Osananajimi ga Zettai ni Makenai Love Comedy Volume 1 Chapter 2 part5

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It's first love so it can't be helped Part 5

"Sigh∼, now what should I do?"

The carrots and potatoes went into smaller pieces for easy consumption. The beef into slightly larger cubes.

I first threw in the meat, then took it out momentarily after it had been cooked. With the remaining oil I then fried the vegetables.

Combining the meat and vegetables, at this stage most would probably have inserted them into boiling water, but in my house we normally substituted that with a consomme or coffee instead. Then after removing the scum and dissolving the curry powder, the curry was thus completed.

"No, not like this…"

Dinnertime. Making curry as I always did, I toggled incessantly between the pot and my handphone.

I would draft out a message, return to my cooking, then reconsider and retype a new one. The above pattern had already repeated itself four times.

"I already know what I'm supposed to ask though…"

I only had to convey how I imagined and envisioned the two-man play Tetsuhiko and I were doing, and ask roughly what was expected as compensation. Nothing major, really.

If the other party wasn't Kachi Shirokusa.

She was my first love. No, had been my first love? Was still my first love…?

Gah, I had no idea anymore. Just remembering the face of someone I should have been hating brought me pain and anger, but also embarrassment. It made me ecstatic, to be honest.

This was completely different from texting Tetsuhiko. Exchanging contact details and having actual business to discuss with a girl I admired - who until now I could have talked to only occasionally at best - had for the longest time been merely a pipe dream.

I reread the body of text consolidating all the relevant information, then deleted it at one go.

It had everything I had to say, but that made it too long. If I sent that Shirokusa would reply and that would be the end of it. The conversation would conclude with just a single exchange.

Ergo.

I wrote nothing business-related, and typed out "Is this a good time? I want to talk about the script, are you free?". My finger moved to press the "Send" button - only for me to agonise over potentially rewriting the message again for another five minutes - before finally pushing the button.

"Sigh…"

I sighed deeply.

I felt exhausted from typing just a single message. Wow∼, guys with girlfriends must be amazing. Tetsuhiko was trash though, so he was different.

At that moment, the intercom rang.

"Haru∼, I'm coming in∼"

It was the same as it always was, so I answered with just a "K.".

Kuroha entered the living room wearing hot pants, sniffing with her nose.

"Ooh∼, curry again?"

"You don't like it?"

"No, I like your curry, Haru. It kind of puts me at ease."

"I see."

"But it's always curry when I come over, isn't it? That's why I have to tell Mom not to cook curry at our house, you know. My sisters keep complaining, so you better apologise to them some time, okay?"

Kuroha came over to my house once a week.

My father had always been a stuntman, and my mother an obscure actress. They had married after meeting on set, my mother then giving birth to me.

But then my mother died in a filming accident, and my father had a slight change in jobs. He still wanted to be a stuntman, so he became one who reenacted traffic accidents, traveling between schools around the country.

Achieving great fame for attaining amazing results in educating schoolchildren about the dangers of car accidents, my father became in high demand nationally. Coming back home every other Saturday was the best that he could do.

The person who ended up throwing me a lifeline was my father's childhood friend, Kuroha's dad. Our families had always been close to begin with, but he told me that I could come over and eat anytime, and I obliged during dinner two or three times every week.

As my own house was on the verge of being turned into a hoarder's mansion, he also ordered Kuroha to come over once a week, and on those days it became my turn to flex my culinary skills.

During summer vacation, however, my father's work dried up so he was always at home. For that reason I rejected Kuroha's visitations. At the same time my father did go over to Kuroha's house, but I couldn't face Kuroha after she confessed to me, so I gave myself reasons not to follow.

As a result it had been about a month since Kuroha last came over.

"Ooh, I see. Bring them over next time then. I'll make a huge batch of curry. Then maybe in return I'll have you all help out with the cleaning."

"I could, but maybe you should cook something else every once in a while?"

"Hm, I guess that works too. But you know, for some reason I'm not great at making things I read off a book or the Net. I find it a lot easier to remember the steps after I watch someone else do it."

