Translator: Mikazuki Translation Checker: Nefarian
Miyagi Aoba was alone outside of a shop by herself.
A winery located about 5 minutes on foot from the inn. It"s a nice spot that visitors surely drop by when visiting this place.
Originally, while walking and chatting with three sisters, they said they found the store while looking for a souvenir to give Kohaku. They invited Aoba to the store but she refused. Because of a const.i.tutional problem, just smelling the scent of alcohol made her become tipsy. She realized she was someone who could never drink. After explaining that, she sent the three sisters inside the shop, and waited outside.
「Which reminds me, none of us can drink……」
There was no bench outside the shop, so she thought about such a thing while leaning on the wall. As far as she knew, it seemed that neither her father nor three mothers could handle alcohol as well. Even though Atsuko surely had the nature of a heavy drinker, all she could handle was one bottle of beer, which made her hop off the walls crazily.
「I wonder if my new mom can drink……but I doubt she can」
Aoba restrained a chuckle. She figured she might as well try to buy a bottle of wine for her parents in order to make fun of them. Even though she thought about her parents, she also considered about how the age of the person who will become her fourth mother would not be unusual. The thoughts made her not as depressed as before. On the contrary it even made her feel happy.
“It’s all thanks to Natsuno-kun, right?” She thought aloud, being clearly aware of that fact.
She accidently peaked inside the store a bit through the gla.s.s and caught glimpse of the three sisters.
Immediately after she began to live with Taiyou, she heard stories about how he would eventually make seven wives. Also, she heard from Taiyou that even though the three sisters were triplets, they considered themselves one person. In other words, nine women would eventually be with Taiyou. That was three times the amount as in her parents’ home! Even when the fourth mother comes, that’s still less than half.
Taiyou promised Aoba that in the Natsuno family, their children will know who their true parents are. A promise and an overwhelming harem that exceeded her parents. With the two things combined, Aoba started to think that she did not care about her troubles. That calmness also appeared on her face. Until now, she was a flower bud that was tightly shut but now she was in full bloom and seeping with love.
To say in a few words, she was attractive. One could even say that she was as pretty as Ms. j.a.pan. Unfortunately, a bad bug was wandering around and drawn to the flower bud before it could blossom. 1
「Hey, I was looking at you for some time now, you alone?」
「Eh?」
When Aoba shifted her attention to who greeted her, there was a boy standing there. He had a hairstyle that was cut short on the sides and raised on the top. His clothes were very loose and his only appeal was that he looked a bit different from everyone else.
The boy was surely the same age as Aoba. Puzzled, she asked him another question.
「Are you talking to me?」
「That’s right, you」
「……you」 2
Aoba raised her eyebrow and scowled as she repeated and carefully examined the way he addressed her. Without sensing the discomfort oozing out of Aoba, he spoke to her more.
「You’re alone right? You free right now?」
「I’m not alone and I’m not free」
Aoba realized that he was probably some sort of smooth talker. She spoke bluntly and implicitly rejected him.
「Is that so. Do you know where the station is?」
「Eh? Station?」
「Yea, the station」
The boy gave a large nod. Aoba was suddenly confused.
「The station……it certainly seemed like it was that way……」
「That way? From here?」
「Yeah, if you go downhill, you should see it if you turn at the restaurant 」
「The noodle restaurant? Have you ever eaten there? Is it delicious?」
「No, it’s my first time coming here」
「Is that so. In that case, do you like soba itself? I like it. Everyone loves udon in my prefecture, but I enjoy both soba noodles and udon noodles. You?」
「Um……Udon…too」
Before she knew it, Aoba was having a conversation with the boy. A conversation was formed while she was answering his series of trivial questions. Anyone would answer each question one by one if they were caught up in the pace. By the time someone thought that it shouldn’t go on, it was already too late.
Questions flew from the boy one after another. Engulfed by the situation, she could no longer resist, and started to go along with his conversation. She thought to herself “This is worthless” but since his first introduction, he was blatantly not addressing what Aoba said earlier about not being free. By no means could she say “I don’t know so get away from me” in regards to the question “What direction is the train station in?” Aoba was not a woman who could go to that extent.
In the meantime, she felt that the boy was rapidly getting closer to her. She wondered if he was physically getting closer to her or if it was actually in her head. Or was it both? Aoba could not distinguish between the two because she was unconsciously being engulfed in his conversation.
