v1c6: A festival of lies and true feelings

Instead of homeroom, there was a brief roll call at the entrance. After that, Yasuki headed to the 4th floor, where class 3-B was located.

Class 3-B was, just like Yasuki and the F class, not participating in this year's cultural festival. So, they allowed the Local Geography Research club to use their vacant classroom as a place for their exhibition.

Today is Sunday, the second day of the cultural festival. Yesterday was the first day of the festival, and it was only open to the students. But today, the general public is expected to come. That’s why the expressions of the students I passed by were full of enthusiasm, and some were already marching around in costumes. The whole school seemed to be in a festive mood.

When Yasuki arrived at his post at the Local Geography Research club, the kouhais had already gathered before him. Since the club was somewhat plain, most of the members tended to be mature and adult-like. However, as they all wore matching T-shirts (which were blue with "I♥NS" written on the front and "I love my hometown, so what? KYOCHIKEN" written on the back), they seemed to get excited somehow, and even the normally shy kouhais were laughing and having fun while taking pictures and joking around with each other.

As Yasuki was putting on the club's T-shirt over his long black T-shirt, the alumnus who looked to be around 30 years old appeared in the classroom carrying a large furoshiki package.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s the Chiibaa costume.”

He opened the package, and the head of a yellow rabbit with its ears dangling down its sides came into sight.

Cheers of joy could be heard in the room.

“Look, look! It’s the real thing!”

A girl in the room was hitting another girl’s shoulders over and over as she kept talking energetically. It looked like she really loved this rabbit. I'm sure the person in charge of creating this character must be very happy to have his creation loved so much, even if only by a few people.

A relatively small boy in the club wore the costume. He wore a kappogi (a Japanese apron) over the costume, which was one of Chiibaa’s unique traits.

After the boy put on the head of the costume, he completely transformed into Chiibaa, and everyone gathered around him as they began a photo session. The alumnus looked on, seemingly amused.

While our club was working on various things, an announcement informing the start of the festival rang out, and I could hear someone roaring, “Wooo!!!” from somewhere.

I looked outside and saw colorful balloons floating in the sky. The bright, round, floating objects scattered in various directions, and as I followed them with my eyes, they were sucked into the cloudy sky.

“Okay, Iijima-senpai, could you please go with Chiibaa and hand out flyers?”

The current club president handed me a stack of fine, yellow papers. On the flyer, there was a rough description of the exhibit and a time for the photo session where people could take pictures together with Chiibaa. The photo session would be held three times a day for about 30 minutes each at the Local Geography Research Club.

I slowly led Chiibaa down the stairs, holding onto his hand since the suit made it hard for him to see. It was hard to believe since the person inside the suit was a short and plump kouhai, but the girls that we walked past pointed at Chiibaa, squealing “Cute!”

When I left the school entrance, I started handing out flyers with other clubs near the school gate. There were some people who were performing balloon art and juggling nearby, and they were quite impressive, so I occasionally found myself distracted by them.

As I handed out the flyers, there were some heartless people who took them and immediately threw them away, but right next to me, Chiibaa was trying his best to please everybody, and he seemed to be well-received by the general public. I was asked to take pictures for people, and we were swarmed. Whenever a child came by, Chiibaa handed them some candy he had hidden inside his apron. And each time he did that, the child would be overjoyed as they said, "Waah, thank you, Bunny-chan!”

Still, time passed, and after half of the flyers were distributed, I heard a rough, hoarse voice from inside the rabbit next to me which didn’t match its cute appearance at all.

“Iijima-senpai… I’m already worn out here.”

It was natural. He tried to please all the onlookers, so sometimes he’d strike various poses and other times he’d hop around energetically. Chiibaa was supposed to be a “granny”, so Yasuki thought that he should’ve acted a bit more like it.

Just as I was about to suggest we head back to our post, I heard a familiar, high-pitched voice from the school gate.

“Ah, Iijima-kun!”

Sure enough, when I turned around, I saw Kumiko as she quickly walked up to me and gave me a big smile that I’d dubbed the "Isogai smile".

“What’re you doing? Handing out flyers?”

“Ah, yes. I’m trying to invite people to check out our club’s exhibit.”

“Here you go,” I said as I handed her a flyer. Kumiko took it with great interest as she said, “The layout on the flyer is pretty good”, giving her impressions from an unexpected perspective. 

Today, Kumiko was wearing a long, earth-colored cardigan and slim jeans, with its cuffs tucked into her long boots. The colors were subdued, but the combination of her clothes accentuated her figure and made her stand out even without doing anything. Incidentally, when Kumiko and I stood next to each other, we were around the exact same height. Amongst other girls, I think she’s quite tall.

When I met her last week, she had a bob cut, and the hair on her front and sides were the same length, but now her bangs were cut all the way up to her eyebrows, giving her the so-called "straight-cut bangs" hairstyle.

“By the way, you cut your bangs, huh.”

“That’s right~. You know how I got my hair cut last week, right? That was when I decided I’d try and change my hairstyle.”

“Does it look good on me?” She asked. I chose a safe response and told her, “I think it looks good.” Kumiko shrugged it off with a grin and started rummaging through her tilted bag.

“I’m supposed to meet up with Ema right now, but it doesn’t look like she’s here yet, so I’m going to hand this to you first, Iijima-kun.”

“Here.” She held a disc in front of me that reflected light in seven different colors. There wasn’t a label with “SSH” written on it, so this wasn’t the DVD I gave her.

“What is this?”

“This is my way of thanking you for the DVD you lent me. I went home and watched it, and I was really moved. I thought I should give you something in return for the DVD…”

“Ahh… Sorry for making you go out of your way to prepare this present. Thank you very much.”

She already treated me at that cafe last time, so I didn’t think I really deserved this. Still, deepening our bond as fellow fans wasn’t a bad idea. I sincerely thanked her and accepted her gift.

“What’s inside the DVD?”

“Some music from when Scosho was still independent, some sample music that was available on their official site for a limited time, and some songs from bands I recommend. Also…”

“Ah, there you are! Kumiko!”

Before she could finish, her name was suddenly called, and she turned around.

Kitaoka ran up to Kumiko from behind, her skirt flipping up in the air as she ran. She already had 2 pieces of cotton candy in her hand, bought from who knows where.

“Sorry, did I make you wait?”

Hearing Kitaoka’s words, Kumiko shook her head.

“No, not at all. It’s actually my first time coming to Nansou High, so I’m a little nervous.”

“Really? Even though you live close by?”

“Last year and the year before last, Nansou High’s cultural festival overlapped with my school’s own cultural festival, so I couldn’t come~”

After a moment of joyful frolicking, Kitaoka finally seemed to notice Yasuki and the Chiibaa costume right next to him. Her eyes widened and she took Kumiko's hand, shaking it vigorously up and down.

“Hey, Kumiko, look at that! Chiibaa is waving at us!”

Kitaoka smiled in a way that Yasuki had never seen before. She was usually so listless and languid, but this was the first time Yasuki had seen her so excited. She seems to like Chiibaa a lot.

“Uwaa, he’s just so cute!”

“Yeah, he’s cute, isn’t he? He should have a higher ranking in the Yuru-kyara Grand Prix!”

“I used to have a Chiibaa bag during my middle school days. I wonder where it is now~”

【TLN: Yuru-kyara Grand Prix is a real thing. Basically a ranking for the top Yuru-kyaras, or mascot characters, determined by public voting. Here’s the Wiki.】

Kitaoka stroked Chibaa's head with all the force of a hug. Chiibaa was probably pleased by this, as he responded with cute gestures, such as holding her hand and lightly jumping around.

Then, Kitaoka suddenly turned to Yasuki.

“By the way, who’s inside the Chiibaa costume right now?”

I wondered if it was because she was in a festive mood, or if it was because there was Kumiko around. Kitaoka spoke to me in the same way as she did when we met outside of school and for a moment, I froze, feeling astonished.

But, she is a girl who says such realistic, unsentimental things. I furrowed my brow as I answered her.

“What are you saying? There isn’t a person or anything like that inside Chiibaa, you know?”

“Heeh, so Iijima-kun, you won’t become Chiibaa for the festival?”

“Yeah, the first and second year students are taking turns getting in the costume…”

“So there is a person inside Chiibaa. Well, whatever. Let’s take a commemorative photo with Chiibaa.”

“Good idea,” Kumiko replied. I suspected that they’d make me take the pictures for them, and sure enough, Kitaoka forcefully handed me her phone and said, “Here you go~”

I stepped back about five meters to find an angle that’d let me capture the both of them and Chiibaa in one frame.

“Okay, say cheese.”

On the screen was a picture of Chiibaa sandwiched between Kitaoka and Kumiko, who were both making peace signs. After I gave Kitaoka’s phone back to her, Kumiko modestly asked if I could take one with her phone too.

