Chapter 19: CH 19

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

Translated by HamletJr

Edited by Spynine01

“Nice, it looks like all the groups are finished with their matches~! We’ll be starting the next set of matches soon~!”

Gouda-sensei shouted to us with a strange vibrato in his voice.

With proper voice training, he could probably become a professional.

Maybe an opera singer or an enka singer―

“Suda-kun, the way you’re looking at Gouda-sensei has completely turned into that of an artist, you know?”

“Ah, I was just thinking that his vocals are pretty impressive.”

“Nice, we can add him to our band. You think he could be a sub-vocalist or something?”

“Obviously he can’t be a sub-vocalist. He’ll drown out my voice with how loud he is…”

“Then, Shion can retire and become my manager. Don’t worry, I’ll become an even more famous drummer than I am now, and you, Suda-kun, won’t be inconvenienced in any way at all.”

“But being unable to sing any more songs is an inconvenience in and of itself.”

We headed to the next court while having a conversation that only the two of us would understand.

Our opponents, the Minagawa and Enami pair, were already waiting for us.

“Ahaha, it’s the Kitarou pair lmao.”

“I-I’m looking forward to our match…”

I was actually quite puzzled since her voice sounded familiar.

Are these two the ones who made fun of Shiina at the toilet earlier?

“It’s quite a shame for you, Shiina-san, having to be paired up with a youkai like Kitarou! Lol!”

“No, no, don’t they perfectly suit each other though? Hahaha!”

The girls were trying to agitate us right from the get-go.

It’s certainly said that mental attacks are fundamental, and it looks like they’re putting it into practice.

However, my nerves of steel were absolutely, comple~tely, and totally unaffected.

I’m just not sure if I’ll be able to sleep well tonight.

But on the other hand, it seemed to have had an immediate effect on Shiina.

Her face turned bright red and her body was trembling as she slowly muttered something out of anger.

I could somewhat sympathize―No, I knew full well how it felt to have others say ridiculous things like, “you two suit each other,” and so on.

“Y-you two suit each other, they say… Soon you’ll be a married couple, they say… You should just get married, they say… How many kids will you two have, they say…”

Hey, they didn’t say that much, you know?

Why the heck is she being so paranoid?

I wonder if Shiina’s going to treat me like a sexual harasser just because I’m near her.

“Well, without further ado, let’s begin the match.”

And with that, the Minagawa and Enami pair quickly started our match.

Just like the previous match, I managed to hit all the shuttlecocks back at the opponent.

And Shiina, who was right next to me, just stared intently at me.

Sure, she wasn’t standing around doing nothing anymore, but for some reason, she was standing really close to me.

And as time passed, my body eventually reached its limits.

I gasped and panted for breath as I spoke to Shiina.

“Hah… hah… Shiina… san. It’s dangerous… for you… to stand… so close… to me…”

“Shion’s sweat, his ragged breathing, his pained expression… I just can’t help myself.”

“…Are you a sadist?”

Apparently she’d been sticking so close to me for such sadistic reasons.

Perhaps she’d taken an interest in drumming for the exact same reason…?

Is it because she can use sticks and hit objects, as well as use her feet to step on the pedal…?

“Tch, that midget really ain’t backing away from Kitarou…”

I heard a low mutter coming from the other side of the court.

Is there something wrong with Shiina staying so close to me?

“Alright, I get it. Staying too close to you would be real bad, especially if you moved your hand out towards me. I’ll put some distance between us, although it pains me to do so…”

“Somehow, I feel like the way you said that is a bit suggestive, but sure. Make sure to avoid getting hit by my racket.”

And so, after Shiina backed away from me, we continued the match.

When she said, “Move your hand out towards me,” she meant the racket, right…?

She isn’t trying to put me into more trouble, is she…?

I agonized over what her intentions were while Shiina continued to stare at me.

“Shiina-san is staring at Kitarou so much hahaha LOL!”

I could hear voices of similar nature coming from the spectators outside the court.

No way… so they were watching our game the entire time?

―Since I was completely exhausted, I weakly hit the shuttlecock back at them, and then…

I saw Minagawa, laughing and sneering at us with a malicious look on her face.

