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Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2 Chapter5

2012-09-16T00:34:59Z

66.233.27.191: /* Chapter 5 */

===Chapter 5===

The summer holidays were finally here.

Another name for the summer holidays is the studying-at-home time from the end of July all the way into August.

Although it's a long holiday, but since I won't be doing anything special during the holidays, it doesn't really affect me.

I'll be wasting time at home like a Koala Bear, or I'll be ordered around to run errands for Ruko, or I would be dragged around all over the place by Nobunaga. Such normal, boring days continued to go by until it was already the thirty-first of August when I looked at the calender. Which is why summer holidays is merely a cummulation of weekend holidays to me.

...This was what I had thought until last year's summer holidays.

This year's summer holidays was a little different.

Because for the whole of August, I was assailed by all kinds of sudden situations, making my originally boring summer holidays into one that was fresh and exciting.

And the reason? There can only be one reason.

For me, there is only one difference between this year's summer holidays and last year's.

That is, I got to know Haruka.

Nogizaka Haruka.

She's pretty and extremely clever at the same time, and has a fan club whose members number in the hundreds, is nicknamed the 'Nuit étoile', and she also happens to be the daughter of a rich family.

That someone as amazing as Haruka would actually be friends with an average joe like me, was solely because of the incident that happened four months ago. Ever since I came to know of Haruka's secret, the relationship between us has become deeper and more complicated. In these four months, many things have happened regarding Haruka's secret, and also the people that we've come into contact with. Notable incidents include the 'The incident where half of the school libarary was destroyed', 'Our first shopping trip', 'Studying at the Nogizaka residence', and the 'Exposed magazine incident'. Every exciting thing that I never had the chance to experience seemed to be queueing up for me to experience ever since that incident four months ago.

Ever since I got to know Haruka, the boring days of my life have indeed changed rather drastically.

And also...

'Change' seems to be the word of the season for the summer holidays.

The first monday of August.

The Cicadas outside my home were singing as thought their lives depended on it, so much so that it was more of a 'Cicada Storm' than a 'Cicada rain'. To be honest, I really felt like running out of my house to spray the garden hose at those pesky little insects whose singing was preventing me from sleeping. This year's summer was unbearably hot.

I spread myself on the sofa as I watched television.

"Yawn..."

I'm bored.

This must be how the rich madames who are so bored that they spend most of the day fussing over their pets feel.

It has already been two weeks since the summer holidays started. Apart from the trip to Haruka's house on the first day of the holidays, I haven't done anything interesting for the rest of the two weeks.

As for my recent activities, they basically revolve around being dragged around by Nobunaga, the person whom I practically grew up with to buy games, manga, Dvds...That's weird, why does all my summer holiday activities involve Nobunaga?

Summer holidays shouldn't be like this right?

Shouldn't the summer holidays be about exciting, youthful events such as going to the beach with girls, attending festivals and watching fireworks?

I really thought so, but all talk and no action obviously isn't going to get me anywhere.

Which is the reason why I spend eighty percent of my summer holidays being dragged around by Nobunaha, doing household chorse and taking care of my family's pet turtle (named BIG CAMERA after a certain famous turtle-like monster in a famous Japanese movie), it's kind of sad to be saying this about my own life, but my life is really boring...Haruka hasn't contacted me ever since I went over to her house either. But I'm probably reading to much into it, since Haruka is the 'Nuit étoile', the daughter of a rich family with both brains and beauty in abundance. Even if it's summer holidays, she's probably too busy to have time to contact me.

"Yawn..."

I yawned again.

Compared to the sauna-like conditions outside, the air-conditioned living room seemed like heaven.

As per normal, the television stations had arranged for some programme about unbelievable phenomenon at night again, as the middle-aged host spewed saliva all over the screen as he talked about the possiblity of UFOs.

"--It has also been said that in America, anyone who comes into contact with an alien will be visited by a group of special agents and have their memories wiped almost immediately--"

And at that very moment...

Cluck Cluck Cluck~~Cluck Cluck Cluck~~

A strange clucking suddenly sounded in the entrance hallway.

It was something that never feels to make you feel stupid.

...Although it's embarrassing to admit it, but that's the sound of my home's doorbell. My sister had ordered me to change the doorbell after she had the idea that 'I'm sick of this generic-sounding doorbell, let's have the sound of a foreign chicken clucking'...I really don't know what she has in that head of hers! And also, if she really wanted to change the doorbell, shouldn't she have done it herself?

But then again, now is not the time to be talking about family gossip.

Because I'm the only one at home right now.

Because my parents are busy with work, they rarely spend time at home. And the person who forced me to change the doorbell had run off to a certain music teacher's place in the morning.

Cluck cluck cluck! Cluck cluck cluck!

Which is why I have to shoulder the responsibility of answering the doorbell. Of course, I could just ignore the person if it's a salesman, but it could be a delivery, so I have to go take a look.

Cluck cluck cluck! Cluck cluck cluck!

Just when I was thinking about whether I should get up to answer the door, the stupid-sounding doorbell sounded again. Ah! It's really irritating! Fine, I'll go open the door now! Please stop pressing the doorbell!

To achieve my goal of walking towards the entrance hallway, I slowly got up from the sofa like a polar bear who've had too much to eat.

Bang!

The door to my living room suddenly burst open.

"Ah...!?"

I was completely stunned as I watched my living room door fly right into my television before falling down on the ground.

"Good afternoon! You must be Ayase Yuuto-sama right?"

Following the cheerful voice, a...shades-wearing maid (her normal appearance) appeared at the gaping hole that was once my living room door. She also happened to be holding a huge hammer in her hands.

"Looks like you've been obediently waiting at home~Nanami's here to pick you up!"

"..."

"I rang the doorbell a lot of times but no one answered the door, so I had no choice but to open it a little roughly!"

A little roughly...How can that be 'a little roughly'! You blew my door off its hinges!

The maid-san (wearing sunglasses) looked at me.

"Hmm...You should know why I'm here right? I apologize for any inconvienience caused, but I'm here to fetch you."

"...Why are you here?"

What on earth is going on? Even though I know that my memory's as good as a chicken's, but I can unequivocally confirm that I do not know why a maid-san (wearing sunglasses) whom I have never seen before would break into my living room like this. And to make matters worse, this maid-san hasn't said a word at all about tearing my door off its hinges.

Looking at my reaction, the maid-san (wearing sunglasses) slanted her head slightly as though she couldn't understand why I was acting like this.

"Ah, this isn't how I expected you to react, did something go wrong? Oh well. Because we're on a tight schedule, you have to come with me right now!"

The maid-san (wearing sunglasses) snapped her fingers, summoning two dark figures from her sides. Black dresses with white aprons...They're maids too...something which really shocked me. In the next moment, the two maids stepped forward and propped my entire body up into the air. I don't know what grappling technique they used, but I was completely unable to resist.

"The tar...target has been apprehended! Na...Nanami-san, what do we do now?"

A long-haired, shy-looking bespectacled maid-san (A), asked the first maid-san (wearing sunglasses).

"Hmm...Send him to the car politely."

"Un...Understood."

"Yuuto-sama, we're sorry for the inconvenience."

The other maid-san (B), who had her hair in a ponytail, expressed their apology before moving me away like a piece of luggage.

What is going on? A kidnapping? They can't be MIB can they?

Just like that, I was brought (carried) to a--

--Black Rolls Royce.

This car probably cost more than a hundred times as much as the one that Ruko drives. This would also probably be the top of the list of cars that you would want to scratch with a 10 yen coin (my own rankings).

"Please get in!"

The maid-san (wearing sunglasses) opened the shiny black door of the Rolls Royce and bundled me into the car without waiting for my reply. Just as I fell into the interior of the car, the Rolls Royce started to move off with a light rumble of its exhaust.

It only took three minutes for the maid-san to break into my living room and bundle me into the car.

Such kidnapping efficiency was extremely frightening.

"What is..."

I was unable to comprehend the situation that I was in.

"Onii-chan, good afternoon~~"

Suddenly, someone started speaking to me.

"It's been almost a month since we last met. How have you been?"

This slightly muffled voice was very familiar.

I looked back and saw--

"Mi..Mika?"

The second daughter of the Nogizaka family winked at me as she giggled.

"Hmm? What's wrong? Why do you look like a priest who has just seen Count Dracula walking around in broad daylight? Hmm..I know that you're really happy at seeing cute Mika, but don't you think this is a little too much?"

"..."

---Why is Mika here?

Mika completely ignored how I was still struggling to comprehend the situation I was in as she continued to talk.

"I've heard all about it! I know all about how you were alone in onee-chan's room when I was hunting in Nara, and how the two of you had a really good atmosphere going on. Ah! Onii-chan is really~good at this!"

"..."

"Looks like the day that you'll officially become my brother-in-law isn't far off! Ah, right, this is a present I got you from Nara."

Mika stuffed a bag of Nara's famous Shika Sembei into my lap...Shika Sembei? (TL note: Shika Sembei are deer crackers that tourists in Nara buy to feed deers)

"Hmm..Onii-chan, shouldn't you thank the person whom you've just received a present from?"

"...Ah? Ri...Right, Thank--Hang on, that's not the point!"

I managed to recovered in time to avoid falling into Mika's trap.

I finally realized that Mika was the chief perpetrator of this kidnapping (including the illegal break-in and destruction of personal property). How could she even expect to appease me with a bag of Shika Sembei after she sent her maid-sans to kidnap me from my own living room!

But there was no hint of guilt in Mika's gleeful expression.

"Hmm? Do you really need to be so excited? I never knew that a single bag of Shika Sembei could make you shout for joy! Hmm...I was trying to decide if it'll be better to buy Yatsuhashi instead for close to an hour. Looks like I made the right decision in the end!"

"...I think that you should have just bought Yatsuhashi instead."

Something like that shouldn't take more than three seconds to decide.

"Is that right...But Shika Sembei tastes really good too!"

"That's not he point...Wait a minute, please don't tell me you've already tried eating it?"

"Yes, because it looked really tasty."

Mika beamed with happiness as she confirmed my worst fears

I suddenly had a mental image of Mika fighting for Shika Sembei together with a herd of deer in a random park in Nara...Which part of that forms an image befitting that of a daughter from a rich family?

Ugh, looks like I'm going off topic again. That wasn't the question that I wanted to ask.

"Why did you suddenly do something like this?"

"Like this?"

"This kidnapping..."

Objectively, this really did look like a kidnapping.

Mika seemed to find my question really strange, as she answered,

"Hmm...I don't what onii-chan's talking about, I'm just here to pick you up so that we can go attend onee-chan's piano competition together!"

"Piano competition?"

A piano competition that Haruka's taking part in?

"That's right. I'm sure Oni-chan would want to go support Onee-chan as well right?"

"Ah..."

So Haruka's going to take part in a piano competition! If I had known that Haruka was going to take part in a piano competition, I would surely put down everything I have to do to go and support her.

In short, there wasn't any problem with going to support Haruka, but...

The only problem was that...I only knew about it here (in the Rolls Royce), and now (on the afternoon of the competition), which is a little too sudden, even for me. Shouldn't I have been informed about this at least three days in advance?

Mika puffed up her cheeks in response to my complaints as she looked a little surprised.

"Hmm? But I did! If I remember correctly.....I should have called your house the day before yesterday because Onee-chan was too busy."

"The day before yesterday?"

I should have been out with Nobunaga in Akihabara looking for something called the 'Shy Triangle Second Season Limited Edition Catgirl Figurine First Episode DVD' (This name's really long...) the day before yesterday.

"Yes, but because Oni-chan wasn't home, Oni-chan's sister took the call, so I asked her to pass the message that 'Onee-chan's going to take part in a piano competition the day after tomorrow, so we'll come and pick you up at noon~'"

"...My sister?"

"Yes, she speaks like a samurai."

"...That's definitely Ruko."

But even though I've seen her yesterday night and this morning, Ruko didn't mention anything like that. The whiteboard in the kitchen that's supposed to hold reminders was also blank--

Ding ding ding~

At that very moment, 'The Ride of the Valkyries' sounded on my handphone, and the contents of the message was--

"I just remembered that someone's coming to pick you up today."

This...is too late!

I had the urge to throw my handphone onto the ground. That stupid sister of mine!

And that sister still doesn't know the person who called. She's worse than a kindergarden kid at taking calls. But...how did someone like her become the secretary to the president of a large corporation? Is the industry that short of manpower?

That wasn't the worst part of the message.

"PS:I want to eat crab hotpot tonight, and it better be Matsuba crab. Because Yukari's coming, so you have to get everything ready by seven o'clock."

This really riled me up. It's the middle of summer! How does she expect me to get crabs?

Seeing how I was shaking from anger, Mika could only say,

"Ah...Oni-chan leads such a hard life..."

I've been pitied by a middle school kid. And the expression on her face really gives the impression that she's looking at something really pitiful. Sob...

"Well, let's put that aside first."

Mika mimed pushing an object aside.

"In any case, we're going to Onee-chan's piano concert now, right?"

"...Right."

That's right, there's no use wallowing in self-pity. Since everything ended well, I guess I'll just forgive my sister.

...To be honest, if I don't think like that, I won't be able to take it.

15 minutes after I was bundled into the Rolls Royce.

"--Speaking of which, who's this?"

I looked at the cheerful maid-san who was sitting beside Mika, who also happened to be one of the perpetrators of my kidnapping.

"Ah, that's right, Oni-chan hasn't met Nanami-san before right?"

Mika clapped her hands together lightly.

"Nanami-san?"

Right, she did introduce herself just now, but because the only maids that I've ever seen are the cat-eared maids in Akihabara and the quiet head maid of the Nogizaka family, I didn't know who she was.

"Hmm...She's Nanashiro Nanami--"

"Ah, perhaps I should introduce myself again...Ayase Yuuto-sama, let me introduce myself. I am Nanashiro Nanami, and I am the third-ranked maid in the Nogizaka family."

This maid-san didn't care that the car was still moving as she twirled around with the folds of her maid costume billowing out around her before bowing...Eh? Maid rankings?

"I always hear Haruka-sama, Mika-sama and Hazuki-san talk about Yuuto-sama."

The maid-san said as she giggled. What have the three of them been talking about me? To be honest, I was quite interested in that.

"Nanami-san usually acts as Hazuki-san's second in command. She's also one of the more experienced maids in the family, as she has been with us for a long time. Hazuki-san went out with Onee-chan yesterday, so Nanami-san's here with me."

Mika paitently explained.

Even though she looks a little careless, but she seems to be quite the character.

"We'll be seeing each other quite often from now on, so you can relax. Just call me Nana-chan."

"...Please take good care of me Nanami-san."

It's impossible for me to address a girl who isn't much older than myself with a '-chan'. Even when I'm referring to a certain music teacher, I would still add a '-sensei' after her name.

"Hmm...Yuuto-sama, you're a stubborn one! It's good to stick to your principles, but if you don't maintain a certain level of flexibility, you won't have any luck with the girls!"

She smiled teasingly.

I could feel that Nanami-san was an extremely friendly maid-san, the completely opposite of the head maid, whose facial expression wouldn't change even if she was spraying bullets around while robbing a bank.

"Oni-chan, you're too serious about things! Although that's not a bad thing...Ah, let's eat some Shika Sembei! We seem to be quite a distance away from our destination, is there anything to drink?"

"Yes there is, everything from sugared water to Romanee Conti."

Sugared water? Who's going to drink sugared water? And the main problem is, is Mika really going to eat the Shika Sembei?

"Then I guess I'll have some Coke. Because the Shika Sembei's more on the salty side, so a sweeter drink should go down well."

"No problem."

...She really does look as if she's going to eat the Shika Sembei.

"What about Oni-chan?"

"...I just want some tea."

I'm definitely not touching the Shika Sembei.

And just like that, the three of us passed some time that had Shika Sembei as the main dish.

