OreShura: Volume 5 Chapter 5

#5: Eita isn't Here, Love is a Battle

When Eita wasn't at the club room, the girls reveal their true colors—

It was August 31st, in the afternoon.

The weather forecast was sunny but with showers to follow. For several consecutive days, the sky had been clear, but now dark looming clouds drooped from the sky.

Today was also the last day of summer vacation, so the next school semester would go into session tomorrow. On this specific day, the ｢Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self｣ had assembled.

Harusaki Chiwa.

Natsukawa Masuzu.

Akishino Himeka.

Fuyuumi Ai.

Four glasses of barley tea rested on the surface of the table.

Kidou Eita's glass was not there.

Today, he hadn't been asked to come.

He hadn't even been informed about this meeting.

"Now that I think of it, it's very rare for just us to gather together."

The atmosphere in the club room was different than normal as Chiwa spoke up with a cheerful voice that seemed out-of-place.

Himeka also nodded her head.

"I think this is what's called ｢girl-talk｣, according to 《Pachi Lemon》.

"That's weird, since when has Himecchi started reading 『PachiLe』?

"I started this month to exercise my Maiden Power (PURE FORCE). It has some very interesting content."

Like this, Himeka wasn't that much different than unusual—no, actually, she was happier than normal.

She thought this meeting was ｢an opportunity to chatter with everyone else｣, so she was very happy because they hadn't done it in a while.

In contrast of these two cheerful individuals, Masuzu's expression was very low spirited.

Normally she would have taken the lead as president and started all sorts of things by herself, but today she kept her silence and quietly read a novel. It wasn't that she was in a bad mood. Rather, she looked like she didn't have any energy.

Ai, on the other hand, wasn't even sitting. She stood by the window and gazed out towards the overcast skies.

She seemed to be deep in thought as she sighed from time to time, combing her long hair upwards.

"What are you doing, Ai? Why don't you sit?"

Ai smiled and responded to Chiwa with a ｢mhn｣ as she nodded.

She suddenly mumbled:

"...How pitiable. These girls were all dumped by Ta-kun in the end."

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Nothing at all."

Ai sat down, and her graceful posture seemed steeped with the easygoing confidence of a winner.

"Anyways Chiwa, why did you call us all out here?"

"Well, before the next semester starts, there's something I have to tell everyone."

One by one, Chiwa looked at Ai, Himeka, and then Masuzu who still had her eyes fixed on her novel. Then she spoke:

"To be honest, I… confessed to Ei-kun."

"Huh!?"

Himeka and Ai both exclaimed in surprise.

"Seriously? Chihuahua also likes Eita?"

"Hah, that was obvious from long ago! Is it really true that you confessed to him? When did you do it?"

"The last day of the club trip."

Slam.

That was the sound of novel being snapped shut. Masuzu spoke soon afterwards.

"But I happened to be there."

Masuzu's and Chiwa's gazes collided over the table.

Ai and Himeka unconsciously held their breath. Although they've seen these two fight many times, today the aura was clearly different and intimidating. It almost made one flinch.

—The scene was deadlocked.

Himeka fled the mat as if running away and she promptly hid herself behind the curtains.

Ai glanced back and forth between these two girls who were glaring at each other. She wondered if she should interfere as a disciplinary committee member.

However—

"You can relax."

Chiwa spoke candidly, practically destroying the tension in the air.

"Because I was rejected."

"Huh?"

"I was rejected by Ei-kun. He said he couldn't see me as anything beyond a childhood friend."

Only then did Masuzu's expression change significantly.

Her sour expression became cheerful in an instant, and she immediately pressed her ｢soft｣ cheek against the table.

"Huwaaaaaa———That's greatCloudii (talk)!"

The serious Masuzu unexpectedly vocalized this soft sound that one could ever imagine her saying.

She rubbed her face, ｢mo-nyo｣, against the table.

"B-But of course. Yes, that's obvious. Because I'm already Eita-kun's girlfriend. Even if Harusaki-san confesses to him, of course he wouldn't be touched so simply. Yes, that's exaaaaactly right… Of course I knew at thaaat!"

"..."

Was President possessed by evil spirits? —Himeka was frightened.

Natsukawa-san is such a mysterious person —Ai was astonished.

But Chiwa was absolutely convinced—

If she was that happy, then she must have taken a fairly big hit.

Although people frequently said Chiwa ｢had a brain filled with meat｣, she wasn't a fool at all when it came to fighting. Due to her kendo experience, she had developed an intuition that could to see through the subtle but true intentions of a dueling blade.

