【☆★Notice★☆】 There’s an important announcement in the afterword,
written very seriously.
Please read on to the end.
I’m with Ichika, my provisional girlfriend, at a love hotel outside the city limits.
Ichika proposed that we throw everything away and run away. “That would mean… giving up our current life.”
The sweet life of having multiple girlfriends……
Why did Ichika say something like that?
Thinking about it, I figured it must be because she thinks the current relationship is unhealthy. And of course it is. This is Japan. It’s not a country where polygamy is practiced.
In the eyes of society, I’m an abnormal person. I’m keeping multiple women around. Moreover, most of them are high school girls, and on top of that, my stepsister is included in my harem.
The social stigma would be terrible. How do I explain it to people? …I’m in a situation where I can’t really explain it. Ichika is already twenty-nine. She’ll be thirty next year.
She must be thinking seriously about her future. Of course she is. After turning thirty, the people around her will increasingly settle down. The same goes for Prince.
As his own way of life becomes established, he would keep drifting aimlessly, lacking stability. I can understand the anxiety that provokes… But… “…………” Throwing away what we currently have.
That is a very big decision. After letting go of what I have in my hands, regret will surely sweep over me. But that… well, that can’t be helped.
It’s just the way it goes. Life is nothing but a string of choices and decisions.
What I’m worried about isn’t giving up this lukewarm relationship we have right now, though…
It’s how to handle Akari and her twin sister, Juki, who saved me.
“I’m sorry. Give me a little more time to think.” ”…Hah.”
“Please don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not turning you away. It’s just… about Akari and them.”
Akari ran away from home and came to me.
That means she’s having some kind of trouble with her family.
“I can’t leave her behind without resolving that issue… I simply cannot make that decision.”
”…I see. I’m sorry for being so self-centered.”
Ika’s face twisted in deep hurt. I couldn’t stand to look at it, so I pulled my girlfriend into a hug.
“I’m not rejecting you. It’s just that… even if we move forward, I need to settle things first.”
I need to properly settle things regarding our current relationship, otherwise I can’t move forward. The problems Akari and the others are carrying.
Sorting out the feelings directed at Ruchia from Midori Lake.
If we don’t resolve those… yeah, I think we really can’t move on.
“Kouhei… what is your heart thinking? Do you want to stay in this situation? Or do you… want to move forward, like Shirouma?”
“I think I want to move on.”
But since I’m not actually trying to advance, it’s the same as not moving (staying put).
I know. In the end, I’m just putting the problems off.
Basically, I still feel a fear toward moving forward.
…That I won’t turn out like Misae.
The wound she inflicted has not yet healed, leaving a deep scar inside my heart.
Itchi-hana, who loves me so deeply right now, might one day betray me and go to another man.
I know it. Ichihana isn’t the type to do that. …But Misae’s shadow still lingers.
People change. That’s how it goes for me, too. If the me from college days saw who I am now, he’d probably flinch in horror.
People do change. Which means… one day, Ichika or Akari might turn into someone like Misae and betray me…
It’s not impossible that such a future is waiting for me. That’s why… I’m scared, and it keeps me from moving forward.
”…Hikohiko-kun. I’ll wait… for you. I’ll wait forever. Until the wounds in your heart heal. Forever…”
Ichika holds me close, wrapping her arms around me as she speaks softly and tenderly.
I hate myself so much for not being able to trust wholeheartedly the woman who cares about me this deeply.
[★☆★ Important Announcement to All Readers ☆★☆] I’ve posted a new short story! The title is:
“I Reincarnated as the Doomed Villainess of a Romance Novel, but I Ignored Romance to Master Magic and Now Everyone Is Obsessed With Me (Indifference)”
There’s a link below the ad, so please give it a read!
If you can’t access it via the link, please copy the following address: