Chapter 16


TL: Scaramochi


***


"Actually, I have a crush on someone." 


A crimson-tinted face. 


Her shy legs. 


Her eyes glancing at me. 


The one who has become such a love-struck damsel in distress is none other than Ran. 


When I was threatened by the club using a back account, it was the face of a woman I had never thought of. 


It wasn't long ago that Ran turned this kind of face towards me. 


Today is my second day in the occult research club. 


The main activity of this club is "the study of the occult". I thought I was going to do something, but Ran was waiting for me in the room, using two chairs and lying down on them. 


She was lying on two chairs, which she never shows to others. 


I saw her scratching her back like an uncle, and suddenly I was taken out of the room and....... 


"Actually, I have a crush on someone." 


Up to now. 


I honestly thought she was going to threaten me again. But in the empty hallway, she confessed to me that she had a crush on someone. 


"I know you have a crush on me, but what about it?" 


"Oh, it's okay. I don't have a crush on  Yanagi." 


"I didn't say anything like that......." 


I feel like I've been rejected. 


"Hmm. I have a crush on him, but that...... I want him to teach me various things as a senior who has a crush on me." 


Saying this, Ran looked away. 


From the look of her, it seems that she really has a crush on him. 


"What exactly do you mean by various things? I'm going to be honest, but I think it's better to ask the senior in love about these things, not the senior in unrequited love." 


"Like how not to end a one-sided love as it is........ Hmmm. I mean, do you think there's anyone who can ask me that kind of thing?" 


She bent her head gnarly and gave me a sinister smile. 


Watch out, watch out, watch out. The topic at hand was Pandora's Box. 


Even someone who is a beautiful girl and incredibly popular with boys has a lot of trouble....... 


"Or how not to end up with unrequited love?....... I don't know if I've succeeded yet either, but I think it's important to express your feelings face to face." 


"Hmm I see. I guess I'll go with back account then." 


"No, that's different from this or something....... I think it's better to tell the person directly about how you feel." 


"Indeed."


***


Rinka is a woman who can do anything. 


Her grades are outstanding, and all of them are among the top five in her grade. She once lamented that she had to call in a tutor, but it makes no sense that she is beating those grades all by herself. 


In physical education, Rinka is so athletic that she is second to none to the hot-blooded boys. 


What happens when such Rinka joins club activities? 


Yes, the other club members will not shut up. 


"Kujo! You can surely make it to the national championships! So why did you join such a club that I doubt is a club activity!" 


"Kujo! Your ippon backbreaking can take the world! Come to the Judo Club!" 


"Oh, your lung capacity and instrumental skills are perfect. So, you know, come to the brass band club......" 


"Hey, Kujo. Why don't you play soccer with us?" 


"Hey, Kujo. We need your intelligence. Please join our science club." 


"Hey, Kujo, I'd love to see your 3-point shot again. I'd love to see you shoot three-pointers again, Kujo. Why don't you join the women's basketball club and play basketball with us now?" 


The room, small and able to accommodate a few people, is crammed. 


Of course, there was no way Rinka would overlook this situation. 


"I'm sorry, but I've already decided to join this club. Can you please stop trying to recruit me? To be frank, it's annoying." 


Rinka's cold words. The people who came to solicit for the club activities who were told this left the club room with a downcast look on their faces. 


"Ah. Yanagi and Ran, where did you two go?" 


"I was in the hallway for a bit......." 


"There's nothing to worry about, onee-chan." 


Ran interrupted me. 


It seemed that having a crush on her was something she didn't like to be told. 


Rinka seemed unconvinced, but since she had stopped me, I couldn't say anything more. 


"Come on, Yanagi," she said. "Let's do occult research together! After all, this is an occult research club!" 


Ran's white teeth sparkled. 


"......got it." 


I took a seat next to Rinka. 


"What shall we do today?" 


I could hear the excitement in Ran's tone of voice. 


By the way, Ran was always doing occult research alone in this club room....... 


I was looking around the club room again, not listening to the conversation. 


"Huh?!" 


I noticed someone sitting a little in the corner of the room. 


His hair was shaggy and his bangs covered his eyes. 


A school run that looked like a delinquent, torn in places and with a few buttons undone. 


He was sitting on the gymnasium floor as if he was watching over us, silently looking at us. 


"Ri, Rinka......" 


"Hm? What?" 


"Oh, there's a guy I don't know over there, do you know him?" 


"Ummm. I've never talked to him, so I can't say I know him." 


Unlike me, Rinka replied calmly. 


I knew it wasn't a ghost, but....... 


Who is this man? 


When I observed the man again, I knew from the color of his shoelaces that he was from the same class. And that there is a name plate with the word 'Naito' written on it, although the letters are gone and I can't tell exactly. 


