Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru

When Eita isn"t at the club room, the girls reveal their true colors—

It was August 31st, in the afternoon.

The weather forecast finally predicted rain. For several consecutive days, the sky had been clear; but dark looming clouds finally approached from the horizon.

Today was also the last day of summer vacation, so the next school semester would go into session tomorrow. On this specific day, the ｢Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self｣ had a.s.sembled.

Harusaki Chiwa.

Natsukawa Masuzu.

Akishino Himeka.

Fuyuumi Ai.

Four gla.s.ses of barley tea rested on the surface of the table.

There was no gla.s.s for Kidou Eita.

He hadn"t been told about today.

He hadn"t been told about this meeting being held.

"Now that I think of it, it"s very rare for just us to gather together."

In this atmosphere that was certainly different than the usual, Chiwa"s cheerful voice seemed out-of-place.

Himeka also nodded her head.

"I think this is what"s called ｢girls-only｣, according to 《Pachi Lemon》.[1]

"That"s weird, since when has Himecchi started reading 『PachiLe』?

"I started this month to exercise my Maiden"s PowerPure Force. It has some very interesting content."

Like this, Himeka wasn"t that much different than unusual—no, actually, she was happier than normal.

Her feelings about this meeting were in the tone of ｢it"s been a while since everyone had the opportunity to talk｣.

In contrast to these two cheerful individuals, Masuzu"s expression was in low spirits. Normally she would have taken the lead as president and started all sorts of things by herself, but today she kept her silence and quietly read a novel. It wasn"t that she was in a bad mood. Rather, she looked like she didn"t have her usual energy.

Ai, on the other hand, wasn"t even sitting. She stood by the window and gazed out towards the overcast skies.

She seemed to be deep in thought as she let out a ｢Fiu｣ from time to time, combing her long hair upwards.

"What are you doing, Ai? Why don"t you sit?"

Ai smiled and responded to Chiwa with a ｢Eeh?｣ as she nodded.

She suddenly mumbled,

"...How pitiable. These girls were all dumped by Ta-kun in the end."

"Eh? What did you say?"

"Nothing at all."

Ai sat down, and her graceful posture seemed steeped with the easygoing confidence of a winner.

"Anyway Chiwa, why did you call us all out here?"

"Well, before the next semester starts, there"s something I have to tell everyone."

One by one, Chiwa looked at Ai, Himeka, and then even Masuzu who still had her eyes fixed on her novel. Then she spoke,

"To be honest, I… confessed to Ei-kun."

"Ehh!?"

The surprised exclamation belonged to Himeka and Ai.

"What"s the meaning of this? Chihuahua also likes Eita?"

"Hah, that was obvious from long ago! Is it really true that you confessed to him? No, instead tell us when you did it?"

"The last day of the club trip."

Slam.

That was the sound of the novel being snapped shut. Masuzu spoke soon afterwards.

"I, happened to be present at the time."

Masuzu"s and Chiwa"s gazes collided over the table.

Ai and Himeka unconsciously held their breath. Although they"ve seen these two fight many times, today the aura was clearly different from the usual — intimidating. It gave out a dreadful feeling.

—————This is serious.

Himeka fled the mat as if running away and she promptly hid herself behind the curtains.

Ai glanced back and forth between these two girls who were glaring at each other. She wondered if she should interfere as a disciplinary committee member.

However—

"But you can relax, you know?"

Chiwa spoke candidly, practically destroying the tension in the air.

"I was rejected."

"Eeh?"

"I was rejected by Ei-kun. He said he couldn"t see me as anything beyond a childhood friend."

Only then did Masuzu"s expression change significantly.

Her sour expression became cheerful in an instant, and she immediately pressed her now ｢out of strength｣ cheek against the table.

"Uaaaaan, that"s a relieeef~~~n!"

It was something completely unthinkable for the "cool Masuzu", as she let out a rather lazy voice.

From the top of the table a ｢monyomonyo｣ rubbing sound could be felt.

"B-But of course. Yes, that"s natural. Because I"m already Eita-kun"s girlfriend. Even if Harusaki-san confesses to him, of course he wouldn"t be touched so simply. That"s right, that"s exactlytrulynaturally. Aa. Aaaaa… Of course I totally knew it. Aaa"[2]

"..."

Was President possessed by evil spirits? —Himeka was frightened.

Natsukawa-san is such a mysterious person —Ai was astonished.

But Chiwa was absolutely convinced—

If she was that relieved, then she must have taken a fairly big hit.

Although people frequently labeled Chiwa as ｢empty muscle brain｣, she wasn"t a fool at all when it came to battling with others. Due to her kendo experience, she had developed an intuition that could to see through the subtle but true intentions of a dueling blade.

