Chapter 168: Return

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Translator: Soafp

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“Well then, everyone, take care… (70-degree angle)”

“What if cute Shiori-chan gets attacked on her way home at night☆”

“I'll walk you home!!”

“My parents said they'll take me, so I'm fine.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Mou, Ichigo~!”

“Kuku. You too, Hajime-kun, be careful, okay…?”

“Yeah. Thanks (an angel?)”

I saw off the three who had gone out of their way to come this far.

“I'm staying over tonight~♪”

“I thought you'd say that.”

“Haha, well then.”

“I–Icchi, do you wanna stay too?”

“I'll pass. There's something I want to do.”

“Ara. I thought you were starting tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but I need to prepare, kind of. See you.”

Looks like the two of them will spend the night at the Kisaragi house.

I said goodbye and left.

“……”

Something I want to do, or rather—

I forcefully ended the thread.

But in the end, it still remained rainbow-colored.

A vague line.

“……Feels nostalgic.”

Owning a thread—

it sounds grand, but it's not really.

And besides—it wasn't the first time.

Second year of middle school.

That's when I first encountered “that.”

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324: (‘A`)
Lurk for half a year

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After that, of course, I was told “No posting for six months” (and I followed it).

Well, after some ups and downs, even that time back in middle school was a good memory.

Back then I was a loner with not a single friend, unlike now.

“……!”

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《Love Salon @ Thread List》

1: What kind of person is the one you like? 5th thread (111)

2: The girl I like was selling Corrupted books at Comiket ……(7)

3: I hate natto! Get rid of natto bacteria ×13 (11)

4: Love letters are outdated, right (364)

5: I fell in love at first sight with a tough interviewer 2 (33)

6: [Other than pizza] Tell me attractive recipes [Other than pizza] (239)

7: For working adults, work is their lover, right? (31)

8: Let's say what we love about the person we like 1800th thread (111)

9: I want to get my senior (29) and senior (31) back together 31st thread (293)

10: I think I'll change according to >>5 (148)

11: My girlfriend is way too cute…… (3)

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I stopped walking and fiddled with my phone.

Without hesitation, almost naturally, I typed into that thread.

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147: Username: Anonymous in Love

It's only June but it's hot already~

148: Username: Anonymous in Love

This breeze… so warm……

149: Username: Anonymous in Love

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10: Username: 1
Well then!

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It's been a day since then, but—

150: Username: Anonymous in Love
Feels like a whole year has passed.

151: Username: Anonymous in Love
……So is this really the end?

152: Username: Anonymous in Love
He's the guy who carried out all those “cheap move” actions, right?

If he says he's quitting, he'll quit.

153: Username: 1 (real one)
Yo! What's with the long faces, guys (lol)

154: Username: Anonymous in Love
Ah yeah yeah, stinks stinks

Nobody uses “omaera” (so outdated) or “1” anymore, he's a high schooler now…

155: Username: Anonymous in Love
It's wild that in the city, gyaru casually say “kusa” (lol).

156: Username: Anonymous in Love
You can really feel the times changing (warai) (LOL) WwWwwW

157: Username: Anonymous in Love
If 1 had kept going here, rainbow-colored hair would've become the standard among youth.

158: Username: 1 (fake)
Yeah right, lol.

Any normal parent would stop that.

159: Username: 1 (real one)
Haa… please come back, 1…

160: Username: Anonymous in Love
At least try a little harder, man.

161: Username: Anonymous in Love
We've all gotten pretty beat down too.
Even the fakes are starting to feel a little dear to us.

162: Username: Icchi (real one)
Eh?

163: Username: Icchi (fake)
Eh?

164: Username: 1
Eh?

165: Username: 1 (fake)
Eh?

166: Username: 1 (true)
Eh?

167: Username: Anonymous in Love
There's too many of you……

168: Username: Anonymous in Love
See, now you've encouraged them to act up.

169: Username: Anonymous in Love
Come back, 1 (tearful voice)

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No, I did type it.

“……”

Uh, what am I supposed to do here?

Even if I tried to go back, nobody realized I was me. (For the record, I was the third one.)

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170: Username: Anonymous in Love
Oh yeah, the other day at work we had a meeting about whether to expand the break room.

Everyone agreed.

171: Username: Anonymous in Love
1–1……

172: Username: Anonymous in Love
Edo-period statesman, son of a political power-holder.

173: Username: Anonymous in Love
1 please come back……

174: Username: Anonymous in Love
What is this, a quiz board?

175: Username: Anonymous in Love
Don't you guys have anything better to do?

