Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo - Chapter 5 Part 3

Chapter 5 Part 3

 

“You really care about Sun-chan, don’t you?”

 

After fiddling with her phone for a while, Cosmos said so.

 

“I never thought that you’d be this angry for him.”

“That’s a given. I don’t give a sh*t about anything else, he has been doing his best so that he could go to Koshien this year. All of his hard work since middle school is just for that one big moment, you know? Ah…”

 

Oh, whoops, I got so emotional that my language became rougher than usual. I needed to fix that.

 

“Hehehe, it’s fine, you don’t need to fix it.”

 

But, Cosmos told me that she didn’t mind as she let out a gentle smile.

 

“After all that happened, you guys still care about each other this much. The bond that you two have is something else.”

 

Seriously, can you not compliment me to my face like that? I couldn’t handle this kind of thing well.

 

“You opened my eyes, Prez. I’ve never thought that you could be that terrifying. I can’t imagine being in Asunaro’s shoes.”

“Because I’m the one who’s sitting in the special seat this time, unlike last time when I sat down in the general audience’s seat. I think I overdid it a little.”

“I don’t understand what you are trying to say.”

“You just don’t understand me at all, Joro-kun.”

“I never made an effort to understand you in the first place.”

“You’re a boring guy, you know that?”

 

It felt like I’d already had this conversation with someone else prior to this… Wait,this wasn’t the time for this kind of talk!

 

The matter of everyone’s misunderstanding about me was resolved thanks to Cosmos unearthing Asunaro’s work in the shadows. Since we got Asunaro’s words that she’d write an article to fix everything, I guess we could rest easy about it for now. But, there was another important problem that we had to deal with!

The Kabuten!

 

If we couldn’t find the last participant in time, the whole event would turn into a disaster!

 

“Anyway, what are we going to do about the Kabuten? Since Asunaro can’t participate…”

“We’ve already found a substitute for Sun-chan… Well, that isn’t the right way to put it since he has no intention to participate in the first place.”

“Sorry?”

“I’ve said it just now, you guys truly care for each other so much.”

 

Startled at her remark, I stared at her with a confused look. Seeing my reaction, she let out a grin, as if she was amused by my reaction.

 

Seriously, what was going on? I thought Sun-chan decided to join us, despite him being a guy, because we were desperate to get a willing participant?

 

But now Cosmos said that he had no intention to participate in the first place?

 

“Think about it for a second. The Kabuten is an event where it’s required to have three girls and one boy to dance together. Do you think I’d let another boy participate no matter how desperate we are?”

“But, he told me that you approved because it’s a unique concept…”

“I see. Then, you were fooled by him again.”

 

Really?! Why did he lie to me, then?!

 

“Let me tell you what he said to me first. When he came to me, he begged me, ‘Please put her name in! I know that she’ll be willing to participate as long as Joro is in it!’ In response to that, I told him that I, together with Himawari-san, will help him to convince her to participate. After all, I knew that you had always wanted her to participate in the Kabuten to begin with.”

“What are you…?”
“Here.”

 

Cosmos took out a piece of paper.

 

It was the paper we used to write the name of the girl we wanted to see in the Kabuten.

 

There was a certain girl’s name on that piece of paper, written with a familiar handwriting… Mine…

 

“H-How did you know that’s mine…?”

“You were the secretary of the student council, at this point I’m more than familiar with your handwriting. This is supposed to be an anonymous vote, so bringing it up is against the rules, but I can’t just pass it up after seeing it.”

 

I see. She remembered it from the time when I used to be in the council, huh?

 

Since I took care of a lot of documents for her, it wasn’t a surprise that she could recognize my handwriting.

 

“For a long time, Himawari-san, Sun-chan and myself had always wanted to apologize to you for all the trouble we had caused you in the past…”

 

Seriously, that matter was done, why were you guys kept bringing it up… It didn’t matter to me anymore…

 

“We went through quite an ordeal, you know? We had to go to school earlier to convince her to join us. We had to quickly pick a fitting dress for her in the time you went to the convenience store to buy us umbrellas and many more. But, seeing your surprised look, I guess it’s all worth it.”

 

So that was why Sun-chan went to the toilet for thirty minutes back then!

 

“Sun-chan went out of his way to follow us along for your sake. Everyone else didn’t know about him faking his participation, so in truth, he had been skipping his club activities for our dance practice. And lastly, he pretended to be sick so that she could step forward, all for your sake.”

 

I couldn’t even describe how shocked I was. Sun-chan went that far for me…?

 

“I’ve already contacted her earlier. That girl and Himawari-san should be on their way here.”

“T-Then, the last participant for the Kabuten is…”

“It’s me, obviously.”

 

Before I could finish my words, the door to the student council room was opened and she appeared from behind it.

 

Unlike her usual look, she untied her braids, removed her glasses and chest binding.

 

The dress she was wearing had a Japanese accent to it and it was so eye-catching that I was having a hard time trying to look away from it.

 

It suited her well. I had a strong urge to embrace her right there and then.

 

“What do you think? Does the dress suit me?”

 

This girl…

 

“Pansy…”

“Jeez, I’m waiting for your compliment here. Why are you being such a tease to me?”

 

Seeing how shocked I was, Pansy let out a giggle. But, I was too occupied to care about that.

 

“Hey, hey, Joro~ Pansy-chan is so pretty, don’t you think~?”

Next to Pansy was Himawari, giggling happily, looking somewhat prideful.

 

 

“Look at how surprised Joro is, Cosmos-san! Our operation is a success!”

“Yes. Some unexpected things happened, but it mostly went as planned, Himawari-san.”