So we repeated everything we did earlier, and I took a picture with Kumiko’s phone this time. She thanked me, and as soon as I gave Kumiko’s phone back to her, Kitaoka tugged on the edge of Kumiko’s cardigan.

“Hey, there’s a quiz event in the gym in about 30 minutes from now, so let’s quickly head over there.”

“Ah… sure. Well, Iijima-kun, I’ll see you at the gym later.”

“See you later, Chiibaa. Bye bye!”

She waved her hand as she smiled at Chiibaa.

Watching the two of them come and go like a storm, Yasuki breathed a sigh.

And right next to Yasuki, Chiibaa also sighed as he spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Senpai, are you close to the two of them?”

My mouth involuntarily twisted into a grimace.

“That was… just a classmate and her friend.”

Speaking of which, we had planned to take a break just before Kumiko arrived. I wondered if I had pushed him a little too hard even though he’d been exhausted. “Sorry, let’s head back,” I was about to urge him to take a break, when he suddenly muttered something unexpected.

“How nice… I’m jealous… I also want to get acquainted with both of them...”

He looked crestfallen. It looked like Chiibaa (the kouhai inside) got influenced by the fact that not just one, but two beautiful, highly ranked girls, came and pampered him, and it looks like his head was now full of flowers. He (?) and Yasuki seemed to both have absolutely no charm, and they were people whose lives were gray and dull, so Yasuki knew how he felt, but…

“I’m not that close to them,” Yasuki added, but he didn't seem to have heard him. He gave up and decided to go back to the club’s classroom with Chiibaa.

“Watch your step.”

“Yes…”

I led Chiibaa through the noisy school building, until finally, we had reached class 3-B. Chiibaa immediately ran behind the exhibit panel as he removed his head and took off the costume.

“Haaah… So tired…”

The air circulation inside the costume seemed to be really bad, and even though it was chilly outside, his neck and back was drenched in sweat.

A second-year female member of the club happened to be there and volunteered to get into the costume, saying, "I want to do it this time!” She seemed to be confident in her strength, and when she put on the head, she said, "It's lighter than I thought it would be". Her legs and feet did seem to be sturdier than the boys'.

She said, “I’ll be back before the photo session starts. I’ll be hard at work advertising the club until then!” She took another female member with her as they both disappeared from the class.

“Nothing to do, huh…”

A girl from the club was sitting next to Yasuki as she muttered. Her name was Tamura Nanami. She was a third-year student, just like Yasuki, and she was also a member of the Local Geography Research Club. In fact, both of them went to the same junior high school.

The first and second year students had their own class stalls and club activities to attend to, so most of the time, the third year students like Yasuki and Tamura were in charge of the club’s store (It wasn’t really a store, but they called it that for convenience sake).

Besides the photo session, there wasn’t really anything to do in particular, but occasionally some people asked them for explanations, and if there wasn’t anyone around the area, it might become a gathering spot for some unruly people, so Yasuki and the others were guarding the booth like this.

However, not a single person had come to the booth in the past 30 minutes. Occasionally, some people would peek in through the open door, but when they found out that the exhibit was about "The origins of the Nansou region and its current industries," they would leave, seemingly disinterested.

Yasuki was solving a sudoku on a city magazine he had used as reference the other day, but it was already close to completion. However, Tamura didn’t have anything at all on hand, so she must’ve been incredibly bored having nothing to do.

“Well, our exhibit doesn’t change at all every year, so something like this is inevitable, huh.”

Yasuki waited for a follow-up, but Tamura just complained as if she hadn’t heard what he was saying.

“I should’ve brought a manga or something.”

She yawned exaggeratedly as she plopped down on a desk. Tamura had always been doing things her own way, or rather, she was a slightly arrogant girl.

We were in the same class when I was in my first year of junior high school, and at that time, Tamura was an arrogant person who had good grades. She often made fun of Yasuki, who was short and shy, saying things like, “Are you a fool?”. Later on, Yasuki grew much taller and he almost caught up to her in height, and eventually, they even ended up going to the same high school, but Tamura was still ranked much higher in school. Also, perhaps because of their relationship in the past, Tamura still treated Yasuki with an arrogant, condescending attitude.

Her appearance was plain and her skirt was long. Yasuki meant no offense to her, but he thought that they were probably similar types of people. However, she was the only one among all the girls that Yasuki could talk to without restraint, because she always spoke her true thoughts and feelings without sugarcoating anything.

【TLN: Similar types of people here probably means that they were both plain and inconspicuous.】

“I mean, Messhi, is it really necessary to have 2 people guarding the store? Don’t you think 1 person alone is enough for the job?”

Tamura said as she propped herself up on one elbow. “Messhi” is a nickname I got during junior high, where my name was changed from “Iijima” -> “Meshijima” -> “Messhi”. Right now, no one calls me by that nickname anymore, except for Tamura.

【TLN: The kanji for his name, 飯島, is read Ii + jima. However, the first kanji can also be read as “Meshi”, which is where “Meshijima” comes from.】

“...If you want to go somewhere, you can just leave the store to me, you know.”

Yasuki tried to guess Tamura’s intentions as he told her. Tamura turned away and quietly muttered.

“It’s not like that, though…”

Again, a moment of silence fell between the two. Not more than a few seconds later, Tamura rose from her seat with a rattling sound.

“Actually, maybe I will go wander around for a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

With that, I saw Tamura head out of the class. Even though I said she’s a person I can speak to without restraint, it’s much easier to be alone by myself rather than being alone with a girl. And, I can do whatever I want without her here.

Feeling very liberated without Tamura around, Yasuki took out a radio-cassette player from a hidden shelf by the blackboard. Each classroom had one of these, which were used for English listening exercises.

He plugged in the radio, and he connected it to his own music player with a cable. There wasn’t anyone else around, so he felt like he should be allowed to do something like this.

My favorite song echoed through the classroom. I felt like a "Solo DJ". I’m not sure why, but it felt exciting for some reason. As I was feeling somewhat hyped up, singing along to the song, “Sorry for being awkward~♪”, a young woman suddenly appeared in the classroom.

“Umm… What kind of event are you doing here?”

Yasuki, having been caught doing something shameful, felt his face turn red. However, the woman didn’t really seem to pay much attention to Yasuki at all as she directly walked towards him.

The woman looked like she was in her early twenties, about the same age as Yasuki’s sister, who was 4 years older than him, or maybe she was even older. She had black hair cut evenly around the length of her shoulders, and she was wearing a dark, navy blue cardigan. It looked like she only put on minimal amounts of makeup, and she didn’t seem like a flashy or gaudy girl. Instead, she gave off the impression of being someone simple and mature.

“Err, we’re the Local Geography Research Club…”

I pulled myself together and started explaining our club’s activities and its history, as well as a general outline of our current exhibit, and what we hoped to achieve with it. She had a serious expression on her face as she listened carefully to my explanations, occasionally nodding her head and saying, “I see, I see”. She looked over the exhibit and started asking questions like, “When was this picture taken?” and “How old do you think this person is right now?”

Then, I stopped in front of a panel titled “Environmental initiatives for our cities, towns, and villages” as I pointed at a large, colored picture illustrating an institution being burnt in a fire.

“Ah, it’s the Environmental Center. How nostalgic. I went there for a field trip when I was in grade school.”

Yasuki was impressed, letting out a “Hoooh”. The picture alone was all it took for her to grasp what I was talking about. She seemed to be extremely knowledgeable about the area.

“You’re a local, right?”

“Yes. I graduated from Takashi Grade School, which is just around the corner.”

She smiled as she pointed out the window. If I remembered correctly, Takashi Grade School was only a kilometer away. It looked like she really was a native.

She let out a sigh as she gazed at the panel once more.

“How nice… It looks like it’d be interesting to cover something like this. Your club sounds like a fun club.”

...Yasuki felt like the club wasn’t as good a club as she’d described. He wasn’t particularly interested in his hometown or geography in general. He just chose the Local Geography Research Club because they had fewer meetings, which was nice. Besides, there were overwhelmingly few club members, and it was certainly not a popular club.

“No, it’s a boring club,” Yasuki modestly replied, and the woman tilted her head in surprise as she looked up at Yasuki.

“Really? If I went to this school, I think I’d enter this club too.”

“Huh, you aren’t an alumna from our school?”

I couldn’t help but ask her that question. 

Almost all of the adults who visited the cultural festival were graduates and former students, and since she was a native, I assumed she was surely one of those people too.

She indifferently answered my question.

“Yep. I took the entrance exam, but I utterly failed.”

Yasuki immediately regretted his decision, realizing that he shouldn’t have asked her that question. It’d be incredibly rude to laugh at her, but on the other hand, it’d be somewhat weird if he overly pitied her. While Yasuki was confused as to how he should react, the woman continued talking without losing the smile on her face.

