V4Ch12: The Pink Goddess

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

---

I wonder how many times this has been today already.

Being suddenly confessed to, I was left frozen in shock. But I can say with certainty—this was, without a doubt, the most shocking one yet.

The Momoka in front of me looked refreshed, probably because the tension had finally lifted after such a major event as a confession.

“What I wanted to ask you earlier was actually… your answer to the confession I just made.”

“……”

“Though, of course, I know it's unreasonable to expect an answer right away.”

Momoka smiled gently, showing concern for me.

“It's been years since we last met. And to you, I'm probably still frozen in time as the elementary school girl I used to be. So I understand that asking you to become my boyfriend right away is asking too much.”

I couldn't deny that.

As Momoka said, my impression of her was still rooted in that time. That's only natural—we're only just having our first real conversation since I returned.

Momoka is cute.

Back then, I was in love with Yuuhi Akazawa. And the Akazawa sisters resemble each other. So, in terms of looks, Momoka is absolutely my type. I also know she's kind and sincere.

That's why I find her likable—both inside and out.

But still, someone I treated like a little sister back in elementary school is now asking me to be her boyfriend on the same day we reunited… That's a tall order.

I've never even had a girlfriend before, so I can't just casually respond with something like, “Okay, let's give it a try.”

But saying “I need time to think” feels kind of pathetic too.

“You don't have to answer right away. Asking for a decision on the spot would be too much. And to be honest, since it's my first confession, I really want it to succeed. Ideally, this would be my last confession ever.”

“…Momoka.”

“Please give me your answer by a week before the cultural festival.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

“Why a week before the festival?”

“That's the deadline to withdraw from the Goddess selection.”

Withdraw from the Goddess contest?

Is that related somehow?

“Since entering this school, my goal has been to become a ‘Goddess.' I never liked how the current Four-Colored Goddesses were referred to that way, and I wanted to show you how much I've grown for when you finally returned. Besides, becoming a ‘Goddess' is proof that you're the top female student at Tenka Academy.”

In this school, being called a “God” is a title given to the top male and female students in the entire school. So she's not wrong about that.

“To me, you're the person who saved my life. The best male student. That's why I thought I had to become the best female student to be worthy of you.”

She really thinks highly of me.

But I'm not that great. And anyway, it's already been made clear that Renji is the top male student here.

“But… my plan kind of fell apart, and I ended up confessing.”

“…O-oh.”

“So the Goddess title has lost its meaning. But still, I want to make the Tenkai Contest the milestone where I bring this journey to an end. If you decide to go out with me, I'll withdraw from the election. It'd be rude to the other serious candidates to stay in when I already have a boyfriend, after all.”

I see.

So she doesn't want to be inconsiderate and stay in the contest while being in a relationship. It might be a bit overly thoughtful, but it's very Momoka.

“Ah, but just so you know—I'm as persistent as my sister, if not more. I'm not the type to give up just because I get rejected once or twice. If you turn me down, I'll become the Goddess during the festival and show you just how amazing I can be. I'll keep coming after you until you give in. If pushing doesn't work, I'll push you down!”

That line might sound cool, but it's kinda borderline criminal.

Also, she said it'd be rude to other candidates if she had a boyfriend and stayed in the race, yet now she's saying she'll go after me even after becoming Goddess. Bit contradictory, huh?

Well, even though they're called Goddesses, they're still just regular high school girls. From what I've heard, there have been plenty of past Goddesses who got boyfriends after getting the title.

“…Alright. I'll give you an answer before the deadline.”

“Yes! I'll be looking forward to it!”

Hearing the bounce in Momoka's voice, I let out a sigh of relief.

I'll take my time thinking about how to answer. This isn't something I can just decide on a whim, and I want to sort things out with Akazawa first anyway.

“Ah, right. I forgot—there's something else really important I need to talk to you about.”

“…There's more?”

“Yes. This isn't about love—it's something important for you. Talking about the Goddess stuff reminded me.”

