OreShura: Volume 2 Chapter 10

Chapter 10 A New Step is Mayhem

"Impressive, you’ve really shown yourself off, Eita."

Kaoru said, summarizing yesterday’s commotion.

I was eating my bento, while Kaoru ate sweet bread.

Today it was just like the usual lunch break --- yesterday, I ended up going to the hospital, and afterwards I went to bed right away so I couldn’t make a bento. Thus for the first time in a very long while, I had a bento from the convenience store. The taste was just passable, but it was still a waste of money.

"I feel like I’ve been getting hurt a lot recently."

Kaoru stared at the big bandaid on my face and smiled.

To be honest, my injury wasn’t as serious as it looked. Although it hurt a ton when I was being punched, my condition is much better than it was last month when I fought in front of the train station. Maybe the man wearing black knew the proper technique to punch people, as expected of a professional.

The new later leaked to the disciplinary committee. Although we were cross-examined, ｢Tell us exactly what happened,｣ Masuzu lied just enough to skip over the entire incident. We even didn’t get any reprimands or questions from the staff room. It seems like Mana --- or more accurately, Masuzu’s father, maybe arranged something behind the scenes with the school.

What kind of father was he?

But if he could give up the idea of bringing Masuzu back, then that was just fine.

"Oh, Eita, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Huh?"

"The time when you asked me that English question before exams: ｢Let’s restore our bonds from the past｣, have you solved it?"

Unconsciously, I startled with surprise.

"Ah, right, um, sure. I went to ask the English teacher, Kishiwada-sensei for help, and he taught me."

"Really? That’s good."

Although I nearly said it carelessly, Kaoru seemed not to notice.

"I thought it sounded like something out of a love letter. Did the question come out of a romantic novel?"

"Ah, right, I actually think that was the case."

"If the love letter came from your childhood friend or your ex-girlfriend, that would be mayhem. Even if you’re single for now, having a girlfriend would definitely make it worse."

"............Ah."

Kaoru shouldn’t know, right?

Kaoru......?

I wiped my sweat with a handkerchief as I said:

"B-but if I just reject them later, it’ll be okay? I just have to make it clear that ｢I have a girlfriend now.｣"

"Really? Is it that easy?"

"Why not?"

Kaoru licked his finger to clean off bread jam.

"It’s not like your childhood friend and ex-girlfriend will give up."

"......"

"Even if you had a girlfriend, if they truly had sincere feelings, they wouldn’t give up. They would try their hardest to restore their bonds, right? Girls are stubborn --- it’s much more than Eita expected, right?"

I wiped and wipe, but my sweat dripped incessantly.

"D-d-d-don’t say such scary things."

"Scary? That English question? It’s very unlike the number one student of our class to say something like that before exams."

Kaoru laughed, and used his straw to drink strawberry milk.

Recently I’ve felt Kaoru’s been really hard to deal with......

If even my best friends were teasing me, I don’t have a moment of peace yet!

♦

That day after school ---

I went with Masuzu to go shopping on the streets.

This because we had to re-purchase the volumes of ｢JOJO’s Bizarre Advanture｣ that were messed up because of yesterday’s incident…. of course the guilty party, me, was paying for it.

Whatever, there wasn’t anything I could do about it ---

"Hey, Masuzu, it seems like there aren’t any in tankobon format . Why don’t we buy the bunkoban version?"

"......"

Masuzu hasn’t said a thing for a while now.

What?

Even when she was in class, other than the things that were absolutely necessary, she didn’t say a thing.

Did the JOJO thing make her that angry......

We wandered through three bookstores nearby, but we weren’t able to buy the volumes that we wanted. JOJO was a series that has been popular for more than two decades, so it was very difficult to find the first few volumes in small bookstores.

Later we took a longer trip to the big bookstores, and finally bought it all.

Around eight o’clock in the evening, we were sitting on the deserted bus car on the way back ---

"You're too nosy."

In the double seat, to the side of me, Masuzu finally spoke.

Her tone was barbed, and she seemed really angry.

"What do you mean by nosy?"

"If you really angered the Natsukawa family, you wouldn’t know what will happen to you in the future. You and Harusaki-chan like to meddle in things too much."

