CH 19

It was a familiar scene that I had watched several times..

Through the computer screen, the world of Everlasting-Love unfolded, and I saw a scene where Yosuke, the protagonist, was immensely loved by both Shirayuki and Hisui.

But of course, like every time, that one guy appeared.

“I-I won’t forgive you for being with that guy! I love Shirayuki more than he does!!”

Arashi made yet another attempt to attack Shirayuki. However, like every other time before, he was stopped by Yosuke and taken into custody by the police then disappeared.

If the story were to continue, it would have been nice for Arashi to appear as a villain a little longer, but he disappeared as if he was never there in the first place. The character of Arashi was really just a catalyst to advance the relationship between the two.

“…”

And I was having those strange dreams again.

“Arashi… kun?”

I was pushing down Shirayuki.

In the same strange dream as when I was with Shirayuki and Hisui, I was not in my original body but in Arashi’s body.

It made me feel like Arashi had taken action against her and proceeded without being stopped.

“… Shirayuki”

Strange, why wouldn’t my body move?

I had become Arashi, but that didn’t mean I intended to walk the same path as him. Moreover, even in a dream, I didn’t want to attack Shirayuki like that.

(… I thought I was having a good dream after a long time, but what is this?)

If this dream was implying to me that I should follow the story and attack Shirayuki, making her hate me completely, and then encourage her and Yosuke to get together, that would be very annoying.

“It’s alright.”

“… huh?”

At that moment, while thinking that Shirayuki would be scared if she were pinned down by such a huge body, I was surprised by her voice.

Shirayuki looked at me so kindly that I couldn’t imagine her having a gaze towards Arashi, and stretched out both hands to embrace me.

“If Arashi-kun wants to… it’s okay.”

“Huh…?”

“No. It’s okay only if it’s you inside Arashi-kun?”

“!!?”

I was startled by those words. 

It was as if she had guessed the secret that I had been keeping in my heart, but more than that, it was because she had noticed me, who was now Arashi.

“I’ve been waiting for you all this time. Both My mother and I… not Koizumi-kun, but you, we’ve been searching for you —my love.”

Then I exchanged a kiss with her… and woke up.

What?

I sat up abruptly and looked around. 

Even though it’s rare for dreams to stay vivid in memory, I remembered every dream I had about them. About Shirayuki, about Hisui, about both of them…and even about what just happened.

“Well, that kind of future doesn’t exist though.”

There’s absolutely no way that I would attack her in the future, because I am me. 

…Well, even so, the act of touching her chest while she was sleeping was a despicable thing to do, but Shirayuki forgave me… and was even very kind.

“… When she says things like that, I can’t help but have some expectations. But is it because she trusts me, or because she doesn’t see me as a man?”

If it’s the former, I’d be happy, but if it’s the latter, I’d cry. 

Expectations… Yes, let’s be clear about it— I’m expecting something. My feelings for the girls as Arashi, which I had given up on, were reignited, and something was whispering that I could even act without considering the fact that I was Arashi.

“Damn it, I can’t stop thinking about Shirayuki…”

It’s the same with Hisui, but perhaps because I spend more time with Shirayuki at school, even though our distance is quite far, I can’t help but think about her. 

I asked myself how much I liked Shirayuki, and finished getting ready to go to school.

“… Ah.”

While I couldn’t get Shirayuki out of my head, she appeared again on my usual route to school. 

Her friend and even Yosuke weren’t around… Despite being quite far away from me, Shirayuki looked directly at me as if she knew I was coming. She waved her hand, so I approached her right away.

“Good morning, Shirayuki.”

“Good morning, Arashi-kun.”

She smiled and it felt like the Shirayuki from my dream had overlapped with her.

However, I didn’t want to appear strange by getting embarrassed over something she wasn’t aware of, so I disguised my expressions somehow.

“I didn’t expect you to be waiting here again today.”

“Well, I had a feeling we would meet up if I waited here.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

Why is she so charming… Every gesture and every word she says showcases Shirayuki’s charm, and I can’t help but have high hopes for her.

“Thank you for the other day.”

“You mean the time I accompanied you?”

“Yes. Though it got dark, walking the familiar path was more enjoyable than usual.”

“Well, it’s only natural for a man to send you home.”

“Fufu, that’s so sweet of you.”

“I think it’s just normal…”

I definitely think it’s normal… 

Regardless of the situation, it’s normal to at least walk a girl home or to a nearby place if you’ve been with her until it gets dark. 

The world is said to be dangerous, and if something were to happen to Shirayuki after we parted ways and she was attacked by someone, I don’t think I could forgive myself.

“Hehe♪”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. I just had a fight with my mother after I got home.”

“A fight?”

When she says “fight,” I imagined them physically fighting, but Shirayuki seems to be having fun, so it must be something different.

“It was over something trivial. My mother was a little jealous of me.”

“Jealous?”

“Yes. I told her that it wasn’t an accident or anything and that happened intentionally from the other party.”

“??”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just that there was something that made me happy, but it made my mother jealous.”

Shirayuki didn’t say anything more and started walking. 

As we chatted while walking alongside, there was something I wanted to tell her about what had happened the night before.

“Shirayuki.”

“What is it?”

“The day before yesterday.”

“About touching my b*****s?”

“No, not that!”

Please forget about that for a moment… Shirayuki-san!

As she laughed with her hand over her mouth, I coughed and continued speaking, recalling what happened the day before

“You said something about not feeling excluded the other day, right?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I don’t know why you said that, but I don’t really feel that way about the current situation. Even if there’s some tension with my family… well there are, but there are just so many enjoyable things around me that it doesn’t really matter.”

“Enjoyable things?”

“Yeah. Starting to move towards becoming a different person, and above all, being able to talk with you like this, is really fun.”

“…!”

“How can you feel excluded in such a fun and happy daily life? At least I don’t feel that way.”

Yes, these were my honest feelings.

Dieting is refreshing, living as a different self is refreshing, and most importantly, in the world that I loved, my favorite characters live with their own will… Well, there is jealousy and such, but I think that the enjoyable things outweigh them now.

“That’s why I’m having so much fun right now… huh, Shirayuki-san?”

“…”

Shirayuki quickly turned away.

I noticed that her ears had turned slightly red, so I sensed that she might have been embarrassed by my words just now.

“… Well, yeah, that’s how it is. Then let’s go partway, Shirayuki.”

“… O-okay!”

Sorry, I’m a little embarrassed as well.

“… Love you.”