Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo - Chapter 4 Part 1

Chapter 4 – Attacked by the Negative Spiral

 

(T/N: The negative spiral here is the thought patterns that made you feel like everything that you have done was useless. Not the Gurren Lagann reference that you and I expected.)

 

 

Well, this was out of nowhere, but I’d like to tell you guys my opinion on a certain thing.

 

The existence of this thing called ‘Girls Group.’

 

Like its name suggested, it was a group formed by girls who were on good terms with each other. The reason why it was more well-known compared to its counterpart, ‘Boys Group,’ was because the boys didn’t really have such things to begin with. Unlike girls who’d socialize with as many people as possible, boys would only hang out with a few select friends.

 

Anyway, the Girls Group itself was divided into several cliques.

 

Such as the clique that was filled with quiet and reserved girls who wanted to keep their world to themselves.

 

The clique that was filled with outgoing girls who grouped together to make their lives more exciting.

 

There was also the clique that was filled with charismatic girls who were essentially the center of their classes.

 

Then, there were other cliques like the gyaru clique or the cool girls clique, but our class only formed the three cliques that I had mentioned, so they were irrelevant to the conversation.

 

By the way, Himawari didn’t join any of those cliques. You’d think that she’d be among the second or the third cliques, but that wasn’t the case at all. Himawari was someone who’d try to get along with everyone. She wouldn’t group up with a certain group of people like that.

 

In any case, lads.

 

There was a clique that you should never mess with if you were still in high school.

 

And that clique was the third one, the one filled with the charismatic girls. They were extremely troublesome to deal with.

 

They knew that they were the center of the class, so they’d go ahead and impose their own twisted sense of justice toward the rest of the class. If there was something that they found unpleasant, they’d make a twisted justification to deal with it and actually act up on it like a bunch of starving wolves.

 

Hm? Why did I tell you about this? It was because…

 

“Joro. Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself?”

 

I was being attacked by the aforementioned clique.

 

It happened in the morning. I was stoned after following Himawari’s morning antics.

 

When Himawari left the classroom to talk to one of her fellow club members and Sun-chan was still in his morning practice, they came and ganged up against me.

 

By the way, this was one of their characteristics.

 

They would only go up against someone they knew they could beat.

 

If Sun-chan, the tenacious boy who’d go up against them single-mindedly, or Himawari, someone who was cuter and more popular than them, were here, they wouldn’t even dare to attempt this.

 

Those girls knew when to strike by instinct.

 

That was why they attacked me at this moment, knowing that I’d be isolated from the rest of the class if they were to do so.

 

It was hard to see the difference between them and a pack of hyenas, honestly.

 

“Sorry? What are you talking about?”

 

As a poor fawn being surrounded by five hyenas, I tried to appeal to them while showing them my baby-doll eyes, but to no avail. Thinking that they were doing a selfless act, enacting some kind of justice that only they would understand, the hyenas clicked their tongues.

 

“You know what I’m talking about. Rumors said that you’re three-timing some girls?”

 

They shoved a piece of paper in front of my face.

 

“What the hell is this?!”

 

Once again, I screamed at the heavens. I snatched up the paper and read it.

 

On it, ‘Kisaragi Amatsuyu, the Scum of the Century! Reported Three-Timing!’ was written.

 

“They published it this morning. You didn’t know about it? In any case, way to go, Casanova.”

 

Girl A sneered at me, showing off her fake eyelashes.

 

Wait a second! I thought Asunaro would be following me closely until the day of the Hyakka Festival, then she’d decide on whether she’d publish this article or not. Then, why the hell had this article been published already?!

 

“At least do something about your appearance first if you want to start a harem… Disgusting…”

 

This time, it was Girl B, the one who put on excessive eyeshadow, who was scorning me.

 

Now I knew why they were attacking me. F**k!

 

“W-Wait a second! This article is fake! I didn’t do something like that!”

“Sure, sure, I knew you’d say something like that. But, you know what? Every girl I knew had been telling me that you’ve been leering at them with your lecherous eyes. It’s disturbing, don’t you know that?”

