In prioritizing “normalcy” so much, I had completely forgotten about the mission that actually mattered…!
What the hell was I doing!?
If he got rejected here and managed to cleanly move on without any lingering attachment, then there was a very real chance he’d lose any reason to return to Japan at all!
W-Wait, hold on, Taketsuru!
At least make her postpone the answer for a week or something!
Leave yourself some unresolved feelings—some lingering regret like “I still haven’t heard her answer yet.”
Don’t go moving permanently to another world and abandoning your best friend, Taketsuruuuu!!
“Sumire-neesan… the truth is…”
Right before my eyes, Taketsuru was about to confess.
Because I had pushed him forward like a normal friend would.
Because I had chosen to act normal!
“Stop— no, but…”
“Guess all we can do now is watch how this plays out,” Meiko muttered beside me. “If he gets rejected, we’ll just check the situation again with Appraisal and figure something out afterward.”
“So we’re relying on hallucinations again…”
A faint sense of despair settled over me as Meiko and I silently watched Taketsuru’s brave, determined figure.
Then—
“I’ve always loved you, Sumire-neesan!
Please go out with me!”
Taketsuru said it.
The feelings he had carried in his heart for ten whole years finally burst free, and he stepped forward honestly, without hesitation.
Niwashita-san’s expression froze in utter shock.
Yeah… this was bad.
That was absolutely the face of someone who had never once imagined she’d be confessed to. This had failure written all over it.
Just as I was about to quietly bury my face in my hands—
She answered.
“Eh… y-you’re really okay with me?”
“…Eh?”
Taketsuru and Niwashita-san stared at each other in confusion.
At almost the exact same moment both Meiko and I went “Eh?” internally, another hallucination abruptly popped into view before my eyes.
──────
“Niwashita Sumire”
※ Has actually been in love with Taketsuru Yuu for the past ten years
※ Suppressed those feelings because of the age gap between them
※ This relationship is the origin of her fondness for older-woman/younger-boy romances
──────
…Seriously?
Two days had passed since Taketsuru’s confession.
And as for what happened afterward—
“Man, and then, y’know!? Sumire-neesan and I are going to see a movie tomorrow!”
“Good for you.”
Taketsuru had become unbearably obnoxious.
Can you understand this kind of annoyance?
The sheer unbearable energy of a guy on day two of finally getting together with the person he’d secretly loved for ten years—discovering they were mutually in love all along—and now walking around like the protagonist of the entire universe.
Even I couldn’t completely hide my exhausted expression anymore.
“Seriously though, when Kirishiro suddenly barged in earlier, I was honestly thinking, ‘Should I kill this bastard for real!?’ But now that it’s all over, it’s thanks to you everything worked out. I seriously owe you, man!”
“I merely did what any normal best friend would.”
“Hell yeah! From now on, I’ll overlook at least some of your insane behavior, best buddy!”
Still, it seemed Taketsuru had finally acknowledged me as his best friend too, so… well, maybe this outcome wasn’t so bad after all.
Today, as we sat in the cafeteria eating curry that had the consistency of mucus soup, I quietly stared at him.
──────
“Taketsuru Yuu”
Time remaining until summoning to another world: 10 minutes 04 seconds
※ Will desperately survive for the sake of his newly acquired girlfriend
※ Will mercilessly reject every woman who approaches him
──────
That’s right.
This idiot currently floating on cloud nine over tomorrow’s movie date—
Was going to be summoned to another world in about ten minutes.
Before tomorrow ever came.
“Ahhh, man, I seriously can’t wait for tomorrow. We’ve never actually gone on a date together before. I mean, we’ve gone out plenty of times, but it was more like shopping trips than actual dates, y’know?”
“Mm.”
“You think I should prepare for the night too? But maybe that’s too much for a first date…? What do you think?”
“I think you should be more worried about today than tomorrow.”
“Ehhh!? Wait, what, you mean Sumire-neesan’s coming over to stay at my place tonight or something!? No, but could that actually happen? Like, we eat together, watch a movie, and then she stays over? Isn’t that getting way too excited!?”
Well, I certainly agreed that Taketsuru was getting way too excited.
After tuning out his endless lovestruck rambling while finishing my curry, I forcibly dragged him out of the cafeteria.
If the time limit ran out inside the cafeteria… that might cause some problems.
“Hello, Gouto-kun. Taketsuru-kun.”
“Oh, hey. Afternoon, Nekoyanagi-san.”
“Meiko.”
The moment we stepped outside, we ran into Meiko as though she’d been waiting for us.
She was carrying an oddly oversized backpack stuffed full of something, though I had no idea what.
When I glanced toward it, she merely smiled back at me knowingly, like we were sharing some kind of secret.
…Nope. Still no clue what she’s thinking.
Hallucinations, come on already.
──────
Inner Thoughts: “It’s about time, so I came to check things out.”
──────
So she was kind of a gawker too, huh.
She literally came to witness the moment someone got summoned to another world.
“There’s something I want to give you two. Could you come with me for a minute?”
“Hm?”
“Alright.”
Following Meiko’s lead, we were guided to a bizarrely deserted spot on campus.
It was a strange little space boxed in by several buildings, perpetually shaded from sunlight and eerily empty.
The kind of place that seemed perfect for secret meetings.
For some reason, Meiko knew a lot of places like this.
Even then, she carefully checked to make sure nobody else was around before pulling out a handmade booklet and handing it to Taketsuru.
“This is basically a strategy guide containing everything I know. Use it wisely. For the sake of ‘tomorrow.’”
“O-Ohhh! Thanks, Nekoyanagi-san! Yeah, asking a girl about what girls like really is the best strategy! I’ll definitely use this as reference!”
Apparently, Taketsuru assumed the booklet contained information on “how to successfully deepen his relationship with Niwashita Sumire” or something along those lines.
Right then, another Appraisal window popped into view.
──────
“Taketsuru Yuu”
Time remaining until summoning to another world: 10 seconds
──────
“…Hm? Nekoyanagi-san, this has stuff like water filtration methods and the Universal Edibility Test for plants in it. This is more like a survival guide than a dating manual. Wait… does Sumire-neesan like camping or someth— huh? WHAT THE HELL!? Why’s my body floating!? And glowing!? Is that a magic circle!? I CAN SEE A MAGIC CIRCLE!? Huh!? Wha!? H-Hey, why are you guys just staring!? Help! What even is this!? No, don’t tell me ‘good luck’!! And stop singing Dona Dona!!! WHAT’S HAPPENING!? WHAT’S HAPPENINGGGGG!?!?”
And then Taketsuru vanished beyond the boundary of the world.
“There he goes.”
“Yep.”
And just like that, Taketsuru became a hero in another world.
I glanced over at the fading magic circle still lingering faintly in the air.
──────
“Another World Summoning Magic Circle”
The magic circle used to summon Taketsuru Yuu.
Time remaining until return to Earth: 15 minutes 02 seconds
──────
“Looks like he’ll be back in about fifteen minutes. Want to grab some tea and wait?”
“Roger that.”
Meiko and I bought warm tea from a nearby vending machine, then returned to that lonely hidden corner of campus to wait quietly for Taketsuru’s return.
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