Chapter 6: Volume 1 - CH 2.3

Volume 1

Chapter 2 Part 3

However, something unexpectedly came flying out of nowhere and put me in a pinch.

“Let’s eat lunch together.”

Lunch break.

Those words of Konoe triggered a reaction. Suddenly, all of the students in the classroom were hit by a bullet called ‘surprise’. That was to be expected, as ‘that’ Subaru-sama, who never let anyone besides Suzutsuki come close to him, was inviting me to have lunch with him. That was as unexpected as saying that dead animals had been found floating in the Tamagawa River.

“Hey, hey…Konoe invited a commoner to eat lunch with him.”

“It seems like the two also came to school together this morning.”

I could hear my classmates whispering awful things to each other about us.

This is bad. This situation couldn’t become any worse.

“I can’t believe…that the rumors about Jirou were true…”

“Eeh, what rumors? Tell me! Tell me!”

There’s no truth in those rumors. Besides, I never, even for one second, had those kind of tastes.

“Damn…putting his hands on Subaru-sama…I won’t let it happen…”

“I will kill him. Kill him, kill him, kill him. That damn four eyes, I will tie his hands and feet together and dip him into concrete…”

Sorry, my eyes hurt. Don’t direct those dangerous killing intents over here. I won’t be able to go to the bathroom alone in the middle of the night.

“Ji—, Jirou…you…”

Kurose, who was at my side, looked at me with the same eyes as a mother would look at her child with when he was in his rebellious phase.

“It’s not like that! This is a misunderstanding.”

“What is a misunderstanding? Anyways, we’ll be going.”

Konoe kept pushing me along while I tried to make excuses. This time, the mood in the classroom became suspicious. In the class, only Konoe was smiling joyfully.

“Hey! Where are you trying to take me!?”

I could feel their gazes piercing my body.

“For the time being, we will go to a place that is not popular. I can’t relax if the place is noisy like this.”

We looked like a dating couple.

“Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I want to eat lunch with you. This is also a part of your monitoring because I can’t tell what you are doing if you are away from me.”

Konoe said that without looking at me. It felt as if I was being treated like a dog in its mating season. If that really was the case, then she would have also put a choker on me.

“Okay, if that’s the case, then how about going to the rooftop? I don’t think there are many people around there.”

I decided to agree with the idea, since we were going to finish lunch quickly anyway. Also, if I was against every little thing, I would certainly be beaten again.

I went to the store to buy my lunch, since I didn’t have such a jealousy-causing item like a bento. Konoe came together with me. Since every meal that she prepared was somehow lethal, she usually ate school meals. That was unexpected. Looked like Subaru-sama also had something that she was bad at.

“Uhh—…”

Konoe was staring seriously at a bread roll. It seems like this was her first time coming to the store.

I was also checking the bread. Today’s recommended dish was…kimchi sandwiches? Don’t joke with me. Stop with this Korean influence already.

“Let’s go with a yakisoba bread or a cornet with chocolate cream(1), since the others have vegetables.”

That being said, I normally bought croquette bread or curry bread. To tell the truth, I didn’t have enough money, so I couldn’t afford to be luxurious. The CD of one of my favorite bands was going to be released later this month, so I couldn’t afford any wasteful expenditures. Save money, save money.

“I want the yakisoba bread and the cornet with chocolate cream… And a croquette bread and a curry bread, and also fried pork and negi(2) on skewers, and a mince cutlet. Also, I should get strawberry milk…”

Konoe was buying a mountain of breads and vegetables like there was no tomorrow. The granny of the store was also very surprised. She had the expression of a mother who was once again meeting her son after ten years of separation due to loan debts.

After finishing the purchase, we climbed the stairs to the rooftop.

The truth was that access to the rooftop was forbidden, but regarding an unpopular place, I couldn’t think of any other place than that. There was also the corner of the courtyard, but from the second floor and above, you could clearly see the spot. If I hadn’t considered that, I would probably have been bombed by Konoe’s fans.

Luckily, the door that led to the rooftop wasn’t locked. The moment I opened the door, I could feel the warm sunlight, and a pleasantly light breeze hit my cheeks. It looked as if the morning rain had never happened.

