Life In The Reverse World

“Hey, Hoshikawa! You made us wait here for almost three minutes, you know?!”

Spotting Nogami standing at the entrance of Snidel from afar, Harutaki immediately felt a sense of impending doom. And sure enough, once he rejoined the three girls who had been “waiting forever,” Nogami began complaining.

“Ah… sorry, sorry. I kept you waiting, miladies.”

He quickly put on an apologetic smile and explained where he’d gone.

Having been in several relationships before, he knew full well that in matters like this, it was best to give in immediately. Otherwise, once it dragged on, girls wouldn’t exactly be inclined to listen to reason.

“Sae said Sanada asked her to fetch me. But the moment I reached the restroom entrance, I suddenly couldn’t hold it anymore, so I went inside to… uh… pick some flowers.”

“Why would a guy even say something like ‘picking flowers’? Gross!”

Nogami shot him a look of pure disgust, then abandoned him and went back to Chouko’s side, pulling the girl along as they continued debating which shop to visit next.

All clear. All clear.

Seeing that, he finally let out a breath of relief. Then he flashed an OK sign toward Minako behind him, signaling that everything was totally fine, no need to worry.

…

“Huh? Minako, when did you buy and change into that new outfit? It’s kind of… kind of bold, isn’t it?”

Nogami’s eyes kept drifting uncontrollably toward Minako’s chest. Her face flushing red, she tugged at Minako’s arm and leaned in to whisper, as if afraid someone might overhear.

“U-um… earlier, remember how I mentioned I asked Sae to call Hoshikawa over? I wanted to surprise him after changing into new clothes, catch him off guard, record his reaction on my phone, and tease him a little.”

“What? If you were going to scare Hoshikawa, you could’ve just done it together with us.”

“Izumi, what you do isn’t ‘scaring’, that’s basically giving him a reward.”

“T-That’s what you taught me though! Training dogs and all that… y-you have to give rewards…”

So you just completely skipped the word ‘appropriate’ before ‘reward,’ huh?

Though she was chatting with her friends, Minako’s gaze drifted to Harutaki, who was currently pulling Chouko close for a photo.

What a guy, more scumbag than actual scumbags…

He could’ve easily pushed all the blame onto her earlier. She’d even prepared an explanation for Izumi. And yet Hoshikawa had taken everything onto himself, smoothing it over with one of his pointless jokes,

What the hell was that supposed to be?!

Did he seriously think that kind of “central air conditioner” behavior, being nice to everyone indiscriminately, would make her like him? Fall for him, even?

She, Sanada Minako, wasn’t some seemingly dangerous but actually fragile naïve young lady hiding under a hedgehog’s shell like Izumi. Nor was she a straightforward, slow-on-the-uptake idiot like Sae.

Men were all the same, nothing but differences in value, and how much you had to pay to make use of them.

She thought that unless absolutely necessary, she would never ask Hoshikawa for help.

True, he was the highest-value guy she’d ever met, but with his greedy fantasy of having it both ways, the price she’d have to pay might very well be getting devoured whole.

Still…

She really was lucky.

Watching Chouko, flustered and blushing bright red from being teased by Hoshikawa, and Izumi immediately rushing over to grab the boy by the neck and scold him, Minako couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy toward that kind of simple relationship.

Unfortunately, it was precisely because such a relationship was so beautiful that it felt like a shimmering dream bubble, fragile and dangerous, destined to burst in the end.

Ha. Effort, huh…

If effort actually worked, then why was the world full of so many miserable things?

Besides, just maintaining her current life already left her exhausted. With the direction of his efforts, it was only a matter of time before he collapsed halfway down the road, worn out completely.

She’d lend him a hand then.

As she quietly planned for the future, she concluded that the moment he fell would be the perfect time to invest.

…

After visiting several shops and finishing lunch together, Harutaki and Chouko parted ways with the other three and took the train back to Minato Ward. Along the way, they stopped by the famous, always-packed cake shop HARBS to buy souvenirs for his sisters at home.

That said, at the girl’s request, Harutaki still walked her back to the area near her apartment.

“I’ll stop here. I don’t wanna disturb your sisters again, just bring my bag with you to school next time, okay?”

That was what Chouko said, but in truth, she was afraid. Afraid that if she went to his place again, she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from staying the night, indulging once more in that rare, home-like warmth.

“I didn’t expect you to live in such a small apartment, Shihou-san.”

Climbing out of a narrow subway exit, Harutaki looked at the apartment building in the distance, judging by appearances, probably no more than a 1LDK, and felt a bit surprised.

It was still technically within Minato Ward, but already on the outskirts. Just a little farther and it’d practically be outside the district.

Shihou was the young lady of the Shihou family. Even if her family was a prestigious Kyoto house in Kansai, surely they owned property in Tokyo too?

“I… I had a falling-out with my family and ran away. As long as I have living expenses, tuition, and a little pocket money, I’m satisfied. A 1LDK saves money and is easy to clean. And I even have my own little vault, you know.”

Carrying the fruit mille-crêpe Harutaki had bought her, Chouko lowered her head and muttered her explanation softly.

“But… thank you for walking me home, and for treating me to HARBS cake.”

The afternoon sunlight was warm, as if brewing the promise of early summer a month away. Even the spring breeze felt lazy, making one want to stretch.

They walked together along the street between the station and the apartment building. The area was quiet, and the timing neither early nor late, there were hardly any people around. Compared to the crowds at Shibuya Station earlier, it felt like an entirely different world, as if only the two of them existed.

“Shihou-san… did you enjoy today?”

Harutaki suddenly spoke, breaking the languid silence.

“Mm… I’m really looking forward to the next get-together with Izumi, Sae, and Minako…”

“Huh? Did I mishear something? There’s no handsome Hoshikawa on that list?”

“W-Wouldn’t it be kind of awkward to have one guy at a gathering of four girls?”

Chouko puffed out her cheeks, pouting slightly as she complained back.

“It would be awkward. For example, Sanada-san looks totally like a spoiled concubine.”

“H-Hey! Your evil thoughts are leaking out, Hoshikawa~”

She tilted her head slightly, sneaking a glance at the boy’s sharply defined profile, highlighted by shadows under the orange sunlight.

“Next time… next time, let’s all hang out together again, okay?”