kscans

Chapter 951 - On the Hell of Those Living in Paradise

—Basically, when we 'interact,' it's either by trading blows with our weapons or our words.

Whether it's for fun, half-joking and half-serious, or a truly intense contest. It's almost laughable how little has changed from the day we first met until now.

Opportunities for us to sit down and face each other calmly are exceedingly rare.

…And so,

"The hundredth floor, how was it on your end?"

"Ah, well… it seems I'm not very good with things that can't be called a proper fight."

"Meaning?"

"I gave up on it early and authorized a full-force bombardment."

"Oh, boy…—How many seconds did it take to sink?"

"Even those two have their limits when it comes to raw firepower, you know. With me, Aika, and Rinne taking turns putting up a wall, and Maru II filling the gaps with harassing fire… well, it took about twenty minutes."

"Twelve hundred seconds, huh."

And so on and so forth, we exchanged some uninteresting, half-hearted conversation.

"………………"

"………………"

"…………………………"

"…………………………"

We were in a room at [Tesshin], a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant known only to a few, tucked away in a corner of the main player district—the Safe Area of the [Garden of Divine Creation], the primary stage for adventure in the virtual world of Arcadia.

I'd nonchalantly invited him out, shaken off the pursuit of the tiny red and blue twins as effortlessly as twisting a baby's arm, and set up a place for us to drink. So far, so good….

""………………………………—""

Now, what to do? We looked at each other, at a loss.

The two of us, looking completely and utterly pathetic.

"…Look, Haru."

"Yeah?"

But regardless. We had shared the main 'topic' beforehand, so all that was left was for each of us to find our resolve.

"Again, I'm sorry about this…"

"Nah, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

Besides, both Irori and I are, generally speaking, the decisive type. If we weren't, we wouldn't have even gotten to the point of setting up 'a meeting like this.'

Testing the waters, reading the room—three minutes of that was more than enough.

"Alright, okay, Irori, ground rules. As we venture into this frank discussion of things we'll surely look back on later and die of cringe, let's establish some ground rules."

Let's begin. Two guys—

"R-right…"

"As for me, I might stay silent on some things, but I won't lie or beat around the bush. I'm going to face this with absurd honesty and deadly seriousness, so you'd better come at me with the same energy."

"………………Understood. …Haru."

"Yo."

"I'm in your debt."

"Don't be. When this is all over and done with, just do me a favor and forget it ever happened."

—a talk about romance from which there is no escape, a conversation straight from hell…!!

—It all started about a week ago. Irori had suddenly called me out, wearing a weary expression I'd never seen before, and bowed his head, asking me to 'hear him out.'

Because of that prelude, I already knew the 'topic' and had spent a week preparing my resolve. And so, here we were, about to dive in….

The troubles concerning the girls involved with us.

"One thing… ah, if I put it all together, it's just one thing. Our relationship changed… to be precise, it's been over a month since we decided to change it, but…"

So then, putting me aside for a moment.

For Irori, the subject of his troubles was just one person—back in mid-September, during the Triangle Duo, a supremely unexpected confession drama unfolded, and they were struck by lightning into a romantic relationship…—

Rather, they became a couple (in the future tense). The person in question was one half of the 'Eastern Wings,' Mi-na, the red one.

Frankly, in my mind, she's less of a 'girl' and more of a 'monster,' but looking at her objectively, not as a close friend and junior, I can't really come up with any rude impressions.

She's extremely energetic and extremely friendly, always in the middle of a whirlwind of affection, both giving and receiving.

And I do understand that she's always considerate enough to make that dynamic work, so I don't find it strange at all that she's a 'woman' who men would fall for.

But still, as Irori said, it's been over a month, and yet.

I'm still more surprised than anything to hear that he, of all people, was so earnestly in love with her that he initiated the confession himself….

"There's something… something that has me utterly, completely at a loss."

I should probably stop being so surprised and just get used to it. He'd swallowed his pride to ask a junior for advice, and on top of that—

He was showing a face so dead serious and full of distress that I'd never seen before, a face so earnestly troubled that I felt sympathy for him even before hearing the details.

Sympathy… perhaps it's rude to call it that.

This senior of mine, even in romance, had in a way become my senior.

Sincerely, earnestly, for once without any teasing, I'll do my best to help him. That's what I decided. While my avatar feigned a relaxed posture, inwardly I steeled myself and waited for his words.

Alright, bring it on.

Again, I'm ready.

And besides, while our positions may be different—me, still unable to give my answer, and Irori, who shot past me at lightning speed—we're both blessed with good relationships with girls who are just shy of being our girlfriends. In that one respect, a shared intuition told me—

"…Phew—, …………………………A woman, is…"

"Yeah."

—I could already sense it.

"No matter how young she may look or act."

"Uh-huh."

Literally, as if it were my own problem,

"Hopelessly… different from a man, I see now."

"Yep."

I could see it, as if it were right in front of me,

"Every day, every hour, every second. The more time we spend together, the more I'm made to realize it…"

"I get it."

I knew it.

—Just what was about to come flying out of his mouth.

"………………I thought I could handle it. My own heart, and her actions."

"…Alright, Irori."

So, yeah.

Stop being so embarrassed and just spit it out already.

"I won't laugh, so just say it straight. Okay, three, two, one—!"

"—Tch…!"

…And so, on that day. At that moment.

"She's… she's just too much. Everything she does is too damn cute. Help me."

"………………Even if you ask me to help…"

Inside me, for sure.

It goes without saying that my opinion of the Blonde Samurai, who had just tossed his cool, handsome-guy image far, far away, skyrocketed to an all-time high.

---

As you've probably guessed, from here on out it's just two guys endlessly gushing about their crushes. Yep.

Is it okay if we continue?