Ehhh, she was actually bothered by that thing with Mana?

If that was the issue, then I had decided my response a long time ago.

"I don’t care about the circumstances in your house."

"What did you say?"

"I don’t know what secrets you keep to yourself, but I hate splitting up with you just like that, that’s all."

Exactly.

Of course we’ll have secrets.

And we’ll still lie frequently.

So the most important thing --- is what you want to do.

And how you want to see each other.

Masuzu remained silent for a while, and suddenly said with a sigh:

"From now on, when we’re alone, I’m not going to use honorifics."

"Huh?"

"When we’re in front of others, we can be fake lovers. Other than this, I’ll still treat you coldly, do you understand, Ei-kun?"

Woah, we’re finally on an equal first name basis now?

You can treat me more and more unreasonably too!

"Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind."

"......Why aren’t you angry? Why aren’t you saying, ｢Why did you leave out the honorifics｣?"

"This arrogance, forced and headstrong quality, is just like the way you are, Masuzu."

"Fool...... I was obviously faking my arrogance."

After talking, Masuzu leaned her head against my chest,

Like that time Chiwa did before, she rubbed her face against me several times.

"Ah ......" Masuzu seemed very comfortable as she sighed and rubbed back and forth, her silver hair swaying on my chest.

"H-huh? Shouldn’t we be pretending we’re lovers only in front of others?"

"Of course not, this is --- this is a JOJO reference."

"Eh? Which part? What volume is the reference from?"

"......"

Strange? She didn’t answer immediately?

About JOJO, this girl should know everything.

"Four times."

"Huh?"

"This month, you’ve already ignored four of my JOJO references that I came up with much difficulty."

"No I didn’t? When was this? What kind of references?"

As I finished, Masuzu immediately emerged with a triumphant smile, and said:

"Hmph, you didn’t notice? Since you’re my boyfriend, you need to exercise your JOJO power, okay, Eita?"

"Hmph! You arrogant thing."

"Who are you talking about, especially with that standoffish reply? After all, I hold your weak point (notebook)! Understand your position now!"

Masuzu snuggled her head against my chest.

What was with this girl?

It felt subtly different from what she normally does to tease and make fun of me ---

"Understand? From now on, there will only be one person in your eyes."

"Okay, okay. After all, you’re my ｢girlfriend｣."

"And I’ll be the only one you’ll be this gentle towards."

"......Ah."

"Don’t be so happy while with other girls."

"Wait a minute!"

"What?"

"You want to restrict me to these kinds of conditions?"

Masuzu said with sharp eyes:

"Originally boyfriends are like this, right? In the beginning I was really naïve. Apart from Harusaki Chiwa, even Akishino Himeka appeared. Although Eita is ｢Anti-Love｣, you’re far too popular with the girls."

Hpmh! You have no right to say that to someone else.

"But I’m a fake boyfriend?"

"Idiot, because you’re fake, your job is to be more real than the real thing."

"......"

Ah.

I had nothing to say in reply.

I always felt that sentence had some kind of implied message.

"If you don’t even know that you’re really stupid, stupid, stupid......"

Before we arrived at the bus stop, Masuzu called me ｢stupid｣ fifteen times.

As for the number of times she rubbed me with her face --- I couldn’t even count.

♦

The next morning.

I waited in front of my house at the usual time to meet with Chiwa.

Ever since we agreed on it before exams, we’ve been going to school together every day...... I felt like my mental state returned to what it was like in elementary school.

"Hey, Ei-kun, did you end up buying ｢JOJO｣?"

Chiwa asked as she walked besides me.

"Although we went to a place rather far away, we bought all the ones we trashed during that commotion, you see."

I lifted up the paper bag in my hands for her to see. Inside, there were twelve volumes of JOJO that we bought yesterday.

"You went with Natsukawa?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing happened, right?"

"......Yes?"

"Why did you just ｢pause｣? Ei-kun?"

Chiwa’s eyes became very sharp.

From merely the ｢…｣ she managed to detect something! That was just too perceptive!

I ignored the cold sweat on my back and said:

"Nothing, it was really nothing. We just went to buy JOJO, and that’s all."