 

There we go! The clique’s classic ‘Every girl I knew’ move!

 

Homeroom hadn’t even started yet and if the paper was distributed earlier this morning, how many girls had you talked to in that short period of time?! 

 

I bet ‘every girl I knew’ meant only the members of your clique!

 

There was no way you’d do a fact check with everyone in class first before you came to me!

 

You guys were only here to intimidate me! No way in hell you guys got the guts to do a fact check when Himawari and Sun-chan were our classmates!

 

“So, who are those three girls? Why don’t you stop doing it right now and apologize to the poor girls?”

 

This was their modus operandi to gain control of the class. Trying to get information out of me while forcing me to apologize.

 

The article said that I was three-timing, but it never mentioned the names of the girls. That was why, they figured they’d be able to get the information they needed if they were to corner me!

 

Now, if I were to tell them that two of the girls were Himawari and Cosmos, they’d be able to turn the boys’ aggro on me! 

 

There was no way I’d give them the chance to do that!

“H-Hold your horses!”

 

At that moment, the classroom door rattled open and an out-of-breath Asunaro appeared.

 

She seemed to be flustered as her Tsugaru dialect came out.

 

“What is it, Asunaro?”

 

Girl A, with her fake eyelashes, gave her a suspicious look.

 

However, Asunaro disregarded her glare and charged right into the middle of the girls’ clique.

 

“You see, this article isn’t supposed to be out yet! I don’t even know why they distributed it already… That’s why you guys shouldn’t believe anything that the article said!”

“But… This article was written because Joro did something weird, right? So—”

“Yes, but there’s no proof yet! I’m still investigating the matter!”

 

Asunaro cut off Girl A’s words and pushed her point forward.

 

Apparently, the publishing of the article was something that even Asunaro didn’t know about.

 

“My plan was to stick by his side until I could find the truth about the situation! Then, I’ll publish about it in a special issue on the Hyakka Festival!”

 

The girl who doubted me the most somehow defended me the most. I never expected this kind of development.

 

No, wait, if she didn’t misunderstand me in the first place, none of this would have happened!

 

“If you said that much, Asunaro… Still, be careful. You’ll never know what this guy is up to. The girl that I know told me that he groped her chest out of nowhere once.”

 

Oi, that never happened. Why the hell were you accusing me of something that I never did?

 

“Sorry, Joro… When I worked on my articles yesterday, it seemed like I mixed up the article about you with another one… I promised to not let no one see it until the Hyakka Festival, but I broke my promise… I’m really sorry!”

 

After the girls clique went away, Asunaro took a step back and bowed to me.

 

“If only I had double checked everything, this would’ve never happened… I’m sorry!”

“…It’s okay. Even if I were to complain about it, nothing would have changed.”

“…Thank you.”

 

Well, I managed to get out of the fire for the moment, but this was just delaying the inevitable.

 

In the end, if I were unable to convince Asunaro to think otherwise, this would bound to happen again.

 

I really had to clear up this girl’s misunderstanding first…

 

*   *   *

 

“Haah… This is troubling…”

 

After the second period. Recess. I let out a heavy sigh.

 

The misunderstanding worsened and created an unexpected situation.

 

Actually, during the first recess, Cosmos and I had been trying to recruit another participant for the Kabuten. But everyone that we asked kept rejecting us.

 

But this time, the cause of it wasn’t Himawari and Cosmos, but me.

 

As for the reason? Because of the leaked article.

 

Whenever we tried to recruit someone, they’d always give us one answer.

 

‘I’m not going to dance with a three-timer.’

 

This situation made me feel despair. Even when Cosmos explained that there had been a misunderstanding and the article wasn’t true, the girls’ distrust in me ran deep. The paper had more weight to them compared to the words of the student council president herself.

 

And so, we didn’t manage to recruit anyone and the confirmed participants numbers didn’t go up.

 

The one fortunate thing in this situation was that Asunaro withdrew the article almost immediately.