It might be love, but it was also no different from a battle.

Besides, it was a match she definitely could not lose.

Like this, Chiwa had long suspected that ｢Eita and Masuzu"s relationship was not normal｣. Of course she didn"t have any proof, and it was just ｢wild intuition｣, but ever since the time Eita"s aunt Saeko-san called them ｢fake｣, she was certain that this was the case.

But because of the confession on top of that stage, she lost the strongest piece of evidence that she could investigate further into. However, Chiwa had not given up.

————Because those two are definitely hiding something from me!

Masuzu had no idea about what Chiwa was thinking, and she giddily continued,

"Ah, I feel like I"m so hungry now that I"ve relaxed! Let"s take out the osenbe[3], let"s take out the cookies, and let"s take out the POCKY as well ♪ Since it"s so hot, perhaps they"re a little bit melted?. Akishino-san, can I trouble you to take them out?"

"A- Acknowledged."

Still quite afraid of the Masuzu who was practically about to jump up from the table, Hime took out their pre-purchased snacks from the pantry and spread them over the table. With so many refreshments, the club room felt a bit like a party. It really did have the atmosphere of a ｢Girls-only｣ meeting.

But of course the current situation wasn"t so cordial.

Chiwa revealed a chuckling smile.

"I"ve always wanted to ask, what does everyone like about Ei-kun?"

Masuzu, who had contentedly been drinking barley tea, suddenly became a bit more alert.

"Why are you asking that now?"

"Well, since I was rejected, it feels a little easier to ask now, right? Since I"m just Ei-kun"s ｢childhood friend｣."

Chiwa had to subtly force herself when she said the words, ｢childhood friend｣.

She was emphasizing—even though she was rejected, that didn"t mean her bond with him was completely cut off.

Furthermore, that line could be interpreted to imply, ｢as the childhood friend, I intend to continue intervening with you｣. Basically, they were words that established her own uncooperative stance.

"I like it when he is cool!"[4]

The person who energetically replied was Himeka.

"When Eita fought in front of the train station to save Chihuahua, it was seriously way too cool. It made me realize our destiny. Even now, when I remember his face from then, my heart starts to pound…"

Himeka"s cheeks reddened to the color of apples, and she closed her eyes as if drunk.

She was so lovely, cute, and innocent—the remaining three of them were fascinated. Perhaps Himeka was actually the most ｢maiden-like｣ of all the girls in the club.

"Then, Natsukawa?"

"I… well."

Masuzu"s gaze was indecisive and couldn"t stay fixated in one place.

"When he is gentle, can I say it like that?"[5]

"Hm? —What is that gentleness like?"

"I refuse to speak about it."

There was a reason Masuzu gave that type of answer.

After being treated so gently by Eita in so many ways, ｢fear｣ surged within herself when she thought about speaking about it. Because if she shared it with others, wouldn"t those unknown but warm feelings that she kept hidden inside her heart evaporate like smoke? She was held back by this bizarre premonition.

But Chiwa didn"t know about those reasons, and she only interpreted Masuzu"s reaction as ｢very suspicious｣.

"Why don"t you want to say it?"

"Because there is no need to tell it to Ms. Childhood Friend."

"...Hm-ph…"

While the atmosphere feebly started to twist askew between these two girls that glared at each other—

Ai was completely oblivious to the situation as she giggled with a brilliant voice.

"Yeah yeah! As long as it"s Ta-kun, Ai-chan loves ev~rrrything about him! There"s nothing I hate ♪"[6]

The club room suddenly went silent.

Three of them were flabbergasted,

"What"s with Fuuyumii?"

"Why is that, Fuyuumi-san?"

"Why Master?"

The three of them tilted their heads at practically the same angle.

"W-Why can"t I? What"s so wrong if I say it too?!"

"But Master already has Michel."

Himeka was referring to the name of the fake boyfriend that Ai had made up.

But she had already set up her engagement with Eita (or so she thought), so as matters stood, there was no reason to continue on with that awkward lie. But at this point it was rather difficult to come clean about it.

Ai"s expression shifted swiftly as she spoke,

"U-Uhh—um, even so, I"ve felt rather distant from Michel lately. To be honest, I think our feelings have become dull? Or like that."

"Ara but what is that? If it"s a long distance relationship, weren"t you basking in so much mutual love earlier? Doesn"t he send you a pile of emoticons through text messages every day, morning and night?"

"No, even if that"s the case, I feel like our feelings have become more and more heavy… the city"s definitely changed him! Or something."

Ai tried to defend herself incoherently, but Himeka tightly clasped Ai"s hand.

"Don"t worry about it. I believe in Master"s Maiden"s PowerPure Force, and you"ll definitely overcome this crisis."