“Instead, my little sister is a third-year at this school right now.”

Which means, she’s in the same grade as me.

...I wonder who it could be. I was curious, but there was a chance that I wouldn’t know them even if I heard their name. The number of girls in my grade easily surpassed the triple digits, so there was no way I could keep track of all of them.

Just as I was about to shrug it off with a quick “Is that so?”, I heard a tense voice from the door behind me.

“Ah, Risa-chan!”

I reflexively turned around, and I saw Kimura Shin, barging in with his long legs and walking straight towards us. 

Kimura stood right next to the woman as he tried to scowl at her, but he couldn’t hold back a grin from showing up on his face. His expression blatantly betrayed the fact that he was lovestruck with the woman.

(So this means…)

I was astonished as I looked at the two of them side by side.

(This woman is Kitaoka’s older sister?)

『Ever since he was little, he’s been all like “Risa-chan, Risa-chan”, ‘cause he really loved her, you see…』

That was what Kitaoka told me about Kimura before. Right now, Kimura was calling this woman “Risa-chan”, and Kitaoka said that Risa-chan was her older sister, whom Kimura was madly in love with, which means she was definitely Kitaoka’s sister, right?

But it was so unexpected, I couldn't just believe it. The woman in front of me was rather reserved and calm, completely different from Kitaoka, who was flashy and exuded an unapproachable aura.

If I looked at her face closely, she seemed to share the same features as Kitaoka: she had a slender, long nose bridge and small facial contours. But, her older sister’s eyes seemed to be heavy, and her eyelids were creased, while Kitaoka’s eyes were wide and double-edged. That was probably the main reason why I thought the two of them didn’t look alike.

"I didn't know you were here. I've been looking for you," Kimura said, a little grumpy. Kitaoka's sister chided him softly, saying, "Sorry. I was going to call you after I saw this". Just by listening to that short conversation, I could see that Kimura was being spoiled by Kitaoka’s sister, and that Kitaoka’s sister also had feelings for Kimura.

“Ah, it’s the Ootaki Herb Garden. I went there too for a field trip.”

“Eeh, my school’s never been there. Next time, let’s go there together.”

The two of them looked at the panel and started talking to each other. Yasuki was completely left out of their conversation.

(It’s like they’re in a world of their own…)

It’s not like you guys have to flaunt your relationship in front of me. What the hell, tch. Iijima spat in his heart, when Kimura suddenly turned towards me and said, “Ah, that’s right”. 

“Risa-chan, Iijima-kun is this guy right here.”

With the conversation having suddenly turned to me, I froze in place. Since he said “Iijima-kun is this guy”, that means he’s mentioned me to Kitaoka’s sister before.

But, he and I were in different classes, and we hardly knew each other… As I was confused, Kitaoka’s sister looked like she’d remembered something as she shouted, “Ah!”

“You were the one who got hit on the head with a foul ball in that football match!”

Her words instantly made my face turn red. Kimura, what the hell are you telling her? You don’t have to go and spread such embarrassing stories. Of course, I know that it made you look really cool since you gallantly helped me back then, but…

As Yasuki hung his head low, quietly muttering his grudges and pent-up resentment towards Kimura, Kitaoka’s sister suddenly appeared in his vision.

“That’s very commendable of you. Getting hurt while trying to protect a girl.”

“Ehh…”

“So, is your head okay now?”

“Ah… yes. It’s completely fine now.”

Her unexpected compliment and the fact that her face was really close to mine made me flustered. I took a step back in surprise, but Kitaoka’s sister continued with a gentle smile on her face.

“I’ve also been dull and clumsy ever since I was a kid, and I’d often get injuries, so I know how it feels. Just the other day, I got my finger stuck in a car door, and I had to go to the hospital.”

“Is that so...”

“I guess we should both be more careful, huh?”

As soon as she finished speaking, Kimura placed his hand on her shoulder as he retorted, “Risa-chan, Iijima-kun is just fine.”

This made them both laugh together. Seeing them so intimate with each other, Yasuki felt deeply impressed.

(Kitaoka… You’re no match for this woman, you know?)

Her younger sister, Ema, may have better looks than her older sister. However, her older sister more than makes up for it with her personality, or rather, how tolerant and understanding of a person she is. Earlier, when I was feeling embarrassed and uncomfortable, she completely blew away those feelings by telling me her own failures and mistakes. How do I say this... She’s the kind of woman who makes you feel comfortable and relaxed when you’re with them. I think I can understand why Kimura is so crazy about her.

On the other hand, Kitaoka’s sullen face came to mind, and I thought, “I wish she’d smile at least a tenth as much as her sister does”. While I was having those thoughts, Kimura suddenly said, “Speaking of which”, which made me snap back to reality.

“The light music club is having a performance in the gym at 4 o’clock.”

“Ah, yeah…”

“I’m going to play the guitar and sing the chorus this year, so if you’re available and willing, I hope you can come and watch our performance.”

Knowing that this guy can even play the guitar made my inferiority complex sting once more.

But, for people as handsome as Kimura, your heart would race a bit if they smiled at you, even if you don't swing that way. Even though I knew that this was probably just sales talk, and that he probably said the same thing to lots of people.

“I got it… I think I’ll probably be going.”

Unable to refuse the offer, I vaguely gave my consent. Kimura and Kitaoka’s sister laughed again, saying "Thank you" and "That’s great!" to each other.

Again, Yasuki’s heart began to beat faster, and he repeatedly told himself to calm down.

After that, it was time to change shifts guarding the store, so Yasuki left his post and wandered around the school. (Ultimately, Tamura didn’t come back to the store at all. I didn’t think much of it since I expected something like that to happen.)

As he made his way through the familiar corridors, Yasuki suddenly noticed something. He had almost never been to other schools' cultural festivals, so he didn’t have a point of reference, but he had a feeling that he’d encountered an excessive amount of boys cross-dressing as women today. Their appearances varied widely, with some wearing nurse uniforms, some wearing princess-like dresses, and even some who borrowed school uniforms from girls just to wear them. The quality varied widely as well, from the rough-looking ones who had no intention of shaving their leg hair, to those who had crossdressed flawlessly all the way down to their makeup. In any case, I noticed those kinds of people so frequently that it made me mildly worried about the future of my schoolmates.

When I looked for Katsuya, I saw him playing Mahjong with a boy from his class in a second-year classroom with a sign that read “Club Touyan” hanging out front. I wondered who the hell gave them permission to do something like this, but then I remembered that this school had always been known for their lenient school customs and traditions. Looking closely, I could see the head teacher playing on another table with other adults, saying things like “Pon” and “Chii” as they drew and discarded Mahjong tiles.

【TLN: I have no idea what or how Mahjong is played, so I’m going to insert the definitions I see in the dictionary in case you’re curious. Pon means “forming a pung by picking up a tile discarded by another player” and Chii means “forming a chow by picking up a tile discarded by another player”.】

I asked him, “Is your girlfriend not visiting the festival today?”, he immediately replied, “Her school is also holding a cultural festival today.” Perhaps he was trying to distract himself from his sadness, since he looked very absorbed in his game. I didn't even know the rules of Mahjong, so I only watched about half a game and left the class.

I found myself in the midst of the festivities once more. I snacked on some food, and watched some plays and movies. A classmate I was on good terms with invited me to participate in an arcade game, and the time flew by.

During that time, I noticed Kumiko and Kitaoka several times. However, Kumiko was chatting, not with Kitaoka, but with a student who seemed to be her classmate from when she was in junior high, and Kitaoka was with Mochida Miyu and her other friends, so I didn't really try to talk to either of them.

After the time had passed midday, during the early afternoon, there were fewer people than during the peak hours, and food stalls were closing here and there. It was quite sad, but all good times must come to an end. At least for now, I wanted to enjoy this atmosphere for as long as possible.

Yasuki headed to the Local Geography Research Club on the 4th floor to work his last shift guarding the store.

When he arrived, there were four kouhais surrounding the Chiibaa costume, arguing back and forth with pale looks on their faces.

“But, we just can’t do that, you know..? I mean, we’ve handed out a fair amount of flyers.”

“Yes, but is there anyone who’d go out of their way to come here, at a time like this?”

“What’s wrong?” Yasuki asked, which made all the kouhais turn their heads towards him in unison.

“Ah, Iijima-senpai! Please hear us out! It’s about time for the last session of the photo shoot with Chiibaa, but there isn’t anyone around who can put on the costume!”

“No one at all?”

Yasuki asked back, and a female student (let’s call her Kouhai A for the time being) nodded her head. She was the girl who had been walking around inside the Chiibaa costume this morning.

“I can't put on the costume because I have a play to do with the drama club soon. I've been trying to contact the other members and senpais, but I can't get through to them at all.”

