OreShura: Volume 4 Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Love Test is Mayhem

Onigiri, sausages, fried eggs.

These dishes I once placed, quickly disappeared from the edge of the table into Saeko-san's stomach. And as usual she didn't properly chew.

As I continued to cook another leek and miso soup, I spoke:

"If you were that hungry, couldn't you have eaten some fast food to sustain yourself?"

"But I rarely see Eita at home, and I want to eat your hand-made dishes~"

Seeing Saeko-san's smile with grains of rice stuck to her cheek, I felt quite happy. Learning about cooking really was a worthwhile choice.

I invited Masuzu and the rest of them to sit on the sofa in the living room, but because it could only accommodate three people, Chiwa kneeled on a cushion by the carpet.

Apart from Chiwa, the remaining three girls were all stunned by Saeko-san's eating manners. Well, it would scare the average person, since her energy at devouring rice easily surpassed Chiwa's.

Saeko-san drank the miso soup like water, and gave a huge sigh, ｢Aaaah~｣.

"Well, that's all…… Good night!"

"Good night."

Saeko-san laid her head down on the table, and began to snore loudly. Her irrational ability to fall asleep anywhere never changes.

Masuzu's eyes were round and wide as she asked:

"Has she fallen asleep yet?"

"Yeah, she's always like this after eating."

I look an unbuttoned cardigan sweater from the living room wall, and draped it over Saeko-san's shoulder.

"She says that sleeping on the table is the best, especially for short-term elimination of sleepiness."

This was an occupational disease—Saeko-san would always smile as she said so.

Hime tilted her head:

"Should we move somewhere else?"

"Don't worry about it. She'll wake up in about thirty minutes anyways."

"But I want to see Eita's room."

"Won't happen."

I flatly refused.

Because you'll definitely rummage through someone else's house! You'd try to find porn magazines!

Ever since earlier, Fuyuumi had also been looking around the living room with her hands on her knees, sometimes clenching into a fist and sometimes relaxing. She was completely restless.

Then it dawned on me.

"Let me say it first, this room doesn't have any official seals. Understood"

"A-are you looking for trouble? Why would I want that kind of thing?"

Naturally, you'll take it and stamp the marriage registration form, isn't that right?

When the dialogue was about to digress, Masuzu cleared her throat.

"It's about time we started the meeting. After all, we came here for a reason."

"Hey, wait a minute."

Thus, Chiwa started.

"What's with this? Aren't you already sick and tired of seeing my room?"

"Not that! Before we start, I want to clarify one thing."

Chiwa turned her gaze directly at Masuzu:

"Earlier, what did Saeko-san meant when she was talking about ｢fake｣?"

Guh!

……As expected, we had to continue with that topic, naturally.

"I'm also interested. What's the deal with the president being ｢fake｣?"

"Either Impostor or Imitation, does it has to do with something like that?"

Even Hime and Fuyuumi voiced their doubts.

Masuzu gave a big sigh:

"If it's about that, I would also like to know about it. Even though it's clearly our first meeting, she just said something like that; I'm very troubled by it."

Chiwa glared at me and spoke:

"But Ei-kun also seems rather nervous?"

"W-What are you talking about?"

I originally wanted to play dumb, but my pitch went unnaturally high.

But......

Recently Chiwa really has been quite sharp, at least, with issues regarding Masuzu and me.

But as Chiwa was unable to find any more evidence, so she had to drop the subject for the time being.

"So, we have to discuss how to manage the budget for the summer training camp."

"Right, is there any way we can quickly amass money?"

Hime raised her hand in response to Masuzu's question, and said:

"And if everyone gets a Palt Daime?"

"…… You surely mean Part Time, right?"

"Correct."

When Hime said ｢Part Time｣, it sounded like the name of some spell or weapon. It really was unfathomable.

"We won't have time. In order to work, we need to get a school permission first."

Fuyuumi said, very straitlaced.