"Oh, then I'll-"

"… Don't."

I persuaded her with serious eyes.

"I'm begging you, please don't-"

The guys in school didn't know, but Kuroha, who appeared to have the looks, sociability, academic and athletic ability locked down, had a huge weakness of her own.

She was a h o r r i b l e c o o k.

There were plenty of reasons why people couldn't cook, including not following the recipe, not taste-testing, or trying to implant their own unconventionality, and of course there were those who committed several of the above mistakes.

Out of those Kuroha had an even greater problem still - the fatal flaw of having "abnormal taste". It was not something that could be solved by hard work, for Kuroha was always diligent when it came to cooking, and always bothered to read the recipe and taste-test. But because the recipe would never match her own tastes, slowly she began cooking to more suit the latter instead, until eventually she became a terrible cook.

"Ooh, you didn't have to go that far, you know. I know I'm a little bad at cooking, but if you say that much it kind of hurts…"

"What do you mean, 'a little'?!" I wanted to shout but I held my tongue.

Kuroha's taste was from outer space. It did not conform to the natural laws of the Earth.

The reason why I naturally always cooked curry when Kuroha came over was because it was the only thing I could that earned a passing grade according to her taste buds. The truth was I did try cooking other dishes before, but when I did Kuroha didn't eat much of those, and would try to cook additional food herself due to her feeling unsatisfied, so there really was no other choice.

"Maybe God is fair after all. Seems like He will always try to average things out somewhere or another."

"Haru, why are you looking at me like that? You know, I feel like you just said something really rude."

"Come now, don't worry about it. Either way, sorry for making you do this all the time. No, maybe I should say thank you instead."

Kuroha had thrown her sling bag onto the sofa after entering the living room, putting on an apron and work gloves. By the time our conversation started she was already picking up rubbish littered around the living room and separating them into trash bags.

"You're being unusually straightforward, Haru."

"Well, how should I put it… It's been quite a while since you last came over, so I now feel how much you've been actually helping me out…"

Dad was at home for summer vacation, and I had time because I didn't have to go to school, so during that period the both of us were responsible for tidying up the house. I personally quite enjoyed cooking myself, but thought of cleaning as a chore and hated it. That was why I felt keenly the blessing of Kuroha's presence.

"Also I just find it easy to talk to you, Kuro."

It was an effort trying to send Shirokusa a single text.

When doing so I had to think about how flashy I wanted to be, how I would preserve her interest in the conversation, and if I should ask about Abe, among other things.

But I could say anything to Kuroha. I felt that way from the bottom of my heart, so-

"Thanks, as always."

I could thank her with sincerity as well.

Kuroha puffed out her reddened cheeks.

"Ooh, flattering me like that will get you nowhere, okay?"

Here Kuroha's "Ooh" made an appearance. Kuroha's "Ooh" was a shortened version of the longer "Ooh, what am I going to do with you", and while she looked upset, it was definitely not something she would have said if she were truly angry. Examples of times she would use this phrase included, but were not limited to, her already being prepared to forgive the other party while still being somewhat dissatisfied, or like now, when she appeared reproachful while actually hiding her embarrassment. At the present time she did not seem as unhappy as she wanted to lead me to believe, with a wrinkle between her eyebrows and her lips quivering.

"Come on, if you have time to suck up to me you can bring me the vacuum cleaner. Hurry up."

"You got it."

I carried over the vacuum cleaner placed in advance in a corner of the living room, handing it to Kuroha.

At that moment - my phone rang.

I absentmindedly pulled it out of my pocket and checked the caller.

"Hmm-----------!?!!?"

It wasn't possible…

-Kachi Shirokusa was the name displayed. To think she would actually call.

I unconsciously looked over at Kuroha.

"Hm? What's wrong? You're not gonna pick that up?"

"Ah∼, this guy Tetsuhiko, I did already tell him I was gonna send him the list, you know?"

I did think about coming up with more of an excuse, but having said the above I had no choice but to press on.

"What list?"

"It's to do with the script for the play. I'm gonna head back to my room for a while and write it out while I'm talking."