“Then, what about you two?” Yasuki looked at 2 male students (Kouhai  B and C), but they also had troubled looks on their faces as they answered.

“We have to compete in the finals of a stand-up comedy competition which starts at 3 o’clock! There will be professional comedians and entertainers coming to watch the competition too, so it’s a battle we can’t afford to lose!”

【TLN: It wasn’t strictly a stand-up comedy competition. The LN says that it’s a Manzai competition, a type of comedy originating from Japan, but I thought it’d be easier to understand if I chose a stand-up comedy competition. Manzai and stand-up comedy are comparable, but somewhat different, so you can read the Wiki if you’re interested.】

So that leaves Kouhai D…

“I’m… not physically strong enough, so putting on a costume or anything like that is impossible for me…”

【TLN: Kouhai D used atashi here, so they’re most likely a girl】

All four of them had their eyes on Yasuki. They didn’t explicitly tell him in their words, but Yasuki was keenly aware of what they wanted from him. He deeply sighed as he answered.

“...I understand. I’ll do it.”

The four of them clapped their hands together in relief as they rejoiced. As Yasuki watched them, he didn’t forget to leave some words of resentment, saying, “I’ll make sure you guys pay for this someday…”

“It’s hot and strangely humid inside the costume," I thought, so I took off my glasses at the toilet sink and replaced them with disposable contact lenses. I originally prepared them for swimming purposes, but ever since the time I almost lost my glasses at the last football match, I've been carrying them around with me, just in case. I never expected I’d be using them for something like this.

When I got back to the class, Kouhai D said, “Iijima-senpai, you look pretty handsome without your glasses.” I could only interpret her words as mere flattery, but getting blatantly mad at her would be childish, so I just let it slide as I told her, “People say that a lot”.

Once I chased away the two girls, I quickly took off my uniform, which left me naked except for my trunks. From there, I put on a t-shirt, and a male kouhai helped me into the costume.

My head was covered completely. The insides of the costume reeked of sweat, and I almost blurted out, "It stinks!”. But, I got used to it within a minute. Nevertheless, the visibility was really bad, and sounds from outside the costume were muffled and difficult to hear. What’s more, the neck of the costume was seemingly connected to the torso, and it looked like the costume couldn’t be taken off easily.

After they saw that I’d changed into the costume without any problems, the four of them bowed their heads to me and said, "Thank you very much. Well then, please do your best”. Speaking of which, I wondered what the girl who wasn’t in the drama club is doing here. I’m sure she’d get bored just like Tamura if she stayed here. It’d be troublesome if that happened, so I sent her off along with everyone else.

I was feeling depressed and dispirited, so I connected my music player to the radio, just like I did this morning, and I played some music at a volume even louder than before. I also chose to play only songs that used the minor scale, since I didn’t want anyone to come at all.

【TLN: Minor scale = music that sounds sad】

It looked like my plan worked really well, because when I randomly queued a list of the "Top 5 inexplicable songs I have no idea why they aren’t selling" in the playlist, not a single person came to the booth, even after all 5 songs had ended, except for a single junior high school girl who briefly came and glanced at a panel. It worked just as I’d hoped.

When the music stopped playing, I noticed that there was much less noise coming from outside than a while ago. I wondered why as I looked down at the school building through the window and saw that the asphalt beneath was turning dark, and the leaves of the conifer trees were becoming thick with water.

(It’s raining, huh…)

The weather had felt a bit iffy since this morning, and it looked like it had finally started pouring.

As soon as I noticed the rain, I thought, “This is bad,” a sense of urgency suddenly welling up inside me. Everyone from the club had their belongings out on the balcony right now, so they’d all get wet at this rate. Moreover, the balconies in this school didn’t have sliding doors built into them, which made it very difficult to get in and out (probably to prevent people from falling). In other words, the only way I could get to the balcony was to climb over the waist-high window.

It was really hard to move around while I was in this suit, but I had no other choice. I opened the windows and carefully climbed out onto the balcony, making sure not to get Chiibaa’s large head stuck in the window in the process.

I crouched down, quickly moving everyone’s belongings under the roof to avoid them getting wet from the rain. Well then, all that’s left is to bring in this girl’s bag, I thought as I grabbed the straps of a brown, synthetic, leather school bag. I stood up and looked into the classroom.

“..!”

I was so surprised, I accidentally bumped my head on the window frame.

I thought there wouldn’t be anyone in the class, but what I saw was a familiar girl sitting at the desk where I had just been sitting, staring at the screen of her phone in her hand.

It was Kitaoka Ema. She wasn’t with Kumiko, and the classmates she usually hung out with were nowhere in sight. Generally, she’d always have at least one person accompanying her, so it was very unusual to see her all alone like this.

What on earth did she come here to do? She wasn’t looking around the exhibition, instead just playing around with her phone in her hands, looking bored. What should I do? She didn't seem to notice me as I puzzled over what to do. She just slowly rearranged her legs that stretched out from her short skirt.

At that moment…

“What’re you doin’? You look bored as hell.”

A boy suddenly walked into the classroom and spoke to Kitaoka. The boy had his black hair trimmed short and, even through his loose clothes, it was easy to see that he had a sturdy physique.

“Nothing, I’m just waiting for someone.”

“Sure. So, while you’re waiting for that someone, why don’t you hang out with me for a bit?”

Given Kitaoka's cold and standoffish attitude, he was probably just someone trying to hit on her, not an acquaintance. It was hard to hear them because I was wearing Chiibaa's head, but I could just barely follow their conversation through the open window.

“No, I’m good.” Kitaoka turned him down, but the boy didn’t back down as he said, “Come on, it won’t take long.”

Eventually, he started pulling on Kitaoka’s arm as he tried to forcefully take her with him.

I instinctively knew that I couldn’t let this go on. But the man seemed to be strong, and if he were to use force, I would definitely be no match for him. And on top of that, I'm at an even greater disadvantage because I'm in the Chiibaa costume right now.

I looked down at the bag I was holding. Attached to the bag was an oval-shaped keychain, smaller than the palm of my hand. It was a personal alarm, used for self-defense.

【TLN: Read it on Wikipedia if you aren’t familiar. Basically, you pull a pin/tag on a small device, which causes it to make a really loud noise, alerting people nearby and possibly distracting the aggressor】

The alarm gave me an idea. I didn’t know who it belonged to, but I was going to be borrowing it for a bit. If I pulled the pin out and threw it like a hand grenade, I’m sure the boy would be so shocked, he’d stop trying to hit on Kitaoka.

I made up my mind as I stood up and pulled the pin on the alarm.

Just as the alarm started making loud beeping sounds, I saw another man who I was unfamiliar with enter the classroom.

He was a tall and elegant-looking adult man. I hurriedly reinserted the pin into the alarm.

“Ema-chan, I’m sorry. I kept you waiting, huh.”

The man spoke in a calm, composed voice as he approached Ema and the boy, still locked in a struggle.

“Hirayama-san…”

Kitaoka looked surprised as she addressed the man with what seemed to be his name. "Hirayama", as he was called, raised the corners of his mouth and looked down at the boy who was still holding Kitaoka's arm forcefully.

“Please excuse my rudeness. Do you have any problems with this girl?”

His tone was polite and civil, but it had a hint of intimidation and menace in it. Hirayama looked like a gentle and kind man on the outside, but his attitude was anything but gentle.

Perhaps frightened by the man’s aura, the boy slowly let go of Kitaoka’s arm.

“No… it was just my imagination.”

The boy said those words as he dejectedly left the classroom.

After a good ten seconds had passed since the boy’s departure, Hirayama finally breathed a sigh of relief as he had a huge smile on his face.

“Sorry. I was acting on the spur of the moment, so I pretended to be a companion of yours.”

“Not at all. Thank you very much. Your help is much appreciated.”

...Which means, Hirayama wasn’t the one Kitaoka was waiting for. He had just so happened to pass by the classroom. Even so, he managed to act as her acquaintance and help her out splendidly. Yasuki, who could only watch from start to finish, was very impressed.

But, the air between the two of them was strange. Kitaoka still had a nervous expression on her face, and Hirayama was staring at her as if he wanted to say something.

“...It’s good to know you’re doing well.”

“...I see.”

“I was worried about you when you suddenly left like that.”

“Please don’t worry about that anymore… It’s already been 3 years since then.”

Both of them seemed to have already noticed me (Chiibaa) outside the window, but perhaps because I was wearing a costume, and since we were separated by the window frame, they didn't seem to be aware that I was eavesdropping on their conversation.

It felt like they were about to talk about something serious. Just as I was wondering what I should do, a (genuine) visitor came to check out the booth, which hadn’t gotten any visitors in forever. I took advantage of the opportunity to climb over the window frame and walk over to him.

But alas, my ears followed their voices on their own. Even as I posed for the visitor who pointed his camera at me, I couldn't help but listen in on the two people behind the panel.

