Chapter 12: 25 January Déjà vu.

Translator: Soafp

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Ginro-san and I officially started dating.

We both carried emotional scars, and perhaps this relationship was a way for us to heal those wounds together. But I was incredibly happy to be dating Ginro-san, and I felt like I was floating on air.

We exchanged messages late into the night every day. It was strange how I never got tired, no matter how late we messaged.

Because of Ginro-san’s striking beauty, there was a risk of unexpected situations when going out in public. So, our dates mostly took place at home. (Given our previous experience)

Oh, don’t worry, we didn’t do anything inappropriate!

But I have to say, Ginro-san’s cooking was incredibly delicious.

It was so delicious that the moment I put it in my mouth, my consciousness was blown away and I fainted. But for some reason, when I woke up a few hours later, I had a terrible headache.

Ginro-san cried and apologized to me, but I didn’t care at all because the food was so good.

And with all of that, a month had already passed since Ginro-san and I started our secret relationship.

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Kin con kan kon.

Crap, the chime is ringing!

I’m in the middle of climbing the stairs. The time it takes for the chime to stop is about 30 seconds, and I need to get to the classroom within that time.

It’s impossible. The stairs in this school are unnecessarily long. I’ll have to give up on the perfect attendance record I’ve maintained since transferring here.

“Kuu…”

It’s heartbreaking, but there’s no choice. It’s physically impossible…

I’ll have to give up.

As I contemplate this, the chime finishes ringing, and my tardiness is confirmed.

Well, there’s no need to rush up the stairs now. Let’s take it easy.

“Oi, Yuran!”

I hear a familiar, loud voice from behind.

This voice belongs to…

“You’re late!? Haha, it seems like Yuran, the honor student, has finally fallen.”

It’s Yuji-kun, my benefactor, friend, and best buddy.

“Why are you so happy about that?” I retort.

“Haha, Yuran, you’re finally part of the club with me.”

For some reason, Yuji-kun is delighted that I’m late, but I’ve only been late once. That doesn’t make me part of his club. Starting tomorrow, I’ll make sure never to be late again. I clench my fist with determination.

“Anyway, I’m here to give you a lesson about being late! Such a pain…”

“Ha, you’ve been late a lot yourself, Yuji-kun.”

“Shut up! You’re going to be late every day from tomorrow on!”

“That’s not going to happen.”

We engage in this senseless conversation as we head to the classroom. I kind of like this time of the day.

For a moment, our conversation falls silent, and then it’s as if Yuji-kun has made a decision.

“Hey, are you dating Ginro?”

“Eh? Eh!?”

With a solemn expression, I thought he was going to talk about something entirely different, but then he dropped this unexpected question.

“W-Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“I realized I never asked.”

“Eh.”

“The other day at Shibasaki, you were being hassled by those delinquents, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Back then, Ginro was with you. I’ve been wondering why.”

“Oh, I see…”

I’m in a bind…

What should I say? After all, Ginro-san and I have a pact to keep our relationship a secret between us.

Is it really okay to break that promise with my best friend?

“…”

“Well, if you can’t say, forget it.”

“Eh!?”

“It’s not like I’m that interested in it, and it’s pretty uncouth to pry into other people’s love lives.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? It’s my fault for asking weird questions.”

“It’s not like that! I’m not indecisive…”

“Alright, alright. Your self-reflective mode lasts forever. Hearing that from you first thing in the morning is too many calories.”

“Y-yeah…”

“Don’t you realize it? Anyway, let’s drop this topic for now. Oh, and…”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve been staring at Ginro during class too much. There are rumors going around that you have a crush on her. Be careful.”

“Eh, eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh?!”

Clang-clang-clang!

Yuji-kun burst into the classroom, throwing the door open with gusto, but the class had already started.

As we slowly climbed the stairs while chatting, we realized that we had missed the morning club activities and arrived at the start of the first period. This should give you an idea of just how long the staircase at our school is.

“Take your seats quickly.”

“Yeeees.”

The teacher either had a bad mood or was just generally irritable today, and he glared at us with a stern expression.

To avoid making any further trouble, I quietly took my seat. However, Yuji-kun didn’t seem to care and confidently walked over to his seat.

I glanced at my neighbor, and there was Ginro-san sitting right beside me.

I exchanged a morning greeting with her through our gazes, but for some reason, she looked apologetic today.

I wondered what was going on, but before I could ask, I turned my attention back to my bag and began taking out my class materials.

“And so, therefore…”

The lesson felt incredibly long. Our school follows a 50-minute class period system, but the way I felt, it was easily going on for much longer than that. I’ve already been mentally ticking off another two hours since the start of class, and it still felt like we weren’t making any progress. It seemed like some kind of conspiracy.

I always made it a rule not to sleep during class. I was afraid that even a moment of dozing off might affect my performance on the test a month from now. However, today was different. I felt an overwhelming urge to just close my eyes and fall asleep.

Tap-tap-tap-tap.

“Hmm?”

Ginro-san jabbed my right shoulder rapidly.

What’s going on? I’d like to ask, but making any noise during class was strictly forbidden, so I merely turned to look in her direction.

“What’s up?”

Ginro-san showed me her notebook, where she had written in beautiful handwriting:

“I have something to apologize for. Please come to the rooftop after this class.”

“Ahh…”

Surprised by the unexpected message, I accidentally let out a small noise. It might not have been very loud, but it seemed like a few people had heard, judging by the curious looks they shot our way. Fortunately, the teacher didn’t seem to notice. That was a close call. Getting chewed out by the grumpy teacher was something I’d rather avoid.