 

She even stopped sticking by my side to gather all the distributed papers around the school back in the first recess.

 

“Um, Joro… I’ve gathered all the distributed papers… Um… Sorry for that…”

 

Bad rumors about me had spread, it was too late for her to apologize. Seeing me exuding a dark aura, Asunaro, with the distributed papers in her hands, came up to me and frantically apologized.

 

If she had the slightest bit of conscience, she’d offer to stop her antics of ‘keeping a close eye on me.’

 

“I don’t care. What’s done is done. Just make sure that things like this won’t happen again in the future.”

“Of course! I’ll do my best to prevent it from happening ever again!”

 

Well, of course she wouldn’t do it. And I couldn’t exactly ask her to stop either.

 

Why? Because of the scene that happened earlier today.

 

In everyone’s eyes, I was already guilty for three-timing.

 

There was only one way to change that, which was to make Asunaro write an article to debunk the previous one.

 

And for that, I had to let her stick close to me to clear up her misunderstandings no matter how much I hated it.

 

That and looking for a participant that wanted to join the Kabuten became the top two on my to-do-list. Neither of them were easy to do. I felt like crying…

 

“In any case, I should look for someone who’s willing to join the Kabuten first…”

“Ah, that!”

“Hm? What?”

 

Suddenly, Asunaro clasped her hands together.

 

I had a feeling that she was about to say something bad. Should I stop her?

 

“So, Joro. If you don’t mind—”

“Oi, Joro.”

 

At that moment.

 

Before Asunaro could finish what she wanted to say, a low spirited voice came from behind.

 

It was Sun-chan. He looked far less energetic than usual.

 

Maybe he found out about the article and now he was angry at me?

 

“Ah, Sun-chan. So, uh… What’s up?”

 

I said, trying to sound as normal as possible.

 

“You know that weird article that came out today?”

 

Boom! He already knew! Oh no!

 

“Y-Yeah… B-But everything is just a rumor. D-Don’t take it seriously, okay?”

 

When I confirmed it in a hurry, Sun-chan’s expression turned into a smile.

 

“Oh, I know! Don’t make that kind of face!”

 

He went back to his normal self! Regaining his energy, he slapped me on my shoulder.

 

It was great that he understood my situation, but… My shoulder…

 

“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll always be your best friend!”

 

This was the manifestation of our bond as best friends… I felt like crying again…

 

“Yeah, so I heard from our club’s manager that you and Cosmos-san were looking for the last participant for the Kabuten? From the look of it, you haven’t found anyone, have you? If that’s the case, then you don’t need to worry! I knew the right person for it!”

“Really?!”

“Really!”

 

Now this was what I call a joyful miscalculation! Good going, manager girl! I already forgot who your name was, but good job!

“Considering the thing that happened with the article, even if you found the third person, it would only make your case worse, right? But, if it’s this person, that will never happen!”

“T-Then, who is it?”

“Hehehe…”

 

With a blinding smile, filled with passion and heat, Sun-chan raised his fist and pointed his thumb at…Himself…

 

“It’s me!”

“…You?”

“Yeaaa!”

Wait! Wait, Sun-chan!

 

The Kabuten was supposed to be a dance with three girls acting as partners for a boy.

 

But, I’ve already filled up the slot for the boy participant! What, were you telling me that you’d be participating for the girl’s slot?!

 

What were you doing? Did you go to Morocco during the time you haven’t appeared in the series?! (T/N: I don’t understand this reference, sorry.)

 

Also, if we were to take the legends involving the Kabuten into account, then there would be a chance that we’d end up dating!

 

No! At this rate, a JoroxSun or worse, SunxJoro doujins would be published in the summer and winter comiket! …Which pairing did I prefer? The one where I didn’t act as the uke— Wait, no! I preferred none of the two! (T/N: Uke just meant the guy who ‘received’ in a BL pairings. You know, the ‘girl’ of the relationship.)

