Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Kiro
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Side Story 2
Author Note:
It’s the second half. The extra chapter ends here for a moment.
I have written several side story chapters, so maybe I will release them eventually.
Hospital waiting room.
I was alone, thinking there.
The reason? Arisu-chan collapsed.
On her way home, she fell down without being able to get down the stairs of the school building.
After that, on her way to the school gate, while dragging her feet, her body reached its limit and collapsed.
By the time I saw her fall down the stairs, I already expected that.
Since I already assumed the worst pattern, I was quick to take action after that.
I called an ambulance using my smartphone and called 119.
After contacting Arisu-chan’s father, I followed her to the hospital.
Mr. Sakayanagi came in looking extremely flustered and went into the back to talk to the doctor at the hospital.
I was told to wait in the waiting room, so I just waited without doing anything in particular.
The treatment was successfully completed.
Immediately after hearing that from the nurse, Mr. Sakayanagi came again.
He looked very tired, but he looked a little relieved when he saw me.
[“Please take care of her. It’s regrettable, but it’s something only you can do.”]
I didn’t quite understand the meaning of the words he said to me.
Then after he thanked the nurse, he hurriedly got into the taxi.
So he left his work to come here… thank you for your hard work.
And return to the present.
I heard there was no danger to her life and her condition was stable.
Although I was relieved, it also made me wonder what to do from now on.
Would it be better to meet her once?
My footsteps echoed in the large hospital ward.
It seemed that Arisu-chan would be hospitalized for a while from today.
While I asked myself whether this action was correct, I headed for her hospital room.
I proceeded to the place where I asked the receptionist with quick steps.
My feet suddenly stopped in front of the private room for the patient.
…Arisu-chan was beyond here.
I was reconsidering. Was it better for me to quietly leave here?
Taking such intrusive action would go against Arisu-chan’s orders.
In the first place, not only would she be unhappy about it, she might even hurl insults at me.
I turned around and reconsidered whether I should leave.
At that moment, I heard a voice.
“P-please wait…”
“Eh?”
A stupid noise came out of me due to the sudden words.
The one who stopped me was…
“Arisu-chan?”
Since it came to this, there was no point in hiding anymore.
I entered and saw Arisu-chan’s appearance.
She had bloodshot eyes and they were dripping with tears.
Don’t tell me, has she been crying ever since she regained consciousness?
Her body was full of injuries, which made her appearance even more painful to see.
I couldn’t feel her usual confident atmosphere at all. So much so that I would believe it if someone told me she was a different person.
“…Sorry, I guess you find it uncomfortable seeing me visit you.”
Arisu-chan had cut ties with me.
She must have felt annoyed seeing me appear like this. I was able to confirm she was safe, so I was thinking of going home.
However, Arisu-chan stopped me from doing so.
“Please don’t go…”
“What’s the matter all of a sudden?”
“Everything is my fault. I will do anything as long as you are willing to forgive me. So please…”
I’m begging you, please don’t abandon me.
She begged me with a tearful voice, which moved my heart.
“Okay, Arisu-chan. As long as you still need me, I’ll stay by your side.”
Understanding Arisu-chan’s intentions, I let out a big sigh. I guess I would return to being her servant.
I would respect her decision… but was this really okay?
“T-thank you very much, Haruto-kun… I know it might be too late for me to say this after all that I said and did to you all this time, but please let me say it. I’m terribly sorry.”
Arisu-chan’s figure as she bowed her head while sitting on her bed seemed painful and made me feel apologetic instead.
…I really didn’t want to see her crying like this.
I wish she had her usual fearless smile that was both cute and hateful.
I realized I couldn’t hate Arisu-chan regardless of what she did.
Even after she pushed me away coldly, here I was, coming to check on her.
The fact my feet brought me all the way here was the best proof.
Arisu-chan’s body was trembling. Perhaps she was feeling terribly anxious.
I embraced her tightly and rubbed her back, and she immediately stopped crying.
I thought this would be better than using words to convey my intention.
“It’s okay, it’s fine.”
“…No matter how many times I look back, I realize my actions were the worst. Even so, can you still forgive me?”
“Of course.”
Fine. Now that it came to this, I would accompany her all the way.
Until the day she could graduate from me in the truest sense… until I could find someone worthy to entrust Arisu-chan to, I would never make her cry like this again. I would do my best so both of us could part with a smile in the future.
“Thank you, very much… I won’t ever forget about today.”
It seemed Arisu-chan calmed down as life returned to her eyes.
Her tears stopped and her complexion turned for the better.
“Somehow, hearing Arisu-chan saying thank you feels ticklish.”
“…Aah, so I was really such a terrible person.”
Arisu-chan had a bitter smile as she said that.
Hey, so she never noticed it before. That was the first time she ever said thanks to me.
Even so, I was surprised by her sudden change. Was it that hard for her to suddenly be alone?
For a while, I continued to embrace her without saying anything.
Arisu-chan, who buried her face in peace, was very cute.
Looking at the clock, it was already time to leave.
Since I couldn’t afford to bother the nurse, I prepared to go home.
“I’ll visit again tomorrow.”
“What about school?”
“I’ll skip it. There’s no way I can afford to go to school when my precious princess is in this state.”
At that time, I thought Arisu-chan had regained herself considerably.
I made an incorrect estimate of how much damage her mind had suffered.
“Thank you very much. You are really a gentle person. Because you are like that, I…”
“You don’t have to worry about it anymore. The matter is already over in my mind.”
On the next day, I learned that she still hadn’t recovered yet.
After returning home, my father, who was unusually at home, asked me various questions.
What would I do for the future course? What do I want to do with Arisu-chan?
