Chapter 175Release and Farewell
"That's impossible, that's impossible."
It could be said that Yuki-chan, who repeatedly made statements like this and looked at me as if I were her enemy, had fully recovered. Her fighting power is incomparable to the previous one. Who can change Yuki-chan, who has deepened her love for the sibling relationship and made me her mysterious teacher?
I'll leave the rest to the PTA or FBI.
To make her mood more ease, I dragged her to our classroom with the help of Ichinose-san and Sasaki-san. At first, she showed some resistance, but when I hinted at Sasaki's presence, she obeyed like a borrowed cat and said, "H-Hmph! I'm not following Sajou-san just because you brought me here, okay?" She turned into an obedient teenage girl. How strange... ...Although she said so in a tsundere manner, but I didn't feel any affection from her at all.
Yuki-chan let out an inarticulate squeal when she saw Sasaki wearing a Shepherd costume through our classroom window. She took out her selfie camera, which we didn't know where she had hidden all this time, and took pictures of Sasaki with her smartphone from all angles. It was so intense that we had to pretend to be someone else, and we finally let Yuki-chan go. We vowed to never cross paths with her again. The bitter look on Sasaki's face when he realized Yuki-chan's presence emphasized this sequence of events.
"It's already a bit late, though... ...What should we do? Sasaki-san, do you still want to join us?"
"No, wait a minute..."
When I asked Sasaki-san about whether she wanted to participate in the riddle competition, she didn't seem to respond too positively. Sasaki-san who tends to enjoy everything. She seemed absent-minded because she couldn't compensate for the distance between her and Yuki-chan in middle school. On the other hand, Ichinose-san stood beside Sasaki-san, as if nothing had happened. I think she might have lost her memory of what just happened. It was indeed her great defense instinct, and it was a bad incident...
Shall we take a break for a while? That's right, the way they looked at each other showed that they all agreed.
♦
The classroom next to ours was the rest area. There were rows of portable seats lined up neatly, with only two Class 1-B students standing at the end. The official rest areas are in the cafeteria or schoolyard, but this place is less crowded, so students can rest more easily. In a sense, this might be the best solution. Since there were no possible performances here, most students were able to enjoy the Cultural Festival to the fullest. Isn't this a good thing for first-year students to do every year?
I sat in the center of the empty seat next to two girls who were sitting around holding their juices in their hands.
"What do you think? Did you enjoy the Cultural Festival?"
"Eh, oh, yeah...!"
"..."
Who was I talking to? When I asked this with my guilty conscience to Sasaki-san, she answered me in a very mature way. I let a middle school girl, who looks like a college girl, act like an adult. I don't think I'll be able to go to heaven even if I pass away. Out of everything here, the thing that has the most aggressive attack power is Ichinose-san's gaze. I'm sorry, I think I'm still a century too early to act as a senpai.
I cleared my throat to cover it up and apologized to her in a normal way.
"Forgive us... ...We could only take you around to a few places. In the end, we ended up at the back of the school building, which neither of us really understand."
"It's okay, it's okay, though, I enjoyed it, and I got to see the field and gymnasium too while we were looking for Yuki-chan!"
Eh...? ...Are you looking for her that far? Your searching area is much wider than mine....
I was so disappointed with the result that I couldn't even show my face to her as a boy, let alone as a senpai. All I could do was buy the two of them some juice from the vending machine. If that's the case, I can leisurely look around the gymnasium and other similar places.... Yuki-chan is also my kouhai, and I think, as a senpai, I should be able to control her from that aspect as well... ...But right now I've released her...
"─In addition, I was also able to reconfirm that Sajou-senpai and Mina-senpai are indeed enrolling in this high school in this way."
"..."
Kyuu — Eh, why is this girl too nice...?
I really can't believe that she's a middle school student. In fact, she hasn't been forced to take drugs somewhere and turned into a little girl with the appearance of a little girl and the brain of an adult, has she? No, come to think of it, she does look like an adult too. She's also an adult in body and soul. Why is she still a middle school student? Why was she so reluctant to let me overlook the possibility that she was a college girl?
Ichinose-san also stared at Sasaki-san with a mesmerized expression on her face. I think Ichinose-san wants to be Sasaki-san's little sis. Just in case Sasaki-san can take the place of Bear-san-senpai.
"Please reconsider and try to get enrolled in our high school by any means..."
"Eh...!? Y-Yeah!"
She is the kind of top-notch kouhai that I am looking forward to as a student this year.
