Prove Your Eternal Love. There Shall Be No Heroine Correction. - Chapter 1 Part 2

The Fuyo Festival, the Cultural Festival at Fuyo High School, was about to be held in a month.

Every Wednesday during the summer vacation was set aside as a preparation day for the Fuyo Festival. On these days, many students gathered at the school and diligently made signs and decorations for each class’ exhibits. There were usually two meetings of the committee members, one in the morning and the other in the evening, and they were especially hard at work.

But the hardest work was probably that of the Student Council President, Fuyuki Manami-senpai, who also served as the Fuyo Festival Chairperson, and currently standing in front of the conference room. The Fuyo Festival has a tradition of being run by the student council every year.

“Now, as for the plans that we have asked from all of you, I think we will adopt the 『Stamp Rally』 that was suggested by Aogashima-kun, a second-year student.”

At a single word from President Fuyuki, Aogashima-san, who was sitting next to her, turned to look at me happily.

“Yay, Shirase-kun.”

“Right. It was worth the morning holed up in the cafe.”

The hard work was worth the joy. However, Aogashima-san’s expression, which should have been joyful, turned downcasted for a moment. There was also that. I turned her down right after that.

I still don’t know how I should treat her. Should I continue as before, or should I distance myself from her a little more?

“Well, here’s the gist of the 『Stamp Rally』 — The plan was to have a stamp at each exhibit. Of course, it would be difficult to visit all the exhibits, so we will divide the 36 exhibits into six courses. For every stamp collected, one entry, or a maximum of six, will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of the many prizes. This will provide an opportunity for visitors to enjoy a variety of exhibits. …That’s all. Does anyone have any comments or suggestions?”

President Fuyuki crossed her arms and glanced at the committee members.

“Okay, no one does. Then, I’ll order stamps for each of the exhibits as soon as possible, so please have your designs ready by next week. The notices are printed here, so please pick them up on your way out. This concludes the morning meeting. I’ll see you all at five in the afternoon, thank you for your cooperation.”

As soon as the President thanked them, the committee members hurriedly got up from their seats. It seemed that they were all busy. We pushed in our chairs as well.

“Good work. Aogashima-kun, and also Shirase-kun. It was a good idea with a highly detailed proposal. Thanks to you two, we were able to get through smoothly. Thank you.”

The President came toward us and smiled with narrowed eyes. Her long eyelashes twirled. Despite her confident stance, there was a gap in her small stature. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a student council officer cleaning up the standing room.

Aogashima bowed with a bow and said, “It’s my pleasure, thank you very much.” I bowed in return and said, “Thank you.”

“Did you two work on the proposal together?”

“Yes. I drafted the original proposal, but he wrote most of the details.”

“No, I just shaped what Aogashima-san said, and she did all the important parts.”

“Hmph, you two must be close.”

President Fuyuki broke into a smile. Somewhat awkwardly, I looked down, unsure of where to place my gaze. On the other hand, Aogashima-san connected the conversation that was about to end, saying, “Speaking of which.”

“I’d like to confirm one thing about the stage schedule you mentioned last week. I’ve checked it carefully, and I’m afraid I’m missing some of the arrangements here…”

Relying on a penguin sticky note sticking out of a flat file, Aogashima-san opened the page and showed it to the President. Peering at it for a moment, she put her finger to her chin.

“Hou. This is…my mistake. Thanks for your help. But what should I do, hmm?”

The President snarled in a husky, troubled voice, and as if she had been waiting for a response, Aogashima-san answered immediately.

“For example, I am going into cover at this timing…”

“No, we’ll take care of that onsite. Thank you. We are very grateful to have someone like you on our team.”

With a straight face and a casual smile, the President praised Aogashima-san. Aogashima-san’s cheeks relaxed slightly as she replied, “No, not at all.”

“So…Aogashima-san. I’m hoping you can help me with something else later. Is there any way you could give me some time this week?”

“…Probably tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. How about you?”

“You can come anytime. After all, the student council is now a black company that works full weekends and overtime.”