"Exactly, I"m sure you two will make up. Why are you reworking the setting again? That type of hand won"t work anymore."

"Truly—! Aaaaah— I still really envy you for being so lovey dovey with your boyfriend".

"G, Gughhh…"

After being retorted like that, Ai could only bite her lip silently.

"Well, next up is me."

Himeka"s eyes started to shine.

"How much does everyone like Eita? I like him this much!"

Himeka stretched her arms as wide as she could to express how much her love was. Although she was making a ruckus like a child, she was unbelievably happy to talk about ｢Love Stories｣.

Everyone else slowly got caught up in the spirit.

"You"re too naive, Himecchi! As for me, I love him from here to there!"

Chiwa ran from one end of the clubroom to the wall on the other end. Her smile seemed to say, ｢Take this!｣; she was similarly childish.

"That"s too naive."

Masuzu pointed out the window,

"Mine is from that end of the athletics field to the opposite boundary—there"s probably more than a hundred meters there. My feelings for Eita-kun are around that level."

She straightened her chest with a completely serious face.

Chiwa pursed her eyebrows.

"Wait a second, aren"t you cheating?"

"Cheating?"

"Because I ran from one end of the wall to the other! Since that"s the case, you should run from one end of the athletics field to the other, Natsukawa-san! You should move that tongue less and work on your body."

Masuzu pouted for a moment before the corners of her mouth curled up.

"Oh dear, but does strength really scale with love? If that were the case, a certain empty brained Chihuahua-san would be the number one, isn"t that so?"

Chiwa was the one who frowned this time.

"Well, if you"re going to play that way! My love for Eita goes from Hanenoyama Town all the way to New York!"

"Then, my love starts from the atmosphere and flies straight until the dark side of the moon."

"Huh, really, that"s interesting. In that case, go, but don"t come back to Earth after that!"

Chiwa and Masuzu glared at each other while only separated by the table. Meanwhile, Hime very happily chimed in,

"In that case, mine goes from the ground all the way to the last h.e.l.l, Judecca!" [7] However, she was beautifully ignored.

Ai used an excessive amount of force to bang on the table as she stood up.

"Fufufun! You guys are way too naive if you think you can with at that level! As for me, mine is...! The entire universe! Boundless ♪ My love to Ta-kun is INFUINITE![8] Meters and light years can"t measure the dimensions of my love! If it were possible, I"d go outside and run to the boundaries of the universe—♪"

The club room fell to complete silence again.

The two girls who had been arguing earlier stared at Ai with stunned looks. Then, they changed their postures as if to say ｢Oh dearYareYare｣ nearly simultaneously.

"That"s why, isn"t Ai-chan in love with Michel?"

"E-"

"Why don"t you text that ardent confession to Daigoro right now? No, you can call him this instant and tell him that. He"d definitely fly back to Tokyo right away."

"Ee-?"

Ai was at a complete loss for words, and Himeka gently put her hand against her forehead.

"Master, you"ve been exceedingly strange today. Could you be sick? Do you have a fever?"

Since even her pupil mentioned it, it really did look like she had lost her footing.

"Huuuuuuuuuun! Ai-chan messed up! Michel"s an idiot! Idiot! Daigoro!"

Ai unsteadily walked to the window and wrapped herself in the curtains to hide. She looked like a teru teru bozu[9], except there were soft sobbing sounds that came from her like rain.

Masuzu stared at Ai with an expression that seemed to say, ｢Oh myAraAra｣, but she was actually laughing deep down in her heart.

———There"s nothing to fear from the devil disciplinary committee member!

All along, Masuzu had known that Ai had fabricated Murata • Michel • Daigoro"s existence and that she actually liked Eita. But for now, Michel was an effective trump card for blocking Ai, so Masuzu had no intention of exposing her.

On the other hand, Chiwa felt ｢it was a bit strange｣, but she thought, ｢oh well｣. She didn"t think too much of Ai"s dispute with Michel and ignored it. As for Himeka, she didn"t have any doubts at all. ｢Master"s amazing! Master is so cute and popular!｣.

Because of the way these three thought, Ai"s ｢imaginary boyfriend｣ was not exposed… though it probably would have been better for her if it had been uncovered.

"In any event—"

Masuzu once again returned her gaze to everyone.

"In short, apart from Fuyuumi-san, this club is made of people who all love Eita-kun. It"s very troublesome that this is the case."

"But, because of that I"m pretty happy!"

Himeka"s voice was very energetic,

"Since the three of us like Eita, we"re all comrades!"

"Comrades is it?"

"So, comrades…"

Masuzu and Chiwa had a subtle expression.

