Chapter 33: Heroine Meeting ①

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Translator: Soafp

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Phew. It looks like she's finally calmed down.

I gave Amanatsu, who was standing rigidly at attention, a few pats on the head.

“Do you understand now?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Then let's go back.”

“…It's not fair that Sakura gets special treatment.”

“Not fair?”

“I was the first one to become friends with you, but you've always called me by my last name… I want you to call me Nakina.”

Amanatsu said this with her face bright red.

“Let's go, Nakina.”

“O-One more time.”

What a hassle.

“Nakina.”

“Nngh… I-I can't breathe. I can't take even one step.”

You made me say it. What's with that reaction?

When I turned around, exasperated, Sakura and Shinonome—who had somehow appeared behind me—were staring at me with reproachful, half-lidded eyes.

“Casanova.”

“Con man.”

Why was Sakura against me too?

Had I really done something that bad?

“…There's no point standing around talking here. We all have things we want to say. We should go somewhere we can settle down and talk. Leave it to me—I know just the right place.”

“I'll ask just in case: where?”

At Sakura's question, I gave her a smug grin.

“A well-known shop that serves this town's specialty.”

Naturally, it had an excellent four-star rating online.

Its customer satisfaction was top-tier, and I had wanted to visit at least once.

Its name was…

The Seaside Octopus Cracker Shop, Takobee
(Pets Welcome)

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As expected, my plan had been correct.

“Pets welcome” meant that people came here with their dogs.

As I bit into an octopus cracker and looked around, I saw cute little dogs everywhere.

What was this excitement bubbling up inside me…?

Their adorable, protective-instinct-triggering charm was about to make something inside me hit its limit.

And these octopus crackers, too.

They used an entire local octopus for each one, lavishly concentrating the pure flavor of octopus itself.

They were on a completely different level from the octopus crackers sold at supermarkets.

Heh. I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from rising.

Amanatsu crunched her cracker with a crisp sound and looked at me with eyes as murky as mud.

“Hulk… he is cheating.”

“Don't forget Pii-chan. It's cheating on her too, isn't it?”

Why?

“Rooney wags his tail at everyone, so he doesn't have one particular sweetheart!”

You need to be quiet for a minute.

“It's my right to think every dog is cute.”

“…Dog charmer.”

Nakina said it resentfully.

At this point, anything went.

Anyway, apparently this wasn't a situation where I could leisurely savor octopus crackers and cute dogs.

We sat around a table on the terrace, facing one another.

Who would start…?

That tension hung in the air as we cautiously exchanged looks.

Sakura was the first to raise her hand.

“I need to apologize to Nakina first. I only gave a half-hearted explanation, too.”

“…Sakura.”

“I'm sorry, Nakina. I said I'd support you, but I betrayed you. I didn't know Darling was Subaru either. When I realized, I didn't know what I was supposed to do. At first, I thought I should give up. Friendship and romance are equally important to me…”

“But,” Sakura said, furrowing her brow with a troubled smile.

“I just couldn't do it. I can't help falling for Subaru. I've adored him since we were children, and I've spent my whole life thinking about him. I even tried repeating a year to put some physical distance between us, but a certain someone wouldn't let me.”

She gave me a meaningful wink.

“So I have no intention of yielding, and I don't plan to hold back. Right now, I believe I'm absolutely going to be the one who dates Subaru. Maybe an apology isn't enough to earn forgiveness. Even if Nakina cuts ties with me, I'll have to accept it… but these are my honest feelings. I'm truly sorry!”

Sakura bowed her head.

Faced with her unwavering, resolute attitude, Nakina's eyes widened, and tears once again welled up in them.

She sprang to her feet and squeezed out a pained voice.

“…I don't want this… I was the first one to become friends with Hatsukade-kun. I don't want it.”

That single statement made Sakura shrink back slightly.

But Nakina immediately continued.

“But cutting ties with you, Sakura, would hurt just as much… so I'll forgive you.”

“Nakina!”

“And besides, I understand painfully well why you'd fall in love with Hatsukade-kun.”

Her cheeks flushed, Nakina pointed at me and glared with eyes that seemed filled with hatred.

“Come to think of it, isn't all of this Hatsukade-kun's fault!? You probably did the same things to everyone that you did to me earlier, didn't you!?”

“What are you talking about? I have absolutely no memory of anything like that.”

“That wall pin, and the head pats!”

When Nakina shouted that, Sakura said, “Now that you mention it, he did it to me too,” and Shinonome chimed in, “He did it to me as well.”

“What's wrong with that? Is it something I should be scolded for?”

“You have far too little sense of boundaries!”

“Hmm.”

I see.

Dad often did things like that to Mom, and I used to do it casually with my childhood friend, so I thought it was natural to do when comforting or praising someone.

But now, I was a first-year high school boy who had stepped onto the messy stage of romance.

I should be more mindful of things like that and correct my behavior.

“Understood. I won't do anything like that again. Physical contact with someone of the opposite sex when we're not dating isn't appropriate, after all.”

“““!?”””

Sakura and Shinonome glared at Nakina as if to say, “What have you done?”

Nakina broke into a cold sweat and panicked.

“Th-That might be a little too extreme, and kind of lonely… Maybe it should be on a case-by-case basis? Sometimes is okay, you know?”

Then what was that whole conversation supposed to be about?

The standards were far too vague… no, trying to find the one right answer was my bad habit.

Romance itself was ambiguous. There was no correct answer, and everything was a gray area.

Maybe that was what Nakina was trying to tell me.

“Fine. I understand. I'll use my judgment.”

“Can I really trust you?”

Nakina sat down, looking dejected as she tilted her head—

“Hold onnn!”

Shinonome slammed her hand on the table and stood up in her place.

“Why am I the only one getting left behind here!? I haven't even told Hatsukade that I like him yet, but you're all talking as if that's already a given!”

“Eh? No way. Even you, Shi-chan!?”

“This is complicated enough already, Sakura, so be quiet! Zip it!”

“Y-Yes!”

Sakura immediately covered her mouth with both hands and nodded over and over.

“Hey, Hatsukade!”

“What is it?”

“Grr… I said I had something I wanted to tell you after your suspension ended, but you weren't at school when it did! Meanwhile, I spent a brutal week trying to make up with Nakina and nearly died, and now I have no idea what's going on anymore!”

What exactly happened between those two?

“On top of that, Mom and Dad have been tactlessly asking me every day when Hatsukade-kun is coming over… Ah, this is the worst!”

Shinonome held her head, steadied her ragged breathing, then opened her mouth with an embarrassed expression.

“I-I like you too, Hatsukade… Ngh.”

Still pouting, she turned her face away.

“After you helped me like that, of course I was going to end up feeling this way.”

“…I'm not just an extra alongside Nakina and Sakura.”

The marble in Shinonome's half-finished ramune bottle reflected the sunlight and sparkled.

Being able to tell someone your feelings so directly was far more dazzling than I had imagined.

I had vowed to change.

So I would speak honestly about what I felt right now.

“Shinonome.”

“W-What?”

“I like you too.”

“…Kyun.”