OreShura: Volume 2 Chapter 0

Chapter 0 This is Obviously My House... In Mayhem

There’s nothing strange about having a childhood friend.

Is that right? The average person in kindergarten, or elementary school, will have at least one or two close friends. “Because they lived very close to each other,” or “their families have a good relationship.” Due to these innocent reasons, it didn’t matter how many childhood friends one had.

But if we talk about “childhood friends at this age,” the situation is very different.

If the other person is a girl, it’s totally different matter.

Because puberty changes the way people interact with each other, there’s no way to keep the same relationship from before. They remember “their past selves” and find it embarrassing, so it becomes a barrier that gradually pushes them apart. By the time they’ve finally forgotten about that person, the sight of her walking down the street hand in hand with another guy—“Ah, she has a boyfriend now”—it’s a really unpleasant feeling.

However, it’s okay.

One must step over the joys and sorrows of life in order to become responsible man.

To become an adult.

Even so.

Yes, even so --

"Wuaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Pervert! Aaahhhhhhhhhhh!"

It was almost final exams, an early in July.

I was about to go wash my face when I opened bathroom closet door, just to be greeted by a shrieking scream.

The person who screamed was Harusaki Chiwa.

She was a first year in high school, 15 years old.

She was my childhood friend.

But also -- I didn’t know why she was naked.

Her eyes were opened wide, with her soaked hair equally shocked and stiff.

Chiwa’s figure was very delicate, and her hands and feet were especially slender. Her butt looked silky and very soft, and her skin was a glossy peach color. Unfortunately, the towel barely covered her important parts… no wait, it was fortunate misfortune.

"H-h-hey, why are you here!?"

I also let out an alarming cry no softer than hers.

After all, this was my house.

I didn’t have parents, and I lived with my aunt, Saeko-san. Today, Saeko-san wasn’t coming home because she was busy with work, so the only one left in the house was me.

Chiwa bent down, her face blushing red.

"I sent you a text message last night, right? The water heater at my house broke, so I wanted to come over to take a shower in the morning!"

"...Huh? You did?"

But to think of it, I didn’t check my SMS messages.

I had been studying hard for my exams the entire time, so I completely forgot.

"Hey, how long are you going to stare?! Ei-kun you stupid idiot! Pervert!"

"S-sorry!"

I turned right and left the bathroom, and shut the door while facing away.

Through the door, I heard Chiwa’s sharp voice.

"Even if we are childhood friends, there are things you can see and things you shouldn’t!"

"That’s why I'm sorry. I didn’t know."

I leaned against the door, and apologized awkwardly.

The sound of clothes rustling came through the door… Chiwa probably started changing clothes, right? I didn’t think I should be listening, so I got away from the door.

"Really? You really feel sorry?"

"Yeah, I forget to check my text messages, so it’s all my fault."

"...Then--"

I felt Chiwa lean close to the door as she spoke:

"Can you listen to my request?"

It was coming.

A reconciliation request.

This was something Chiwa frequently did after fights, to make herself feel better.

"What request?"

"Ah, it’s no big deal..."

Chiwa spoke shyly:

"Will you walk with me to school more often?"

“Eh?” I said, with my head tilted, puzzled.

"Just this?"

Cook hamburger for dinner! I thought she would make some kind of meat-related request.

"...Ei-kun always walks so quickly to school by himself, anyways."

Chiwa muttered softly, and I didn’t know why she sounded so downcast.

Chiwa’s house was just next door. Back in elementary school, we always went to school together in the morning. But ever since junior high, Chiwa joined the Kendo Club and she left home at a different time than I did. So this habit slowly disappeared.

Since Chiwa stopped practicing Kendo in high school, it was now possible to go to school together…

"But, why do you suddenly want to do this?"

"B-because it natural, right? We live next door, and we go to the same high school!"

"I see."

I did not think that high school boys and girls going to school together was a natural right.

"Well, then...... Ah, we can talk about club activities while walking!"

