EBE Ch. 115.2 - And Thus, Shihou Chouko Takes a Step Forward Pt2
Ch. 115.2 - And Thus, Shihou Chouko Takes a Step Forward Pt2
After leaving the “back-mountain playground”, Harutaki had no choice but to continue wearing that gaudy Hawaiian shirt.While eating lunch—and even later while buying souvenirs for classmates and friends in the afternoon—he received what could only be described as a parade of staring eyes.
“If you dyed your hair blond and put on sunglasses, Harutaki-kun, you’d look exactly like a complete scumbag playboy!”
Chouko said this with a mischievous grin. In fact, even if the whole getting kicked into the river incident hadn’t happened earlier, she probably would have found some other excuse to get his clothes wet so that he’d have to wear the Hawaiian shirt anyway.
By evening, just like the day before, he escorted her back to Shihou Suishōen before dinner began.
In the second round of the match to “steal Chouko away,” the victor was still him—
Harutaki.
That night, lying on the soft bed in his hotel room, Harutaki couldn’t help curling his lips into a smile as he recalled the events of their daytime date.
But when he thought about tomorrow—the third and final match—his smile slowly faded.
He knew that Chouko’s great-grandmother hadn’t meant to make things difficult for him.
But… what if something unexpected happened?
“…Haa.”
He let out a heavy sigh.
Where there’s a road ahead of the mountain, there will be a way through, he thought. This was the first time he had ever gone into a battle completely unprepared—charging ahead recklessly like a wild boar.
Still, occasionally indulging in the passion of being sixteen…
It actually felt pretty good.
…
The next morning, Harutaki once again headed toward Suishōen with the telescoping ladder in his backpack.
But when he peeked around the corner of the street, he froze.
Security guards stood watch along the courtyard wall at short intervals.
The tightness of the security was several times greater than yesterday.
He tried repeating yesterday’s tactic, but the guards didn’t move at all—almost as if he didn’t exist.
Only when he attempted to set up the ladder did they step in to stop him.
“Sorry, sir. The head of the family has ordered that Suishōen is closed to visitors today. Please go back.”
Even his attempt to shamelessly sneak in under the guise of being a guest failed.
Standing in the quiet, empty street, Harutaki stared at the heavily guarded estate and couldn’t think of a single solution.
…
“Harutaki…”
After being woken by her alarm clock, Chouko immediately went to the bathroom to get ready.
Today was the last day.
And also the day she wanted to become the first.
She wanted Harutaki to see her at her prettiest and cutest.
But…
When she stepped out of her bedroom and saw that her courtyard—originally designed with a quiet, lonely aesthetic—was now filled with security guards, a trace of despair crept into her heart.
During dinner the previous night, her mother had shown her a video on a tablet.
In the video, one person ran in front while twelve people chased him behind—like something straight out of the cartoon Tom and Jerry.
It should have been funny.
But she couldn’t laugh.
The boy running ahead with a familiar telescoping ladder on his shoulder was clearly Harutaki, who had come to rescue her from her “birdcage.”
She remembered what he had said jokingly when they first met yesterday morning—
“I was hoping to rest for a while…”
Only after the video ended did she suddenly realize something.
Even though she had decided she couldn’t keep letting Harutaki sacrifice himself for her…
In reality, she hadn’t done anything at all.
Just like always, she enjoyed Harutaki’s care and kindness.
Just like always, she pushed all the responsibility onto him.
Then had she—Shihou Chouko—really taken a step forward?
“Sorry, Oujo. The head of the family ordered that Suishōen will not open today.”
She tried asking the gate guard to let her through.
The answer was no.
Returning to her courtyard, she sat on the wooden veranda hugging her knees, staring blankly at the distant wall.
Will Harutaki-kun still come to get me?
Will he still be able to see me?
Harutaki-kun…
As time flowed slowly like water through a mountain stream, the anxiety and despair inside her grew heavier.
It was as if time wasn’t flowing into the past, but pouring directly into her heart—making the dough of despair swell thicker and heavier.
At one in the afternoon, she took a small sip of fish soup.
Even the exquisite dishes prepared by a master chef tasted meaningless on her tongue.
Aside from waiting for Harutaki, she couldn’t think of anything else.