Even if it was love, it was still certainly a battle.

Besides, it was a match she definitely could not lose.

Like this, Chiwa had suspected that ｢Eita and Masuzu's relationship was not natural｣. Of course she didn't have any proof, and it was just ｢wild intuition｣, but even since the time Eita's aunt Saeko-san called them ｢fake｣, she was nearly convinced that this was the case.

But because of the confession on top of that stage, she lost the strongest piece of evidence that she could investigate further into. However, Chiwa had not given up.

—Because those two are definitely hiding something from me!

Masuzu had no idea what Chiwa was thinking, and she giddily continued:

"Ah, I feel like I'm so hungry now that I've relaxed! Let's take out the japanese pancakes, the cookies, and the POCKY ♪ Since it's so hot, they might melt. Akishino-san, can I trouble you to take them out?"

"U-Understood."

Still quite afraid of the Masuzu who was practically about to jump up from the table, Hime took out their pre-purchased snacks from the pantry and spread them over the table. With so many refreshments, the club room felt a bit like a party. It really did have the atmosphere of a ｢maiden's club｣.

But of course the current situation wasn't so cordial.

Chiwa revealed a chuckling smile.

"I've always wanted to ask, what does everyone like about Ei-kun?"

Masuzu, who had contentedly been drinking barley tea, suddenly became a bit more alert.

"Why are you asking that now?"

"Well, since I was rejected, it feels a little easier to ask now, right? Since I'm just Ei-kun's ｢childhood friend｣."

Chiwa had to subtly force herself when she said the words, ｢childhood friend｣.

She was emphasizing—even though she was rejected, that didn't mean her bond with him was completely cut off.

Furthermore, that line could be interpreted to imply, ｢as the childhood friend, I intend to continue intervening with you｣. Basically, they were words that established her own uncooperative stance.

"He's cool!"

The person who energetically replied with Himeka.

"When Eita fought in front of the train station to save Chihuahua, it was seriously way too cool. It made me realize our destiny. Even now, when I remember his face from then, my heart starts to pound…"

Himeka's cheeks reddened to the color of apples, and she closed her eyes as if drunk.

She was so lovely, cute, and innocent—the remaining three of them were fascinated. Perhaps Himeka was actually the most ｢maiden-like｣ of all the girls in the club.

"Then, Natsukawa?"

"I… well."

Masuzu's gaze was indecisive and couldn't stay fixated in one place.

"I would say he's gentle?"

"Hm? —How so, gentle?"

"I don't want to say."

Masuzu had a reason for responding like this.

After being treated so gently by Eita in so many ways, if she actually tried to say it, she'd only scare herself. Because if she shared it with others, wouldn't those unknown but warm feelings that she kept hidden inside her heart just evaporate like smoke? She was imprisoned by these fantastic feelings.

But Chiwa didn't know about those reasons, and she only interpreted Masuzu's reaction as ｢very suspicious｣.

"Why don't you want to say it?"

"Because I have no reason to tell a childhood friend."

"...Hmph…"

While the atmosphere feebly started to twist askew between these two girls that glared at each other—

Ai was completely oblivious to the situation as she giggled with a brilliant voice.

"As for meeee! As long as it's Ta-kun, Ai-chan loves ev~rrrything about him! There's nothing I hate ♪"

The club room suddenly went silent.

Three of them were flabbergasted:

"Why Fuyuuimi?"

"Why is it, Fuyuumi-san?"

"Why Master?"

The three of them tilted their heads at practically the same angle.

"W-Why can't I? What's so wrong if I say it too?!"

"But Master already has Michel."

Himeka was referring to the name of the fake boyfriend that Ai had made up.

But she had already set up her engagement with Eita (or so she thought), so as matters stood, there was no reason to continue on with that awkward lie. But at this point it was rather difficult to clean it up.

Ai's expression shifted swiftly as she spoke:

"U-Uhh—um, even so, I've felt rather distant from Michel lately. To be honest, I think our feelings have become dull. At least, I think so."

"Aww why? If it's a long distance relationship, weren't you basking in so much mutual love earlier? Doesn't he send you a pile of emoticons through text message every day, morning and night?"

"No, even if that's the case, I feel like our feelings have become more and more heavy… the city's definitely changed him! How should I put it…?"

Ai tried to defend herself incoherently, but Himeka tightly clasped Ai's hand.

"Don't worry about it. I believe in Master's maiden powers, and you'll definitely overcome this crisis."