"--Ah, speaking of which..."

"Hmm?"

I suddenly remembered something, as I whispered to Mika,

"...Does Nanami-san know about Haruka's hobby?"

I suddenly thought about Haruka's hobby.

'That thing', which also happened to be how I got know Haruka, was something that most people would never think of when looking at Haruka. I had to know if Nanami-san was in on this secret before deciding on how to interact with her.

This was also the reason why I was asking Mika in such a serious tone. However...

"Yes, she knows about it."

Mika nodded her head lightly before turning to Nanami-san,

"Right, Nanami-san?"

"Hmm? About what?"

"About Onee-chan's secret hobby."

"Ah, right, I know all about it."

Nanami-san nodded her head vigourously.

"Hee hee, Haruka-sama's really cute!"

"To be honest, it's impossible for Onee-chan not to be found out. Even grandpa knows about it. I should think that everyone who works in the house knows about her secret hobby. Father and mother should be the only ones who haven't noticed it...Although Onee-chan still think that she has a well-hidden secret."

...I see. Once I thought about it, Mika was right. Even though Haruka wants to hide this from everyone, but because she's doing things that do not contribute to her keeping of the secret, it's no surprise that she's unable to keep her secret a secret (that's a really hard-to-understand sentence there...). It can only be seen as a miracle that she has been able to keep her secret under wraps at school all this while...Looks like I'll have to be more careful so as to prevent Haruka's secret from getting out from now on.

I looked out of the window with a new perspective on the matter.

"Hmm?"

I realized that the Rolls Royce had left the highway while I was busy talking to Mika and Nanami-san.

The Rolls Royce weaved in and out of the traffic as it roared towards its detination with amazing speed.

...Where is it moving towards?

I started to get a bad feeling about this whole thing.

I had thought that the piano competition was going to be held comewhere in the city, but looking at the current situation, I was more inclined to think that the competition was going to be held in another city. If it's really like that, then it'll be quite a stretch to try to get back home within a day. The two hungry puppies (they aren't that cute in real life) will still be at home tonight, so I still hope to be able to get home before dinner.

"Hmm, where is the piano competition going to be held?"

"Eh? Didn't Onee-chan tell you?"

Mika blinked as she happily munched on a piece of Shika Sembei.

The next moment, Mika gave a smile that was almost a carbon copy of how Haruka would smile, as she replied,

"London~"

I would have never thought that I would experience my very first trip overseas, my very first first-class flight experience in home casual wear and a pair of slippers...I really hope that I'm dreaming.

The first-class cabin is a place where even the air is high-class.

Looking over at the other occupants of the cabin, I could only see either well-dressed gentlemen or classy rich ladies. I guess I'm the only one who would dress so casually to take a flight in the first-class cabin. Even the clothes that the rich ladies dog was wearing looked more expensive than the clothes that I was wearing, which made me feel really uncomfortable.

I really didn't feel like I belonged in this place.

"It's alright, I think that Oni-chan's dressing is really unique!

Mika probably saw that I was a little too sad, as she tried to comfort me.

"Really unique?"

"Yes, your style looks really unique, like a French Bulldog in the middle of a crowd of Chiwawas."

That did not make me feel better, how is being a French Bulldog going to make me feel good about myself...

There was another question that I wanted to ask Mika.

Normally, no matter if a person wanted to go overseas for a holiday, or to emigrate to another country, that person would need a passport. As I've never gone overseas before, I don't have a passport.

But for some unknown reason, I was holding a passport in my hands, and it had a photo that I don't remember taking.

Other than the mystery of the passport photo, it would take at least two weeks of red tape to obtain a passport, but...

I asked Nanami-san about it.

"It's a corporate secret."

That was how she replied me. So...What exactly is this corporate secret...

"It's a corporate secret."

"So..."

"It's a corporate secret."

"Just how..."

"It's a corporate secret."

"...I get it."

I guess that's all I'm going to get out of her.

Looks like the maids of the Nogizaka family have an unspeakable grey area.

We landed at London's Heathrow Airport shortly after my conversation with Nanmi-san before going towards London in yet another of the Nogizaka family limousines.

Mika also took the chance to tell me more about London's iconic landmarks as we passed them.

"That's the famous Tower Bridge on River Thames, a certain masked superman got the name for his ultimate attack from here. That's the British Museum, the famous Rosetta Stone is in there. And that's Buckingham Palace..."

"You're really familiar with the city..."

Mika's familiarity with London would embarrass many a tourist guide.

"I'm not that familiar with the city! This is only my eleventh time here!"

Mika replied nonchalantly.

My god! That's about the same number of times I've gone on tourist trips in Japan (including graduation trips)...

"I've been to many other countries too, I've been to Italy fifteen times, France twelve times, Germany nine times, Australia nineteen times...Ah, and thirty seven times to America, also--"

"..."

Mika (fourteen years old) was happily counting off the countries that she had visited.

Well, I guess that's too be expected of a daughter of the Nogizaka family. She's only fourteen, but going to a foreign country is like shopping at the local grocery store to her.

--And speaking of travelling, I still cannot believe that I'm actually here in England.

I thought to myself as I looked at the view outside the limousine. A few hours ago, I would never have imagined that I would be in a limousine, looking out at the very sights that I had only been able to see on television or postcards. Ever since I got to know Haruka, I've been overwhelmed with these new experiences, but I'm enjoying these new experiences.

The piano competition was to be held at Victoria concert hall, situated right in the heart of the city.

The massive concert hall looked more like a palace as it hulked over us.

Just for your information, it took us a grand total of fourteen hours to get here from Japan.

But all these still felt surreal to me...And I guess that was probably...no, definitely because I was still dressed the same way that I would normally dress for a trip to the local convienience store.

"This way please."

We followed Nanami-san into the concert hall.

Even though I was already prepared for how grand the concert hall was from its exterior, I was still caught off-guard but the grandeur of its interior.

Whether it was the high ceiling, or the vast amount of seats in the concert hall, the luxurious renovations, the fluent english that everyone conversed in, or the celebrities and rich people in formal wear, everything had absolutely no connection with me.

We were brought to the most high-profile seat in the concert hall, the vip seats.

"Wow, this is great..."

The vip seats were situated on a balcony on the third storey of the concert hall, overlooking the entire hall.

"Oni-chan, your seat is beside mine."

"Alright."

Mika pointed at a row of three seats that were placed together like what royalty would sit on. I gingerly sat on the luxurious seat as I got a first-hand experience of how soft it was, as though there were ten blankets worth of down feathers in the cushioning.

"If you can't see the stage properly, we also have telescopes.

"I'm alright! What about you, Oni-chan?"

"I don't have any problems either."

Even with my short-sightedness, I could still see the piano on the stage very clearly, these really were the best seats in the concert hall.

"Yuuto-sama, would you like anything to drink?"

I leaned over the railing to look down as Nanami-san asked me a question.

"Hmm? There are drinks provided?"

I was under the impression that pets and food and drink were not allowed in a concert hall like this.

Nanami-san nodded.

"There are. It's not allowed, but because these seats are EXSSS, there's a private bar situated here!"

"E...Executive Triple S?"

"Yes, it's Executive Triple S."

I never knew that there would be a row of seats with such a long name, and I still can't believe that I was sitting on one of these seats.

I looked around the concert hall once more as I waited for the surreal feeling to disappear.

It wouldn't be too much to say that these seats would really be hated by the normal citizens in the standing area.

I probably won't get another chance to sit on such a seat for the rest of my life right? Then I should really enjoy this feeling of being king as much as possible right now. I placed my elbows on the handrests as I crossed my legs proudly. Wow, even the world looks different.

After going milking the moment for all its worth (short-lived happiness)...

I suddenly noticed something.

"Ah, Nanami-san, won't you sit down?"

Actually, I've noticed that this energetic maid-san had been standing beside Mika ever since we came in, with no intention of sitting down.

Hmm, why doesn't she want to sit on such a nice seat?

"It's alright, it's basic manners for a maid to not sit beside her master.

Nanami-san smiled as she replied.

"...Is that right?"

"Yes, that's how it is."

Is it really like that?

To be honest, I really don't recall Hazuki-san ever sitting down in front of Haruka. I see, that's a basic rule of being a maid.

But at the same moment, another question popped into my head.

"--Hmm? But if Nanami-san's not going to sit down, then there's one extra seat right?"

"Eh? Why?"

"Because...Because there are three seats here...Ah, is Haruka coming too?"

"Hmm...I don't think she's coming."

Mika twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she shook her head.

"Onee-chan's taking part in the competition, so she has her own dressing room. Hazuki-san should be with her in the dressing room."

"Then--"

There's a problem with the number of seats?

If Haruka's not coming and Nanami-san's not going to sit down, then two seats will be enough for Mika and me.

But there were three seats.

"..."

I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

It was like how the weather forecast only predicts rainy days correctly...Anyway it was the kind of feeling that's never right about good things, but always right about bad things. And what made this worse was the fact that in my case, this bad feeling had a hundred percent success rate.

"Oh, that's Oto-san's seat."

Mika responded to my question as casually as how she would say 'It's a sunny day today'.

"...Oto-san?"

"Right, our oto-san, which is, OUR FA~THER."

I don't know why she had to repeat it in english, but I still thought about the meaning behind that word. Oto-san...

Oto-san means father, and Mika's father is also Haruka's father, and then Haruka's father is...

--It can't be! That person that Haruka had once talked about...that he's going to be here...

This was something big...At least, now wasn't the time for me to be crossing my legs like a rich man.

"Mika, you're already here?"

Just as I finally realized what situation I was in. A voice sounded behind me.

"Nanami, thank you for your hard work."

It was a voice that was low and powerful.

--This...It can't be...

I turned back stiffly, feeling like a broken down robot, and what I saw was -- A tall, well-built man with piercing eyes, his hair combed back, making it hard to gues his actual age.

"Ah, you must be Ayase! I've heard about you from Hazuki and the others."

This man looked at me with the eyes of a thunder god and offered his muscular hand to me.

"It's good to see you. I am Nogizaka Gentou, Haruka and Mika's father."

Haruka's father was standing right in front of me.

From the direction of the stage, Mika was sitting between her father and me (Nanami-san stood behind her.

Even though I felt lucky that Mika was sitting in the middle, but...I was still very nervous, feeling like I had just walked into the cage of a carnivorous beast with fresh meat in my hands. One wrong step, and I could possibly be a floating corpse in the straits of Dover by this time tomorrow.

That is why the most intelligent thing to do now was to act like a stray dog who has just lost his territory, just quietly...wait for the time to pass! At least with Mika between us, I don't think Haruka's father would point his spear of questioning towards me (hopefully).

However, just as I breathed out in relief at the thought of Mika shielding me--

"Ah, I'll go look for Onee-chan!"

"!?"

--Mika surprised me yet again.

"I'm a little worried about Onee-chan, and since there's still a bit of time to go to the start of the competition, I think I'll make a trip down to the dressin room."

"Then I should go too..."

"Ah, Oni-chan, you should just sit here and rest! You're our guest after all!"

Mika cut me off with a smile before she left her seat, Nanami-san following after her.

Don't...Don't leave me here! You could have at least noticed the awkward atmosphere here...

My soundless cry for help fell on deaf ears.

"Oni-chan, I'll see you in a while!"

"Please take care of yourself!"

And just like that, the two of them disappeared into the other side of the stairway.

"..."

"..."

Of course, the only ones left on the seats were Haruka's father and me.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The atmosphere in the viewing balcony was as heavy as a bear who has fattened up for hibernation.

I felt as though something extremely heavy was pressing down on me.

"..."

"..."

...This...What should I do about this?

I really felt like crying.

I prayed silently to some unknown god in this hellish silence as I wished with all my might for Mika (in such desperate times, even Hazuki-san or Nanami-san will do) to come back.

I don't know how long this situation lasted.

Objectively, I guess it should only have been about five to ten minutes. But to me, it was like eternity.

"...You're Ayase-kun right?"

"Ye...Yes."

Haruka's father started to talk in a serious tone.

"There's something that I would like to talk to you..."

Ring ring ring ring ring!

But just as he was about to continue talking, his phone convieniently (or should I say, inconvieniently?) rang.

"Excuse me, I have to take this call."

Haruka's father put the phone to his ear with an irritated expression on his face.

"--It's me."

He spoke in a low but powerful voice as he talked to the person on the other side of the conversation.

"What? You don't need to ask me about something like that, just do it yourself!"

...Do it?

"Yes, that's right. If it's going to be useful then just strike it off (from the list). Have I not always said that we need only to leave the ones that are useful to us?"

...This...Is he telling the other person to kill the peolple that aren't useful to them?

"You're asking me how you should take care of the remains? Just throw it anywhere you like (in the corner of the warehouse)!"

Throw...Throw it anywhere you like? Is he referring to Tokyo bay?

"--That should be it, don't bother me about this anymore."

Haruka's father breathed out heavily as he kept his cellphone.

"I'm sorry, there seems to be a bit of confusion over in Japan."

"It's...It's alright..."

...Are they fighting over territory? I didn't dare to delve deeper into the problem.

"..."

"..."

We lapsed into an uncomfortable silence once again.

The good thing was that the awkward silence didn't carry on for long.

"---You're Ayase-kun right?"

Haruka's father looked at me with the eyes of an ancient artifact expert who was trying to ascertain whether a certain artifact was real or not.

"Yes...Yes I am."

"There's something that I want to ask you--"

"Oni-chan!"

Haruka's father was once again cut off by a sudden voice.

It was Mika.

When did she come back? She hopped over like a feisty rabbit as she pulled on the sleeve of my shirt,

"Oni-chan, Onee-chan's calling you--Eh? Oto-san, were the two of you talking about something?"

"--No."

Haruka's father shook his head in reply.

"It's nothing...Haruka wants Ayase-kun to go over?"

"That's right! Onee-chan's really nervous about going on stage, but she seems to want to see Oni-chan to help calm herself down. The dressing room's off-limits to outsiders, but Oni-chan won't have a problem...Because you're not an outsider, right~"

Mika looked at me as she spoke suggestively.

"Hee hee hee, because Oni-chan's the only candidate to be my brother-in-law!"

"...Brother-in-law?"

My...My god...It was horrible to be the target of a death-stare from Haruka's father.

"Oni-chan, hurry up! Let's go!"

Mika was literally hugging me as she dragged me from my seat. My waist came into contact with something soft, and the sweet smell of Mika's hair wound it's way into my nostrils...

"..."

And then, Haruka's father's stare became even sharper, as it shot towards me with the force of a railgun.

...Perhaps I won't be in the world of the living anymore tomorrow morning.

Haruka's dressing room was the last one in the corridor that was one floor below the stage.

Under the guidance of Mika and Nanami-san, I immediately saw the familiar expressionless maid-san, who stood outside the door to Haruka's dressing room like a neon sign.

"Hazuki-san, I've brought Yuuto-sama here!"

"...Yuuto-sama, it's been quite a while."

Hazuki-san bowed with her usual expressionless face the moment she saw me coming. Her expressionless face was made even more obvious by the contrast between her and Nanami-san, who was stading beside her. Contrary to her appearance, she's actually quite a nice person.

"It's been quite a while since I saw you too, Hazuki-san. Haruka's looking for me?"

"Yes. Haruka-sama says that no matter what, she wants to see Yuuto-sama before she goes on stage. Haruka-sama seems to be really nervous..."

"Nervous?"

"She's always been like this."

Mika shrugged.
"Onee-chan is the type of person who would think a lot about any kind of activity before doing it. She's the kind of person who would only be able to sleep soundly after making sure that she is prepared for everything that the activity could possibly require. The 'shopping guide' from a while back was also the result of her character, which is why Onee-chan'll always be nervous about such a competition. Even though she doesn't even need to be at her best to win a competition like this."