"…… Hmm."

"Sorry. Also the curry just needs to be cooked now, so just help me see it doesn't boil over."

"Okay, sure…"

My phone continued ringing throughout that entire exchange. With my body wet in cold sweat, I felt the shivers even as it was summer outside.

I gave Kuroha the best smile I could muster and waved while exiting the living room.

From there I ran as fast as I could. Flying up onto the second floor, I swooped into my room, locked the door, then hit the receive button.

"- Hi, who is it?"

My breathing, relax!

My heart, stop pounding!

Calm down. Just calm down. If I just remain calm, there is nothing in this world that I should be afraid of.

"This is Kachi. Thanks for the message."

"Oh no, that's not something you need to thank me for!"

"I called because I thought talking directly would be faster than replying but… is this alright?"

"Oh, of course! I was just lazing about at home anyway!"

"I see, alright then."

Shirokusa's tone was indeed gentler when the two of us were talking alone. The frigidity she had in the classroom was gone, replaced by something I would even call intimacy. Listening to only her voice almost made me wonder if there were really any reasons to call her misandristic at all.

"Does this mean I really do still have a chance…?"

This was a girl who also said "All men should go extinct" treating me this nicely, you know? Could her dating Abe be some sort of misunderstanding as well…?

Shit, thinking that I might have a shot suddenly made me nervous.

"Th- The thought that you might call never once crossed my mind, Kachi."

"I haven't committed to writing the script yet, but I will say that you've piqued my interest in the subject matter, or perhaps, the concept of the play. I would like to about it know as soon as possible."

Our play must have seemed like just a game to Shirokusa. So for her to go to the lengths of calling me… her approach of going all out once she decided on doing something was truly professional. I found that majesty of hers incredibly enchanting.

"W- Well to get right down to it, what Tetsuhiko and I decided together during lunch was that-"

"Haru∼, I'm putting away the vacuum cleaner∼"

"Pfft!"

I sputtered reflexively.

No, Kuroha wasn't at fault but… her timing was just too awful!

"…………"

Strange. Not a single sound came, but I still felt a chill like cold air was blowing at me from within my phone.

"Haru∼? Are you listening∼? What time do you want to eat∼?"

"Ooof!"

I was suffering. I was assaulted by intense palpitations, barely breathing sufficiently… The aircon should have been turned on, but I couldn't stop sweating…

"… Hmm, so that's how it is."

The voice which finally issued from my phone had a bite and sting rivaling that of a blizzard.

"No! Hold on a minute! Kachi! You've got the wrong idea!"

"… The wrong idea about what? Would you care to elaborate a little?"

Shirokusa barely kept herself from getting angry. I had to respond with conviction.

"Kuro and I are childhood buddies, and our parents are close friends too. Right now I basically stay alone, so she comes over once a week to help me clean up-"

"… And it's your first home date as a couple, so I shouldn't disturb?"

Argh∼, I knew it! Of course she would take it that way! Hahaha, what was I supposed to do…

"N- Not at all! I'm begging you, please, hear me out! Wait, no! I, err-"

"… Hehehe."

… Wait, did I hear that right? Was my mind finally cracking under the pressure? I could hear laughter coming from my phone-

"Hehehe, sorry. You're just too amusing, Maru-kun, that's why I decided to tease you a little."

"… Heh?"

"I already know about your relationship with Shidsan, so you really didn't have to panic that much… hehe."

Shirokusa was laughing. That was enough to send my spirits soaring.

A grin had just been put on that cool profile. Just imagining it gave me the urge to let out a war cry and run about in circles.

"T- That was bad, Kachi… I never knew you were that kind of person…"

"Never knew?"

"Well you always act like you hate guys in class, and basically look aloof all the time…"

"That's all your fault, Maru-kun."

"… Heh? Huh? My fault? What do you mean by that?"

"Well-"

The sound of knocking reverberated through my door, loud enough to hear.

"Haru∼! I'm going to start washing the laundry, so come down once you're done with your call∼"

Kuroha climbed down the stairs with her feet making pattering sounds.