Something important for me? Then I'd better hear her out.

“It's about Goddess countermeasures.”

“Goddess… countermeasures?”

“Yes. For some reason, Blue and Black Goddesses have dropped out, but Red and White ones are still around. Especially Onee-chan—she's a handful. I don't know the details, but now that she knows you're back, she'll definitely try to pull you into her faction.”

Huh?

“So, even if it's just for show, please say you're supporting me. That'll help ward off all the annoying recruitment attempts. I'll protect you from them!”

“…?”

I didn't get what she meant right away, so I had to think about it.

Oh—so that's it.

Momoka doesn't know anything about my current situation. Among the second-years, it's already known that I've joined the White faction, but she has no idea about that.

So I should fill her in on my relationship with the Goddesses.

“Sorry. I haven't told you anything about my involvement with the Four-Colored Goddesses, huh.”

“Your involvement with the Goddesses?”

“Actually, I've already made peace with all of them… except Akazawa.”

“Ehh!?”

Momoka's face filled with shock.

“W-What do you mean!?”

“Well, here's what happened—”

So I explained everything that's happened since I transferred in.

How the existence of the Goddesses really got on my nerves at first, but over the past six months I've managed to make peace with all of them, aside from Akazawa. And how I ended up joining the White faction and somehow got caught up in a push to become a God myself.

And that's not all.

There were so many things I hadn't told Momoka. Like how my parents remarried, so my last name changed, how I gained a stepsister named Shion Nijitani, and how I'd recently reunited with Kikka Nee-san.

“…That's… a lot to take in.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

Momoka held her head in her hands.

“Now that you mention it, if your last name hadn't changed, I probably would've noticed. With stuff like the sports festival announcements and test results and all.”

During the sports festival, I was referred to as “Red Team’s Nijitani-kun,” so it's understandable that she didn't notice.

“What surprised me was Nijitani Shion. I didn't realize she was your sister.”

“Do you know Shion?”

“No, but she's such a cute girl, so I paid attention to her. From the perspective of someone aiming to become a goddess, she was a formidable rival, so I was wary of her.”

Both of them are strong contenders for the first-year student position.

“If I end up going out with you, I'll definitely help her out. After all, she's like a future little sister to me.”

“…”

She’s getting ahead of herself.

Well, if I warn her, it might cause unnecessary trouble, so I'll leave it be.

“So, about the goddess issue, it's all good now.”

“…”

“What's wrong?”

Momoka looked a bit dissatisfied.

“I'm fine with whatever decision you make, but even though you've reconciled with them, those people once did awful things to you. Personally, I can't bring myself to like them.”

“Yeah, I can understand that opinion.”

“By the way… I had a talk with Umi-san.”

That must've been about the sports festival.

“Now that I hear this, it makes sense. I understand why she said it that way.”

It seems like they had a conversation.

“It only made me even more unforgiving. Umi-san knew from the very beginning that you had come back. Plus, when she spoke to me, she knew everything.”

“Yeah.”

“Then why didn't she just tell me sooner?”

Aoyama probably didn't want to share my personal information. I feel a bit bad for Momoka, but in my mind, Umi's evaluation has gone up.

Momoka seemed to struggle with the large amount of information for a while, but eventually, it looked like she had processed it all.

“Well, I think there will be more information gaps like this in the future.”

“We've been in different grades and we were apart for a long time.”

“So, let's exchange contact information and keep in touch!”

“Alright.”

We exchanged contact information.

“Fufufu, I got your contact info, Shota Nii-san!”

Momoka, having secured my contact details, seemed very pleased.

“From now on, we'll keep in touch frequently!”

“U-Umu.”

“Also, from now on, please make sure to watch me closely. I'll prove that I'm worthy to be your girlfriend.”

With that, Momoka smiled.

Her cheeks flushed with a pink hue. She looked incredibly cute and beautiful, and I thought that the title of the “Pink Goddess” truly suited her.