She swung her racket, preparing to hit a smash.

I suddenly remembered what she had muttered earlier.

(―It can’t be?!)

I whipped my whole body around and jumped in front of Shiina as fast as I could.

If I was only overthinking this, then that’d be great. The only thing that’d happen would be me making a fool of myself in front of everyone.

But if maybe… by any chance, they were actually aiming for Shiina…

Then surely my body should be able to protect Shiina’s small frame.

*Fwoosh*

Cutting the wind through its path, the blazing fast shuttlecock flew in our direction.

At this rate, Shiina wouldn’t even be able to dodge the shuttlecock, let alone hit it back.

As I stood in front of Shiina to protect her, the shuttlecock flew and hit my face.

*Thud* *Clack*

I heard the sound of something falling off of me, as well as the sound of the shuttlecock landing a distance away.

“Shi―Suda-kun…! Your glasses!”

Shiina’s words brought me to a realization.

Looks like my glasses got knocked off by the shuttlecock.

“Are you hurt?! Also, your f-face… your face is no longer hidden, Suda-kun…”

Shiina’s voice was strangely panicked.

I’m perfectly fine. Something like this isn’t bad enough to give me an injury.

But this is a pretty bad situation.

I have to put my glasses back on quickly, before they catch a glimpse of my face… It seems like I’ve gathered a lot of attention, so I need to hide my face as fast as possible―

*squish*

When I tried to look up, I suddenly found my vision completely blocked.

I also felt a really soft sensation pushing against me.

There was a hint of dampness to it, and a pleasant smell characteristic to girls entered my nose…

“It’s okay now, Suda-kun. I’ll hide your face for you.”

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“You… Could it be you’re…”

I looked up through a small gap and saw that my face was resting on Shiina’s chest.

I don’t need to look around to infer that we’re probably standing out like a sore thumb right now.

“H-Hey! Everyone’s looking at us, you realize?! You have to trick them somehow!”

I quietly whispered to Shiina, trying to get her to defuse the situation.

“U-umm… P-pain, pain, go away~!”

Shiina looked around at the crowd and spoke loudly as she patted my head.

I could sense the whole gym falling silent.

What the hell is this… is this hell?

Amongst the frozen atmosphere in the gym, I heard a lone boy’s voice seemingly cutting through the silence.

“…Sh-Shiina-san! Here are Kitarou’s glasses.”

“T-Thank you.”

“A-Also, Shiina-san, I think I may have hurt my head earlier too, so…”

“Oh… Well, be careful next time.”

“Ah… okay. That’s right… ahaha.”

Shiina took my glasses from the boy and began to move my face away from her chest so I could put them on.

“Shiina-san, I’d like to apologize in advance.”

“…?”

Shiina’s gym uniform was stained in blood from my nosebleed earlier.

But in my defense, I’m sure any healthy high school would’ve had a similar reaction in that situation.

I don’t think she’ll ever talk to me again for the rest of my life…

I’m sorry… for being born… a lecher… I’m sorry…

“There’s so much blood! Sensei! I’ll be taking Suda-kun to the infirmary!”

“What’s wrong? Oh, a nosebleed. Be careful of anemia, okay~?”

“I’m sorry, okay~? It’s not like I wanted to hit you with that shuttlecock on purpose, okay~?”

We managed to obtain permission for Gouda-sensei, who seemed to be a little exhausted from shouting so much.

So Gouda-sensei needs to work on his singing stamina, huh…

Also, I’m pretty sure I heard the voice of an ill-natured girl too.

“Damnit, that Kitarou bastard! I’m so jealous!”

“Seriously man, Shiina-san is… just too cute…”

“I’d love for a girl to chant the words ‘Pain, pain, go away~’ to me just once in my life!”

“I want to stuff my face in Shiina-mama’s chest…!”

I headed to the infirmary along with Shiina, ignoring all the boys who were talking nonsense.

～～～

There appeared to be no one inside the infirmary once we opened the door.

“Is there no teacher in the infirmary?! Shion is going to die soon! Call an ambulance!”

