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

Chapter 2 Part 2

 

After I arrived at school, I did my business at the shoe locker and went straight to the rooftop, where Himawari was waiting for me. My goal was to wait for the person who’d be coming here, Sun-chan.

 

“Joro? Why are you crossing your arms in front of your chest like that?”

“It’s just for posing.”

 

Of course you’d have to stand in Gainax pose whenever you were waiting for someone that you have summoned. I swear, this girl had no common sense at all. (T/N: Gainax pose also known as Gunbuster pose. It’s a pose Studio Gainax loves to use in a lot of its media including the aforementioned Gunbuster, Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill. The pose is essentially just crossing your arms in front of your chest and trying to look as menacing as possible.)

 

“Will Sun-chan really come?”

“Yeah, he will.”

 

Hehehe, don’t give me that worried look, Himawari. My plan was perfect!

“Ah!”

 

Himawari’s face, which had been looking down dejectedly, suddenly propped up as she glanced into a certain direction, the door to the rooftop. I followed her gaze to see a certain someone’s figure.

 

180 cm tall boy with slim, macho and athletic body. A boy with a sporty haircut. Sun-chan!

“Amazing, he really came, Joro!”

“What did I tell you?”

 

Well, him being here didn’t mean everything was solved. Without paying any attention to our excitement, Sun-chan approached us with a certain object in his hand.

 

That object was the secret weapon I used to summon him here.

 

An object that could stimulate his stubborn, fussy and competitive personality. And that object was…

 

“A letter of challenge, huh? What an interesting present you gave me, Joro.”

 

Exactly. Earlier, I placed it inside his shoe box.

 

I went to the convenience store to buy a red envelope and wrote a big ‘Letter of Challenge’ on it. Inside the envelope, there was a letter that said ‘I’ll be waiting for you on the rooftop, fight me. Kisaragi Amatsuyu.’ I didn’t tell him the specifics about our ‘fight’ though.

 

Of course I wouldn’t actually get into a fist fight with him. He was the ace of the baseball club, if I were to actually fight with him, I would be the only one getting hurt. In the first place, I could never even hope to beat him in a fight…

 

That was why I challenged him to a whole different thing, which was…

 

“So, what are we going to compete in? Baseball? Softball? Cricket? In any case, we can’t play any of those games here as it would be dangerous on the people below. Let’s move to another place.”

 

Okay, it was my fault for not writing the content of the challenge clearly, but why did he only mention sports?

 

“No, I’m not going to challenge you to a game of sports… Instead, let’s compete in our studies.”

“Huh?!”

Uwah, the moment I said ‘studies,’ he made a very reluctant look. Cr*p… I think this plan is a bust!

“Stop wasting my time, there’s no way I’m going to compete in that. Whatever, I’m going back to class…”

 

Ah! Don’t just turn around and leave so suddenly like that!

 

“Sun-chan, wait!”

 

Nice, Himawari! Before he could walk away, she had already dashed in his direction and stood in front of him with her arms outstretched. As expected of the ace of the tennis club, her feet were quick!

“Move, Himawari.”

“No!”

 

When she was being stared down by the 180 cm Sun-chan, Himawari faced his gaze head on. Though she might seem not to be intimidated by him, I could tell that she was scared. Look at her legs, they were shaking.

 

“Don’t go!”

“Don’t be silly. I’ve apologized to everyone already, except to Joro. I would never apologize to someone like him. He deceived both of us, Himawari. I don’t even want to look at his face.”

 

Right… I guess it was true that I had been deceiving everyone by pretending to be someone I wasn’t. Someone like me was the person that he hated the most…

 

I guess it was impossible to make up with him, huh?

“Uuu! Sun-chan, you’re an idiot! Just listen to what Joro has to say first!”

“I have no intention to listen to a word he says, nor do I have the intention to make up with him.”

 

…Huh? What did he just say? 

 

I sent him a letter of challenge, but I never mentioned anything about making up with him.

 

Also I’ve never mentioned it directly to him either.