He said that there was a ghost member of the same grade in this club. 


Could it be this person? 


I was about to call out to him fearfully, but someone called out to the guy before I could. 


"Hey, Naito Naito. Don't stay in that place, sit in the chair." 


Ran spoke to Naito as if it was a matter of course. 


From the way he spoke, he seemed to be a ghost club member after all. 


"It's......." 


"What did you say?" 


"I don't like it." 


"Does that mean you can't sit next to me?" 


"No, no, that's not what I meant. It's just that there are two strangers in this club room......." 


"What? Is it possible that Naito is scared of Yanagi and Rinka? 


"No, I'm not scared!" 


"Then why don't you come sit next to me?　I'm not scared of you!"


Naito sits in the chair in front of us, scared of us under Ran's pressure. 


I saw a little entanglement and understood, but I see. 


So that's what it means to have a crush on someone. 


"Ugh. Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Kazuto Naito, a freshman." 


Naito introduced himself in a thin voice. 


"Oh, I'm Takato Yanagi, also a first-year student." 


"I'm Rinka Kujo as well. I'm Ran's twin sister there." 


"............" 


The self-introductions ended, but there was no response from Naito. 


Naito is looking down and doesn't seem to have noticed that Ran has been glancing at me with concern since a while ago. 


I guess he can't talk as usual because of our presence. 


This is the person Ran has a crush on.　 


Now is their chance to be alone together. Let's forget about the club activities and leave us jabbering insects out of it. 


"Rinka. Come to think of it, I think we have something to do in the classroom." 


"......Things to do? What?" 


"Even if you don't remember, I do. I'm sorry to the two members of the occult research club, but the things we have to do are more important." 


"I'm not sure, but if Yanagi says so, I'll go back to the classroom." 


"See you both later." 


Thanks to Ran's words, we were able to easily leave the club room. 


Just before leaving, Ran's face was full of motivation, as if to say, "I'll do my best!" I don't think I have anything to worry about."


No, I should be worrying about myself. 


"Hey, Yanagi. So, what is it that we do in the classroom?" 


I got to the classroom without giving any explanation to Rinka. Of course, there was no one in the classroom, just the two of us. 


What should we do? 


I can't divulge Ran's secret and....... 


"Ah, haha. Haha....... I think you may have misheard what I want going to do." 


"Yanagi, are you hiding something from me?" 


She gave me a scary look. 


Reflexively, I made up my mind not to say anything, but she gradually pushed me backward. 


Before I knew it, my back was against the wall. 


"Why are you trying to run away? I knew it, Yanagi, you're hiding something from me....... could it be about Ran who was alone with you earlier?" 


"What? I'm not sure what you mean." 


I can't do that. 


I don't think I can hide anything from Rinka. 


"Yanagi. Yanagi likes me, right?" 


"Yes, of course I do." 


"Well, then, why don't you tell me about what you and Ran talked about alone? Did you perhaps talk about something that I shouldn't hear? Did you talk about something that was bad for me?" 


Her eyes are awful. She doesn't blink once, and she's all pissed off. 


For some reason, she doesn't look...... angry. 


If anything, it's like a fetter has been lifted from her mind. 


"Why are you silent? Is that what being silent means? Why why why why?" 


"I didn't speak anything that Rinka would think, so please calm down for once." 


I put my hand on her shoulder and said so, but Rinka did not listen. 


"But but but, you didn't tell me what you were talking about after all. You like me, but you won't tell me."


"Of course I like you. But this is all up to her, Ran. Even if I said I talked to her, it was a one-sided conversation." 


"Hmm. So you make excuses like that and don't tell me what it was about. Yanagi, you put another person before the person you love, don't you? I see... I see... ......" 


Rinka, whose face seemed to embody madness, instantly lost her energy. 


She became weak and collapsed at my feet. 


......I can't hold back anymore, seeing the person I have a crush on in this state. 


"Rinka, please listen to me. If you don't keep it a secret, Ran might say something, but I'll tell you what I was already talking about." 


That Ran has a crush on someone and asked me to advise her. I told her everything without wrapping it up. 


I didn't feel too guilty because I was talking to her, thinking that maybe Ran wouldn't be able to refuse this kind of question from Naito, who also has a crush on her. 


"I see. Ran has a one-sided love, huh?" 


Rinka's tone of voice returned to normal and she stood up gnawing at the spot. 


She no longer looked like she was shackled.　 


Her face has also returned to normal. 


"Well, we should go home first!" 


What was that questioning earlier? 


Could it be that she got jealous when I was talking alone with Ran? 


"Let's go home~~ let's go home~!" 


If so, I couldn't be happier.



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