Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo - Chapter 1 Part 2

T/N: I feel like the last two parts are too bloated, so I guess I’ll be cutting them shorter so I can release them daily. I can translate this much, but in exchange I can’t do anything else for the rest of the day and I don’t really want that to happen lol. Anyway, enjoy!

 

Chapter 1 Part 2

 

Because of Pansy, I was running late. Seriously, that girl was the worst!

Everyone else in the council except for Prez would only arrive at the last minute, but they were strict when it came to the people who came up late.

 

They’ll definitely scold me when I get back… Haah…

 

“Joro-kun!”

“Huh? Prez?”

 

As I was running down the hallway with slumped shoulders, Prez came up to me.

 

She looked unusually flustered as she was coming in a hurry.

 

Could it be that she was worried about me and came to look for me? If that was the case, I’d be so happy!

 

“Sorry!”

“Eh?”

 

However, the first thing that she said to me was an apology.

 

What happened? Why would she, a senpai, bow deeply to a kouhai like me?

 

“Um, regarding the documents I told you to pick up… Yamada had already picked them up during lunch. I didn’t have your contact, so I came to pick you up instead… A-Anyway, sorry!”

“U-Um… I-It’s okay, I don’t mind…”

“I-I see… Thank you…”

 

Her words confused me.

 

If the documents were already in her hands, then what did Pansy give me?…

 

“Also, you don’t need to worry about being late! I’ve already explained everything to everyone!”

“I-I see… T-Thank you…”

 

I was too exhausted from dealing with Pansy’s antics, so I didn’t double check what she gave me.

 

And so, I took the thing out of its bag.

 

[Fabre’s Book of Insects] (T/N: A book by Jean-Henri Fabre. It’s a book about Fabre’s experience, thoughts and research about insects, like the title suggested.)

 

PAAANSYYY!!

 

W-Wait, I gotta calm down, she isn’t here…

 

I shouldn’t think about getting revenge too. It would only backfire on me.

 

Knowing when to retreat is a victory.

 

“Anyway, if we stay here, we’ll become a bother to other people passing by. Let’s go back to the council room, Joro-kun.”

“Yes, understood.”

 

Well, at least I got to see Prez’ beautiful smile thanks to this incident. I’ll spare your life for now, Pansy.

 

After going through that suffering, it felt nice to be rewarded like this.

 

*   *   *

 

After that, we went back to the council room and started the meeting.

 

The agenda for this time’s meeting was ‘Budgets for clubs.’

 

Every year, the council would hold a meeting to decide the budget allocation toward the various school clubs.

 

We would take the club’s achievements and their activities report in the past year. Everyone could share their opinions in the meeting, but to tell you the truth, if Prez had decided on something, we couldn’t do anything to overrule it.

 

Holding a light pink notebook, I called it ‘Cosmos Note’, on one hand, Prez deftly wrote the achievements and reports of the clubs for the past year on the whiteboard.

 

They said that the Cosmos Note held every kind of information about the school, including the questions for the upcoming exams. All that information was held by Prez.

 

But that was just a rumor.

 

“For today, we’ll be checking on the clubs. We’ll be going in pairs.”

““““Understood!””””

 

Hearing the words from Prez, everyone nodded in agreement. After that, they proceeded to form into pairs, following the division that Prez wrote on the whiteboard.

 

…Huh? Wait… The one I got paired with was Prez?!

“You’ll go with me, Joro-kun. We’ll visit the sports club. You’re good friends with Oga-kun and Hinata-san, right?”

“Y-Yes!”

“They’re the aces of their respective clubs, the pride of our school. It’s great to know that a member of the council gets along well with them.”

 

Sun-chan! Himawari! Good job!

 

I was really lucky to be friends with you guys!

“Let’s go to their clubroom quickly. If we dawdle, they might have gone home already by the time we get there. Before that though…”

 

‘Let’s get a move on!’ I thought in high spirits. But, suddenly she took out her phone from her bag.

 

“Because of what happened earlier, I realized how inconvenient it was for me to not have your contact information. If you like it, could we exchange our contacts? What do you think?”

“Eh?! R-Really?”

“Is my offer that surprising to you? Well, if you don’t want to, we don’t need to…”

 

For a brief moment, Prez looked nervous. I hurriedly opened my mouth.

 

“Of course I want to! I want to!”