 

“B-But, Sun-chan, you’re a guy, no? The Kabuten…”

“Don’t worry about it! I already asked Cosmos-san about it and she told me, ‘That’ll make this year Kabuten unique, go for it!’ So, why don’t we melt the audience with our burning passion, Joro?!”

 

I never expected the day when I’d be doing a steamy and passionate dance with a guy would come… The world was such a wide place…

 

“Is he using Sun-chan as a camouflage? Or maybe he is into both genders in the first place? …Hm, interesting…”

 

Please stop creating another rumor behind my back, my dear misunderstanding machine.

 

*   *   *

 

“Alright, let’s do our best to come up with a countermeasure today!”

 

Lunch break. Like yesterday, I called out Himawari and Cosmos to the library.

 

One of the two major tasks I had to finish, looking for a participant for the Kabuten, was unexpectedly resolved. Since that was the case, all I needed to do was to clear up the misunderstandings.

 

And since he was involved in this, I also invited Sun-chan to join us. Normally, he ate his lunch in the cafeteria, but today, he was eating a loaf of bread that we bought together at the cafeteria.

 

We had to go through a lot of trouble as the place was filled with people. Not to mention that we had to avoid Asunaro along the way.

 

While I stopped minding her sticking close to me, I couldn’t let her do it this time.

 

It was because the purpose of this meeting was to look for a countermeasure against her. It would be stupid if I were to let her join, wouldn’t it?

 

“““…”””

 

Huh? I didn’t know why, but for some reason, the girls were all quiet today.

 

Was it something that I said?

 

“Joro.”

“Yes, Sun-chan?”

 

After he finished eating, Sun-chan rolled up the bread’s wrapping paper and called out to me.

 

“I think rather than worrying about the article, we should focus on the Kabuten first. Sorry, but… That article is exclusively your problem and not ours… On the other hand, if the Kabuten turns out to be a mess, the whole school will be affected by it.”

“Ugh…”

“Honestly, I thought we’d be talking about that when you invited me to come here. Sure, it was hard work trying to gather all the participants, but you know that isn’t all there is to it, right? We still have to prepare other things for the Kabuten.”

 

His words were right, I couldn’t even find any words to refute him. Even if I were to ignore the article, no one would actually be bothered by it.

 

Well, if I told them that I was attacked by the girls’ clique at class earlier today, he might change his mind about it, but there was no way I’d do that. I wouldn’t let Himawari or Sun-chan get into a fight with our classmates no matter what.

 

“Your problem is a tricky one and I understand that. Clearing up misunderstandings is a hard task. Especially when the other party couldn’t see anything from your perspective. Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin.”

 

San-chan scratched the back of his head with an apologetic look.

 

He said all those things about how I should be prioritizing the Kabuten, but it seemed that he cared about my problem, after all.

 

“Sorry, but can we put your matter aside first, Joro-kun? Um, I understand what you’re going through, but I’m honestly at a loss on what to do as well…”

“Sorry Joro, all I can do is tell everyone the truth, but I can’t really do anything more than that…”

“In my case, I’m not good at talking with people. Even if I were to try to tell them the truth, I doubt that they’ll believe me at all… Sorry…”

 

After that, the three girls apologized to me as well.

 

I guess that was why they had been keeping their mouths shut, huh?

 

All of them were the kinds of people who wouldn’t care about what the other people think of them. 

 

That was why my case was something foreign to them, they didn’t know what to do when they had to face a situation like this. If this thing were to happen to any of them, they probably wouldn’t care about it in the first place.

 

…That was that, I guess. Let’s just put my own problem aside for now.

 

Besides, Sun-chan was right, there was something that was way more important than clearing up the misunderstandings.

 

“…Fine. Let’s talk about the Kabuten then.”

 

Yeah. Forget about the gloomy things and let’s have some fun instead.

 

“Yes. Then, let’s begin!”

 

Cosmos stood up, smiling as she opened up her note with a familiar gesture. She looked enthusiastic now.