"Club activities...... "

Since last month, Chiwa and I started participating in the same club.

It was called: “Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self” , also known as “Jien-Otsu” .

The club purpose was to improve the quality of one’s inner self, and become the ideal young maiden – it sounds really good, but its true identity was a club that “researched ways to become popular,” that kind of unhealthy group.

I, as the only male member, was forced to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of these girls.

"I understand."

I sighed:

"When you head out, just call for me."

"Really?"

"Yeah ♪" I sensed Chiwa make a small jump behind the door. This girl was always like an eternal child.

"Starting today? Then I’ll change clothes immediately. Wait for me, Ei-kun!"

"Okay, okay."

When I was about to leave the scene, I heard a tiny sound from Chiwa.

"I absolutely will not hand you over to Natsukawa."

"Eh? What did you say, Chiwa?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!"

I thought I heard something about Natsukawa...

Never mind, I was probably imagining things.

Since I wasn’t able to my face, I decided to prepare breakfast and headed towards the living room.

I didn’t have parents, and since my aunt Saeko-san was always busy with work, I did all the cooking, laundry, cleaning, and household related things. Today was not a trash burning day, so I needed to remember to take the garbage outside.

While I was thinking about this, I opened the door --

"Waah~ pervert --!"

A very unconvincing fake scream greeted me.

The person who screamed was Natsukawa Masuzu.

She was a first year in high school, 15 years old.

Masuzu had silver hair and blue eyes, since she was of Northern European descent.

Her outfit of a white frilly apron on top of her school uniform was a very crazy way to dress… what was this girl trying to do?

"What are you doing? Masuzu?"

"As you can see, Eita-kun lewdly insisted that I cosplay. Waah -- pervert --"

"Don’t say such nasty things!"

When did I ever ask you to wear this kind of outfit?!

I didn’t even like apron uniforms! I was not that much of a pervert!

I didn’t matter if one was used to seeing the uniform. The combination with the neat apron made it burst out with a newfound brilliance! Or was it the fact that the length of the apron annoyingly and just barely covered her skirt, so it looked like she was “naked.” Every time the ruffles of the apron shook, I became restless! Of course I wasn’t thinking about these things!

"That being said, why are you here?"

"Hey, it’s not a strange thing for a girlfriend to be at her boyfriend's house, right?"

Yes, this girl was the school’s number one student. The extent of her bad character was also the school’s number one girl. Natsukaw Masuzu, unexpectedly, is my “girlfriend”… Well, there was a reason for that.

"Wearing an apron for her boyfriend, and borrowing the kitchen to make breakfast… isn’t this an ideal model for the “Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self?””

I sat down on the sofa, and heaved a big sigh.

"In other words, this is a club activity?"

Natsukawa Masuzu was the founder of the “Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self”, and served as the president.

This girl was the root and queen of all the evil.

"Last night you should have received a few text passages on your cellphone, saying that I would come bother you tomorrow morning. We exchanged SMS numbers after all, and you didn’t even look?"

"Sorry, I was busy studying... And by the way, how do you get in?"

"The front entrance, of course. I thought you even unlocked it for me."

"......Ah."

Right, it was Chiwa.

Because she used to always come back and forth between our houses, she has our backup key. I also have a key to her house.

Really, when you open a door you should lock it afterwards!

"I rang the door bell quite a few times, but Eita-kun was in the shower, so you didn’t hear? It seems like your family isn’t around either… Even though I thought it wasn’t very mannerly, I came in by myself."

"I see."

When I was clarifying and going through the facts, I noticed another important thing.

Masuzu said, "You were in the shower, so you didn’t hear?"

But I was actually in bed, and since I was asleep I didn’t notice…

The person showing was Chiwa.

In a few moments, she’ll walk into the living room while wiping her soaking wet her with a towel.

With her cheeks flushed after just showering, Chiwa will meet Masuzu!

"M-m-m-masuzu!"

"Yes?"