I understood what Mika was trying to say. In other words, Haruka always puts in her best effort for anything. To put it nicely, you could say that Haruka'll never slack on the job. Even though she seems to be a really smart girl, but in reality, she's rather unflexible when it comes to such things.

"However, Onee-chan seems to be more nervous than usual today. She seems to be thinking more than she usually does about the competition, which makes her even more nervous. But since it's Onee-chan, this competition shouldn't be a problem for her."

Mika nodded as she continued,

"But I really don't understand why Onee-chan's so concerned about this competition."

I don't understand that either. Just what is the reason behind Haruka's abnormal behavious?

No matter what the reason is, the only thing that I can do now is--

"Well then, I guess I'll just go and talk to Haruka to try to get her to relax?"

"Please do."

Hazuki-san nodded her head.

"Then we shall be going back to the third storey first."

"Oni-chan, you're the chosen one!"

"It's so hot in here! I'm so jealous! Somebody lower the temperature in here!"

Mika and Nanami-san teased me simultaneously...I suddenly realized that the two of them were very alike.

"Please don't do anything strange just because the two of you are alone in the room!"

"Because there are cameras in the dressing room!"

How could I do something like that!

Just as I was going to walk into the dressing room while ignoring the exaggerated teasing from Mika and Nanami-san, Hazuki-san called out to me.

"Yuuto-sama."

Hazuki-san bowed deeply to me with a serious expression on her face.

"I leave Haruka-sama in your hands."

"Ah, Yuuto!"

Haruka bounced towards me with the energy of a puppy running towards its mother the moment she saw me.

"Thank you so much for coming all the way to London today."

She clutched my hand tightly.

"Sorry for not contacting you recently, I was extremely busy with piano practise for the competition...I actually have a lot of things I want to talk to you about."

Haruka, whom I had not seen for two weeks, was wearing a white evening gown.

Probably because she was practising on the piano before I came in, Haruka's face was red. Also, for the sake of easier moment of her hands, her evening gown (I heard that it was specially tailored for the competition) did not cover her shoulders, and the front of the gown was designed rather elegantly...Hmm...How should I describe it, it was a little sexy!

My heart started to pump...No, if this goes on, I won't be able to dismiss Mika and Nanami-san's teasing.

"Hmm...Is there something wrong with my appearance?"

Haruka leaned her head to one side as she looked at me.

"No...Nothing's wrong."

I'm the one who's acting strangely.

"?"

"An...Anyway, don't mind me."

I looked away from Haruka to survey her dressing room.

The dressing room was about twenty tatamis in size.

There was a long mirror on the left wall of the room, with a grand piano placed in front of the mirror.

"Wow, that grand piano looks really expensive."

"Hmm? Ah...Yes it is."

The tone with which Haruka replied to my question implied that she probably thought that I just asked a strange question.

Other than the piano, there was also a cupboard and some other cabinets for Haruka to put her personal stuff.

And then, I saw a very familiar object.

It was placed on top of a large stack of music scores. From the direction of the piano keys, it was right in front of the player.

The object was a small figurine of about 10cm in height of a girl with blue hair who held the hem of her dress with the tips of her fingers as she bowed. I remember that this was...

"Ah."

Haruka immediately hid the figurine away after she noticed me looking at it.

"This...This is...I brought it over here as an amulet..."

For some unknown reason, Haruka's face was beet-red.

"That's...That's why...There's no special meaning...No, I can't say that there's no specialy meaning, actually..."

"I know, because you really like this...what was it called...the 'Shy shy pose'? You brought it here because you really like this figurine right?"

"Ah, ye...yes."

This was probably what Haruka always does! It's quite normal for someone to want to have something that they like nearby when they're in such a tense enviroment. This is a personal characteristic, so Haruka really didn't need to explain!

Upon hearing my explanation, Haruka's expression suddenly became very complicated.

"...It's not just that, because you...It...It's nothing"

Haruka shook her head wildly.

"An...Anyway, don't mind this, please don't think about this anymore!"

"Eh? Oh...Alright."

I have no idea why Haruka's so nervous about this.

I sat down on a foldable chair that was placed in a corner of the room.

Haruka was more energetic than I had thought she would be, and she didn't seem to be very nervous. I guess I won't need to worry too much about her right? She should be alright.

--But almost immediately, I realized just how wrong I was.

Five minutes later.

"Ah, hmm, it should be like this..."

Haruka sat in front of the piano as she started to groan like a mangaka who's going to miss a deadline.

"This...this part should be like this..."

Haruka's beautiful fingers wavered uncertainly over the piano keys.

Haruka had began warming up before I came in, but...from what I could see, she didn't seem to be in a very good condition.

Even someone who doesn't know anything about music like me could hear that she was playing some parts of the song wrongly, and furthermore, her movements were extremely stiff, like a metal toy that hasn't been oiled for a long time.

"Eh? Eh? How should this part be? Ah...This..."

Haruka's eyes were completely unfocused as she attempted to find the right keys. Is...this really alright?

"Don't worry, even though Onee-chan's always like this before she goes on stage, she always manages to win the competition."

Even though Mika had said that, but looking at Haruka's current condition, I was extremely worried.

To alleviate Haruka's nervousness, should I tell her a joke? Or perhaps I should imitate a gorrilla (when I was in primary school, Ruko had forced me to do that)? But just as I was trying to decide on the best way to get Haruka to relax...

"I'm sorry, Yuuto-san, but could you get those scores for me?"

"Hmm? These ones?"

"Ah. Yes, all of them.

There were a few books of scores piled up in another corner of the room. As they were all wrapped up in book covers, their titles could not be seen. I grabbed those scores and passed them to Haruka.

"Sorry for making you get it for me.."

Just as Haruka was about to place one of the scores onto the piano stand--

"Ah...Kyaa~"

Haruka suddenly screamed shrilly, sounding like a girl who had just bought a hamster from a friend for 2000 yen, only to find that its actually a rat.

"What...What's wrong?"

"i...I brought the wrong score."

I looked at the music stand on the piano, and saw that the title of the score was 'The Shy Triangle BGM Collection' (There was also a hand-drawn picture of a blue-haired girl whose pose had clearly exceeded the limits of the human body...Hmm...About the drawing, I don't think there's a need for me to elaborate on its origins).

...My god!

Even I could see what had just happened. It was obvious that Haruka had brought the wrong 'music score'.

"What...What should I do?"

Haruka looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"Is it a very bad thing to be without your music score?"

"No...Not really, I've actually memorised it, so there shouldn't be a problem. I'm just a little worried about the introduction of the piece..."

...Looks like it really is a very bad thing to be without the music score!

"...Haruka, what is the title of the music score?"

"Complete Collection of Transcendental Etudes..."

It was the set of epic-sounding pieces that I once seen in Haruka's room.

"I get it, Haruka, wait for me here."

"Eh? Yuuto-san? Where...Where are you going?"

"I'll be right back!"

I rushed out of the dressing room.

I decided to go and discuss the problem with Hazuki-san, Nanami-san and Mika first, as they might have brought an extra set of scores. If they haven't, then I'll go and look for a music shop. Although I don't have much confidence in my english, but...they should understand body language!

I better look for Hazuki-san and the others first.

Hazuki-san had said that she was going back to the vip seats on the third storey, so Mika and Nanami-san should also be there.

I rushed through the corridor to get to the staircase, but just as I turned the corner of the first flight of stairs...

"...Eh?"

A girl wearing an evening gown suddenly entered my field of vision.

I tried to avoid her, but due to the laws of physics, the speed at which I was going dictated that I would be unable to stop in time.

Which means that...

"Ah!"

"Ah!"

I ran straight into the girl, who fell backwards onto the floor, the object that she was holding flying out of her hands.

"It's really painful...You...Why did you suddenly run around the corner!"

The girl sat up as her eyebrows wrinkled in pain.

"It's unbelievable that anyone would run around the corner of the stairwell like that!"

It was exactly what I had just dont...So I should just apologise.

"I'm sorry, I was in a hurry...Ah, no, that's not what I should be saying..."

I only realized that I was in England, not Japan halfway through my apology.

"I...I AM SORRY...HURRY UP..."

"Huh? What do you mean by 'hurry up'?"

"Ah, No...Not that!"

Just for your information, my english standard is grade three. Grade three, out of a possible ten grades.

"Ah! What should I say in a situation like this? HOLD UP...Eh? No, that doesn't sound right either..."

"Yes, that isn't what you should be saying."

"That's what I thought. Then I should...Huh? You're speaking Japanese?"

I suddenly realized that the girl was speaking in Japanese (too late).

"You...You're Japanese? Ah!"

The girl looked at me with a surprised expression on her face.

"Could it be...that you're either a friend or family of Nogizaka-san?"

"Hmm? Yes..."

"Ah, just as I thought. I had guessed that the two of you knew each other after I saw you walk into her dressing room. What's your relationship to her? You can't be her younger brother can you? The two of you don't look alike."

The girl was starting to ramble. Is she...a friend of Haruka?

I asked her about it.

"Ah, no. Because Nogizaka-san's a very famous person, so I know her, but she doesn't know me."

The girl replied.

"Right, I'm Shina. Amamiya Shina. What's your name?"

"Hmm? Me? I'm Ayase Yuuto..."

"I see. Hmm...I guess I can call it fate for the two of us to collide here? Can I call you Yuuto? Please take care of me."

The girl shook her layered short hair as she giggled and offered her hand to me. She's the first person I've meet who calls a person whom she's just met for the first time in her life by his full name. She seems to be a very friendly girl.

"Please take care of me too."

I shook Shina's hand before helping her to her feet. Shina smiled with a satisfied look on her face.

"Shina, are you here to take part in the competition too?"

"Hmm? Of course I am. Why else would I be wearing an evening gown here if I weren't taking part in the competition."

She pulled on the hem of her gown as she mischievously winked to me.

"To be honest, I'm more surprised to see you dressed like this here. There really isn't another person in this concert hall who'll walk around in slippers and casual clothes!"

"There were some inevitable factors behind this..."

I described what I had gone through to Shina (Kidnapping + Straight to the airport + Sitting in first-class + Straight to Victoria Concert Hall).

"Hahaha! You're really funny!"

But all I got for it was such a reaction from Shina...Oh well! I should have expected that.

"Speaking of which, Yuuto, what were you in such a hurry for?"

"Ah!"

I suddenly remembered what I was supposed to be doing after Shina reminded me about it. Now wasn't the time for such casual conversation, I have to find Hazuki-san and the others to solve the problem--

"I'm sorry, but I have to go now...Eh?"

I suddenly realized that this friendly girl was also taking part in the competition. Hmm...Maybe she'll--

"Right, Shina..."

"Hmm?"

Since it had come to this, I decided to give it a try.

Which was why I asked Shina about the score that Haruka needed. And then--

"Yes, I have it, is it this one?"

Shina took out a set of scores from the pile that was scattered around on the floor.

"So you were looking for this?"

"Yes."

"Hmm...Do you want to borrow it from me?"

"Well..."

Shina smiled as she looked at me.

"It's for Nogizaka-san right?"

"Uh..."

We've just met! Is it because she's really intuitive, or is it written all over my face?

Now's not the time to talk about this. I didn't think that she would believe me if I lied, so I just nodded my head. Shina merely looked at me as she said 'I see!' before giving me a knowing smile.

"Alright, I'll lend it to you."

Shina passed the book of scores to me.

"...Is this really alright?"

"Yes, this isn't the piece that I'll be playing for the competition."

"But..."

Shina's taking part in the competition, which makes her one of Haruka's competitors. Normally, I would be a little suspicious of why she would lend her scores to me so easily. But since I was one who asked for her help, I had no reason to be suspicious.

"It's alright, just take it. If I'm unable to win just because I lent a competitor my scores, then it merely shows that I was never good enough to compete."

Shina waved her hand in front of her face.

"And furthermore, it's not everyday that I get the chance to lend my scores to Nogizaka-san."

She spoke as though I was overreacting.

"--Since you've put it like this, then I shall borrow it from you. Thank you very much."

"Haha! No problem!"

Shina giggled as she replied.

This girl was a really good person.

"Thank you once again."

I thanked Shina once more before hurrying back to Haruka's dressing room.

"Ah, Yuuto-san..."

Haruka looked at me, the lonely look in her eyes giving the impression of a bird who has been left behind by its flock. Ah...I shouldn't have left you here by yourself, but I had no other choice!

"Here."

I passed the scores to Haruka, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"What...What is this about?"

"I borrowed it, everything's fine now right?"

"Ye...Yes. But, how did you..."

"Well, it's a long story..."

It's not a good time to tell Haruka that I borrowed the scores from one of her competitors as that would probably make her even more nervous.

"Anyway, don't worry about little things like that?"

"..."

Haruka thought about it for a little before finally nodding her head in agreement.

"...I'll listen to you. I won't think about this for the time being."

"Thank you."

"But to be honest..."

"Hmm?"

Haruka looked at me.

"--Yuuto-san, you're really reliable. You're always here to help me whenever I'm in trouble, just like...a knight in shining armour."

"You...What are you talking about..."

"Hehe!"

Haruka looks so cute when she smiles like that...

No matter what Haruka seems to have relaxed somewhat.

For some time after that, Haruka practiced her piece, practised her stage entrance, and also chatted with me occasionally.

Until there 45 minuties before the beginning of the competition...

"I'm really sorry, but we have to start preparing for the competition. Yuuto-sama, I'm afraid you'll have to go out."

After Hazuki-san made that request, I walked out of the dressing room and sat down on the chair that was closest to the dressing room, flipping through the programme as I waited for Haruka to finish preparing for the competition.

There were eight participants for today's competition, and Haruka would be the fifth one to go on stage. I had thought that there would be more participants....Looks like they've already gone through several preliminary rounds before today's competition.

"That's right, there would surely be more than eight competitors at the beginning of the competition..."

Because this competition isn't on the same level as some random chess competition for kids held at a department store! Just as I confirmed my stupidity once again...

I heard Hazuki-san's voice coming from the dressing room.

"We're ready, Yuuto-sama, you can come in now."

The first thing I saw when I walked back into the dressing room was--

"Ah, Yuu...Yuuto-san."

Haruka in all her competition finery.

Her hair was braided up as a nice scent floated across the room to me. Some accessories had been added onto her white evening gown, and they glittered under the light of the dressing room.

But the most important part was Haruka herself.

The blushing Haruka that I had seen before was also very nice, but...A relaxed Haruka with makeup on was even more stunning.

My heart started to beat with the velocity of a bullet train again. MY HEART! Slow down!

"Haruka-san, I will be waiting outside."

Was Hazuki-san trying to leave Haruka and I alone together?

After Hazuki-san closed the door behind her, the dressing room lapsed into an awkward silence.

"Because I rarely braid my hair, so I don't know how I look..."

"It...It really suits you."

I'm so nervous precisely because Haruka looks really good with her hair braided.

"Re...Really? Hehe, I'm so happy..."

Haruka smiled as she lightly turned her upper body, allowing me to have a better look at her evening gown.

"Look at this, the frontal design of this gown's really interesting, and the design of the back of the gown's really cute too."

Just as Haruka twirled around to show me the back of her gown...

"Ah!"

She stepped on the hem of her long evening gown.

"Kya!"

Haruka spun in mid-air as she was thrown off-balance.

"Haruka!"

I instinctively lunged towards Haruka as she fell towards the ground, managing to catch her just in time.

"Ah, that was close..."

I managed to keep my balance as I breathed out in relief.

"I...I'm sorry."

"As long as you're--"

I didn't get to finish my sentence.

I didn't do this on purpose.

There's a very innocent reason for the current situation.

Me catching Haruka, Haruka getting caught by me, the situation brought about by these two actions was--

"?"

Haruka looked at me with the eyes of a new-born deer before realizing the position she was in.

"Ah!"

Haruka, who was lying in my lap like a princess, immediately lowered her head as she blushed furiously. Because her reaction was so cute, the rate of my heartbeat started to increase again...

