VOLUME 1
[Last Discussion: Part 2]
“Now wait just a second.”
At my speech, the president’s face grew stern as she waited for my answer.
“What is it?”
“It’s not ‘what is it?!’ What was that?! You weren’t just imagining it were you?!”
“How rude. Do I look like the type of person who would imagine such –”
“You most certainly do!”
“…… I guess I do.”
I looked back on my own actions and thought, “Indeed I do.” But……
“But having said that, the truth is the truth……”
I muttered that while I sat back in my chair and reclined. Everyone stared at me, dumbfounded.
In place of the flabbergasted president, Chizuru-san sighed and asked for confirmation.
“Umm…… Key-kun. That, um, wasn’t you lying to do something about the situation…… or should I say, that wasn’t some sort of joke, was it?”
“Hmph, how rude. I’m always serious.”
“But I just can’t believe that statement……”
“Please believe me, Chizuru-san. My words are as truthful as what a politician would officially publish and use for an election, so that should be enough to believe it!”
“On the contrary, I believe you less now.”
Chizuru-san muttered this and brought her hand to her head.
Apparently, even though she was still quite amazed, it seemed like she believed me.
After all that had happened, this time Minatsu called out, “Now wait a sec!” while standing from her chair with a rattle and peering at me.
“That’s just ridiculous, Ken.”
“…? What is?”
“I mean you…… If that’s really the case, you wouldn’t have worked yourself like this until now. After all…… wouldn’t you be in a situation where you’ve been blessed with women? Why do you feel the need to aim for something like a harem? ”
“Aah, well about that.”
“Ah, no, I get it. Wow, I guess even those two dumped you.”
“That’s not it! They were full of love for me! I mean, one of them was my sister! She’s family! She wouldn’t reject me!”
“Eeehh…”
Her eyes gave a look that didn’t believe me at all. Not just Minatsu, but everyone else was the same.
I snorted a “hmph.”
“Since I have the chance, I’ll say this. I am very much an underrated part of this student council. I may get treated like this, but if I leave and go to the right places, I’ll be significantly more popular!”
“Like at an O**ma Bar?” (1)
“There’s no appeal of such a limited special place!”
“A senior citizens’ home?”
“I don’t get what you mean!”
“If you were scattered to the wind?”
“I haven’t died or anything!”
“…… Then who would you be popular with…..?”
“I’ll normally be popular! With girls of the same age!
“…………”
Minatsu blinked at me in shock. Even Mafuyu-chan looked surprised and muttered in amazement.
“Ma, Mafuyu had no idea……”
“No idea?! Isn’t that the very first thing you would normally a.s.sume?!”
“So there are some things in this world that just can’t be explained by science…”
“So cruel! As usual Mafuyu-chan, you’re unhesitatingly cruel!”
With all my strength I heatedly told the student council members in what ways I was popular. While I was going off, as if to interrupt me, the president said, “So then,” and carried on.
“As for whether Sugisaki is popular or not…… let’s just leave it at how he says it is. Why did things turn out like that with the conversation?”
“Ah, I forgot. Umm…… why did it?”
“If you didn’t talk about things like harems, it wouldn’t have.”
“Aahh, right right.”
I stopped there, and since I was thirsty, I made my way to the other side of the student council room where the equipment was, and made a pot of instant tea. The room was well equipped, like how a conveyer sushi shop was. It felt like a school rule violation, typical of the president’s hobbies, but we could drink tea here. The reason was something like, “In order to advance a discussion smoothly, you need fluid.”
Even though I called out to the others if they wanted a drink, no one in particular seemed to want one, so I made just my share and returned to my seat.
Taking a sip, I restarted my story.
“Well, It’s true that during middle school, I didn’t really have an interest in women…… while that may be misleading, Asuka and Ringo…… I took no notice of other girls than my childhood friend and stepsister.”
“Eh? Sugisaki, you didn’t give the same impression during middle school that you do now?”
“Hmm, well, yeah. If you take away the things like my erotic element or my odd excitement, I would be the me from middle school.”
“What’s with that ideal Sugisaki? After entering high school, you’ve clearly degraded.”
Looks like she said something cruel. Well…… It’s not like I can object. Even so, when it was said by the ringleader that started all of this, I was a bit offended.
While fiddling with her hair, the president asked.
“So, we’re talking about how that cool Sugisaki two-timed his childhood friend and stepsister, and failed, right?”
