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Together with the pervert, for now, as…
Epilogue? The heck is that? This is a bad ending, after all. Things had calmed down completely, and I might have gotten back my facade, but that has nothing to do with her. It’s not like I managed to clear my image as the Perverted Prince. What’s really hard is getting back the trust I lost.
“Man, it’s hot…”
I sat in the shadow of the water tank on the school’s rooftop during summer break, taking in the breeze. This was the only place I could think of that let me watch over the sports grounds in secret. Today as always, I could hear the faraway voices coming from the track-and-field club. Ever since that incident, the atmosphere in the club had softened quite a bit. It made me think that she probably had always wanted to spoil her underclassmen, but wasn’t quite able to do so because she was bad at showing her honest feelings. Maybe the reason she was patrolling around the game center before was just so that she could play games with the other club members.
Well, either way, I’m not in that group anymore, so why would I care? Because when I came back to the track-and-field club—
“I’m not so sure about training with a person who goes that bonkers about spats…”
“The fact that he’s into roleplaying as a pet is a bit…”
“The Perverted Prince is a bit…”
There was an overwhelmingly negative response from the girls, and the way they treated me hadn’t changed at all from when I didn’t have my facade. Apparently, the Steel King gave them a good lecture, but she’s the King, you know?
“Yokodera is a good guy. His twin brother is the evil one! He’d always try to hurt my little sister. If you see him around, let me know.”
I feel like she only made things worse when she said that. Ahh, the end of summer break is going to be depressing.
“Who cares about other people? Just like the differences between newts and geckos, the people who understand are the people who matter, right?” Azuki Azusa tried to cheer me up.
When I told her that I couldn’t become Tsutsukakushi’s older brother, she supported me even more kindly, and she even grinned. Why? Oh, that reminds me. Because she didn’t need tons of money because of the facade, Azuki Azusa stopped working at the newspaper delivery and at the construction site. Though the pay wasn’t the greatest, she still worked at the animal cafe and played with the cats and dogs.
“Once I earn enough money, we’ll go on a trip together, okay?! This time I’ll get my fair share of Okinawa! O-O-Okay?!” She said with a beet red face.
Man, that sounds nice. I wonder who she’s going with. I hope she’s happy, although she’s still as flat as a cutting board. As things stood, I couldn’t make any plans with Ponta over summer break, so I was just wasting my time away as I watched over the track-and-field club.
When I directed my gaze away from the sports grounds, I spotted a vapor trail from a javelin as it soared through the sky. Leaning against the water tank, I did some stretches of my own. Even though I hated the idea of becoming club president, it’s still engraved in my body, huh? You never know how important something is until you lose it. For example, virginity. Well, maybe not.
“Did I pick the wrong choice somewhere…? Maybe I should have prioritized the clothes in the kendo club or the tennis club instead of the swimming club’s competitive swimsuits…”
“So you won’t even question the thought of peeking on them in the first place? You’re a true pervert, I see.”
“Hyaaa?!”
Without me realizing it, a small girl had sat down next to me.
“You always exaggerate, Senpai.”
“You just scare me all the time, Tsutsukakushi! So much so that it makes me think you were a ghost in your previous life!”
“You can’t count a ghost as a previous ‘life.’ I’m just calling out to you like always.”
“Maybe call out to me before you’re right next to me… But I’m surprised you could find me here.”
“I just felt like I would find you here.” Saying that, Tsutsukakushi fiddled with her tail-like hair.
I could see the faint glimmer of sweat on her face. She might have walked all around in this heat as she searched for me.
“…It’s been a while. What brings you here today?”
“Not really anything special.” Tsutsukakushi declared and closed her mouth again.
With no expression on her face, and no excessive motion of her body, she just watched the far-off world. Right now, the memory of her crying underneath my arms feels like a distant summer dream. But Tsutsukakushi and I are definitely alive in the same world. Back when I attacked her with tickles, the emotions that I couldn’t grasp at all… I feel like those emotions are within my grasp now.
“I see. I totally thought you were feeling awkward and wanted to tell me that you wanted to look for your expressions again even though you handed them over the other day. Then you just gazed at me from a distance but remembered what happened in the kitchen the other day and were trying to think of how you could patch things up.”
“…You really love teasing others, Senpai.”
For example, right now she’s raising her chin slightly. Though she still has no expressions whatsoever, she’s clearly sulking. Her eyes are telling me so as they check me out here and there. Her blue eyes, like those of a cat, are glittering like gemstones.
“…So will this teasing Senpai not help me anymore?” Cowardly, full of restraint, she spoke to me like she was letting out a sigh.
I was wondering to myself. Even though she knows I’m a pervert, she still asks such things. I wonder what I am to her. Why does she want my help? I wanted to become her older brother, but I couldn’t do so. Then what am I to her? Under what pretext should I help her?
—There’s no need to question that.
“Um, can I play with your skin like a bulldog?”
“Eh? Where did that come from?”
Before she could react, I reached out to the girl’s cheeks. Since there was no shame left inside me, I had no restraint towards skinship. Though Tsutsukakushi’s shoulders shook, she didn’t evade me. Feeling her soft skin, I moved it around here and there and lowered the corners of her eyes.
“With this… I thought you might be able to smile even without your expressions…”
“…Didn’t work, huh?”
“Nope. Now it just looks… weird.”
“Let me go right now, or I’ll get angry.”
In reality, the instant I saw Tsutsukakushi’s face, I knew it all along. Relationship, pretense… none of that is important at all. The correct answer is always simple.
I want to see her smile.
That’s all there is to it. Ever since I met her, Tsutsukakushi hadn’t smiled. These feelings hadn’t changed even now. I realized there are some things that are fine not changing.
“When I pull on your cheeks, they bounce and boing around, though. It’s a shame.”
“That is rude. And it hurt. Why would this be a shame?”
“For example, seeing you smile would give me a happy fluffy feeling for New Year’s.”
“…That doesn’t feel like praise at all. I don’t understand you, Senpai.” She sighed once again.
This time, it didn’t seem like she was angry or disappointed either. I know. Because she’s easily embarrassed, she also sighs when she’s happy. For example, right now Tsutsukakushi Tsukiko is actually embarrassed. Of course, thanks to my facade, I won’t mention that, and because Tsutsukakushi isn’t able to express her honest feelings, she can’t admit it either, but that in itself makes a good balance between the two of us.
“If you really feel happy from that, can I do the same to you, Senpai?”
“Some other time.”
“When?”
“It’s gonna be a while. Once you get back your expressions, I’m sure.”
I raised my hip and reached out with my hand. Tsutsukakushi followed suit. With deep emotions, we shared a handshake, and we tasted each other’s warmth, not letting go at all. I smiled, and Tsutsukakushi didn’t. She just looked at me with the eyes of a cat.
CClaw Translations 