My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected / My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected Chapter 42

Please, that brought back bad memories, so don't ever call me a germ. Elementary school kids were cruel. The moment I so much as touched a classmate, they'd scream things like, "It's Hikigaya Germ!" "I touched him!" or "I've already activated my barrier!" There was even, "Barriers don't work against Hikigaya Germ." Just how powerful was this germ supposed to be?

"But when you say your sister came home late, how late are we talking? I often got home pretty late myself, and after starting high school, that shouldn't be too unusual, right?"

"Y-Yeah, that's true..."

Faced with Yuihama's question, Taishi averted his eyes and stammered. He was probably embarrassed because this older girl was too sexy. That was a normal reaction for a middle school boy, but now that I was in high school, I felt there was no need to hold back when talking to a slut.

"But she often didn't come home until after five in the morning."

"That was basically dawn..."

That only left two hours for sleep. No wonder she was late.

"Didn't your parents say anything about your sister coming home at dawn?"

"Um... both my parents work, and there are younger brothers and sisters at home, so they don't pay much attention to her. Besides, since my sister comes home at that hour, she hardly ever runs into them... Anyway, when there are lots of kids in a family, all sorts of problems come up."

Totsuka asked with a worried expression, and Taishi was able to answer his question smoothly. Yeah, it seemed middle school boys still didn't understand Totsuka's appeal. Unlike me, a high schooler, who thought he was super cute.

"Even when they do run into each other, all they do is argue. And if I say anything to my sister, she always stubbornly says it's none of my business..."

Taishi's shoulders slumped. He had no idea what to do.

"Every family has its own problems..."

An unprecedented shadow crossed Yukino's face. She looked like she was about to cry, just like Taishi as he poured out his troubles to us—if not even worse.

"Yukino..."

As I called out to her, a cloud outside the window happened to block the sun, casting the room into shadow. I couldn't make out her expression as she lowered her head. All I could tell from her limp shoulders was that she let out a faint sigh.

"What is it?"

When she raised her head again, her usual cold expression had returned. She looked no different from normal.

The sun had only been hidden by the clouds for an instant. At the time, I had no idea what that sigh of hers meant.

I seemed to be the only one who noticed the change in Yukino. Taishi and the others continued their conversation.

"And not just that... Lately, I've been getting calls from strange places asking for my sister."

At that, a question mark practically appeared above Yuihama's head.

"Strange places?"

"Yeah. I think it was called something 'Angel'... I guess it was a shop... And it was the manager calling."

"What's so strange about that?"

At Totsuka's question, Taishi immediately slammed his hand onto the table with a bang.

"Th-That shop was called 'Angel'! It had to be a suspicious place!"

"Huh? I don't think so at all..."

Yuihama recoiled slightly and remained unconvinced, but I understood perfectly.

This was intelligence from my "chuunibyou smut detector." For example, if you put the word "Angel" together with "Kabukicho," didn't the eroticism immediately jump by fifty percent? Add something like "Super" to it, and it went up another forty percent.

Needless to say, it was definitely in the sex industry.

For a kid to notice that, he had potential.

"Taishi, anyway, calm down. I understand all of this very well."

Hearing someone validate his thoughts, Taishi happily wiped at the corners of his heated eyes and excitedly tried to throw himself at me.

"B-Brother!"

"Hahaha, don't call me Brother. I'll kill you."

And so, a bond named "eroticism" officially formed between two men. At the same time, the others calmly discussed what to do next.

"Either way, we first need to find out where she works. Even if the place isn't as dangerous as those two idiots say, working until dawn is still highly unusual. We need to investigate as soon as possible and persuade her to quit."

"Yeah... but if we only persuade her to quit, there's no guarantee she won't just find another shop and keep working, right?"

Yuihama voiced her opinion, and Komachi nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, like the relationship between a snake and a mongoose."

"...You mean like Whac-A-Mole, right?"

Sigh, younger sister, please don't disgrace the Hikigaya family. Even Yukino was left speechless.

"Anyway, we need to treat the symptoms and cure the root cause."

Just as Yukino reached that conclusion, I pulled Taishi away from me.

"Hey, wait. Are we really getting involved?"

"Is that a problem? Taishi Kawasaki is the younger brother of Saki Kawasaki, a student at our school, and his problem concerns Saki Kawasaki. I believe that falls within the Service Club's scope of service."

"But club activities are suspended right now..."

"Brother~~"

Komachi poked me in the back. I turned around and saw the smile on her face.

That was the smile she only wore when she wanted something from someone. One Christmas, she used that very smile to swindle away my chance to wish for whatever present I wanted. Why did I have to tell Santa Claus that I wanted Fashion Witch cards?

Still, Komachi had our parents as her ultimate backing, so I didn't dare disobey. Damn it, this girl wasn't cute at all!

"I know..."

I agreed reluctantly. Taishi immediately cheered and repeatedly bowed to thank me.

"Th-thank you! I'm so sorry to trouble all of you!"

The next day, the "Saki Kawasaki Rehabilitation Plan" officially began.

After school, I went to the clubroom and found Yukino already waiting there, holding a rather difficult-looking book.

"Then, let's begin."

Yuihama and I nodded. For some reason, Totsuka was here too.

"Totsuka, you don't have to force yourself to come along with us."

Yukino was always doing unexpected things. If you wanted to follow her around everywhere, you really needed a strong heart—and nine times out of ten, nothing good would come of it.

However, Totsuka merely smiled and shook his head.

