Chapter 44: Wolf-san And Cinderella-chan


TL: Akabane


***


We get off at the Kichijoji station and head for the arcade district.


"This Kichijoji must be one of the most unusual streets here. The street near the station is at an angle to the railroad tracks. Usually, a town is naturally formed so that the railroad tracks and streets are perpendicular to each other. However, this is not the case here. Kichijoji is a prosperous town, but it is not only because of the park. For your information, Sapporo, where I used to live a while ago, is a grid-like town..."


"Mm-hmm. And so?"


Igarashi was listening to my talk about my vast knowledge with great interest.


"Isn't this talk boring?"


"Eh? I don't think so. It's interesting. I'm in the architecture department too. I'm interested."


Recently, when I have given this kind of knowledge talk to women, I have usually received complaints from them, so I find this reaction refreshing. Even in my previous world, they listened to this kind of talk from the cold days when we first started dating. Are we compatible with each other? Can I say so?


"I see. If that's the case, I'm glad. Why did you go into architecture, Igarashi?"


"Me? Well, let's see. Well...yeah! Because it's good for getting a job! You see, science majors are a draw, right! I'm all for stable employment! And with architecture, there are a lot of girls!"


I heard this reason in the world before. But why would a woman who wants to become a female announcer go to the trouble of going into the sciences?


"If you're going to be a female announcer, don't you have to be a science major?"


"Haha. Well, yes. See, it doesn't always work out. You can be more flexible in the sciences."


She had said something similar in my previous world. It is strange that a woman who is usually so carefree should worry about finding a job. If Igarashi's good looks were to be put to good use, I would think that being a female announcer would be close to her true calling. But something is holding me back. I found out after living with her that she was not passionate about her job. She basically comes home on time. Even if it gets late, she never crosses the day. She also cut out all the fancy friendships typical of the mass media after moving in with me. When she was threatened by her ex-boyfriends with scandalous stories and pressed to get back together with them, she came to me for advice on the same day and said, "I don't care if I have to quit my job, I don't want to break up with you." I think that usually people put their job security before their boyfriends. Well, thanks to her clear advice, her ex-boyfriends were able to take appropriate measures quickly, so she didn't have to quit her job.


"Hey, let's not talk about this boring stuff! I don't care about that! You were ballroom dancing with Milan today, right?"


"Hmm? Well, yeah. What about it?"


"You know what I mean! I've never done it before and I want to do it too! Look at this!!! This shuttered street!"


The arcade in Kichijoji was almost completely shuttered, as it was already past the last train. In Kichijoji's honor, I should mention that during the daytime it is a lively town with people going about their business. Now it is late at night. The only places open are bars and beef bowl shops, and the only people walking around are us drunks. The only people walking around are us drunks, some high school delinquents dancing hip-hop, and a few musicians.


"It's usually full of people, but it's so empty right now!"


"...You want me to dance here?"


"Yes, yes! It's rough!"


The drunken recklessness is terrible. But it's obvious that if I don't go along with this, I'll be buzzed. I'm sure she won't even take a cab. I take Igarashi's hand and put it around my waist. She smiles and puts her hand on my shoulder.


"But I don't know, so you'll have to lead the way."


"Okay okay."


There is no music. Just a few random steps. Sometimes they would spin around, sometimes only Igarashi would spin around, as they wandered through the arcaded streets. If I did it normally, I wouldn't be so sociable. I've never danced in a place like this before.


"Haha! I feel like an idiot! Hey! The lady I just passed was laughing at me! It's so embarrassing! Hahaha!"


Igarashi dances happily with a smile on her face, though her cheeks are slightly reddish. And before I knew it we were out of the arcade and on to the street. The dance naturally ended there. A cab was parked nearby. Just in time, I thought. I pulled Igarashi along and put her in the cab.


"Excuse me. I'm sorry, please take this girl...!"


I was about to ask the driver to send Igarashi from outside when she pulled me into the cab.


"Excuse me! I'm drunk! I'll give this guy a ride too! Please take us!!!!"


The cab driver looked me and Igarashi over and did what Igarashi said first. The cab door closed and the car started.


"Hey. Igarashi...?"


"That's why I'm telling you! I don't want to spend that money alone! That's so boring!"


