Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo - Chapter 4 Part 2

Chapter 4 Part 2

 

After school. I crumpled a piece of paper with ‘The worst kind of scum’ written on it and threw it to the trash can. It was probably the work of the girls clique again, but it wasn’t like I could do anything other than enduring it. If I were to make a fuss here, it would only make my situation worse.

 

“Haah…”

“Are you going to practice for the dance today, Joro?”

 

As I let out an emotional sigh in front of the trash can, a certain ponytailed girl approached me with her red pen in her hands. She wore a big smile on her face.

 

“…Yeah.”

“So, where are you going to practice? Himawari and Sun-chan are already on their way, so I’ll be sticking with you. I don’t want to lose sight of you again like back during lunch break.”

 

Ugh, of course she’d mention that.

 

I already planned to come clean and honestly told her about it, but it felt like I was being coerced to tell her instead.

 

“Don’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

“Oh! The way you’re talking about it makes it sound like it’s somewhere special!”

 

The closer I put my mouth to her ear, the more excited she got.

 

“…The library.”

 

Her red pen twitched after hearing those words coming out from my mouth.

 

I wasn’t happy about this, not at all.

 

But I’ve decided to prioritize the Kabuten over trying to clear up her misunderstandings, so I had to put up with this for the time being.

 

“I see~ That’s certainly a place where you could flirt with the three girls without anyone knowing~”

“That isn’t the case. Anyway, after the practice, everyone will go together to pick up our costumes. People will end up seeing us together either way.”

“…Let me guess, Sanshokuin-san will be there too?”

“Let me tell you this. I don’t have any kind of special relationship with her. Nor do I want to start one with her.”

“If you say so, Joro, I’ll leave it at that~”

 

I wanted to complain, but I knew it would be useless, there was no way that I could get through that thick skull of hers.

 

Whatever. Let’s just hurry off to the library.

 

*   *   *

 

“Really? Are you sure about that, Sanshokuin-san?! Alright!”

“Yay! Now I’m looking forward to it!”
“Me too! Though, it’s useless to refuse you at this point. You’ve already decided on doing it, right?”

“Yes. Make sure to keep Joro-kun in the dark— Oh my, you’ve come.”

 

When Asunaro and I entered the library, the four people inside were having a suspicious conversation.

 

Under normal circumstances, I would definitely gun them for an explanation, but I wasn’t in the mood for it.

 

This demon behind me was taking all of my attention.

 

“Ah, Asunaro-chan is here too!”

“Yes, I’m here too! I’ll be following him closely today too! By the way, what are you guys talking about?”

 

With her signature red pen in her hand, Asunaro seemed to be ready to write up something for the newspaper club.

 

She must have smelled that something fishy was going on. She even asked them the question I wanted to ask.

 

“Hehehe, you won’t get anything from me that easily, Asunaro!”

“Oh, is this the famed Sun-chan’s hot-blooded defense?! This is a tough one!”
“Yes! My defense is easily Fukumoto-class!” (T/N: Fukumoto Yutaka, another famed baseball player in Japan.)

 

He compared himself to the person who won the most Gold Glove award, huh? (T/N: It’s an award that they give to the best fielders of the year. Fukumoto won it for 12 years in a row from 1972-1983.)

 

I didn’t even need to say out loud. This would be a tough challenge for you, Asunaro!

 

“Alright, it’s time. Can everyone change to your P.E uniforms now?”

 

Cosmos’ stern voice brought tension to the previously relaxed atmosphere. As expected of the student council president.

 

“For the girls, you can change behind the reception desk. No one will accidentally walk up on you there.”

 

That was unfair. We boys needed privacy too. Let us change there with you guys!

 

Well, if I were to say that out loud, Cosmos would definitely get mad at me again.

 

Anyway, looking at them together like this, I could understand how their relationship with Asunaro worked.

 

Despite her misunderstandings toward me, Himawari and Sun-chan were still friendly with her because they were classmates.

 

But, Cosmos and Pansy didn’t even try to talk to her. Maybe it was because they were in different classes, or grades in the case of Cosmos. Actually, rather than not trying to talk, they seemed to be actively avoiding each other for some reason.

 

In fact, Cosmos and Asunaro didn’t really talk to each other yesterday either.