"It's okay. I heard about it too, and I wanted to see what your club does... If I won't get in your way, I'd like to join."

"I-is that so? Well then... you can join too."

Without realizing it, the only words I said with any manliness were "you can join too." It couldn't be helped—he was clutching the sleeve of his tracksuit, looking up at me as he said, "I'd like to join"! If I didn't show a little backbone here, what kind of man would I be? Though Totsuka was a guy too... sigh.

Club activities had been suspended on the eve of exams, so not many people remained after school. Aside from us, the only ones still in the building were probably students staying for evening study and Saki Kawasaki, who had been called in for counseling because she was late. Incidentally, being late five or more times in a month meant getting called to the staff office for counseling.

At this hour, Kawasaki should have been in the office, receiving Hiratsuka-sensei's earnest lecture.

"I gave it some thought, and the best approach would be for Kawasaki to solve her own problems. Compared with forcing someone else to change, having her pull herself together through her own efforts carries less risk, and there's almost no chance of relapse."

"That's true."

It wasn't just delinquent behavior—when other people criticized your conduct, you usually felt dissatisfied. Even if the person making the harsh criticism was close to you, it was easy to become resistant. To give an easy-to-understand example, if your mother said, "Stop slacking off and go study already," before an exam, you'd reply, "Ah! I was just about to study, but now that you said it, I don't feel like studying anymore." Same principle.

"So, do you have a specific method in mind?"

"Have you heard of Animal Therapy?"

Simply put, Animal Therapy was a form of psychotherapy that eased people's stress through contact with animals and had positive emotional effects.

After Yukino gave her brief explanation, Yuihama made understanding noises.

It certainly wasn't a bad idea. According to Taishi's description, Kawasaki had originally been a serious and gentle girl. Through Animal Therapy, perhaps she could rediscover that gentleness.

But there was one problem.

"Where are we supposed to find an animal?"

"About that... does anyone here have a cat at home?"

Totsuka shook his head to indicate no. He looked so cute doing it. I figured this cute little animal alone would be more than enough—the effect would be outstanding!

"We have a dog at home. Would that work?"

Yuihama held up her index and little fingers, pressing the other three together. Hey, that shape was supposed to be a fox, wasn't it?

"A cat would be preferable."

"I don't know what the difference is between cats and dogs... Is there some academic reason?"

"There isn't... Dogs just won't do."

Yukino suddenly looked away.

"...Isn't it just because you're scared of dogs?"

"I've never said anything of the sort. Please don't jump to conclusions."

Yukino started looking displeased, but Yuihama immediately pressed her further.

"No way~ Yukino, you hate dogs? Why? There's no animal cuter than a puppy!"

"...You only think that because you like dogs."

Yukino's voice sounded lower when she said that. What was that about? Had a dog caused her some kind of emotional trauma? Had she been bitten? Well, if she really hated dogs, I wouldn't force her. Besides, I was already satisfied to have learned one of Yukino's weaknesses.

"We have a cat at home. That should work, right?"

"It will."

After receiving Yukino's approval, I immediately called Komachi. A strange tune played from the receiver. What kind of ringtone was that? Why did her phone play music?

"Hellooo~ It's Komachi~"

"Ah, Komachi, are you at home right now?"

"Yep, I'm home~ What is it?"

"That cat should be there, right? Could you bring it to school?"

"Huh? Why~? Koyuki is so heavy, no way~"

Our cat was as round and plump as a Snow House, but four syllables were too much of a mouthful (Note 29: The original term for "Snow House" is "kamakura," a traditional custom in places such as Akita and Niigata in Japan, where an altar is set up inside a snow hut to worship the water deity.), so before we knew it, the name had been shortened to what it was now.

"Yukino said she wanted you to bring her."

"Komachi will be right there."

The moment Komachi finished speaking, the call ended with a beep... Huh? Why did her attitude change so drastically the moment I mentioned Yukino's name? Whenever I asked her for something, she always hemmed and hawed forever!

I put my phone away, feeling rather displeased. Sobu High School was fairly well-known around here, so she probably wouldn't get lost.

"She said she'd be here soon. Should we wait outside?"

After I told Yukino that, everyone headed to the school gate to wait. Twenty minutes later, Komachi appeared before us in high spirits, carrying a pet carrier in one hand.

"Sorry to make you come all this way."

"Not at all~ It was Yukino-ane's request, after all~"

Komachi said with a smile as she opened the top of the carrier for everyone to see.

Koyuki sat brazenly inside the cage, glaring at me with a haughty look as if to say, "Hey, what are you staring at?" This cat really wasn't cute at all.

"Wow~ So adorable!"

Totsuka stroked Koyuki, while Koyuki desperately twisted its body and kept protesting, "Hey, hey, hey, knock it off! Stop! Don't touch my belly! You're not allowed to touch it~~" Yet it could only let him have his way.

"So, what do we do now?"

I took Koyuki from Totsuka and held it up in the air by the scruff of its neck. Please note: this was the wrong way to do it. You were supposed to pick it up with both hands.

"Put it in a cardboard box, then place it in front of Kawasaki. If it catches her heart, she'll take the cat home."

"It's not like she's the leader of some old-school delinquent gang..."

You actually thought delinquents would take stray cats home to raise... Were you born during the second baby boom? (Note 30: Refers to those born in the first half of the 1970s.)

Still, we weren't familiar with Kawasaki, so if we wanted to give her Animal Therapy, this indirect method was really our only option.

"Then I'll go find a cardboard box."