Hmm, this is not bad. It had a refreshing view and was also unpopular. It was as if my heart was doing a little Cossack dance.

I sat on the base of the fence in the corner. Well, let’s eat, let’s eat. I was opening the croquette bread while thinking that food was indeed the basis of humankind.

“………”

Konoe was standing there confused with her eyes swimming. Additionally, her expression looked like she wouldn’t calm down. Don’t tell me that she was cautious because of a sniper or something like that.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and sit down.”

“……..”

“Hey, don’t ignore me. You were the one who called me to eat.”

“Uh…I understand. Then I’m going to sit?”

Konoe sat timidly at my side and started to eat her bread silently. Unsociable as always, she looked like a stray cat and, as usual, was incredibly cautious.

“By the way, is it okay for you to leave Suzutsuki like that? Aren’t you her butler?”

Since the both of us were just eating silently, I straight up asked that question.

But there was no response.

That was the signal that I had to throw another straight ball.

“Hey, at least catch the ball. Because we are eating lunch together.”

“Shut up, pervert.”

She silenced the conversation in one blow.

End of conversation.

Let’s go back to the mound.

Speaking in baseball terms, she hit me straight in one line.

“…I’ve already apologized for that incident this morning… And besides, I wasn’t wearing my glasses, so I couldn’t see it very well.”

“Don’t make excuses. And I usually eat lunch alone, so I don’t have the habit of talking during the lunch break.”

“You know…there are two of us here now… or don’t tell me that you are also like this when you are with Suzutsuki?”

“………”

No answer.

Hey, hey, don’t tell me that I nailed it?

Now that I think about it, I have never seen Konoe and Suzutsuki having a long conversation. I have often seen them together, but it was more like a master-servant relationship. I have never seen them having any pointless conversations.

“I am the butler of my Ojou-sama. As long as I can do this job, nothing else matters.”

“Job?”

“Ah, protecting Ojou-sama. That is my most important mission.”

“Mission, huh…”

That being said, calling her a bodyguard would fit her better than calling her a butler. Well, if her only goal was only to protect Suzutsuki, then there was no need for conversation. But they were in the same year, so they should try to get along a little more.

“Okay, but this time, let’s talk. It’s more fun to talk while you eat.”

At least, those were my feelings.

If I started eating without talking, I would completely lose my appetite.

“Do you always eat with someone like this?”

“Aah, it seems like I’m always eating with Kurose because since middle school, he has always been together with me.”

“Middle school? Since I didn’t go to one, I don’t really understand much about it.”

I dropped the croquette bread that was in my hands.

“…What? You didn’t go to a middle school?”

“Ojou-sama and I started with high school. We didn’t go to a primary school or a middle school. We had our names registered, but we didn’t go to school even once. That’s because things had been determined to be that way.”

Saying that it was already determined, Suzutsuki’s family must have made the decision without even hearing her out.

I don’t really understand how rich people think. Sure, I understand that they care about their children, but isn’t being overprotective a bad thing?

“That’s why the first time we came to this school, I couldn’t tell left from right. Well, Ojou-sama is intelligent and has good manners, thus she could adapt in no time. But for me, it was impossible.”

Konoe said that while biting into the cornet with chocolate cream.

Impossible, huh…? I won’t say that it wasn’t. Suddenly coming to high school, anyone would be confused. The reason why I’m now having fun with friends in this school is probably that I got used to it from walking in groups.

But Konoe doesn’t have that.

She felt like a driver who, only recently having acquired a driving license, was driving on the highway. To suddenly become afraid and press on the brakes would not be strange. Thinking that way, I felt really bad for her.

“That’s why I have never eaten lunch with a friend like you have.”

Konoe said that with an unusually weak voice.

“…Call me.”

“Eh…?”

“Oh no, nothing…”

Shit. Looks like I moved my mouth without realizing it.

“What I wanted to say was that you should call me properly by my name. I’m also calling you [Konoe], after all. My name is Sakamachi Kinjirou. Since it’s long, you can call me Jirou. Everyone in the class and even Suzutsuki calls me that, haven’t you seen?”

If you stopped to think, Konoe hasn’t called me by my name even once. That was a little disgusting, since it gave the feeling that we were not equal.