"I...I..."

"Ugh..."

The two of us froze.

Ugh...What in the world are we doing?

Half-lying on the ground in such a position, and then suddenly freezing in place like an ancient computer that suddenly hangs after 10 years of usage. One was an average person in casual clothes and slippers, while the other was a dignified lady from a rich family in her stunning concert attire.

Objectively, we must look really weird.

But...

Haruka's face was right in front of my eyes, I suddenly realized that we've never been so close to each other before.

I could clearly feel Haruka's warmth and the softness of her skin, and my nostrils were full of the scent of her hair. I felt as though I could literally hear my own heartbeat pumping furiously. And then, my self-control withered like a slug covered with a think layer of salt...

No, No!

I shook my head violently as I desperately tried to control myself.

--Calm down and think about what I should do!

I thought of three choices in this situation.

1: Pretend that nothing happened, help Haruka up and ask 'Are you alright'?

2: Maintain our current position and wait for time to pass.

3: Hug Haruka.

...Firstly, the third choice is definitely out of the question. If I were to do something like this right before the competition, Haruka would surely be affected by my actions. If something happens to her performance later because of my actions, then I would be a criminal.

Which is why only the first and second choices remained.

The second choice didn't seem very viable to me, while I would already have chosen the first choice if I were smart enough.

--Suddenly, all three choices disappeared.

This is bad.

This is really bad!

...I suddenly realized that something like this always happens the moment I'm alone with Haruka.

I snuck a peek at Haruka.

Haruka hadn't moved at all.

While I was desperately trying to decide on my course of action, Haruka, whose face largely resembled an Italian tomato, continued to lie in my arms.

Only her eyes was looking straight at me--

"...Ah!"

"...Ah!"

For a moment, our eyes met.

Our gazes locked together, the distace between us a mere ten centimetres.

I saw myself, stiff and awkward, reflected in Haruka's large eyes, while a blushing Haruka was reflected from my glasses.

This continued for about ten seconds.

And then, Haruka slowly closed her eyes.

"!?"

...How am I supposed to interpret that action?

If it was any other girl, this action would probably mean 'that' right? But because it's Haruka, the chances of misinterpretation is very high. If I were to act without thinking about the consequences, then that action might result in a lifetime of regret (Haruka screams + Haruka's father appears + I get thrown into the straits of Dover).

But my heart spoke differently.

Under such circumstances, Haruka had no other reason to close her eyes than for 'that'. There were only two of us in the room, time seemed to have stopped, the girl has just closed her eyes. Every single condition had been fufilled. It's not possible that Haruka closed her eyes at this moment because she was sleepy...Which means that it'll be rude for me not to do anything? But...

My god! What should I do!

Could it be...that we'll get to that level today...

After a lifetime (at least, it felt like a lifetime) of internal struggle, my overheating neural system overpowered my weakened self-controlled and plunged towards the third choice--

"I'm very sorry to interrupt such an important moment."

"!?"

A voice that was as calm as the surface of a lake roughly pulled Haruka and I back to reality.

"Ah!"

"Kya!"

I looked back and saw Hazuki-san standing behind us.

"...I'm used to such a reaction already, so I don't think you'll require an explanation."

I really don't like this...How is it possible that this person is always able to appear behind Haruka and I without either of us noticing! She's like an assassin!

Seeing the disappointment etched into my face, Hazuki-san gave me an apologetic look as she said.

"...I'm sorry, I really didn't want to interrupt, it's just that...it's almost time."

"Time?"

"Yes, the third competitor has just finished. Haruka-sama will have to go onstage in a short while, so it'll be better to start preparing backstage..."

Is it that time already? I looked at the clock on the wall, and saw that there was indeed only seven minutes to go until Haruka was scheduled to go onstage.

Objectively, the time that I had just spent with Haruka wasn't as short as I had thought it was.

"Ah, yes, I understand."

Haruka stood up hurridly as she attempted to tidy up her evening gown.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go now..."

"It's alright, I'll be supporting you within the audience."

I prepared to leave the dressing room after saying that, but Haruka stopped me.

"Yu...Yuuto-san."

"Hmm?"

I looked back and saw Haruka with an extremely serious expression on her face."

"Please...Please..."

What is it that's so hard to say? I wondered before Haruka walked to me and held both of my hands tightly in hers.

"Please listen to the song carefully. Because...Today...I'm playing for Yuuto-san."

The only word that could describe Haruka's performance would be that it was brilliant.

To be honest, I was really worried that she would fall down when Haruka walked out from the side of the stage with unsteady steps. But any worries that I had quickly dissipated with the beginning of Haruka's performance.

Even the tone of the piano keys sounded different when Haruka was playing.

The previous competitor, was probably quite a good player too, having progressed through the preliminary rounds, but when compared to Haruka's playing, the previous competitor was like a Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle competing against an African Giant Rhinoceros beetle, looking as though he had wandered into a different weight category. Although it's not a very nice thing to say, I really couldn't believe that Haruka was using the exact same piano as the person before her.

"It was brilliant..."

That serious expression on her face.

Her fingers that flew across the keyboard with the intensity of a tornado.

The uninterrupted string of notes coming from the piano.

I was completely entralled by Haruka's playing.

I was seeing a Haruka that I had never seen before.

Speaking of which, this was the very first time that I've seriously looked at Haruka playing the piano...At this very moment, I felt that I could truly appreciate just how good Haruka was.

The programme clearly stated the three pieces that Haruka was performing.

"Piano Sonata #2 in G (R. Schumann)"

"Mephisto Waltz #2 (F.Liszt)"

"Transcendental Etude No. 4 in D minor, "Mazeppa" (F.Liszt)"

Right now, Haruka was playing her third piece, which was also her last piece for the competition. Everyone's focus was on this piece now that Haruka had played her first two pieces perfectly.

"...Mazeppa?"

That's a really strange name, does it have a special meaning?

"Hmm? Oni-chan, you don't know the story behind it?"

Seeing that I was looking at the programme with a frown, Mika started to explain the origins of the name behind the piece.

"Mazeppa was Russian Cossack hero of who lived in the 17th Century. After his affair with the wife of a high-ranking official in the palace was found out, he was tied to a wild horse and dragged all the way to Ukraine. This story's really famous! Don't you think that this part of the piece sounds like the sound of a horse running at full gallop?"

It really did sound like a horse galloping through the countryside, but...I really couldn't see why he was a hero. From my limited knowledge of his exploits, I think he's quite useless...

Putting the Mazeppa's heroics aside (honestly, I really didn't care about what happened to him in the end), the piece sounded really epic.

It felt as though every note was strong and laden with weight, and even though Haruka had a delicate and small frame, I was really impressed by how she could express the overpowering aura of the piece.

For the length of the piece, the entire concert hall seemed to shake with galloping of a thousand horses.

Although Haruka's third piece wasn't as long as the previous two pieces, but it's impact on the audience was definitely as large as the previous two pieces.

And then--The performance was over.

Haruka gently stood up from the piano as she walked over to the front of the stage to bow to the audience.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience, as shouts of 'Bravo!' filled the concert hall. Many people (actually, most of them) even stood up to give Haruka a standing ovation.

Haruka had a slightly awkward expression, as though she wasn't used to such attention, before walking backstage.

Although her footsteps made me feel that every step was a disaster waiting to happen, I felt absolute confidence emanating from the way Haruka carried herself.

--As expected, Haruka won the competition.

Haruka looked really glamorous as she went onstage to receive her trophy (Even though she almost tripped on the hem of her gown on the way there), like the brightest star lighting up the darkest night.

How should I put it?

Looking at such a glamorous Haruka...My feelings were a little complicated.

"Hmm, of course, this was expected."

Haruka's father looked at the prize presentation on the stage expressionless as he said,

"Haruka could have won such a competition in her sleep...But, please tell Haruka that she did very well."

"I will."

Nanami-san nodded her head. She was like a domesticated Iriomote Cat around Haruka's father, which was a huge contrast from what I've been seeing of her.

"Oto-san, you're not going to see Onee-chan?"

"I would love too, but I don't have the time. I almost late for an appointment with some one from the British Intelligence Agency."

"Hmph, I see."

Mika replied unhappily.

Disregarding the reason for not going to meet Haruka (seriously thinking about it would only make it even scarier), but since you're here, shouldn't you at least meet your daughter before going?

Haruka's father didn't seem to notice my feelings as he quietly stood up and walked towards the exit.

However, he turned around and walked back.

"Ah, I almost forgot...Ayase-kun."

Haruka's father walked back and patted me on the shoulder with one gigantic hand.

"I would like to talk to you alone one of these days."

...About what?

That very night.

At the party organized for the participants, judges and other personnel involved in the competition, held at the hotel that was next to the concert hall.

"Yuuto-san, you have to attend this party."

Obviously I wouldn't turn down Haruka's invitation, but...to be honest, I'm regretting the decision to come.

Of course, one of the reasons was the fact that everyone looked at me strangely (I'm still wearing my casual clothes + slippers combo), but that wasn't the main reason.

I looked towards the liveliest part of the party.

Haruka was there, having changed out of her concert attire to a more formal evening gown.

She was surrounded by people of all ages and gender.

Some of her admirers looked like judges as they twirled their mustaches arond their fingers, there were also middle-aged men who looked like they belonged to the very top of the social ladder, there were gentlemen in tuxedos, foreign middle-aged woman with hairstyles so exaggerated that a parrot could probably build a comfortable nest in it, and also other participants.

They were all talking to Haruka, and Haruka replied to every single one of them with a smile.

I know that this is the attitude that a winner should be adopting.

But looking at Haruka surrounded my her admirers, I felt a little sad. Because that reminded me of the distance between us.

Although I've almost forgotten about this, but Haruka's the daughter of a rich and powerful family, a celebrity among piano enthusiasists, the most popular girl in school with her own fan club, the 'Nuit étoile', and

I...I live in a completely different world from her.

"Sigh..."

I walked out to the balcony that overlooked the Thames River and sighed deeply.

I felt that I had finally acknowledged the 'reality'

Haruka and I were separated by an unseen, unscalable wall.

I had originally thought that the distance between us had shortened through these few months of interaction, but right now, Haruka felt as far away from me as she first did. I felt as though I had merely moved forward by three steps when I was pushed back eighty-one steps.

Perhaps this was the reason why I felt that Haruka was so far away when there was only a glass window separating us.

Suddenly, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind.

"Oh, Hello again."

I looked back to see the friendly, short-haired girl, Shina.

"Wow! This party's great, that middle-aged man is a famous musician from Germany! And that's the famous new-age cassanova from Italy. And that's the..."

Shina told me more about the people who were around Haruka, and as I had expected, they were all famous people. The middle-aged woman who looked like she had a bird's nest for hair was actually known as the 'Queen Mary of the Piano World', looks like you really can't judge a book by its cover.

"As expected, Haruka-san's really too good. Even though hard work is also a very important, but no amount of hard work can make up for a lack of talent. Even though I don't want to admit it, but Haruka-san's on a completely different level."

"No, Shina, you're also..."

"It's alright, you don't have to say anything! You don't need to comfort me like this. It's not like you remember how I played, right?"

"Ugh..."

She was right. Because of Haruka's overwhelming performance, my memories of the other participants' performances have completely disappeared, even the performance of Shina, who had gotten second place, wasn't spared.

"Thank you for caring, but I know that with my current ability, I can't compete with Nogizaka-san."

Shina smiled sadly.

"To be honest, Nogizaka-san's ability is way beyond her age group. I don't think that anyone under the age of twenty, no matter how famous, can be better than her. No wonder they call her the 'Lumière du Clavier'."

In Shina's eyes, Haruka seems to be a very special person. As for the 'Lumière du Clavier'...This is Haruka's second exaggerated nickname that I've heard. But, thinking about it, who's the first one who thought about such a nickname?

"I may not be anywhere near her level of ability. Even though I'm so far away from her, but...I will not admit defeat. It may not be possible now, but perhaps one, two years later, or maybe even later, but one day, my performace will be better than hers."

"Shina..."

At that moment I saw the iron will that was burning in Shina's friendly amber eyes. Looks like both Haruka and Shina were very serious about the piano...

After that, I talked to Shina for a while longer.

"Ah! I have to go now. I still have to talk to my teacher and the judges."

"I see."

Of course, I would have liked her to stay and talk to me for a while longer, but since she has other things to do, I couldn't exactly force her to stay with me.

"Well then, Yuuto, I'll be going now!"

"Ah, right, thank you very much for lending me the scores."

"It was nothing! Goodbye!"

Shina waved at me before disappearing into the crowd.

Alone once again, I looked towards the Thames River that was flowing by under the balcony. In the day, th river was extremely beautiful, but at night, it was just a dark mass of flowing water.

--It's time for me to go back home.

I had looked forward to a party where I could enjoy myself together with Haruka. But Haruka had been surrounded by her admirers since the begninning of the party, depriving me of the chance to even congratulate her, among the other things that I had wanted to tell her.

However, looking at the current situation, I don't think that's possible.

I walked into the ballroom and looked towards Haruka. Right now, a few blonde guys around my age were talking to Haruka--They're probably participants too right? To be honest, I don't remember the faces of any of the participants apart from Haruka and Shina--To me, those guys looked like hungry wolves rounding on a lost rabbit, as they moved towards Haruka with fake smiles on their faces.

One of them even looked like Sasaoka, which made me really angry, but I can't possible grab the ice sculpture of a piano (1/8 the size of the real thing) sitting on the table and throw it at him can I? But since Hazuki-san's beside Haruka, those guys shouldn't dare to do anything strange right? Just when I was (forcibly) persuading myself, preparing to leave the party...

Haruka turned and saw me looking at her.

"Ah!"

Haruka's expression suddenly became really lively as she ran towards me with the speed of a bullet and latched herself onto my arm.

"Hey...Hey!"

"Hehehe!"

Every single human male in the vicinity turned to us, their eyes shooting daggers in my direction. Even though I didn't really understand what they were saying, but I still understood words that were full of violence and hatred like 'F**k!', 'Damn!' and 'Kill!'.

"Yuuto-san, I finally found you!"

Haruka happily looked up at me, completely ignoring (or rather completely oblivious to) the angry mob that had began to gather in our vicinity.

"I've been looking for you since a long time ago. But because there were so many people who were trying to talk to me, I wasn't able to find you..."

Right, Haruka's the famous idol, and she's been surrounded by her hordes of admirers since the beginning of the party.

"I was really nervous, because I didn't know any of them! But...I'm not nervous anymore, not that I've found you."

Haruka smiled happily. Ugh...She's so cute.

I forced down the urge to hug Haruka as I noticed that Haruka had been looking at me as though she had something to say.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Ah, umm..."

"Hmm?"

"Ac...Actually, I have something I want to discuss with you..."

Haruka tiptoed as she straightened her body to whisper into my ear.

"Actually, I saw the a 'Clumsy Girl Aki-chan UK-version' figurine in the shop next to the hotel, and it was really cute...I want to go and buy it now, so if you don't mind, would you go with me? I don't dare to go by myself..."

"...Clum...Clumsy Girl Aki-chan?"

"Yes, and it's the UK-version."

Haruka held her hands together tightly, looking as though she was ready to move out any minute.

"...Haha!"

Looking at the serious expression on Haruka's face, I felt like laughing, but at the same time, I also breathed a sigh of relief.

--That's right, no matter what, Haruka is Haruka.

Although the glamorous person with brilliant piano skills who's always surrounded by a horde of admirers is also Haruka, but right now, the girl whose smile is finally looking like that of a high school student's, her eyes shining with happiness as she talks about a Made-in-England Akihabara figurine is also the real Haruka.

"Eh? Did...Did I say anything wrong?"

Haruka reacted with a confused expression as she blinked. This was the innocent Haruka that I know.

"No, You didn't say anything wrong."

"?"

Haruka became even more confused.

