THIS IS A FAN TRANSLATION, THOUGH THE WEBSITE NAME…HAS MTL IN IT…
A scene from the day after the D-day
TL: Furby
The freshman of the Department of Science and Engineering of Jouto University, Isshiki Yuu, was cheated on by his first-ever girlfriend, Mitsumoto Karen.
Her paramour was a senpai of Yuu from his high school days and now in university, and who also belonged to the same group as him, Kamokura Tetsuya.
Nonetheless, that very Kamokura had a beautiful enough girlfriend to be called the ‘true Miss Jouto University’, Sakurajima Touko.
Yuu, who had learned of the truth of that love affair, had fallen into the depths of despair and demanded to Touko that she cheated with him.
However, Touko instead told Yuu that she wanted a more effective revenge method against them.
The plan for it was to make their partners fall in love with them even more than they had been until now, and when those emotions had reached their peak, they would dump them in front of everyone in their group.
They first engaged themselves busily in gathering evidence about those two’s cheating.
Once Yuu and Touko had obtained definite proof of it, they worked out various many schemes and decided on Christmas Eve as the D-day, the day they would have their revenge against the pair of cheaters.
And so came the D-day. The place was the venue for their group’s Christmas party.
The moment that Touko and Kamokura were chosen as the best couple of the party, Touko and Yuu declared they were breaking up with their lovers.
Then, in front of the multitude of people present, they exposed Kamokura and Karen’s trysts.
Karen flew into a rage and hurled insults around as she left the venue.
On the other hand, Kamokura tried to somehow garner Touko’s affection once more, and for that, he slandered Yuu.
Angered by those actions, Touko declared that she would spend that night together with Isshiki Yuu.
Leaving behind a dumbfounded Kamokura, the two of them headed over to a hotel in the bayside area.
Yuu and Touko entered one of the hotel’s rooms.
And at the very moment when things would take the next step…
“I’m very sorry! I’ll go back to my house after all!”
Touko spoke those lines.
“Up to now, I have never had s****l relationships with anyone.”
“I won’t do those kinds of things until after I marry.”
She further explained with those words, after which she left.
Will Isshiki Yuu ever be able to have his revenge cheating someday?
Just what awaits Yuu in the future?
“… Aren’t I always telling you to stop it with those weird narrations of yours?! And also, just what was up with that narration? I don’t know where you got that idea from.”
I spoke in a displeased tone to Ishida, who was happily humming some melody.
“Eehh? You don’t know it? I thought I’d done a great job imitating it.”
Ishida then told me it was from the famous ‘Banker’s drama’.
(TL Note: This is probably a reference to ‘The Banker’, a Korean drama.)
“I also have humming versions of ‘Ka*** Rider’ and ‘Heike Monogatari’. Wanna hear them?”
(TL Note: The censored word is, for those who don’t know, Kamen Rider)
“I keep telling you I don’t care about them!”
Ishida seemed to be enjoying seeing me seriously express my dislike for them, but before long, he made an exasperated expression.
“But, Yuu, you can imagine that it can’t be helped even if you tell me that, right? After all, everything went so well according to plan up to that point, no? And then you tell me that was the conclusion? Even I, who am only listening to it, feel sad hearing it.”
Having said his part, Ishida then took a few sips of his coffee.
This was a family restaurant that Ishida and I frequented a lot, located on one side of Japan National Route 14.
The next day after D-day and the Christmas party, after having stayed the night, not bothering to wait for the checkout time of 10 am, I left the hotel by myself.
It was then that Ishida, not wasting any time, sent me a message asking me how was last night, his curiosity clear as day.
That was how I had come to be here, being together with Ishida while at the same time eating lunch.
“You guys at long last managed to get your wish to get your retaliation against Kamokura-senpai and Karen-chan granted, man! On top of that, Touko-senpai herself said it in person: ‘I’m going to spend this night with Isshiki-kun!’. And then you guys even went to the hotel. Everything until then had gone splendidly according to the script, filled with expectations. And despite all that, you mean to tell me that she said, ‘I’m not doing obscene things until after I marry’ and then left like that? Man, even a virgin high schooler would’ve been more aggressive then!”
Ishida continued to stare at me from above his coffee cup the whole time he spoke.