“I’m just fine, Shiina! It’s just a nosebleed!”

“R-really?! You won’t die?!”

“There are many times when I feel like I want to die, but I’m not dying right now, so calm down!”

I tried to calm Shiina down, who was currently in a state of utter panic.

It looks like she hasn’t found out about my ulterior motives.

I feel really bad for causing her to worry so much about me, but…

“I’m pretty sure gym class is about to end. I can treat my wounds by myself, so you should head back to class. I’ll make it up to you for the stains on your gym uniform; I’m really sorry about that…”

“No! I’m also staying here!”

“Fine, but you have to change out of your bloodstained gym uniform, okay…? It’s pretty creepy and terrifying. There’s probably a spare somewhere around here…”

“Got it. Come on, Shion; you should lie down on the bed and rest. I’ll wait here with you until a teacher comes, okay?”

“I’m telling you, Shiina; you should head back to class.”

“No! You protected me from the shuttlecock back there, Shion! That’s why I won’t leave your side until you make a complete recovery!”

“Y-You’re kinda acting out of character, you know?”

Shiina, who stubbornly refused to head back to class, forced me to lie down on the bed as she sat herself down on a chair right beside me.

Looking at her up close like this, I’m once again reminded that this girl really has this doll-like beauty to her.

Some time later, I heard the sound of someone running noisily down the hallway, heading towards the infirmary.

I wondered if there was a student who required urgent medical care, when suddenly the door swung open violently.

“Ritsuki! I heard that you got injured and were brought to the infirmary! Are you okay?!”

Rinka was the one who came through the door, and she seemed to be gasping heavily for air.

Well, of course there’d be rumors with all the various things that happened at the court.

Rinka had tears in her eyes as she ran to my side.

“I’m fine, Rinka. In fact, aren’t you overreacting here?”

“Thank god… I heard that you lost a lot of blood, so I got really worried.”

“I-I just had a bit too much blood in me, you know? That’s why I voluntarily chose to get rid of some.”

“Why the hell does that sound like self-harm?!”

I used a lame excuse to cover up the fact that I actually got a nosebleed for inappropriate reasons.

Relieved, Rinka tightly embraced me.

Damnit, it’s going to happen again! I’m seriously gonna get another nosebleed at this rate!

Shiina stared at me and Rinka with hollow, lifeless eyes.

She was mainly scrutinizing Rinka’s chest though…

“Th-They’re so big… And she’s even calling him by his first name, ‘Ritsuki’… What’s more, she’s a popular girl at school, unlike the gloomy and lonely me…”

I noticed Shiina quietly muttering something, but soon after, she started crying as tears fell from her eyes.

“I-I’m so sorry… for pushing your face against the small chest of a gloomy and introverted girl like me! You must’ve found it annoying, didn’t you…? Surely you must’ve preferred these magnificent, huge brea―”

“Waah! W-Wait a second! I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but you’re definitely misunderstanding something here!”

I hurriedly tried to apologize to Shiina.

I’m not really sure why she’s crying.

But for some reason, I felt like I absolutely had to apologize to her.

“…Ritsuki? What is the meaning of this, making a cute girl like her cry? Also, didn’t I hear her say something about breasts? You said that you actually didn’t sustain any injuries severe enough to cause massive bleeding, yet you still chose to bring her with you to the infirmary? And then, on this bed―”

Rinka’s unnaturally soft voice coming from behind me made my body tremble.

She seems to think that I did something to make Shiina cry.

Perhaps sensing that Rinka was about to get angry at me, Shiina tried to cover for me.

I’m sure she’ll clarify everything.

About how there was a massive bleeding, and why Shiina is staying here.

“Th-That’s not it! It was my first time (nursing for someone else)… That’s why there was a lot of blood (after I hurriedly pushed his face against my chest)… Also, I absolutely hated it (returning to class and leaving Shion by himself)…”

“……”

Shiina’s habit of oversimplifying things reared its ugly head at the worst possible moment.

Isn’t this going to cause one hell of a misunderstanding…?

Terrified, I couldn’t muster the courage to turn around and face Rinka…

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