“That feels like a really crude way of putting it…… But now that you say it, yeah.”
“Then, from the shock of getting dumped, you retreated to eroge.”
“Yes.”
“And now you enthusiastically want to form a new harem.”
“That’s exactly it.”
“Isn’t that just a stereotypical useless man?!”
“……………………Oh.”
“You just realized?!”
“I just realized.”
“Just how far do you plan to degrade yourself?!”
“Ah, well, this might be hard to believe, but if you abbreviate the truth and look at the big picture, aren’t I just the worst type of person?”
“What are you so cheerful for?! What would we do if the vice president was the worst type of person?!”
“Here’s a toast to the broad-minded student council.”
“What’s the worst type of person putting on airs with tea for?!”
I was unreasonably criticized. If she realized, the president would know that everyone else had already backed off from me. Their affection for me seriously dropped all around.
Since it couldn’t be helped, after I took one more gulp of tea, I added a bit more information.
“Actually, I definitely was the worst kind of guy. At any rate…… I hurt the girls, those two, whom I valued more than my own life……”
“…………”
At my submissive face, the president kept quiet. The entire student council had fallen deathly silent.
A few seconds later, Mafuyu-chan timidly opened her mouth.
“B, but, um, umm! Mafuyu…… Mafuyu doesn’t think that Sugisaki-senpai is that bad a person!”
“Mafuyu-chan?”
I stared blankly at Mafuyu-chan who wholeheartedly backed me up.
“You see, well, it’s true that Sugisaki-senpai does like to chase girls…… but, but that’s exactly why Mafuyu thinks he definitely isn’t the type of person who would hurt a girl!”
“…… Thank you, Mafuyu-chan. But you see…… it is true that I hurt them.”
“Senpai……”
Mafuyu-chan looked saddened. I felt a pang of pain in my chest, but since it was the truth, I couldn’t keep looking away from it, and so I continued the story.
“Well, you see……. For me, those two were very important…… They were more important than my parents to me. Rather than just family…… they were especially important people within my family…… or something like that. Precisely because it was them two…… the fact that I hurt them… yeah, I just can’t forget it.
“Senpai……. B, but…”
Seeing how Mafuyu-chan was at a loss for words, Minatsu stepped in to help from the side.
“Ken. I also agree with Mafuyu. I…… since I don’t have faith in the things called men, I already know your irresponsibility well enough. But even so, I believe that you at least aren’t the type of lowlife who insincerely hurts a woman without a reason. “
“Minatsu……”
“I’m not asking you to tell us the reason you were so involved, but…… at least give some sort of excuse. At least, don’t you know, the people here are people who can understand your feelings?”
At the same time Minatsu said that, the president, Chizuru-san, and Mafuyu-chan nodded.
I smiled at the understanding these kind members gave me…… then opened my mouth.
“For me, those two were…… more important than anything. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that I loved the two of them more than anything else in the world.
So, one time, I…… was confessed to by my childhood friend, by Asuka. Since I also liked her, of course I went out with her. That much was fine.
But my sister…… my stepsister, she wouldn’t let that slide. A bit of an incident happened.”
“Incident?”
The president tilted her head. However, I just said “sorry,” and shook my head.
“Please let me keep the full details to myself.”
“Ah, sorry……”
“No worries. Anyway, things happened…… You see, my sister became mentally unstable. Due to that, she had to be hospitalized.”
“…………”
“To me, my sister was also a very important girl…… So I began to constantly attend to Ringo by her sickbed. See, Asuka was supposed to be my girlfriend, but I began to neglect her. That was……”
“Your two-timing…… that’s why others called it that.”
“That’s right.”
At my response, all of a sudden the president indignantly stood up.
“What the h.e.l.l’s with that?! That’s not two-timing, it’s not!”
“No, it’s definitely two-timing.”
“How so?! I mean, you were just worried about your hospitalized sister……”
“Even if that was the only thing I did. Since at that time…… my heart was definitely divided. Asuka and Ringo…… Even though they were both precious to me at the same time, I failed. Due to that, I think, that was definitely what would be called two-timing.”
“No way……”
The president looked dejected.
Seeing the delicate atmosphere of the student council, Chizuru-san pushed forward with skillfully chosen words.
“So what became of all of you in the end?”