 

The only occasion when they conversed with each other was when Cosmos was still acting like a samurai.

 

“Hehehe, I already wore my P.E uniform underneath my regular uniform, Joro. You don’t need to worry about me!”

 

Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about you at all, buddy. Didn’t know why you’d tell me that, though.

 

“Don’t peek at us when we’re changing, okay, Joro?”

“Hah? Why the hell would I do that? I’d never do something like that!”

“Sure, sure.”

 

Alright, fine. If you doubted me that much, then I’d show you how much of a gentleman I was.

 

“If you’re oh so afraid of me peeking at you, then Sun-chan and I will change in the nearby toilet. We’ll stay there until you guys are done, so text me or call me or whatever by then.”

“Really? That’ll be great for us, but won’t it be troublesome for you two?”

“No. It’s just common sense that men shouldn’t be in the same room with women when they’re changing.”

“Joro-kun… You understood what I was talking about the other day?”

“Of course. Let me show you the reformed Joro.”

 

I gave the surprised looking Cosmos a confident smile.

 

Yeah, I’ve reflected. The bouncy feelings on my back robbed me of my sanity the other day, but it wouldn’t happen again.

 

I had no intention to show that kind of disgrace ever again.

 

“Since I’m still keeping a close eye on you, Joro, should I…”

“You can come, just don’t peek at us.”

“O-Of course I won’t do that!”

 

Ignoring Asunaro, who was trying to deny my words with a red face, we left the library.

 

“Alright, I’m going in.”
“Go ahead! I’ll make sure Asunaro can’t come in!”

“I told you I won’t do it!”

 

I entered the men’s toilet alone, leaving Sun-chan, who spreaded his arms wide to prevent Asunaro, whose Tsugaru accent came out again because she was flustered.

 

“Phew… Finally… Hehehehe…”

 

Inside, I looked at the mirror.

 

There was an ugly b*stard in the mirror.

 

Oi, oi, who the hell was this guy? He looked hideous as hell. Whatever.

 

…In any case, I was currently inside the men’s toilet, far away from the library.

 

The girls should be changing right now, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to peek at them.

 

But, that wasn’t the case!

 

They forgot about one thing, the most powerful privilege ever given to a teenage boy like me!

 

Yes, the power of delusion!

 

For all of you who failed to understand what I was trying to say, let me explain!

 

You see, my delusion was a little bit special for I had the power of God on my side!

 

It would be easier for me to demonstrate.

 

Dear God (Illustrator), the ruler of our world! Dear God (Buriki)! Give me your strength! (T/N: Buriki is the series illustrator, btw.)

 

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! FROM THE DEPTH OF MY HEART, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

 

He even added Pansy into the image even though he didn’t need to. THANK YOU VERY MUUUCH!

 

*   *   *

 

“Heya, welcome back. Hm? You look like you’re in a good mood, Joro-kun.”

 

Ah, you could tell? Yes, thanks to the illustrator I got into this good mood. All hail Illustrator-sama!

“Really? I don’t feel different than usual though.”

 

Of course I wouldn’t tell her. She’d make me kneel down again if I were to do it.

 

“That so? Well, whatever. Now that we’ve all dressed up, let’s begin our practice! Since everyone is an amateur, let’s start with the standard waltz!”

 

Yeah, since we were all amateurs, there was only so much that we could do.

 

“I’ve prepared a video of last year’s Kabuten, so let’s try to use it as a reference!”

 

Alright, time for the dance practice! Time to farm some accidental touching here and there! Let’s go!

“So, Himawari and I will dance as a pair today! Joro-kun, you’ll go with Sun-chan!”

 

…Oh, so we’d be going with that, huh? My hopes and dreams were crushed before I realized it.

 

“Joro-kun, keep in mind that Asunaro is still here. I’m trying to be considerate of your situation here.”

 

Sorry! And thank you very much! But still, you coming closer to me and whispering all this to me would make her misunderstand!

“It seems like there’s something deeper between Joro and Prez’s relationship…”

 

See?! I knew it!

“Are you ready, Joro? Un deux trois It’s the key to dancing! Un deux trois” (T/N: The ‘un deux’ is actually written in kanji, probably it’s a reference to someone’s name, but I don’t know who it is. Since it’s Sun-chan speaking, and the kanji fits, it’s probably referred to another baseball player’s name, Ando Yuya.)

