Chapter 47 | Date With Dahlia-San, the End of a Dream

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Dahlia Kurohime came to Odaiba with Shinji Ueda.

The two of them went around the attractions in Joypolis one by one.

VR games and roller coasters.

“We’ve ridden most of them, haven’t we?”

“Yeah~♡.”

Dahlia was hugging Shinji the whole time.

When she was doing Enko, the old men would ask for her and she would hug them.

But now she was hugging him on her own.

She didn’t care about what she’d get from it, she just didn’t want to leave his side.

“Oh, let’s do that next one, shall we?”

“What…?”

Shinji pointed to a haunted house.

The frightening signage gives a sense of dread to those who are watching.

“No, no…that one is fine, isn’t it?”

Dahlia bluntly tries to get away from the haunted house.

But Shinji nods his head in puzzlement.

“Why? We’ve been to a lot of attractions, and this is the only one left.”

“Well, uh… it’s okay, right? I’m sure it’s fine. You don’t have to go to all of them, you know? See? – Yeah. Let’s not do that…right?”

Suddenly, Shinji looks as if he has noticed.

“Is it possible…you are not good at it?”

That’s right.

Dahlia was not very good at haunted houses.

“Ah-sh…ghosts, you know, I’m scared.”

“Ghosts? It’s all right. There are no such things.”

“Oh, yeah…?”

“Yeah. Look, it’s a cheap haunted house, right?”

…If you ask me, it does look like a cheap building.

Well, it should not be scary at all.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yeah, sure. Yeah…”

Five minutes later.

“Wheeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

Dahlia escaped from the haunted house at full speed.

She was flat on her butt on the ground all by herself.

“Are you okay…?”

Shinji rushes out from behind her.

She clung to his waist, shaking and shaking.

“There it is! A ghost! I saw it! I saw it!”

“No…that was the staff in costume.”

Dahlia shivered, frightened by the terrifying (and rather cheap) ghosts she had witnessed inside.

“It’s all right, it’s all right.”

Shinji ruffled Dahlia’s silver hair.

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

“Really. Baka… Baka… I was scared…”

Every time Shinji gently spoke to her and stroked her, she felt at ease.

Dahlia had come to her senses fairly quickly.

But, as long as she did this, she could naturally hug Shinji.

She could be pampered.

…I’m often spoiled by creepy Ojii-san.

Somehow, all the Ojii-san want for themselves is to be spoiled by women.

I haven’t been spoiled by men in this way for a long time.

How comforting…

So…I pretended to be scared forever.

Soon after.

We decided to have tea at a nearby food court.

“Dahlia is quite a spoiled child, isn’t she?”

Dahlia drinks the Coke that Shinji bought her.

She almost blurts it out.

“No… It's not like that…”

“I think it’s fine. I was rather glad to know a side of Dahlia that I didn’t know.”

I scratched my cheeks.

“Don’t tell Rikatan, okay?”

“Of course.”

“You really mustn’t tell her, okay?”

“I understand.”

Dahlia breathes in.

A warm, fuzzy feeling fills her chest.

“You don’t really show your soft side to people, do you, Dahlia?”

Shinji suddenly said something like that.

“Well, you know. It’s like… there was no one I could rely on.”

“Is that so?”

“Un…”

Dahlia realized that she had slipped up again.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Dahlia smirked.

Shinji seemed to want to say something.

But he takes a small breath.

“That’s right.”

“Oh, look, Shinji! There’s a purikura! Let’s take one together!”

There was a Purikura machine near the food court.

We went in there together.

I was surprised to see that nowadays Purikura machines are like this, where you can get a full-body shot.

I thought you could only get chest-up pictures.

But the two of them were in a place that looked like a photo studio.

“Look, Shinji-kun. Come closer, ♡♡”

“Waah~.”

I put in the money and the shooting started.

Dahlia knew… it was the last moment.

So with a smile, I take the picture.