“Don’t say it like it’s something as simple as that. It’s only because you weren’t there that you can say those things. Try having Touko-senpai emphatically declare to you, ‘I won’t do any obscene stuff until after I marry!’! I’ll bet you too would’ve remained frozen, unable to do anything.”
One could easily imagine that if I had forcefully approached Touko-senpai at that moment, our ‘future relationship’ would’ve been destroyed beyond repair.
To begin with, we hadn’t even spoken yet about what we would do from now on.
Ishida placed the coffee cup atop the table as he heaved a sigh.
“You’re right about that. Even that experienced veteran womanizer of Kamokura-senpai wasn’t able to put a hand on her, after all. There’s no way that our non-virgin freshman, Yuu, would be able to do anything.”
I didn’t answer anything.
That was so on the mark that it was completely unnecessary.
This was the ‘iron maiden’ who manipulated even that super excessively over-confident hunk, star-of-the-show, frivolous Kamokura Tetsuya, leaving him unable to even compete against her.
It was simply impossible for someone like me to do anything.
Ishida continued even further on.
“That said, once you think it over, Kamokura-senpai’s pitiful, too, you know. He got dumped by his girlfriend, on whom he had continuously made advances since their high school days, before even doing anything with her. And he even believes that she, her beloved woman, was stolen to him by his kouhai…”
I, too, had thought about that.
Had Kamokura’s mistress not been Karen, I was certain that I would’ve felt sorry for him, too.
Ishida leaned on the back of his seat and looked up at the roof.
“Well, if a man were refused by his girlfriend with that ‘I’m not doing obscene things until after I marry’, then it’s not unimaginable that he’d cheat the moment some slightly cute girl approached him and sweet-talked him into it.”
Ishida then immediately followed up after he finished that sentence.
“Well, that guy really overdid it, though.”
“What happened with Kamokura-senpai after that?”
Because Touko-senpai and I had left the party just like that after we made our declarations of breaking off our relationships, I didn’t know what had happened after that. Ishida should know about it, though.
“Well, as you can imagine, he was seriously depressed. Nakazaki-san dragged him out and apparently gave him a stern lecture. Still, he seemed to be already on the verge of tears by then. It was my first time seeing Kamokura-senpai like that.”
I felt a pang of pain in my chest.
Nonetheless, precisely because neither Touko-senpai nor I have done anything wrong, there was no need to feel guilty.
“And so, Yuu, what’re you planning to do now?”
Ishida raised his upper body from the back of the seat and asked me.
“About?”
“About you and Touko-senpai. It’s obvious, even for me, that you’re madly in love with Touko-senpai by now. That’s why I ask. You thinking to date Touko-senpai in the future?”
I flinched slightly at how directly bluntly he asked.
“Well, about that, sure, it’d be great if that happened… But Touko-senpai’s feelings are important, too, so for now, I think it’s still…”
While my words were gradually turning into a mumble, seated in front of me, Ishida crossed his arms and seemed to ponder the matter.
“It certainly is true that, even if it was for a short moment only, you two did go so far as to be about to get into that kind of a relationship, so it’s not as if your chances of making it happen were zero… Still, are you fine with it, Yuu?”
“With what?”
I didn’t quite understand what Ishida meant by his inquiry.
“I mean, even if you managed to date Touko-senpai, you wouldn’t be able to do anything with her until you two married, you know? If that happens, this time it’ll be you who’ll be in Kamokura-senpai’s position. I’m asking you if you’ll be able to prevent yourself from paying attention to other girls.”
I stared Ishida down, slightly offended.
“What’re you saying? Isn’t it obvious?! I’d never cheat!”
“Really? How many years do you think are left until you marry? At least the three years until you graduate from university. If you enter some graduate program, add another two years. And even if you got a job, you can’t marry immediately after. Supposing that the two of you continued dating all that time, it would most probably still be around seven years before you got married. You seriously intending to remain all that time in a purely platonic relationship?”
Seven years… Hearing it like that, I felt my conviction waver a little.
Thinking it over once again, it was a very long time. Seven years ago, I was proudly carrying my backpack to elementary school.
(TL Note: Instead of backpack, the author used ランドセル, randoseru, which is a specific kind of backpack that is carried by elementary schoolers.)