"I don't really understand what's going on...But, let's just..."

"Alright, let's go."

I answered without any hesitation, because I had no reason to reject her.

"Great! Let's go! Now! Now!"

Haruka dragged me towards the exit as she squealed like a little kid, but I stopped her.

"But before we go, I want to tell you something."

"Hmm? What is it?"

Haruka leaned her head to one side like a young bird.

No matter what, this was something that I have to tell her.

"Right--Haruka, congratulations on winning the competition."

Haruka reacted with a blank expression at first, but then she grinned at me while nodding furiously as she understood what I had just said.

"Than...Thank you!"

Haruka's smile was like a flower in full bloom.

--Even though many things have happened today, but as long as I get to see Haruka's smile, everything has been worth it.

I think...that this should be the end of today's events.

Even though I have the feeling that I'm forgetting something.

A strange feeling was tingling in my mind.

Hmm--

But no matter how much I tried, I couldn't remember what I was forgetting.

...Oh well, since I can't remember anything, then it shouldn't be anything important!

"Yuuto-san! Hurry up! If we don't hurry up, it's going to be sold out!"

"Alright, let's go."

Because of Haruka's incessant hurrying, I stopped trying to remember what I was forgetting to follow Haruka out of the hotel.

Twenty-six hours later.

"Sob...My crabs...Are my Matsuba crabs ready yet..."

"...We're starving to death...Yuu-chan..."

Returning home (the strange thing was, the door and television that had previously been broken were miraculously fixed by the time I got home), I found two young ladies (Occupation: Secretary and teacher) who weren't able to cook for themselves lying on the floor of my living room like zombies, before finally remembering what I had forgotten twenty-six hours before.

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|-
| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2_Illustrations|Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2_Chapter6|Chapter 6]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter4

2012-09-16T00:11:42Z

66.233.27.191: /* Chapter 4 */

===Chapter 4===

July.

After the mid-term exams, the entire school was extremely boisterous as the summer holidays would soon be here.
Some students were discussing holiday plans, while there were others who had decided to confess their feelings to someone before the graduation ceremony, and thus was extremely nervous.

Having managed to successfully stave off the threat of holiday classes (I barely scraped through quite a few subjects), I was chatting with the three idiots and a block head (Nobunaga, but subjectively, people probably think of us as the five idiots) as usual during the lunch break.

"It's summer, so we should go to the beach. The crashing waves, the hot sun, the burning sands, and the passionate watermelon-hitting competition. This is how we Japanese people relax......but why are there only guys!"

"You're right. Our second choice is to go into the mountains to get away from the heat, this is how a Japanese summer should be......but we might be attacked by bears!"

"Ah, right. We could go to the nearby park to drink, play, sing and strip through the night, this is the true joy of summer......but we'll probably get arrested!"

Looks like all three of them didn't like summer, which would explain the babbling.

"Speaking of summer, we have to go to Yumei."

Even Nobunaga was starting to babble......Yumei? Is he planning to go to the Kyuushuu Islands?

"Hey, Yuuto, what do you think? Real men should go swimming right?"

Naigai suddenly asked me. Is he trying to drag me down into this as well?

"No, no, no, the UV rays at the beach are too strong, they're not good for health. Camping in the in the mountains full of fresh air is the clever thing to do."

"Don't you think that having a party at the public park is the best choice? We won't need to spend a lot of money too."

"Doujinshi is still the best!"

The four of them turned towards me at the same time...This.....is so boring!

I'm alright with anything, be it climbing up mountains or swimming in oceans (I didn't really understand what Nobunaga was talking about), but there'll be lots of problems if everyone were to go together. Because......No matter where we end up going, I have full confidence in their ability to get into trouble. And the worst part about these holiday proposals is that only guys are involved (in other words, it's not very tempting).

"Ah, I think I'll abstain."

Because no matter which proposal I support, someone will be unhappy, so it'll be better not to say anything.

"You're too much, king of patronizing!"

"I believe that I've warned you about changing this patronizing habit of yours before, you'll get into big trouble one day if you don't change."

"Tsk! Stop being so indecisive!"

"Yuuto, you've always been indecisive, so much so that you take a lifetime to even order your food at a restaurant......"

They were going at it again. But now that I'm used to it, it doesn't bother me.

I slump onto my desk, trying to ignore the four of them.

--Speaking of summer holidays......What will Haruka be doing?

I suddenly started to be very interested about that.

I really do not care about the holiday plans of the three idiots, but on the other hand, I am extremely interested in what Haruka is planning to do for hers.

Haruka's from a rich family, so she'll probably spend her holidays either enjoying life on a southern island or playing sports in Karuizawa right?

I looked over to the other side of the classroom. Haruka was enjoying a cup of tea while reading, her graceful posture giving everyone the image of an elegant Lily. Although the book that she was reading had a luxurious cover that was full of the smell of literature, but ever since that day, I know that what's on the surface may not be the real thing. Please don't drop that cover in front of other people!

Haruka suddenly stopped reading and gazed towards me, our eyes meeting. She blushed with a little embarassment, but still smiled and waved at me. Ah~She's too cute.

If it was possible, I would rather go out with Haruka then to go on some trip with the three idiots......Ah, I seem to be getting too full of myself. Even though we've been rather close these few months, but I don't think we're close enough that she would consent to go out with me during the summer holidays.

Then again, it couldn't hurt to ask...

"Hmm? You're asking whether I have any plans for the summer holidays?"

"Yes, are you planning to go anywhere?"

I took the chance after class to ask her about her plans in the corridor. With her head slightly inclined to the side, Haruka answered my question a little mischievously.

"Hmm...I've already decided to go to my family's summerhouse in Hayama. I have a piano concert in August, and after that I'm going to play tennis with my grandfather in Oze."

"I see."

Just as I had expected, Haruka's summer was packed with all the activities that daughters of rich families do.

"Hmm, what else do I have......Ah, there's a place that I would like to go."

"What would that be?"

"The Summer Comiket."

......And what is that?

"I read on on <<Innocent Smile>>, they seem to be selling the limited edition figures of the tea ceremony versions of <<Clumsy Girl Aki-chan>> and <<Useless Girl Megu-chan>>......I think it'll be a really exciting event."

Haruka looked like a maiden in love when she was talking about the Summer Comiket. Well, at least I know what the Summer Comiket is now.

"Where will this be held at?"

"It's at the Tokyo International Expo. I don't dare to go by myself, so I was thinking of giving up, but......"

"We can get there by taking the Lily Pelican......"

That place wasn't very far.

"If you don't mind, I'll go with you!"

I tentatively made a suggestion.

"You......You don't mind?"

"Of course not!"

"Thank......Thank you!"

Haruka stood up excitedly, she seems to be really happy.

After celebrating for a while......

"I have to go, I'm on duty today."

Haruka said to me before walking away with a huge grin on her face.

Although it was still a little lacking (or a lot?) in temptation, but I had already decided to go somewhere alone with Haruka during the upcoming summer holidays.

After saying goodbye to Haruka, I was accosted at the school gate.

"Hey~ Onii-chan!"

"Hmm?"

I've heard that voice somewhere before.

I looked in the direction of the voice and saw a lithe figure waving at me in front of the school gate.

"Mika?"

"Hehe~I haven't seen you for a long time, onii-chan."

I walked over to Mika, who was wearing her school uniform.

"What's happening? Are you looking for Haruka?"

"Hmm, it's nothing much, it's just that I was in the area, so I wanted to go home with onee-chan. Is onee-chan still in school?"

"She, is, but she won't be coming out right away."

Because Haruka's on duty today, so she probably won't be out for another twenty, thirty minutes right? Now that I think of it, it was a little weird that the 'Nuit étoile' is on cleaning duty.

"I see. Well then, onii-chan, would you mind talking to me until onee-chan comes out? Since I don't get to see you often...Or do you have something more important to do?"

"No, I'm free."

I don't have a girlfriend, I have no job, and the only thing that I need to do is to prepare dinner for Ruko before seven, which means that my schedule after school is completely blank...I feel really sorry for myself.

"Wow, that's great!"

Mika jumped up excitedly. Personally, I'm alright with it, but it's not a very good idea to jump when you're wearing a skirt.

"So how has your relationship with onee-chan progressed lately?"

Mika suddenly shot a question at me in the midst of her excited jumping.

"Well...How do I put it, it's just like that."

Although we've agreed to go out together during the summer holidays, but there hasn't been any special progression other than that. Because if I were to appear to be too close to Haruka in school, I will be constantly harassed by her fan club, which is also the reason why we're unable to talk to each other in peace in front of other people.

"Hmm~This won't do! If this carries on, god knows when onii-chan will become my brother-in-law."

Mika latched on to my arm after saying that.

"Hey...Hey!"

"Hehe, don't mind me, I just want a real onii-chan! And right now, onii-chan's the top candidate for the position of my brother-in-law."

Mika smiled mischievously.

"Or are you saying that you don't like me?"

"No, of course not......"

Anyway, Mika's extremely cute, and it's not like she's sticking to me with malicious intent. It'll probably be quite good if I were to have a younger sister like her.

It's just that--

"If you were to do this in front of other people, I think there'll be problems..."

The two of us had been the center of attention ever since Mika latched herself onto my arm.

Everyone who walked past us were whispering to their friends about us.

I overheard a few lines of what they were saying.

"That girl's a middle-schooler isn't she? Is the guy trying to hit on her?"

"But she's been calling him 'onii-chan', maybe they're brother and sister?"

"This 'onii-chan' is obviously fake. It seems to be the 'onii-chan' here has the same meaning as 'otou-san'"

"How could he do such a thing!"

Another group of people were also talking about us.

"Don't you think that girl's really cute?"

"Yes, she looks rather familiar though..."

"Who?"

"Hmm..."

"What is that guy trying to do? Hit on her?"

"How could he try to hit on a middle school girl in front of our school gate in broad daylight!"

Right after that group of people, another groups of people walked past us.

"Isn't that Ayase from year 2? I heard that he tried to hit on Haruka-sama..."

"He's trying to woo another girl without taking his eyes off Haruka-sama?"

"He seems to be enjoy being called 'onii-chan'"

"They're even locking arms.....Pervert!"

"...Why don't we kill him?"

"If we call for Haruka-sama's defense force, we should be able to get about twenty people within five minutes."

The last few sentences I heard made me fear for my life.

I suddenly felt an acute sense of danger, my instinct telling me that my life will be in danger if I were to stay here any longer.

"Ah, onii-chan, your face looks really pale, are you feeling unwell?"

Mika leaned towards me.

Sharp gazes from the people around us were immediately directed at me. This is bad...I'll really be murdered if this goes on.

Which is why I must get out of here (a tactical retreat).

"Ah...Mika, I'm sorry, but I suddenly remembered something important that I have to do, so I---"

"Eh? Mika? Why are you here?"

Just as I was going to pull out from this dangerous place, I was cut off by a voice coming from the school building.

It was Haruka.

Having just finished her cleaning duties, Haruka had an enchanting smile on her face as she walked towards us. This is not good, I will look more suspicious than I already am if I leave the moment Haruka comes out.

"Hey, hey! It's Haruka-sama..."

The appearance of the 'Nuit étoile' caused a commotion among the crowd, with many people fumbling in their bags to take out a weird looking headband which they promptly tied around their foreheads.

"Does Haruka-sama know that girl? They seem to be very intimate."

"Ah...Could she be Mika-sama?"

"Who's that?"

"How could you not know? That's Haruka-sama's younger sister!"

"Now that you mention it, they really do look alike."

"She's so cute..."

"But why would Haruka-sama's sister be holding onto that guy's arm so intimately?"

"...Has he gotten his dirty hands onto Haruka-sama's sister as well?"

"He's stepping on two boats at the same time..."

The atmosphere suddenly became extremely heavy after that last sentence.

"...Hey, assemble the Haruka-sama defense force, get as many people as you can! This fellow...didn't just make a move on Haruka-sama, he even has designs on Mika-sama! Tell the guys with baseball bats and shinais to bring their weapons!"

"Yes sir!"

The atmosphere suddenly turned to that of a gang fight. This is bad! This is really bad!

"Mika, now that Haruka's here, I think I'll take my leave. See you tomorrow, Haruka."

"Ah~Why don't we walk back together for a short distance, we don't really get a chance like this often~"

Mika firmly locked her arms around my left arm.

"Ah, that's right, I rarely have the chance to walk home with Yuuto-san."

Haruka grabbed my right shirt sleeve.

"This......This......"

Normally, I would say that I was holding two beautiful moon orchids in my hands, but under the current circumstances, the moon orchids looked more like flowers at a funeral (my funeral).

"Excuse me, Ayase-kun."

Someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder from behind forcefully.

I looked back and saw a guy the size of a bear, with a white headband wrapped around his head and an expression as hard as stone. He glared at me as though he was looking at the person who murdered his father.

"I would like to talk to you for a moment, would you mind following me to the back of the school campus?"

His eyes glinted dangerously. I seem to have seen him somewhere...Ah! He's the ace of our school's karate team (he was ranked third at the nationals). Rumour has it that he just sent five delinquents from another school into the hospital a few days ago...

"Ah, I won't take up too much of your time...Because it'll only hurt for a moment."

Because I could literally smell the danger in the air, I desperately mouthed 'Save.Me.From.Him!' to Mika and Haruka, to which they nodded as though they understood me perfectly.

"I see, onii-chan, you should have told us that you had promised to go with a friend!"

"Since you're going with your friend, then I guess we don't have a choice. Even though it's such a pity, but you better go with him!"

The two of them smiled as they announced my death sentence.

"That was not what I meant..."

My escape bid failed miserably...They actually thought that Mr. Karate was my friend...

"Well then, onii-chan, we'll be going now."

"Goodbye, Yuuto-san."

I could only watched as the two sisters turned their backs to me.

"Hey! This way, the defense force is waiting for you."

I was forcibly dragged in the opposite direction as Haruka and Mika.

Luckily for me, Nobunaga suddenly appeared out of nowhere (it seemed as though he had been watching the whole incident from the moment I came into contact with Mika) and helped me escape the Haruka-sama defense force (He whispered something in the ear of the karate ace, who promptly turned green and ran away). But ever since that incident, I became a class A wanted criminal in Haruka's fan club, and was forced to sneak around in school for quite a while after that.

On another day, a similar incident occurred.

That day, I was once again accosted by Mika at the school gate (she has been coming rather frequently), and after enduring the cold stares of the normal students, I was dragged towards the back of the school campus by Haruka's fan club as usual. But luckily for me, I managed to break free of Haruka's fans to run back home. But I heard two people laughing loudly the moment I stepped into my home.

"Hahaha, this is so funny."

"Ahahahaha, it really is."

One voice belonged to Ruko, and the other, was also a very familiar voice. This voice brings an inexplicable sense of pressure to anyone who hears it, so it can only be her!

I suddenly felt more exhausted than I already was.

At that moment, I had the urge to just rush up to my room. But if I don't greet the two people in the living room, the consequences will be dire (Like using the school's PA system to call me into the office, or forcing me to sing <<Give me another toki-doki love>> etc). Which is why I know from experience that this was something I had to do, and it was with a heavy heart that I walked into the living room.

"I'm back."

"Oh, you're back."

"Yuu-chan, you're back! Sorry for disturbing you again!"

Just as I had expected, there were two people on the sofa: My idiot sister, who was sitting with her legs crossed, and her best friend, the music teacher, Yukari, who was waving to me from her seat on the sofa.

"..."

The two of them were already working, so how is it possible that they reach home before high school student such as myself? It's only half past four in the afternoon, so why are there two empty Japanese sake bottles on the table already? I had a lot of questions in my head. But I knew that if I treasured this life of mine, it was better not to ask at all. Oh well, I'm used to these two (drunkards) anyway...But something even worse happened immediately after that.

"You're later than usual, did anything happen?"

