Chapter 18

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Translator: Soafp

Happy 1 year anniversary!

“Not…..my…..best?”

I don’t want to. Don’t look at me like that. Why, why, why …… It’s my fault. Then what should I have done? It’s my fault. It’s all, it’s all my fault. I was just trying to help. I was just trying to help. I don’t know why I did that. ……

Nausea rushed into my body as if my head had been shaken. Only Sumika’s face remained in color, while the rest of the objects had lost their color and turned monochrome. My vision is distorted, and every time I blink, it returns to normal and begins to distort again. More and more, my body loses a sense of reality, and I feel as if I’ve been thrown out into empty space–

“Ishikawa! Are you okay?!”

A well-pitched voice rang in my ears. The sound was not a piercing sensation like Sumika’s, but rather a sensation that spread to my head. Then, something warm touched my left shoulder.

“Hey! Are you sure you’re okay!”

Obata-san’s face comes into view. As usual, she is looking at me as if to peek in and ask how I am doing.

“I’m fine. …… Sorry. Thank you.”

“……”

Even when I answer, her worried eyes remain the same. But I really am fine. The shaking has stopped, and my body sensation and vision have returned to normal.

“What is it? I’m talking to him right now.”

“Ha? What are you talking about? And what were you looking at?”

“?”

Maybe she’s saying that my condition was strange. But Sumika had an expression of not understanding. I was unconsciously trying not to let people around me know what was going on, but from Obata-san’s point of view, it was more unbelievable that she didn’t notice anything.

“I’ll be fine, Obata-san.”

“……”

I recall Sumika’s words as I go back in my memory. It was like they were only in my ears, but I could remember what she had said.

“………I’m not cutting corners.”

“Lies. If you’d done your best, we wouldn’t have lost.”

“Wha, are you trying to say that you lost because of Ishikawa?”

“N-Not exactly……”

As usual, she was giving me a hostile stare, but thanks to Obata-san, she seemed to be losing momentum.

“Then that’s enough. Come on, Ishikawa, go!”

“Aah, yeah.”

And just like that, I left the place, with Obata-san pushing me. After walking a bit, I asked Sumika how she was doing, and I could see her walking away, looking dissatisfied.

Sumika had always had a strong sense of justice, or rather, she was the type of person who could not tolerate …… evil people. When she was in elementary school, she once isolated herself by poking at someone who was the central figure in her class. I even overheard stories of her being smoked out by boys during chorus competition practice in junior high school. In my mind, Sumika was the type of person who could not forgive people who did wrong or did not do things right.

In this case, my play must have fallen under Sumika’s category of “people who don’t do things right”. And now I am the “person who did something wrong” to Sumika.

“Are you sure you are okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Thanks.”

We walk together and have a conversation.

“That’s Hosokawa-san, isn’t it? ……. I can’t believe she is that person.”

“Ah, I don’t think she’s like that to everyone.”

“……It seems you know eachother?”

“I guess so. It went something like that?”

“I suppose so……”

Looking back on the conversation, she was satisfied. But from the looks of things, it seems that her opinion of Sumika has dropped significantly. I felt a little sad about that and tried to follow up a little more, but Obata-san opened her mouth first.

“Hey, …….”

“Yes? What?”

“Ishikawa ……, you know, if there’s something that’s …… bothering you or something, just let me know, okay?”

“What do you mean ……?”

“Well, you know, if you don’t want to tell me or something, that’s fine. …… It’s just that you always seem to be in pain or a little sad or something. …… So I was wondering if there’s something painful ……”

“You’ve been watching me very closely. Obata-san always looked at me as if to ask how I was doing, but I wondered if that was a look of concern.”

“Well, you know, we’re friends, and I’d like you to talk to me about anything, or …… you know, sometimes it’s easier just to talk, okay? Ah, if you really don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to. ……”

She cares about me to the utmost. She really tries to help me. It’s not that I don’t want to tell her. It’s just that no one will believe me if I tell people. I think Miyamoto-san and Obata-san would believe me even if I told them …….

“……Obata-san knows about the rumors about me, right?”

“Yes, ……No, I don’t believe it⁉ I know that those rumors are false as soon as I spend time with you.…… ……As I thought……”

“Well, that’s where the rumors come from. There’s been a lot going on.”

“……”

Obata-san was fully prepared to listen, but we were already in front of the gymnasium, so we would have to talk later. Not only that, but also because I wanted Miyamoto-san to listen if I was going to talk to Obata-san.

When I told her this, she said, “Well, at lunch.” When I entered the gymnasium and checked the battle situation, I found that Yuki had the upper hand and Miyamoto-san was outnumbered.

“Well then, let’s cheer for them in high spirits!”

“You’re right.”

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