 

Sun-chan, there was no way that someone who sounded like a second generation Japanese American would be a key to dancing.

 

…Anyway, I shouldn’t fret too much. I couldn’t get touchy touchy today, but there was always tomorrow.

 

When that time came, hehehe… Hm? For some reason, Pansy was staring at me.

 

“Joro-kun.”

“What?”

 

Her voice sounded emotionless, but it was colder than usual.

 

“If you were to try to do something weird to Hinata-san or Akino-senpai tomorrow, I’ll make Stinger-kun stab you.”

“Huh? Stab? The coffee shop?” (T/N: Stab and Starbucks sounds kinda the same in Japanglish.)

“Oh c’mon, Joro-kun, you know that wasn’t what I was talking about when I said stab.”

“Then what is it?”

 

When I tilted my head in confusion, she pulled out a certain novel from Dengeki Bunko. Sword Art Online by Kawahara Reki.

 

C-Could it be…!

 

“By stab I meant Starburst Stream.” (T/N: If you’ve never read/watched Sword Art Online, it’s Kirito’s signature move. Also, again, a pun since starbuck and starburst sound similar.)

 

…Okay, let’s try to avoid as much physical contact as possible tomorrow.

 

The image of Stinger-kun wielding two horns and executing 16 slashes in a row sounded terrifying, but it sounded awesome at the same time.

 

*   *   *

 

My first day of practice was mostly just me and Sun-chan, passionately dancing, hand in hand.

 

As expected of the ace of the baseball club, with his outstanding motoric nerve, he mastered the movements necessary for the dance with ease. Himawari, as the ace of the tennis club, was also the same. Even with my untrained eyes, I could see her movements got better and better in real time. As for Cosmos, well, she was easily the best dancer in the room. She probably got some practice on her own before coming here… Huh? That meant, the worst dancer in the room would be…

 

Well, that wasn’t right. Comparing ourselves to each other wasn’t the goal here. We were supposed to be a team!

That was why, pointing your fingers at someone and accusing them for holding the rest of the team back wasn’t the right thing to do!

No, I wasn’t acting like this because a certain librarian told me that my movements were ugly or anything like that!

 

In any case, after we were done practicing, we left the school and went to pick up our costumes as planned.

 

“Woah! Amazing, amazing!”

 

As we arrived at the supply store, Himawari started frolicking around in excitement.

 

With her eyes sparkling, she ran around the store, looking at various dresses available.

 

“I’m going to ask the staff to see if we can try them out.”

 

Cosmos pretended to be calm by opening her note, but I could see her eyes checking through the various dresses as she made her way to where the staff was.

 

I guess her pride as the student council president kept her girly mode at bay.

 

“When it comes to dresses that fit me, red dresses should do the trick! Red is the color of bravery! What do you think, Joro?”

 

Wait, Sun-chan, were you planning to wear a dress for the event?

 

“Can’t wait to see what kind of dress you guys will choose! This will make a good topic!”

 

Asunaro, who was still following me around, said so excitedly.

 

Since she was also writing an article for the Kabuten, I guess it made sense that she’d be excited for this outing.

 

“…”

 

I turned my gaze to Pansy, who seemed to be staring at a certain dress.

 

It was a dark blue dress with floral patterns on it. The design was close to that of traditional Japanese dresses.

 

Gotta say, it would suit her if she were to wear it with her true appearance.

 

“Why don’t you try wearing it, Pansy?”

“I’m good.”

 

The moment I called out to her, she turned around and walked deeper into the store with hurried steps.

 

What was wrong with her? I just called out to her, why was she acting like this?

 

“Everyone~ I got the permission, so you guys can try on the dresses now! C’mon, quickly!”

 

I guess Cosmos had reached her limit.

 

As she called out to us, she was already holding three different dresses in her hands. She couldn’t hold back her girly mode anymore and had already broken off her serious persona.

 

“This one lacks passion… This one isn’t intense enough… Hmm… This one? Nah, it doesn’t look as fiery as I want it to be… Oh, this one! This one got the soul!”

 

Sun-chan, I don’t think that was the right way to pick your dress…

 

Whatever, let’s focus on mine. Now, which one should I get? This one or that one?

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

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