 

“Despite its twists and turns, we finally managed to gather all the participants for the Kabuten! So, from now on, let’s put all our efforts into getting ready for the show itself! So, I’ll be telling you our schedule for today!”

 

I had a hard time, but as the student council president, I guess Cosmos had it worse than me. I could feel her relief through her speech.

 

“After school, we’ll be having dance practice until 6 pm! After that, we’re going to pick up costumes for everyone! Do any of you have plans for the time I’ve specified?”

“None.” “I don’t have any!” “Me too!”

“That’s great to hear! What about you, Pansy-san?”

“Why are you asking me? I’m not a participant.”

“I know, but since you’re here already, I want to ask your opinion for the costumes we’re going to pick up! The more input we have the better, you see!”

 

Seeing Cosmos saying that in an excited tone, Pansy turned her gaze at me. What a troublesome girl.

 

“…Should I?”

“Just do whatever you want.”

“Okay. I’ll be joining everyone then, Akino-senpai.”

 

Her tone still sounded indifferent, but I could tell that she was happy.

 

How could I tell? Because she was playing with my hand under the desk. Seriously, stop.

 

“As for where we should practice…”

“Prez, may I have a word?”

“Hm? What is it, Joro-kun?”

 

While I agreed with Sun-chan, the matter regarding the Kabuten was way more important than clearing the misunderstandings.

 

The article had already been published once and I’d rather avoid any unnecessary actions as much as possible.

 

In other words, I didn’t want Asunaro to see me with everyone while she was still keeping a close eye on me.

 

There would be a lot of touching involved in dancing.

 

And because of that, if Asunaro were to see us practice dancing, it would definitely give birth to more unnecessary misunderstandings.

 

So! I had a place in mind where we could avoid her eyes and other people’s eyes too! This was the matter that I wanted to tell Cosmos about!

 

“Why don’t we hold our practice here?”

“Here? In the library?”

“Yes. There’s a lot of space here and people don’t normally come here.”

“But, Joro-kun, the library is a place for people to read quietly. Not really a suitable place to practice, don’t you think?”

Tch, stop interrupting me with a good argument. I couldn’t even come up with something to counter that.

 

“But, if we were to practice here, Pansy-chan would be with us, wouldn’t she? I think it’ll be more fun if Pansy-chan were to join us!”

“I agree with Himawari! I think it would be more interesting if Pa– Sanshokuin-san were to join us!”

“That’s a good point. Since she’ll be joining us to pick the costumes anyway, it’ll be better if she were to join our practice too. Dance practice inside the library isn’t exactly a common thing to do, but it should be okay as long as we get permission beforehand.”

 

Oh, Himawari, Cosmos and Sun-chan agreed with me!

Normally, I wouldn’t have the chance of winning whenever I was up against Pansy, but with the power of friendship, even the demon king could be toppled!

 

Alright, Pansy, try to come up with something to counter our arguments!

 

“…”

 

Pansy kept her silence as everyone was staring at her.

 

After ten seconds had passed, she turned her gaze on me.

 

“Do you really want to be with me that badly, Joro-kun?”

“What?”

“You said that the library is spacious and there are only a few people that would come here, but is that all the reason why you want to practice here?”

She tilted her head, looking at me with an expectant look.

 

Why did she feel the need to check up on my reasoning? She knew exactly what I was thinking.

 

“Joro-kun, do you really want to be with me that badly?”

 

I could deny her words, but the current atmosphere made it hard for me to do so.

 

Especially when the other three were pressuring me with their gazes!

 

“…Yes, I do.”

“I see. It can’t be helped then. You can practice here if you like.”

 

Kill me…

 

“It’s settled then! Let’s gather here again after school! After we are done practicing, we’ll be picking up our costumes together! As for the permission to use the library, I’ll be working on it, so you don’t need to worry!”
“Okay!”
“Roger!”

 

Haah… With this, the rumors wouldn’t get worse for the time being. Sacrificed a bit of my mental health for it though…

 

TL: Iyo

ED: Iyo

 

 

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