Chapter 53: For his sake.
Translated and Edited by: luccayn.
Common Honorifics:
-san: A polite suffix, but not excessively formal.
-kun: A common suffix among friends and younger people.
-chan: A common suffix among people you're close with, mostly used for feminine nicknames and girls, since it's cutesy and childlike.
-senpai: A common suffix and noun used to address or refer to one's older or more senior colleagues in a school, workplace, dojo, or sports club.
“Why are you joining our group? This is ridiculous.”
“I don’t have a choice. Besides, on the day of, I’ll do my own thing, so I won’t get in the way of your date.”
“Th-that's a little too scary. What are you plotting?”
“I’m not plotting anything. Right, Yusa?”
“D-don’t drag me into this! It’s terrifying!”
“Why the hell are you joining our group? That’s impossible!”
“I don’t have a choice. Besides, on the day, I’ll do my own thing, so I won’t get in the way of your date.”
“Th-that’s way too scary! What are you plotting?”
“I’m not plotting anything. Right, Yuza?”
“D-don’t drag me into this! This is terrifying!”
And so, the special homeroom the next day began.
Tsukino and Hareta seemed on edge, exchanging glances and silently conversing with their eyes. I understood their worry—it felt like overstepping—but without this, there wouldn't be any opportunity to interact with these three who normally had no connection.
If you don't take a slightly forceful approach, you can't even create a chance encounter. The reality of being ordinary is unfair like that. If you don't plant the seeds yourself, achieving your goals is impossible.
“Hey, Kou! I don't want to go with someone like him! Do something!”
“Well, you see, Shinkai-sensei thought it was weird to have just one guy in the group. So having Takatsuki join actually helps me out too.”
As expected of a harem heroine. Hareta's words are absolute. Despite her earlier complaints, she calmed down instantly with just one sentence from him. Being able to command that level of influence must feel pretty satisfying.
“By the way, Tsukino, what about you? Are you going with friends from another class?”
I asked in a low voice, but Tsukino turned away with a pout and began leafing through the Kyoto travel guide I brought, occasionally glancing at me. Her sharp gaze conveyed her annoyance, but I didn't have the bandwidth to try and figure out why.
“She's in a bad mood.”
Just as I turned my attention back to the heroines, my phone buzzed. Even though it was during class, everyone was using search engines on their desks, so checking a message wouldn't get me scolded by the teacher.
“My name.”
Kakeru’s not here though, I don’t have to call you by your name!
“You call Saori by her name, though.”
What a hassle.
“Michiru, have you decided?” I relented.
“Hehe, not yet, Shinji-kun.”
The exchange sent a chill down my spine, but thankfully the heroines were too focused on Hareta to notice. If anyone teased me about this, I'd probably die of embarrassment.
Still, with nothing else going for me, I had no choice but to speak. Trying to minimize further embarrassment, I leaned in and whispered into her ear as quietly as possible.
“Why don't you come with me? You'll be bored stuck on the fringes of the harem.”
“Okay!”
In the last moment, Yuza seemed to notice our conversation but didn't show any particular reaction. If I had suddenly switched to calling someone by their first name, and the person was Tsukino—no, Michiru—it wouldn't be surprising for others to sense something was off.
It felt odd.
Judging by the lack of consequences, it seemed the teachers weren't aware of Michiru's antics. Perhaps she had boldly declared something far more dramatic in front of everyone than I imagined.
Not that I planned to investigate or anything.
“Hey, Takatsuki.”
“What is it, Yuza?”
“Could I talk to you for a bit later? I have something I want to discuss.”
As homeroom ended and I was deciding where to start, luck was on my side as she approached me. Together, we headed to the landing of the emergency stairs during the break.
The rooftop and behind the school building were too risky for me—I didn't want anyone else finding us.
“…During the upcoming school trip, there's something I need your help with.”
“What is it?”
“Sorry. I know I don't have the right to ask this, but…”
Yuza looked genuinely troubled, aware of the position she was in. That was enough to keep me from outright rejecting her.