“Is that so? Then, can you give me your contact?”

“Yes!”

 

I can’t believe this! I got her contact information!

 

I could die happy now!

Pansy, I knew we had a blood feud, but I’ll forgive you!

 

You were a demon king wearing the skin of a regular demon, but for just this moment, I’ll treat you as the cupid!

I swiftly took my phone and exchanged my contact information with Prez.

 

Today would be remembered as one of the best days in Joro’s personal history!

 

*   *   *

 

“Let’s go to the tennis club first. We’ll visit the soccer and baseball club afterwards.”

 

Prez said in an excited tone as we exited the old school building. 

 

“The tennis court is the furthest from here, though. Are you sure?”

 

I originally thought that we’d visit the baseball club since it was the closest. It seemed like I was mistaken.

 

Since our school was quite large, I assumed it would be better if we were to visit the closest clubs first.

 

“The tennis club usually ends their practice earlier than the baseball and the soccer club. I took that into consideration.”

“I see. Understood.”

 

As expected of Prez. She even took that detail into consideration.

 

“I’ll be counting on you, Joro-kun.”

“Likewise, Prez!”

 

Oh, jeez, it would be hard for me not to be motivated if she were to give me a nice wink like that!

 

Alright, I’ll do my best for today’s inspection!

 

*   *   *

 

When we arrived at the tennis court, the tennis club was practicing there.

 

Well, duh. Why the hell am I stating the obvious?

 

By the way, our school had two tennis courts.

 

One was used for the tennis club members to practice against one another while the other one was used for self-practice.

 

Currently, Prez and I were looking at the former.

 

Both the freshmen and the seniors were practicing together earnestly.

 

As expected of one of the most notable clubs in our school, every one of their members looked motivated.

 

Glancing to the side, I saw Prez writing something in the Cosmos Note.

 

It seemed like she was writing about the tennis club’s activity.

 

Prez took her job seriously. I was honestly impressed by her earnestness.

 

“Alright, let’s go to the other court.”

“Understood.”

 

Prez closed her note with a snap. Then, we headed toward the other court, treading on the edge of the court so we wouldn’t disturb the practicing club members.

 

“Haah! There!”

“Ah. It’s Himawari.”

 

Dressed in her tennis uniform, Himawari hit the upcoming ball while shouting vigorously.

 

As expected of the tennis club’s ace.

 

Her thighs were quite a sight to the sore eyes, as expected of the ace… Wait, no, that wasn’t it.

 

Wicked thoughts, begone! I became way too excited after seeing her in an unusual outfit. This couldn’t go on.

 

Her earnestness was worthy of praise, as expected of the tennis club’s ace. There, that sounded better.

 

“Hiyah! …Alright!”

 

Ah, youth.

 

Her opponent couldn’t react to her powerful hit, so that was a point for Himawari. She made a gut pose. Normally, she always joked around, but in regards to tennis, she seemed to be taking it really seriously.

 

“Huh? Joro’s here!”

 

Himawari noticed our presence, so she stopped the practice match and came running toward us.

 

“What’s up? Are you here for the student council?”

“Yeah. For the inspection.”

“I see! Ah, hello, Prez!”

“Hello, Himawari-san.”

“We’re inspecting the tennis club’s activities for today.”

“After this, we’ll be inspecting the baseball and soccer club together.

“…Eh?”

 

Suddenly, Himawari’s forehead twitched. Was something wrong?

 

“Huh… You’re inspecting the baseball and soccer club? Together with Joro?”

 

Woah… I didn’t know what happened to her, but Himawari’s mood suddenly turned worse.

 

She suddenly spoke in a low tone, a sign that she was bothered about something.

 

Oh no…

 

“In other words, you two are on a date.”

“Wha?!”

Himawari, what the hell?

 

Wouldn’t Prez be offended after hearing that?

 

“Hahaha, funny. Well, you can say it like that. I’m borrowing your childhood friend for the day.”

 

Amazing. She was actually smiling smugly. There was no gap to exploit in her smile. Her attitude was firm like an iron wall.

 

She handled it more calmly than I thought.

 

“Hmph!”

 

Unamused by Prez’ reaction, Himawari puffed her cheeks before going back to the court to resume her practice match.

 

“…Does she hate me by any chance?”

