19th Piece — Ordinary Unrequited Love

Pre-Chapter Note: Wow, look at that, we have a chapter from Rinka’s point of view.  Also, Happy New Year! Sorry for being later in the afternoon to this one, Monster Hunter demo dropped and I lost track of time, haha.

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「……what are you doing, Koharu?」

I—Sudou Rinka, said that with a sigh, looking at the strange sight outside the window.
She said she had an incoming call with her mother and rushed out of “hidamari”, and now, she was in front of the store embracing a certain young man and sobbing like a child.
Her voice could be heard, together with the full particulars of their conversation, through the window.

Next to me, Netsu-san laughed with a 「My, my」. [T/N: I really wanted to leave this as “ara ara” but I’m trying not to have as much JP as possible.]

「That’s Koharu-chan’s date, isn’t it?」

「I wish she could just disappear……」

Even for an instant, towards my older cousin’s disgraceful behavior, I felt my face burn up.
Geez, it’s just genuinely pitiable……

「If she took the clothes Mayo-san chose for her, I thought she’d have a little more self-confidence…… the expectations and strategy for the amateur lover Koharu, among other things, has gone to waste.」

「My, that sort of thing is also bittersweet and good, isn’t it? Mr. Date is also gently steering her, it might go unexpectedly smooth, right?」

「How?」

I say it in a tone that naturally hints at something.
However, to that sort of disagreeable way of speaking, Mayo-san furrows an eyebrow.

「As for Rinka-chan, does she not have any interest?」

「I have no interest.」

With a biting feeling, I cut things off with a single stroke.
Mayo-san laughed with another 「My, my」 as if this reply was obvious.

…….Mayo-san is twenty one now, certainly.
Every time, I’m surprised that a college student is this much of an adult.

「……you’re still only a child,  you know, all of you.」

I sighed once, then said.

「Besides, it’s dishonest, whether you’re a middle school student or a high school student, it’s all the same. No matter how much you grow, no one truly loves you, because in the end they’re only thinking about themselves.」 [T/N: When Rinka meets Ren it’s gonna be a party. ]

I looked at the sobbing Koharu while muttering that.
As for the current status of her unrequited love, I stopped thinking, and repeated the words in my head.
In the end, not everyone is in love, it’s just a crush.
Such thoughts seem cold, I thought, and the self-deprecation almost leaked out of me, when at that time—Mayo-san let out a sound.

「Rinka-chan is surprisingly a maiden, you know?」

「Ha!?」

The reply I got back wasn’t what I was thinking, and I unconsciously raised my voice.
Mayo-san’s way of chuckling is weird and unbearable as she stifles a laugh.

「W, what are you laughing at!?」

「Fufu, no, it’s nothing bad, only Rinka-chan is around that age.」

「U, uu, what is that supposed to mean……!」 [T/N: Literally here it’s just “U, uu, what, that…!” so work with me here.]

When I seriously objected, she laughed again, but I managed to endure it.
Are you satisfied……!

At Mayo-san’s 「Ufufu」 from above, I once again looked outside the window…… and saw something.

Finally having calmed down, the sobbing Koharu and “Oshio-kun” were passed by someone on a one-person bike.
A kind of boy who would have wax in their uniform to raise their hair up.
I was familiar with it.

「Huh? A guy in the basketball club……」

Yes, it was the boys in the same basketball club.
I was certain they were returning home from school after playing somewhere.
From the top of the bike, they curiously looked at the sobbing Koharu while passing on the road in front of the store.

……well, if a high school girl who’s been dolled up is crying in the middle of the street, then people will come to see what is going on.
That’s what I was thinking, then it happened.

One of the boys in the basketball club, because he took his eyes off the road, hit one of the flowerpots lined up in front of “hidamari”.

「Ah!?」

I raised my voice, but there was nothing I could do.
The lovely decorative plant and the bowl it was in vigorously fell over, and then rolled into the roadway.

「……Ah, that’s not good……!」

「……what are you doing, Ryohei……!」

「……hahahaha……!」

Through the window, the laughter of the basketball club member reached.
They did not even pick up the flower pot, and of all things escaped on their bikes, accelerating away.

「Those guys……!」

I rush out of “hidamari”.

「Wa, wait, Rinka-chan!? Are you alright……!」

From behind, I can hear Mayo-san’s warning voice, but I couldn’t stop.
I know!
Mayo-san never tells anyone, but that was something important as she carefully raised it herself!

Just before I leap out towards the road, the surprised faces of the Koharu and “Oshio-kun” are in the fleeting corners of my vision, but I don’t have time to spare.
I quickly picked up the fallen potted plant, then—

「Rinka-chan!」

I hear a shriek that is certainly Koharu’s, then I finally notice it.

「Eh……」

The piercing sound of a car horn. [T/N: Rinka’s about to get isekai’d.]
The headlights filled my field of vision.

「No way……」

My body seemed to stiffen up, and my whole body went cold.

At this time, your life was supposed to play before your eyes, or so I hear, but it seems this was too abrupt and the screening preparations couldn’t be done. [T/N: Literally “a revolving lantern would flow”, but in my research this was a reference to the phenomenon of your life flashing before your eyes. I changed the text to fit the “movie screening” metaphor Rinka makes.]
In the middle of the slowly flowing time, in my head, the simple thought came to mind, 「Even for me, what a cliched death」.

Then in the moment the intense light tries to take me—

「—tch!」 [T/N: Man do I hate it when all they use is the 「tsu」 character because it means nothing.]

My body, which was heavy like a stone, sprang up.
It wasn’t it, it sprang up.

From the side, “Oshio-kun” had leapt, came, and tightly grasped me.

「Tsu!?」 

The intense light and the sound of the car horn fade away.
The angry male driver can be heard in the distance, burning with emotion, but I’m not involved anymore.
First of all, I need to understand the state of affairs.

Now I’m on the other side of the road, and the figure of the boy covering is lying face down.
With that much force, enough to knock a person down, he doesn’t have any injuries. His arm is around the back of my head, used as a cushion.
Naturally, in substitute for me, his arm shaved up against the asphalt—

「Are you okay?」

At that voice, I gasped in surprise.
He, “Oshio-kun”, looked over me, and asked that.

I, who hadn’t collected my thoughts, said,

「I, I’m okay…」

With that reply, he sweetly and gently smiled.

「Thank goodness—can you stand?」

Saying that as if it were completely ordinary, he extended a helping hand.

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Our boy at it again. Honestly I thought while translating this it was going to be Ren that dashed in, you know, for the B couple to start.

Anyways, not a lot to say here other than Happy New Year! I look forward to continuing to provide translations for this web novel going forward into 2021. Sorry for the delay today, but Monster Hunter is so gooooood.

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