"Really? It was only the two of you, and you didn’t make any progress?"

"N-no."

It shouldn’t be called progress, it was more like it worsened. Masuzu even announced that ｢In the future, we’ll talk equally and use each other names｣.

......And that face rubbing made me a little concerned.

Chiwa gave a big sight and said:

"Maybe if I went with you guys yesterday, it would have been better ---"

"But you were going out with your classmates, right?"

"Ah, because I didn’t go to the celebration party after the exam, I had to make it up...... wuah, I originally wanted to eat lots of meat, like cow diaphragm, beef ribs, beef tongue, cow stomach, cow intestine...... whua whua. "

Right, Chiwa even missed her barbecue party to rush over here.

This girl really had extraordinary comradeship with others.

I thought this part of her was really cute…. although I absolutely will never say it.

"Thank you, Chiwa."

"Huh? For what?"

"Nothing, I just felt the urge to thank you."

".....Ei-kun’s really weird."

Even though she said that, Chiwa’s face seemed to beam with joy.

At this time ---

"ONE TO ELEVEN, Eita sighted, engage with capture."

From the side alley, a person’s shadow wrapped around my right arm.

Beautiful hair like a doll swayed in front of me.

"Good morning, Eita."

Akishino Himeka.

She looked shyly up at my face.

"Hi, Hime. What does ｢One to Eleven｣ mean?"

I tsukkomi’d her trans-dimensional language, and Hime pointed at the sign on the telephone pole.

野积, District 1, #12.

"That’s an address!"

That could have been better than that! Well, they’re all delusions anyways.

EKiMaE was better!

"Good morning --- Himechi!"

After giving her greeting, Chiwa grabbed Hime’s arm and pulled her away from me. Recently, I felt like I was seeing these kinds of confrontations.

"Himechi, are you going to the club room right after school?"

"Definitely."

"Because we don’t have snacks, I want to buy some at the cafeteria. What does Himechi think?"

"Pop Rocks."

"......You didn’t buy them?"

As I watched them talk as they walked, I felt warm inside.

Hime was completely accustomed to talking with Chiwa.

At this time, there were two girls that passed us while chatting.

Seeing them from the side, they seemed quite familiar. Probably girls from class two.

"What’s wrong, Hime?"

I don’t know why, but Hime stopped moving, staring at the backs of the two girls.

She was silent like this for a while.

Then the gentle ｢exhale｣ of her breath ---

"G-g-good morninngg!"

"Ouch!"

Along with the loud noise, Hime bowed her head!

The momentum of her bow had hit Chiwa’s back. The ｢ouch!｣ that we just heard was Chiwa’s voice.

The two girls who looked back seemed as if they were looking at something they couldn’t believe.

Hime’s face flushed red, and her knees shook…. she looked as if she was awaiting the verdict in a trial, as stared at those two.

Shortly afterward ---

"Akishino-san! Good morning!"

"G-good morning! Akishino-san."

One of them smiled very energetically.

The other person, though a bit shy, slightly raised her hand and greeted Hime.

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

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

"Uh… bye then…?"

With nothing left to discuss, the two left as if fleeing.

Hime blushed and watched their backs, raised her nose, then faced me and said:

"Eita."

"Huh?"

"I can say hello now!"

"......Great."

What was that ｢g-g-good morninnngg｣ anyways?!

Also ｢Don’t hit Chiwa with your head｣!

There were many things that I could have tsukkomi’d.

But for Hime, this was a single ｢step｣.

In order to cleave this gray world apart.

｢Holy Dragon Princess of Dawn｣ had just made a tiny crack.

♦

Then, after school at the club ---

Akishino Himeka formally joined the club, and ｢Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self｣ finally had four members.

This new member...... suddenly grabbed my arm.

"Why is Eita running away?"

"It’s because you’re always sticking to me!"

"No, I need to use Spiritual Power (PSYCHORNETRY) to make you recover your memories from your past life. In order to do this, we need to be touching each other for three hours every day, so hold me."

Even just after newly joining the club, she was already causing a worrisome start.

Masuzu and Chiwa, who sat on the opposite side, stared at Hime with a rigid smile.

"Welcome to our club, Akishino-san, but please leave Eita-kun alone."

