Chapter 5 - Introvert Guy and Barbecue (Part 1)
I've had a new problem lately. Of course, it has to do with my fiancée, Hanatsuki Miran. She is a beautiful and cheerful gyaru, popular with both men and women, loves sweets, loves fashion, is kind and gentle, loves cats, and turns out to be childish... Through dating and living together as a fiancée, I got to know many sides of Hanatsuki Miran. On the contrary, she also understood and accepted me.
"............"
Unconsciously, I became very worried about Miran. I'm curious, is that the reason?
"Miran-chan and the others are so nice, huh~"
"They seem to be used to playing together."
"Do I have to go for Miran-chan, huh?"
"I heard that Shige-senpai from the basketball club has his sights set on her."
"Really? Then I can't win. Damn!"
During the break, I could hear the trivial conversations of those flashy and stupid guys. In the past, I didn't care.
"It sucks, really..."
—But lately I've been irritated when I hear it.
"You guys take Miran too lightly...", I muttered to myself.
No one could hear my mumbling because I was face down on the table, pretending to sleep as usual, but I could hear other people's conversations.
"............"
Seriously, I've been hearing a lot of Miran-related conversations and topics lately. Or, it's more accurate to say that I've noticed them rather than spontaneously heard them. Because my fiancée, the extroverted gyaru, was so beautiful and charming, she became very popular with boys. So for a long time, I was used to hearing the words of those who wanted to be her girlfriend or play with her. However, lately, whenever such a topic comes up, I become overly sensitive and always feel angry.
"............"
Never mind. If it's just that, I can still control it. But lately other emotions have come up and tormented me. For example, in the middle of the classroom. There was a group of gyaru, led by the popular gyaru, and a group of flashy guys, chatting happily.
"Interesting, isn't it? Uww."
"Miran-chan, look at this."
"Ha-ha-ha, what's so funny?" Miran chatted happily with the flashy guys.
"............"
Every time I see this scene... Every time I heard them chatting happily, a burning and gloomy feeling arose in me.
What is this feeling? I was confused at first, but I finally found out the name of that feeling. Perhaps this feeling is called 'jealousy'.
When Miran was busy chatting with other boys, my heart was burned by the flames of frustration, impatience, and feelings of helplessness.
"What I feel is so... painful." This is what I've been experiencing lately.
An emotion I hadn't felt before was now coming out strong and powerful, making it difficult for me to deal with it.
"Miran, you are so popular..."
As I observed again while pretending to be asleep, Miran and her group of Gyaru friends were always approached by many boys from classmates, other classes, and even different grades every break. I can tell how many of them like Miran by their looks and attitudes. More than half of them.
"It's better...like this."
—Should I tell everyone that she is my fiancée?
I thought so, but when I thought about what happened afterwards, a part of me was too worried to go that far.
"Haaah..."
If only I were a cool and good guy, I wouldn't have to worry about such things, right? The reason I can't tell people around me that she's my fiancée is because I'm a boring introvert that everyone looks down on.
With that in mind, I've been thinking about it lately.
That—is there no one more suitable for Hanatsuki Miran than an introverted person like me? That's what I thought.
Miran was willing to go out with me because she was my fiancée, and she tried to understand me, but—after all, the engagement was first decided by our parents. If it is Miran, who is a beautiful gyaru and has a good personality, she should be able to choose a better man than me. I felt guilty that I had ruined her chances by making her my ‘fiancée’.
"Huh... I'm really annoying."
However, lately I've been suffering from nagging jealousy and inferiority complex. I really don't know how to deal with it.
***
"Hey, hey! What's about the holiday this time?!"
As my jealousy and inferiority complex grew, I overheard a flashy boy enthusiastically calling Miran and her friends during a break in class.
"Shall we go to the barbecue together? Shige-senpai invited us."
While I pretended to be asleep and listened to him, I giggled slightly. Here it is, the BBQ. An event synonymous with extroverted personalities. By the way, I don't have the slightest clue as to what the benefits are here. The place is already unhealthy, there are ashes and insects flying around, why would anyone want to eat like that?
