OreShura: Volume 5 Chapter 1

Status: Incomplete

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3/6 parts completed

   

【Violent Chihuahua】Harusaki Chiwa

Max: LV.60

Attack: 3200

Defense: 2800

Special: Another Bowl Please Attack

♥ Profile ♥

「When you add Chi (千) with the Wa (和) that means "gentle", you get Chiwa (千和)!」

♥ Love Level UP ♥

｢Ei-kun, I love you!｣

♥ Love Level MAX ♥

｢Ei-kun. I love you...｣

#1: Chiwa, Her Favorite at 9 Years Old

Although our summer club trip already ended, there were two weeks left of summer vacation.

The intersession break for cram school was also ending this week, so next week I'll have to start to studying seriously again when the latter session of classes begin.

I told myself this, but my frame of mind actually wasn't relaxed at all.

After being confessed by Chiwa and assaulted by mayhem, my head was still throbbing, and my thoughts were a mess. I felt light-headed just from walking, as if I wasn't standing my own feet.

By the time I got home and closed the front door, I was practically about to fall over.

"I-I'm finally alone...!"

After taking a huge gulp of tap water from the kitchen, I wearily laid down on sofa in the living room. Smelling home after being away for three days made me feel nostalgic and relaxed. It made me want to take a nap.

By the time I realized it, it was already about four o'clock in the evening.

It was about time to make dinner. I needed to make two portions of rice, two portions of vegetables, so the two of us could eat together. Like usual, I'd share dinner with my childhood friend.

...but with everything that's been going on, will Chiwa still come to eat?

Suddenly, the phone in my pocket started vibrating.

Trying to guess if it was Masuzu or Chiwa, I took a look at my phone—

"Kaaaaaaoruuuuuuuuuu——————! I love you the most!"

"Hyaa!?"

The warped sound of my best friend's voice came from the other side of the phone.

"Don't suddenly shout like that, Eita! You'll scare people."

"Your phone call came at the perfect timing! You really are my best friend! My one and only best friend!"

"...What's wrong? Are you at home right now? Did something happen during the club trip?"

My best friend is so awesome. He understands me so well!

I told him everything that happened during the clup trip.

Like during the OreDere Contest, Masuzu and I kissed on stage.

Afterwards, Chiwa confessed to me.

Then Hime and Fuyuumi got bundled in, and it turned into mayhem.

"Really? Chihuahua finally decided for herself then."

After hearing everything, Kaoru didn't seem particularly surprised.

It sounded like he was in the bathroom, with how his voice echoed. Kaoru had this habit of taking baths while texting and making phone calls. As a high school boy, this was a rather strange habit.

"What do you mean by 'finally'?"

"'Finally' just means finally. I've known that Chihuahua's liked you for a while."

"Huh, really?"

"Mm, really. I think the only person who didn't know was you, Eita?"

"...is that so...?"

To be honest, I was thoroughly shocked. I used to always brag I understood Chiwa the most, but I never realized it was only in my head...

"Well for anyone, if they were to look closely..."

I didn't know if Kaoru's words were meant to comfort me or what?

"You considered Chihuahua to be your little sister, right?"

"Yeah, I basically took her as family. To be honest, for her to want me to become her sweetheart is rather..."

"About that point—"

The sounds of water splashing over could be heard.

"I think Chihuahua was aware of that herself. That's why she couldn't confess during middle school."

"Isn't it the same now?"

When I asked this, Kaoru replied very clearly:

"Well, Eita has a girlfriend now?"

"Yeah..."

I couldn't help but give a sigh.

"If Natsuzawa hadn't started going out with you, Eita, the situation wouldn't have turned out like this so suddenly."

Kaoru's words really drove the nail in.

If you went back to the very beginning, the root of all the mayhem started from there.

Furthermore, my relationship was Masuzu was only fake, so this honestly was just one thing following another. All the strings were tangled together, and it had reached an irreparable extent.

"Eita, it seems like you're in a tight spot."