In order to respond to my father’s serious attitude, I spoke honestly without hiding anything.
Advanced Nurturing High School. Anyway, I didn’t want to go to this school.
I, who hadn’t experienced a decent youth and instead lived a life full of part-time jobs in my previous life, yearned for a normal high school life.
I didn’t feel much charm in that high school, which was far from normal.
I didn’t seek meritocracy. I wanted to live the same life as many high school students all over the nation.
But since my relationship with Arisu-chan had rekindled, that was unfortunately unachievable.
If she went to a normal high school, she would have to experience a similar experience for another three years.
I had no idea how painful it was, but there was no doubt it was boring.
My father asked me: [“Is it necessary for you to bend your will to match Arisu-chan?”]
I replied that since she was someone I should protect, it couldn’t be helped.
When my father heard my answer, he was angry, which was unusual for him.
I knew well that he didn’t think well of Arisu-chan’s attitude until now.
…Even so, he still didn’t force us apart.
My angry father was quite stubborn. This person hardly changed his opinion after he first set it.
In the worst case, I might be forced to separate from Arisu-chan or have her go with me to the high school I wanted to enroll in.
I guess that’s the only way… such was what I thought.
However, his demeanor took a sudden turn and changed 180 degrees immediately after a telephone call from Arisu-chan’s father.
[“Haruto. It seems I’ve been underestimating you. I knew it would eventually end up like this someday, but to think it came in this form… aah, that was interesting. For him, it must have been something like a lightning strike in a clear sky.”]
I had no idea what he found interesting, but my father laughed loudly while holding onto his stomach.
In the end, my father allowed me to go to the same high school as Arisu-chan.
That was a surprising result, but how should I say this, I guess it couldn’t be helped.
He also told me that I could drop out of the school at any time if I ever got bored of it, so I should just accept it.
I switched my thoughts and decided on my course.
The next day.
I had been at the hospital since morning.
I thought it should be okay to visit at noon, judging from Arisu-chan’s state yesterday, yet I couldn’t help but be concerned about her, so I decided to come by at the beginning of visiting hours in the end.
When I entered the hospital room, I saw Arisu-chan had a blank expression on her face.
Oi oi, was she really okay?
“Ah.”
The moment she spotted me, tears overflowed from Arisu-chan’s eyes.
Didn’t that make it look like I was the one who made her cry?
When I sat next to the bed, she held my hand.
This was the first time I was treated like a lover.
“Good morning.”
“…Haruto-kun, you actually came.”
She stared at me while our right hands clasped together. Her tear-stained face was so cute that I couldn’t help but admire it. It couldn’t be helped that my heart pounded when she did this.
But really, what happened to her?
“Is it better to leave our hands clasped?”
Arisu-chan nodded. Her expression turned gloomy when I tried to let go, so I asked to make sure.
Apparently, this princess sought human warmth.
“Thank you very much.”
Even though I didn’t do much, I received words of thanks.
Was she still bothered by what I said yesterday?
Since then, I continue to talk with Arisu-chan.
It might be surprising, but we never had a chance to look back on our past before.
With that in mind, I brought up the subject and said things that happened in the past but,
“I’m terribly sorry. That’s right, I did such a terrible thing back then…”
That was how she responded. It sounded as if I was trying to blame her for what happened in the past.
I didn’t bring up the topic because I hated her for what she did… but it seemed Arisu-chan found everything that happened in the past as something she ought to apologize for.
This was no good. Bringing further burden to a patient couldn’t be a healthy visit for the sick.
But before I changed the subject, I had to tell her one thing.
“Arisu-chan. I didn’t bring up the topic because I hate Arisu-chan’s past behavior. That’s why, please behave as you usually would. I understand that you are grateful for me, and even if you weren’t reflecting on your past behavior, it is enough as long as you understand that internally.”
So please, don’t be that considerate.
I couldn’t help but feel weird seeing her keep apologizing like that.
“Behave as I usually would, is it…? I understand.”
It seemed she finally understood.
After that, although she didn’t behave exactly as before, she returned to the usual Arisu-chan.
Finally, I was able to put an end to the awkward atmosphere.
…Hm?
It seemed I fell asleep before I knew it.
I felt something warm on my head.
“You are awake. Good morning.”
It seemed Arisu-chan had been patting my head all this time.
It was quite embarrassing, but it made me pretty happy.
…She really has changed.
“Sorry sorry, I guess it’s weird for me to sleep when I come to visit.”
“You really helped me just by coming here.”
She told me something that made me happy again. This was no good.
It would make it hard to let go of someone this cute someday.
When I looked outside, it was already dark.
As for the time… the visiting hours ended at 8 pm, which was only in 10 minutes.
I should leave now. I will visit tomorrow again anyway, so it should be okay.
Before I returned, I asked one thing I wanted to confirm.
“Let me confirm again. Arisu-chan chose not to cut your ties with me. It means you’ve judged that you need me as your servant from now on. Are you really okay with this?”
“Of course it is. I will never treat you as a servant ever again, though. Haruto-kun is someone I absolutely need. I’m nothing but a weak person who can’t live on without your support.”
…I thought she would never refer to herself as a weak person for her whole life.
I guess what happened before was something harsh for Arisu-chan that was enough to break her mind.
I resolved to support her more firmly than ever until the time she could recover.
Because this girl, Sakayanagi Arisu, was someone I should protect.
Author Note:
The reason I post this side story is that upon rereading volume 4 of the light novel, I realized I misunderstood the exam rules I have written in the upcoming chapter, so I would have to rewrite it.
I think I will be able to release a chapter by the day after tomorrow.
Anyway, the original author who could come up with and operate such a game is amazing.
Arisu-chan actually liked Karuizawa quite a lot.
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