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

Epilogue – Have We Met Before?

 

 

“What do you mean everything is my fault?!”

 

Tuesday morning, the first day of the week after the Hyakka Festival.

 

I was chatting with Sun-chan when a high-pitched female voice suddenly entered my ears.

 

It seemed like there was a catfight between the girls. One of the members of the girl clique, the same group who was trying to ‘enact justice’ on me, was receiving a cold stare from the rest of her cliques.

 

“I mean, you were the one who said things like ‘Joro is getting carried away lately and he’s getting on my nerves.’”

“Right~ The rest of us didn’t really care about him~”

 

Ah, I see. This would be one of the tactics exclusive to the charismatic girls cliques, ‘Scapegoat.’

 

So, the situation here was, back when rumors about me were still going around, they had been troubling me every single day.

 

However, during the second day of the Hyakka Festival, all the rumors about me were proven wrong.

 

Since that was the case, all of their justifications to gang up on me was gone. Now, considering what they had done, they wouldn’t be in a really good position if they didn’t do anything about it.

 

That was why, in order to clear their name, they would ostracize someone and label them as ‘the evil one’ in this case.

 

Basically creating a situation like, ‘this isn’t my fault, it’s the fault of this girl since she was the one who started everything!’

 

And so, Girl A-san became ‘the evil one’ in this situation, because she was the one who started sh*t with me.

 

“Y-You guys…”

 

Girl A-san’s lips trembled in anger, but there was a hint of fear in her eyes.

 

In her head, she probably had imagined what would happen to her in the near future. Getting kicked out of her clique before ending up as a loner in class, living in complete fear and isolation every single day.

 

“I gotta go for a bit, Sun-chan.”

“Sure! I knew you’d do something like this, Joro!”

 

Seriously, I thought I was done playing the good boy role, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to do the act one last time. What a pain…

 

“Uh, you got a minute?”

 

When I stood up and confronted the girls, their shoulders jerked in surprise.

 

“Ah, Joro! I-I did a lot of terrible things to you… I’m sorry!”

“I’m really sorry! I overreacted! This won’t happen again, I promise!”

“I’ve seen the article! Sorry that I misunderstood you! Please forgive me…”

 

As they apologized to me, one of them handed me a sheet of paper.

 

On it was an article titled, ‘Newspaper Club’s Mistake! The Truth about the False Rumors!’ It was an article that stated all the rumors about me were just rumors and misunderstandings. Well, I already knew about this, of course.

 

“Ah, don’t worry about it, also…”

 

After giving those girls a proper response, I turned my gaze toward the despairing Girl A-san,

 

“W-What is it…?”

 

She was about to cry. Seriously, get yourself together.

 

We didn’t want a youkai to be born because your makeup fell off here.

 

“In a way, it was my strange actions that caused you to misunderstand everything, so I’m sorry.”

“Eh?”

“Honestly, your courage impressed me. Like, how could you say things that everyone would be reluctant to do? I mean, if I were in your position, I wouldn’t be able to do it, that’s for sure.”

 

Utilizing the ‘everyone’ technique! Now Girl A-san wouldn’t lose her position in class.

 

“T-Thank you… B-But, I still misunderstood you! T-That’s why… S-Sorry…”

“Don’t be. Like I said, it was my fault to begin with. I was basically asking for it.”

“…Joro.”

 

Girl A-san and the rest of the girls were looking at me with shining eyes. I could feel the gratitude in their eyes.

 

“In the future, if you think I did something wrong again, can you guys let me know? I don’t want to trouble anyone again, you see…”

 

It seemed like I was acting coolly, but I was legitimately horrified inside.

 

Despite what had happened, those guys were still the one of the most influential groups of people in class.

 

If possible, I didn’t want to have to confront them ever again.

 

That was why, I’d extinguish any potential sparks in one fell swoop!

Sometimes, you gotta apologize even though you were the one in the right and this was one of those situations!

 

Since I wanted to live a peaceful life, it would be best for me to bury all the hostilities behind. Hopefully, with this, they wouldn’t start attacking me ever again…

 

Okay, that should be enough to achieve my goals. I didn’t want to be around them anymore. They genuinely scared me…

 

“Sorry for the wait, Sun-chan.”

