V4Ch9: Red Reunion

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Translator: Soafp

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The sudden appearance of the Akazawa sisters.

It was so unexpected that I froze. Apparently, the same could be said for Kikka Nee-san and Momoka as well—they looked confused by the sudden turn of events.

In the midst of this indescribable atmosphere, one person moved.

“We finally meet again, Sho-chan!”

With that, Yuuhi Akazawa rushed over and hugged me. The soft sensation pressing against my whole body and the sweet scent emanating from her signature red hair snapped me back to reality.

“W-Wait! Back off for a sec!”

I grabbed her by the shoulders and forcibly pushed her away.

…What the hell is going on here?

There were so many things I wanted to ask. Why she was calling me that, why she suddenly hugged me, what happened between her and Momoka… I had way too many questions.

“W-Why are you even here?”

I didn't even know why I picked that one to ask from all my questions.

“Why? Because I was looking for you, of course.”

“Looking for me?”

“You know, we made plans to meet after school.”

“After school… Oh!”

I remembered.

That's right—Akazawa had messaged me, saying she had something important to talk about and wanted to meet. I had pushed it aside and forgotten to reply.

“I knew you forgot. I was watching you during class, and it really looked like you weren't thinking about it at all.”

So that was the source of that gaze I felt during class—it was from Akazawa's seat.

“You bolted out of the classroom right after homeroom ended. You didn't even check your phone, so I had to search all over for you.”

“…”

I pulled out my phone from my pocket. There were several unread messages from Akazawa. I decided to ignore them and shoved the phone back in my pocket.

“I got caught by Momoka on the way, but I'm glad I found you in the end.”

Akazawa seemed genuinely relieved, but hold on a second.

“Glad I found you,” “I was looking for you”—don't make it sound like we had plans. I never even replied. Don't make me out to be the jerk who forgot about an appointment.

“Hey, Sho-chan—”

“Hold it!”

Akazawa was cut off as Momoka stepped forward.

“Let me confirm this once more. You're Shota Nii-san, aren't you?”

Momoka questioned me again.

I had been trying to avoid contact with her, but at this point, there was no choice. I had even blurted out her name earlier in surprise, so pretending she had the wrong person wouldn't work.

Lying would only make things worse later.

In fact, I had originally thought I should tell Momoka the truth at some point anyway. I steeled myself and came clean.

“Yeah, I am.”

“You're really him?”

“I'm really me, Momoka.”

“—!”

Her eyes widened.

Of course she was shocked. She had no idea I was back. Seeing me here in a Tenka Academy uniform, talking like nothing had happened, had to be a massive surprise.

“Um, Sho-chan—”

“Stay quiet, Onee-chan!”

“!”

Momoka silenced her sister, then turned back to me with an emotional expression and bowed.

“I'm really happy to see you. It's been so long, Shota Nii-san.”

“Yeah, it's been a while.”

“U-Um, that uniform… don't tell me, are you a student at Tenka?”

“Well… yeah.”

“But I've never heard anything about you being here…”

“I transferred in. And since Mom got remarried, I changed my last name too.”

When I explained, Momoka turned a sharp glare toward her sister.

She was probably upset that Yuuhi hadn't told her I had transferred here.

But after glaring, she didn't say anything and turned back to me.

“When did you transfer here?”

“About six months ago.”

“Eh…”

Momoka visibly panicked.

“H-Have you already met with Renji Nii-san?”

“We met a bit before the sports festival.”

I answered honestly, and once again Momoka froze.

Frozen in place, she muttered things like “Renji Nii-san?” and “He was back before I became the school goddess…” and “How did I not notice…”

Judging by her expression, she might storm off to confront Renji. Well, that's his problem. He's the one who begged me not to tell her.

“—Hey, Sho-chan. Can someone explain what's going on here?”

This time, it was Kikka Nee-san asking the question.

“Beats me. I have no idea either.”

Unfortunately, I couldn't answer her. Because I didn't understand what was happening either.

Okay. Let's try to process this one step at a time.

First, I just wanted to thank Kikka Nee-san and learn the truth behind the rumor.

And that truth turned out to be surprisingly sad… or at least not what I expected.

That part was fine.

The real problem started when the Akazawa sisters barged in.

Let's think about this starting with Momoka. Based on what she said, it seemed like she had been chasing after Yuuhi. While chasing her, she ended up in this classroom and ran into me.

That explains their appearance.

As for why she was chasing Yuuhi, who knows—it's probably not important right now.

The real issue is the older sister.

She sent me a message saying she wanted to meet after school, but since I didn't reply, there was no promise made. Although at this point, the existence or absence of a promise doesn't matter anymore.

What matters is how she addressed me.

Since entering high school, Akazawa had always called me “Nijitani-kun” by my surname. But now she was suddenly calling me “Sho-chan.”

Sure, she used to call me that as a kid, but then she changed how she addressed me.

Why had she suddenly reverted to that nickname now?

Normally, you’d assume she figured out my identity—but even so, calling me by the name she used when we were kids is just bizarre.

And the fact that she hugged me is also a mystery.

She was the one who spread nasty rumors about me in middle school, isolating me completely. She definitely hated me. In fact, it was the rumors she spread that triggered everything. Because we were so close, I took the biggest hit. The first and greatest downfall in my life was caused by none other than Yuuhi Akazawa.

… I don't get it at all. But first things first—I need confirmation.

It's almost certainly obvious, but verifying it is still important.

“Hey, Akazawa.”

“What is it?”

“You realized I'm Shota Mukawa, didn't you?”

“Of course I did.”

Of course. Anyone who didn't realize it in this situation would be out of their mind.

I wasn't happy about it. I couldn't even make sense of it. But for better or worse, I had reunited with Akazawa. Not that I felt anything emotional about it.

“I've wanted to apologize to you for so long, Sho-chan. But… there were circumstances that kept me from doing so.”

“Circumstances—”

“It's a long story if I go into detail. But it's something really important. I want to talk to you alone, just the two of us. Will you come with me?”

Akazawa reached her hand out to me.

—Smack.

“Ah—”

It was Kikka Nee-san who slapped her hand away.

“I was having a nice conversation with Sho-chan, and then you just barged in like that—of course it ruined the mood. And now you're trying to take him away? Don't you have any sense?”

She glared coldly at Akazawa.

“Sho-chan, what exactly is your relationship with this girl?”

“…We've known each other since we were kids. You could say we're childhood friends.”

It was hard to explain.

Yuuhi Akazawa is a childhood friend, my first love… and also the demon who planted the trauma of inferiority in me.

“Childhood friends?”

“…Well, kind of.”

“You don't seem very close, though.”

“Yeah, there's a lot of history…”

How was I supposed to explain all this?

Honestly, I hadn't expected to run into the Akazawa sisters at this moment. It was so sudden, even I didn't know how to handle it.

“I see. Looking at your face, I get it now, Sho-chan. The girl from your hometown—the one who made you want to move away—was her, wasn't she?”

Kikka Nee-san's gaze sharpened.