Kaoru's voice from the bathroom suddenly became soft.

"Actually, I have a good plan. Do you want to hear?"

Huh? Really?

"Sure, what's your plan?"

"Go out with me."

"...huh?"

"Dump Natsukawa-san and Chihuahua, and come date me. Like that, both of them will give up, right!?"

Kaoru's energetic voice seemed to say, ｢What do you think? It's a great idea, right?!｣

But—

"......................*sigh*~~~"

"W-What's that whole-hearted sigh supposed to mean?!"

Sigh.

It was probably true that if I faked having that kind of interest, the girls wouldn't be interested anymore, but—

"No way. Absolutely no way. Definitely no way."

"Hmph—I really thought it was a good plan~!"

I heard the splashing sounds of legs agitating the water through the phone.

"So why do you just spin a pencil and decide—?"

"Hey, you've suddenly become really trivial!"

"Well becoming trivial is completely called for! Even if it's me, if you treat me like that, I'll be upset, you idiot!"

"...? S-Sorry."

To be honest, I had no clue what he was talking about, but I felt I should at least apologize.

A small sigh came from the phone.

"Alright. Just take it as a joke. If we're talking about my personal desires, I hope you'll pick Chihuahua, because I don't want to see her crying expression."

"Mh..."

So Kaoru's relationship with Chiwa was quite good. After all, we've all played together since middle school.

"Although I've never said it before, I've always secretly supported Eita and Chihuahua's relationship."

"Really?"

"Because you two make me feel jittery, and also because Chihuahua once sweetly asked me to help her. I think that if your girlfriend was Chihuahua it wouldn't be bad... ah, but since Ai-chan also showed up, nothing's definite."

"Sorry, thanks for all your trouble."

Really—Kaoru laughed and spoke:

"Eita's really made me suffer many things, so you should listen to my ideas occasionally, okay? Oh right, after second semester, my—kyaaa!"

A scream came from the other end of the telephone.

It sounded rather like a girl's voice.

...was that Kaoru's voice?

"Hey, Kaoru? Are you okay?"

"Honestly! Why'd you come in, Dad!? ...I said I didn't faint, and I was talking on the phone! That being said, cover up your front you pervert!"

I guess it was an argument between father and son.

Though, it was kind of weird to call your father a ｢pervert｣, right? Perhaps he only wanted to have some time with his son, so it seemed kind of pitiful.

It was was vulgar to be eavesdropping on the details of a fight between a father and son, so I quietly hung up the phone.

"I guess I can only come up with a plan myself..."

I laid flat on the sofa and gave a sigh.

Even so.

If you looked at the facts, being confessed to by a girl should normally make a person happy.

But, why is my mood so downcast?

Is it because I'm Anti-Love? Or is it because I hate mayhem?

—no, I actually felt it was something else.

But what was it? This sulky mood.

"...it was Chiwa."

I never expected that Chiwa, who was a sister to me, actually liked me.

Why would she... have those kinds of feelings...?

♦

"Ei-kun, wake up! Ei-kun—"

Just when I was about to guess who it was, Chiwa's face appeared in front of my eyes.

I guess I had unintentionally fallen asleep on the sofa. I glanced at the time, it already six o'clock in the evening.

I hurriedly wiped away my drool and sat up.

"S-Sorry. I haven't made dinner yet."

"No, you don't have to do that anymore."

Chiwa spoke while nodding and smiling.

"What don't have I to do? Are you not hungry?"

"I wasn't talking about that. I actually came to apologize about things that happened today."

Chiwa deeply bowed, very serious about the matter.

"I'm sorry for making a scene in front of Ei-kun!"

"…O-oh."

"I never considered Ei-kun's conflicting feelings, so I must have made things difficult for you, right? I made a huge amount of trouble for you, so I'm really sorry! Ah—why I am I like this? It was the same during my confession. My heart was thumping like crazy, and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to express myself clearly. Just when I thought I'd finally be able to say it, Natsuzawa suddenly appeared with something that didn't make sense, and after that it turned into a mess! I don't even remember what I said! I'm sorry!"

