Ah, don’t worry about it, also…”

After giving those girls a proper response, I turned my gaze toward the despairing Girl A-san,

“W-What is it…?”

She was about to cry. Seriously, get yourself together.

We didn’t want a youkai to be born because your makeup fell off here.

“In a way, it was my strange actions that caused you to misunderstand everything, so I’m sorry.”

“Eh?”

“Honestly, your courage impressed me. Like, how could you say things that everyone would be reluctant to do? I mean, if I were in your position, I wouldn’t be able to do it, that’s for sure.”

Utilizing the ‘everyone’ technique! Now Girl A-san wouldn’t lose her position in class.

“T-Thank you… B-But, I still misunderstood you! T-That’s why… S-Sorry…”

“Don’t be. Like I said, it was my fault to begin with. I was basically asking for it.”

“…Joro.”

Girl A-san and the rest of the girls were looking at me with shining eyes. I could feel the gratitude in their eyes.

“In the future, if you think I did something wrong again, can you guys let me know? I don’t want to trouble anyone again, you see…”

It seemed like I was acting coolly, but I was legitimately horrified inside.

Despite what had happened, those guys were still the one of the most influential groups of people in class.

If possible, I didn’t want to have to confront them ever again.

That was why, I’d extinguish any potential sparks in one fell swoop!

Sometimes, you gotta apologize even though you were the one in the right and this was one of those situations!

Since I wanted to live a peaceful life, it would be best for me to bury all the hostilities behind. Hopefully, with this, they wouldn’t start attacking me ever again…

Okay, that should be enough to achieve my goals. I didn’t want to be around them anymore. They genuinely scared me…

“Sorry for the wait, Sun-chan.”

“Oh, don’t be, I didn’t wait for long. Besides, you looked good over there, buddy! As expected of my best friend!”

Phew… I actually thought of getting him to help me if things were to go badly, but it was great that it didn’t escalate that far. Well, whatever, at least things were resolved peacefully—

“That was really cool, Joro!”

At that moment, a lively female voice came from behind me. Not long after, the owner of that voice jumped in front of me.

“Good morning, Joro! Sun-chan!”

“Good morning, Asunaro!”

“A-Ah… Good morning… Asunaro…”

My whole body flinched. I never expected that Asunaro would ever call out to me again. I didn’t know what to do…

“You don’t need to make that kind of face, Joro! U-Um, I’ve cleared up the misunderstandings with everyone… A-And, I’m sorry for causing you much trouble!”

Asunaro’s face switched from a bright smile to a serious one.

From her gestures, I could tell that she was truly sorry about everything.

“Hehehe, don’t worry about it, Asunaro! Well, it isn’t like I have the right to judge you in the first place!”

“Well, I’m with Sun-chan here. Everyone makes mistakes, so don’t worry about it.”

“…Thank you for understanding.”

Asunaro’s voice trembled as she wiped the tears off her eyes. Mhm. Everything was already over, so let bygones be bygones.

“Then… No matter how impossible the outcome is… I’ll still do my best!”

“…Huh? Oi, Asunaro, are you…?”

“Anyway! There’s another thing! It seems like we’ll get a transfer student in our school! She’ll be assigned to our class!”

She cut my words. From that and her red eyes, it didn’t seem like she was willing to answer my question. Then, with her ponytail swinging and a bright smile, she left me and Sun-chan behind.

W-Well, I guess I could just ignore what she had just said for now…

Any more than this would be a little overwhelming for me too…

* * *

“Take your seats, everyone.”

The moment homeroom started, our teacher entered the classroom and greeted us with his usual lethargic voice. Following behind him was a girl, probably the transfer student that Asunaro mentioned.

She had short, straight hair with tidy-looking bangs. Her eyes were slightly round and her chest was pretty much nonexistent, similar to how a certain librarian looked usually.

However, if I were to judge her based on her face only, she’d definitely be one of the prettiest girls in our school.

This would shake things up for sure. Cosmos and Himawari wouldn’t be able to dominate the school anymore…

“Ah, some of you might already know, but a transfer student will be joining our class starting from today. Yoki-san, can you introduce yourself?”

Oh, time for her self-introduction. Alright, time to ask a question that a mob would usually ask; ‘What’s your type?’ Okay, get ready… Huh? For some reason, she was walking in my direction.

She was looking at me… and smiled at me… Man, she was so cute…

“…It’s been a while, isn’t it, Kisaragi Amatsuyu-kun?”

Umu, you’ve finally arrived, haven’t you? Alright, it was time for us to settle our— Wait, no!

I almost got in character, but no, this wasn’t the time! The isekai battle arc wasn’t supposed to start yet!

“Um? It has been a while…? I guess?”

I returned her greeting, but seriously, who the heck was she?

“Have you forgotten about me already? What a terrible person. I haven’t forgotten about you yet, though.”

Woah, she was a bokukko¹Bokukko is a girl who refers to herself as ‘boku,’ which we all know, is a way for a boy to refer to himself.! This was the first time I’ve ever seen a bokukko in my life!