"Nope, nothing happened."

My sister stared right into my eyes. I deliberately looked away. I don't want to tell them about Haruka for the time being, because offering conversation topics to two drunkards (two very ill-mannered drunkards) was like offering an arm to a hungry tiger.

But...

"You didn't do anything strange to Haruka and her sister did you?"

I didn't say anything, but Yukari had a creepy Doctor Faustus-like smile on her face as she held a bottle of Japanese sake in one hand.

"......What are you talking about?"

"Trying to hide it from me? It's useless, because I already know all about your relationship with Haruka and her sister from the information that Nobunaga provided."

That guy knows that I'm interested in Haruka, but he's definitely not the type who would go around gossiping about people. He may be a little patronizing at times, but he's definitely a man of principles. So even though he knows everything about my relationship with Haruka, he wouldn't tell a certain music teacher who likes to sexually harass other people.

"It was rather hard getting him to talk at first, but the moment I told him 'I'll treat your body very gently', he talked. He said 'Ah, I get it! I'll tell you everything...No, I thank you for the chance to tell you everything, Ahhhhh~I still want to preserve my virginity! Yuuto, forgive me!'"

I have no idea what they were threatening to do to him......But for the sake of my mental health, I refrained from thinking about it. I was still rather sympathetic towards my childhood friend who seemed as though he was going to be used as a human sacrifice.

"Nobunaga's information was accurate and detailed. His reports about how you talk to Haruka secretly, how you went over to Haruka's home to study for the exams, how you flirted with Haruka's sister at the school gate were extremely accurate...It was almost as though he had witnessed the events with his own eyes."

From the way Yukari was talking, it seemed as though Nobunaga had really told her everything he know. In other words, that guy know everything about Haruka! Ah! This is bad!

"...Hmm?"

Don't panic! Analyze the situation calmly!

I wouldn't be that surprised at him knowing about how Haruka and I secretly talk to each other in school, and also about the incidents with Mika, but how in the world did he know about me going over to Haruka's home? I've never told anyone about that before...

"In an information-driven society such as ours, even though their are safeguards in place to protect privacy of individuals, but as long as you know how to go about doing it, it's very easy to access such information..."

I recalled the words that Nobunaga had said to me.

"..."

I finally realized how scary Asakura Nobunaga is. He's definitely a stalker.

Yukari looked at the stunned expression on my face and continued.

"Actually, I already had an clue about you and Haruka before I asked Nobunaga because you've been rather famous in school lately! When I heard people talking about how not only did that fellow try to stick his dirty paws into the 'Nuit étoile', he also has designs on her sister, and that he must be a pervert, I had a feeling that it was you, Yuu-chan."

...That's strange, why would Yukari think of me the moment other people talk about perverts?

"Because Yuu-chan is a very perverted boy, so the chances of you being the pervert that everyone's talking about is very high."

"..."

In response to my wordless protest, Yukari's response was crisp.

"...Yuu-chan, you shouldn't be too interested in little girls, I didn't educate you to become that kind of person..."

She continued in this vein while acting as though she was the caring older sister.

"Yuu-chan, because of your character, you'll definitely be bullied by young girls."

"..."

I should have known that being Yukari, babbling is the only thing that she'll do. But then, I'm really getting angry listening to her.

"Ah, Yuu-chan, are you angry?"

"...Yes, I'm angry."

Anyone would be angry after being labeled a pervert.

"I'm sorry, so please don't give me that scary face. I'm joking, even though the part about having a clue about you and Haruka was true. Because you've always been unable to leave Haruka alone, and the incident after the after-school activity is only one of them."

If she uses this to bombard me, my heart will be very painful.

"Yuu-chan, you're like a male zebra during the mating season. You're channeling all your pent-up desire into Haruka. I'm trying to stop you because of the potentially disastrous consequences. Do you know that it is an extremely tiring job to hold down a wild animal full of pent-up desire?"

"Don't talk about your own fantasies as though they were real!"

You haven't done anything at all!

"Don't be like this, being in love is a good thing. It is because of love that humans are able to develop such a high level of culture. Love is the savior of the earth! LOVE AND PEACE~"

Even though it sounds like a piece of profound knowledge that she was trying to impart, it was actually only drunken rambling. The more Yukari continued to ramble, the more excited she became, even giving me a thumbs up.

"How about this, Yuu-chan? Let's save the earth together!"

"I'll have to politely decline!"

When facing a drunkard who was practically drowning in a sea of pink, my answer only took half a second.

"Ah, I've been abandoned! Ruko, Yuu-chan's being so cold towards me."

"...No, I don't want you to be my sister-in-law either."

"Sob, sob, you siblings are like the wind from the north pole, cold and heartless..."

I decided to ignore the crying drunkard for now.

"I still have some homework to do, so I'll go up to my room now. It's not a bad thing to drink sake, but please don't drink too much. You, too, Ruko."

"Don't worry about it."

Even though I knew that Ruko's reassurance cannot be believed, but I hoped to at least prevent them from blowing fire in my home (Loading up their mouths with 96% alcohol-content vodkas before spitting it all out at the fire coming out from a lighter. This is very dangerous, good kids shouldn't imitate something like that.), so that I won't have to call civil defense.

"...Please be careful."

Just as I opened the door of the living room to walk towards my room...

"Yuu-chan."

Yukari called to me in an extremely serious voice. I looked back and saw Yukari with an authentic teacher's expression on her face (she really is a teacher anyway).

"...I only want to say one thing."

"And what might that be?"

This felt more serious than usual, as I answered her statement with a question while trying to calm the sudden wave of nervousness that had washed over me. Yukari answered me in an extremely serious voice.

"...Older girls are still better than younger girls. Just the difference in technique alone is nothing the younger girl can make up for..."

"Stop it, I've had enough of this!"

...This person has been lost to the world.

Ever since I got closer to Haruka, my life has been something like this.

Chatting with the three idiots and Nobunaga in school while trying to get a sneak a chance to talk to Haruka privately, and then being teased by Ruko and Yukari at home. Sometimes I'll go shopping with Haruka, and for some unknown reason, Haruka would ask me to go shopping with Mika as well.

All in all, my life has changed a little ever since I've come to know the real Nogizaka Haruka.

Most of the time, this change has brought nothing but trouble.

But I like the life I have now.

Because right now, my life is much more interesting than the boring one I've had before getting to know Haruka.

On a certain day after school, two weeks before the start of the summer holidays.

On Yukari's orders, I trudged towards the staff room. Hearing someone call out my name, I turned around to look back at the corridor.

"Yuuto-san~"

Looking in the direction of that mesmerizing female soprano, I saw Haruka beaming as she waved to me at the other end of the corridor.

"Yuuto!"

I've been marked again.

Everyone walking in the corridor was looking at me, and a significant number of the looks seemed to be hiding their murderous intent. Am I reading too much into it? But I did recognize a few faces when they were still wearing headbands.

But Haruka was still smiling like a wind that no one knows the direction of...

"I've brought the 'thing I told you about the last time'. If you're free, would you like to look at it together?"

She started to run towards my direction, but...

"Ah! Haruka! Be careful!"

There was a rag that someone probably forgot to pick up after cleaning duty on the ground between us.

"Eh?"

Haruka, who was completely engrossed in running over that she didn't look at what was beneath her feet, stepped onto the rag with ridiculous accuracy.

"Eh...EH...?"

Under the eyes of the audience, Haruka flew.

"Ah...Kya!"

After flipping over in midair, she landed heavily onto the ground.

The three actions of Running->Slipping->Landing heavily was done with acrobatic fluidity.

"It...Hurts..."

Haruka was rubbing her waist gingerly probably because of the fact that she had fallen onto the ground. The things in her bag was scattered all around her.

Just as I was going over to help Haruka up, I suddenly realized that the looks of the people around us were a little strange.

They looked like they had seen something that they shouldn't have seen, their gazes a carbon copy of the look of a female butler who's assassinating witnesses from a hiding spot, and these looks were concentrated on Haruka.

At first, I thought that everyone was looking at Haruka because you don't get to see the 'Nuit étoile' step on a rag and fall down.

But when I saw the magazine beside her that looked like a dictionary of demon summoning, I understood what kind of looks those people were giving Haruka.

Those were looks of disgust.

'The thing I told you about the last time'!

Coincidentally, the magazine was flipped out to the page with a drawing of a blue-haired girl who was in the exact same position as Haruka right now, as she sat on the ground holding her butt. The drawing was captioned 'Clumsy girl Aki-chan clumsy position No. 3'.

Everything seem to freeze in place for a moment.

Right now, the atmosphere in the corridor was as awkward as how a karate master would have felt if he got hit in the face by his disciple while trying to show him how to block an attack.

"I...I did it again..."

Haruka sheepishly mumbled as she sat on the ground, not knowing the dire situation that she was in. But almost immediately, she realized that her surroundings were too quiet.

"Ah...What is wrong with you people?"

"..."

"Umm...Why is everyone so quiet?"

Haruka looked at me confusedly, as I didn't know how to answer her. Seeing that I was unable to answer her question, Haruka looked around, as the people whom she looked at looked away uncomfortably.

"?"

I could literally see the question marks floating on top of Haruka's head as she tried to make sense of the current situation.

"Yuuto-san, what's going on..."

She looked at me again helplessly.

"Eh...?"

Haruka finally noticed the object of personal interest that had dropped onto the ground.

"Ah, why did the 'Summer Comiket Doujinshi'...Hmm? Eh?"

Haruka's face suddenly turned as pale as the student who fainted during the principal's speech during morning assembly.

"Eh? I remember placing it in the innermost part of my bag, so why would it..."

Haruka mumbled to herself nervously as she tried to accept the current situation.

"Haruka, perhaps you should get up first?"

I helped Haruka straighten out the edge of her skirt that had been crumpled by the fall before offering her my right hand, but Haruka was acting a little strangely.

"Ah...I...I..."

"Haruka?"

Haruka looked around her blankly, her gaze shifting between the two sides of the corridor.

"No...Don't...Please don't look at me like that. I...I..."

"Hey, hey, calm down..."

Haruka didn't seem to be able to hear me as she buried her face in her hands as she shook her head vigorously, as though she wanted to shake the looks of the people around her out of her head.

"I...I..."

And then, tears started to roll around in Haruka's large eyes.

"Sob..."

And then, Haruka abruptly got up from the ground, grabbed her bag and ran off.

"Ha...Haruka..."

I was left behind together with the magazine that had started all this, the piercingly painful looks now focused on me.

"Was...that really Nogizaka-san's magazine?"

"I don't know, but it definitely fell out from her bag."

"How is is possible that the 'Nuit étoile' would have such a thing..."

I heard the whispers all around me. This was bad! If this goes on, Haruka's secret will be exposed, and even if it isn't that bad, the whole school will still be talking about it. If things really come to that, then Haruka will surely be extremely upset. To be honest, I really don't want to see Haruka cry.

I have to do something!

Now that it has come to this, there was only one solution to this problem.

"Ah! It's here!"

I pointed at the magazine on the ground as I deliberately raised my voice.

"This is the magazine that I've been searching for ever since I lost it three days ago! Yes, it is the right one! I see, Nogizaka-san must have helped me pick it up. She's really a great
person!"

...After forcing out every single cheesy sentence that I could remember, I realized that I really don't have any talent in acting.

But the people around me still bought it.

"...That's right. How could Nogizaka-san be reading something like that."

"Nogizaka-san is really a kind person, instead of throwing it away, she was actually looking for its owner."

"Isn't that fellow Ayase from A class? He's good friends with Nobunaga, so it's not really a surprise that he reads something like that."

"Hmm, I never thought that Ayase would have that kind of hobby. Looks like his reputation's completely destroyed."

"Is that right? I never knew that he had a reputation in the first place."

"Whatever, let's just go!"

The people around me started to walk off as as they talked among themselves (please don't talk about other people's reputation).

...Phew, looks like they believed my story.

I patted myself on the chest as I started to pick up the things that had dropped out of Haruka's bag. There were textbooks, a notebook, a pencil case, some music scores, and that magazine.

Haruka must have landed really heavily if all these things flew out of her bag. Even though they were scattered all over the place, I had picked everything up within a minute.

"Sigh..."

I stood up.

No matter what happens, I guess this incident should be over. Haruka's secret didn't get exposed, so I just need to secretly return this magazine to Haruka tomorrow. But I was a little worried about her strange behavior. Perhaps she overreacted like that time in the library (where half the library got destroyed) because it all happened so quickly!

My explanation for Haruka's behavior was very simple.

However, it seemed to be a little too optimistic.

Because Haruka didn't come to school the next day.

"That's right, after French impressionist composers like Debussy and Ravel started to feature prominently..."

Yukari was writing on the black board on the podium. Even though her handwriting was like a high school girl's handwriting, she was very familiar with the content of the lesson.

"...the main characteristics of impressionist music is that it tries to break free of the shackles of classical music in three main ways: Melody, harmony, and rhythm. In short, impressionist music places emphasis on composing on instinct, through personal feelings, as opposed to stubbornly forcing out music in a mind chained by the rules of classical music..."

Yukari's explanation reflected her thorough understanding of the subject. Even though she's like a perverted middle-aged man on the inside, this person is a surprisingly good teacher...Anyway, Yukari would be the prime example of how a person's character and her teaching ability is on completely different levels of the mind.

But I was unable to pay attention to Yukari's lesson, and the reason is not just because of the fact that I've always found music to be boring (if I dared to say it out loud, a metal fist will come flying towards me), but also because I was worrying about something else.

Haruka's seat was empty again.

Three days after the incident, I still wonder if I had done the right thing.

I sighed deeply in my heart.

Today was the third day that Haruka had been absent from school.

Ever since the 'Dropped magazine incident' (my own name for it), Haruka had been absent from school. I had asked Yukari about it, but only got sexually harassed in response.

"She's not feeling well~What did you do to make her so tired?"

Because the amount of energy expended while trying to get Yukari to talk wouldn't be worth the information I'll get, I wisely chose to drop the issue.

Is Haruka really just feeling unwell? It can't be, right?

I was still thinking about the magazine in question that was currently in my bag. Now that I think of it, Haruka probably overreacted because she thought that her hobby was exposed.

But no matter how much I thought about it, someone as stupid as me was unable to make any sense out of the facts available to me.

But no matter what, I can't leave Haruka alone like this.

--I'll try visiting her!

If Nobunaga and Yukari knew about what I intended to do, they'll probably laugh at me for exaggerating the seriousness of the situation (although from my perspective, they were more like ghosts who haunt me all the time), but I'm really worried about Haruka.

And so, I decided to go visit Haruka after school.

Do you guys have a problem with it?

Ever since that incident, something else had changed around me.

"Again..."

Nowadays, a pile of letters will fall out whenever I open my shoe locker. Of course these aren't love letters, but hate mail cursing me and expressing their disgust towards me.

"Sign......"

I threw all the letters into the furnace. I had wanted to just leave them there on the ground, but these letters all had my name written on it, so if I don't get rid of them, I'll probably be seen as the person responsible for writing all the letter. The hate mail writers are really smart to even take that into account! If they were willing to use those brains of theirs in more constructive ways, our steadily regressing standard of living would be better wouldn't it?

I sighed as I opened up a few of them.

"Don't go near Haruka-sama! You pervert! Don't let Haruka-sama come into contact with something like that! FUCK!"

"Someone like you will never be good enough for Haruka-sama! You're way out of your league! Stupid otaku!"

"You better not have made a miniature figurine of Haruka-sama, you pervert!"

The letters were full of incendiary words.

I sighed deeply.

I've received such hate mail before. But the contents were not as hateful as the ones I've been receiving. The previous ones merely said things like 'Don't smile to Haruka-sama like that' or 'Don't appear within 5 meters of Haruka-sama, and don't breathe the same air that she does'. Thanks to Nobunaga's manipulation of the information that went around the school, the letters stopped for a while, but ever since that incident, I started to receive massive amounts of hate mail again, and some strange-looking people had even contacted me.