“What do you need help with?”
“Well… I want to become Kou's girlfriend. Can you help me?”
What kind of joke is this?
I felt like I'd heard something similar from someone else before summer break. It seemed I was becoming quite the go-to advisor.
“I'm the guy who humiliated the boy you like. Do you even understand what you're asking?”
“I understand… or at least, I think I do.”
“Honest, huh.”
To be honest, there wasn't a compelling reason to turn down Yuza, who had no choice but to rely on someone like me. The realization was both ridiculous and a little amusing.
She must have interpreted my laughter as me looking down on her, as her expression tensed, and she clenched her fists weakly in front of her chest.
“Takatsuki, why did you help Michiru?”
“Because she’s a hard worker, and I like people who set their foot down to do something.”
“…I guess I don't look like one of those people, huh?”
“No one said that. Don't jump to conclusions.”
“Huh…?”
“Right now, you've taken the first step, just like Michiru did back then. If you keep at it, then you can call it diligence.”
And so, I ended up agreeing to help Yuza. But her seemingly absurd request turned out to be just the beginning of a much larger ordeal. Not only that, but two more hints of trouble were lying in wait.
“Takatsuki, I need your help.”
…What?
“Takatsuki-san, forgive me for being so forward, but could you please assist me?”
During the next break, and then the break after that, the heroines individually pulled me aside to ask for help dealing with Hareta. Judging by their behavior, they didn't seem to know about each other's actions. It seemed Michiru's heartfelt confession had shaken them all up quite a bit.
“This is all your fault in the first place! So, of course, you have a responsibility to fix it! And if you say anything scary again, I'm just going to cry. Do you get that?”
What a… unique way of being angry.
“Takatsuki-san, I absolutely despise you. But I also understand there's no one else I can trust in this situation. After all, both Kou and Michiru, people I deeply care about, seem to have acknowledged you.”
This one didn't even look me in the eye as she spoke.
“I see.”
Things were becoming more complicated and troublesome, but if I flipped my perspective, it was also an opportunity. I could unify their objectives and resolve everything all at once.
Still, I wasn't so accommodating as to blindly agree. There were a few key exceptions I needed to clarify first.
“Why not just ask Michiru for help?”
“What are you talking about? Michiru is doing her best in her own way. I can't just interfere with that.”
…Huh.
“And you, Takatsuki-san, have the audacity to suggest that? You're truly an awful person. The worst part is, you're fully aware of it, aren't you?”
…I see.
It seemed they were all concerned about Michiru in their own way. If that was the case, then taking up my time and resources seemed contradictory, but perhaps it was their way of acknowledging me. If Yuza was fine with it, I couldn't just dismiss Aoyama and Haruna's feelings either.
“So, what exactly do you want me to help with?”
Each of their answers to this crucial question was identical, as if they had planned it together.
“For Kou's sake, please help him forget about Michiru.”
With that, all the elements of the situation fell into place.
What I needed to do was clear: uncover Hareta's past with these girls so he could find an answer, and help him move on from Michiru, for everyone's sake.
Of course, I had no intention of taking responsibility for how things would turn out. Whether Hareta ended up with one of them, all of them, or none at all, I wouldn't judge or interfere.
I would simply give each of them a fair chance. Without revealing their feelings to one another, I would provide them with the same information and create an even playing field for them to compete.
I didn't care if they were secretly working together or individually plotting to one-up each other. It wasn't my business to know, and frankly, I didn't care.
The only things I knew for sure were that they were serious about moving forward and that they were willing to risk the humiliation of asking me for help.
“Alright.”
With that, I decided to do what only I could do. No matter the outcome or how much anyone got hurt, I was ready to shoulder the role I'd been given.
…It'll be fine.
This time, I'll make sure it goes well. I won't let Hareta and the heroines walk away with nothing but regrets.
With that vow in mind, I exchanged contact information with each of them on LINE.
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