 

Himawari and Cosmos did a friendly high-five, ignoring me who was still in awe.

 

“S-Since when…”

“Since the beginning.”

“Huh?”
“At first, I hated the idea. I mean, I really don’t want to show up in a crowded event like the Kabuten. I rejected them multiple times, you know? Well, I gave up eventually. I think it was right before you guys started your after school practice.”

 

Right, back then I was running late with Asunaro. Before I entered the library, I overheard them talking about something. I never woulda thought that they were talking about this…

 

“Pansy-chan downplayed our efforts! It was hard to persuade her!”

“We’ve prepared various words to persuade her but none of them worked.”

“It was Sun-chan who managed to persuade her!”

“Sun-chan was amazing. I never thought that he would go as far as going down on his knees to beg her to join us. ‘It’s for Joro,’ he said.”

 

What the hell were you doing, Sun-chan? Didn’t you still like Pansy?

 

I never asked you to go this far for me…

 

“If it’s just because there’s no one else who wants to participate, I would never agree to join their antics. But, since everyone was doing their best for you, Joro-kun, it wasn’t like I had any other choice.”

 

Could it be… When they decided to stop practicing…

 

“So, the reason why you guys decided to stop practicing together…”

“Of course it’s so that you two could practice the dance together. We knew that you would do your practice with her if we were to leave you two alone. By the way, we did our own practice secretly behind your back.”

 

Cosmos affirmed my speculation with a wink.

 

They got me… I had no idea that they were planning to do something like this from the very beginning…

 

But, why couldn’t they just tell me?!

Pansy, I thought you said you’d never lie to me!

“I told you about it. ‘Let’s practice together and get better so that we can surprise everyone.’”

 

So I was included in the ‘everyone?!’ What was the point of surprising me?! I had already received enough surprises from everything prior to this revelation!

 

Also, be more specific next time if you were trying to give me a hint! I didn’t even realize what you were trying to say!

“U-Um, Joro! W-We caused you a lot of trouble, so… U-um…”

 

Himawari’s eyes wandered around as she said that. Seriously, I’m going insane. This girl was so easy to read.

 

“Don’t worry about it. It doesn’t matter anymore. I also caused you guys a lot of trouble anyway…”

“…Okay!”

 

{The Kabuten will start soon, everyone! Please gather at the gym immediately!}

 

“Oh, Yamada’s calling us. Let’s get going now. As long as we can perform the dance properly, the Kabuten this year will be a great success. So, everyone, are you ready?”

“Yes!” “Ready.” “Ready to go!”

 

And so, we left the student council room and headed for the gym.

 

*   *   *

 

“Uu…! I’m so nervous!”

 

Behind the stage, inside the gym. Wearing a yellow dress, Himawari looked completely restless.

 

“Joro-kun, the order of the dancing starts from Himawari-san, followed by me and lastly, Pansy-san. Don’t mistake the order, okay? Okay?”

 

Cosmos was wearing a pink dress. I thought she looked calm, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case at all.

 

She was so nervous that she had to repeat that last part of her sentence.

 

“What do you think about this hairpin, Joro-kun? Do you think it suits me?”

 

Meanwhile, Pansy came trotting to my side to show off her hairpin.

 

Honestly, it looked really good on her.

 

But, I didn’t feel like praising her for some reason, so I’d just give her a generic compliment.

 

“It looks pretty.”

“…You’re such a tease.”

 

Even if you pout at me, I don’t care. Besides, whenever I asked you to show me your true appearance, you’d always find a way to refuse it even though we had an agreement beforehand, but you showed it so easily to Himawari and Cosmos. Seriously, was there something wrong with your brain? 

 

“Are you guys ready to go? Oh, Joro, you look good in that suit!”

 

While we were dealing with our nervousness in the backstage, Sun-chan suddenly approached us in his school uniform.

 

From the look of his face, it seemed like he was really lying about having an upset stomach.

 

“You’ve really done it, huh, Sun-chan…?”

 

The sour look I gave him wasn’t enough to wipe off his smile.

 

Rather, that made his smile even wider.

 

“Hahaha! C’mon, Joro, I’m not that stupid! There’s no way I’d eat a clearly suspicious bun given by someone I don’t know!”

 

Yeah, but I really thought that you were that stupid, you know?!

 

“Besides, didn’t I tell you from the start? ‘I have things that I need to do,’ and this is one of them!”

 

Indeed, that was his answer to me when I asked him about his feelings toward Pansy.

 

Still, I didn’t expect that ‘the things he needs to do’ was to make Pansy participate in the Kabuten… No, that wasn’t it…

 

It was embarrassing to admit it, but I already knew his goal…

 

To make me happy. That was what he meant by ‘the things that he needs to do.’

 

“It’s time, Joro-kun.”

 

Pansy came up to me and grabbed my right hand.

 

It was a very attractive move coming from her, but…

 

“No. Sorry that I have to let you down, but I’m not going to hold your hand.”

“Why?”

 

Pansy tilted her head in confusion after hearing my refusal. I could see a hint of sadness in her eyes.

 

“Uh, I mean…”

 

Seeing her look, I unconsciously scratched the back of my head, unsure on how to reply.

 

Well, it wasn’t like I’m trying to hurt her. Let’s just tell her my answer without beating around the bush.

 

“The order, remember? You’re last.”

“…R-Right, I forgot…”

 

Pansy turned her slightly reddened face away. I could feel her grip on my hand loosened.

 

It was hard to tell that she felt embarrassed because her face didn’t really show it, but I could tell how she was feeling based on her gesture.

 

After our conversation was over, a loud music echoed from the gym and so the curtain for the Kabuten had been raised.

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

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