“I understand. I will visit you tomorrow. Please don’t strain yourself.”

Aogashima-san bowed, the President waved lightly with one hand and walked quickly back to the student council officers who have finished packing their bags.

“That’s great, I can’t believe the Student Council President is relying on you. What a change, Aogashima-san.”

Not long ago, she had only opened up to her best friend, Kuroiwa Aika. She had an aura of unapproachability. She was not the type of person who would willingly do anything. But before I knew it, she was being relied on.

“Yes. I thought I should change, and I would do my best.”

Aogashima-san smiled happily and looked down. Then, there was a slight shadow on her face.

“…When I was in middle school, I once lost friends.”

It was a sudden announcement. Not knowing how to react, I waited for the rest of the story.

“No, we weren’t friends from the beginning. It was because…I made a mistake, I got it twisted. So I decided to get what I wanted on my own.”

It was not an explanation, but I suddenly remembered one thing.

It was when Aogashima-san and I went downtown for the school festival. She was fixated on a stuffed penguin she had found in a crane game. I couldn’t stand the sight of her, so I got it up for her, but she wouldn’t accept it and kept pushing the button over and over again, trying to get it for herself. Thanks to this, I have a penguin in my house that matched Aogashima-san’s.

“When I entered high school, I began to reject people. …but I wanted to change. I knew that there were many things I couldn’t do alone. So umm…It was thanks to Shirase-kun.”

“I didn’t do anything. It’s all your hard work.”

Aogashima-san has really changed. Even in the classroom, the change was clear.

“Yuuno-chan. Should the color here be red or vermilion in terms of image?”

“Ao-san. About the stamp, it’s going to take me a while to design it.”

“Aogashima-sam, I’m almost out of duct tape!”

“I think red would be good. Just send me the design by Monday. As for the supplies, Sasakura-kun, go to the Student Council room and get them.”

Aogashima-san was approached from all over the class and responded clearly. From being observed from afar, she was now always talking to someone. She was still at the center of the circle, but the diameter of the circle has shrunk considerably.

I, on the other hand, have not changed at all. I was not even involved in the planning of the proposal, so I was completely on the bottom of the heap. Until a few minutes ago, I was doing some minor work with my only friend in the class──Sasakura Sakuma──but he went to get the duct tape and now I was left all alone.

I absentmindedly looked around the classroom. Our class exhibit was a haunted house. A group of girls was happily cutting out some frightening decorations. Another group was holding a video camera that seemed to belong to them, and they were discussing the settings. And from the hallway, a nude child was staring at me.

Eh? —A nude kid?

I pulled the can out of my chest pocket, popped a grape candy in my mouth, and blinked a few times. When I looked down the hallway again, the child was no longer there.

“No, my eyes must have played tricks on me.”

Common sense told me that there was no way a nude child could enter a high school, let alone a school building. Most likely, I must have mistakenly seen a doll made by some other class. Maybe I was tired. As I let out a sigh and tried to take a deep breath, my classmate Kuroiwa Aika tapped me on the shoulder.

“Somehow, Yuuno has really gotten settled in.”

The expression on her face was not her usual cerebral one, but there was something melancholy about it. She looked restless, fiddling with her golden ponytail with her fingers.

“You look lonely.”

“No. …Not at all. I don’t care one bit that Yuno was no longer just my Yuno, I definitely, don’t mind.”

“No, it seems like you care a lot.”

When I pointed it out, Kuroiwa looked at me silently and sullenly. Unable to bear the gaze, I turned toward the classroom and caught sight of Aogashima-san, who seemed to be pondering something.

“But it’s great, isn’t it? She ran for the committee, did her job well, and worked so hard in class.”

“I agree. I’m glad to hear that too, Yuno seemed to be having a lot of fun.”

“Really? Her expression hasn’t changed that much.”

“I can tell. She is happy. She said she was glad she tried so hard. …So I’m grateful to you, too.”

“Aogashima-san said the same thing to me, but really I didn’t do anything.”