Sigh, Kuro, your sense of timing really couldn't be more atrocious…!

My heart rate doubled as I nervously awaited Shirokusa's words, only for her to say quite indifferently, "It looks like we'll be interrupted if we continue talking like this, so why not let's talk slowly tomorrow after school?"

"… Eh?"

"Is that a no? You have other plans?"

"I don't but… you sure?"

"I am."

… Oh my god. … Oh my god! … Oh my god!!

If I thought of myself as having been rejected, I had just closed the distance between us in a huge leap though!

"Then of course I'm fine with it as well!"

"In that case I'll reserve the library prep room in advance then. I'm on good terms with the teacher in charge of the library you see, so I get to borrow the room whenever I want to have a leisurely chat with someone."

I was momentarily delighted by those words - but my enthusiasm quickly cooled.

Shirokusa always reserved the library prep room when she wanted to have a leisurely chat. Which meant there must already have been plenty of times when she "wanted to have a leisurely chat" before.

The question was who she wanted to have those leisurely chats with. If I had never thought deeper along those lines, I might have been able to remain blissfully unaware.

For with a little reasoning there was really only one answer to that mystery. Her conversation partner was - thinking logically, probably her current boyfriend Abe.

Abe and Shirokusa were both well-known personalities. For that reason it was probably necessary for them to secure a location away from the public eye to talk.

"… Damn. I'm such a moron."

Why was I so dense and simple-minded? I got as high as a kite as soon as the girl I liked acted a little friendly to me.

No matter how much fun we could have talking, Shirokusa was still dating Abe. I was only somebody she talked to to pass the time. Shirokusa's priorities were her novel-writing and her relationship with Abe; hanging out with me was something she only did within the confines of her remaining time.

"Please message me about the theme and things you would like me to put in the script, et cetera. If everything goes well I should have a simple storyline prepared by tomorrow's meeting."

Her warm and pleasant voice made my chest tighten.

Her various forward-looking suggestions were unmistakable proof that she held some affection for me.

That made it all the more painful.

"Why wasn't I able to make her mine?" - that and similar feelings bubbled out from within me.

"… You sure about this? What about your novel?"

"It's in the editing phase now, so I just happen to be free."

It would be a little excruciating to continue talking any further. Thus I sleekly brought the conversation to a close.

"Oh, that's a relief. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Eh? Err… alright, see you tomorrow."

I hung up.

I stared at my trembling hand. The fever I had while talking to her still remained.

I shook my head to get rid of it and stepped out of my room.

"Oh, Haru! This shirt has coffee on it so…"

I came across Kuroha as I exited.

I had planned to put a smile on for her, but as soon as Kuroha saw me the colour disappeared from her face and she dropped the laundry she was carrying where she stood.

"Hm, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'?"

"You look terrible, Haru."

Right now my emotions were all jumbled up.

Exhilaration and jealousy, both whirled into a confused mess. It seemed like Kuroha had seen through me once again.

"Seems I really can't hide anything from you, Kuro."

"You're just too easy to understand, Haru. The curry's almost ready, shall we go eat?"

"… Yeah."

Kuroha exuded an extremely pleasant aura. I told her about my call with Shirokusa as we ate the curry. Earlier in the heat of the moment I had lied about the call coming from Tetsuhiko… but Kuroha heard my pathetic tale from its beginning until the end in good faith all the same.

After dinner I took charge of washing the dishes while Kuroha brought out the dried laundry out of the dryer into the living room. Once done I took two ice cream bars out of the freezer and handed one to Kuroha, who took a break from folding the laundry and sat on the sofa.

"Well, I've had a few thoughts after listening to you talk, Haru."

"Oh."

I bit into my sodflavoured bar while Kuroha licked her red bean-flavoured one right next to me.

"Don't you find something fishy about Kachi-san suddenly wanting to get close to you?"

"Fishy?"

"Now more than ever, there's a lot that I still find hard to accept… In the first place, I don't trust Kachi-san at all."