"Exactly, I'm sure you two will make up. Were you thinking of using that topic as an excuse to escape? I won't be fooled."

"Exactly—! Ah—I still really envy you for being so heads over heels in love with your boyfriend.

"Ughhh…"

After being retorted like that, Ai could only bite her lip silently.

"Well, next up is me."

Himeka's eyes started to shine.

"How much does everyone like Eita? I like him this much!"

Himeka stretched her arms as far as she could to express how much her love was. Although she was making a ruckus like a child, she was unbelievably happy to talk about the ｢subject of love｣.

Everyone else slowly got caught up in the spirit.

"You're too naive, Himecchi! As for me, I love him from here to there!"

Chiwa ran from one end of the clubroom to the wall on the other end. Her smile seemed to say, ｢Take this!｣; she was similarly like a child.

"That's too naive."

Masuzu pointed out the window:

"Mine is from that end of the athletics field to the opposite boundary—there's probably more than a hundred meters there. My love for Eita-kun is around that level."

She straightened her chest with her face completely serious.

Chiwa pursed her eyebrows.

"Wait a second, aren't you cheating?"

"Cheating?"

"Because I ran from one end of the wall to the other! Since that's the case, you should run from one end of the athletics field to the other, Natsukawa-san! Anyways, you'd run out of energy for it."

Masuzu pouted for a moment before the corners of her mouth curled up.

"Oh dear, but does strength really scale with love? If that were the case, a certain Chihuahua-san with her brain filled with meat would be number one, isn't that so?"

Chiwa was the one who frowned this time.

"Well, if you're going to play that way! My love for Eita goes from Hanenoyama Town all the way to New York!"

"Then my love starts from the atmosphere and flies straight until the dark side of the mon."

"Huh, really, that's funny. In that case, go, but don't come back to Earth after that!"

Chiwa and Masuzu glared at each other while only separated by the table. Meanwhile, Hime very happily chimed in: "In that case, mine goes from the ground all the way to Judecca in Hell!" However, she was beautifully ignored.

Ai used an excessive amount of force to bang on the table as she stood up.

"Hehehe! You guys are way too naive if you're just satisfied at that level! As for me, mine is...! The entire universe! Boundless ♪ My love to Ta-kun is INFMITY! Meters and light years can't measure the dimensions of my love! If it were possible, I'd go outside and run to the boundaries of the universe—♪"

The club room fell to complete silence again.

The two girls who had been arguing earlier stared at Ai with stunned looks. Then, they changed their postures as if to say ｢are you crazy?｣ nearly simultaneously.

"But doesn't Ai like Michel?"

"Huh?"

"Why don't you text that ardent confession to Daigoro right now? No, you can call him this instant and tell him that. He'd definitely fly back to Tokyo right away."

"Huuuuh?"

Ai was at a complete loss of words, and Himeka gently put her hand against her forehead.

"Master, you've been exceedingly strange today. Could you be sick? Do you have a fever?"

Since even her pupil mentioned it, it really did look like she had lost her footing.

"Hwuaaaaaahhh! Ai-chan messed up! Michel's an idiot! Idiot! Daigoro!"

Ai unsteadily walked to the window and wrapped herself in the curtains to hide. She looked like a teru teru bozu, except there were soft sobbing sounds that came from her like rain.

Masuzu stared at Ai with an expression that seemed to say, ｢Oh dear oh dear｣, but she was actually laughing deep down in her heart.

—There's nothing to fear from the devil disciplinary committee member!

All along, Masuzu had known that Ai had fabricated Murata · Michel · Daigoro's existence and that she actually liked Eita. But for now, Michel was an effective trump card for blocking Ai, so Masuzu had no intention of exposing her.

On the other hand, Chiwa felt ｢it was a bit strange｣, but she thought, ｢oh well｣. She didn't think too much of Ai's dispute with Michel and ignored it. As for Himeka, she didn't have any doubts at all. ｢Master's amazing! Master is so cute and popular!｣.

Because of the way these three thought, Ai's ｢imaginary boyfriend｣ was not exposed… though it probably would have been better for her if it had been uncovered.

"Anyways—"

Masuzu once again returned her gaze to everyone.

"In short, apart from Fuyuumi-san, this club is made of people who all love Eita-kun. It's very troublesome that this is the case."

"But, because if that I'm pretty happy!"

Himeka's voice was very energetic:

"Since three of us like Eita, we're all companions!"

"Companions?"

"Companions…"

Masuzu and Chiwa had a subtle expression.

