Volume 1 Chapter 10

Volume 1 + Chapter 10: The Confrontation And Promise With Hina

I don’t remember the exact original lines, but I do recall that it basically said: don’t expect that things won’t get worse.

More often than not, things will get worse.

And now, deep in my heart, I found myself hoping that I wouldn’t have to come into contact with the【Spirits】.

I wished that things wouldn’t take a turn for the worse (meaning having to interact with them).

But according to Murphy’s Law, things would get worse (meaning contact would be unavoidable).

At the thought of this, a wave of unease washed over me.

For some reason, I felt a strong aversion to the【Spirits】. I truly didn’t want to have anything to do with them.

[Is that so? But I really thought Yuu would be quite suited for it.]

I heard Yuna’s soft murmur, but I didn’t know how to respond, so I simply chose to ignore it.

If nothing out of the ordinary happened after this, the day should have continued as another peaceful, ordinary one.

But perhaps because the “plot” had already begun, my peaceful, ordinary days had become nothing but a thing of the past.

[Endou Yuna, please step outside for a moment.]

Even though class hadn’t started yet, the teacher appeared at the classroom door.

Yuna walked out, her face etched with confusion. Through the window, I could see the teacher slightly bending down to speak with her, and Yuna’s eyes growing wider and wider.

[Boss! Is something wrong with Big Sister’s family?]

My underling, still not having graduated from his delinquent roleplay, came up to me.

[Who knows.]

I replied rather coldly. After glancing briefly at the teacher and Yuna standing outside, I couldn’t be bothered to correct my underling’s choice of words.

My gaze quickly returned to the book in my hands.

What followed was the first time in my life that someone ever blew up at me.

[Boss! I misjudged you! I never thought you could be so cold, so heartless, so cruel!]

My underling suddenly erupted, snatching the book from my hands and slamming it onto the desk.

Even though he was the one who had exploded in anger, after slamming the book down, he didn’t make another move.

After yelling at me at the top of his lungs, tears began streaming down his face, dripping onto my hand.

Those tears should have been warm, yet they felt as if I had been burned by hot oil. My fingers flinched back instinctively.

Were all children this emotional and irrational?

I had thought I understood children somewhat well, but my underling’s behavior still shocked me.

I looked up and met his gaze. His bright, amber-yellow eyes were like a tiny sun in that moment, so radiant they almost hurt to look at.

[I thought you were a really kind person, Boss. Was it all just an act?]

It is an act.

[Where did the Boss who used to look at us so gently go?!]

That was just the look you give to a naive child. You’re the one who misinterpreted it all on your own.

[Where did the Boss who spent hours explaining things to that Kamimura guy go?! The one who kept going even when her voice was hoarse?!]

I just happen to like seeing things through to the end. I do what I promise to do, that’s all. It was never for anyone else’s sake.

[The person you are now isn’t the Boss we acknowledged!!!!!!]

I never asked to be your Boss in the first place. This house-playing game ended long ago.

[You’re nothing but a hypocritical, despicable, cold-blooded bastard!!!!!!!!]

Congratulations. You’ve finally seen me for what I truly am.

I knew that the cold expression on my face must have looked quite intimidating, but my underling still glared at me defiantly, as if challenging me.

If it had only been that, it might have been manageable. But as he glared at me, tears kept falling from his eyes.

For me, this was just my usual indifference.

But for my underling, it must have seemed like I had changed recently.

A rotten person like me being praised as someone so good, it was honestly terrifying.

No longer willing to engage in this foolish staring contest, I lowered my gaze and rubbed my finger over the now-dried tear stains.

I let out an involuntary sigh. I rarely used to sigh, but now I found myself doing it all the time.

Maybe these sighs were a precursor, a sign that the peaceful, uneventful life I considered happiness was about to leave me for good.

I stood up and walked over to Yuna, who had been quietly packing her things while tears continued to stream down her face.

[I’ll go with you.]

[…Yeah…]

What happened next unfolded very quickly, perhaps because of the seriousness of the situation.

We were taken to the hospital by Yuna’s family car and staff. There, we saw 【Endou Hina】, who had already been admitted to the serious care unit.

Standing around Endou Hina were many doctors in white coats, and one person in a suit.

Around the man in the suit, countless tiny specks of light were swirling, as if in the midst of some kind of battle.

[Is her sister here?! Hurry!!! Her spiritual world is still rejecting us!]

A doctor came out shouting like that, and spotting the two of us rushing over, he grabbed Yuna and me by the hands without a word and pulled us inside.

[They’re here. Let them try.]

The doctor pushed Yuna and me in front of the man in the suit. Getting closer, I could see that the man’s forehead was slick with sweat, and his face was rather pale.

[If these two don’t work either… I’ve done all I can.]

The man in the suit said this as he reached a hand out toward us.

Still having no idea what was going on, Yuna and I were nearly forced by the doctor to stack our hands on top of his.

And so, our hands were placed onto the hand of the man in the suit.

In the next moment, the scenery around us suddenly transformed into a pitch-black void.

[Crack.]

A crisp sound came from beneath my feet. Then, countless blue-white light specks emerged, illuminating the darkness around me, and also revealing a figure not too far away.

The hands I had been holding were suddenly gone. I was completely alone, with only Endou Hina standing with her back to me in the distance, and the milky-white light specks around her acting like light bulbs.