“You’re all grown up now, huh.”

“Yes. Since I’m already in my third grade of high school.”

“Have you decided on what you’re going to do after high school?”

“Not yet… But I’m considering environmental studies or sociology.”

“I see. So you’ve given up on music, huh. I really liked your flute though.”

“...I'm not talented enough to make a living out of it.”

Kitaoka gloomily replied. I didn't know that she had a taste for instrumental music. I couldn't hear them very well, and on top of that, they were using technical terms, so I couldn’t understand their conversation entirely, but I could tell that they had been talking about music for a while. It wasn't a very lively atmosphere, but at least they were having a normal conversation.

However, after Hirayama said this, I could sense a sudden change in the atmosphere between the two of them.

“I… am going to get married next spring too.”

Kitaoka couldn't seem to find the words she wanted to say right away. Hirayama was in his mid-twenties by the looks of it, so even though I thought it was a little early to be talking about marriage, it wasn't strange at all.

As I waved goodbye to the visitor who was leaving the booth, I strained my ears and carefully listened to their conversation.

“...I see. Congratulations on your marriage.”

Kitaoka's voice, which had always been listless, became even lower and more somber. Rather than congratulating him, her tone sounded more like she was expressing her condolences.

“And so… I was hoping you’d be able to play a song at the ceremony, but… perhaps, it isn’t possible...?”

“It’s been 3 years since I’ve last played anything… I can’t.”

Although Kitaoka spoke slowly, with breaks in between her sentences, she bluntly declared her thoughts to Hirayama.

“Sorry.”

“I see. I’m sorry for saying something so weird.”

Hirayama easily backed down, and I could see his legs distancing themselves from Kitaoka’s legs from under the screen.

“Well then, Ema-chan. Take care.”

“You too, Hirayama-san. Take care.”

“Yes. Even if it was by chance, I'm glad we were able to meet... And, good luck with your exam.”

Hirayama then left the classroom. As if to replace him, a group of three elementary school students came pouring in, surrounding me in my Chiibaa suit.

“Hey, rabbit! Give us some candy!”

“What the hell is this, there ain’t no zipper on the back of the suit. How do you even get in this thing?”

I was bewildered by the sudden commotion they were making. They were saying selfish things as they touched the costume all over. During that time, I saw Kitaoka also heading towards the doorway with heavy steps.

“Ooraaa!”

One of the kids from the group shouted from behind me. At that moment, the legs lost their balance and I fell onto the floor face first. It hurt a lot, and my knee got dislocated.

Everything happened so abruptly, I couldn’t even break my fall as I just fell flat on the floor. Perhaps they thought that they’d get scolded if they woke me up since the kids just left me behind and ran away, laughing and shouting, “Kyahaha!”. As for Kitaoka, it looked like she didn’t have the leeway to worry about Chiibaa, as she disappeared from the class without even looking back at me.

After having fallen down, it was hard to get up again because my head felt heavy. In addition, my head, elbows, and knees were still throbbing with pain from having hit the floor.

As I lay pathetically on the floor in the deserted classroom, I thought to myself with a dizzy head.

(Their conversation just now… I wonder if it was okay for me to listen to…)

Kitaoka was a girl who always had a strong will and determination for everything she did, but during their conversation, her voice sounded weak and distressed. I didn't even want to imagine what had previously happened between the two of them.

(Ahh…)

It’s a pain in the ass, but I guess I’ll have to get up soon. I was still lying on the floor facedown, and, just as I was getting ready to move my arms and legs, I suddenly heard a familiar voice from above me.

“Ah, Chiibaa.”

As I slowly turned my body around, what came into view first were the slippers designated for outside visitors, as well as slim jeans. Gradually looking up, I saw a girl with a bob cut wearing a long cardigan, looking at me with concern in her eyes.

It was Kumiko. Out of all the times I could’ve encountered her, it just so happened to be at the worst possible moment, while I was in an unsightly and embarrassing position. Inside the hot and humid costume, I could feel my body temperature increasing even more.

“Are you okay?”

Kumiko offered her hand to me, and I took it as I stood back up. The alumnus had ordered us not to talk to anybody outside of the club while inside of the costume, so as not to tarnish Chiibaa’s image and reputation, so I could only silently bow my head over and over in thanks. Kumiko wryly smiled as she remarked, “It must’ve been tough, huh”. She then faced me and asked.

“This is the Local Geography Research Club’s booth, right?”

I nodded once.

“Iijima-kun… or should I say Iijima-senpai? Do you know where he is right now?”

The way she phrased her question made me realize something. Kumiko didn't seem to think that I (Iijima-kun) was the one inside the suit at all. When we had met in the morning, I had explained to her that the first and second years would take turns to get in the suit.

Thank goodness. Since this is the perfect opportunity to do so, I’ll just pretend that I’m someone else here. Yasuki, who liked to show off at the strangest of moments, shook his head repeatedly as he briefly replied, “I don’t know”.

“I see… Then, have you seen the girl I was with earlier this morning? The one with the long hair.”

She must’ve been talking about Kitaoka. She had just left the class moments ago, but perhaps they just missed each other?

However, if I told Kumiko that I had seen her, she might find out later that Kitaoka had met with Hirayama in the classroom. Their chance meeting was probably one that she didn’t want others to find out about, not even her closest of friends.

I put my hand to my right cheek and tilted my head as I tried to play dumb.

When that happened, Kumiko looked at her watch and muttered to herself.

“What should I do… The concert is going to start soon…”

When I turned around and looked up at the analog clock in the classroom, I saw that the hour hand was pointing near 4 and the minute hand was pointing a little past 9. Kimura had also invited me to come to the concert at four o'clock, so that was probably the concert Kumiko was talking about, and Kitaoka was probably planning to go with Kumiko.

I should’ve just told her honestly instead of lying to her, huh... I slightly regretted my decision, and when I turned around to face Kumiko once more, she looked into my eyes and approached me.

“If you see her, could you please tell her to come to the gym? Do you have a piece of paper or something?”

Kumiko gestured as if she was trying to write something, so I immediately offered her a ballpoint pen which the club had provided for visitors to fill in surveys, and the back of a flyer that I had left in the pocket of my apron.

『I’ll be waiting at the gym (Kumiko)』

She wrote down her message in neat, block letters. Then, she patted my shoulders and said, “I’m counting on you, okay?”

I curled my thumb to touch the rest of my fingers in a circle, making an “OK” sign. Kumiko then smiled in relief as she waved goodbye to me and left the classroom.

Our club was using classroom 3-B, and the classroom right next to us was (of course) class 3-A. Class 3-A was also empty and deserted at the moment, as they weren’t participating in the cultural festival either.

And in front of class 3-A was the west staircase. The photo session with Chiibaa ended without incident… or should I say, it ended with barely any visitors showing up to the photo session. I took a breather, feeling liberated.

I felt thirsty, and I wanted something to drink. Taking a hundred yen from my wallet, I started towards the vending machine on the first floor.

But, on the landing between the 3rd and 4th floor, I realized my mistake. I couldn’t drink anything while I was in the Chiibaa suit. I had completely forgotten that the suit was designed in a way that made it impossible for me to take it off by myself.

I turned around and started to climb the stairs, disappointed at how stupid I was, and how futile my effort had been.

Then, just as I reached the fourth floor, my ears picked up on some strange sounds coming from somewhere.

Uuuuu… uwaaah… It sounded like someone was crying. The noises seemed to be coming from the stairs that led to the rooftop, just above the fourth floor. But right now, the rooftop was basically closed off, and you couldn’t go there without a good reason. There was a rumor going around about a girl who, a few years ago, despaired at the cruelties of the world and jumped off the rooftop.

I shouldn’t have the ability to hear ghosts at all, and I was also inside the Chiibaa suit, so it should’ve been difficult to hear noises from the outside. I lamented my bad luck, wondering why I had heard something like this.

But things like spirits and ghosts don’t exist. To confirm that, I mustered up my courage and climbed the stairs leading to the rooftop.

Just as I arrived at the landing, ready to head up the next flight of stairs, something very unexpected entered my narrow vision. I couldn’t help but gasp as I quickly retreated.

What I saw wasn’t a ghost, but instead…

(Kitaoka…)

The girl who Kumiko had been desperately looking for earlier was sitting on the stairs, stifling her voice as she silently cried.

What should I do? I mildly panicked. Kitaoka was looking down, so she hadn’t noticed me yet. Right now, I could just pretend that I hadn’t seen anything and head back down the stairs.

But if Kitaoka was here right now, that meant that Kumiko would inevitably end up being stood up… Sure, Kitaoka couldn’t just go to the concert in tears, but it’d be best if she could make it there as soon as possible.

Besides, I can't just ignore her if she's feeling sad. I don't know why. It might be because it reminds me of what happened at the summer training camp. But in any case, just listening to her sorrowful crying made me feel anxious and restless.

