Chapter 44 - A Game of Getting a Ribbon

Aaaaaaaaaa, I should have gone to Braziiiiiiiiil.

Is this what they call looking at the world with vacant eyes1.
With the inside of my head boiling, I can"t fix the focus in my field of vision.

Anyway, immediately after the circ.u.mstances became chaotic, I was desperately arranging the dishes in the kitchen.
One bowl of curry, two bowls of curry, three bowls of curry… By the time I finish arranging this curry, I will probably die too. Despite being short, it was a blessed life. I wanted to meet my little sister and aunt before the final moment, but now, it won"t come true.

Because after all, inside that dining room separated by one door, there are swarms of familiar faces. Finishing to arrange this curry is not acceptable. If I leave this room, my head will go crazy and I will die.

Anyhow, there is a large enemy force of 25 energetic normies.
It seems that starting today, they will be monopolizing this room of the private lodge.

And then we, of the loners" camp, including Komatsu-kun, are just a small force of two.
As if the Spartan army meeting Persia. What a Three Hundred. No, no, this is merely Two. It"s just two, you know, two. What am I supposed to do? Was there a night flight in the Battle of Okehazama2? No, this case should rather be Tennou-ji3…

Tachibana is right there. Tachibana, she…
Karen is… I…

– Yo, young boy!

– Hii…!

As my back was slapped, I overreacted and my body twitched.
Long red ponytail was before my eyes. My employer.

– Just what are you doing, Jun? I"ll finish arranging the dishes, so you go join there as well

– After all I have come here not as a guest, but a helper

– Haa? My little brother is on the other side too. Everyone is asking where is Ichijou-kun.

– I just…

Even though I have looked away, she has probably noticed.
Ririksan has suspiciously narrowed here eyes and grabbed my arm.

– I don"t know what happened, but there"s no helping it if you don"t meet

– U-, uwaa! What the…

Can you imagine?
This private lodge, which was full of strangers, now only has people who know each other.
Although I thought that I have to go to a place where there are no guys who know me. That disappeared in an instant.

The moment that I was dragged into the dining room, it started to slowly get noisy inside the room with a long table in it.

– Ah, it"s Ichijou

– I heard he confessed to Tachibana

– Eh! Him? I"m surprised…

– Eh, Isn"t Tachibana free then? I should go after her then

… By what means has this rumor been circulated?
To begin with, was it true that I have been rejected? I can"t say for sure, because my memories are vague, but at least, Tachibana has not said anything to me. At this point I"m not confident. Has Tachibana spread the rumors? Was she a person who would do something like that?

In case it"s someone else, then who and with what intention…?

While I was stooping so as to not stand out, I approached Komatsu-kun and sat next to him.
It"s just like the usual clamorous atmosphere during the lunch break. However, the location is rural town at the distance of two hours by bus. I still can"t believe in that.

– Ichijou-kun. H, haven"t things somehow become difficult?

– It"s difficult for both of us. Coming so suddenly like this… I feel you Komatsu-kun

– It"s not like that. Doesn"t it seem like… we can make a lot of friends?

I swallowed my "This is not the time to say that" grumble. It"s no use telling it to others. What would happen if I told it to Komatsu-kun? A normal extrlarge sized embarra.s.sment would just double.

Tachibana is in this room.
We haven"t met for like, forever. No, is it really forever? Thinking carefully, although I say we haven"t met, it was just me being alone for two weeks. I"m overreacting.

Ah……… It"s her. She"s just two rows from here. Ugh, just now, our eyes met!

"Ah, Jun…! Hey, Jun…?"
"…"

I looked away at once, but it was obviously not good.
Because right after, I could see Tachibana"s discouraged face. She was nervously playing with her hair near her red cheek.
I didn"t want to see that sort of face.
Even though she would always grin and touch me instead of a greeting…

I… What can I do? Can we truly, not go back to how it was?
If we can, I will do anything. I finally realized. That she is after all, and important person. Most probably, she is certainly the most important person in the school.

– Yo, Ichijou?

– Mn? …Ah, Nakamura, so you came as well

– I"ve heard some things. That is… about Tachibana. Is it true? I couldn"t believe it

Nakamura Rento.
Various things have happened in regards to this otaku boy, but it seems he can already speak with me normally. As if really concerned about me, he started speaking more quietly.

– You were together before the trip, right? With Tachibana. I still remember

– That was, we only went together for shopping

– Is that so? She called you Jun. Didn"t the two of you get along well?

– That"s because at that time, you were annoyingly picking a quarrel. Tachibana, who saw that, was concerned about it in her own way and simply wanted you to think like that

– Can it be… really true? That you were rejected…

– At the very least, there wasn"t anything like me confessing… Hmm…

– Ichijou, you"re hiding something… Aren"t we friends, isn"t it fine to let me know…

Then, Komatsu-kun b.u.t.ted in from the side.

– Other guys. They are glancing in Tachibansan"s direction… It looks like they are excited

And the "excitement" that he has smelled, was exactly what was happening.
As Hyodou stood up and made clanging noise with tableware, it gradually became silent. She somehow squeezed out an unenergetic voice which resounded nearby.

– Hey, hey, Attentiooon! Is everyone listeniiing?

Cla.s.smates raised a gaudy cheer.
Let alone dining room, we are monopolizing this whole building. No matter how noisy we get, Ririksan who is watching with folded arms on the other side with a smiling face is not disturbed.

– Thanks for gathering here today for a special cla.s.s reunion. Somehow, I haven"t thought that so many people would gather, so I"m surprised as well… First of all, as previously said, rules should be explained. We have come up with them in our own way! Please, a round of applause

After the applauses, the noise inside the room became cheerful and loud.
Rules? As previously said, what sort of rules? As Hyoudou took out a red ribbon, attention of the cla.s.s was drawn to that one point.

– Rules are simple! Umm, yeah, that is… this kind of ribbon will be distributed among the girls, so before the last night, please choose one boy and give it to him. Those who can partic.i.p.ate in the test of courage on the last day are merry pairs who could match, so boys, make some good impression. That should be it, does anybody have questions?

Wh- what the heck is she saying…?
However, it seems that cla.s.s has basically agreed, this is just raising the excitement. Curry has started going completely cold.

– Yes, yees!

Iidzuka has raised his voice like a fool.

– Do the girls have to absolutely give the ribbon?

– Isn"t it fine? That is why, if she can"t choose someone till the very end, it"s just watching the couples going back from test of courage and feeling envy. By the way, if boys don"t want to take the ribbon, it"s aaaalright to refuse

Ogino crossed his legs and lightly raised his hand.

– About that good impression, what are we going to do before the last day…?

– It"s a secret…♪ It"s just playing a game with everyone

Still, I see… Tachibana is free, huh?
It is no wonder that everyone was suddenly excited.

If Tachibana gives her ribbon to someone else, just the two of them in a dark forest…
You idiot! I feel sick in my chest just from thinking about it. So effeminate, d.a.m.n it…!

– Well. That. Is. It. Everyone, do your best, alright…?

I"m feeling envious of something that has not even happened yet.
Feeling disgust towards such a me, I was cramming my mouth with curry.