“But… is it okay?”

“What?”

“Being called in a friendly way…you don’t dislike it?”

“What a troublesome guy. Since a long time ago, I have had this nickname. Besides, I think that it’s creepy to be called by any other name than that. That’s why you can call me by that name!”

“But we have only eaten lunch together… Is it really okay?”

“Eating lunch together, talking about pointless things. That’s what friends are for.”

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The definition of ‘friends’… such a thing doesn’t exist. But being friends with such an unsociable guy was a little annoying.

She was silent.

She was silently looking like she was thinking about something.

“Th—, then I will call you…Ji, Jirou…”

She said that and blushed. What was so embarrassing in calling my name?

At that moment, I became speechless.

…This girl. She was so cute. As expected of Subaru-sama, the title of the most beautiful guy in the school was not just for show.

I was nearly hypnotized by her.

“O, oh. Well done…”

Trying to hide my embarrassment, I spoke in a blunt tone.

When I took a look at Konoe who was at my side, I saw that she was repeating [Jirou, Jirou…] countless times. What’s that? If you try, you can succeed.

—And.

Unexpectedly, Konoe’s head inclined and hit my shoulder.

“Huh? Don’t tell me that you are feeling sleepy?”

Konoe was yawning while rubbing her eyes.

“No… It’s not that. It’s not like I’m feeling sleepy.”

While saying that, he clearly had a sleepy expression on his face.

“You can go ahead and sleep. I will wake you up when it’s time for class.”

“I don’t need you to worry about me. Look, I can soon get rid of this sleepy fe—”

Right after saying that, Konoe closed her eyes and fell asleep. Looks like it was her consciousness that gave way first. Aah, the weather is so good that I don’t feel like doing anything.

With his powerless body turned up, I could see a beautiful view of him. Uhn, he is indeed cute. Even being a guy, he has such a cute sleeping face…

“… Eh? Wait wait wait wait!”

I forgot. Since she was wearing a boy’s uniform, I completely forgot, but she was a girl.

Um, um, it seems that in my head, I still thought of Konoe as a guy. That’s why I sometimes can’t help but to make contact with her like a guy. For that reason, I didn’t have a nosebleed.

While I was thinking that, suddenly *Gatcha* the door to the rooftop was opened.

The person who entered was looking straight at me and Konoe.

“Heh, that’s a rare occasion.”

An elegant female student was coming this way with her long, black hair flowing in the wind. That was Suzutsuki. Did she come to see how Konoe and I were doing? But how did she know that we were here? Did she put trackers on us when we were not paying attention?

“Fufu, she is sleeping. This is rare, for Subaru to sleep at the side of another person.”

“Is this so rare?”

“Right now, she is giving the impression of a wild cat riding a Harley that’s driving against the traffic on the highway.”

What kind of feeling was that? Even though it sounded like a suggestion when she said that was rare, I couldn’t read the same through Suzutsuki’s expression.

Cool and beautiful as always. We are supposed to be the same age, but Suzutsuki gave off a more adult feeling. I can’t feel relaxed with her presence.

“The line of tension was probably cut off.”

“Line? Well, now that you say that, Konoe was a little strange today. But why?”

I knew that I was probably being targeted. If that’s the case, I had to run to a blind spot fast.

“Why… That’s certainly because she was going to meet you.”

“Ha?”

What is that? Why would Konoe be tense about meeting someone like me? I am not Golgo 13 (3).

“For Subaru, thinking about talking to you was freezing her nerves. She was so tense last night that she almost couldn’t sleep.”

“…… But, aren’t these things pretty normal?”

“Normal? If we are talking about you, maybe. For Subaru, from the very start to the very end, everything is a new experience: going to school, talking with another person that’s not me, eating lunch together. Until now, she has never done any of these. That’s because even if she wanted to have friends, she couldn’t have them.”

“Certainly, Konoe has no friends, but…”

But even if she wanted to, she couldn’t do that. Even if you say that she started high school a year late, she should get used to…

“Not having and not being able to have are two different things. Think about it. Subaru has a secret that no one in this school can discover, and that is the fact that she is a girl.”

“………Ah.”