“Ahh…… it’s simple. It was the typical path of an unfaithful man. I was at the mercy of a ‘you can’t have your cake and eat it too’ situation, and in the end……” (2)
“…………”
Even Chizuru-san looked away from student council that sunk into silence…… I smiled bitterly and told them.
–
“Bascially, I, Sugisaki Ken, as the protagonist of this love comedy, had once hit a heroic bad end…… that’s the story. Part one of the story of my past, the end~”
–
“…………“
“Ooh.”
c.r.a.p. Somehow…… the student council atmosphere grew extremely heavier.
I, I have to do something!
“Ah, don’t worry everyone! Even though I said I went out with Asuka, I never got past only holding hands with her! Unfortunately! In the end we were always completely childhood friends!”
“No, no one cared about that……”
Not discouraged by the president’s disinterested retort, I continued.
“Ah, b, besides look, by going through that incident, I decided to become the me that I am now! And I mean, it became a good lesson……”
“What do you mean, ‘lesson……’”
I looked at the president who sighed…… I only slightly gave a serious face…… and responded.
–
“I won’t a.s.sign unreasonable priorities to people important to me. No matter how painful or unbearable. I decided…… to become a man…… who could carry everything important to me with my own hands.”
–
“————“
The president gave a confused expression and looked towards me.
“Sugisaki…… you don’t mean… you… that’s why… a harem……”
“………… ah, um…”
Oh, ooh, now I’ve done it. If she says it, wouldn’t it be uncool?
It seemed like everyone was giving me sympathetic looks…… ooh……
I, in that case, I’ll forcibly change the topic! That’s what I’ll do!
“Part two!”
“Huh?”
“The story of Sugisaki Ken, Part Two! Chance Meetings with the Student Council Members Arc, start~!”
“Huuh?”
The president was completely left behind and stared blankly.
A few seconds later, the president finally caught back up with the topic.
“W, wait just a second Sugisaki. Chance meeting arc or whatever, all of our first meetings with you were this year in spring, when we came to the student council room, wasn’t –”
Just as the president started to say that, Minatsu interrupted her with, “No, that’s wrong.”
Minatsu looked back and forth, between the president and me.
“At least, I did, a year ago…… was it early in the summer? Anyway, I met Ken a year ago. If I recall, the Ken back then wasn’t like the bundle of eros he is now, yeah.”
“Eh, ehh? Really?”
It seemed like that was the first the president heard of it. While the president was completely confused, Chizuru-san added on her own part.
“I also met him once last year in the fall, in the infirmary.”
“Th, the infirmary?”
“Yes…… With Key-kun, there I…… made him into a man.”
“Eh, Eeeehhh?!”
Since Chizuru-san told an insanely fantastic story, the president blushed with a puff of steam…… Chizuru-san…… It’s true that we met in the infirmary, but I don’t remember such a great event…… good grief……
Furthermore, Mafuyu-chan also told her part to the completely drained president.
“Ah, Mafuyu isn’t talking about here, but Mafuyu also did, before coming to this school…… In the winter of third year middle school, Mafuyu met Sugisaki-senpai.”
“E, even Mafuyu-chan?”
“Yes. That time…… Sugisaki-senpai had collapsed in the park.”
“What kind of meeting is that?! That really bothers me! I mean, I’m bothered by Minatsu’s, Chizuru’s, all of your stories! What the h.e.l.l?! Why did you never mention it?!”
The president was stunned by being the complete outcast.
However…… even then……
“Prez, prez.”
“What is it Sugisaki?!”
“Well…… you see, you say you don’t like this situation, but……”
“Like I said, what of it?! Any more shocking truths and soon I’ll –”
“Um…… Prez, you and I also have met before. Ah, though at that time, you weren’t the president, but the vice-president.”
“Huh?”
“Also, it was in spring last year. In other words, I happened to meet you before any of the other members here.”
“Eh? ………… EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!”
The president’s scream echoed…… not just in the student council room, but also probably all the way down the corridor.
Now that I think about it…… at that time, this person probably couldn’t see my face properly.
“Wait, what do you mean by that?!”
The president grabbed me by the neck and shook me hard.
–
I let out a single sigh…… and told the story of Sugisaki Ken, Part Two, Chance Meeting Arc.
TRANSLATOR’S NOTES
(1) She mentions an Okama Bar. Okama is slang for a gay, crossdressing man, which makes an okama bar a bar where the employees are gay crossdressers.
(2) The translation of the original equivalent idiom was, “If you stand there then you’re not standing here.”