So this is a spiritual world?

How dreamlike. How fantastical.

I didn’t know who I was mocking, but a sarcastic smile tugged at my lips again as I slowly walked step by step toward Hina, whose back was still facing me.

[Is that you, Yuu?]

Endou Hina, still with her back turned to me, asked this.

I had never heard her speak my name before. And certainly not with such intimate familiarity.

A wave of discomfort washed over me, and I froze in place.

After a brief pause, I finally resumed the steps I had unconsciously halted.

[It’s me, Hina.]

Matching her address, I used the same intimate form of her name.

And because I was worried about Endou Hina’s physical condition, my voice came out softer than intended.

[You know my name now?]

Endou Hina said this, still without turning around. Honestly, without the illumination of those beautiful little light specks, the way she kept her back to me while speaking would have felt straight out of a horror movie.

[I know your name.]

It was true that I hadn’t bothered to remember it for a while, but as she was one of the potential heroines, I had made a point of memorizing “Endou Hina” just a few days earlier.

[Then why have you never called me by it?]

The focus of Endou Hina’s question was a bit strange. I had the sudden, bizarre feeling of being a boyfriend trying to appease his unreasonable girlfriend.

[I never found the right moment.]

[That’s right. After all, the only person Yuu has ever seen is Yuna.]

[……………………]

I don’t see anyone, thank you very much.

I nearly shot back with that retort but managed to bite my tongue just in time.

[Why aren’t you saying anything? Is talking to me really that boring? It’s no good unless I’m Yuna, is it?]

Endou Hina’s rapid-fire triple question left me unsure which point to be more surprised by.

This was not the time for “flirting” with Hina. I cut straight to the point.

[Come back with me, Hina.]

[Alright. If you’ll kiss me.]

[………………]

Her answer came without even a second’s hesitation. I fell silent again.

Was I getting too old to understand how children thought? Or was this little girl in front of me simply too strange?

Making sure I hadn’t misheard, I tried again.

[Do you want to die? If you don’t come out soon, you will die.]

Thinking that no one wasn’t afraid of death, I laid out that threat for Endou Hina.

[Whatever… Even if I go out and stay alive, I’ll just be a shadow.]

Endou Hina said this with a completely indifferent attitude.

[A shadow?]

[That’s right. In your eyes, there’s only Yuna. There’s never any room for me. My…]

[Stop. A kiss, was it? Will this do?]

I was never good at listening to people’s family problems, nor was I good at comforting others.

Wanting to get this over with quickly, I leaned in and quickly pecked Endou Hina on the cheek.

[Why not on the lips?]

[You won’t turn around, so I can’t reach.]

[Why do I have to come to you? Can’t you come in front of me?]

Ughhhhhhhhhhh! So annoying!!!!!!

I strode forward until I was right in front of Endou Hina, grabbed her by the shoulders, and kissed her.

After the kiss, Endou Hina’s figure slowly dissolved into specks of light that scattered in all directions.

[You have to look at me properly when we’re outside too. That’s a promise. Don’t forget.]

[Fine.]

Thinking that she’d be out soon and that would be the end of it, and who could be bothered with all that trouble afterward,

I agreed hastily, wanting nothing more than to put an end to this ridiculous situation.

Whether it was my imagination or not, Hina’s final【satisfied】smile seemed somehow… strange.

[…]

When I opened my eyes, I was back in the previous scenery.

[Hah…]

The man in the suit withdrew his hand, which was trembling slightly. The milky-white lights were gone.

Someone helped him over to a cushion nearby, while the other doctors began their next steps in an orderly fashion.

[Come outside with me.]

A nurse took my hand as she spoke. I looked over at Yuna, whose hand was also being taken, and noticed that her expression was rather troubled.

Sitting on the bench outside, I wondered if I could just go back to school.

It seemed my part here was done. Just as I stood up to leave, I felt a tug at my clothes.

Whether it was Inoue Hatsuka or Endou Yuna, why did they both have to grab my clothes like that?

Didn’t they know it would get wrinkled and need to be ironed?

[…Yuu… do you… like my sister?]

Yuna said this with her head lowered. She barely spoke at all usually, so what did “like” even mean in this context?

Finding Yuna’s train of thought quite touching, though not in a good way, I took a breath to calm my restless heart.

[She’s alright, I suppose.]

[My sister is very pretty, you know. Why don’t you like her?]

Yuna said this as if she thought the only reason I had kissed her earlier was because I found her attractive.

In truth, I had only done it to deliberately provoke her. It wasn’t as if I were some kind of lolicon.

[You’re right. I’ll try to talk to Hina more from now on.]

Thinking that Yuna might have been asked or pressured into something inside that world as well, and not wanting to continue this troublesome conversation, I preemptively voiced the request hidden within Yuna’s words.

[…Yes… that’s good. That’s good.]

Yuna nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at grain. But her head remained lowered, so I could only see the top of her head. I couldn’t see what her expression was as she said these words.

And after saying them, the hand that had been gripping my clothes suddenly seemed to lose all its strength and fell away.

[Translator’s Note: I really need friends that share the same interests as me. Requirements: Love the Yuri Genre as much as me, and between 20-33 years old. Connect and chat with me on the Discord Server.]

[https://ko-fi.com/golden_dragon]