I finally understood the meaning of Suzutsuki’s words.

Konoe has no other option but to hide her secret from other people.

What do you have to do to hide it?

It’s simple.

‘’’You just have to not relate with other people.’’’

“There is a lot of trouble involving Subaru being my butler, you know. That’s because she can’t let anyone discover her secret. Hence, she doesn’t let anyone besides me be close to her. She fears having her secret exposed.”

This was so easily said, but for Konoe, this fact was very painful.

Even if she wanted friends, for the sake of hiding her secret, she can’t make them. Her loneliness in the class… She wasn’t alone only because she wanted to be.

“To Subaru, I am her master. I think that to her, I am not someone that she can call a friend, even though in the past we had a good relationship. She even used to call me [Kana-chan]. However, even Subaru has finally found someone in the school with who she can be friends.”

Suzutsuki smiled calmly.

“Jirou-kun. Since you already know Subaru’s secret, you are the one who can be friends with her. I am pretty sure that she was nervous because this was her first time talking to a classmate. She didn’t want to miss that chance, so I think she worked hard in her own way.”

“………”

Then, you are saying that she wanted to be friends with me? …Isn’t she a fool? If it’s like that, she could have just told me.

“This is a happy result for me, and for the side who got a chance.”

“But now that I think about it, you were the one who ordered Konoe to approach me.”

“Indeed, I am also thankful to you.”

“Please stop! I will get embarrassed.”

“Fufu, what an embarrassed guy. I will give you this for being like that.”

“…? What is it?”

She handed me a little piece of paper. This is a… ticket? But what for?

“If I had to give it a name, I would call it a ‘Butler Ticket’. It’s the same as a shoulder massage ticket. If you use that, you will be able to, only once, give orders to Subaru.”

“Orders, you say…”

“She can take off her top and say [Please lick me] while spilling honey onto her breasts. You are even able to do this kind of perverted thing.”

“Sadly, I don’t have this pleasant inclination.”

“Silence. Subaru will wake up.”

“Uuh…”

“If you don’t want to use it, you don’t need to, but this is my thanks to you.”

Suzutsuki bowed elegantly, standing in that place. Muu, as expected from an ojou-sama, her behavior somehow became kind. Leaving that alone…

“Hey, there is something that I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“What is that thing that is drawn on the butler ticket?”

I stared at the ticket I had received. Drawn on it was— a strange four legged being.

“That is the illustration of a sheep that I drew. I tried to draw a sheep butler. I thought that sometimes, it would be okay to make some useless jokes.”(4)

“A sheep, you say…”

This? This strange onigiri-shaped avant-garde drawing? This has to be a joke. What an original artistic sense. Even Picasso’s Guernica(5) is more understandable than that.

“That was a good drawing, right? The truth is that since my childhood, I have wanted to be a painter. But since I had to inherit the family, I couldn’t do that.”

“Heeh. That’s a shame…”

Truly a shame. If this crazy talent was presented to the world, maybe she would get to learn how severe society really is.

“Ah, and by the way, be on guard from now on. The classroom is full of rumors about you and Subaru.”

“Geh…”

“Then, let’s meet again after school. I will be waiting.”

Suzutsuki left the rooftop with a smile on her face.

She is taking this too lightly. Because of that, now I can’t help but to fear returning to the classroom.

From my side, “Haha, Kana-chan… I can’t eat anymore.” Such sleep-talk could be heard. She had a happy sleeping face. Maybe she is having a dream from her childhood days.

Aah, I also wanted to go to the dream world.

I deeply sighed, thinking about how I would avoid the problems that would be coming next.

♀♂

TRANSLATOR NOTES

(1) In British-English, “cornet” means ice cream cone. However, the meaning here refers to a Japanese-styled cornet. These are pastry cones filled with chocolate cream or vanilla custard.

(2) Negi is the Japanese name for Welsh onion.

(3) Golgo 13 is a manga about a professional assassin, you can get more information here

(4) The joke here is that she tried to draw a sheep 『羊』 (hitsuji) butler 『執事』 (shitsuji). The pronunciation of the words is close to each other.

(5) Guernica I guess everyone who has studied in high school should know what is, but anyway, Wikipedia can explain better.

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