 

“Are you going to run away, Sun-chan?”

 

I called him out in a provocative way.

 

Everything would be alright. He wanted to make up with me.

 

That was what gave me courage to talk that way to him.

 

“Me? Running away? From what?”

 

He turned to my direction and angrily approached me.

 

“Ah, J-Joro!”

 

Don’t worry, Himawari, everything was under control.

 

Also, even if Sun-chan were to face me and growl like a dog, it wouldn’t affect me.

 

“I’ll explain what the challenge is about. I’ll teach you what you need to know for the midterms. If you don’t get any red marks, then you win. However, if you still get a red mark even after being taught by me, you lose. Do you get it?”

 

I said those words without averting my gaze from him.

 

“I’m not going to be taught by anybody and I won’t be playing in your games.”

 

Instead of his usual hot-blooded voice, what came out of his mouth was an unusual icy tone.

 

Too bad for him Pansy was scarier than him. His intimidation would never work on me.

 

“Hah! All that posing and in the end you’re still running away? What a lame as* motherf**ker.”

“What?! I’m not runn–”

“Stop bullsh**ting me. You know that if you get a red mark you’ll be banned from all club activities, right? I thought you’re the guy who prioritizes baseball over anything else, but it seems like you care about your pride more. Seriously, you’re so lame.”

“Screw you! I care about baseball more than anything else!”

“Meh, if that’s the case then you’ll accept my challenge. Oh, is it what I think it is? You turned down the challenge because if later you ended up failing the exam you can just blame it on not having someone to teach you? You aren’t confident that you’ll get a passing mark even if I were to teach you, that’s why you’re trying to run away.”

 

Due to his personality, there was no way that he’d back down after I said all this to his face.

 

With this, my plan was a succ— Wait, not yet…

 

“If you say so, then—”

“No, never mind. Forget about what I said.”

“Haah?”

 

While it was true that if I were to help him study for the midterms we’d have more opportunities to talk…

 

And it would be more than possible for our relationship to be mended from then on…

 

…But that wasn’t the outcome I wanted. Remember when I tried to make up with Himawari?

 

We made up without any bad feelings about what happened between us and that was the result that I wanted.

 

That was why, I’d do what the braided four eyes told me. I’d be honest with him and tell him everything that was on my mind.

 

“Sorry, I took advantage of your personality to drag you out here. The whole letter of challenge thing is just a pretext, in truth…”

 

I gulped and made a short pause. Meanwhile, Sun-chan was focusing his gaze on me.

 

“I want to make up with you. I want to get along with you just like before.”

“Um, me too! I want to make up with you too! I want us three to hang out together like we used to, Sun-chan!”

 

Thank you for the backup, Himawari.

 

“…That was unusual for you. I didn’t expect you to come forward so honestly like that.”

 

Sun-chan said after a few moments of silence. When I glanced at his face, his cold look was gone, replaced by the hot-blooded look that I was familiar with.

 

“A good friend of mine threw up a curveball, that’s why I went with a straight ball instead.” (T/N: Joro basically said that since Sun-chan can’t be honest with himself, he’ll be the one who does it instead.)

 

His smile made me loosen my cheeks.

 

“I see… Alright! I’ll take on the challenge!”

 

The annoying hot-blooded voice. This was the Sun-chan that I knew.

 

Great… He was back! The usual Sun-chan was back!

“Alright, Himawari! Let’s surprise him by showing what we can do!”

“Mm! Let’s learn from him together and make his eyes wide open in surprise!”

 

Himawari nodded with a bright expression at Sun-chan’s words.

 

“Oi, Joro! Let me tell you, I’m good at learning things from my best friend. That’s why, I already pretty much won this challenge!”

 

Oi, oi, suddenly offering his hand like that… 

 

“Don’t be so sure.”

 

Of course I’d take that hand of his. It wouldn’t be making up without a good ol’ handshake.

 

“I’ll be in your care, you lousy scumbag and a big a** liar, Kisaragi Amatsuyu!”

“Likewise, you two-faced annoying jerk, Oga Taiyo!”