She did her best because it was undeniably her own choice. But then, next to me, after a short pause, I heard an exhale of exasperation.

‘Hmmm. Well, that’s fine. …So, how are you and Yuuno doing these days…?”

It was probably a casual question. Kuroiwa had asked me this question many times, and each time I had vaguely misinterpreted it by saying that we were building a good relationship, or that we were getting along well. It was a critical hit for me now, and I was at a loss for words.

“Ah…I turned her down…yesterday.”

Dung. Kuroiwa heard my awkward answer and stiffened as if time has stopped. Then, after about five blinks.

“W-Whattttt!? What are you doing, what are you doing really stupid, worst, Otankonas!　The type of fall eggplant you can feed to your wife! Now burn it to ashes as a roasted eggplant!” [TLN: Otankonas = Basically Swearing.]

“Hey, you’re talking too loud.”

In response to Kuroiwa’s loud voice, many eyes in the class gathered. Aogashima-san also glanced at me, but quickly returned her gaze to her smartphone. She must have guessed what the conversation was about.

“…Now that I think about it, maybe it’s more convenient for you.”

I told Kuroiwa in a whisper, peering around us. Kuroiwa loves Aogashima-san, which meant that I, who Aogashima-san love, was a roadblock in her love life. Kuroiwa then grabbed me by the chest and said, “Yes, but you know what?”

“I did tell you that if you make Yuno cry, you won’t get off easy!”

“…Sorry about that.”

What was I apologizing for? And Kuroiwa, too, looked away as if she was troubled, even though she had lost her temper herself. Her position as Aogashima-san’s best friend and her unrequited love for her must have brought her conflicted feelings.

“Stupid Shirase. Ramen, drink, now.”

“Eh? But it’s only ten in the morning—”

“Guys, Kuroiwa and stupid Shirase are talking a lunch break now~”

Ignoring me, Kuroiwa stood up, stretching, and made a big show of appealing to the crowd to skip in the middle of the day.

“Wait, wait, it’s too soon! I’m not hungry at all!”

“What? You think it would be worse to go out for ramen with me?”

“It’s the second time that you are being so unreasonable!”

Kuroiwa showed no sign of caring about me; on the contrary, she jokingly entangled her arms around me and forcibly pulled me along.

Seeing me being hauled away, Aogashima-san waved at her waist with a blank expression on her face. It was a hidden greeting between us that has occurred spontaneously over the past month. I was as surprised as usual, and after a little hesitation, I returned the apology by folding my elbows.

What should I do in the future with our apparently unchanged relationship? I still couldn’t give an answer to that question.

“—Hehhh, so Shirase is saying that you don’t know the reason why you fell in love with this Nagisa-chan, who is just out of the blue, while Yuno, who loved you so much, was left out?”

“There’s something really threatening about the choice of words, but, well…that’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

Tilting her head in response to my reply, Kuroiwa swirled the pork bone broth with a lentil.

“Hmm. I mean, isn’t it okay if you don’t have a reason for liking someone in the first place? What’s important is the result of liking the other person. With what you said, then most couples wouldn’t be able to be together, right?”

Kuroiwa has a valid point. Not many people would try to logically grasp every single movement of their emotions. Still, our relationship needed that logic.

“…Nagisa would be worried if she didn’t know the reason.

“Why would she be worried?”

“Why…I love Nagisa, but I had to have my feelings be convincing for her.”

“Hmmm. Well, I understand what Shirase is trying to say. You want episodes that are easy to understand, like in a manga. You know, that one. The kind of guy who panics when he sees an abandoned cat soaking in the rain and gently held an umbrella over it.”

Easy-to-understand reasoning. A special process, like a marker painted on or a sticky note. Who was all that for?

“Well, sort of. …So I just wanted to hear from you. How did Kuroiwa fall in love with Aogashima-san?”

As I asked, I filled two empty cups with water from the pitcher on the tabletop. Kuroiwa immediately drank her share.