If I were “Iijima Yasuki” right now, I wouldn’t be able to come out at all. Her pride would take a huge hit if she were to be seen crying by me, a classmate of hers who was male and an otaku.

But if it was her beloved Chiibaa, then surely I could do this. I rummaged through the pockets of my apron and found some flyers, the ballpoint pen for surveys that I had given Kumiko earlier, and a piece of candy for children.

I crouched down and ran my pen across the back of the flyer. My handwriting was distorted because I was wearing the suit.

I resolutely climbed the stairs and gently tapped the shoulder of the girl who was hugging her knees tightly with her head hung low.

Kitaoka was startled as she looked up at me. I slowly tilted my head to the side and held out a flyer to her as well as the candy I had in my other hand.

【TLN: From here on out, all direct sentences using『』are words written on the flyer.】

『Here is a piece of candy to make you feel better. Feel free to eat it if you’d like.』

“Ah…”

Kitaoka took the flyer and candy as she read what was written on the flyer, quietly muttering its message. She looked down at her knees once more.

It looked like she was about to cry. A short while later, she started sobbing even louder than before, not bothering to hide her face anymore.

I couldn’t just walk away in this situation, so I sat down right next to her. I started patting her back, murmuring, “There, there.”

The thought that someone might find out about us if she cried this loud did cross my mind, but… no one would willingly go all the way up to the deserted upper floors in the first place. I let Kitaoka cry to her heart’s content, until she felt better.

I’m not sure how long this went on for, but after some time had passed, she seemed to have calmed down somewhat. Wiping her eyes with the towel she was holding, Kitaoka looked up at me and muttered.

“Sorry…”

She hadn’t really done anything in particular that she had to apologize for, though. When I responded by shaking Chiibaa’s head, Kitaoka looked at me and smiled bashfully. It was the first time I’d seen her make that kind of expression.

I took out a leftover flyer from my pocket. Then, I found a piece of wood nearby and put it on my lap to use as a writing surface. I took my ballpoint pen and started writing on the flyer.

『What happened?』

When Kitaoka read my message, she put her elbows on her knees and looked at me with her tear-stained eyes, still moist from earlier.

“Chiibaa, are you a girl? Or are you a boy?”

I knew she was asking me about my gender, but I couldn't tell her the truth because she might see through my ulterior motives.

『I am, more or less, a girl.』

I couldn’t hold the pen really well, but I tried to imitate a girl’s handwriting as best as I could. Chiibaa is a “granny”, so technically, I wasn’t writing anything false.

Then Kitaoka, perhaps believing that I was a girl, or perhaps unwilling to pursue the matter further, looked pleased as she seemingly lost interest in the topic.

She opened the wrapper of the candy I had just given her and tossed it between her soft lips.

“Earlier in the classroom, you saw me talking to a man, right?”

She slowly started talking while tasting the candy.

He nodded. Then, she smiled bitterly, seemingly mocking herself as she continued.

“I used to like that guy a lot.”

I felt a pain in my chest. Well, I had a hunch that this was the case, but it was more shocking than expected to hear it directly from the person herself.

While I was unable to make any sort of reaction at all, Kitaoka continued her story.

“I was a member of the concert band club during junior high. He was a university student at the time, and he knew my club’s advisor, so he occasionally dropped by to teach us. By the way, he's from our high school too.”

“So that's why he came today,” I thought to myself. I was also able to infer as to why she didn’t enter any clubs in high school.

During her time in junior high, she’d probably been through a lot, including some love and friendship problems. Because of those painful experiences, she started avoiding clubs and the like. I’m sure that’s what happened. 

“He always listens to what I say seriously, he’s really cool, and his words are always on point. I’d giggle along with the other girls, and before I knew it, I was seriously in love with him.”

Hirayama was certainly handsome. He wasn’t as eye-catching or as good-looking as Kimura was, but he was clean and tidy. He was also mature and reliable, so it wouldn’t be surprising if a girl fell in love with Hirayama after regularly talking and interacting with him. It’s so frustrating.

(Heh… Frustrating, huh?)

I retorted at what my heart was feeling. But, I was sure that I’d developed an inferiority complex towards the man who admirably saved Kitaoka from her predicament in the classroom, and to be honest, I also felt jealous of him. That was the undeniable truth.

Kitaoka lightly sighed as she continued.

“But, when I confessed my feelings to him, he flatly rejected me.”

...I wondered if that was something she could just brush off so easily.

The heavy atmosphere during their reunion earlier, as well as Hirayama’s words of concern. Those two points were enough to make me believe that the two of them must’ve had some sort of quarrel or dispute. At the very least, I don’t think that they parted peacefully, without regrets.

While I was speculating the details of their relationship, Kitaoka had a stout, bright smile on her face as she spoke.

“It was a really long time ago, and I thought I had gotten over it, but when I saw him again after all this time, I remembered all sorts of things, like what had happened back then, my feelings towards him, and much more.”

I’ve never seriously fallen in love before, so I’m not too knowledgeable about things like this. However, I think that if you were passionately in love with someone, then no matter how estranged you are from them, no matter how many years pass, you’d never be able to completely forget about them. This is especially true if it is a love from your adolescent years. It was like being thrown into a raging sea without an oar, or getting a wound that would never fully heal.

I deeply nodded, when Kitaoka’s voice suddenly grew shrill.

“And yet, when he told me he was going to get married, it just broke my heart…”

I knew how she felt. That feeling you get when you lose the person you love to someone else for good. Even a dull person like me felt sorrow just by imagining how much despair that would bring to someone. Of course, this went double for a person like Kitaoka whose emotions tended to be intense and strong.

But despite all that, she tried to not to make him worry by congratulating him. She held herself back from bursting into tears. That must’ve been incredibly difficult.

I added some more words on the flyer on my lap.

『You really did your best.』

As soon as she saw my message, tears began to flow from her eyes once more. This time, she cried silently, but large, clear drops of tears began falling from her large eyes, adorned with long eyelashes.

“I wonder if I did my best…”

While she wiped the tears off her face, she asked me that question. I nodded over and over as if to tell her, “Of course.”

Right now, she looked pitiful, forlorn, and desolate. I was sure that she usually kept this side of her hidden from others. I wanted to somehow live up to the trust that she’d shown me, so I racked my brains for a way to help her.

『Then, why don’t you shift your attention to the people around you?』

There might not be another person like Hirayama around. But, I’m certain that there are people around her who feel strongly for her… For example, someone in the same class as her or something.

『If you fall in love with someone new, you'll forget about being rejected!』

Kitaoka suddenly stopped crying and burst into laughter.

“That’s a funny thing to say.”

...I wonder if what I said was really that funny. In fact, “If you fall in love with someone new~” was a commonly used phrase, and I’m sure she’s heard it at least once before.

But I'm glad that I made her laugh. She had a forced smile on her face earlier, but seeing her make a heartfelt expression of joy was much better.

When I tilted my head to the left and right and showed her my dangling ears swinging around, Kitaoka broke into a smile, seemingly in a good mood. She held her knees close to her chest as she rested her chin on top of her knees (Quite a dangerous pose if I looked at her from the front. But since I was looking at her from the side, I couldn’t see anything.)

Then, she started swinging her legs, looking a little embarrassed as she averted her eyes.

“But actually, I already have someone else I like, or rather, someone else I’m kinda interested in right now.”

Eh… I was confused. I talked to Kitaoka at least once every week, but we’d never had such a spicy topic come up in our conversations.

Maybe it’s because I was a boy, or maybe it was the fact that we didn’t really get along with each other. I could think of lots of different reasons, but still, I had never really seen her acting giddy, nor have I ever seen her having some kind of worry, both of which were things that girls in love typically did. Most importantly, if she had another boy she was aiming for, then would she really invite a person of the opposite sex to go home with her, even if he was just a classmate to her?

I was certainly shocked, but my amazement far outweighed the shock. Out of curiosity, I wrote the following on a piece of paper and asked her.

『What kind of person is he?』

Kitaoka tilted her head a little as she pondered for a bit, choosing her words carefully as she answered.

“Let’s see… I guess… he’s a bit of a strange person?”

Her reply was completely unexpected. It’d be one thing if she said he was “cool” or “mature”, but could you really describe someone you had a faint liking for as “weird”?

『Strange?』I immediately wrote down that question which made Kitaoka knit her brows, seemingly feeling awkward.

“Yeah… He’s a strange person. Real strange. I don’t think he’s a dumb person or anything. He’s just someone who can’t read the mood. Sometimes, he says some unexpected things that really surprise me.“

She spoke with a troubled look on her face, but despite her expression, there was a hint of happiness in her voice.