176: Username: 1
>>172
My father sometimes shows up in university entrance exams. Kinda niche though.

177: Username: Anonymous in Love
Wait—there's a test-prepper here. Hold up, why is 1-kun here!?

178: Username: Anonymous in Love
Pretty knowledgeable for a fake.

179: Username: Anonymous in Love
Bet you just Googled that, lol.

180: Username: 1
I didn't look it up. Studying was the only thing I was good at.

181: Username: Anonymous in Love
Huh~ Even though you're fake, you sound just like the real one.

182: Username: Anonymous in Love
That's a pretty good reproduction.

183: Username: Anonymous in Love
Alright then, what was 1's second “cheap move” action?

184: Username: Anonymous in Love
Wasn't it a hobby or something?

185: Username: 1
It was a conversation with the person I liked when I met her at school.

186: Username: Anonymous in Love
Whoa, so nostalgic.

187: Username: Anonymous in Love
I've been here since then (old-timer).

188: Username: Anonymous in Love
……Where was coffee first discovered?

189: Username: 1 (fake)
Brazil! Netherlands! Vietnam! India! Japan!

190: Username: Anonymous in Love
Quit the shotgun-answering strategy, lol.

191: Username: 1
It was discovered in Ethiopia.
From there, around the 9th century, it was brought to the Arabian Peninsula and recorded in documents.

192: Username: Anonymous in Love
>>191
That's correct……

193: Username: Anonymous in Love
Level's so high.

194: Username: Anonymous in Love
Is this really a quiz board?

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“……That was close.”

If this were a buzzer quiz board (?) I would've lost.

I'm on my phone right now!

Why are we having a quiz tournament in the middle of the street……

But I can't afford to lose.

For the pride of a devoted reader of Coffee Communications (updated every three months)!

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195: Username: Anonymous in Love
What's the brewing method for the coffee 1 drinks?

196: Username: 1 (real one)
Natural fermentation.

197: Username: Anonymous in Love
That's beer.

198: Username: 1
Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction method.

199: Username: Anonymous in Love
Ah, that's right.

200: Username: Anonymous in Love
>>198
Correct……

201: Username: Anonymous in Love
At this point, isn't this basically the real one?

202: Username: Anonymous in Love
Bottled natural water—what's the general expiration guideline?

203: Username: Anonymous in Love
Wait, water has an expiration date?

204: Username: 1
Because it has minerals in it. You should drink it within three to six months.

205: Username: Anonymous in Love
……C-Correct.

206: Username: Anonymous in Love
Natural water quiz.

You want to measure exactly 1 liter of spring water, but you only have a 7L container and a 4L container. How do you measure exactly 1L of natural water?

207: Username: Anonymous in Love
(Doesn't this have nothing to do with natural water……?)

208: Username: Anonymous in Love
He's answering so much correctly it's just turned chaotic, lol.

209: Username: 1
Fill the 4L container → pour it into the 7L container.
Fill the 4L container again → pour as much as you can into the 7L container.
That leaves 1L in the 4L container.

210: Username: Anonymous in Love
Amazing~ this has nothing to do with 1 anymore though.

211: Username: Anonymous in Love
This is impossible now.

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……Well, you can't say it's just rote memorization, since these kinds of problems are classics on message boards.

But with this, at last, I could finally prove I was me――

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212: Username: Anonymous in Love
Okay then…… what's 1's current hair color?

213: Username: 1
It's rainbow.

214: Username: Anonymous in Love
Huh.

215: Username: Anonymous in Love
Wait, that's wrong, right? The real one said he'd dye it back to black.

216: Username: 1
I couldn't do it.
I couldn't throw away this hair color.

217: Username: Anonymous in Love
(So which is it……)

218: Username: Anonymous in Love
(I don't get it anymore.)

219: Username: Anonymous in Love
(Even if he's a fake, he's way too real.)

220: Username: Anonymous in Love
But what about your family? Isn't that bad?

221: Username: Anonymous in Love
Your mom and dad won't allow it, lol.

222: Username: 1
I know. But I've made my decision.
I'll persuade them head-on.

223: Username: Anonymous in Love
Eh…… with this vibe, is this really 1?

224: Username: Anonymous in Love
If this is still a fake, then that's honestly kinda scary (trembling voice).

225: Username: Anonymous in Love
……Did he come back?

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The residents were bewildered.

This place is nicknamed “scribbles on the bathroom wall.”

Even so――to me, it's an important place.

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226: Username: 1
I'm back.

227: Username: 1
I'm going with rainbow.