She "couldn't trust" Shirokusa, huh? I had expected Kuroha to comment about something to the effect of Shirokusa still having lingering attachment to me, so those were words I wasn't expecting.

"Well, you did say that you hated Kachi, but which part don't you trust?"

"Just think about it, Haru. You're performing because you want to give Abe-senpai a smug look, right?"

"Oh-, yeah, well I suppose you're right…"

"Don't you think there's a chance Kachi-san and Abe-senpai might be teaming up in the background to set some weird trap up for you?"

I see… With my mind so set against their relationship, I hadn't really entertained that possibility at all.

"Beyond the fact that the both of them are lovers, isn't it only natural to assume that Kachi-san and Abe-senpai will be on the same wavelength? If so, chances are good Kachi-san will support Abe-senpai from the shadows. Taking all of that into consideration, doesn't Kachi-san suddenly being willing to discuss the script with you feel like a trap set by Abe-senpai?"

"Ooh, that does seem pretty likely."

I cradled my head in my hands.

"Abe-senpai has been deliberately dragging up your past, right, Haru? That means he really must be quite obsessed with you. Him using Kachi-san as bait to lure you into a trap is a development I could easily foresee. If he is indeed doing so, then right now you're just a clown who's only been too happy to take the bait, Haru."

"GaAAaaaAaaaaAaaah!"

I pounded my fist repeatedly onto the living room floor.

"You think you can get away with stepping all over a man's pure heart?! You are guiltyyyyyy! Have a taste of my revengeeeeee!"

"Alright, stoooooop!"

Kuroha grandly gestured with both her hands as if she were pacifying a horse.

"Haru, let's go back to the beginning for a minute. To the part where you said you 'wanted to make Abe-senpai speechless'. I also agree that you can only beat him by acting, but…"

"But?"

"Haru, can you even act right now?"

My breath caught.

Kuroha was my childhood friend. She knew everything there was to know about me from the start.

From my former glory, to how far I had since fallen.

"Here's what I think."

Kuroha began writing on the back of one leaflet out of a few we always kept furnished under the table in the living room with a pen.

"I think we first need to confirm if you can actually act or not, Haru. So after school tomorrow, before meeting Kachi-san, both you and Tetsuhiko-kun should come over to the gym. Anything will do, we'll just try something out on stage."

"… Well alright. … I understand."

"But-"

Kuroha curled her wavy chestnut-coloured hair multiple times around her index finger.

"To be honest, I think you're better off not acting, Haru. Even if you could, it's been quite a while since you last did, right? I also think a lot of people will come out and compare your current acting unfavourably against how you did in the past. With all that being said, are you still going to do it?"

Tetsuhiko wanted me to act. Shirokusa probably did too. Yet Kuroha was the only one who tried to stop me. Because she was truly concerned for me from the bottom of her heart.

"Thanks, Kuro. But I still don't feel right on the inside, so I think have to give it at least another shot."

In a certain way I thought the current situation could be a good catalyst.

I had wondered for a long time if I could still act or not. It was probably too late to resurrect myself now, but I felt like if I did nothing I would regret it for the rest of my life - therefore I had to put myself to the test.

"… I see."

"Well, there's a good chance I might not succeed."

Kuroha averted her gaze seemingly out of embarrassment, still twirling her hair around her finger.

"Well, even if it doesn't work out…"

"Hm?"

"Your value isn't tied only to how well you can act, Haru, and besides… I'll still like you."

"Pfft!"

I spit out my ice cream reflexively. I hurriedly picked up the chunks I had expelled onto the floor with a tissue.

"So you're embarrassed, Haru∼. How cute∼"

"Your face is super red, you know."

What are you saying when you're the one who's most embarrassed?! Of course I would be embarrassed too looking at you!

"Hm∼, what are you talking about∼? Haru, don't say that it's because of me that you're embarrassed-"

"Here, have a look in this mirror."

Kuroha finally realised how her face looked like after I thrust the mirror in front of her - red as if set ablaze by bashfulness. Kuroha then turned redder still with the colour this time extending to her ears, and buried her face in her knees.