On this point, normally one would call it ｢rivalry in love｣, but Himeka apparently didn't see it that way. That was because although she loved Eita, she's never thought of monopolizing him.

At that point, Ai slightly poked her head out from the curtains.

"C-Can you let me join you guys?!"

"But Master already has Michel."

"Don't say such cold things! As an outstanding maiden, isn't it great thing to have companions who are working so hard towards a goal?! There's no reason to fight!"

Ai's sob-mingled words suddenly reminded Masuzu and Chiwa of something.

The words that Eita said on the last of the club trip flashed through their heads.

『They made me suffer so much back then. My parents faulted each other for affairs and fought, and I tasted the bitterness of mayhem.』

『Those who insult, blame, and criticize each other—these people aren't attractive at all!』

Chiwa was very familiar with Eita's family situation. Masuzu also harbored complicated family problems, so she was very familiar with this sensation of anger that Eita expressed towards his parents.

If they continued fighting like this in front of Eita, maybe they'd even become hated.

Maybe they'd even break Eita's heart.

Neither Masuzu nor Chiwa wanted that kind of thing to happen. Definitely not.

"...Yeah."

Masuzu nodded, throwing away her hesitation.

"In front of Eita, we're companions and comrades who've gathered together as the ｢Maiden's Club｣."

Chiwa also nodded.

"Since we're companions, we have to be very friendly to each other. I don't want to let anyone see us fighting, especially Ei-kun."

"President and Chihuahua both understand?!"

Himeka blossomed with a smile as she clapped her hands together. Of course, she didn't notice the true things they meant to say.

After some hesitation, Ai also came out from the curtains.

"Mmmn, it's best when everyone's on good terms with each other. Long live the peace! …if not, I won't be comfortable inviting you guys to the wedding."

She added those last words while whispering, and no one else heard her.

And just like that, the ｢Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self｣ returned to a truce.

Or at least, on the surface.

♦

As they changed their shoes to leave the building, little black dots started to speckle the asphalt.

Although it was just three o'clock, the sky was already dark. The odor damp air could be smelled in the air.

"It looks like it just started raining. The weather forecast really was accurate."

"My prophecy has also reached the same conclusion. These are the tears that the water goddess Aquarius is currently shedding."

Ai and Himeka opened their umbrellas and walked out into the rain.

Just when Masuzu was about to open her umbrella, Chiwa called out to her from behind.

"I want to fight Natsukawa fair and square, so will you answer me honestly?"

"What's this? That's sudden."

"Natsukawa, are you hiding something?"

By instinct, Masuzu's heart skipped a beat.

But of course she didn't show any reaction.

She feigned her calm and produced an elegant smile.

"No? There isn't anything I'm hiding from you."

"Oh, really…"

Chiwa did not respond like she was convinced at all.

Masuzu then turned the tables and went for an attack:

"Even if there's something I'm hiding, there's no reason for me to tell you, is there? You've been rejected."

Chiwa's fists clenched and stiffened.

She just barely restrained herself from showing her feelings.

"Although I said Ei-kun rejected me, I never said I was going to give up."

"Huh…?"

This time, Masuzu let one slip.

She couldn't keep her right temple from twitching.

"What's with you, childhood friend? Can't you figure it out?"

Chiwa's temples also started to tremble.

"What's with you, girlfriend? Why do you think you're so great?"

Lightning flashed, and the deep rumble of thunder came from the dark skies.

A frightened cry could be heard near the school gates: ｢I-I-I-I-I hate thunder! Damn it! My belly button's going to be taken away!｣. There was also a noisy shout that accompanied it: ｢Woa! Let serenity come down, my right hand! Stop this violent thunderbolt!｣.

Meanwhile, the flash of lightning illuminated these two as the downpour of rain drenched them. However, they only glared at each other silently.

Not long afterwards, the thunder clouds spent all their energy—

"Let's stop fighting, Harusaki-san."

Masuzu took out her cellphone and hung the 「乙」strap in front of Chiwa's eyes.

"Aren't we companions in the same club?"

Chiwa also displayed the same cellphone strap in front of Masuzu.

"Yeah, we're good friends."

Then, the two of them smiled practically simultaneously.

They simply didn't notice Himeka's and Ai's shouts of ｢What's going on—?｣ from the school gates as they smiled.

"Huhuhahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha."

"Aahahhahahahahhahahahahahahhahhahahahahahahahahahahaha."

As the sounds of their laughter overlapped, it practically masked the sound of the rain.

Only the two swaying cell phone straps knew the true feelings of these two girls.

Translator notes and references

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