I could feel my heart tighten. I really wanted to see what kind of man was playing around with Kitaoka’s heart like that, just once… Well, I wouldn’t know what to do even if I did meet him.

『Is he someone from our school?』

When I bluntly wrote that question on the flyer, Kitaoka hesitated for a moment before she modestly shook her head.

“I don’t think anyone at school knows him…”

Kitaoka's answer was surprisingly devastating. There was no way I’d know about her relationships outside of school, and I was reminded once more that clearly, it wasn't me. I didn’t have any expectations at first, but after what Kumiko had told me, I had a faint hope that “Just maybe...”. I’m such an idiot.

But, Kitaoka had no way of knowing how I was feeling right now, since I was inside the Chiibaa suit. While I was feeling depressed, Kitaoka on the other hand bashfully continued.

“I really have no idea what he’s thinking about at all, and I thought he’d like me more if I was a quiet and docile girl, so I changed my hairstyle for him, but when I met him, he just ignored me. And yet, I don’t know if he was flattering me or something, but he told me that I was cute. He’s so ambiguous, but I always have fun when I’m with him, and whenever I’m with him, my heart starts racing for some reason.”

Even though I was the one who asked Kitaoka about him, I felt like I didn’t want to hear any more than this. I couldn’t understand this guy at all. The more I listened to Kitaoka’s description of him, the more I wondered what was so good about this guy. I can’t help but think that this guy should just cut it out.

But… all of that is none of my business. Who she chooses to fall in love with is her choice to make. I have no right to meddle in her love affairs, nor do I have any reason to.

While I stayed silent, Kitaoka buried her face between her knees as she muttered.

“But… He really doesn’t seem to be interested in me at all, and it’s breaking my heart a little.”

She sounded self-deprecating and sad. I could feel my chest tighten painfully.

I felt frustrated, sad, and helpless. But, I'm sure it hurts her a lot more than it does me.

I started writing some sentences split between 3 different sheets of paper, after which I patted Kitaoka’s shoulder.

Kitaoka looked up at me, and I gave her the first sheet of paper.

『It’ll be okay.』

As Iijima Yasuki, I really didn’t want to write something like this.

But, as I listened to her as “Chiibaa”, I began to understand her feelings. Her former love had completely fallen apart, but at the very least, I wanted to give her hope for her feelings right now… To be really honest, I still hated this. Still, I couldn’t bear to see her in a depressed state any longer.

Next was the second sheet.

『You are really cute, so I’m sure that person will fall in love with you.』

Like that actress who played the role of an angel, Kitaoka was cute and lovable. If she really wanted to, I’m sure she could make a lot of boys fall in love with her. I always thought that she wasn’t my type of girl, but I had to admit it. Maybe even that Hirayama is regretting rejecting her after he saw her earlier… That was just my imagination, though.

Next, I gave her the last sheet of paper.

『Do your best.』

The moment she read that, Kitaoka turned her head and looked at me. She tilted her head to the side and smiled at me. Her long hair swayed in the air.

“Thank you.”

It was the first time someone had ever thanked me so honestly with a genuine smile on their face. It was something that I once thought I’d never be able to see.

My heart rate jumped, and I could hardly breathe. Right now, I was me, yet not me. What Kitaoka saw wasn’t me, but Chiibaa. That's why she could naturally make an expression like this.

...But, there were some things that I could only do right here and now. The things that I couldn’t do while I was me, and the things that I had been suppressing deep within me, perhaps I could do with this Chiibaa costume.

I could no longer draw the line between fiction and reality. I impulsively put my hands on Kitaoka’s shoulders as I held her body tightly in my arms.

“Eh… Chiibaa?”

I heard a bewildered voice from somewhere around my shoulders. But I ignored it and started stroking her back through the Chiibaa suit. It was a lot more thin and fragile than I thought it would be.

(Kitaoka…)

If I got too close to her, she’d find out that I was actually a boy. So I tried not to put too much strength into my embrace, letting my emotions run free, but putting the brakes on somewhat.

I did encourage her superficially, telling her to do her best. But, in reality…

“You’re really warm.”

Kitaoka hugged me back and patted me on my back. She seemed to be implicitly telling me, “I’m all right now”. I slowly backed away from her.

“I should probably get going now.”

Kitaoka stood up and brushed the back of her skirt to get herself together. Her expression no longer carried any traces of sadness. It was hard to believe that she’d been crying just now.

Come to think of it, Kumiko was still waiting for her at the gym. It had been a while since then, so I wondered if Kitaoka would still make it? While I was pondering how I should tell her, Kitaoka started trotting down the stairs. When she’d descended halfway down the stairs, arriving at an area around Chibaa's knees, she suddenly turned around.

“You can’t tell anyone else about what we just did, okay?”

She put her index finger in front of her mouth mischievously as she tilted her head and grinned widely. I took out one of the few remaining flyers and started writing my message with characters as large as possible.

『Don’t worry, I won’t say a word.』

I held the flyer right in front of her face and Kitaoka laughed happily. I quickly wrote on another piece of paper with basically chicken scratch handwriting.

『I’ll see you soon!』

Kitaoka replied, "Yes!” with a huge smile on her face.

“Thank you, Chiibaa! See you later!”

She walked down the stairs, waving her hand happily. I waved back at her too, but the moment she disappeared completely past the landing, I flopped back down onto the stairs, deeply sighing.

“What the hell did I just do…”

I quietly muttered those words in my costume. My pockets were bulging, filled with all the flyers that I’d used to communicate with Kitaoka. I felt all the tension leaving my body as I was overwhelmed by a surge of exhaustion and an inevitable feeling of shame, which kept me sitting on the stairs for a while, unable to move.

After regaining some of my energy, I headed to class 3-B, where the Local Geography Research Club was at.

Just as I was about to reach the class, I could hear some really loud music coming from inside. It was a song in minor scale, and I was probably the only person in school who knew the song.

When I entered the classroom to see what was going on, I found my classmate, Tamura Nanami, in front of the radio, messing around with my music player without permission.

I patted her on the shoulders. I wasn’t trying to reproach her for using my music player without my permission (I had completely forgotten about her in the first place). I had something else I needed her help with.

“Tamu, can you help me take this costume off real quick?”

“Eh, is that voice you, Messhi?”

Tamura turned around, and when she saw me (Chiibaa), her eyes opened wide in amazement.

I eagerly nodded my head. As soon as I did, Tamura burst out laughing, so much so that she started holding her sides.

“Hold on, why are you in the suit?”

“There were various, unavoidable circumstances at play.”

I replied in a somewhat irritated manner. Tamura kept laughing while she removed the joints on the back, between the neck and the torso of the costume.

With Tamura holding the head of the costume, I slowly pulled my own head out. I took a deep breath, feeling a sense of freedom and liberty that I hadn't felt in a very long time. The slightly cool air felt good. My hair was sticking to my temples from how sweaty I was.

Next, I lowered the costume down to my waist, trying to free myself from the torso of the costume. Then, I suddenly realized something.

“Oh shit, my trunks…”

It seemed that the girls wore the costume over their jerseys, but I remembered that, since I hated the heat, I wore the costume directly over my trunks (I'm a trunks person, by the way). I wondered if it would be sexual harassment to change my clothes like this when there was a girl right in front of me.

While I was hesitating internally, Tamura replied with a fed up tone.

“Seeing one or two boxers now won’t faze me at all, you know? Just hurry up and take the costume off.”

Now that she mentioned it, when I was in junior high, all the boys in my class would dance around in their underwear as they took pictures of each other at sports events. So, for Tamura, this was probably something trivial to her.

But even so, I guess I still wanted to be considerate towards her. I wandered around the class as I looked for my trousers. Meanwhile, Tamura messed around with Chiibaa’s head as she put it on, saying, “Damn, it stinks to high heaven in here.”

When I finished changing my clothes, I started wiping off my sweat as I asked Tamura a question.

“What have you been doing all this time, Tamu?”

“Hmm? I was bored, so I went to a manga cafe by myself. I wasn't in the mood to study, and I just so happened to have a bunch of stuff I wanted to read. I managed to get my money's worth in three hours.”

I was taken aback by Tamura’s careless and indifferent answer.

“...While you were looking like that?”

Tamura was wearing her school uniform skirt, a black, long-sleeved, and thin shirt, and the blue club T-shirt on top of it. Wearing it inside the school would be one thing, but wearing that T-shirt outside was definitely questionable.

“Is it bad? I had a hoodie on top, so I’m not sure.”

Her bold assertion didn’t even astonish me anymore, and in fact, I was even impressed. Just as you’d expected from Tamura, a person who always did things as she pleased. To begin with, sneaking out of school just because the festival was boring and wandering around all by yourself was definitely abnormal. Really a person who did things as she pleased.

“So, you just got back?”

“Yeah. I came back for the yakiniku.”