It seems that people who want to be scolded are true masochists. I pondered this as I decided to focus my attention back on my textbook and contemplate how to survive the rest of the class.

Ding-dong-dong-dong!

The bell rang, finally signaling the end of this seemingly never-ending class.

I made my way to the rooftop, where Ginro-san and I had agreed to meet. Since we didn’t want our classmates or anyone else to suspect anything about our relationship, we chose to arrive separately. Ginro-san, with her extraordinary beauty, had attracted a lot of fans, and if it were to become known that we were dating, who knew what kind of chaos might ensue. We both agreed that avoiding unnecessary conflicts was the best course of action, so on the day we officially started dating, we made a pact not to act like a couple at school.

So this situation is rather unforeseen.

I couldn’t help but feel nervous as I placed my trembling hand on the rooftop door.

“Please, don’t let it be something serious…”

Click.

I opened the door, and a rush of cold air swept in. On the other side of that chilly breeze stood Ginro-san, her beautiful hair swaying gently.

“Yuran-kun… Good afternoon.”

“…Good afternoon, Ginro-san.”

Ginro-san brushed her hair behind her ear in a graceful motion, which only added to her beauty.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“I… have something to apologize for.”

“Hmm?”

The tension in the air was suddenly broken by Ginro-san’s serious expression. It felt like the end of the world, as her eyes seemed darker and more profound than usual.

“Is it because I was late today?”

“Eh?”

Could it be that she wanted to apologize for that?

The thick atmosphere that had built up seemed to dissipate in an instant. As I looked at Ginro-san’s serious expression, I couldn’t have anticipated what kind of confession I was about to receive, and I felt a bit relieved.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I thought that I might be causing you to get tired because I always send you messages late into the night. But even if I realized that, I couldn’t bring myself to stop sending them…”

“No! It’s not like that at all! I enjoy texting with you, Ginro-san.”

“But, Yuran-kun…”

“I was late today because the train was delayed! It’s not your fault.”

That was the truth. I sincerely conveyed my feelings.

Blaming Ginro-san for being late today would only make me despise myself.

“So, don’t look so gloomy.”

“Thank you…”

Phew, that settles it.

Talking at school is quite risky, so we should get back to class as soon as possible.

“Ginro-san, you can go back ahead of me.”

“No.”

“Eh? But if we don’t, it might look suspicious.”

“I don’t want to be apart from you, Yuran-kun.”

Ginro-san’s request was something I wanted to accommodate as much as possible, but here, it was quite problematic. We didn’t know who might come up to the rooftop, and we hadn’t even considered what kind of excuse we’d give if we were found here.

“But if our relationship gets exposed, it might cause trouble.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Eh?”

“I don’t mind if everyone finds out about our relationship. Even if I’m resented by other girls, as long as I have you, I don’t care.”

“But…”

“Please don’t go. Stay with me, Yuran-kun?”

Ginro-san had suddenly become possessive.

She had never shown such a blatant display of jealousy before. Wait, could it be that she used apologizing as an excuse to bring me up here?

While it might be true that I couldn’t return to class immediately from the rooftop, thinking about it wouldn’t change anything.

“…Yuran-kun, even though you said it was okay, I’ve been worried.”

My thoughts were completely different from what Ginro-san was expressing.

“So I’d like to make an apology.”

“Apology?”

Ginro-san slowly approached me, one step at a time.

Normally, I would gladly accept, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

Swish.

We were now within the touching distance of each other’s breaths.

“Ginro-san…”

“Let’s kiss.”

“Heh?”

“That’s my way of apologizing.”

“Don’t use something like that as an apology!”

“No, I want a deep, passionate kiss that makes our heads spin.”

Ginro-san’s finger brushed my lips, and then she touched her own lips with the same finger.

I couldn’t think straight. My mind had gone completely blank.

“That’s not an apology, it’s Ginrou-san’s desire—“

Huh? My voice wouldn’t come out… Why couldn’t I continue my sentence?

The answer was simple.

My mouth was sealed by Ginro-san’s lips.

That’s why I couldn’t speak.

“Mmm…”

“Haa… Haa…”

Our lips pressed against each other.

It was just a kiss, but the side effects were overwhelming, rendering my brain powerless, and my senses inactive. I forgot how to breathe, and we both lost ourselves in the act. However, because we were human, there were limits.

I pushed Ginro-san’s shoulder with my hand to stop the kiss. I was bad at holding my breath, and if the kiss continued a little longer, I would have undoubtedly suffocated and fainted.

“I can’t breathe…”

“Hey… Yuran.”

Ginro-san called my name without the usual honorific. I wondered if there had been a change in her feelings. But, that didn’t matter right now!

“I want to do more.”

Ginro-san’s arms coiled around my neck, her ch*st pressing against mine. It was an incredibly intimate embrace. Despite the fact that I should have more weight and stability than Ginro-san, my legs gave way, and I ended up on my backside.

“Yuran-kun… This is my first kiss.”

“Y-Yeah…”

“I never knew a kiss could fill my heart like this.”

Ginro-san’s lips covered mine again.

I’m not sure why, but I can’t refuse.

It is violated as it is done.

[Haa… Haa… Yuran.]

Eh?

“Nee-san?”

“What’s wrong?”

“N-Nothing…”

“Strange… Yuran-kun…Hmm”

Haa, haa…Why?

This shouldn’t be happening.

Right now, for a brief moment, the image of Ginro-san kissing me overlapped with the memory of my sister.

How far are you going to tie me up… Nee-san…