Chapter 9: CH 9

We parted soon after that.

Although being hugged by her was like a dream come true for me, as I had felt before with Hisui, I couldn’t quite feel the fullness of her voluptuous body.

The reason for this was simple: I had a more voluptuous body than she does.

“… haah.”

I let out a sigh as soon as I arrived at school.

As someone who has never had a girlfriend, being hugged by a girl is not something I have much experience with, as was the case with Hisui.

Therefore, the softness I felt when being embraced was a kind of longing, but I was unable to fully experience it due to my own nice body, which I resented.

(Damn it, this fat on my body…)

I resented the excess fat clinging to my body.

When I was making such a sour face, Saito, who had been cursing me for being fat before… came to my side, as if it was only natural that I should be caught by a bunch of fashion guys.

“Hey, fatty, I’m seeing you quite frequently in school, huh?”

“Education is compulsory, you see…oh, wait, now that I think about it high school isn’t mandatory. But I’m worried about my future to some extent, so I have to come to school.”

“…”

“It’s good to be aggressive, but you should hold back to a certain extent if you want a good future. Otherwise you may lose your score in unexpected places, you know?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Saito was pushed back by my words.

Well, it’s not like Arashi has ever spoken to him like this before, so compared to his timid way of speaking, I’m responding clearly. But what’s with that dumbfounded expression, though?

“… Are you really Gundo?”

“Is there anyone else you see besides this belly that says Arashi Gundo?”

“It’s so squishy and soft…wait, that’s not it! You’re kind of out of shape…”

Um, let’s see… There isn’t that much of an age difference between high school students and college students.

But from my perspective, they’re about four years younger than my actual age… so I think even if they say something rude, it’s kinda cute.

(… Huh? If that’s the case, then Shirayuki is naturally younger… Hmm, and yet I was all lovey-dovey with her, that’s not good, ugh…)

… Well, but!

I’m a high school sophomore now, so I’ll just accept it… but there are moments when my body and mind are pulled in different directions!

“Hey, Fatty…”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Hey, Fatty, you went to the gym last Saturday, right? Did you not notice us laughing when you walked in?”

“Really? I was nervous in a new place… and besides, I went straight to the pool with a beautiful lady, so I wouldn’t have noticed.”

Saito looked intrigued when I said that, but he quickly clicked his tongue and turned his back to me.

Saito not so much, but apparently the guys around me don’t like the way I talk, so they were glaring at me like crazy… They totally see Arashi as a target for ridicule or bullying, seriously.

“Gundo-kun.”

“Hiyah!”

“…Why do you always get so surprised?”

That’s because… huh?

It was Shirayuki who suddenly appeared next to me, and she handed me what looked like a journal.

“I just noticed, but you and I are on duty today. So I went to the staff room earlier and got the journal for us.”

“… Ahh.”

When I looked at the blackboard, I saw that our names were indeed in the place of the day duty.

“Thanks.”

“No, it’s fine. Please just write your name on it and I’ll give it to them later.”

“Okay.”

With that, Shirayuki returned to her seat.

Her friends were staring at me and probably talking about how it was the worst to be on duty with someone like me.

“… Ah!”

I stopped myself as I was about to write my name in the day duty column today.

The reason being that I was not writing the name “Arashi Gundo”, but my name from my past… I need to be careful not to make mistakes like this in the future.

(But…it seems that people’s perceptions do change when you’re confident.)

It was just the exchange with Saito earlier, but if I had been timid or looked down on, I would have been teased and ridiculed.

However, on the contrary, I found that if I speak confidently and assertively, the other person won’t be able to find my weaknesses and that’s why they become like that.

“… Ah, name-name.”

I wrote “Arashi Gundo” firmly and put it away on my desk.

Well, for the rest of the time, no one got involved with me like Saito, probably because of my attitude in the morning and especially because I was trying not to give off a gloomy vibe.

“… h*i”

As lunchtime passed, I finished eating at the cafeteria and went to the bathroom for some personal time.

While paying my respects to the toilet bowl that didn’t even flinch under the weight of my body, the noise outside suddenly became louder.

“Ah, it’s still lunchtime…”

“I’m so sleepy…”

“Yeah, I’m feeling the same today.”

