Here they were, girls enamored with the same boy – rivals in love, essentially. Under normal circumstances, just sitting at the same table would be miraculous for those destined to harbor resentment, envy and fight until one emerged victorious.
And yet right now, these three were bonded by an intense sense of fellow feeling. Any lingering hostility from the previous day had dissipated, replaced by a profound kinship befitting comrades.
Between bites of the spicy curry, Hakua invoked that legendary tale of friendship.
“There’s an old Chinese fable, the Peach Garden Oath…”
“Ehh? president, I didn’t know you were into stuff like that!”
“It’s fine. We’ve all already bared our embarrassing sides, so there’s no need to keep up appearances anymore.”
“…I don’t mind either.”
Likening themselves to historical greats –
It was a declaration, in its own way, of just how strong this bond between them truly was.
That said, this was still a heroine race.
The connection binding these three was not one of cooperation that only death could sever.
It was—
“No hard feelings, no matter who wins.”
“Yes!”
“I understand.”
This was the friendship between girls vying for the same man.
Even if they knew someday one of them would emerge victorious while the others went their separate ways.
An ephemeral yet beautiful bond existed here.
…But they shouldn’t get too carried away by the good vibes and forget what really mattered.
These three lovely maidens striking noble poses and hyping up the heroine race –
They were all the losing heroines!
Right now, at this very moment!
The one currently enjoying a date and all its privileges with Izumi was not this popular model, this corporate heiress, nor this tsundere underclassman.
It was Nanao Nanase!
Amidst such a passionate drama of friendship unfolding across the table, who is it that is being met with Izumi’s “Ah…?” and left flustered?
It’s none other than Nanao Naoo!
Having completely forgotten about that… or perhaps deliberately wanting to forget. In their subconscious, they may just want to justify this pointless time of tailing their date, convincing theirself that the day has been fruitful in some way.
Setting aside the nuances of her heart, for the people involved, it is an intensely pulsating, dazzlingly beautiful tale of turbulent friendship.
That’s how they simply want to deny their own defeat!
The prayer of the only outside observer who understands this is:
(This is kind of amusing, so let me just watch for a while longer.)
She was in a complete variety show viewing mood.
And the pitiful losing heroines, unaware that they were being treated as a spectacle:
“Ufufu. I wish I had met you two sooner.”
“Indeed, Shiragiku Senpai!”
“President, let’s exchange LINE IDs!”
“Shall we all go shopping together afterward?”
“No objections!”
As the defeated heroines lost sight of their initial objective, Inori swallowed the words, “Ah, the senpais have paid and left.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
After finishing their meal, Izumi and Nanao returned to the station plaza.
As Izumi checked the time on his smartphone, he asked Nanao,
“So, are you going to show me around Tokyo? Anywhere you want to go?”
“Hmm…”
Nanao wore a solemn expression as she confronted her inner desires. After reaching a conclusion, she said with sparkling eyes,
“A maid cafe.”
“Seriously?”
“I want a cute girl to call me ‘Milady’.”
“Heh, so you’re into that sort of thing, huh?”
He searched for a nearby maid cafe on his smartphone.
“Looks like there’s one around here.”
Then Nanao began adorably writhing.
“Ah~ But I’m also interested in a butler cafe…”
“Wow, you’re really into cafes, huh?”
“I want to go to a cat cafe too~”
“Are you just thirsty or something?”
“Ah, maybe that’s it~”
The lunchtime spices seemed to have dehydrated her more than expected.
“Or did you not want to go to Starbucks?”
For some reason, Nanao’s expression turned blank at this.
“Izumi, you’re really underestimating the countryside too much.”
“Was there something objectionable about what I just said…?”
Apparently, there were Starbucks locations in Nanao’s hometown as well. He had underestimated the nationwide chain’s reach.
As Izumi watched the pensive Nanao ponder with an “Umm umm,” he thought to himself,
(Could she really be this indecisive…?)
It was quite… no, extremely unexpected. At least at school, he had never seen Nanao waver this much over choices.
He had assumed she would be the one leading him around today. Given how much he had steeled himself, this felt a bit anticlimactic.
With his guard lowered slightly, Izumi said in his usual tone,
“Well, I can call you ‘Milady’ as much as you’d like.”
“Eh? Really!?”
“Whoa. I didn’t expect such a forward reaction…”
Would he be told to say it?
Would he be made to say it at school?
The prospect of creating a new embarrassing memory made Izumi tremble.
“But if you don’t know where you want to go, why did you say you wanted to go out today?”