 

Doing this kind of thing on the rooftop felt embarrassing, but that feeling was overridden by the joy I felt. Then, the three of us walked together to our classroom.

 

*   *   *

 

Lunch break. After confirming that Sun-chan had gone to the cafeteria for lunch and Himawari went to the rooftop to meet up with the senpai she recently befriended, I left the classroom and made my way to the library.

 

I was practically skipping my steps on the way there.

 

Who could blame me? I finally managed to make up with Himawari and Sun-chan!

Being true to myself and giving it my all was the answer to my problem! Having everything sorted out felt amazing!

 

“Yo, Pansy!”

 

I opened the door to the library before giving out a cheerful greeting to the braided four eyes at the reception desk.

 

“Congratulations.”

 

As expected of her, I didn’t even need to tell her, she already knew everything.

 

“Thank you! Let’s go to the reading room and eat our lunch!”

“Sure.”

 

Later, after we finished eating our lunch in the reading area, I called out to her.

 

“Thank you for your advice. If it wasn’t because of you, I wouldn’t be able to make up with Sun-chan and Himawari! Also, your cookies taste as good as always!”

 

The sweets Pansy made were always tasty, but today they were especially tasty!

 

“…Hm?”

 

As I happily munched on a cookie, Pansy tilted her head in confusion.

 

“That’s a little different than I expected.”

“Huh? What is?”

“No, never mind.”

 

After saying that, Pansy sipped on her tea without saying anything else.

 

What exactly was she expecting? I was curious about it, but whatever. There was something more important than that.

 

“By the way, Pansy, can I ask you something?”
“Oh, are you finally making an effort to understand me? Sure, you can ask me anything.”

“What do you think about Sun-chan and Himawari?”

Suppressing the excitement I felt earlier, I asked that question in a calm voice.

 

Pansy was also involved in the previous incident, so it was important to know what she thought about those two.

 

“I envy Hinata-san for being your childhood friend. I also envy Oga-kun for being your best friend. Both of them have a connection with you that I never have.”

“I see. In other words, you don’t hate them?”

“No, I don’t hate them. Both of them are cheerful, sincere and kind people.”

 

Really? I didn’t expect that she had such an open mind.

 

Himawari aside, to not hate Sun-chan after the thing that he had done to her… Seriously, I couldn’t believe it!

 

“By the way, I love you so much that my eyes don’t feel hurt even when I’m staring at you.”

“Yes because I’m the one who’s hurt here!”

 

Since she could still say those venomous words, I guess there wasn’t anything wrong with her head right now. Well, if that was the case…

 

“Then, after school, what about—”

“No. While I helped you to make up with them, the matter with you offering to help them study has nothing to do with me, so don’t involve me in that. You’re so predictable.”

 

How?! I haven’t even finished explaining everything, yet she had already guessed my intentions and stated her rejection!

 

“B-But why? You’re always ranked first when it comes to language related subjects, can’t you just teach them that? It will be fun, I swear…”

“I’m occupied with my own studies, I can’t afford to care about someone else’s.”

 

So cold! This girl wasted most of her time in the library! What did she mean by she was occupied by her own studies?!

“Give it up. I have no intention of playing along with your silly antics.”

 

She was a tough nut to crack.

 

Then, time to use my trump card, the thing that she would never be able to run away from…

 

“If you’re going to use the library after school to teach them, go ahead. There will be fewer people around and your surroundings will be quieter, you’ll get your studies done. I’ll be going home after school though.”

 

At least let me say a few words first! Stop rejecting me before I could say anything!

 

I couldn’t even use my ‘Since you’re in the library anyway’ card…

 

“You braided–”

“Four-eyes, so I said, but the truth is I love Sumireko-chan with all my heart, wuuv her!”

“I’d never say something so crazy! Also, if you’re trying to make an impression of me, at least do it properly! What’s with that ‘wuuv her’ in the end?!”