But then she suddenly remembered—
Even if she didn’t care about her own body, there were still people who would worry about her.
Her great-grandmother.
Her mother.
Harutaki.
And her friends—Izumi, Sae, and Minako.
Thinking of them, she forced herself to swallow her lunch quickly, then continued waiting.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
…
Thirty minutes later, just as she began to feel sleepy from blood flowing to her stomach for digestion—
A paper airplane drifted lazily over the wall and into the courtyard.
She hurried forward, snatched the airplane from the guard’s hands, and carefully unfolded it like it was some priceless treasure.
She had never treated those hundred-million-yen bottles with such care.
“This is…”
【Direction: Northeast】
…
【Love: Only those who strive themselves can have their wishes fulfilled. Love must be pursued, not waited for.】
…
【Wish: Heaven helps those who help themselves.】
…
It was the water-fortune slip they had drawn two days ago at Kifune Shrine.
Noticing that it was actually a photocopy on A4 paper, Chouko couldn’t help smiling slightly.
She hadn’t brought a bag that day, so everything she bought—including the fortune—had been put into Harutaki’s backpack.
And he had cherished it enough to use a copy for folding the airplane.
She lowered her gaze further and saw handwritten words on the blank part of the paper.
【When you truly desire something, the entire universe conspires to help you achieve it.】
【The only thing that can stop you is yourself.】
“I’ll wait for you in the world outside. I know you hate ‘waiting,’ Shihou… so don’t make me wait too long.”
It was as if Harutaki’s voice echoed beside her ear.
Chouko bit her lower lip tightly, stood up from the floor, and ran into her bedroom.
Clatter.
Clatter.
Under the watchful eyes of the security guards, she dragged her desk out of the room.
Even when her toes painfully hit the corner.
Even when her arms, unused to lifting heavy things, began to ache.
Even so, she had to respond to the expectations and hopes placed upon her.
Not Harutaki’s expectations.
Not anyone else’s.
These were her own expectations for herself.
She hated “waiting.”
She didn’t want the person she loved to experience something she hated so much.
She wanted to move forward.
She wanted to become a lover who could stand beside Harutaki—not a burden dragging behind him.
If she only waited for his help… only stared at his back…
Then no matter how much time passed, she would remain the same childish girl crying inside the birdcage.
Harutaki was like the sun, illuminating her path and driving away the darkness.
But she knew she wasn’t the only one under his light.
There was Izumi.
There were Sae and Minako.
Chouko didn’t want to give up.
If Harutaki was the sun bringing warmth and light to everyone…
Then she wanted to become his moon.
And if someday Harutaki lost his way, she—Shihou Chouko—wanted to guide him forward with her faint moonlight.
“…Sorry, Izumi…”
Shihou Chouko was a selfish and cowardly girl.
She constantly let others sacrifice for her, craved Harutaki’s kindness, and had made a promise to her best friend that she could never truly keep.
She was so close to success.
But when she tried to push the desk against the wall, it wouldn’t move.
She looked at the security guard blocking it.
“Let go.”
“But Oujo…”
“Let go.”
Her voice was calm.
In her mind, she recalled the words Izumi had once said to her.
“I’m the future heir of the Shihou family. If you fail your duty, my great-grandmother might scold you or cut your pay. But if you offend me, then in the future…”
“Th-this…”
Just as the guard hesitated, the walkie-talkie at his waist crackled.
“Let her do as she likes.”
It was the voice of Shihou Kiyoko.
“S-Sorry, Oujo. I—”
“No… I should be the one apologizing.”
Chouko smiled gently.
“I’m sorry for threatening you like that earlier. But…”
She climbed onto the desk and looked at the wall in front of her.
It was only as high as her shoulders.
She couldn’t help laughing softly.
So this is the cage that trapped me all this time…
“…There’s someone I have to see. There’s something I want to pursue. So… I can’t stop here.”
She climbed onto the wall and lightly jumped down, just like she used to as a child.
Instead of hitting cold stone or asphalt, she landed in a warm, reliable embrace.
“This time, it was my own effort~”
“Yes, yes. Shihou, you’re amazing.”
Chu.
“But Harutaki-kun gets a reward too.”
The nearby security guards all turned their heads away at once.
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