“Huh? I don’t think so…”

“I hope so. But, still…”

 

Prez looked concerned about Himawari’s attitude, but honestly, I think she’s overthinking it.

 

There was no reason for Himawari to hate her. She was just in a sour mood for some reason. Case on point, she had been giving me quite the look since a while ago.

 

I guess it was time for us to leave this place.

 

“Alright, it’s time to move on.”

“Okay.”

 

Prez’ words made me feel relieved. Almost immediately, I moved away from the court. 

 

That was when I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head.

 

“Ow!”

 

I rubbed my head before turning around, only to see Himawari sticking her tongue at me.

 

Seriously, what’s her deal?

 

*   *   *

 

After inspecting the tennis club and the soccer club, we went to the field to inspect the baseball club.

 

Our school’s baseball club received a special treatment. Most of the field was reserved for their practice. This led other clubs to either use the gym for practice or rent someplace outside the school.

 

The other clubs never complained about this treatment though.

 

Rather, they had no right to, thanks to the banner that was hung on our school building.

 

[This year we’ll definitely make it to Koshien!]

 

Yes. Last year, our baseball club almost made it to Koshien.

 

At the final game of the regionals, the whole school came to cheer for them.

 

Unfortunately, we lost the game, but that was the biggest achievement that our school got ever since its creation.

 

Of course, I went to cheer on them too! Sun-chan was there, after all!

Seriously, that guy was really amazing during the match.

 

Back then, he was still a first year, but he already became the ace of the club. His fastballs were fire.

 

The sight of him strikeouting the opponent’s batters one by one captivated me.

 

Honestly, when I cheered for him, I felt proud over the fact that he was my best friend.

 

“Oh, it’s Joro!”

 

Speak of the devil, Sun-chan noticed me and came running at me with a smile on his face.

 

His uniform was covered in dirt and dust, proof of his hard work at practice.

 

“Yo, Sun-chan. You’re doing a good job today too.”

“Yes! After all, this year we’re… Never mind that! Hello President! Are you inspecting our club today?”

 

Sun-chan took off his hat and bowed to Prez. His demeanor was completely different from Himawari’s.

 

“Hello, Oga-kun. That’s right, I’m inspecting your club today.”

“Must be hard on you, huh? Do your best, President! You can totally depend on Joro! He’s a reliable guy!”

“R-Right, I can depend on Joro-kun alright. Anyway, keep up the good work.”

“Yes!”

 

After that, Sun-chan went back to practice.

 

By the way, I noticed that Prez stuttered a little at some point. 

 

Or was it just my imagination?

 

“What’s wrong, Prez?”
“Nothing.”

“Okay…”

 

Hm, I guess it was just my imagination then? When I tried to talk to her, she responded to me normally.

 

Her face was a little red and she was writing furiously on her note for some reason. Maybe to hide the fact that she was flustered? …Or maybe this was all just my imagination?

 

When I was thinking to myself like this…

 

The ball flew toward our direction at a high speed.

 

At the same time, one of the members of the baseball club who ran after the ball also ran toward us.

 

I quickly glanced toward Prez, but she was too busy writing to notice this.

 

If this keeps up, he’ll crash with us!

 

“Watch out!”

“Kya!”

 

I quickly embraced Prez’ body to prevent her from crashing with the baseball club member.

 

She let out an unexpectedly cute voice as we fell down.

 

“S-Sorry! Are you okay?!”

 

I could hear the worried voices of the said member of the baseball club, who had successfully caught the upcoming ball.

 

Fortunately, we managed to avoid the crash.

 

“Ouch… Prez, are you… okay?!”

 

Then I realized the situation I was in.

 

Because I ended up pushing her down… I was on top of Prez’ body.

 

The usually calm and collected Prez seemed flustered with a bright red face.

 

“S-Sorry!”

“N-No, i-it’s okay! I-It was my fault for not noticing…”

 

I hurriedly moved away from the flustered Prez, but still… I’ve really done it this time!

 

“Sorry! Joro, are you okay?!”

 

Sun-chan, worried about me, came running to me from the practice ground.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Thank God… Wait, that’s!–”

“Hm? Ah!”

 

I looked to the side and found out that my phone was lying down on the ground where I had fallen.

 

The screen cracked tragically, forming a giant spider web.

 

“AAAAAHHH!”

 

I picked it up and tried to fiddle with it, to no avail.