"...I can't take this anymore!"

In any case, the 'Fellow who always sticks to the Nuit étoile (me)...is a perverted otaku' seems to have been accepted as an undeniable fact by the school population. The reason for this is obviously because of the incident a few days ago. But this time, I can't ask Nobunaga to help me out of this, because the moment people think that the magazine isn't mine, they'll start to suspect Haruka. But because it's Nobunaga after all, since he joyfully came up to me and said, 'Wow~Yuuto, it's great that you've finally found your true calling and joined our ranks!',

I guess I could try to ask him for help.

"I don't understand...Why does everyone hate otakus so much?"

Or maybe they just don't like me!

When I settle down and think of it, the second possibility is higher. Because Nobunaga, a self-admitted otaku hasn't been subjected to the kind of treatment that I've been receiving, and on the contrary, most people actually think of him as the school mascot because of his friendliness and interesting characteristics. Some people really like him too (because he looks like a bishounen).

I can only draw one conclusion from the facts at my disposal.

"...In other words, I'm being subjected to this treatment because of who I am?"

I was felt a little depressed at that deduction. Sob, sob, just what did I do to deserve this...

But, it won't carry on like this forever, right?

As the saying goes, no rumor ever goes on for more than a month, so hopefully, everyone will forget about me after a while. Not thinking too deeply into things is one of my weak points, but conversely, it's also one of my good points.

I threw the rest of the letters into the furnace.

To be honest, I was more worried about Haruka. I intended to go to the Nogizaka residence immediately after burning all the hate mail.

But just as I was rushing towards the school gate...

"Hey, Ayase-kun! It must be hard to have to throw the rubbish again today right!"

A guy with slightly long brown-dyed hair sneered as he blocked my path.

...Who is this guy?

Even though this is the first time I've seen this person, but for no reason, I really didn't like him. Just like how most girls instinctively hate cockroaches, I instinctively disliked this guy.

"Ah, where are my manners. I'm Sasaoka Shyuuto."

He smiled cynically as he nodded his head.

I've heard that name before.

He's the ace of the basketball team, and had been rejected by Haruka before (I bet he has gone for plastic surgery before). Because he's a little weird and is a chronic skirt-chaser, he's the most famous year 3 senpai in the school, and also the person that most people didn't want to be connected to.

"...And what can I do for you, Sasaoka-senpai?"

I was very sure that it won't be anything good, but I still asked politely.

"Nothing much, I just want to get a good look at the otaku who's sticking to Haruka-san like a parasite."

"...You really have a lot of free time."

Just as I had expected.

How is it that I'm never able to guess any questions correctly in exams, but have a 100% success rate in guessing such random things? After sighing to myself for my bad luck, I looked straight at Sasaoka.

"...I think you've seen enough. Can I go now? Unlike you, I actually have something to do."

I pushed Sasaoka away as I tried to go around him, but Sasaoka continued to give that cynical smile of his that made me want to punch him in the face and continued to block my way.

"...Just what do you want?"

"Hang on, I just want to tell you something."

"Get to the point!"

I want to get this over with within 3 seconds.

"It's simple...Do not harass Haruka-san anymore! You make me sick! I don't want to see someone who gets excited when looking at figurines of strange girls to get close to Haruka-san. In other words, Haruka-san's too pitiful to have someone like you around her!"

In actual fact, Haruka's the one who'll get really excited when looking at figurines of strange girls. Oh well, why am I even wasting my time listening to this person's incessant babbling.

"That's it? Then I'm going."

"Wa,Wait!"

"Now what?"

This person's really annoying.

"You should have heard what I've just said right? I want you to swear that you will never go near Haruka-san ever again!"

"I won't do it."

"It's good that you understand...Eh? Hang on, you refused to do it..."

"That's right, because I don't have to listen to your mindless rambling."

I would have thought that this much was obvious.

"...Gah!"

Probably because my answer was extremely unsatisfactory, Sasaoka took a step back, the expression on his face the mirror-image of the prime minister who has just failed to assassinate the king.

"Hmph, hmph, alright then, I'll let you go today, since you'll soon be dumped by Haruka-san anyway, because you're an otaku!"

He spat at me.

Oh well, I should get away from this place as quickly as possible.

Just when I finally got rid of Sasaoka and got to the school gate...

"Onii-chan!"

Mika was standing right in front of the school gate.

She had her hands on her hips with her legs apart as she glared at me. Whoa! Just what did I do to make her so angry?

"Onii-chan, just what did you do to onee-chan!"

What's with that question!

"How can just assume that I'm the reason for this incident!"

But Mika conpletely ignored my protests.

"Because you're the only person who can make onee-chan so miserable! Onii-chan, did you force onee-chan into some kind of weird cosplay?"

Mika shouted at the top of her voice while blushing furiously...I'm begging you, there're students everywhere because school just ended, so please don't shout 'weird cosplay' in front of so many people!

"Did you force her to cosplay as a sexy nurse, or a bunny girl, or did you force her to wear nothing but an apron..."

Mika started to become more specific.

Just as I feared, looks of disgust were shot at me from every direction, now they really think of me as a pervert...Well, not like I can do anything about it, so I'll just let them think whatever they want to think!

"Hey, it's not because of me that Haruka's like this."

Mika gave me a suspicious look in response to my explanation.

"You're lying! Why else would onee-chan become like this? She's locked herself in her room every since she came home three days ago, and she hasn't eaten at all! And she keeps playing pieces like 'Funeral March', and 'Dance of Death' on the piano..."

That's really scary.

"We even heard onee-chan crying in the middle of the night...This is like what happened when she was in middle school..."

Mika's face suddenly lit up as she seemed to have understood something.

"...Don't tell me onee-chan's secret has been exposed?"

Mika lifted her head to look at me as she waited for the answer.

"Nope, it was almost exposed, but nothing happened in the end."

"Then why..."

"Hmm...Maybe because Haruka mistakenly thought that her secret had been exposed. From what you've said, I guess being sick isn't the real reason for Haruka's absence from school."

"Ah, yes..."

Mika nodded her head cautiously.

"Onee-chan said that she wasn't feeling well, but she's definitely lying. Father and mother haven't really given it much thought , but...onee-chan's acting exactly the same way as that time, Hazuki-san's very worried about her too."

"You mentioned 'that time'?"

"Ah, that's..."

For someone like Mika to stutter, it must be something really serious.

"You don't have to force yourself to tell me..."

"...It's not like that."

"But if you don't mind, I would like to hear it, because this is probably related to how Haruka is acting now."

Mika lowered her head as she thought about it.

"...You're right. Mm, I guess onii-chan should know about it."

She lifted up her head again after seeming to break free of some unseen restriction.

Once again, I had come to the Nogizaka residence.

After spending twenty minutes passing through a door that was as imposing as the Arc de Triomphe, walking through a courtyard that was bigger than a forest garden, and making our way through the mazelike interior of the Nogizaka mansion, I finally reached the door to Haruka's room.

"Haruka-sama, Yuuto-sama is here to see you."

Hazuki-san knocked on the door, only garnering a muffled squeal in response.

"Onee-chan, onii-chan bought cake from the Ginkadou, let's eat it together!"

Thump, thump, we heard a sound that suggested that the occupant of the room was locked in a struggle between her feelings and temptation.

The cake that I was currently holding in my right hand (only ten pieces are sold a day), seems to be something that Haruka really likes to eat, so much so that she eats it once every three days. For someone who eats so much cakes and other desserts, it's a wonder that Haruka can maintain that figure of hers.

"...She didn't come out."

After that instance of movement, the room behind the door fell silent again.

Mika wrapped her arms around herself as her head leaned to one side, thinking about our next move.

"Hmm, I think onee-chan's being sorely tempted by the combination of onii-chan and the cake, so let's just start our tea party here! Hazuki-san, could you prepare what we need?"

"Absolutely."

Hazuki-san immediately set up a simple foldable table that she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere, and placed a table cloth on it before pulling out four sets of chairs (again, out of nowhere), after which she started to set up the tea cups......Wait a minute! Where did she get all the equipment from? Weren't both her hands completely empty just a moment ago?

"Corporate secret."

The maid-san replied me nochalantly after I asked her about it. What kind of corporate secret it this...Could it be possible that the pockets of their maid uniform are linked to the fourth dimension?

"Corporate secret."

"No..."

"Corporate secret."

"Which is why..."

"Corporate secret."

"...I get it."

I gave up. It'll probaby be better for me to just shut up and sit on the chair (that came out of nowhere)!

The maid-san held up the tea-pot and looked at us.

"Would Nuwara Eliya be alright?"

"I'm not a picky tea-drinker like onee-chan, so I'm alright with anything."

"...Same for the cup on the right."

If Mika hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even know that 'Nuwara Eliya' is the name of a tea.

And just like this, our tea party outside Haruka's room (in the corridor) began.

"Ah, this smells so good!"

"It's Sachertorte. Would you like me to cut it for you?"

"Yes please."

Hazuki-san divided the cake with an experienced hand as the smell of chocolate immediately burst out into the surroundings. It's no wonder that Haruka likes to eat this, it looks really tempting.

Suddenly, I heard a something behind me.

"Hmm?"

"!"

I looked back and saw Haruka looking at us through a gap in the door. The moment our eyes met, Haruka hurriedly closed the door again...Was she looking at the cake?

(This is good, we've successfully piqued her interest.)

Mika whispered to me...Is it really like this?

(Do you think I should take out the candied fruits as well?)

(Good idea, onee-chan likes to eat candied fruits too.)

(Then...)

Hazuki-san left the corridor.

(Sorry to keep you waiting.)

In the blink of an eye, she was back with a tray of candied fruits that gave off a special scent.

(These candied fruits are first boiled together with sugar before it is mixed together with rum.)

Hazuki-san explained how the candied fruits were made to us. I see, that special scent comes from the rum.

Click!

The door opened again. Haruka stuck her head out again as she couldn't resist the temptation of the candied fruits, but the moment she saw me looking, she quickly closed the door again.

But her actions were really cute.

(Hmm, only a little more to go!)

(Then I shall go bring out the gingerbread.)

(Thank you.)

But in the end, despite sticking her head out several times, Haruka still refused to come out.

"Onee-chan, I've had enough of this!"

Probably because she had run out of things to tempt Haruka with, Mika was a little impatient...

"Fine! Since it has come to this..."

Mika breathed in deeply.

"If you still refuse to come out, the I'll take both the cake and onii-chan! Alright, onii-chan!"

"Huh, ah, hey!"

I shouted because Mika suddenly launched herself into my arms. Ah, she's so soft.

"Onii-chan~Roll~Roll~"

"Hey...Hey!"

Don't...Don't rub my face like that!

"Why don't you dump onee-chan and go out with me! Let's go on a date, just the two of us, let's go to Akihabara."

"Wa...Wait a minute!"

Just as I was desperately tring to peel Mika off of me, there was a loud bang from the other side of the door.

"No...You can't!"

And immediately after that, Haruka pushed the door open with tremendous force as she came out of the room with her arms flailing.

"On...Only Yuuto-san's off limits! I can let go of everything else, but I won't let go of Yuuto-san! I...I'm the only one who can go to Akihabara with Yuuto-san!"

"..."

"..."

"...Ahahaha."

Hazuki-san and I were stunned speechless, while Mika laughed happily.

Finally realizing the meaning behind what she had blurted out, Haruka's face suddenly blushed the shade of a litmus paper's reaction to acid.

"I...What did I say...I...I'm sorry!"

The door slammed shut with a bang, afterwhich we heard the clicking of the normal lock and the anti-theft lock (a high-tech lock commonly used in high-class hotels).

"Hmm, that didn't go as well as I thought it would..."

"On the contrary, I thought it worked quite well..."

"Right, hmm, onii-chan's such a pervert~"

"...You're like a gigolo!"

The two of them (especially the maid-san standing behind us) started to go off-topic.

And it's back to square one. No, not square one, we might even be at square minus three, minus four.

"...Right now, the only thing we can do is to break in. Haruka-sama hasn't eaten for the past three days, I'm worried that she's going to collapse."

The maid-san stepped forward.

"You're right, but how do we break into Haruka's room?"

The anti-theft locks are almost unbreakable.

"By using this."

A giant blue chainsaw that the serial killers in horror movies use suddenly appeared in the maid-san's hands. Just where did she pull that out from...

"This thing is a little dangerous, so please step back."

The chainsaw started to shake dangerously as it was started up, Hazuki-san's really planning to use this!

"Well then..."

"Hand on, maybe I should try talking to Haruka."

I stopped Hazuki-san just as she was going to slice the door into half with her chainsaw (her solution's definitely not going to help).

Actually, this problem should be solved the moment I tell Haruka that I've helped her cover up. Because from what Mika told me, I'm thinking the main reason for Haruka's behaviour is because she thinks that her secret has been exposed.

Which is why the situation would probably change for the better as long as I clear up the misunderstanding, right?

"Please let me try."

At this this solution's more orthodox than using the chainsaw!

"I understand, we'll leave this to you them."

"Good luck, onii-chan!"

Mika and Hazuki-san wished me luck before I knocked softly on Haruka's door.

"Haruka, please open the door, I want to talk to you about what happened that day."

Haruka's room was completely silent.

"Actually, it's not so bad. Look, here's the cake that you love to eat!"

Haruka's room remained silent.

"If you don't open up, Hazuki-san says she's going to take your door down with a chainsaw."

"...You didn't need to mention that."

The maid-san who was standing behind me retorted. What, you did intend to do it didn't you?

"So would you please open the door?"

Just when I was going to repeat my question, I felt some movement on the other side of the door. After a little while...

"...I understand, please come in."

Haruka replied me softly.

Haruka hugged her knees on her luxurious four poster bed.

There was a teddy bear and some magazines beside her.

After confirming that I was the only one coming in, Haruka blushed as she closed her bloodshot eyes.

"...I'm really sorry for saying something like that just now..."

"Ah, don't worry about it."

About what Haruka just said, I instinctively thought that it would be better not to as Haruka what she really meant. Even though I really wanted to know, but...

"You've been absent from school for three days...I'm very worried about you."

"...I'm sorry."

"No, I'm not blaming you or anything..."

Seeing Haruka lowering her head like a puppy who has just been scolded by its master, I felt rather unhappy as well, since it looks like I'm bullying Haruka.

"Anyway, everything's alright now."

"Eh?"

"Your secret hasn't been exposed to everyone, my cover-up after you ran off probably worked I guess."

"Rea...Really?"

Haruka lifted up her head.

"That's right, so you don't have to worry about anything."

"Than...Thank you. But, how did you cover up my secret under those circumstances..."

That situation was really quite difficult...

After I told Haruka what I had done after she ran off (third-grade acting and cheesy lines included), Haruka's facial expression changed drastically.

"So you're saying that everyone thinks that you're the owner of that magazine?"

"Probably."

"How...How can it be..."

Haruka had a very strange expression on her face.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"But...Yuuto-san, other people will be giving you strange looks..."

Ah, I see what Haruka's worried about now. She's right, I have been harassed recently due to that incident (like the hate mail, and Sasaoka). But compared to the recent events in the world, this is nothing. Rather than seeing how upset and depressed Haruka is, I would rather endure any kind of harrassment...This is strange, I've never felt this way towards anyone before.

"Please don't worry about that, I'll be happy as long as you're alright."

I really feel that way, but...

"But...This..."

Haruka didn't seem to feel the same way.

"Yuuto-san, you don't understand, you don't understand what this is really about. You don't know how the people around you will treat you once they find out that you have an interest that's different from everyone else..."

Large tears started to roll around in Haruka's eyes.

"No...Definitely not...I do not want you to have the same experience that I did."

"Haruka?"

"...That...That kind of thing....I've already..."