"Get out!"

"Eh?"

Masuzu frowned.

"Because I have things to do before I go to school! If you stay with me, I’ll be late!"

"If that’s the case, at least eat breakfast with me."

"I just ate a few moments ago! In the morning I eat three huge bowls of rice! I’m so full, I can’t take even another grain of rice or a bread crumb in my stomach!"

"......I see."

Masuzu’s shoulder dropped, hanging.

"I was really looking forward to eating breakfast with Eita-kun ever since last night."

Masuzu seemed lonely as she muttered to herself, and the sorrowful look on her face continuously stabbed at me.

"Sorry, Masuzu, for making you come out here to specifically make breakfast."

"I always wanted you to try my extra-hot curry pre-packaged meal filled with love…"

"T-that’s too difficult to make, right? You have to boil the water, and cook.

"No, rice comes in the package."

"You came here to press the button of the microwave, just for me?!"

I didn’t even know what I was saying at this point.

Masuzu gave a big sigh.

"Since there is no way…"

"You finally understand?"

"Compared to the apron uniform, you seem to prefer the naked apron."

"You still don’t understand!"

"Kido Eita really likes naked apron: using this keyword search, there’s about 83,020 results (Search time: 0.14 sec.)"

"Where did you Google this?! You seem to want your boyfriend to be perverted!"

"Eeh? Well, uh, um..."

Masuzu turned her head and became silent:

"No, I would never think like that."

"Then why did you just seem so nervous?!"

What should I do?

This early in the morning, we’re already spitting out so much double action.

This seemed to be very bad for one’s health…

"Anyways, I’m leaving."

Masuzu took off her apron, shaking her head gently.

Her silvery hair floated in front of the living room window, right in the light of the morning sun, inadvertently blinding me.

This girl was so alluringly pretty…

Masuzu undid the ribbon of her uniform, and spoke with melancholy eyes:

"Ah, Eita-kun, I feel like naked apron is too much."

"I feel the exactly the same!"

"Since you insist, I will only take my skirt off, so forgive me...!"

"This is so messed up!"

"Onii-chan, look quickly, I’m taking them off, I’m taking them off!"

"You’re purposefully playing a character!"

Just as Masuzu placed her fingers on her skirt fastener --

"Hey – Ei-kun, where’s the hairdryer?"

The sound came from the changing room, and it made me jump suddenly. “Waaaaah!”

Masuzu tilted her head and said:

"Eita-kun, just then, whose voice was that?"

"I-i-i-i-it was nothing!"

"Is your family home? But the voice seemed familiar."

"You’re overthinking it! That’s my aunt Saeko-san! She must have just woken up!"

"Well, it’s a rare opportunity, so I might as well say hello."

"No! Don’t do these kinds of strange things!"

I grabbed the hairdryer on the table, and said:

"Listen, Masuzu, no matter what happens, don’t move! Even if a new STAND appears, don’t move!"

"I don’t understand exactly what you’re... "

Before Masuzu could finish speaking, I ran out of the living room.

I knocked on the bathroom door and when it opened, I saw the freshly-changed Chiwa grimacing in the washroom mirror.

"Take the hairdryer, Chiwa... "

"What’s with you? You’re covered in sweat."

Chiwa’s expression seemed surprised as she took the hair dryer.

"Don’t worry, a new STAND user just appeared."

"......? Ei-kun is so weird."

Chiwa tilted her head and began using the hair dryer.

"Hey, if I occasionally change my hair style, what would you think?"

"Well, it’s fine?"

What should I do?

Before Chiwa finds I out, I need to figure out how to make Masuzu leave.

Well, if I did it the other way around, that’d be fine… but I promised to go to school with Chiwa.

I’d like to keep my promises with my childhood friend as much as possible.

"What’s with you repeatedly saying "OK?" ...You’re not listening, are you?"

Chiwa pouted, and stared at me with piercing eyes.