"Ee— no one actually follows that rule, right?"

"That won't do! Since I'm now a club member, I won't let you break the school rules."

Phuu— Chiwa stretched out her face.

"Besides, we won't make it for next week. There aren't that many opportunities for high school girls looking for part time jobs."

Chiwa shook her head and said, "That's not the case at all."

"A few days ago I saw an advertisement. It said that all you have to do is eat snacks and listen to an old man whine, and the salary is thirty thousand yen. I don't know what type of snacks are included, though."

"……Chiwa, please absolutely do not go that place, okay?"

I firmly and unyieldingly urged her. This girl can really make people worry.

"Since it has come to this."

Masuzu's eyes shifted towards me.

"I guess I can only ask Eita-kun to put his body in use."

"Hmn? What would be good at this time?"

"Everyone has two kidneys, and losing one is no big deal after all."

"You expect me to sell it?!"

This clearly was not me putting my body to good use. Rather, it would be my internal organs.

Why do I have to take this kind of risk for the sake of a summer training camp......

"You guys have been saying whatever you please ever since the start! Can you only come up with this kind of dangerous ideas? There's plenty more simple solutions!"

"Oh, like what?"

"Just have the training camp someplace nearby."

"Nearby?"

"How about the family restaurant in front of the station?"

The four of them booed when they heard this. What? Are you guys that dissatisfied with the family restaurant business? They are facilities with fine air-conditioning, an unlimited supply of drinks for one hundred eighty yen, and it's also within a day's trip.

"A family restaurant is of course out of the question. When we're talking about a summer training camp, then of course it has to be the sea."

Masuzu asserted, and just when the discussion was about to hit the rocks—

"— Fine then. I'll take all of you there then."

Saeko-san suddenly stood up.

Her eyes that were shut narrow like strings before were now perfectly wide open. It seemed after that short sleep, she switched to awaken mode.

Masuzu, Hime, and Fuyuumi stared blankly, unable to help but be stunned.

Saeko-san lazily brushed her hair up:

"What's wrong? Didn't you all want to go to the beach? My company has a health resort facility at Funase Beach. You can use it for two or three nights without a problem."

Fuyuumi leaned close to my ear and whispered:

"Erm, that's really your oba-sama, right? Doesn't she look like a completely different person?"

"Yeah. Earlier, she was just in her ｢sleep mode｣ after staying up all night."

The first time Chiwa and I met Saeko-san, we were also astounded in this way. Both her atmosphere and way of speaking changed like she was different person. Saeko-san in ｢awaken mode｣ could be considered quite a beautiful woman. One would never think that this was a person capable of saying ｢Kyun Kyun｣ like she did before.

Masuzu had a stiff and wary expression:

"May I ask if you are implying that you will provide free accommodation for us?"

"That's not what I'm saying. You will require an equivalent compensation."

Saeko-san looked at Masuzu's sharp eyes, smiled and said:

"Hey Chihuahua, what do I do for a job?"

The sudden change of topic reached Chiwa suddenly, and she responded in a daze:

"A game creator, right?"

"No, I don't when it's phrased in such a formidable manner."

Saeko-san banged on the table:

"I am— someone who makes lots of cute girls and hot boys appear in games, so they make people ｢squuueeeeeaaaal!｣, that's the type of game I'm after"

"......"

Although there wasn't any need to say it in a formidable manner, there it was also not any need of saying it so vulgarly…………… right?

"That would be gal-games and otome-games?"

"Ah, the pony tailed girl over there seems to get it."

After being praised, Hime blushed somewhat happily. After all, she liked video games. Maybe she even played a game that Saeko-san had worked on.

On the other hand, the stiff disciplinary committee member only furrowed her eyebrows:

"I heard these kinds of works had a lot of shameless content. Could this be related to X-rated games, isn't it?"

"My current project is rated as appropriate for all ages. Is the tsundere over there very familiar with those kinds of games?"