"I, I wanna die…"

"Hmm∼? Who was the one saying things like 'How cute∼' earlier trying to act all provocative, huh?"

I tried counterattacking for once after being perpetually under siege, causing Kuroha to act unexpectedly flustered.

"S- Stop, Haruu∼! T- This is really embarrassing, okay?! P- Pleasee∼!"

"What, aren't you going to say 'I'm not going to forgive you for making fun of big sister☆' or something similar like you always do?"

"W- Well I would but… I really can't handle being countered and such, okay…?"

"What's that?"

"I'm allowed to tease you, but you're not allowed to tease me!"

"What a convenient philosophy… I'm gonn"

Kuroha had always thoroughly made a fool out of me until now. But this time was different! This was a huge opportunity for me to turn the tables!

I slid my finger smoothly across the small of Kuroha's back.

"Eek!"

The tingling sensation caused Kuroha to lift her face out of her knees. The moment I waited for arrived as I grabbed and lifted her chin.

"How's this then?"

It was a deliberate act on my part, but still I was embarrassed. From the moment I began I realised that this was the kind of stuff that would come to haunt me at night in the future as I lay awake in my bed, causing me to physically hurt from the sheer humiliation.

Kuroha's eyes widened into circles as she replied in clear confusion.

"Ooh, how bold of you, Haru. So are you… going to kiss me then?"

"Ack, Kuro… what are you saying?!"

It seemed that Kuroha had at last shaken off her earlier bashfulness, and transferred all of her defensive ability into offensive prowess.

She was preparing an all-out attack - with enough destructive power to shatter my sense of reason.

"Hehe, I'm already past the point of desperation, Haru. You can cut my flesh and break my bones. But are you brave enough to do the same?"

"… What if I said I was?"

"…………………………………………………………………………….. I'd be happy."

Oh, no! This was really very bad!

"By the way, Haru, I'm sure you already know, but we're alone in the house right now, and nobody would find it strange if I went home late."

"GaaAaaaaah! Kuro! Stop pulling the rug from under me!"

"So what if I do? You got a problem with that?"

Kuroha drew closer to me with rounded eyes signifying maximum arousal.

S- She was really going to blow me up along with herself!

"Are you trying to kill me?!"

"Of course. I've already confessed to you, Haru, so there's no way back for me now."

Wow, this was bad. I was going to fall. Fall in love with Kuro.

"… Would it be a bad thing if I did?"

I heard my heart talking.

Shirokusa now belonged to someone else. It was wrong of me to expect anything more from that quarter.

I had rejected her confession once, but Kuroha still waited for me. She still accepted me. Wouldn't it be alright then, to not worry about being discourteous and just let my impulses take over…?

But just as I thought that-

-Ding.

It was the Hotline message tone.

A last vestige of sense survived to just barely keep me from being carried away. I somehow managed to grab my phone with my hand and see that the sender was Shirokusa.

"I thought you might be wavering over what things you should send to me, so I've made a list of the information I would like. Please use it as a reference."

I talked to Shirokusa only about an hour ago. Yet here she was initiating conversation with me after having thought about various things.

I could recognise from what I could see within the display at least that Shirokusa had conducted herself with sincerity. In spite of that, was this really Abe pulling strings from the background?

Kuroha peeked at the message from behind my back.

"I still think it would be a better idea if you didn't meet Kachi-san alone tomorrow, Haru."

"… No, I've already promised her, so at any rate I'm just going to go see her tomorrow."

"…… Then at least be on your guard. Don't believe anything she says at face value. Always imagine Abe-senpai standing there behind her."

Fair enough. Kuroha was more likely to be right than I was. There was no way I could judge this from an outsider's perspective, so here I had to obediently keep Kuroha's opinions in mind.

"Got it. Thanks for looking out for me."

"No problem."

At some point the pink-tinted atmosphere from earlier had dissipated.

Kuroha neatly arranged the folded laundry and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"The toilet."

Kuroha disappeared through the door without so much as a backward glance.

"Kachi… Shirokus"

Those words were said in a voice such that I wouldn't hear.

A voice of deep resentment.

Chapter end