"O-o-of course! Hairstyle, right? Ah, but I think the way Chiwa looks right now is best. It suits you!"

"...Really?"

"Really, really!"

When I said this, Chiwa’s entire face blushed red.

She secretly patted me on the back several times.

"I hate you! Idiot idiot ♪ ♪ Ei-kun you idiot!"

"......?"

What was wrong with this girl? Was she confused? My back hurt.

At this time......!

"Eita-kun, which button should I push to warm the rice?"

I reacted to the sound coming from the living room: "AoHHHHHHH!"

"That’s strange? Whose there?"

Chiwa turned off her hair dryer and tilted her head, puzzled.

"Aah, Saeko-san just came back."

"But I felt like the voice wasn’t the same."

"S-she said she caught a little cold! A very terrible summer cold!"

"Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her in a long time. I’ll go say hello."

"No! Don’t think about such strange things!"

I grabbed the shoulders of Chiwa, who was about to open the door, to stop her.

"S-she seemed to be tired from work! I want to let her rest quietly, so can you wait here for a while? Okay?"

Okay – Chiwa nodded in agreement. She knew Saeko-san was really busy, so she didn’t seem suspicious.

"Then, I should also try to use the hairdryer quietly, right?"

"Please! The future of humanity depends on you!"

I almost tripped three times in the few meters the corridor was, on the way back to the living room.

"What’s wrong, Eita-kun? You’re covered in sweat."

Masuzu wrinkled her brow as she stood in front of the microwave.

"I just saved the future of the human race, yeah -- hey --"

"Oh, you really are showing off your talents."

I took the rice from the hands of the dazed Masuzu, and began to work the microwave.

As I started at the turntable spin, I wondered a little.

I absolutely could not let Masuzu and Chiwa meet, so I needed to cleverly lead Masuzu out of the house. But Masuzu had a sharp intuition, so I had to be extremely careful.

"Hey, Masuzu, I'm really sorry, but when you leave, can you exit from the corridor? I’ll bring your shoes over.

From the living room hallway, it was possible to reach the courtyard. As long as one passed the courtyard, one could reach the road on the opposite side of the main entrance.

"Oh, what’s wrong?"

"If Saeko-san knew that I brought a female student home, it would worry her, because she is a very conservative person."

This, of course, was a lie.

Saeko-san worked at a gal-game production company, and loved talking about romantic topics. If she knew about this, she would say, "Well done, Eita!" Help me cook some red bean sticky rice.

"I understand. Since this is the case, I'll leave right away."

Masuzu easily accepted it.

I thought she would question me, so I felt quite pathetic.

"Why do you look so startled? I don’t want to cause trouble to your family. If they’re home or not home, I won’t recklessly come anymore."

Masuzu’s expression suddenly looked very serious.

"What about Eita-kun’s parents?"

"I haven’t told you before? I don’t have a father and mother. The only person who can be considered my family, is my aunt Saeko-san who adopted me – and there’s Chiwa and no more."

"......I see."

Ding, the microwave rang.

"Please cherish the family you have left."

I took Masuzu’s shoes from the entrance hall and brought them to the corridor.

Masuzu retied the ribbon she had previously undone, neatly folded her apron, and put it into her bag.

"You don’t eat curry?"

"If I eat it, you’re aunt might come downstairs, right? I’ll go buy or something on the road at the convenience store. You can give the curry to your aunt."

"... Sorry, Masuzu."

I felt quite sorry.

If you really thought about it, this all happened because I never checked my SMS messages.

"I’ll make it up to you another day."

"Don’t."

Masuzu shook her head.

"Don’t worry about another day, I want you to make it up to me now."

Masuzu came from behind and hugged me, and gently leaned against my body.

She was just like a beautiful French doll as her face drew close to mine, and her sweat breath brushed my nose.

"Kiss me."

"Eh?"

"I kissed you before, right? So now it’s Eita-kun’s turn."

"W-w-w-w-what are you saying?! I can’t do that kind of thing!"

