Volume 5 Prologue

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♠

It may not be necessary to say this at this point, but I, Takumi Aterezawa, have been in love with a woman ever since I’ve been 10 years old.

With my next-door childhood friend’s mother.

I’ve always been in love with her, ever since she started taking care of her deceased sister’s daughter and raised her.

It’s not normal, I guess.

If you think about it objectively, it must be extremely weird for a boy to fall in love the same way I did.

Ever since I’ve been 10 years old, that’s to say, my entire adolescent years, I’ve spent my days thinking only about her.

During middle and high school, when my classmates in the middle of adolescence talked about the other girls from our grade and how beautiful the seniors were, I could only think about the woman who lived in the house next-door.

“I’ll confess my love for Ayako-san when I grow older.”

I’ve lived with that determination in my heart ever since I was 10 and never dated another woman, nor have I ever fallen in love.

I never took my eyes off of her and continued admiring her without blinking.

The most beautiful way I can describe it is, pure love.

The ugliest way I can is… Well, I can’t deny I was acting a little like a stalker.

Anyways.

I was so infatuated with Ayako-san, dreaming about an unreachable love, that I spent my adolescent years without having a girlfriend, which could be seen as having spent a grim adolescence.

However.

It’s not like nothing interesting ever happened.

Of course, I swear on God, Heaven and Earth, that I’ve never been in love with another woman that wasn’t Ayako-san and that I’ve never had a girlfriend.

It’s just that… If I had to say that nothing ever happened that made me feel guilty, I would be lying.

When I was in high school, I never had a girlfriend.

But if we talk about something similar, then…

“Aterazawa-kun.”

It was after class in my second year of high school.

The way to the station was dyed by the afternoon sun.

It was silent for a while after we went out the school gate and then she opened her mouth while she walked next to me.

A slightly tense voice.

I was wondering if she was feeling awkward due to the silence, or if she wanted to make me talk.

“Have you… ever walked home from school with someone like today?”

“No.” I shook my head lightly. “Today is my first time doing so.”

“I see… This is also the first time I walk home with a boy.”

She blushed, looking embarrassed. She was wearing a regular school uniform.

“I’ve gone home a few times with a large group of people, but never alone with someone. Ahaha, sorry, I’m a little nervous.”

“I didn’t expect that, specially since you’re so popular, Odaki.”

“Eh? I’m not popular at all.”

“That’s what most popular people say.”

“Then what do non popular people say?”

“…Well, they’d say they’re not popular at all.”

“Ahaha, basically the same, isn’t it?”

Squinting her eyes, she laughed happily.

I felt like her tension had diminished, and both of us felt more relaxed.

Arisa Odaki.

A girl from my class.

She has lustrous hair that was a little longer than her shoulders and shiny eyes. She always has a smile on her face and a cozy and flowery air around her.

She has a relatively friendly personality and seems to be getting along with everyone in class, regardless of gender. She was also very popular with the boys of our grade.

But she also seems to have this air of drawing a line as well for some reason.

She gets along with everyone but has this unique aura that prevents people from getting closer after a certain distance.

We were in the same class on our second year, but that doesn’t mean we were particularly close. I think our relationship was nothing more than a ‘if we had something to do together, we would at least talk to each other.’

She was just a classmate, nothing more, nothing less.

Until she asked me about that thing…

“Hey, by the way, how should I call you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean how I should address you?” Asked Arisa Odaki. “It’s hard to pronounce ‘Aterazawa-kun,’ so can I just call you by your name?”

“Suit yourself.”

“Wow, how indifferent. Just so you know… you also have to do it. I’ll call you by your name, so you’ll have to call me by mine too.”

“Why do I need to as well…?”

“Just because.”

“…I don’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“Just because,” I refused.

Looking back, it’s a little embarrassing now, but during that time, there was a part of me that tried to not get closer to girls than necessary.

Because I thought that if I did… I would be unfaithful.

I didn’t want to be the kind of man that would go after other women while my heart was set on Ayako-san.

That’s why I tried to avoid calling girls in my class by their names in a friendly way.

…Although, thinking about it now, I think that kind of attitude was very disgusting.

I was shunning away women selfishly.

There was a limit to how conceited I could be.

“I don’t care how you call me.”

“If you don’t care how I call you, then why… Hmm. I think your behavior about this is pretty suspicious,” she smiled mischievously. “Eh? Is that it? Are you actually, really conscious about me? You have this irritated look on your face, but, you’re actually really nervous inside, aren’t you?”

“…”

I was starting to get a little annoyed.

It’s not that I was conscious of her.

I was simply annoyed by her teasing.

At the time, I was even younger than I am now, and didn’t have the time or energy to play along with a girl’s teasing me. So, I got a little angry and said:

“…Arisa.”

I called her by her name.

“…”

Arisa Odaki was clearly shocked.

She stopped walking and her face, dyed by the afternoon sun, became even redder.

“…Don’t get embarrassed now. You were the one who asked me to call you by your name.”

“I-I’m not embarrassed! I was simply surprised by how sudden it was!”

After yelling in response, she cleared her throat lightly and then…

“Okay… it’s my turn now.”

She looked straight at me, nervous, but with a face that seemed to be desperately trying to hide her nervousness from me, and said:

“T-Takumi-kun…”

“…Yes.”

I didn’t know how to react, so I gave a clumsy response.

There was an awkward silence for a while.

“…A-Ahaha, it feels a little weird after all. Until now, we never really talked much, and now all of a sudden, we’re now on a first name basis.”

After a forced laughed, she turned her back on me and started walking.

“Takumi-kun, Takumi-kun… Hmm. I have to work hard and get used to it.”

“Because,” she said, looking back.

Embarrassed, but a little happy too.

“Starting today, Takumi-kun will be my boyfriend.”

Arisa Odaki.

A high school classmate.

And also.

During a period of time during my second year of high school…

There was a time in which she called me her ‘boyfriend.’

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Long time no see. Bry19an started to translate this novel again recently, so I can finally get started on it. Chapters will depend on him (at least until he finishes) and then my own time, as I now have a job. Don’t worry though, I’ll try to have at least one chapter every week if time allows for it.