“It was love at first sight for me. As you know, Yuno is really cute. So when we were in the same class in our first year, I was stunned when I saw her. I thought, ‘Ah, she was the person I was destined to be with.'”

Kuroiwa propped her elbows on the table and smiled innocently with a slight blush on her face as if reminiscing about those days.

“When I was in middle school, I didn’t know anything about that kind of thing. Whenever I had talked about love, it was always awkward. Once I had mentioned the name of a good-looking senior, and he told me later that he was in love with me, he probably heard it from a rumor that was getting out of hand. That was a real pain.”

Sighing, Kuroiwa added more water and drank it in one gulp. She slammed the empty glass down roughly on the table. She looked like a working man complaining with a beer in his hand.

“That’s one of the things that, oddly enough, made me feel at ease. I felt relieved that I too could fall in love with someone. I wanted to get to know Yuno, so I talked to her a lot. Even though Yuno didn’t open up to me as if she were a wounded cat, I was persistent. I thought, ‘I’m never going to give up.'”

“Heh, that’s kind of surprising. I thought you two were close from the beginning.”

I had always taken it for granted that the two of them would always be together, so I couldn’t imagine a situation like the one Kuroiwa described at all. But Kuroiwa shook her head.

“When she first entered the school, Yuno was really, really amazing. People would come to her because of her looks, right? But Yuno consistently kept them away by saying, ‘Don’t talk to me,’ ‘I’m not interested,’ or some other abnormally blunt response, you know? Isn’t that bad?”

I nodded, and responded, “Ah, that.” That goes along with what Aogashima-san told me this morning. I had no idea that she was trying to be alone that radically.

“…So how did you become good friends with Aogashima-san?”

Perhaps my question came as a surprise to Kuroiwa, who tilted her head and said, “Eh?”

“Eh, no way. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. That’s the most important part, isn’t it?”

“Eh, really? Isn’t that part not good? What’s important is the relationship we have now.”

Kuroiwa said it in a so matter-of-factly way. I lost my will to respond.

“Ah. …But maybe that’s when I really fell in love with Yuno.”

Kuroiwa muttered in a small voice as if tracing a dim memory. I quickly took a listening posture, but in the end, she never continued, saying, “Hmm~, what was it?”

“It’s a precious memory, but you don’t remember it?”

“Ha? What? You have a problem with that?”

Kuroiwa stared at me with squinted eyes and gulped down the soup directly from the bowl.

“…No, my bad. Just because it’s important doesn’t mean one would remember it perfectly.”

“Yeah. I’ve got all the important things engraved in my soul, that’s all right.”

Kuroiwa slapped herself on the chest and strode out of the restaurant, leaving me behind. I followed her through the door and saw that the sun was much brighter than it had been in the morning.

“Hey, Shirase. I confessed my feelings to Yuno last week.”

Kuroiwa’s expression was obscured by the light, but the tone of her voice was trembling. I don’t need to ask about the result. So, I was a little lost as to how I should put it.

“So…umm.”

“She rejected me. We concluded that we would continue to be best friends as ever. Yuno had already noticed my feelings for her, but she didn’t want to ruin our current relationship, so she pretended she didn’t know.”

“…I see.”

I had a feeling, thinly veiled, that this was the case. Aogashima-san maintained a distance from Kuroiwa to avoid excessive contact.

“I was so happy when I heard that. The fact that she knew about and still chose to be next to me.”

Walking up next to her, I could finally read Kuroiwa’s expression. Contrary to my expectations — She looked bright. Maybe that was why. Something occurred to me.

“You’re not bitter about it?”

“Not at all. I have no intention of giving up. It’s a step forward for me to be able to tell her how I feel. My fight starts from here.”

Kuroiwa raised her first into the air and smiled.

“In that case, if you had to choose between being best friends or lovers, what would you choose?”

“…Heh?”

“You want to be more than just friends with Aogashima-san — But now that she wanted to keep her distance from you to maintain this current relationship and you had to not show her any affection, what would you do?”