The amount for the two strips did not reach 10,000 yen. So I wanted her to use the rest for cab fare, but Igarashi was very reluctant to do so. I don't know about her, but I don't like the fact that I had to ride in the cab, too.


"Why should I go to your house? Your father or mother would be in trouble."


To be honest, I don't want to see them. I wasn't really welcomed as a son-in-law in my previous world. When Igarashi wasn't around, they would always harp on me about it.


"It's okay, it's okay! Chusho, who is also a boy, comes to our house a lot! I'm used to welcoming boys! My father always seems to be happy when Chusho comes over! We're a female family, so I'm sure they'll be happy when a boy comes!"


No, that's because he's Hagiri, isn't it? I wonder if it's uncouth to say.


"How can that be? Male parents wouldn't like it if their daughter was with a guy they don't know."


Is that what you're worried about? All you have to do is say, "We're friend!" eh, what? Are you worried that people might mistake you for my boyfriend? You're a shy boy, but you're so cocky!"


She pinches my cheek with her fingertip. I can't help but be ticklish. Well, we can just take the cab home and take this cab back to the station and stay at the hotel. And just as we passed a small park, she said,


"Pull over, driver! I want to vomit super bad! I'm going to throw up in that park! Please, let me vomit!"


The cab smoothly pulled up next to the park. Igarashi then walked toward the park.


"Excuse me, customer. Please settle your bill. Also, please understand that we can't give rides to people who might vomit."


I paid the driver's uncle. The cab quickly drove away. The address on the telephone pole was already in Nerima Ward, and Igarashi's house was close to here. Wait. Vomit? What a pain in the ass.


"You're not going to vomit at all, are you?"


I said to Igarashi, who was happily paddling a swing in the park. I had never seen this woman vomit from drinking in my previous world. It was impossible for an alcoholic monster to make a gross mistake with alcohol.


"Because, Tokiwa, you were going to take a cab back to the station, weren't you? Even I can guess that much. I know what Shy Boy is thinking! Hiccup! Ufufu."


Igarashi got off the swing and came up to me. Suddenly she begins to move in a dizzy, squishy manner.


"Oh, I drank too much! I'm losing my footing! The house is almost here! I can't walk! Uhn! Aaah!"


She started to whimper and whine. I know what she wants me to do. We were together all the time in the previous world.


"All right. I'll give you a ride."


I squat down and turn my back to Igarashi. I immediately felt a soft, warm, slightly heavy sensation on my back. I crossed my hands behind her thighs and carried her up on my back.


"Kya! That's so tall! I knew the male gaze is so high. That's so fun! Haha! My house is over there! Off you go!"


She put her hand around my front. Then we walked towards her house.


"Fufu! You're taller than my dad! Haha!"


"Is that your father there? I thought you were going to compare me to Hagiri."


"Come to think of it, I've never been given a piggyback ride. Well, you see. Even childhood friends have never done it before. Today is a day full of firsts!"


"Stripping, street ballroom dancing, piggyback rides. It's too chaotic, isn't it?"


"Right! Haha! ...First time, huh? Hey, Tokiwa."


Igarashi put her face to my cheek. It was as if our lips were about to touch.


"Have you ever kissed, Tokiwa? It wasn't a joke on the cheek. It was a proper one."


My heart almost stopped. It was a question that almost made my breathing become erratic. Kissing. I'd done it before, in a previous world. It was only with Igarashi, my lover and wife. In this rewound world, I have kissed various girls on their cheeks. If there was a previous world, I had already experienced kissing. In this world, there is no experience of lip-to-lip kissing.


"Well.... Um.... Uh..."


If it's about something else, I can lie. But I don't want to lie about the memory of kissing her in the previous world. If I said I had never done it here, I would be denying my own memories of being loved by Igarashi. I was at a loss for words.


"Fufufu. I see. So you've never been kissed before either, Tokiwa."


Igarashi seemed to have misunderstood my attitude. I was relieved that I didn't have to lie.


"Then, do you want to try kissing me?"


"What?"


I thought my heart would stop again.


"If it's all new to you, why don't you try it for the first time? I've never kissed anyone before either... so..."


