“That said...his lack of social experience and interpersonal skills shows in everything he says and does, so I thought he was probably a student who doesn’t have a lot of friends. Also, I figured that all of the equipment for his streaming setup was probably bought for him by his parents.” Orihara-san was saying some pretty nasty things...perhaps because she was excited? Ura was faking an emotionless expression, but he kind of looked like he was about to cry.
“I can’t believe the real Uranus-sama is here! I have to give him a donation! I have to send him a donation so he says my name!”
“Calm down, Orihara-san!” I quickly discouraged her as she started to pull a ten-thousand-yen bill out of her wallet, and Orihara-san then came back to her senses.
“Oh... S-Sorry... I was just so excited that I felt this urge to throw my money at him...”
...So, she’s gotten pretty tainted by that type of environment, huh... I wonder if she’s okay? Orihara-san has quite a bit of money, so this scares me.
“Anyway... Let’s put aside our excitement for now and settle down. We came here today to have a serious conversation, after all.”
“...You’re right. I’m sorry,” Orihara-san apologized. Then, after shifting her gaze around awkwardly, she said, “Um... I’ll just go wait downstairs after all. It looked like Ura-kun’s mother was making some tea, so I’ll go and help her out,” and left the room like she was making an escape.
Hmm... I feel kind of bad. I didn’t really back her up even though I made her come along on my business. Now I’m making her go this way and that because I couldn’t predict how she’d behave at Ura’s house. I should reflect on this.
Anyway, now that Orihara-san was gone, it was just Ura and I in the room, and that was all it took to make the mood feel a little heavy.
“Have a seat.” Ura pulled out a cushion and urged me to sit down. As I did, he sat down on his bed so as to look down on me from a higher position. It was a more comical situation than I’d expected, but from here on out we had to have a serious conversation. We had to get serious, even if by force.
“Ura—”
“I’m not taking part in the school festival,” Ura said suddenly. He interrupted me like he was trying to beat me to the punch and kill my enthusiasm. “Well...I’ll go to school when I feel like going. I’m not so immature that I’m going to shut myself up in my room forever. However, I’m not going to participate in the school festival.”
“...Why not?”
“Why not? I already told you all about that, didn’t I? I don’t care.” Then, in a terrible, cold voice, Ura said, “I only took part in that whole stupid school festival event on a whim. Now I’m stopping because I don’t feel like it anymore. That’s all. All of it was just on a whim. Don’t get so serious about it.”
“You’re the class representative. Everyone will be in trouble if you aren’t there.”
“...I don’t care about them. They’re just getting along because they’re excited for the festival. I’m sure that they all think I’m just some kind of convenient tool they can push all of the annoying work onto.” As usual—actually, more than was usual—Ura was spitting venom.
I let out a deep breath. “I heard about what happened yesterday after school from Ibusuki.”
“What?!”
“That’s the reason, right? That’s the reason you skipped school today and said you don’t care about the school festival.”
“That damn woman...” Ura gritted his teeth and clenched his fists on his lap. “...Don’t get me wrong, I don’t give a crap about her.”
“Ura...”
“I don’t have the slightest interest in her. She’s not even on my radar. Actually, the next time you say that woman’s name I won’t let it slide, even if it’s you... If you so much as whisper it I swear I’ll—”
“Ura!” I raised my voice, causing Ura to cower in fear. His threatening expression had changed to one of fright. I glared at him and asked, “How long are you going to act stubborn like this?”
“...”
“Don’t try to act all cool in front of me. Just how long do you think we’ve known each other? Relax and tell me how you really feel...”
“...”
After that, Ura silently looked down at the floor. I didn’t say anything as I waited for him to speak. Then, after a few long seconds that felt like an eternity, Ura started groaning as he hung his head and pounded his fists on his bed over and over again. “Damn it... Damn it...” He continued to pound his fists again and again. “What the hell, damn it?! What’s wrong with me liking her?!” He yelled like a desperate man, then fell back on his bed and looked up. He then hid his face with both hands, probably because he didn’t want to be seen by me.
Just now, Ura admitted it. He admitted that he loves Ibusuki. I know all too well how much courage it took and just how emotionally draining it was for him to tell me that.
“I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it.”
“Crap! Crap... Why... Why am I like this?! Why do I fall in love with people so easily?!” His howling cry was mixed with sobs. “I should have known that woman only bothered with me because she’s kind! I should have known she only did it on a whim! It’s easy for someone like that to ask for your phone number and even make physical contact with you. I should have known that mistaking stuff like that for affection and getting all excited about it was the stupidest thing I could do...”
In a voice mixed with misery and regret, Ura spoke his innermost thoughts and hidden feelings that he didn’t want to show to anyone. “I had hoped... I mean, we went to Round One and the summer festival together! So, somewhere along the way, I started to think that she might have feelings for me.”