I knew it was a mean question. But I really wanted to know Kuroiwa’s answer — or rather, her thoughts. I, too, could not decide what to do about my relationship with Aogashima-san. Should I push her away or stay the same? But neither of them seemed right.

“Eh…Eh~? W-Wait a minute, Shirase. That’s an ultimate choice.”

Stopping in her tracks, Kuroiwa held her head, meditated, and shook her ponytail. Just as I was about to pull back to see her growl, and tell her not to worry about it.

When I was about to pull back, something slammed into my back.

The impact sent me staggering, and I took a wobbly step or two to catch my balance.

“I-I’m so sorry!”

I heard a voice and turned around to see a boy falling on his butt. He must be an…elementary school student, or perhaps a middle school student. It seemed that we had bumped into each other.

“No, it was our fault for stopping in the middle of the road like this. Are you okay?”

I bent down a little and quickly extended my hand to the boy. But at the same time, the boy also extended his hand and pointed at me clearly. For some reason, his eyes widen in surprise.

“Ah ────! You, aren’t you Shirase Suguru!?”

I was surprised to have my name suddenly shouted out in front of me. Who was this boy? How does he know about me?

Kuroiwa asked, “Do you know each other?” and looked at me. I tilted my head. I wondered if I have saw him before. Relative…Nope. I observed the boy as he stood up and flapped his trousers. He was slightly taller than Nagisa. His face, filled with some kind of hostility toward me, was still quite young. I don’t recognize his hanging eyes as he glares at me.

“Eh? No, umm…have we met somewhere?”

But ignoring my question, the boy dared to point, this time at Kuroiwa.

“Then, could that one possibly be Shirase’s girlfriend?”

The air, which should have been hot and humid, instantly froze. Oops, this was a bad turn of events.

“…What? What did you just say? Hey, me and Shirase? Why would I date this crazy guy? Where’s your rationale? What’s the reason? What makes you think that Depending on your answer, you might have to pay a price!

The three words missing in Kuroiwa Aika’s dictionary, take it easy. Her relentless, terrifying presence had the power to make even the most undisciplined dog realize that it had picked the wrong person with whom to fight.

“Ah, u-umm…”

The boy took a small step back, his shoulders shaking. A shallow breathing sound could be heard from his gaping mouth. Kuroiwa smiled at him as if she had found a toy.

“Kuroiwa. Stop that, he’s just a kid.”

“I’m not a kid! I’m in middle school now!”

The boy should have run away while I was stopping Gen’iwa, but he showed mysterious strength and confronted me. Ohh, how foolish.

“Eh, I see. So you’re an adult now, huh? So you’re used to this kind of thing?”

Nicely done. With a mischievous smile on her face, Kuroiwa bent down to the same level as the boy and grabbed his wrist firmly, trying to bring it closer to her chest.

“Hey, stop it, Kuroiwa–”

“Ah, ahhhhhh, ahhhhhhhhh—”

The sudden sexual harassment made the boy’s eyes freeze and his face turn red as if he had just been boiled, and he managed to pull his entire body away from Kuroiwa vigorously before any decisive contact could occur.

“I’ll r-r-remember this! That l-lascivious girl! And Shirase Suguru!”

With his index finger pointing at me and shaking, he slowly backed away as if he were running from a bear, and when he had enough distance between us… he dashed away!

I muttered to myself as I watched his back getting further and further away from me.

“…What was that all about?”

“Who knows? For all intents and purposes, he’s someone you know.”

“No, I don’t think I know anyone like that.”

No matter how many times I turned my memory upside down, I had never seen that face before, and I had never interacted with a kid younger than me. I don’t even remember doing anything to warrant a glare like that.

“Well, whatever it was, I fought it off, so you should be grateful, right?”

“No, that was a no-no…”

I unconsciously turned my gaze to Kuroiwa’s chest. I hope the boy was not traumatized.

“What? What are you looking at? I’m not going to give you a rub.”

“…I don’t want to be a part of this.”