Gamers, p.74
Gamers!, page 74
So, at the next moment, …Hoshinomori came up with an unexpected line.
“I-It’s because my sister is both NOBE and Mono!”
“…W-What?”
This explanation was too unexpected, Tendou and I were shocked by it.
However, Hoshinomori let out a “Hmph” from her nose and sat down elegantly with an “I finally got it” attitude-
“No, no, no, no, no! We didn’t understand at all!”
Tendou and I immediately commented. During this time, Hoshinomori stopped us with a “please wait for a moment,” then she closed her eyes for almost 20 seconds…before mumbling.
“I sorted it out.”
“You sorted it out?”
Sorted out what! Eh, is it the settings? You just sorted out the setting for this bluffing, Hoshinomori!
Just as I’m starting to sweat on my own, Hoshinomori casually started to cover up her lies.
“Actually, my sister has a fateful relationship with Keita on the internet.”
“Eh? A fateful relationship…on the internet?”
“Yes, allow me to skip the details. However, that’s basically fate. Moreover, it’s a very, very deep spiritual connection! Their relationship is ridiculously ideal! Yes!”
“R-Really.”
Hoshinomori is somehow very energetic about this and shocked Tendou. Just as I’m observing this scene with a “which movie are we in” tone, Hoshinomori cleared her throat before continuing.
“Then, …forget about Keita for a second, after my little sister Konoha knows that it’s Keita…She…basically…how should I put it…uh…she was so attracted by Keita…”
“Very old-fashioned choice of words!”
From here, we can clearly see that Hoshinomori doesn’t have any experience when it comes to talking about relationships. So, Tendou and I left our complaints at our hearts just to show her some care.
However, Hoshinomori didn’t seem to realize this and kept on talking.
“Ah, but, please relax, Tendou-sama.”
“Why is she so excited about this?”
Hoshinomori’s ability as an unobservant otaku is starting to let loose. We don’t know to respond, so we just sat there quietly.
“I’m obviously not letting my little sister take your love away. After all, we’re talking about Keita. No sane person will hope her little sister to go on a date with a bean sprout boy like him!”
“Ehm, well, Hoshinomori-san. Currently, I’m the girlfriend of that bean sprout boy-“
“Absolutely impossible! Really! Although she’s my sister, I can’t believe she’ll fall in love with a guy like that, even I felt that was tasteless for her! I bet I didn’t care for her enough when she’s little! Think about it, it’s like those anime adaptations of original light novels that play at midnight. Don’t you feel that you’re losing your appetite when you saw the female protagonist falling in love with the male one in chapter 1!”
“Moe-selling works like that are always getting scolded for their personality-lacking yet hugely popular male protagonist. However, I always felt that the female protagonist falling for the male one so quickly is just as bull-“
“Hoshinomori. That’s enough. You’re now basically shooting Tendou with a machine gun!”
“Ah.”
Hoshinomori was alerted before looking at the girl’s face next to her. Then, …the idol of our school…is sitting there with a smile plastered on her face while clearly not meaning it…Yep, I figured it out. Hoshinomori, …no wonder you can’t befriend anyone.
Hoshinomori cleared her throat with an “A-Ahem!” Then, she continued.
“S-So, I’m not going to let my little sister take away Keita from Tendou-san. It’s more like, I wanted to make her witness how strong Tendou-san and Keita’s relationship really is!”
“Make her witness…the relationship between Amano-kun and me?”
Tendou tilted her head while Hoshinomori gave her a warm smile.
“Yes. After all, …when my little sister gives up after seeing how loving you two are…Isn’t that a clean way to end a relationship?”
“Hoshinomori-san…”
Tendou replied with the same smile. A warm aura is radiating off the two of them…However, I was watching them with a tinge of pain in my heart.
“Hoshinomori…you…”
Her words are full of ridiculous lies. Even so, …on the other hand, her true feelings are always so explicit that no one can bear to see it.