Oh, those voices… No, I don’t know these three people… Why am I so interested, especially in the last boy’s voice, which strangely lingers in my ears?

At that moment, the answer came immediately.

“But I envy you, man.”

“Yeah, Yosuke. How much good karma did you accumulate in your past life to be so close to Hououin-san?”

“… It’s not like that with Shirayuki. She’s just an old friend.”

Yes, the voice of the boy I was interested in was Yosuke, the Everlasting-Love’s protagonist.

He didn’t have a voice in the game, but I vaguely remember his voice being like this in the anime… Honestly, I don’t have much of an impression of Yosuke.

(Isn’t that how he is with Shirayuki? He seems happy to be talked to, though.)

Let’s hear some more.

“Do you have any childhood promises of marriage or anything like that in a typical way?”

“No, I didn’t!”

“Hmm. Then, does Yousuke not care about Hououin-san that much?”

“…”

“You do care, right?”

I nodded to myself, “That’s right.”

I knew that Yousuke had a faint feeling for Shirayuki, and that Shirayuki was influenced by his unwavering figure, and depending on the route, that figure touched Hisui’s heartstrings.

Afterwards, they left the restroom noisily, and I left the restroom after feeling refreshed.

(… jealous)

I couldn’t help but envy Yousuke.

… However, I remembered that although there were many scenes where we, the players, could empathize with Yousuke’s emotions precisely because he was the protagonist, I also remembered that there was a effeminate side to him.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore.”

After that, we returned to the classroom and the afternoon classes began.

And when the classes were over, I couldn’t leave immediately because Shirayuki and I were on duty.

“Bye-bye Shirayuki.”

“See you later!”

After saying goodbye to Shirayuki her friends left the classroom, and the other students also left quickly, heading to their clubs or other places.

I worked on the journal entries to submit to our teacher, and while Shirayuki helped me, she was also staring at my face intently as I wrote with my pen, which made me nervous.

“Is something wrong?”

“Well, I was just thinking that you have such beautiful handwriting.”

“Isn’t it normal? And my handwriting is nowhere near as beautiful as Shirayuki’s.”

If you want to compliment my handwriting, look at the journal, not my face!

Well, it’s nice to be complimented on my handwriting, but compared to Shirayuki’s handwriting, my handwriting isn’t that great.

“Gundo-kun.”

“Hmm?”

“I just want to remind you again. Next time you go to the gym, invite me.”

“… I will.”

The pressure was intense…

While there was a fear that prevented me from staring straight into her eyes, the intensity of her gaze sent shivers down my spine.

It was not like I was a M*******t, but rather because I was fed the joy of being the sole focus of her attention.

“Oh, there you are, Shirayuki.”

“… Koizumi-kun?”

At that moment, Yosuke entered the classroom.

He approached with his bag, but his gaze quickly shifted away from me, as if he was only interested in Shirayuki.

“Still going to be a while?”

“Yes. You can go ahead… Oh, and we didn’t promise to walk home together, did we?”

“Well, yeah, but… How about we go together—”

“Can’t you see? I still have work to take care of.”

“But it won’t take long, will it?”

“It won’t be finished anytime soon. Just give up.”

“…Alright.”

Then Yosuke glared at me.

Why is this guy staring at me? Could it be because he thinks I’m slow and that’s why Shirayuki is late?

Watching Yosuke’s back as he walked out of the classroom, I asked her.

“You’re old friends, right? I can do the rest myself, so Shirayuki if you want—”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about him.”

“…”

… Why is it scary when her voice doesn’t have any inflection?

But at this point, it seems like their relationship isn’t that close, and it’s likely that Shirayuki isn’t really thinking much about Yousuke.

“Alright, I’m finished.”

“Good work. Oh, we need to change the water in the vase.”

“Ah, right. Let’s do it quickly.”

“Yes… hehe.”

“What’s up?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

As Shirayuki said, all that was left was to change the water in the vase… However, I don’t think I can exercise today since I’m a little late.

While thinking about whether to go for a run nearby after dinner, I began the last task with Shirayuki.

“Even if I knew you were there, you were never really inside that body… Have you ever tried to understand my suffering? I’ve given my body over to you so many times, unable to touch you― but now, that cycle has ended. I’ve found you… and I won’t let you escape, I promise.”