As if to capture the happy moment and keep it forever.

Eventually, the photo shoot ends.

The sticker comes out.

There were scissors on the table, so I cut it in half.

“Hmmm, ♡ Shinji-kun? Aren’t all of your faces kind of red?”

“Yes, of course they are!”

The photos were all quite racy, with Dahlia hugging me from behind and kissing me on the cheeks.

“But the kisses were a bit…”

“What is it? Shinji-kun. Are you really taking this seriously? This is just for fun, right? Right?”

I deceived him by saying that it was a playful kiss.

I really wanted to kiss him for real, not just for fun…

But it’s okay.

This is… the most I can do.

I can’t go back any further.

I am a night dweller.

What if I feel more happiness under the dazzling light?

I won’t be able to go home.

“I got a good picture of you. Thank you, Shinji.”

Dahlia hugged the photo to her chest.

“This…I’ll cherish it. It’s a treasure.”

“It’s not such a big deal…”

“No, it’s not like that.”

It’s a photo of me with the person I love.

I had taken many photos of my favorite people during encounters in the past.

But for the first time, I felt like I wanted to treasure these photos.

“I’ll keep it forever.”

Later, Dahlia and I left Joypolis and took a wander around Odaiba.

Before they knew it, the sun had set and they were in a park with a view of the ocean.

“It went by so fast!”

“I know.”

We sat on a bench.

It was just that, but it was very fulfilling.

He was holding my hand.

“……”

I don’t want to let go of his hand.

Dahlia thought so.

But as she looked out at the twilight sea, she reconsidered.

That’s right.

This darkness is the world in which I live.

I can’t cause any more trouble for him, the resident of the light.

“Yes, I am satisfied.”

Dahlia stood up.

“Thank you so much. It was fun.”

“Dahlia-san…?”

Shinji’s eyes were wide open.

“What’s wrong?”

“Why are you crying?”

“Ah…? Huh…? No way…”

Tears were spilling from my own eyes.

“I’m not sure why…”

That was a given.

I didn’t want to leave him.

I had fallen in love with him more than ever after he had touched me.

“Dahlia…”

“Don’t come closer!”

I shouted out, unknowingly.

Shinji stiffens.

“I’m sorry. But it’s okay. Just leave me alone for a bit.

“But…”

Dahlia wipes her eyes.

She smiles and says,

“The fake boyfriend-girlfriend thing is over! You’re Rikatan’s boyfriend from now on.”

I try to hold back the tremor in my voice.

I held on tight as I felt like I was about to collapse.

“Thank you so much. It was a lot of fun. But… from tomorrow on, you’ll be my friend again.”

“I understand, Dahlia-san.”

I felt a sharp pain in my chest.

It was more painful than I had expected to be called “Dahlia-san.”.

I had said it myself, but…it was okay.

“Okay, that’s enough for today.”

“Yes, but…I’ll walk you home.”

No.

I can’t take him to my house.

I can’t take him to that lousy landlord.

“…you should only show that kindness to your own girlfriend. Bye.

Dahlia turned and started to walk away.

But then Shinji grabbed her hand from behind.

“Let go of me.”

“I don’t want to. Because… you look kind of sad.”

I didn’t want to see Shinji’s face.

I didn’t want to show my face.

“Hey, Dahlia-san. If you’re in trouble, you can rely on me. I can be kind to you, okay?”

…I wanted to turn around right now and jump into his chest.

I wanted to hug him shed tears and whine like a little girl.

I wanted him to spoil me like he did before.

“I’m sorry, …I have to wake up from this dream now.”

Dahlia shook off his hand and started to run.

“Dahlia-san!”

I shake off his restraint and start running.

No looking back, just going on and on…

As if to escape the morning sun…

I return to the world of the night.

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TLN: Sorry for being inactive for the past 2 months. I’ve sorted out my college stuff and it’s semester break so I’ll try my best to be as active as I can.