(……Natsuno-kun)
As she was being cornered, she tightly shut her eyes and called the name of the man in her heart.
――Don!
The wall behind her shook with a sound. Surprised, she opened her eyes and the figure of the very boy she called out to was standing in front of her.
Natsuno Taiyou. He forced his way in between Aoba and the smooth-talking boy and stood in front of her. In the process of protecting Aoba’s entire body that way, he unconsciously hit the wall she was leaning against.
「Natsuno-kun!」
「Huh? Who are you?」
「Beat it!」3
Taiyou unilaterally said that phrase as if to declare that he would not give the guy a chance to speak. In addition to the smooth-talking boy rebelling, his facial expression became angry. It was the first time he had another expression other than a smile.
「C’mon! I’m not beating it. I’m not afraid of you!」
The smooth-talking boy charged at him but Taiyou grabbed his chin with the hand that wasn"t slammed into the wall. He raised the boy with his fingertips like a vice. The boy’s feet kicked the air as he struggled to get free. 4
Seeing the boy’s face turn bright red from his blood rising, Taiyou let him go, however the boy failed to land correctly and landed on his back.
「There won’t be a next time」
Taiyou said while looking down at him.
Taiyou’s threat and the unmatched overwhelming power were made clear. The boy looked frightened, tucked his tail between his legs, and ran away. Taiyou turned to Aoba after seeing the boy’s appearance vanish.
「Are you ok?」
「Y, yeah」
「I see. Well, I heard you were caught up in something so I came as fast as I could. I’m glad I made it in time」
「……you」5
Before his eyes, Aoba was pondering the word with a meaningful expression and he was wondering what was going through her head.
「Huh?」
「No, nothing. Thank you Natsuno-kun」
「No, I’m sorry I was late. I wish I had ran faster」
「No, you still came…… So I’m happy」
Aoba said and smiled with narrowed eyes. There was pa.s.sion in the word of “happy”. Taiyou who heard it felt his heart beating. It was a word said by an extremely beautiful girl named Aoba. A beautiful girl who he had fallen in love with.
It was different from the genuine words “I love you” and “I like you”, but it had the same destructive power as them. It can be said that Taiyou would do anything if it would make Aoba happy. He felt that he would even split the world in two if he needed to, just to see her smile.
They stared at each other and let their faces approach each other gradually. Soon their lips were touching…….
「Heyー」
「Woah!」
「Hiyan!!」
The two of them noticed Shirokiyami staring motionlessly at them while standing beside them. She had been staring at them with her trademark unimpressed expression for who knows how long.
「W…what’s the matter?」
「Nothing… I brought you……here」
「A…ah. That’s right. Thank you. It would have become a major incident if you did not tell me.」
Taiyou said that and meant it. He truly appreciated Shirokiyami. Thanks to her informing him, Taiyou knew exactly where Aoba was being confronted. Of course he wanted to thank her but he was secretly thinking about a much better way to show his grat.i.tude.
「Even though I told you……it still became a major…incident」
「Huh?」
「Dynamic……Wall Slam」
「Eh?」
「Eh!?」
Shirokiyami pointed. Taiyou and Aoba turned their eyes and were both shocked at the same time.
Somehow, the wall that Aoba had her back against had cracks spreading out in a linear pattern, from when Taiyou slammed it like a sumo wrestler.
「Double meaning……Wall Slam」 6
「No, well……」
「I will perform the……Wall Slam as…well」
While saying that, Shirokiyami was. .h.i.tting the wall which made a cute “pechi pechi” sound.
Taiyou and Aoba smiled bitterly at the same time while staring at the wall.
Although “Waruimushi” translates to “Bad Bug” it also means “undesirable lover” ↩The boy said “Kimi” when addressing her. “Kimi” means “you” but is used by men toward people of lower status. Typically not rude but makes the status hierarchy explicit. ↩I can’t see the words “Beat it!” without singing the Michael Jackson song xD ↩Vice: any of various devices, usually having two jaws that may be brought together or separated by means of a screw, lever, or the like, used to hold an object firmly while work is being done on it ↩Once again, Aoba is repeating the way that she was addressed. Taiyou also addresses her by calling her “Kimi” ↩“Kabedon” is slang for slamming one’s hand into the wall in front of somebody (e.g. to stop them from leaving; often viewed as romantic) So while Taiyou was slamming his hand into the wall, it also looked like he was. .h.i.tting on Aoba ↩