“Oh, don’t be, I didn’t wait for long. Besides, you looked good over there, buddy! As expected of my best friend!”

 

Phew… I actually thought of getting him to help me if things were to go badly, but it was great that it didn’t escalate that far. Well, whatever, at least things were resolved peacefully—

 

“That was really cool, Joro!”

 

At that moment, a lively female voice came from behind me. Not long after, the owner of that voice jumped in front of me.

 

“Good morning, Joro! Sun-chan!”

“Good morning, Asunaro!”

“A-Ah… Good morning… Asunaro…”

 

My whole body flinched. I never expected that Asunaro would ever call out to me again. I didn’t know what to do…

 

“You don’t need to make that kind of face, Joro! U-Um, I’ve cleared up the misunderstandings with everyone… A-And, I’m sorry for causing you much trouble!”

 

Asunaro’s face switched from a bright smile to a serious one.

 

From her gestures, I could tell that she was truly sorry about everything.

 

“Hehehe, don’t worry about it, Asunaro! Well, it isn’t like I have the right to judge you in the first place!”

“Well, I’m with Sun-chan here. Everyone makes mistakes, so don’t worry about it.”

“…Thank you for understanding.”

 

Asunaro’s voice trembled as she wiped the tears off her eyes. Mhm. Everything was already over, so let bygones be bygones.

 

“Then… No matter how impossible the outcome is… I’ll still do my best!”

“…Huh? Oi, Asunaro, are you…?”

“Anyway! There’s another thing! It seems like we’ll get a transfer student in our school! She’ll be assigned to our class!”

 

She cut my words. From that and her red eyes, it didn’t seem like she was willing to answer my question. Then, with her ponytail swinging and a bright smile, she left me and Sun-chan behind.

 

W-Well, I guess I could just ignore what she had just said for now…

 

Any more than this would be a little overwhelming for me too…

 

*   *   *

 

“Take your seats, everyone.”

 

The moment homeroom started, our teacher entered the classroom and greeted us with his usual lethargic voice. Following behind him was a girl, probably the transfer student that Asunaro mentioned.

 

She had short, straight hair with tidy-looking bangs. Her eyes were slightly round and her chest was pretty much nonexistent, similar to how a certain librarian looked usually.

 

However, if I were to judge her based on her face only, she’d definitely be one of the prettiest girls in our school.

 

This would shake things up for sure. Cosmos and Himawari wouldn’t be able to dominate the school anymore…

 

 

“Ah, some of you might already know, but a transfer student will be joining our class starting from today. Yoki-san, can you introduce yourself?”

Oh, time for her self-introduction. Alright, time to ask a question that a mob would usually ask; ‘What’s your type?’ Okay, get ready… Huh? For some reason, she was walking in my direction.

 

She was looking at me… and smiled at me… Man, she was so cute…

 

“…It’s been a while, isn’t it, Kisaragi Amatsuyu-kun?”

 

Umu, you’ve finally arrived, haven’t you? Alright, it was time for us to settle our— Wait, no!

 

I almost got in character, but no, this wasn’t the time! The isekai battle arc wasn’t supposed to start yet!

 

“Um? It has been a while…? I guess?”

I returned her greeting, but seriously, who the heck was she?

 

“Have you forgotten about me already? What a terrible person. I haven’t forgotten about you yet, though.”

 

Woah, she was a bokukko! This was the first time I’ve ever seen a bokukko in my life! (T/N: Bokukko is a girl who refers to herself as ‘boku,’ which we all know, is a way for a boy to refer to himself.)

 

Anyway, when she realized that I didn’t remember her, she let out a giggle. Great, at least she wasn’t mad at me.

 

“I am the girl who’ll treat you with kindness unconditionally. Someone who will devote herself to you with all of her heart. My personality might be a little harsh, but please bear with me. I’ll be in your care from now on.”

 

Huh? Those words sound familiar…

 

Where did I hear those words before…? Ah, right, I said something like that!

 

It was part of my monologue back when I failed to recognize my mom!

 

“W-Why are you saying something like that to me…?”

 

While everyone else in class, including the teacher and me, were dumbstruck by the sudden bombshell the transfer student said, she suddenly grabbed my hand and pressed her lips against it. Oi, what the heck?!

“I will devote myself to you from now on. Please take care of me.”

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

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