On this point, normally one would call it ｢rivalry in love｣, but Himeka apparently didn"t see it that way. That was because although she loved Eita, she"s never thought of monopolizing him.

At that point, Ai slightly poked her head out from the curtains.

"C-Can you let me join as a comrade with you guys?!"

"But Master already has Michel."

"Don"t say such cold things! As an outstanding maiden, isn"t it a great thing to have comrades who are working so hard towards a goal?! There"s no reason to fight!"

Ai"s sob-mingled words suddenly reminded Masuzu and Chiwa of something.

The words that Eita said on the last day of the club trip flashed through their heads.

『At that time, they had made me suffer a lot. My parents had kept blaming each other for adultery and fought with each other, it had been carnage.』

『Cursing, blaming, and criticizing each other— These kinds of people don"t posses any appeal at all!』

Chiwa was very familiar with Eita"s family situation. Masuzu also harbored complicated family problems, so she was very familiar with this sensation of anger that Eita expressed towards his parents.

If they continued fighting like this in front of Eita, maybe they might even become hated.

Maybe they might even bring suffering to Eita.

Neither Masuzu nor Chiwa wanted that kind of thing to happen. Absolutely not.

"...That"s true."

Masuzu nodded, throwing away her hesitation.

"We are companions and comrades who"ve gathered together as the ｢Maiden"s Club｣. But only in front of Eita-kun."

Chiwa also nodded.

"Since we"re comrades, we have to be very friendly to each other. I don"t want to let anyone see us fighting, Ei-kun at least."

"President and Chihuahua both understand?!"

Himeka blossomed with a smile as she clapped her hands together. Of course, she didn"t notice the true things they meant to say.

After some hesitation, Ai also came out from the curtains.

"Mmmn, it"s best when everyone"s on good terms with each other. Long live the peace! …if not, I won"t be comfortable inviting you guys to the wedding."

She added those last words while whispering, and no one else heard her.

And just like that, the ｢Society for Bringing Out Your Maiden Self｣ returned to a truce.

Or at least, on the surface.

♦

As they changed their shoes to leave the building, little black dots started to speckle the asphalt.

Although it was just three o"clock, the sky was already dark. The odor damp air could be smelled in the air.

"It looks like it just started raining. The weather forecast really was accurate."

"My prophecy has also reached the same conclusion. These are the tears that the water G.o.ddess Aquarius is currently shedding."

Ai and Himeka opened their umbrellas and walked out into the rain.

Just when Masuzu was about to open her umbrella, Chiwa called out to her from behind.

"I want to fight Natsukawa fair and square, so will you answer me honestly?"

"What"s this? That"s sudden."

"Natsukawa, what are you hiding from me?"

By instinct, Masuzu"s heart skipped a beat.

Naturally that wasn"t due to affection.

She feigned her calm and produced an elegant smile.

"No? There isn"t anything I"m hiding from you."

"Ah, really…"

Chiwa did not respond like she was convinced at all.

Masuzu then turned the tables and went for an attack,

"Even if there"s something I"m hiding, there"s no reason for me to tell you, is there? To someone who was already rejected."

Chiwa"s fists clenched and stiffened.

She just barely restrained herself from showing her feelings.

"Although I said Ei-kun rejected me, I never said I was going to give up."

"Ee…………?"

This time, Masuzu let one slip.

She couldn"t keep her right temple from twitching.

"What"s with you, childhood friend? Are you perhaps just bad at giving up?"

Chiwa"s temples also started to tremble.

"What"s with you, girlfriend? I wonder if there"s a single thing that can be praised about you?"

Lightning flashed, and the deep rumble of thunder came from the dark skies.

A frightened cry could be heard near the school gates: ｢I-I-I-I-I hate thunder! d.a.m.n it! My belly b.u.t.ton"s going to be taken away!｣[10]. There was also a noisy shout that accompanied it: ｢Gu! I"ll quiet my right hand! You can stop this violent thunderbolt!｣.

Meanwhile, the flash of lightning illuminated these two as the downpour of rain drenched them. However, they only glared at each other silently.

Not long afterwards, the thunder clouds spent all their energy—

"Let"s stop this, Harusaki-san."

Masuzu took out her cellphone and hung the 「乙」strap in front of Chiwa"s eyes.

"Aren"t we comrades in the same club?"

Chiwa also displayed the same cellphone strap in front of Masuzu.

"Yeah, we"re good friends."

Then, the two of them smiled practically simultaneously.

They simply didn"t notice Himeka"s and Ai"s shouts of ｢What"s going on—?｣ from the school gates as they smiled.

"Ufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufufu."

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha."

As the sounds of their laughter overlapped, it practically masked the sound of the rain.

Only the two swaying cell phone straps knew the true feelings of these two girls.