Anyway, when she realized that I didn’t remember her, she let out a giggle. Great, at least she wasn’t mad at me.

“I am the girl who’ll treat you with kindness unconditionally. Someone who will devote herself to you with all of her heart. My personality might be a little harsh, but please bear with me. I’ll be in your care from now on.”

Huh? Those words sound familiar…

Where did I hear those words before…? Ah, right, I said something like that!

It was part of my monologue back when I failed to recognize my mom!

“W-Why are you saying something like that to me…?”

While everyone else in class, including the teacher and me, were dumbstruck by the sudden bombshell the transfer student said, she suddenly grabbed my hand and pressed her lips against it. Oi, what the heck?!

“I will devote myself to you from now on. Please take care of me.”

* * *

July, one year ago.

As I stepped out of the stadium, the sun, hot as it was since it was currently summer, blessed me with its light.

Even for a high school student with plenty of energy like me, this was still a harsh situation.

“I gotta look for it… There should be one somewhere around here…”

Those words slipped out of my mouth as I remembered the result of the final match of the regionals that the baseball club played today.

At the end of the match, the end of the ninth inning, our side was overwhelmed by the opponent and lost the match.

That alone was pretty upsetting, but I couldn’t afford to let it get to me.

“Wait for me, Sun-chan.”

Muttering the name of my friend, I desperately searched for a certain shop.

A kushikatsu shop.

Sun-chan, as the ace of the baseball team, was the only one among the players who still had a smile on his face. Instead of crying like everyone else was, he made his effort to comfort them. But, I knew that he was just acting tough.

It was him who felt the most depressed of them all.

After all, out of everyone else, he was the one who wanted to go to Koshien the most.

And so, I took it upon myself, as his best friend, to cheer him up.

My plan was to greet him with a smile while holding his favorite food, kushikatsu, in my hands.

That was the reason why I was searching for a kushikatsu shop, but I couldn’t find any near the stadium.

“Not here… Then…!”

When I looked around my surroundings desperately, I noticed something.

A food stall a short distance away from where I was standing.

‘Yoki Kushikatsu Stall’ was written on it. There was no doubt about it! They should be selling some kushikatsu there!

“Excuse me! Can I—”

Wait, no, I forgot to hide my true personality here.

My outward personality was that of a kind and naive boy, so time to get in character!

“Can I have all the kushikatsu in your stock?”

I said to the store clerk, pointing to the more than fifty skewers of kushikatsu.

The clerk was wearing a bandana on his forehead, keeping his hair so that they wouldn’t obstruct his sight. I could feel his spirit of professionalism.

“Huh?”

The good-looking clerk, who looked out of place because he was running a kushikatsu stall, looked at me with suspicion.

Due to his appearance, I thought that he would be a kind person, but it seemed like my guess was wrong.

“You, what did you say just now?”

“Um… I said, can I have all the kushikatsu in your stock?”

“If you’re here to make fun of me, then why don’t you just leave? So annoying.”

Oi, what the hell. Your attitude didn’t reflect the name of your stall at all²Yoki is also a slang for ‘nice.’.

I was still a customer, you know? Since I said that I wanted to buy your goods, then, give me your goods. Well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand his feelings.

A high school student came out of nowhere and told you that he’d be buying everything that you had. If I were in his position I would probably do the same. Now, the difference here was that I was serious about buying everything.

“No, um… I’m not trying to make fun of you or anything…”

“Then, you’re serious?”

“…Yes.”

“I see. Sorry for doubting you then. People often told me that I kept taking things the wrong way. I really need to reflect on myself.”

Oh, he apologized properly. Guess he wasn’t such a bad person after all.

Since that was the case, let’s behave accordingly.

“No, it’s okay.”

I gave him my pure-hearted smile. It should look like I was smiling from my heart, my acting was flawless, after all.

“There are sixty of them in total… I think I should heat them up first. Do you mind waiting?”

“Ah, sure, but can you do it quickly? I have something I have to do after this…”

Since I was buying them for Sun-chan, it wouldn’t be funny if he ended up going back home before I could give them to him.

I told the clerk in a rather panicked tone.

“You’re in a hurry? Alright, I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you very much!”

Wait, what?! The dude heated the sixty or so skewers at an unbelievably high speed!

It looked like he manifested a thousand hands due to how fast he was!

“While you’re waiting, why don’t you taste some of our samples over there. We’ll be closing after this anyway.”

“Woah! Thank you very much!”

His hands didn’t stop moving even as he talked. What an amazing guy. Not only that, he was also a nice guy.

Since I was a little hungry, I decided to take up on his goodwill.

Sun-chan would eat up everything anyway. I wouldn’t be able to eat any of them.

I pricked a small piece of the kushikatsu samples with a toothpick and brought it to my mouth.

After tasting it, I realized that it tasted even better than I previously thought.