"Great, there's a barbecue!"
"Who else is coming?"
Said Hanako-san, a gyaru friend who is always with Miran, and Adzuki-san, who is enthusiastic. Then Miran was asked very specifically.
"What about you, Miran-chan?"
"Barbecue, huh? I want to go anyway, but..." Miran seemed to be worried about something.
Before the fire of jealousy flared up again, I quickly put it out. No, no, Miran is free to associate with whomever she wants! Even though she went to the barbecue, I won't get angry or think she's cheating on me. I'm not jealous.
"............"
By closing my eyes, I proposed to myself. While I pretended to be asleep and continued to listen, Miran replied, "Then...".
"Can I take Shuuji with me?" she continued.
Really? I slammed my foot against the table with a thud. An unexpected deadly pass was aimed at me and I couldn't help but react.
"Shuuji? Are you serious?" The noise attracted the attention of the extroverts even more, so much so that I could hear their confusion. I felt that it would stand out even more if I was left alone, so I slowly raised my face and asked.
"Um, someone called me?"
"Yes..." replied the flashy guy who had made a look of disbelief before. I could feel the shock.
"Alright, if Miran-chan says so, then..."
Nodding like he couldn't help it, the flashy guy asked me again to confirm it.
"So, what about you? Do you want to come?"
Uwaaa, I don't really want to go! But Miran seemed to want me to come... What should I do? The barbecue was too hard for me.
"No, I..." I almost opened my mouth to say no—but I thought about it again. Immediately, something stuck in my mind.
"I heard that Shige-senpai from the basketball club has his eye on her." If I remember correctly, it was one of the boys who said something like that. Then again, that boy who invited Miran and his friends was also invited by Shige-senpai.
"Um, I'll join."
I, who was worried about Miran, announced my participation. I was surprised to realize that I had made such a decision, since I had always flatly refused barbecue events before.
"Then it's decided, right♪!" Miran replied in a cheerful tone.
Meanwhile, Hanako-san and Adzuki-san looked at me as if they suspected something, so I tried to keep my expression flat, though I didn't know if it was effective.
"I'm going to invite you all to the REIN group." The flashy guy told everyone.
"Group?"
I pulled out my smartphone and rushed to find out what he meant. Apparently, REIN has a feature that allows multiple people to communicate at the same time—but the only one who knows my REIN contacts is Miran.
"I'll invite Shuuji to the group."
I was invited into the group through Miran as an intermediary, but this made the looks of her two gyaru friends even sharper. They had suspected me from the beginning, and maybe I would be in trouble soon.
"Ugh...." looked at the group screen and couldn't help but complain a little. From what I've seen, there are quite a few barbecue members, and the number of messages and stickers is no joke. Seeing the messages and stickers flowing so quickly, I decided to learn about barbecue so as not to hinder them.
***
Lunch time came. I sat in my usual place at the back of the school building and watched the REIN group with deep emotion as their messages and stickers made a fuss.
"............"
I never imagined that there would come a time when I would mingle with such extroverts.
"Thanks for waiting, Shuuji." I heard a soothing voice that was familiar and turned my head to see my fiancée running towards me.
"Miran..."
We plan to have lunch together today. As soon as I stood up, Miran smiled and took my lunch box out of the paper bag she was carrying.
"Here, go ahead♪."
"Thank you so much ...."
My gloomy feelings disappeared immediately after I received the lunch box from Miran. We sat down together and now I could sit closer to her than ever before.
"Today's bento looks delicious too, right?"
I opened my lunch box and immediately saw a variety of colorful dishes. What's more, a beautiful gyaru is sitting next to me. It's good to have Miran to myself at school.
"----?"
Suddenly, I felt a glance and turned my head to see Miran's worried look.
"W-What's wrong?"
"About today's barbecue. I don't think Shuuji likes it." With a regretful look on her face, Miran apologized,
"I'm sorry for forcing you to come."
"N-no, it's okay, really! Don't worry about it."
I waved my arms with all my might, remembering that I had experienced this before. It was true that I was momentarily surprised when she suddenly asked me to join her, but I was the one who made the final decision.