After a while, Hoshinomori let out a “so” to bring us back to the topic.
“Just as my little sister’s love is about to end spectacularly, a weird character for romantic movies named Aguri-san showed up. This hurts my brain!”
“Ah, that’s why.”
Tendou and I mumbled at the same time. Especially me, I was very convinced of this explanation.
“…I didn’t expect this to work as well!”
Chiaki Hoshinomori…Although her communication skill as a whole is hopeless, she’s still a creator. I can’t believe she’s especially outstanding at fabricating fictional settings.
Hoshinomori, the Master of Imagination, continued.
“After a competition like Aguri-san appeared, it’ll make my little sister feel like “perhaps I have a chance as well! I’ll have to give it everything!” This will be quite bothering.”
“Yep.”
“Even so, if she found out that “Uwah, I didn’t know that the lover that I met on the internet, Keita Amano, is a filthy cheater…” Thus ending her first love poorly. I’ll feel terrible for her as well.”
“Yes.”
“That’s why…After all, as a girl that’s worrying her little sister’s coming-to-an-end relationship, I’m just feeling terrible for the suddenly appearing female protagonist, Aguri!”
“T-That’s why…”
This explanation is so next-level that I find compelling. What the hell? You’re incredible, Chiaki Hoshinomori. Also, that’s the exact reason why I feel so empty for you, Chiaki Hoshinomori! How subtle do you have to express your feelings just then!
To Hoshinomori’s explanation, Tendou nodded in agreement.
“Yep, I understand now, Hoshinomori-san. Uh, …also, I wanted to apologize! R-Really. I thought that you’re the one who’s falling for Amano-kun…”
“No, no, no! Like I’ve said before, I’ll never fall in love with a sluggish bug like him-“
“Ah, okay. You don’t need to say anything anymore!”
Tendou rescued her boyfriend just in time, who was about to be scolded like a pig-head.
She coughed before leading us back to the discussion.
“Back to the thing about Amano-kun and Aguri-san. The real question is…In the eyes of you two, how do you guys feel about Amano-kun and Aguri-san?”
To Tendou’s question, Hoshinomori and I looked at each other…before staring at her with the eyes of a dead fish.
“If this is a romantic comedy, the two of them will end up as a couple.”
“…………”
Karen Tendou pressed her elbows onto the table as she’s holding her head. It looks like she got the exact same impression as we do.
Hoshinomori explained with a lifeless face.
“To be honest, I was sure even though I’m not familiar with rom-com. We can often see a plot like this with childhood sweethearts who’re always in an argument.”
“I should say it’s basically like that. The two’s relationship is so good that they’re like the protagonists of a rom-com that’s developed from them supporting each other’s relationship.”
We continued adding. However, Tendou, who still doesn’t want to admit, retorted hopelessly.
“B-But, what evidence do you guys have…”
“It’s based on your boyfriend’s preferences on things! (Oh!)”
“…I guess so.”
Perhaps she still can’t take in her emotions, Tendou’s already answering us like she’s a robot.
We three let out a big sigh at the same time. Silence soon fell onto us. The first one to break it is Hoshinomori, who looks tired from the bottom of her heart.
“In reality, what’s up with that? I can’t believe that the guy’s prioritizing a girl over gaming…When did Keita become a boy who’ll make correct choices like that!”
I can’t help but comment at Hoshonomori’s angry question.
“Ay, but usually, that means that he’s growing, right…”
“That’s not growing at all! That’s just losing personality! I knew it! It’s like a certain straw hat-wearing pirate yelling, “It’s better to get a secure job than to be the king of pirates!” Words like that!”
“N-No. Let’s think about this calmly, that was a correct choice for one’s life…”
“Taking the right route doesn’t mean it’s right! Uehara-kun, if that’s the case, how about this. Do you want to see a Dragon Ball episode where Goku sincerely begs his enemies and says it’s bad to use violence!”
“I’m kind of interested.”