After saying everything with one breath, Chiwa again lowered her head. Her entire face was red.

"Hey, don't apologize, Chiwa. I won't mind it."

I tried to comfort her.

"Think about it. Up until now, you've been practicing confessions during club activities, right? Compared to that time when your tongue slipped and said, ｢I'm going to confehsuyu!｣, you've already improved a lot.

When I finished speaking, Chiwa's face turned an even brighter red.

"I-I-I tried really hard to forget about that~!"

"Huh!?"

Damn. I thought that would help comfort her, but it turns out I stepped on a landmind.

"Ei-kun you idiot! Idiot! Go die!"

"S-sorry!"

This time, the person bowing their head was me. Damn. Why did I have such bad luck?

Just then, a soft thing touched my forehead.

There was a ｢chuu~｣ sound.

I recognized this sensation.

Just half a day ago, my lips had experienced it.

"Just kidding. Actually, I love you the most."

The area around Chiwa's eyes was slightly moist, and she smiled slightly.

"W-Wait! That wasn't what I meant to say!"

"In the past, I've never been able to say ｢love｣ like that. From now on, I'll say it a lot. To make up for nine years, hm? Are you prepared for this?"

"I said that wasn't what I meant!"

No good. If this continued, I'd be pulled down this route!

I took a deep breath, and spoke only after my boiling head cooled down a little.

"Hey, Chiwa. Let me say this clearly."

"Okay."

"I've only looked at you as my childhood friend, so even if you say you like me, I honestly can't understand you very well."

"Mh. I understand that very well."

Chiwa nodded her head, not caring even the slightest degree. It was just like Kaoru had said.

"Even so, I still love Ei-kun, and I think Ei-kun is the best. This isn't love towards a childhood friend. It's love towards a boy… is that not okay?"

"It's not not okay…"

"So that's why I decided, starting today, I won't be eating dinner at Ei-kun's house."

"Eh?"

Although many things happened today, this short statement actually shocked me the most.

"What? What did you just say?"

"I said, I don't intend to eat at Ei-kun's house anymore."

"W-Why, Chiwa!? What kind of strange food did you eat?!"

Seriously worried, I put my hand on her forehead to take her temperature. Strange. She didn't have a fever. What was going on?

"I'm perfectly normal!"

Chiwa shook away my hand.

"I thought about this for a very long time on the train. How could I, who always acted like a spoiled childhood friend, make you look at me like a girl? I kept thinking and thinking, on and on, and I felt this was the only thing I could do.

"Why?! It's just a meal, and there's nothing wrong with eating together?"

However, Chiwa shook her head.

"Because if I'm depending on Ei-kun like that, I'll never be able to break away from my position as your childhood friend."

"…"

Chiwa's eyes were completely serious.

Because we've been together so long, I knew that when Chiwa had those kinds of eyes, she wouldn't give up no matter what.

"Then, how are you going to eat from now on?"

"I think I'll eat take-out or convenience store food temporarily, but I also plan on slowly learning how to cook. It's kind of embarrassing to never ｢know how to cook｣.

"Y-You want to cook!?"

The attack power of the statement far exceeded that of the previous one, and it surprised me.

In cooking class during home economics, Chiwa once negligibly tossed a tomato into beef stew saying, ｢this is so boring｣. The Chiwa who had this kind of world-view actually wanted to cook?!

"Hey, can't we at least cook together? Eating is very important! Life is much much much much much much much more important than romance or whatever."

"Don't worry about me! It's no big deal. I can do it by myself!"

Chiwa slapped and rubbed her stomach, but at the same time, the sound of a growl echoed through the entire room.

Now, of course that wasn't my stomach.

Chiwa's face turned red again, but this time the reasons for it were different.

"Just then! That was just the speakers in my stomach!"