I'm at a loss for words. The shock was so great that my head felt like it was going to explode. Igarashi meditates. And her lips gradually come closer to mine. I can't do anything. I want to just go with the flow and do nothing. Various thoughts come and go.


"Just kidding! No way I'll do that! Chuu!"


Igarashi's approaching lips were not on my lips, but on my cheek.


"Huh? Did you think I was going to put my lips on your cheek? Nnnn! I'm so sorry! You sullen thing! You boxer-guzzling thug! I'm not the kind of girl that you can kiss on the first date! Hahaha! Hahahaha!"


And then, she starts to rub her cheek against my cheek.


"Huh? You're growing a beard already? Nope! Jiggle! Ufufu! Hahaha!"


"Hey! Stop it! That tickles!"


Drunks are unruly. She made fun of me a lot. I'm no match for her. I don't feel like I can compete at all. I get pushed around all the time. And yet I'm having so much fun. That's why doubts are growing in my mind. Igarashi is such a cheerful and energetic girl, but when I met her again after graduating from college, did she turn out to be such a cold woman? When did she become so cold? What caused it? What in the world did she go through that made her that way? The only time we talked in the previous world, in college, was when I was painting in that pond. She seemed cheerful then. But I don't know that she wasn't really a cold woman even then. Because I wasn't with her at that time. Why did Hagiri and Igarashi break up in the first place? She's such a nice, pretty, and beautiful girl, there's no reason for them to break up. Even Hagiri cares about this girl. He can keep his relationship with Mashiba in secret. Why did they break up? I don't understand her relationships with men after that. The guys she dated were all high-stakes, but she kept breaking up with them. Even so, many of her ex-boyfriends were obsessed with Igarashi. They loved her, but she left all that love behind. I don't understand. I don't understand at all. I don't understand the depths of this girl at all. If I leave her like this, she will become what she used to be. For example, if I interfere with Hagiri so that they don't go out, there is no guarantee that she won't follow the same path. Or if I were to go out with her at this point, who's to say we won't end up at the same goal again? Knowledge of the future is helpful. That's why. That's why it's frustrating. I don't know what I'm going to do with her because I know the future is doomed.


"We're here!"


I was startled by those words. I have arrived at the future. Because that would mean ruin. But I arrived at Igarashi's house. Next door was Hagiri's house. Igarashi got off my back and unlocked the house.


"Come in, come in! Looks like everyone's asleep! I told them I was going out for a drink with Chusho today, so I guess they're relieved! Ufufu."


"Excuse me!"


The Igarashi family is an ordinary house. The only difference is that the next-door neighbor has a childhood friend. It's just like a romantic comedy heroine's house. I don't think it's the right place for a loser like me to be. And then I am taken to the living room.


"Do you want beer or sake?"


Igarashi said as she opened the refrigerator. She still wants to drink.


"I think that beer is your father's treasure. You shouldn't touch it. I don't need any more alcohol. I've had enough to drink."


"Hmm? Well, yeah, I guess so. Well, shall we go to bed? You can use that sofa, Tokiwa."


There was a large L-shaped sofa in the living room.


"No, it would be bad if I slept here, wouldn't it?"


"If Tokiwa and I sleep on the L-shaped sofa so that our heads are together, my fathers won't misunderstand."


"Eh? Hmm? Is that so? Well...yeah. I'm getting tired of all this. Let's go to bed."


I take off my jacket, remove my tie, and lie down on the couch, Igarashi also lying down on the other side of the L-shape. We are sleeping together, but in a strange, somewhat distant position. This is probably just right for us right now.


""Good night.""


We say this to each other and close our eyes.


"I really had fun today, Tokiwa."


"You're welcome."


"But you know what? I wasn't wearing my glass slipper yet. ......so..."


Igarashi mumbles something, but soon begins to breathe in her sleep.


"I wish the glass slipper had been thrown, fallen, and shattered."


I soon fell asleep too. I wish my wizard aunt would greet us in our dreams. That's what I thought...













***Author's musings***


　



She's a witchy woman. I think.


As for the author, well.... I'm setting her up as a main heroine in a romantic comedy from the mob character's point of view.


From the next Chapter, you'll see that Kanata is a real "negative" character.



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