 

After I got Prez’ contact information too…

 

“That… Looks awful…”

“My… My phone…”

“C-Cheer up a little, Joro. It’s all okay, w-we can probably fix it…”

 

Today ended up to be not one of the best days of my life…

 

With my back curled, I left the field together with Prez.

 

*   *   *

 

We were back in the student council room again.

 

My phone broke, but let’s forget about that for a second.

 

After all, good things tend to happen after bad things pass!

“To conclude, we should allocate the club budgets in this way. Does anyone have any objections?”

 

As expected of Prez, her proposed allocation had no flaws in it, therefore no one among the council members raised any objections.

 

The result of the meeting was; the baseball club will receive the most budget this year.

 

Meanwhile the other clubs had mainly the same budget as last year. Some of them even had their budget cut slightly. Among them were the tennis and the calligraphy club.

 

According to the Cosmos Note, they didn’t manage to get many new members this year and their activities didn’t seem as serious as the other clubs.

 

The Note once again showed its full power. It had the information of the other clubs that Prez hadn’t even visited.

 

Well, actually, she just noted it down there as the information came from someone else.

 

“That concludes our meeting for today. Thank you for your hard work.”

“““Thank you for your hard work!”””

 

Everyone answered Prez’ words before packing up their stuff and leaving the room.

 

I was among them too, carrying my bag on my shoulders while heading toward the door.

 

When I get home, I want to watch TV.

 

“Ah, Joro-kun, can I have a word with you?”

 

Huh? For some reason, Prez stopped me from leaving.

 

“Yes. Is something wrong, Prez?”

“Um, will you be free on our next days off?”

“Huh? I guess so… But my phone broke, so I’m thinking of buying a new one on that day.”

“Great! Can I come with you?”

“Huh?!”

“Your phone broke because of my carelessness, so I want to apologize for that… Am I being a bother?”

“N-No, you aren’t! B-But you don’t need to do something for me as an apology! It isn’t that much of a big deal anyway!”

“No, I have to do it. Please let me come with you, or else I won’t stop feeling guilty…”

 

Her face was too close! Too close!

 

I noticed her expression was a bit more childish than usual, which was quite cute.

 

Wait, that wasn’t the point!

She wanted to go with me! That meant, it was a date! …Right?

 

A date with Prez, this was something that I could be proud of for my entire lifetime!

 

Also, she was the one who invited me!

If I were to refuse her, then I might as well stop being a man!

 

“O-Okay! T-Then, l-let’s go out next Saturday!”

“Really? Thank you!”

 

WOOOHOO! SHE HELD MY HAND! MY HAND!

 

Wrapping my hand so gently like that. My heart was about to burst!

 

“Oops, sorry…”

 

Noticing my reddened face, Prez hurriedly pulled her hand away.

 

“S-Saturday it is…”

“O-Okay…”

 

After that, she left the room, looking all embarrassed, leaving me by myself who was completely overwhelmed with emotions.

 

Later, I bumped into Pansy when I was about to leave the school building. “Oh my, your face looks exciting.” She said to me, but I promptly erased that three seconds of my life off my memory. (T/N: Not a typo, she’s referencing the Battledome meme he shouted previously.)

 

*   *   *

 

Man, I’m so excited for Saturday!

 

I mean, an outing with Prez, how could I not be excited?!

 

It was a date, definitely a date!

 

My phone might be broken, but the joy of going on a date with her completely outweighs the sadness I felt from that!

 

A huge plus for the Joro stocks value!

 

The familiar way home felt more satisfying to walk on today!

 

“Joooroooo!!”

“Urrg!”

 

Suddenly, an impact hit the back of my head… Ah… I can see the time! (T/N: Gundam reference, the first series. To give a context without spoiling anything; ‘Oh, Amuro, I can see time!’)

 

I knew this feeling. Someone was hitting my head with a bag.

 

And that someone didn’t feel any guilt when doing it. In fact she was smiling cheerfully at me.

 

“Himawari…”

“Hehehe~ Did I surprise you?~”

“Surprised? I saw a glimpse of an isekai back there!”

“Woah, you discovered a whole new world? Good job there, Jorombus!” (T/N: Joro + Columbus.)

“I’ll get mad.”

“Hahaha! Sorry, sorry, I won’t repeat it again!”

“You aren’t sorry at all, are you?”