"…you…"

What kind of excuse was that? Though honestly, that wasn't much of an excuse at all.

"T-There's also one more thing I want to ask you!"

Chiwa seemed to be in a hurry to change the subject.

"Are you free tomorrow afternoon, Ei-kun?"

"I am. Next week cram school classes start again, but this week I have time."

"Then can you come with me to school, then?"

"You want to go to the club room?"

Chiwa listened and shook her head.

"Not Hane High. The Middle School. There's something I want to do that Hane Middle School."

This Hane Middle School was the middle school Chiwa and I both graduated from. Hanenoyama Middle School, in other words.

To me, that place was burried with the black history of the time when I had eighth-grade syndrome, so I didn't really want to go near there, but—

"Please. If you doesn't come, Ei-kun, there's no point."

If she said it like that, then I couldn't refuse.

Also, it probably had something to do with all the events that happened lately.

"I understand. Then let's meet in front of my house at one o'clock."

"Thank you! I love you the most, Ei-kun!"

She smiled sweetly at me, and for some reason my cheeks seemed to be burning.

Though—

It really made me uneasy that Chiwa said she wasn't going to eat dinner.

Could a person do things that seriously in the name of love?

Could love change a person to that extent?

For an Anti-Love person like me, there was no way I could understand.

♦

Just when I walked out the door at the appointed time, I found Chiwa standing there dressed in casual clothes.

"Good afternoon, Ei-kun! You're just on time."

"That's obvious."

Since we arranged to meet at place five seconds away from my front door, it was impossible for me to be late unless I overslept.

"Do you want to walk to school?"

"That's what I was planning, but do you want to take a bus?"

"Uhh…"

Today's sun was vicious like usual, so there was plenty of reason to take an air-conditioned bus, but—

"We haven't done this in a while, so let's walk to school like we used to."

"Mm! Mhm!"

Chiwa very happily nodded her head twice, and started to walk beside me.

When you compared the distance between our shoulders, there was a subtle fist-length of space between us.

…it was quite different than it used to be.

1. Chiwa leans against my shoulder.
2. ｢I'm getting burnt to death! Go away.｣
3. ｢What? What? Is Ei-kun embarrassed? Are you at that age boys yearn for love?｣
4. ｢You're annoying! Shut up and be quiet!｣

That was our usual pattern.

This was the chain of events from ｢Plan: Escape from Childhood Friend｣. Even though I probably wouldn't be burnt to death, I always did find this to be rather strange.

"Hey, Chiwa, did you eat well yesterday?"

"Of course! I bought vegetables and meat from the groceries and stir-fried them. Though, I burned it a little."

What. This really was surprising.

"How did you season it?"

"With nothing special. I added barbecue sauce and ate it."

"Oh—I guess that's not bad."

That was because Chiwa always tries to make extra seasoning but always forgets. But I guess if it was stir-fried meat and vegetables, the nutrition should have been alright."

"Hey, Ei-kun. You worry so much. Am I really that unreliable?"

"No. It's just with respect to food… you might be able to catch up a little."

"No problem! I'll rely on barbecue sauce."

"I think you'll grow tired of that soon."

"No way. There's spicy flavor, sweet flavor, medium-hot… there's lots of choices."

Chihuahua had the expression of someone extremely experienced with this… no, you'll definitely become tired of it!

We passed the number four convenience store at the crossroads, and cut across the the residential area through the alley. Even though there was only enough space for one car to pass through, one could shave a minute off the time needed to get to school by passing through here. During times we'd be late to class, you could say this minute made either life or death. In either case, this was a very important route for both of us back then.

"We haven't gone through here in a long while."

"That's because we'd only go through here on the way to Hane Middle School."

Just then—

A red truck just opposite of us turned right from the intersection into this tiny alley. The back of the truck was loaded with a mountain of wood, and it drew close to us as its low engine rumbled.

I gave a fright, and looked at Chiwa was walking to the left of me.

