Chapter 2: Unrequited love at the wrong time

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Translator: Soafp

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“Then let’s have another toast, cheers.”

“Yeah!”

In a section of the party where fewer people were present, Hirota and I exchanged a toast, just the two of us.

“You know, that bald, chubby Dodoria turned into quite the looker.”

“Don’t say rude things like that.”

I, Dodoria, who was bald and chubby was a thing of high school, you know? However, Hirota was already spouting rude remarks by the time we got here, but when I thought about it, we used to have this kind of exchange every day back then, so it didn’t feel strange at all… Rather, it felt nostalgic, like we had returned to the past. It’s like the comforting feeling of being at home.

Starting with impressions of today’s coming-of-age ceremony and small talk about who we met, the topics swiftly changed from memories of junior high to current events. In the midst of it all, Hirota spoke while looking at me.

“By the way, Nobu, you’ve really become handsome. You must be popular.”

“…Not really.”

I didn’t feel bad about being praised, but I denied it because I didn’t want Hirota to think I was conceited. Hirota looked at me with interest while saying, “Hmm,” and then, stretching and collapsing on the table, she said something inevitable.

“Haa, I really messed up. I should have confessed to Nobu back then.”

“Aah?”

Confessed? To me?

“What are you talking about?”

“…The graduation ceremony. From junior high. I was thinking of confessing then.”

“For real?”

…I had thought the same thing. At the junior high graduation ceremony, I was going to attend an all-boys technical high school, while Hirota was planning to attend a co-ed regular high school, and the school districts were far apart.

Even after graduating from junior high, I wanted to hang out with Hirota and hoped she would be my girlfriend…I had those feelings.

But in the end, unable to find the right moment when we were alone… that was just an excuse, and I, who lacked courage, gave up on confessing.

After all, we were just junior high students in reality, nothing could be done about it. Reality wasn’t as sweet as light novels, manga, or anime, where you could easily confess after falling in love.

Of course, looking back now, it’s clear that I was just cowardly.

“Uwa, what’s with that face? Were you like that too, Nobu?”

“Sorry.”

“Uwaaaaaaaah! This is the biggest regret of my 20 years of life! Seriously, why didn’t I say it? I should have confessed! I would have said ‘yes’ in a heartbeat!”

Hirota’s merciless words, while still face down on the table, penetrated my heart like a Dempsey Roll. Along with the story Hirota mentioned earlier about being a divorced single parent.

This beautiful Hirota… I couldn’t help but regret that she might have been my girlfriend now.

If only I could go back to that time and confess. But such a convenient development never happens in reality, no matter how much I regret it—it’s already too late.

“Haa, things never go smoothly.”

Hirota’s muttered words were directed at me, or perhaps at her own life. I couldn’t tell.

“But then, why did you reject my confession back then?”

It was on a summer day when we were first-year high school students. It happened on a night with a pedestrian paradise on the main street near the station.

I left home a little early before heading to the pedestrian paradise to take a detour, and I happened to reunite with Hirota at the bookstore near the station, which I often visited.

Actually, since starting high school, we had been exchanging emails, but we hadn’t had the chance to meet until then, making it the first day I met Hirota since graduating from junior high.

I approached Hirota without mistaking her, despite her hair being a little longer. The Hirota I talked to showed a dazzling smile, but within it, there was a hint of sadness, which struck me as strange.

At that moment, we got into a lively conversation, and I believe we talked for about thirty minutes while eating sherbet from the nearby convenience store. Afterward, as Hirota stood up to leave, I chased after her and said something on impulse outside the convenience store. I’m pretty sure—

“”Rougera, please go out with me.””

The words Hirota spoke as we looked at each other’s faces resonated with me. We exchanged a brief smile.

“Well, there wasn’t anything like that, really. There was no atmosphere, no mood, no confession at all. And besides, there was no right timing, no ‘Rougera’ nickname or anything.”

Hirota continued to mock me relentlessly. Well, it couldn’t be helped; it was just a spontaneous thing after all.

“And you know what? You were too late to confess. I wish you had said it at the graduation ceremony. Or even earlier. Oh, but then again, I couldn’t confess at the graduation ceremony either.”

As I struggled for words in response to Hirota’s subtle reactions, she looked up at the ceiling as if remembering something.

“You know, after I entered high school, a senior aggressively pursued me and confessed his feelings, and we started dating. It was just before I met you again… Well, I guess I took a step forward into adulthood.”

There were various implications in her words.

Perhaps her subtle expression at that time was because she already had a boyfriend and had already, well, done it. It was truly too late.

“So, that’s why you rejected my confession back then and said, ‘We’re not in that kind of relationship, right?'”

“Of course, it’s obvious. I felt bad for my boyfriend. I did like you, Nobu, but I thought it over and decided to date the senior. My relationship with my boyfriend took priority.”

“Yeah, that’s right. I was just too late.”

Haa, so the graduation ceremony was indeed a turning point. But it’s pointless to talk about it now. Reality doesn’t always go as planned, and there’s no convenient function like time leaps. Even if you fail, there’s no chance for a do-over.

“Well, you know. At the graduation ceremony, Megu-chan was weighting between you, Nobu, and Takebayashi-kun, going back and forth while also subtly warding off other girls, so I couldn’t really get close to you. But well, that’s my fault for being timid. After that, I still wonder why she ended up with Takebayashi-kun. Ah, Megu-chan was agonizing over which one of you, Nobu and Takebayashi-kun, she liked and who she should confess to.”

“Uwa, seriously? That’s news to me. But man, looking back, both you and Nakamura-san were amazing back then.”

Emi Nakamura-san was also a classmate of mine from middle school, and Takebayashi-kun was a notorious delinquent known for his promiscuity.

I remember he used to make girls cry by ditching them after a fling and was basically a scumbag. But hearing about Nakamura-san like this, it’s news to me and honestly, I wish I hadn’t heard it.

“Nobu, you were kind and had a good sense of responsibility, and you had a cute face with just a little chubby cheeks. Those traits weren’t unpopular with girls. If only you weren’t bald and chubby, you would’ve been told that to death.”

“I’m not bald, I just shaved my head! And I won’t deny being chubby.”

As we talked like that, the noise around us gradually died down. I noticed some couples sneaking out of the venue, having paid the organizer and heading off to their own after-party.

“Hey, Nobu. How about we change the scenery too?”

From behind us, we could hear Ichigaki’s snoring.