CH#281
#281
** : Yes this is the correct chapter! Chapter no. 280 was missing from the source, so Iām keeping it like that.**
The enjoyable days and the difficult days, they all lead to a single destination. Whether itās good fortune or bad, no one knows the outcome that awaits at the end of the road.
With the start of the new year, the third term has arrived for us students.
Itās a short semester for summarizing the entire year, but itās also a term of farewells.
We bid farewell to our classmates, our seniors, and our friends. Itās the last bit of time before we all go our separate ways.
Even if itās a precious time spent with someone important, people often donāt realize it as time passes by, going unnoticed.
In the approximately ten months since last April, Iāve interacted with various people and experienced school life, something I had previously avoided. And Iāve given my student life a chance to experience changes.
All the effort I put into thinking that everything was a hassle, unnecessary, or conducting futile mental debates where there were no benefits for myself, it was all just exhausting and unproductive.
Relationships are tiring.
I realized that Iām not the main character; those around me are. I had spent so long with a skewed perspective, unable to consider myself as the protagonist.
But there are people with whom you can truly be yourself without any reservations. I suppose true friendships must have sprouted from such relationships.
Iāve come to know that such people exist, but I havenāt acquired them yet. However, I feel like Iām getting closer.
Iām convinced that the members of the Sakuranaoka Gakuen Student Council will undoubtedly be among the few people I can introduce as my friends in the future.
No matter the nature of our relationships, there will come a time when I can genuinely say that Ogiwara Yuuto Ogiwara is my true friend.
Through the experiences of last year and the events early in the new year, I came to this realization.
Yet, there is still something I donāt understand.
The most important and sought-after emotion for me right now.
I donāt yet understand what it means to truly love someone.
What love, romantic feelings, and all that entails are, I have knowledge and understanding of these concepts from observing othersā relationships and from general knowledge.
But I still donāt know the difference between the love I feel for my family and the love I might feel for someone else.
What distinguishes them, and why are they different?
Discovering this is the theme that has remained with me since my childhood friend Kanazaki Shizuku and my classmate Kirasaka Rei confessed their feelings to me.
I want to know.
If I could understand a love thatās different from family love, could I break free from this dull, hopeless life? Perhaps love is the one thing that brings colour and meaning to this monochrome, unequal world, where I donāt know what to aim for.
With this faint hope comes a swirl of guilt within my chest. Guilt for not being able to provide an answer to the person who expressed their affection through words and actions.
Perhaps they donāt think like that. Maybe my words about not yet understanding the difference between love for others and love for family served as an answer to them.
However, I donāt believe Iāve reached a satisfying answer. Iām determined to provide clear answers through my actions and words.
Iāve also sensed that time is running out, and the third term is the period where I need to find one of the answers.
Why do I fixate on the third term?
Itās because itās the remaining time for another important person.
Akane Hiiragi.
The former student council president of Sakuranaoka gakuen, someone known by all the current students.
She embodies the phrase āperfect humanā with her outstanding grades and popularity, and sheās about to leave this school.
No one can stop her. Thereās an absolute reason for this.
In a way, sheās one of the people who has reached out to me. Her reasons are somewhat different, but someone who is expected more than anyone else canāt choose a partner who seeks tranquility and the like, especially when it comes to their family.
Those reasons, plus thereās also a connection between our parents and the arranged marriage thereafter.
I also need to find an answer for her. The problems are piling up.
ā¦Mostly because Iām creating these problems, so itās my own fault, but I have to settle everything during this third term.
Otherwise, I canāt take a new step.
Even though the new daily routine is already beginning, I remained unchanged, looking around the classroom from my window-side seat at the back.
Kirasaka was sitting next to me, and Shizuku was in the seat across from me. I couldnāt even remember who usually sat in that seat.
Both of them were wearing the hairbands and hairpins I gave them for Christmas.
Seeing that, I couldnāt help but smile without anyone noticing.
Iām gladā¦ they liked them enough to wear them to school.
āHey, Minato-kun, were you listening?ā
āMmā¦ I was.ā
Without thinking too much about it, I was just gazing at the class as a whole and the two of them. After all, we were in the middle of a conversation about the third term.
Noticing this, Shizuku puffed out her cheeks and Kirasaka next to me let out a sigh.
āYouāre definitely lying, you were lost in thought again.ā
āThatās badā¦ you should listen carefully till the end.ā
I had intended to mislead them, but the two of them assured me that they had found out, so I apologized without making any lame excuses and then turned my attention back to the two of them.
A piece of paper with the schedule for the third term, distributed by the teacher, was placed at the center of the desk.
Come to think of it, did we discuss how to spend the third term, going out, and school events?
As I reorganized the information about the third term, a couple of other students approached us.
āAre you three trying to have secret talks in the morning without even asking us?ā
āThatās not a nice way to put it, Ogiwara-kun.ā
Approaching us are Yuuto and Miyashita. They each have bags hanging from their shoulders, suggesting that theyāve just arrived at school.
Judging by their different home directions, itās likely they either met at the school gate or bumped into each other on the way. Iām speculating about this when Yuuto casually provides an answer.
āI bought lunch from the store in the shopping district today, and it just so happened that Miyashita-san was there buying from the same place. Their bentos are really delicious, right?ā
āEh, oh, yeah, theyāre delicious.ā
Miyashita, taken by surprise from the question, hesitates for a moment before responding.
Ah, I see.
Recently, or more precisely, since the school trip, these two have been actively keeping in touch. So today, they decided to buy lunch from the shop in the shopping district. Miyashita, who has a crush on Yuuto, was probably waiting there to create a coincidental encounter.
In the first place, not many of our students use the shopping district we do. Itās far from the station, and most of the stores are old, making it unpopular among young people.
Not just me, but Shizuku and Kirasaka also seem to have sensed something in the twoās conversation, as they both make a subtle āAhā and remain quiet.
I wonder if women have a slightly different perception compared to mine. Iām curious for a moment, but considering the current situation, I canāt bring up the topic. So, I continue to watch outside the window until the conversation resumes.
Spring has passed, summer ended, and autumn arrived. Winter is here. Human nature rarely changes dramatically. Iām likely to continue avoiding trouble in the third term and be passive about socializing.
Yet, in this newly begun daily life, a slight smile graces my lips. Well, with these folks around, itās sure to be an interesting third term that wonāt be boring.
Archived Comments
Mirilu (on 2023-10-29 23:38:18):
281 chapters and finally an actual promise towards the romance route rather than just MCās character development. Iām pretty sure Akane is a losing heroine tho.