"Nice to meet you, Himeka, but you should leave Ei-kun alone."

"I refuse."

It was the same mechanical voice she always had, except I felt it was very assertive. Her hands that held my arm did not loosen at all.

The Hime, did this club become a ｢New World｣?

Even though she was taking advantage of the situation.

But becoming popular is part of the ｢New World｣....

"Even if you are an ex-girlfriend, you still need to act properly!"

Chiwa’s veins bulged and her fist shook.

"Absolutely right. Even I, as the current girlfriend, will not act so shamelessly in front of such a public place."

Masuzu’s mouth twitched.

Hime heard her, but hugged even tighter.

"But this is a club activity."

"Club activity?"

I could not help but tilt my head, puzzled. Masuzu and Chiwa also wrinkled their eyebrows.

"The results of the Transdimensional Logic System’s extensive calculations, has clearly determined that the most attractive girl to the opposite sex is Natsukawa Masuzu."

Sure, everyone knew that already. You didn’t need to ask the Transdimensional Logic System about it.

"Therefore, this is what I think --- the fastest shortcut to becoming popular and the optimal answer to becoming an outstanding maiden is ---"

Hime stared at Masuzu with a firm expression completely out of her old character, and said:

"To steal Eita from Natsukawa Masuzu’s side."

"Oh!"

The person who exclaimed in surprise was Chiwa.

Masuzu had her mouth open so wide, she forgot to close it as she stared at Hime.

"......Really, I see ......"

I thought very inconsequentially:

Meaning ---

If you can steal the boyfriend from the hands of the school’s most popular girl, Masuzu, you would reach a degree even more cute and popular than Masuzu. In other words, ｢The New • Most Popular Person in School｣.

Compared to randomly attracting the attentions of random boys, this was a much more efficient method.

Hahahahaha.

Ahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

......Ahh.

But I’m the one they’re arguing over!

Chiwa clapped her hands, overjoyed, and said:

"Amazing Himechi! That’s a really good idea! Right, why didn’t I think of such a simple thing! This way we can attack Ei-kun fair and square...... No, it should be called a ｢Club Activity｣."

Acting right away, Chiwa hugged my empty arm!

Masuzu said in an extraordinarily rare panic:

"Wait a moment! This kind of thing can’t be allowed, right?"

"Why? Isn’t this a great club activity? Or are you saying it’s not okay because it’s your own boyfriend we’re talking about. But you wouldn’t say such a stingy thing, right? You’re our president after all! You don’t have confidence in your own popularity after all?"

"The present girlfriend should not be able to monopolize Eita. The ex-girlfriend should also have some access to some doors."

"......Uh......"

Masuzu could not even move one step.

She’s been completely cornered.

To compensate for this, Masuzu stared at me with very scary eyes.

......Hey, why me?

D-did I do something wrong?

"Hey, Ei-kun, why don’t we go somewhere during summer vacation? Just the two of us alone. And of course it’s for club activities. ♪"

"Eita, in order the recover your memories of our past life, I want you to come live at my house. Please note that this is a club activity."

"Eita, there’s something I need to say to you alone later. This… isn’t a club activity. Please mentally prepare yourself."

This dangerous atmosphere swirled into a whirlpool.

Three people in the room rallied back and forth with each other, gradually increasing the intensity and the degree of sharpness.

This was the opening prelude to the New World.

This was the opening of a new ｢Mayhem｣.

"Hey, Himechi, it’s about time you give up on Ei-kun! Ei-kun’s been sweating non-stop. He must be hot, right?"

"Chihuahua should be more dignified. Eita’s pulse is rising alarmingly, and it’s definitely because of you. "

"Well, let me take a note ♪ ｢Xth July, Eita-kun was hugged by Harusaki-chan and was secretly very happy｣｢Eita-kun was hugged by Akishino-san and was immeasurably self-satisfied｣｢More accurately speaking, he is using his elbow to touch the chests of those two girls｣｢Even though he told me that his eyes only have me only have me only have me only have me only have me only have me only have me｣.

Save...... save me......

Someone save me!

My girlfriend, ex-girlfriend, and childhood friend mayhem!

---

Notes

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