“You’re so stubborn! B-But, there should be the main story first! It works as a secondary creation, but no one wants to watch that if it got turned into the main plot!”
“Y-You’re right.”
“Also, from my perspective, Keita is precisely like that! Even though I’ve mentioned that before, …the reason why Keita Amano is Keita Amano, isn’t it because he’s stupid enough to reject Tendou-san’s rare invitation!”
“R-Right…”
Hoshinomori’s especially excited. Tendou and I backed down for a bit. Tendou even complained to her confusingly.
“Uh, Hoshinomori-san? Well, …if we’re just talking about your little sister’s love, you seem to have a pretty solid “Keita Amano Theory” in your head…”
“N-No! Uh, it’s because…Right, this is from the emotional side of a creator! I can never accept my character losing his personality, yes!”
“R-Right…T-That’s why.”
Tendou was frozen at Hoshinomori’s excitement, so she barely accepted it. To help Hoshinomori out, I decided to quickly move on.
“Anyway, the crux of this problem is with Keita Amano prioritizing Aguri over gaming, right.”
Tendou nodded at what I just said.
“Although I’m not willing to admit, you’re right. Actually, …I don’t think it’s that problematic for Aguri-san to be that close to Amano-kun. After all, she has always been a straightforward person.”
“Yeah, Aguri’s always more unfettered than anyone else.”
Even so, if I, who’s familiar with Aguri was talking. Although she looks flighty, this girl, in reality, will keep a subtle distance with every male aside from me…Sigh, now’s not the time for that, it’ll just make things even more complicated.
So, Tendou lowered her head lonelily.
“Amano-kun rejected my invitation to the Game Club…Yet, he accepted Aguri-san’s request right away…After all, …no matter how you think of it, it means that Amano-kun’s already…”
“…………”
Hoshinomori and I can’t say anything to smooth things over. It’s a fact that Keita Amano rejected the Game Club and rushed next to Aguri-san for her.
This is different than pure accidents and misunderstandings in the past, the overwhelming “fact” is right there. It’s not helping even if you try to describe it optimistically.
Another wave of imposing silence fell onto us. We lost count of how many times that this has occurred.
Hoshinomori started mumbling.
“I feel like…this gathering is pretty pointless as well. Even if we managed to discuss something, …the bond between the two wouldn’t change because of that…”
“………….”
Her words stabbed into our hearts deeply…Everyone in this room understood that before we came in. But even if we do, …we still had to look for comfort somewhere.
However, this time we can’t even lick our wounds.
“…Let’s dismiss.”
Tendou murmured this out. In reality, I guess that means we’ll dismiss here…However, to us right now, it’s hard to not feel that there’s another meaning for that.
Is it right to just let it end this way?
This thought is on everyone’s head…Unfortunately, we don’t have a way to break us out of this situation.
We stood up silently from our seats as we started preparing to go home-
“Knock, knock!”
-During this time, the door to the clubroom was suddenly knocked. We stared at each other. The shy Hoshinomori then asked Tendou nervously.
“A-Are the members of the Game Club coming?”
“No…Strange, I’ve already told them that we’re having a break today…”
Tendou mumbled as she answered. “Okay, come in!”
“Excuse me.”
The door was pushed open, following a girl’s slow answering. The voice is familiar.
Then, the person that’s standing there…
“Ah, you’re really here! Tasuku, really, you’re secretly in a closed room with a bunch of cute girls again…”
“W-Why are you…”
The main subject of our discussion and my girlfriend – Aguri is here.
*
“Huh? Amano has changed recently?”
Aguri seemingly gave us a “c’mon” from the bottom of her heart as she tilted her head. However, the three of us weren’t convinced, and we stared at her full of resolute as we nodded.
…It’s been 10 minutes since Aguri’s in the Game Club clubroom.
Initially, she was pissed with her boyfriend secretly meeting with other girls behind her. But after we tried our best to explain to her, she finally barely forgave us.