 

On top of predicting my words, she even went out of her way to add unnecessary lines into it…

 

I sent her a glare, but this seemed to trigger her usual antics of seeing things in a positive way.

 

Slowly, she moved her chair closer to me as I backed away to gain distance from her.

 

“Stop being shy, I know you want me to fawn on you.”

“Yes, fawn on me, help me teach those two.”
“I told you I don’t want to. I have no reason to do it.”

 

Urgg… Just wait, I’ll find a way to convince her to do it— Wait, I just found it…

 

“You’re right, you have no reason to do it, but can’t you do it for me? You owed me one, no?”

“…What are you talking about, I wonder?”

 

Hehehe, that abnormally long pause meant that she knew what I was talking about.

 

But, if she were to acknowledge it, she’d have to agree to fulfill my request.

 

That was why she said that half-hearted lie instead.

 

“You broke your promise yesterday. You didn’t let me see your true appearance.”

 

I said with a villainous smirk.

 

“I showed you my face.”

“Only your face, you didn’t unbind your chest binding.”

 

Yesterday, Pansy failed to fulfill her promise because my mom barged in at the last second. On our way home, she took off her glasses and untied her braid for me, but…

 

She couldn’t unbind her chest binding. Now, that was a checkmate if I ever saw one.

 

“I always thought that you’re the type of girl to keep your promise, Pansy-chan~ Reality is cruel~ She broke her promise without the slightest remorse~”

“…Now that’s…”

 

Hehehe… HAAHAHAHA! I BEAT HER! I BEAT HER IN A BANTER FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!

 

I guess I was on a roll today, huh?

 

“But you don’t need to worry, Pansy-chan, I’m not a heartless person, I’ll forgive you if you were to help me teach Himawari and Sun-chan~”

“What if I say that I don’t want your forgiveness?”

 

Oh, that was a good one. That one question immediately humbled me…

 

“T-That will make me very angry with you? Like me angry angry not the other kind of angry…”
“What are you even talking about? Also, you’re always angry with me.”

 

D**mit, she got me! If only I had the guts to threaten her by saying I wouldn’t come here anymore!

 

But, I didn’t want to miss the chance to see her true appearance, you know?

 

“In any case! You’re going to help me teach Sun-chan and Himawari and that’s final!”

“Now that’s just petty and uncreative.”

“Shut it! Can’t you just help me? P-Please? With cherry on top?”

 

Not good… At this rate, she’d truly reject me…

 

“…Haah… Fine. Just for today, okay? I won’t help you tomorrow.”

“Eh? Really?! Thank you, Pansy! You’re my savior!”

 

She didn’t reject me! 

 

This was harder than making up with Sun-chan and Himawari, but at least everything ended well!

 

I was so excited about it to the point that I grabbed her hand and waved it up and down without realizing it.

 

“D-Don’t act so happy about it. I-I’ll only help you for today…”

 

Huh? Was she being bashful?

 

That was new. I never expected her to act like this after thanking her just once.

 

“By the way, Joro-kun, are Oga-kun and Hinata-san the only ones who’ll come here after school?”

 

Pansy asked in an indifferent tone, probably to hide her embarrassment.

 

Also, she needed to stop rubbing my hand. I knew she was in a good mood, she didn’t need to show that off in a creepy manner.

 

“Hm? Yeah, they’re the only ones. What about it?”

“…I see.”

 

There was no way that I’d bring anyone else with me. What was she so concerned about?

 

“Anyway, I’m going back to my class. Come here after school, okay?”

 

I stood up and headed to the exit, trying to escape from Pansy’s hand.

 

“I understand. By the way, if you don’t remember about it soon, you’ll get yourself in big trouble, Joro-kun, so beware… Though it’s probably too late for you…”

“Huh? What?”

“This is something that you have to figure out yourself, dummy.”

 

Pansy said that in a somewhat pouty tone as she turned her face away. This gave me new information about her: she was someone who loved to hide her expression, whether she was in a good mood or a bad mood.

 

And honestly, I found this side of her a little cute… Though I pretended that I’d never notice that feeling of mine.

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

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