"In my opinion, if we are going to have a barbecue, it would be more exciting if Shuuji is there."
"Miran..." Hearing her words, I suddenly felt ashamed of myself.
I decided to join because I was afraid that Shige-senpai would set his sights on Miran. Out of jealousy and inferiority, I became so petty that my feelings of joy turned to sadness.
"Miran, you don't have to worry. In fact, I am very grateful that you invited me."
Miran invited me because she wanted to be with me. Just thinking about it makes me happy. When I thanked her, Miran's face brightened and she said,
"No, actually I'm the one who should thank you for wanting to come. It feels exciting to have a barbecue with you!"
Hearing those words and looking at her expression, my gloomy and hesitant feeling turned into confidence. That's right, Miran had already taken the trouble to invite me to their event.
"I'll do my best to be useful there."
I will do my best to make Miran enjoy this event. Miran laughed when I made my decision.
"You don't have to think about being a useful person or anything like that, okay?"
Although Miran told me that, I have to try to be a useful person considering that there are other people in the group. I have to make sure not to embarrass Miran's face, who has already invited me.
"I'm really looking forward to the barbecue!"
"Yes, I'm looking forward to it..." I nodded my head and looked at Miran with a face full of excitement.
After lunch, Miran, who had something to do with her friends, went back to the classroom first. I spent some time at the back of the school building, watching the REIN group and looking for information about the barbecue.
As the end of my lunch break approached, I walked down the hall to get back to the classroom.
"Hey! Wait!" A loud male voice came from somewhere.
That voice sounded familiar. Come to think of it, there were more voices,
"Wait!"
As I remembered a few days ago, he was holding my shoulders.
"Don't ignore me!"
I turned around and it was the flashy senpai who warned me before. And it turned out that he was the one who called me again.
"W-What is it?"
I can guess what he will say, but I will ask anyway. As for the answer, he made a face of disgust instead.
"I heard you were coming to the barbecue."
"Um, yeah..."
Uwaa, did this flashy senpai come to the barbecue as well? Immediately, the atmosphere became dull.
"Also, it seems that Miran is the one who invited you. What does that mean?"
"Well, it means she's a kind-hearted person who cares about introverts like me, right?"
I answered with a joke, because it was a question that my former introverted self couldn't handle.
He, who didn't like my reaction, stuck his tongue out at me.
"Don't be happy yet, you introvert!"
He who raised his eyebrows asked me glaringly,
"Are you having a relationship with Miran-chan?"
"Although you said so—" When I avoided him, he mocked me.
"Yes, that's right haha, it's impossible for her to have a relationship with a boring man like you."
This senpai is so annoying and boring!
On the other hand, we attracted the attention of the students more than expected. Noticing this, he let me go, saying, "Never mind, don't bother me that day," and then left.
I looked at his long back and sighed inwardly.
"............"
It seems that I've made the right decision to leave, because there are such people among those extroverts.
***
Despite all this, the D-day of the barbecue is approaching. After returning home, I watched barbecue videos every day, read articles on the Internet, and studied the outdoor books I borrowed from the library. Finally, the night before D-day, I received a REIN message from Miran.
From her REIN message it is also clear that Miran is looking forward to it.
"Miran..."
I was worried because it was the first time in my life that I was going to have a barbecue with so many people, but of course I was also excited because I was going to play with this gyaru, who was my fiancée. While I imagined Miran's smile in my mind, I answered her so that we could enjoy tomorrow's barbecue more.
The message was immediately answered—
"How am I supposed to answer that?"
I looked at Miran's suggestion and thought about it. I really wanted to go together, but Miran's gyaru friends were already suspicious of our relationship, and it would be bad if that boring senpai saw us too. After thinking about it, I replied—
[TN: Sorry the font of the chat seems to be quite inconsistent, my illust-editor might be a bit sleepy there, and why I didn't notice it before lol]
Enthusiastically, I studied about the barbecue once again.
TL:
YouthTL (JP-ID), Retallia (ID-EN)
PF & ED: Retallia