Haruka buried her head in her knees as her shoulders trembled. After a while, she looked up at me after seeming to come to an important decision.

"...Yuuto, I have something to tell you. You...Would you be willing to listen to me?"

"Of course......"

The moment Haruka started to talk, I had a feeling that the only thing that she could possibly be telling me at this time, was the very thing that Mika had just told me!

Haruka started to talk softly. Just as I expected.

"...This happened when I was still in middle school."

This is basically what I understood from what both Haruka and Mika told me.

In short, a similar incident happened when Haruka was in middle school.

I'm not very sure about the exact details, but it's something along the lines of Haruka stepping on a milk bottle on a certain afternoon in class and falling down, afterwhich the manga that she had on her (the first volume of <<The Shy Triangle>>) was dropped in front of all her classmates...Just thinking about how the situation must have been like made me a little afraid.

And just like that, Haruka's secret was exposed.

When Haruka was in middle school, she was also extremely popular, which means that her special hobby soon became the talk of the school. From then on, the atmosphere around Haruka changed.

Although she wasn't bullied or insulted, the attitude of Haruka's classmates and the way they looked at her completely changed. Even the classmates whom Haruka had thought of as her good friends started to keep their distance from her. At that time, Haruka was like a politician who had just lost an election.

According to Mika, Haruka's behaviour at that time was extremely unsettling.

"Onee-chan was extremely depressed at that time, so much so that it was painful to even look at her. The talkative and cheerful onee-chan that I had once known slowly built up a wall between her and the outside world, and rarely smiled...She also cried frequently by herself at night."

To change the situation, Mika and Hazuki-san tried many solutions, but because a school is a closed-society, as outsiders, the two of them were unable to do anything.

In the end, the situation persisted all the way until Haruka graduated from middle school. Which means that Haruka ended her middle school life on an extremely bad note.

"Onee-chan had originally planned to continue studying in the high school section of the Seijyukan Girls School, but...Because of that incident, she had no choice but to transfer to Hakujō Academy. Since there's quite a bit of distance between the Seijyukan Girls School and Hakujo Academy, so no one would know about onee-chan's hobby."

The Seijyukan Girls School has a full nineteen-year educational system, that goes all the way from kindergarden to university, with the aim of grooming true ladies (rumour has it that almost 80% of the students in the school uses honorifics in their daily speech; It is also rumoured that you can throw a pebble into a crowd of Seijyukan Girls School students and definitely hit the daughter of a company president...The school's canteen also provides french crusine), an extremely famous school in our district. Now that I think of it, it is a little strange for someone like Haruka to study at a school like Hakujo Academy, but after hearing about that incident, I completely understand this arrangement.

"Onee-chan's extremely afraid of the possibility of her secret being exposed, and I should think that it is because of the psychological scars from that bad experience that onee-chan's acting like this now. Onii-chan, I'm placing my trust in you because you're the only person I know of who doesn't shun her in any way after knowing of her secret."

After finishing her exposition, Haruka wiped off the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"...That's how bad it can get. If everyone thinks that you're the owner of the megazine, they'll all look at you differently, and will keep their distance from you."

It must be painful to recall such a bad experience, but Haruka stubbornly forced the words out of her mouth.

"I...don't want Yuuto-san to be like me..."

"It won't be like that."

I understand what Haruka meant, but I didn't think that everyone will react like that. Maybe otakus are strange people in the eyes of the Seijyukan Girls School ladies, but...in normal schools, one in ten students probably don't mind otakus don't they?

Haruka shook her head in response to my reasoning.

"You may be right, but you don't have to do this for my sake, because it's my fault in the first place...I should be the one getting ostracized..."

"Please don't say that."

"But...But..."

Haruka looked at me with wide eyes.

"The friends that leave me because of this can't be counted as real friends, because even without this incident, I probably won't be able to get along well with them. I can't say that it'll be good if these people stop being friends with me, but...even if you're upset about it, you can't change things, can you?"

At least this is what I thought.

If a certain person changes the way he interacts with me based purely on the fact that I'm an otaku, it's not like I can do anything about it, even if that person is my friend.

"But...But..."

Haruka held her hands together tightly.

"But...It's very painful to be ostracized. I couldn't take it, and even now, I don't think I can. To be completely alone...I hate this feeling, and I believe that everyone would hate this feeling as well..."

She looked away painfully.

Hmm...Haruka's being rather pessimistic here. Perhaps it's normal for her to think in this way, but I still wish that she can be liberated from the shadow cast over her by that experience.

Which is why I replied,

"I don't think I'll be completely alone!"

"Eh?"

Haruka looked up at me.

"Haruka, if I had a weird hobby, would you leave my side?"

"Of course not, I like Yuuto-san, so I will not leave you because of something like that."

I was thinking about whether the 'like' that I heard contained any special meaning in it.

"That is to say, even if everyone leaves me, I will still have you!"

"But..."

Seeing that Haruka still didn't get it, I decided to continue, since these are the things that I really wanted to say to her.

"Anyway...It's the same for me. Even if the entire world leaves you, I will stand beside you, no matter what the opposition is, no matter what kind of harrassment I have to endure, I will support you. This is my promise to you."

"Eh...Eh..."

I can say this without any hesitation.

Even if the same thing happens again, or if Haruka makes a mistake that causes her hobby to be exposed to the school (...which is very possible), I will stand on her side. Even if everyone will look at me differently, even if vicious rumours are spread about me, I don't think I will ever regret my choice.

Why?

Because I am the only one who knows about Haruka's secret, because I have a resposibility to protect her secret, because Mika had requested me to protect Haruka. Anyway, I had a lot of reasons.

But, the main reason that pushed me to make this decision was very simple.

In short--

I like Haruka. I like the Haruka who looks perfect on the surface, but is actually a crybaby, an airhead, an innocent, albeit a little quirky daughter of a rich family whom I just can't bear to leave alone.

"This is why you won't be alone, Haruka. No matter what happens, I will never leave you."

...What am I saying! Am I not saying things that sound like a love confession? What I'm saying now sounds like how a guy would say 'I want to see the reflection of the fireworks in your eyes' to a girl when they're watching fireworks.

"Yuu...Yuuto-san..."

Haruka was looked extremely moved as her big eyes teared up again.

"I...I've always been hoping for someone who would say something like that for me. I've always wanted someone to tell me that I'm not alone, that no matter what happens, I won't be alone."

Unable to hold it in any longer, tears started to roll down Haruka's cheeks. I wanted to take out my handkerchief to wipe her tears away before realizing that the handkerchief I had on me wasn't high-class enough. Sigh, I'm so useless.

"Umm...Could I ask you for something?"

"Sure."

"Would you lend me your chest to cry on?"

"Please do."

"Alright."

Haruka nodded as she buried her head into my chest, sobbing softly. I don't understand the meaning of those tears, but nevertheless, I wrapped my arms around Haruka tightly.

After a while, Haruka finally stopped sobbing and lifted up her head as she shyly said to me, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"...Please stay by my side forever."

I answered her with another hug. I haven't noticed until now, but the soft, sweet smell of Haruka's hair seems to have a calming effect on people. I really want to stroke her lush, long hair...

"...I'm very sorry for spoiling the atmosphere."

"Ah!"

"Kya..."

Suddenly, we realized that the maid-san was standing right behind us.

Upon hearing the maid-san's words, Haruka and I pushed away from each other like two like magnetic poles.

"...Do I look that scary?"

The maid-san asked with a surprised expression on her face. But the problem is, when did she enter the room? The door might not have been locked, but it's impossible that we didn't hear the sound of the door opening or the footsteps of the maid-san!

"The two of you were probably oblivious to the outside world during your intimate moment right?"

Mika, who had also entered the room without us noticing, teased us from behind Hazuki-san. There's definitely a problem with these two people...

"Now that the problem has been solved, Haruka-sama, please eat something. You must be hungry after not eating for three days."

"Ah, now that you mention it..."

Haruka's stomach also seemed to have finally remembered that it was hungry, as it growled cutely.

"..."

Haruka blushed a deep shade of red.

Looking at Haruka, I suddenly felt that everything about the daughter of a rich family is good......even the sound of their stomach growling sounds high-class!

After yet another week.

"Ah, Yuuto-san."

I met Haruka on my way to school.

"Good morning, Haruka."

"Good morning, it's a really nice morning today isn't it."

"Yes it is, but I'm still feeling a little sleepy."

"No that you mention it, you really look like a panda with the dark rings around your eyes."

Haruka's laughter was like the tinkling of wind chimes as I walked to school together with her, with a few of our schoolmates also walking to school around us.

Is it just me or have I been running into Haruka while walking to school a lot more often recently?

"Just two more days and the summer holidays will finally be here."

Haruka laughed happily.

Ever since that day, Haruka returned to her normal, energetic self (with the aura befitting a daughter of a rich family), the expression on her face devoid of any clues that would point to how upset she had been merely a week ago.

"I'm really looking forward to the summer holidays. Ah, right, do you still remember what you promised me the last time?"

"Of course I do."

"Good, I think that it'll probably be in the middle of August..."

All in all, things are going well.

Through that incident (the one where Haruka's secret was almost exposed), even though Haruka still hasn't been able to fully let go of her bad memories, but--at least she has learnt how to face up to that bad experience. On the other hand, it also turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the distance between Haruka and I have been shortened by a lot.

Under the current circumstances, only one problem was left unsolved.

"Good morning, Haruka-san."

Suddenly, a tall figure blocked our path.

"Haruka-san, walking together with this otaku is an insult to your status."

It was Sasaoka.

"This fellow is a pervert who'll get excited upon seeing miniature figurines! Anyway, he's neither tall nor handsome, he's not very clever, and he's not good at sports. But the worst part is still the fact that he's a pervert who gets excited upon seeing figurines. Haruka-san, I find it hard to believe that you have not heard all the rumours about this fellow."

He smiled cynically, as he glared at me.

This was the problem.

The unsolved problem that I was talking about is the fact that the rumours about me (the thing that Sasaoka is still talking about) still have not dissipated yet. Those rumours were like an unkillable mosquito as it stubbornly survived for ten days (and still continues to survive).

Even though I'm used to such things no one would feel happy at being insulted by the people around him everyday.

Sasaoka ignored the unhappy expression on my face and continued,

"And that's not the end of it! In bringing such a low-class magazine to school, you've proven that you're beyond redemption!"

This fellow was really pushing the limit.

"This fellow's completely useless. Haruka-san, I really do not understand why you persist in being friends with someone like him. Ah, could it be that he's blackmailing you? If that is really the case, just say the word and I will take care of it for you. I am equipped with grade 2 shaolin henpo..."

"...Please do not continue saying such things."

Haruka cut Sasaoka off.

"Yuuto-san is an extremely good person. He's kind, caring, and one of the people I really respect. It's such a pity that you're insulting him like this, so I would really appreciate it if you were to stop now."

"Ha...Haruka-san?"

Sasaoka didn't know how to respond to Haruka's abnormal behaviour. The other students around us also stopped in their tracks, curious as to what was happening. Could it be that...Haruka's angry?

"If you have nothing else to say, then please excuse us...Let's go, Yuuto-san."

"Ah, right."

Just as Haruka grabbed my hand to walk away...

"Wa...Wait a minute! What do you mean by that...Just what is so good about this otaku? Please explain yourself! Hey! Haruka-san!"

Sasaoka grabbed on tightly to Haruka's other hand. Hmm...It seems like someone who calls himself a staunch supporter of feminism like Sasaoka is that much of a feminist himself when he's angry. If I don't do something right now, things might turn nasty.

"Hey, you're really going overboard here..."

Just as I was about to smash Sasaoka's face in with a broom I spotted near our position (probably left there by the people in the town's cleaning squad)...

Sasaoka's body flew into the air right in front of me.

"...Huh?"

The laws of physics clearly dictate that such a long duration of hangtime is impossible, but Sasaoka did fly towards the sky like a dragonfly bursting out from the surface of the pond. Wow...And then after he flipped a full circle in the air, Sasaoka crashed into the tree that was about ten inches away from Haruka and I before dropping straight down onto the ground. I could swear that I heard Sasaoka groan like a frog who's going to die any moment.

"..."

And then, the launchpad of Sasaoka's body...Haruka, who standing in some martial arts pose beside me. I glanced at her, managing to catch a glimpse of something white under the billowing folds of her skirt (...), could this be... No, now's not the time to be fantasizing like a perverted middle-aged man.

The atmosphere around us was deathly silent.

Everyone around us looked at Sasaoka, who was rolling around on the ground in agony, with utter disbelief.

Hmm...

To be honest, I couldn't believe my eyes either.

Could it really be...Haruka who threw him?

Haruka ignored everyone around her (including me), as she walked over to Sasaoka, who looked like crab with a stroke as he foamed at the mouth (he seemed to be conscious, but just barely), and smiled as she said,

"Please don't insult Yuuto-san like that."

"Ha...Haruka-sa..."

"And...The low-class magazine that you were talking about is actually mine. So if you're unhappy about it, please talk to me."

I felt as though a fire-breathing dragon was roaring in anger behind Haruka.

Under the pressure of the power hidden behind Haruka's smile, Sasaoka didn't dare to say anything. No, or maybe he's just too badly injured to be able to talk?

"Yuuto-san, let's go, we're almost late."

I looked around to see that Haruka had reverted to her usual angelic smile.

...Right, I suddenly remembered that Haruka had a teacher's license in some ancient style of martial arts, which explains the inhuman way with which she threw Sasaoka...

"Umm...Yuuto-san?"

Haruka looked at me worriedly.

"...Ah, I'm alright!"

Oh well, I don't think I should think about this anymore, it's nothing to worry about (even though I'm really worried). In the face of Haruka's innocent smile, this is nothing. I'm willing to accept anything if it means that I never need to see Haruka cry ever again.

But on the other hand, I made a mental note to myself after looking at how Sasaoka was crawling on the ground like a zombie.

Never do anything to make Haruka angry!

After what Haruka did to him, Sasaoka became noticeably quiter, and scurried like a rat before a cat whenever he saw Haruka or me. I think I can understand his feelings perfectly.

At the same time, even the vicious rumours about me had disappeared. As for the reason--I think it's obvious enough! Because there were a few members of the art club at the scene of the incident as well...something that made me aware of just how influential Haruka is in the school.

In short, every single problem has been solved.

I was finally able to return to the life that I had left behind for two weeks.

Which is to say that the members of Haruka's fan club still looked at me with the eyes of someone looking at the person who murdered their father, and will also send me the occasional 'Stay away from Haruka-sama! You pig!' warning. But I no longer cared about such things, because no matter what they do, it is an unshakable fact that my relationship with Haruka has become much closer. Hmm, but no matter what, it'll be better if I keep a low profile if I don't want to be dragged up to the roof of the school building to be candy-wrapped.

"Yuuto-san~!"

--That was my plan, but...

"If you're alright with it, would you like to eat lunch together?"

--To be honest, it's not easy to keep a low profile.

Haruka waved at me as she smiled happily.

It was lunchtime in school, and we were in class. Recently, Haruka has been talking to me more enthusiastically than before. I'm extremely happy that she trusts me so much, but as they say, there're always two sides to a coin.

In other words...

There'll sure be quite a number of students in the classroom as well, which means that the moment the 'Nuit Étoile' does something, she'll naturally become the centre of attention.

"Ayase, looks like you've been very friendly with Haruka-sama recently, eh?"

"You're eating lunch together with Haruka-sama? Don't get too full of yourself!"

To tell the truth, many of my classmates are also members of Haruka's fan club (and they all belong to the more reactionary faction).

"Would you like to go for a round of wrap-the-Ayase on the rooftop?"

"Burying him in the garden as fertilizer for the flowers would be good too!"

"It's more exciting to dip him upside-down into the school swimming pool!"

...I should be able to welcome my summer holidays in relative safety, right?

...No, I seriously doubt that...

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