I simply nodded. The cultural festival ended at five o'clock, and afterwards, all the members of the club were going to go out for yakiniku as a treat for the alumni. Even though Tamura hardly ever showed up for the festival or for club gatherings. I wasn’t sure if she was a calculating person, or if she was just an easy to understand person.

There were parts of her that made me wonder sometimes, but on the other hand, it also made her reliable, in a sense. I put my hands together and bowed to Tamura, who boldly had her hands thrust into her pockets.

“Umm, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What’s wrong, asking something like that out of the blue.”

“Could you pretend that you were the one in the Chiibaa suit for the past 30 minutes?”

At my request, Tamura looked really suspicious as she said, “Hah?”, her mouth twisted into a grimace.

“Why? It can’t be… you made some kind of slip up?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just, I met someone earlier who I didn’t want to meet. They asked, “Where is Iijima?”, and I pretended not to know, so it’d be really bad if they found out I was the one inside the suit.”

I made a subtle excuse that did make some sense, but was ultimately a lie. I changed the nuance of the story, and I omitted lots of names, but the gist was fairly similar to what actually happened, and well... I think it was a situation that was quite probable and common.

Tamura was almost as tall as me, she had a sturdy physique, and she was strong since she had experience in martial arts. Also, this part wasn’t too important, but her breasts were almost non-existent, so she's the perfect person to take my place.

Tamura seemed to understand what I was trying to say, and she lightly nodded in agreement before muttering.

“...Fine, but I am a pretty loose-lipped person.”

This was the first time I’d ever heard someone call themselves “loose-lipped”. I wondered if this was some sort of extortion.

I sighed as I put my hand on her shoulders before whispering to her in a hushed voice.

“I’ll treat you to ramen at Mimatsu next time if you do this, so no matter what anyone asks you, I want you to pretend that you were the one inside the suit.”

Mimatsu was a ramen restaurant located about halfway between my house and Tamura’s house, and it was a well-known restaurant often featured in magazines. Tamura had once mentioned the Shio ramen, a staple of their menu, as one of her favorite dishes.

Tamura had a smirk on her face as she replied.

“Ahh, okay then. I’ll be having the large one with boiled eggs in it.”

We fist bumped as if to say we’d struck a deal.

At that moment, I suddenly heard a voice from behind me saying, “Hmm?”

“Why are you two acting so secretive and sneaky?”

When I turned around, I saw Kouhai B standing there. He seemed to have finished his stand-up comedy competition as he looked back and forth between me and Tamura.

“Nope, we’re not doing anything.”

I hurriedly backed away from Tamura as I tried to make an excuse. Kouhai B approached me with a knowing look on his face.

“The way you're hiding it makes it even more suspicious…”

“Don’t be silly. Are you saying all this because you like me? Are you jealous?”

When Tamura flatly retorted at him, Kouhai B suddenly looked scared as he backed off, saying “Of course not!”

She was able to dodge the issue really well, which made me feel relieved.

In the meantime, the club members began gathering in the classroom one after the other.

We tidied up the class, picked up the trash, and so on. By the time we finished everything, the sun had completely sunk.

The end of the festival was surprisingly uneventful.

We walked as a group to a yakiniku restaurant near the station. The people in our group consisted of all the club members, a few alumni, and our club advisor. It was surprisingly lively.

Since I and the other third-year students would be retiring from the club at the end of the festival, we were asked to say something like a farewell message one by one in front of everyone before we started eating.

“...I’ve been through lots of things in the club, but it’s been really fun until now.”

I was the last person to make a farewell message, and after I concluded with that suitable and appropriate remark, we made a toast.

Since the majority of us were high school students, no alcohol was served, but the party proceeded in a lively mood from start to finish. The high school students showed no traces of restraint in ordering meat and drinks, but the alumni weren’t offended and told them to eat more, which made me feel impressed, thinking, “The financial means of a full-fledged working adult were miles away from ours.”

The lively time passed in a flash, and we all dispersed after the party ended. It was completely dark outside, and the night breeze was cold. I got onto a train together with Tamura and three other kouhais who were all headed in the same direction.

There was lots of laughter while we were on the train. Whenever someone said something absurd, Tamura would be quick to retort at them. This was a scene that I had seen more than enough of for the past two and a half years.

The train was approaching the station we were about to get off on, and it began to slow down. Tamura, who was looking out the window, suddenly muttered.

“I guess we’re finally retiring now, huh…”

Her comment made the atmosphere strangely gloomy and solemn. I forced myself to smile and said, "From now on, I guess we’ll have to study hard for our entrance exams, eh?”

When I got home, I immediately took a bath to wash off the sweat and the smell of smoke from the yakiniku earlier. Soaking in the warm water seemed to help me calm down quite a bit.

After I got out of the bath, I immediately went to my room. I was so tired that I decided to sleep without doing anything else today.

However, just before I got under the covers, I remembered about the CD Kumiko had given me in the morning.

I guess I should compose a thank-you email for later. To do that, I had to look at what was inside the CD first. I got up from my futon and booted up my PC. I connected a disk drive to one of the USB ports on my computer and I gently placed the CD on the tray.

I double-clicked on the disc and opened it. Inside the disc were dozens of songs in MP3, all lined up in a row without being separated into folders.

(Damn, it looks like it’s going to be hard to check all of them…)

I bitterly smiled as I continued scrolling. Then, I found a folder named “E” at the very bottom.

I clicked on it, wondering what it was. When I opened the first file in the folder, what appeared on my screen was a picture of 4 junior high school girls making a peace sign near the entrance of a theme park.

The tall girl on the far right must be Kumiko. Next to her was…

(Kitaoka…)

Her hair was black and she didn’t have makeup on, so the impression she gave off was quite different. But, her large eyes and her small facial contours made me certain. Her cheerful and carefree smile, which was something that was rarely seen nowadays, was exactly the same as the one that she made today when she first saw Chiibaa and rejoiced.

【TLN: Not the one when she was alone with Yasuki. This was the one she made when they were together with Kumiko at the very beginning of the chapter】

The photos were displayed on my screen one after another. There was a photo of them wearing school uniforms in class, a photo of them wearing jerseys doing some kind of work, a photo with a vast ocean in the background, and a photo of them eating delicious-looking parfaits… They were all taken at different times and locations, and there was no sense of unity, as some of the photos would have lots of people in them, and some of the photos would have no people in them at all, but almost all of the photos had the old Kitaoka in them, and before I knew it, I found myself looking for her in all the photos.

Much younger and shorter than she was now, tiny Kitaoka was full of energy and overflowing with cuteness. And every time I saw her in these photos, my heart would start pounding loudly.

By the time I finished looking at all the photos, my chest hurt all the way up to my back, and I felt numb and tingly all over. I felt like I was going to cry at any moment, and I was so embarrassed that I hugged my knees on my chair.

(I’m…)

I glanced up and saw a picture of Kitaoka in junior high, holding her diploma and standing alongside Kumiko on the LCD screen. It was a picture taken just a few weeks before I had met her.

...From the very beginning, the very first time I saw her, I thought she was a cute girl. But soon after, I distanced myself from her because of the whole documents incident. For a long time, I gave up on her, assuming that she was a snobby girl and that she lived in a different world.

But when I slowly started talking to her outside of school, I learned that she could laugh and get angry, just like me. I couldn't wait for our weekly journey home from prep school to spend some more time with her. But I tried to convince myself that it was just because I wasn't used to girls and that she wasn't special or anything like that.

It was last Wednesday when I realized that this was not the case. When Kitaoka fell asleep and leaned on me in the train, my heart pounded so much, I thought my body would start shaking too. I'm sure that even if another girl did the same thing to me, I wouldn’t be this nervous. Even though the train approached the station I was supposed to get off at, I didn’t want to move at all, and I repeatedly thought that I might as well just miss my stop. In the end, she woke up just before we reached the station, and I just got off there.

And today... I couldn't resist hugging her when she was depressed. And that wasn’t to cheer her up or anything like that. I knew that her heart was elsewhere, but I still wanted to feel her body, just once, and I couldn't resist the strong desire to do so. Her slender, fragile back was in my arms for only a short period of time, but I felt so happy yet sad at the same time, and I was desperately trying to hold back my tears inside the costume.

And just like that time, I clenched my teeth and sniffled my nose as I looked at the girl on the LCD screen.

Just the sight of her makes my heart ache. But, I couldn’t look away. I've had this feeling for a very long time now.

(I’m… in love with this girl…)

I knew that she was attracted to another boy, so I wasn't going to say anything unnecessary to her. But even so, I couldn't lie to my heart any longer.

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7 days late. Really have to apologize for that. I lost motivation halfway through the chapter. Huge thanks to Unu in my Discord server for editing about 90% of the chapter. I was going to get chapter 7 out today as well because it's so short but Blogger sucks. I might consider moving to Wordpress soon.