V3Ch4: Black Recruitment

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Translator: Soafp

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It had been a long day.

I was bombarded with questions from classmates, stared at by Akazawa, and pressured by Aoyama—it was mentally exhausting.

Reflecting on the conversation with Aoyama, all I could think of were things I should have done differently.

Not coming up with a good excuse for supporting Shirase was a major blunder. I can't afford to make that mistake again.

Since then, I'd been thinking of excuses. As a result, I couldn’t focus on my afternoon classes at all. Well, I might not even need to use those excuses in the future, though.

After switching out my shoes at the shoe lockers, I stepped out from the school entrance.

As I was walking toward the school gate, I felt a strong gaze from behind. I knew I was being watched, but I kept walking, pretending not to notice.

“…Wait.”

Just before I reached the exit, someone called out to me.

It was Kuromine.

I had expected this. I knew she had been following me since I left the classroom. I had been bracing myself, thinking she might speak to me sooner or later. Well, even though I was prepared, I still flinched when she finally called out, probably because I've always been a bit timid.

When I turned around, Kuromine was approaching me.

Kuromine was always intimidating, but today she seemed even more imposing than usual.

“Hey, about that rumor…”

She opened with no preamble.

“Hold on. We don't have to talk about this here—”

We've exchanged contact info, and we could meet at the part-time job.

There are too many eyes here. The fact that Kuromine, one of the top Goddesses, was talking to a guy like me was drawing a lot of attention. To her female fans, I must look like the enemy. It would be safer if we moved a little further from the school.

I was about to say something, but the dark aura coming from Kuromine made me stop.

“No. It has to be here… because, well, I won't have the courage anywhere else.”

“Courage?”

“I won't be able to handle it without people watching. Please, listen to me here.”

In other words, she needs to be this version of Kuromine to get through this.

Seeing the intense expression on her face, I nodded silently.

“I heard the rumor… that you're supporting Shirase. Is it true?”

That again, huh?

I pulled a white handkerchief out of my pocket and showed it to Kuromine. It would be easier to explain with this than with words.

“….”

Kuromine stared at the handkerchief in my hand with her jet-black eyes. Her expression gradually clouded over, and eventually, she looked away.

“Don't ever let me see that again.”

“S-Sorry.”

In a panic, I quickly put the handkerchief away. Apparently, she was deeply offended.

“…Why?”

“Eh?”

“Why Shirase?”

Just as I was about to answer, Kuromine continued.

“Isn't it strange? When we were at the pool together, you clearly hated her. You definitely didn't seem like you wanted to get close to her. Even when she invited you to the shopping mall pool, you looked like you didn't want to go at all.”

She had been paying close attention.

Back then, I definitely wasn't fond of Shirase.

We hadn't made up yet, and I had just learned that Yakumo was her brother, which I was still struggling to process. Going to the pool with her felt like torture.

I made up with her after that, but Kuromine didn't know about it, of course.

“Tell me. What's your reason for supporting her?”

“….”

“If you're being threatened or something, I can help you.”

“Th-Threatened?! That's a bit extreme!”

“It's the only thing that makes sense. You supporting her is impossible. Absolutely impossible.”

Why does everyone assume I'm being threatened?

Is it really so strange that I'm supporting Shirase? Well, I guess it makes sense from Kuromine's perspective, given how I acted at the pool.

“I’m not being threatened.”

“Th-Then why!?”

I decided to use the excuse I had prepared.

“The reason is Yakumo-kun.”

“…?”

“Yeah, Shirase's younger brother, Yakumo-kun. You know, we went to the pool together, right? That was my first time meeting him, but we hit it off right away. I really liked him, personally. So, I figured I'd support his sister, Shirase.”

I thought it was a pretty brilliant excuse.

I couldn’t think of anything else. Complimenting Shirase’s appearance would surely backfire later, and if I didn't have a solid reason for supporting her, I'd be easily argued down into supporting another goddess.

I could've used Shion as an excuse, but she'd undoubtedly support Kuromine.

If I used Yakumo-kun as the reason, Kuromine wouldn't suspect a thing. After all, I genuinely liked the guy.

“So, why Shirase?”

“Yakumo-kun will probably vote for his sister. I thought I'd help him out.”

“…You probably don't know this, Nijitani, but he definitely won't vote for Shirase. He'll vote for Shion. It's obvious he's in love with her.”

“Wh—”

She saw through that too.

“T-that's the first I've heard of it!”

“Besides, who he votes for has nothing to do with you, does it?”

She hit me with pure logic.

“W-well, I'm not changing my stance!”

“…”

“Well then, I guess that's the end of the discussion—”

I tried to end the conversation and walk away, but Kuromine blocked my path.

“…Wait. Shirase's no good.”

“No good? Even if you say that…”

“Are you really not being threatened?”

“I'm not.”

“But you can't tell me the real reason why you're supporting her, can you?”

She hit the nail on the head. I could only remain silent.

“Changing the topic, I heard you were talking with Aoyama at lunch?”

“I was.”

“Can I ask what it was about?”

I could lie, but there wasn't really a point in hiding it. Judging by her tone, she probably already knew the gist of the conversation.

“It was the same as you. She asked why I'm supporting Shirase, then asked me to support her instead.”

“…Aoyama's no good either.”

“Neither of them are?”

“Neither!”

Still, I couldn't bend my will.

If Kuromine, who hated me to the point of wanting to erase my existence, found out my true identity, I couldn't imagine what would happen.

I had no choice but to use Shirase as a shield. Not that it's been very effective so far…

“I didn't want to say this, but if you're going to choose between them, then just choose me!”

“!”

“If you don't have a reason, then there's no problem, right?”

Something was wrong. I had come up with an excuse, but now I was backed into a corner again.

What do I do?

We were near the school gate, and a few students were walking by. It was rare for Kuromine to talk to a guy, so we were attracting a lot of attention. I couldn't say anything reckless.

Think of something. Something to settle this situation peacefully.

“Uh, well, if your charm surpasses Shirase's, I'll consider it.”

“!”

My hastily made excuse didn't work, and I ended up repeating the same mistake.

Kuromine looked surprised for a moment, then seemed to think about something.

“…I understand.”

She muttered as if she had come to a decision.

“So basically, if I want your support, I just need to appeal more, right?”

“Eeh?”

“Fine. If that's what you said, I'll do my best. I can't say I'm better than her, but she's dangerous. Aoyama's also dangerous.”

After being satisfied with her own reasoning, Kuromine continued.

“I'm not great at sports, but I'm good at studying. I don't like to brag, but my figure isn't bad either.”

“Uhm?”

“I know you don't care about that kind of thing. So, if I have any chance to show my strength, it'll be the midterm exams. Shirase's smart, but I'll beat her.”

With that, she nodded confidently.

“Look forward to the test results.”

She said before walking off. The sharp, dark aura I had felt when she first approached me had disappeared by the time she left.

Huh, this is different from what I imagined.

…Did I make a mistake somewhere?

I don’t know, I don’t know, but let’s get out of here for now.

Why did I think that? Because a pair of red eyes had been staring intently at me throughout the entire conversation at the school gate.