Even so, we skipped the part where we’re getting jealous of how intimate Amano and Aguri is. In our words, we’re only discussing how Keita Amano’s values have changed.
Although Aguri’s temper cooled down, …comparatively, she questioned our topic.
She held her hands around the back of her head, and even swinging the chair with the back chair leg as balance as she continued.
“What’s going on? Is that really serious enough for three people to go out of their way and gather here to discuss?”
The content’s really weak when we’re just talking about this topic. This misunderstanding only occurs because we can’t mention our suspicion of Amano and Aguri’s relationship.
Just as we’re scrambling our brains for an excuse. Suddenly, Tendou exhaled from her nose as she started yelling.
“This is already serious enough! It’s more like, as long as it’s related to Amano-kun, everything in this world matters!”
“Yep, I don’t want to hear a super biased opinion from one of the idiotic couple.”
“L-Let us forget about me being Amano-kun’s girlfriend first. In reality, he’s the central figure of the Game Hobby Club. Don’t you think it’s a big issue for the Hobby Club when a person like this started to neglect video games?”
“No, …I don’t think it’s that much of a big issue…”
Aguri let out a “hey” before switching back to her usual seating pose. Then, she looked at us before asking.
“I was already a bit suspicious with the choices of words of you guys. Put it bluntly, it’s because of that, right? Yesterday, Amanocchi gave up the newly-released game for me, and it made all of you felt uncomfortable, right?”
“Ugh…”
We didn’t even mention this directly, yet, we still got caught. Ay, it’s hard to blame the girl. We gathered here to discuss not even a day after that, anyone can realize the real reason.
After Aguri let out a dumbfounded sigh, she popped a large mint into her mouth from her bag. She tried to give us, but we all refused. Aguri doesn’t seem to mind as she withdrew her hand. “Really.” Then, she just chewed the mint candy by herself for a while…before speaking to us with an unusually relaxed tone.
“Uh, …what the hell, are you guys idiots?”
“Eh?”
Aguri’s tone was like she’s baffled from the bottom of her heart, it scared us. Since she’s not that close to Hoshinomori and Tendou, she tried to suppress her emotion down. Even so, she continued like she wanted to vent out her anger.
“Well, …I just want to confirm, all of you are really bothered with this, right? Like, none of you is trying to prank or anything, right?”
“O-Of course! No one’s pranking you!”
Hoshinomori answered quite angrily. To that, Aguri apologized with a simple smile. “Sorry, I’m just trying to confirm.” …Then, she scratched her head like all of this is bothering her.
“Sigh, you guys are boring…I can’t take this…”
To that airy attitude, even Tendou and I got pissed off.
Tendou started to deepen her voice and said.
“A-Aguri-san, I respect your opinion. However, Amano-kun was a person…that initially rejected my invitation to the Game Club. Then, when we saw him giving up his favorite game for you…It’s hard for us to not feel shocked or suspicious, right?”
“Uh, so, just as all of you’re starting to get suspicious…Ah, really…”
Aguri gave up explaining in the middle. Then, she shrugged helplessly as she grabbed her phone out of her pocket, seemingly trying to pull off something.
Under the glare of all of us, she slid and poked the screen quickly with her fingers before speaking tartly.
“…I decided to do this because it’s useless to explain this verbally…But, honestly, this isn’t something I would usually do since it’s quite terrible. So, please remember to apologize afterward.”
“?”
Aguri continued on her phone as she said something that neither of us can really understand.
After a minute. Aguri finished confirming the screen, …then she looked at us and let out a sigh.
“…Sigh…I can’t help it. Here goes.”
“?”
From this sentence, we guessed that she just sent a message or e-mail to someone. However, we still don’t really understand the situation.
Aguri grabbed another mint and popped it into her mouth casually. Then, she looked at her phone, depressingly before speaking to us like it’s nothing.
“About Amanocchi, I’ve actually met him in the main building just then.”