Ishida then dealt yet another blow to me while I had fallen into silence.
“We are but 19 years old, Yuu. The age we’re about to enter, the early twenties, is said to be the one where the urge for the opposite s*x is the strongest, yeah? You’ll be stuck watching Touko-senpai’s top-notch body being right next to you, yet having to wait all that time, putting it always on hold. What’s more, even if you continued to persevere in that, you still have no real way to know if you’ll actually manage to marry Touko-senpai, right?”
“That can’t be helped, Ishida. If that’s a must in order to date Touko senpai, then so be it. Besides, something like betraying Touko-senpai like Kamokura-senpai did, as if I could do something like that! Touko-senpai is someone who encouraged me all this time, someone to whom I owe having been able to come this far.”
Nonetheless, compared to Ishida’s tone as he spoke, I couldn’t help but feel like my words sounded too weak.
Ishida once again placed the whole of his body weight as he leaned on the back of his seat.
“If it were me, I’d be absolutely against it. Enduring a celibacy of who knows how many years, not to mention not knowing if I’d end up engaged with Touko-senpai or not? A normal girl with whom I can have s*x once a week is better for me, you know.”
I didn’t argue against that opinion from Ishida and instead brought the coffee to my lips in silence.
“By the way, how’re you planning to approach Touko-senpai from now on?”
Yet again, I was at a loss for words at Ishida’s question.
I did get a reply from Touko-senpai saying that it was fine for me to contact her in the future… But it was only that, no concrete promises at all.
And those words, too. They might’ve been some simple polite answer from her.
“… I haven’t thought about anything for now.”
“You won’t meet her during the winter vacations?”
The university was on winter vacation from today until the New Year’s 4th of January.
(TL Note: The New Year’s celebrations in Japan typically go from January 1st through January 3rd, days in which most businesses are closed.)
“Truth is, I just asked her about her plans for winter vacations via message.”
I spoke with a voice completely lacking in strength.
“Ooh? And?”
“It would seem like we won’t be able to meet during the winter vacations. She said that she was going on a trip to Hawaii with her family from the end of the year until the New Year’s.”
(TL Note: Like New Year’s, the end-of-year in Japan spans 3 days for most places, December 29th to December 31st. Those six days (Dec. 29th to Jan. 3rd) are usually given as official vacations in all businesses. Note that these periods, which “New Year’s” (お正月) and “end of the year” (年末) denote, can change depending on region, personal opinion, and historical period.)
… We’re both fellow lonely people who don’t have a partner, after all. Please call me later, Isshiki-kun.…
Touko-senpai’s voice as she said those parting words last night came back to life in my mind.
“Haaahh… After having the greatest chance, you get stuck in this situation? It looks like the road ahead for you is very long and full of obstacles.”
Even Ishida spoke with disappointment in his voice.
“She said that it’s a custom of her family to go to Hawaii to spend the New Year’s every year.”
“Well, Touko-senpai’s family IS rich.”
“Both of her parents are doctors, after all. Her house was impressive, too.”
Ishida spoke in a light-hearted tone as if to dispel the somewhat crestfallen mood we had.
“Isn’t that fine, too, though? Let’s enjoy this year’s New Year’s together again! Didn’t we go on our first shrine visit of the New Year together last year before our entrance exams? Let’s go together again this year!”
(TL Note: 初詣 (Hatsumoude), or first shrine visit of the year, usually takes place in the first 3 days of the New Year.)
“You mean, you want just us men to go on our first shrine visit for the second year in a row?”
Although with a wry smile, I expressed my thanks to Ishida for his consideration.
“What’s with you? You’re not happy about it? But, you know, ever since you started dating Karen-chan, I had been feeling a bit empty, thinking that I had to spend the year’s Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s all by my lonely self. That’s why I’m grateful that things turned out like this instead.”
Ishida then put on a mean smile on purpose.
This side of Ishida, where he got rid of the heavy atmosphere like this, without acting condescending, was one of the best things about Ishida.
“Shuttuuupp! Don’t be happy about other people’s misfortuuune!”
I replied to him like that as I, too, laughed.
Well, I guess you could say that this kind of interaction between us was what fit us best.