“Aw, you found out~”

 

Himawari stuck her tongue while smirking like a mischievous child.

 

Jeez… Fine, I’ll forgive her since she’s cute.

 

“By the way, what happened, Joro? You seemed to be in a good mood.”

“I am~”

 

Remembering what happened made me smile again.

 

Going on a date with Prez… Hehehe…

 

“Disgusting!”

 

Rude!

 

Well, judging from the disgusted face Himawari made, I probably looked like a total creep.

 

Even though I didn’t mean to act that way.

 

“So, what happened?”

 

Himawari looked at me curiously.

 

Ugh. Whenever she was making this kind of face, things would turn troublesome for me.

 

She won’t stop asking me questions until she satisfies her curiosity. I could try to lie, but she’ll definitely see through it.

 

I really didn’t want her to know about my plan on Saturday, so I needed to find a way to cover it up.

 

“W-Wait a second…”

 

I averted my gaze by accident, but that was a mistake.

 

That put Himawari in a bad mood. She puffed her cheeks out like a hamster.

 

“Ah, you’re trying to hide it from me! Joro’s hiding something!”

 

Like a grade school kid, she started stomping on the ground repeatedly.

 

“What are you trying to hide? Tell me!”

 

She held my shoulders tightly and shook them back and forth.

 

Both her action and her words were cute, but the strength she put into her grip and her shaking was immense. As a member of the tennis club, she was physically fit and quite strong for her size.

 

Stop! My stomach! The contents of it… Might leak out!

“I’ll tell you! Stop, please!”

 

After hearing my words, she stopped shaking me and peered right into my face.

 

“Really?~”

“Really.”

“Okay, tell me!”

 

Himawari smiled as she embraced my arm.

 

Her eyes looked so innocent, tempting me to pet her head. It was just she was deadass threatening me right now.

 

“I’m going out with Prez this Saturday…”

 

The moment I told her this, Himawari’s smile froze.

 

Not long afterwards, bewilderment appeared in her face.

 

…Oh, cr*p. I got a bad feeling about this.

 

“W-Why?…”

 

Her bewilderment was clear in her voice.

 

As if she was worried about something, she tightened her embrace around my arm.

 

I expected that her arms would be filled with muscle since she did sports, but they were actually softer than I thought.

 

“M-My phone broke during today’s inspection, so she offered to go with me to buy a new one as a compensation, that’s all!”

 

That sounded like an excuse for some reason.

 

I felt like a husband who got caught cheating by his own wife.

 

Slowly, I turned my gaze toward Himawari’s face, only to find out that she casted her gaze down.

 

No good. She was really angry this time. I didn’t know why she was angry, though.

 

It was this kind of pattern. I somehow earned her ire even though I didn’t do anything wrong.

 

Whenever this happened, Himawari became a lot more troublesome to handle.

 

She would come up with a nonsensical conclusion on her own, followed by unreasonable acts of violence.

 

But this time, no matter how hard she raged, I wouldn’t back down!

 

My date with Prez was in line!

“…Sunday.”

 

She suddenly muttered. Her gaze was still downcast.

 

“Huh?”
“Sunday!”

 

This time, she shouted her words as she looked up.

 

Her face was so close to mine that I could feel her breath on my face.

 

Too close!

 

“It’s not fair that only Prez gets to go out with you! I want to do it too! So, let’s go out on Sunday! That’ll make it even!”

 

Uh… What the hell was she talking about?

 

Why should I even do that?

 

After going to buy a new phone, I planned to bring Prez to a fancy restaurant to eat then go off shipping somewhere with her. But, considering the money I had on hand, I doubt that I’d be able to do that. And now, this girl wanted me to do what?

 

“Um, but…”

“No buts!”

 

There! That was what I was talking about just now!

 

She came to a conclusion on her own, then pushed through without minding about the other person’s circumstances!

 

I knew that I shouldn’t just give in easily, but there was nothing I could do about it.

 

Haah… Since I’d be using my whole allowance eating with Prez, that meant I had to bring out my New Year’s allowance leftovers. I really wanted to save that money for emergencies too.

 

“This is a done deal, okay?!”

“…Yes.”

 

And so, it was decided that I’d be going out with Prez on Saturday and Himawari on Sunday.

 

That means I’ll have to live in poverty for the rest of the month.

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

Support me on Ko-fi!