"O-O-O-O-Of course I'm not familiar with them! I only know about it because of my duties as a disciplinary committee member!"

Fuyuumi denied vehemently. But that being said, you should protest about that ｢tsundere｣ part.

With her eyes still probing, Masuzu asked:

"May I ask, how are gal-games related to the offer of our accommodation?"

"Well, in short I'll let you take a look at this."

Saeko-san removed a flyer from her bag, and we all leaned forward to take a look.

★ Use your ｢Love Points｣ to Cool the Summer ❤ ｢OreDere｣ Beauty Pagent ★ Organizer: SoftDunk (Inc.) Venue: Funase Second Beach Date: X/X/XX at X o'clock. Registration begins at X o'clock rain or shine. Eligibility: a dere-dere girl between 10~20 years old

"Right now my company is making a new game called ｢My Girlfriend Loves me Too Much!｣ or ｢OreDere｣ for shot. The purpose of this event is a draw interest and publicity."

"OreDere."

This abbreviation didn't seem to reflect the existence of the ｢girlfriend｣, but rather is seemed to suggest ｢I'm｣ dere. But then again it's fine either way.

"If you're willing to participate in this competition, then I'll offer the accommodations I mentioned earlier."

Chiwa looked up at Saeko-san's face:

"What does the ｢dere-dere girl｣ in the competition eligibility mean?"

"The competitors have to be on the stage and demonstrate ｢how dere they are｣. That's the main feature of this competition. That's why this competition is restricted to ｢girls who feel dere to someone｣ = ｢girls who are in the middle of experiencing love｣. Unfortunately, not many people have registered so it's a little bit of a problem—"

Saeko-san looked at Chiwa, Hime, and Fuyuumi one by one:

"You three have all fallen for Eita, right?"

"—!"

The three of them didn't make any noise, but there was an obvious change of atmosphere in the living room.

Chiwa's expression suddenly became very serious.

Hime blushed and lowered her head.

Fuyumi however… covered her face with her hands, and started to pound on the ground wildly with her feet, causing the living room floor to shake. A-chan, please stop. Do you want to destroy my house?

"Fufu, you're very maidenly. Looks like you all satisfy the competition requirement."

Saeko-san very happily nodded her head in the direction of those three.

"Please wait."

Masuzu let out a firm voice.

"As I said before, I am Eita-kun's girlfriend. Why I am the only one you are excluding?"

"Is not because of a reason, but rather due to intuition."

"Intuition is it?......"

"Don't try to fool my intuition. I've created a massive number of all sorts of character types, and the story of how all these characters fell in love. All of this was made by me. In my experience, it's not hard at all for me to understand how you guys rank in a ｢dere scale｣."

Masuzu frowned, unconvinced:

"However that's merely talk about a game, isn't it? It's just a fake reality, right?"

"It's exactly because it is fake."

Saeko-san's words were full of enthusiasm:

"In order to make the fake look real, you need to ｢make the fake look more real than the real thing｣. This is the most important detail in the game industry. As a result, I am very sensitive to whether the Romantic FeelingDere is authentic or not."

Masuzu's expression was originally very sterm, but it suddenly looked like it realized something.

At nearly the same time, I also realized it.

About this ｢making the fake look more real than the real thing｣ earlier— wasn't more or less the same thing that Masuzu said to me a few times before?

"How about, we run a little test?"

Thus, Saeko-san said.

"This is a simple psychological test that will measure your love points. It's a rare opportunity, so are Chihuahua and the rest up for it?"

The four of them looked at each other in confusion.

Not caring about their reactions, Saeko-san took out her smartphone again began to read alone the questions.

Q:

There is a boy here that you hold very dear and think very well of.

Let's name him ｢'''A'''-ta｣-kun. 

"THAT'S NOT AN ALIAS!"

I said with a hoarse voice.

I wished at least it could be changed to B-ta or C-ta…!