Chiwa's face had turned white, and she was frozen in her steps as she stared at the truck. Her knees trembled slightly, and she clutched at the corner of my shirt hem.

"Don't worry about it. I'm with you."

I pulled Chiwa's arm, and pushed her against the cement wall. Then, I opened my legs and covered her delicate body with mine, as I waited for the truck to pass. The truck driver seemed to misunderstand something as he passed, and he continued to chuckle and watch us.

Chiwa's eyes were glued shut from the beginning to the end, and she only held onto my shirt.

"I-Is it gone? Did the truck pass?"

"Yeah, it's out of sight now."

Chiwa opened her eyes to confirm it, and then gave a sigh as if relieved.

"Sorry, Ei-kun. I even said I wouldn't depend on you yesterday."

"It's not a problem, this little thing!"

"I'm really useless. It's just a red truck, after all. It's okay if it's further away, but when it passes in front of me like that—"

"I said don't worry about it. Look. Just look at this cement wall. It's actually gray and gray colored. Yeah, this ordinary cement wall is gray colored. If it were red or blue, it'd be terrifying. Haha, it's no big deal! No big deal!"

I really hated myself for only being able to say such rushed and choppy consolations.

Last year in June, Chiwa got in a traffic accident with a truck, so she couldn't practice kendo anymore. Yeah, it just happened to be to be a red truck around that size. In the past, if she saw any kind of truck on the road, her legs would weaken, so right now you could say it was even an improvement.

But she couldn't forget about it entirely.

That's why I wanted to become a doctor, and cure Chiwa's body.

"Um... Um, Ei-kun?"

Chiwa squirmed shyly as she rotated her eyes and looked up towards me.

"If you maintain this uh, position, it might lead to some misunderstandings?"

"Huh?"

At that moment I came to my senses.

My body was pressed against Chiwa's and our faces were close... wasn't this basically a kissing posture? So that was what the truck driver was snickering about!

I hurriedly retracted my body, but Chiwa wound her arms around my back and properly hugged me.

"H-Hey! Chiwa?!"

"If your girlfriend saw you like this right now, it'd spell death."

From the way her voice sounded, she wasn't mischievous at all. Chiwa was serious.

"I like you so much, Ei-kun..."

"Wait—w-why are you saying that now?!"

"I said it yesterday, right? I want to speak out all the ｢Love｣ I've kept hidden for nine years.

I never imagined she was serious about that.

While being hugged by Chiwa, I felt very unsure about where to place my hands. It felt very clumsy to keep it dangling, but if I held her, it'd basically mean that I accepted her.

Chiwa hugged me tightly, and repeated that ｢I love you...｣ several times. I almost felt like I was being brainwashed.

Just when I was stuck in this conundrum, unsure what to do, that famous RPG background music, ｢Equipped with a Cursed Weapon｣, started playing.

It came from the pocket in my pants.

"Ei-kun's cell phone?"

"Ah, yeah. It looks like a text."

This text message ringtone meant that the person who sent this was—

【From:】oraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraxxxx.mail.ne.jp

【Subject:】Hey—Dora-cat—

【Content:】After hearing something about loving Ei-kun. ♥ You're all infatuated already?

"Natsuzawa Masuzu! You bastard! You're watching us right now?!"

I faced the empty alleyway and shouted loudly—but there wasn't any response.

For a second, I thought we were being followed, but apparently that wasn't the case.

Masuzu's intuition was abnormally keen, and occasionally I receive texts that seemed like she was watching with her own eyes. I've even wondered if she had Stand Powers.

"Was that Natsuzawa's text just now?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Mm."

"I see. If that's the case, why don't we take a picture of us hugging and send it to her?"

"Do you want me to die?!"

"Just kidding. I'm making a joke."

Chiwa smiled and separated from my body. Without saying another word, she started walking forward.

"I'm really at my wit's end..."

I wiped the sweat on my forehead with my short sleeves.

Even when Chiwa and I were alone, my ｢girlfriend's｣ presence never quite went away.

♦

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