On behalf of the senpai-s at Kōetsu High School and its management representatives, I would like to express our sincere wishes. If I were the Principal, I probably would have acted immediately and confirmed that fact to Sasaki-san, who might have chosen another high school of her choice. I would even be willing to convince her parents to have her enrolled in this school.
I had at least tried to keep myself sane by imagining Sasaki-san's actual age in my head. Just as I was about to reach some sort of epiphany, I noticed the wall clock above the blackboard.
♦
I walked Sasaki-san go in front of the school gate, as I observed the flow of the departing crowd. Sasaki-san showed regret as if she had left an amusement park, and the way she cutely said "I don't want to go home yet..." to Ichinose-san, was perfect for my SAN value. Thankfully, now I can still see her as a middle school student.
"Come back here anytime. There's no need to worry, it's just that we might not notice that Sasaki-san is here."
"N-No, that's not good..."
It seemed that I also felt sad that I had to say goodbye to her. Of course, I naturally teased Sasaki-san and led her down the naughty girl path. Maybe it's because I've been in contact with Yuki-chan so much that my sense of ethics started to crumble. This was the first time I received tsukkomi from Ichinose-san.
"I'll make sure... ...I'll pass the Kōetsu High School entrance exam and show you two!"
Sasaki-san showing that kind of determination, I can only imagine a future where Sasaki-san will get accepted to this high school. I think she studied hard, so I don't think she'll fail. I don't think I need to say "Do your best!" to her here. I guess it's okay if I just stay strong as her senpai — If she doesn't get accepted here next year, I might just cry.
"In that case, be careful—"
"Oh!? You guys are here!!!"
"...!?"
"Eh...?"
As we were about to head back before dark, I saw a shadow running towards me very quickly. It was Ashida who was still wearing her Volleyball Club uniform. She looked around frantically and shouted as if she had finally found me, but somehow her face looked happy. The moment her eyes met mine, she jumped at me — Eh!? Why!?
"Yeay!!!"
"Whoa!?"
Somehow I managed to catch the bullet's parry, which had already reached the level of suspension. With that momentum, it sent me off the top of the large cobblestone sidewalk beside the school gate, and I skidded toward the gravel road, but somehow, I managed to stop. I hug her, regardless of whether the other party here is a girl or not, but Ashida doesn't seem to mind at all. She mischievously crossed her arms properly to protect her chest... ...I really can't understand her at all.
"Hey, Ashida...! Why are you suddenly doing this—?"
"Yeay!!!"
"Huh...!?"
The Sunshine, Ashida, suddenly broke her hug from me and embraced Ichinose-san, this time with a tight hug. The interpersonal skills that Ichinose-san had worked so hard to hone seemed to be useless in Ashida's forced, overly tight hug.
—Ashida and Ichinose-san, you say...?
I couldn't help but feel surprised by the sudden birth of a new friendship. My "friendship" sensor began to detect it on full alert. My brain was full of wandering thoughts about combinations that I had never imagined before. And in the end, I concluded.
—Yin and Yang cannot be combined.
"Ashida! What the heck are you doing here? Ichinose-san doesn't like it, you know!"
"That's not true! Isn't that so? Ichinose-chan!"
"No...!"
"Gahn!?"
Ichinose-san, who had slipped out of Ashida's arms, closed her eyes, then hid behind Sasaki-san, who was standing right in front of her. Ashida's reaction was as if he had been attacked by a thug, and he looked surprised in an understandable way. Just realize! You should lower your yokya level by three levels and start again from the beginning.
"You're too excited... ...Seriously, what do you really want to do here?"
"N-No. When I heard Aichi tell me about Sajocchi and the others, I thought I had no choice but to go after you guys, as well."
"You have no choice but to go after us as well? Why, though?"
"Hehe."
I was so annoyed.⭐
I've never felt so provoked to this extent in my entire life, right? Even though I had suppressed my sentimental farewell with Sasaki-san. If things turn out like this, I'll grab her by the neck and hand her over to the Cultural Festival Executive Committee... ...—That's not good. I can only imagine a future where Natsukawa and Ashida are flirting.
"—You're Sasaki-san, aren't you?"
"Eh, Y-Yeah!"
So, an active girl don't have blind spots, huh? As I felt overwhelmed by this senseless world, Ashida turned her body position towards Sasaki-san as if she was trying to regain her composure. After she straightened her posture, she turned her hips to the right angle and extended her right hand towards Sasaki-san.
"When you've been accepted to this school, make sure to join the Volleyball Club, okay...!"
"Eh...!?"
Isn't that against the rules?
TL Note: As the title implies, this is the last appearance of Sasaki-san, so let's say goodbye to this character for the last time. Goodbye, Sasaki Fuuka-chan!
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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