Then '''A'''-ta-kun said: ｢This manga here is really interesting and totally awesome!
This is the thing! Read it read it!｣— Suppose he doesn't shut up about it.

How would you react? 

"So, let's start with Chihuahua."

Saeko-san completely ignored my protests, and continued with the subject.

Chiwa's worried ｢um~｣ came about ten seconds later:

"Ei-kun's manga interests and mine don't really match."

"No, it's not about me. Remember that the topic is about ｢A-ta-kun｣, ok?"

Chiwa responded, ｢Oh, right｣ and nodded her head.

"Well then I guess I'd give a try reading it? But if it's really boring, I'll tell him it's boring."

It was a very ordinary response.

But the manga that I recommend definitely wouldn't be boring!

"Then the next, the pony tailed girl."

"As long as Eita was the one who recommended it, I would read it no matter how boring it was."

Oh dear, Hime was as tender as always.

…But it's saddening that the subject is still on how boring it is.

Saeko-san tapped at the touchscreen as she nodded:

"Next up is the tsun girl."

"Manga is just boring enough. I won't read that kind of thing!"

"Well, and the dere girl."

"The Manga will give me an opportunity to speak more with Ta-kun, I'll ~ definitely read it♪———— wait, who is this dere girl?!"

It seemed like Fuyuumi-san had developed a habit a nori-Tsukkomi, ergo there is no space for me to inject.

"Finally, Natsukawa Masuzu."

Masuzu was the only one who she did not call by a nickname, somehow I guess that beats being called ｢wicked tongue girl｣ out in the open.

I casually approached Masuzu from behind, and whispered to her:

—Hey, please give a good answer.

—Who do you think I am? Just leave it to me.

Thus, Masuzu's answer is here...

"I would certainly take a look at the manga that ｢A-ta-kun｣ recommended, but I would also lend him a manga that I would recommend."

"Your reason is?"

"Although it's important to understand the preferences of the person you love, it's also important to let him get to know you. I believe that this is most important in the relationship between a boyfriend and a girlfriend."

Chiwa and the rest of them all exclaimed, ｢Wow｣. As expected of Masuzu, she always responded with the most proper answer.

Saeko-san nodded and said, ｢I see｣, as her fingers tapped away at the smartphone.

A little curious, I spoke up:

"Um, what have you been doing ever since we started?"

"This is an APP game that my company is developing, and I borrowed the question from here. This game already has more than a million users who have responded, all of whom were girls in their teens and twenties."

"Heh…"

Certainly, girls seemed to really love psychological test problems such as this.

Chiwa's body was shaking from anxiety:

"Then Saeko-san, how were the results? Who is has the most love?"

"Ah, in first place is…………… tsundere girl."

Fuyuumi's face turned alarmingly red.

"W-W-W-W-What is this!? W-W-Why would I be interested in someone li-li-likee Kidou-kun—"

No, this is A-ta-kun we're talking about, isn't it?

Saeko-san couldn't help but chuckle:

"When you said, ｢an opportunity to speak more with him｣, isn't it obvious that this point would score rather highly? The innocent and sweet love can be even be felt in the air, totally maiden-like."

Fuyuumi shook her head forcefully, her hair disheveled:

"It's absolutely a lie lie lie lie lie—it's a lie! I definitely don't just like Ta-kun! I like the most!"

The air around the scene instantly froze.

Chiwa's eyes seemed to overflow with the intent to kill, Hime's eyes were puzzled, and Masuzu gave this blank stare.

Also, I was extremely surprised.

Hey you, you forgot about the existence of Michel again…

"That's what I said it isn't like thissss—————! What I just said doesn't countttt—————! Ai-chan is going to run outside!"

A-chan pounded her reddened face with both hands, and quickly ran outside. She forgot her bag again, so I'll try to return it tomorrow in cram school.

"Then, in second place is Chihuahua."

As expected of Saeko-san, she was completely unmoved after the exposure of the tsundere heart.