Nanao gave him a blank look and said,
“I just wanted to be with you, Izumi.”
“Ugh…”
Izumi’s face turned beet red.
(You didn’t waver on that at all!?)
He hurriedly averted his gaze.
“W-Well, if you don’t have anywhere in mind, shall we just wander aimlessly for now?”
“But~”
Nanao continued wavering, causing Izumi to sigh.
“I’ll go with you wherever you want when you decide.”
“……..”
For some reason, Nanao fell silent as she looked at him.
It made him feel unusually embarrassed, so he averted his gaze again.
“Wh-What is it…”
“Nnn. I was just thinking that you’ll play with me again, Izumi.”
Being told that again made him feel self-conscious, as if he were leading her on. Well, perhaps that was indeed the case.
“Friend” was a convenient excuse.
Now that she was aware of her feelings for him, Izumi’s actions could hardly be praised.
And yet, he could not bring himself to firmly reject her.
Well, Nanao was also doing this knowingly. In that sense, they were both the same.
As they strolled through the street in front of the station, they window-shopped.
“Ah. That crepe shop looks delicious.”
“That one just opened last month. Apparently, the cream made from Hokkaido ingredients is really good.”
“I see. What about that shop? I can’t really tell from the sign.”
“Hold on a sec… Oh, it’s a live music venue. Nanao, are you interested in music?”
“Hmm, I listen to what’s popular, but I don’t have a particular favorite group. My friends back home would sometimes use those music video apps, so I’d film with them?”
“Oh, video apps? That’s unexpected.”
“Want to see?”
“If you don’t mind?”
She showed him videos on the app of herself and her friends dancing the same choreography to music.
“Ah, I remember when that weird dance was trending.”
“Ahaha. I jumped on the bandwagon.”
“But you’re totally not in sync at all. It’s pretty sloppy.”
“We must have reshot it like ten times, but this was the best we could manage.”
They chatted as they walked.
Then Nanao suddenly said,
“You know, Izumi, you’re pretty efficient.”
“Really?”
“Thanks to you, today has been going so smoothly. The lunch place was really delicious too. I think it’s amazing how you can just look up a shop’s Instagram like that. I always end up wasting the day hesitating over where to go.”
“Well, from the looks of itearlier…”
Izumi didn’t deny it, causing Nanao to lightly puff out her cheeks.
“Mou~~~”
“I’m kidding. Well, if that’s how I come across, it’s nothing special. It’s just an old habit.”
He suddenly recalled the time when he was about to enter high school.
The words his parents told him when they kicked him out of the house were still burned into his mind. He thought he had come to terms with it, but apparently not.
With a self-deprecating tone, Izumi said,
“I didn’t have any remarkable talents. So I just tried my best at things anyone could do. …Though it ended up being a wasted effort in the end.”
“…Huh?”
Averting her gaze, Izumi’s eyes landed on a famous tenant building up ahead.
“Want to check that place out?”
“Ah, I think I’ve seen it on TV before.”
The tenant building housed many select shops.
Nine out of ten were fashion-related. Being a holiday, there were plenty of people browsing the merchandise even at this hour.
They started by looking around the ladies’ floor.
“I don’t come to places like this often, but it’s pretty nice.”
“Are you a pervert or something?”
“N-No, it’s just a habit…”
Admittedly, his comment in an area lined with ladies’ select shops wasn’t the best. Izumi scratched his head awkwardly. Being called out on it made him feel like his presence as a guy on this floor was somehow inappropriate.
“My family runs a pretty big trading company back home. So I tend to notice things when I come to places like this…”
“Oh right, the student council president did say you were formerly an ‘esteemed fiancé’ or something.”
“Yeah. Thanks to that connection, I still receive favors from Shiragiku Senpai…”
Nanao seemed pensive after hearing Izumi’s words. Then, she tentatively mentioned the name.
“Could it be the SUMIE Group?”
“That’s right.”
Nanao’s eyes widened at Izumi’s casual affirmation.
“Ah, so it’s pretty normal?”
“The others in class know about it too. It’s not like I’m hiding it or anything.”
The jibe that “Izumi has only his looks and pedigree going for him” refers to this aspect.
With the SUMIE Group being a globally operating trading company as Izumi’s family business, it’s only natural that the eldest son attending a regular public high school would be a topic of discussion.
“So does that mean you’ll become the heir like the student council president?”
“Nah, my sister is set to inherit the family business. The old folks prefer her, plus she’s actually talented. I’m more like…half-disowned.”
“Disowned?”
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