Sun-chan would be happy after eating these!

“How was it?”

His hands were still moving as he asked me that question with a sharp gaze.

“It’s good! It’s really tasty!”

“…I see.”

Huh? What was it?

I gave him my honest compliment, but he looked down for some reason.

“If that’s the case, why aren’t anyone buying them?”

The clerk said in almost a whisper.

“No one’s buying them?”

“Yeah. At first, there were a lot of people coming here, but nowadays, we are always in the red. Even on good days, we could only sell ten boxes at most. Today… We haven’t sold a single one… For the past year, we’ve been only eating the leftover kushikatsu for dinner. And, my family had considered closing the stall for good…”

Seriously? Man, the world was such a harsh place. Even though their kushikatsu was so good…

“Since there’s nothing wrong with the taste, what else could be the problem…?”

This sounded like a serious problem for him.

But, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it.

“What do you think? Do you think there’s something wrong with the kushikatsu I made?”

Oi, why were you asking me about that? I told you your kushikatsu was tasty, didn’t I?

If you wanted some help to make your dying stall prosper, then ask someone with the surname ‘Yama’ or ‘Umi’ instead of me³I don’t get this one, sorry..

“Um… I don’t know…”

“There’s no problem then. But why aren’t they selling…? What possibly could be the reason…?”

Oh no. He became depressed…

Ah, wait, I should be able to give him advice. Well, it was something that anyone could come up with, but, you know…

“Well, even if your kushikatsu is good, I don’t think that’s enough…”

“What do you mean?”

The clerk’s eyes twitched after hearing my words. Dude, you were scaring me.

“You see, no matter how good your kushikatsu is, if people don’t know about it, of course they won’t buy it. They need to eat it before they know that it’s good, but if they haven’t even bought it, then, how could they know?”

“…Hm. Do you mind continuing your words?”

Why the sudden condescending attitude? Well, whatever.

“That’s why, the first thing that you should do is to make them interested in your kushikatsu. For example, you can make a flier. Then, you can also make unique shaped kushikatsu, like heart-shaped ones to draw in women. And since the baseball stadium is nearby, you can create a catchphrase that resonates with the people who are likely to go there. Something like, ‘Kushikatsu for the win!⁴The catchphrase is a pun, katsu in kushikatsu means ‘deep fried,’ but it could also mean ‘to win.’’ could work.”

“I see. Your catchphrase suggestion is horrible, but that’s actually good advice. The problem isn’t the taste, huh? We need an advertisement to match what the consumers want and give them a reason to come here and buy our kushikatsu… This is something worth looking into.”

That insult wasn’t necessary, you fucker.

Well, whatever. I just hoped that my words were helpful. After that, he proceeded to mumble about something as he fried the kushikatsu.

Around ten minutes later, she had finished packing all the kushikatsu into several boxes.

“Here you go. That’s all of them.”

“Thank you very much! Let me get my money…”

There was no way that I could take out my wallet while holding those boxes.

So, I paid him first before I took the boxes from him.

“Whoops, almost dropped them.”

There were more boxes than I expected. If I messed up just a little, the result wouldn’t be pretty…

“Take care~”

Finally, the clerk broke his buddha-like face and showed me a smile.

Honestly, it would be better if he were to smile like that from the beginning, but of course I wouldn’t say that out loud.

“Alright, I’m going now!”

“Wait. Don’t you think you’re too careless? You should check if the amount of kushikatsu I gave you matches the money you paid me.”

This guy was pretty thorough, huh? Well, sure, I’d do it.

“Um… Okay, all good!”

“Alright then. Oh, wait, can I ask something?”

Sure, I had time to spare, but I really wanted to leave as soon as I could,

I knew Sun-chan wouldn’t want anyone to see how frustrated he was, so he would definitely go back home quickly.

“Thank you for giving me ideas and cheering me up. I was ready to give up on this business before you stopped by. Thanks to you I know that my kushikatsu is tasty and I’ll do what you were telling me to do. I’ll create an advertisement that fits what our customers’ need.”

“U-Um, don’t count on it, though… I-I don’t want to inconvenience you in case that it ends up failing…”

“You won’t be inconveniencing me. All you’ve done is give me advice, what I do with your advice, is completely up to me. If I end up failing, I’m the one who has to take all the responsibility, not you. Besides, even if that’s the case, I’ll still be grateful to you. It was you who bought my kushikatsu, telling me how good it is and even giving me advice.”

“You don’t need to mind that…”

“Anyway, um… May I know your name? If there’s a chance, I want to thank you later in the future…”

He looked embarrassed, but he never took his eyes off me when he spoke.

Well, it wouldn’t be a problem even if I were to tell him my name. It wasn’t like we’d meet each other ever again.

“My name is Chiharu. It is spelled with the chi from Chigasaki and haru⁵Chi/茅 from Chigasaki/茅ヶ崎. Chigasaki as in the Chigasaki City. While haru/春 here means ‘spring’..”

“My name is—”