"As for why you're ranked lower than the tsundere girl, that's because you're too intimate. Although such sincere words signify that your relationship is very good, if the distance between you two is too close, the other party won't be able to see you in terms of love. You need to pay attention to that stuff."

"Ah!"

Maybe because she felt is was reasonable, Chiwa sank into silent contemplation.

"In third place is the pony tailed girl. Your situation is the opposite of Chihuahua's, you should take a step closer to cut down the distance. Don't let your feelings lead everything. You still need to have everyday conversations, so that Eita… no, the point is that you need to get closer to A-ta. This way you'll gradually enter a better relationship."

Hime eyes shined honestly, and she nodded repeatedly. This almost felt like this was some kind of life consultation.

Then was—Masuzu.

"I'm in last place, is it?"

Although her tone was indifferent, one could still see the frustration that was underneath.

This was maybe the first time I ever saw this expression on Masuzu.

"It's because your answer might be considered the ｢exemplar answer｣. And since it's too perfect, there is just no feeling of ｢dere｣."

"Too perfect?"

"If you were a couple going out for more than a year, then this answer would be absolutely right. However—you've only gone out for three months, right? Moreover, you're 15-year-old 1st year high school students, and this kind of answer is simply too beautiful."

I see.

There really is no flaw in Masuzu's answer, to try and share our feelings with our partners.

But compared to the real couples around us in our environment, this doesn't usually go like that.

I occasionally listen to Kaoru talk about the situations of of the boys who have girlfriends in the class. The unpredictable highs and lows in their relationship were very intense. The usual case, where the girlfriends are nothing but filled with talks about their boyfriends, and the opposite also happens when the boyfriends do nothing but speak about their girlfriends. They keep doing nothing but ｢praising｣ their loved one.

If we wanted to act like a high school couple, then the correct answer would need to leak a even more ｢lovestruck mind｣ than what's normal.

"When one uses a cellphone or smartphone to do this kind of test, it will ask the respondent to provide their age, sex, occupation, and the number of years they've been in a relationship, and questions like that. Thus even if the responses are identical, the score may still vary."

Masuzu stared unwaveringly at Saeko-san's eyes:

"I refuse to accept this. What can this kind of test possibly tell you about us?"

So, it looks by her attitude that she wasn't going to surrender no matter want.

"……Hou, okay."

Saeko-san contemplated as she stroked her chin:

"If you are willing to say that much, then why don't you, Natsukawa Masuzu, also participate in the competition? After all; I'm the host, so if you can win the championship, then I'll admit that you're the ｢girlfriend｣ or whatever. I'll attest that as Eita's guardian."

"That condition won't be changed later, right?"

"Of course not."

It seemed like there were invisible sparks scattering between Masuzu and Saeko-san.

Maybe because she was roused, but Chiwa also stood up:

"I'm also participating!"

She declared, and her eyes re-ignited with that raging fire.

"Although this time we were a little careless and allowed things to get too intimate, this is an excellent opportunity to setting things with Natsukawa!"

I felt like the situation just kept growing more and more strange.

"I also want to participate."

Even Hime raised her hand.

She used her other hand to grab tightly onto my shirt:

"If I win the competition, then will I get a rank upgrade from as ex-girlfriend to current girlfriend?"

She said radically. That being said, was that a confession to me?

Saeko-san very satisfactorily nodded repeatedly:

"Ah, let's go with that, the girl that wins the crown in this competition will be recognized as Eita's bride. I'll give my seal of approval as Eita's guardian."

"—Really? So you will seal it?"

This voice came from the living room door. I turned my head to look, and it was A-chan sweating from head to foot, her shoulders undulating up and down as she panted. It seems like she noticed that she forgot her bag, and had turned back.

She pointed straight at us:

"I- It can't be helped! I'll also be participating!"

Haha, things are really heating up here.

Things are heating up.

Yeah……

I wish I could run away…… I really do……

---

Notes

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