"But we already in a romantic relationship."

Masuzu with her blushing face, pressed her body close to mine.

I could clearly tell that under the ribbon of her uniform, there was a soft thing changing shape. Even if I wanted to pull my body away, the thing that stuck out would follow me!

She was absolutely doing it on purpose!

"Stop kidding around! You don’t seem to be faking a romantic relationship!"

"Yes, that's right."

Masuzu’s moist eyes looked up at me, and nodded at the same time.

"Our relationship as boy-girlfriends is fake, after all. I am “anit-love,” and our relationship was really a pretense to get rid of the boys pursuing me – but, Eita-kun."

Masuzu’s lips suddenly drew close to me.

I unconsciously closed my eyes -- but her lips went past my lips, and approached my ear:

"I know that the person in the shower is Harusaki-chan."

"What!"

"Because her shoes are at the entrance, so I knew everything from the very beginning ♪"

"............"

I felt all my strength escape from my body.

So the point was, all this hard effort was just in vain?

"N-no, the reason why Chiwa is showering at my house, it’s not what you think. She came over because the water heater at house is broken... that ......"

"Please do not misunderstand."

Masuzu interrupted my explanation:

"I’m not jealous at all. But -- if there are rumors that Eita-kun and Harusaki-chan are together, it will break our contract. That would be very troublesome to me."

"You don’t need to worry about that at all!"

Cold sweat dripped down my face:

"I’ve said it before. Chiwa is like family, because she’s my childhood friend. I would never see her as a romantic partner, and we both think the same way."

"Ah?"

Masuzu’s eyes clearly did not believe it.

"If Harusaki-chan were like that, then it would be fine."

"...What do you mean?"

"In short --"

Masuzu suddenly pulled her body away.

"Your ‘notebook from 8th grade’ is in my hands, so please do not forget about it."

"Yes, I know."

My notebook from 8th grade.

I wrote it when I was in middle school, and it’s a diary full of delusional disgraces and past events.

Because Masuzu had this in her hands, I was unwillingly forced to play the role of her boyfriend.

"Even if you are “anti-love”, you’re always very casually talking about "kissing.""

"Oh, you’re saying it backwards, right?"

Masuzu sternly spoke while putting on her shoes in the hallway:

"Precisely because I am “anti-love,” I can talk about “kissing” all the time. Kissing is just touching one mouth with another, right? Only “love-minded” and “love-worshipping” people would think a kiss is a very precious or embarrassing thing."

"......Really?"

You really can talk. You obviously just blushed.

"Well Eita-kun, see you at school."

Masuzu elegantly and politely bowed to me, exited through the courtyard, and went out onto the road.

"Agh......"

I suddenly felt tired.

I realized that the day had just begun, and I really wanted to go back to sleep.

Forget it. That was impossible. The end of the semester was almost here, and I couldn’t become combustible waste just yet.

"Woo – Ei-kun – Can I come out now?"

Chiwa must have gotten impatient, and her voice came from the bathroom.

Really...

Everyone made my daily life such as desperate mayhem.

♦

-- Having said that, nonetheless, some idea in my heart was full of optimism.

The real "Mayhem" had not yet appeared.

Chiwa was just like a sister.

Masuzu was a fake girlfriend.

Even though the eyes of the people at school might have seen it as a desperate mayhem between my girlfriend and childhood friend – but this wasn’t actually mayhem. They were both impressive people, so it must have seemed like they were surrounding and fighting over me. But they weren’t fighting for the sake of fighting.

However --

That day after school, when I opened my shoe locker as I was about to go home, I saw “that thing” that destroyed my naïve understanding.

It was a pink envelope.

Heat-shaped stickers.

And there was a slight smell of perfume --

"L-l-l-love letter?"

It had to be a lie.

Coming up next time, childhood friend, his girlfriend, or don’t tell me it’s some "third party" debut?

Mayhem – the real mayhem is coming!

---

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