Too Many Losing Heroines! - Volume 3 - Chapter 3.2

Evening, west building.

The slanted sunlight pierced through the window and stained the corridor yellow.

All rooms seem to have finished removing items related to Tsuwabuki Fest. There’s no one around.

We’ve almost finished cleaning the classroom the Literature Club used as the venue. The only thing left is taking off the exhibits on the wall.

I arrived and looked into the classroom. Only Komari remains. Prez seems to be gone. I don’t know whether I missed him or not.

I wanted to leave, but I stopped upon seeing Komari’s face.

Komari is gazing at the exhibits on the wall alone in the evening classroom.

After a while, Komari finally decided to walk over. She made up her mind and reached her hand out.

She still couldn’t reach it even after straightening her body. Komari stood on tiptoes, yet her fingertips only slit across thin air.

I entered the classroom and reached my hand over Komari’s head.

“N-Nukumizu…!”

“Komari, we can take this down, right?”

Komari nodded gently. I paid attention to not breaking it as I peeled off the paper and put it before us.

“Even I think it’s pretty well-made. It’s too much of a shame to throw it away.”

“D-Did you even do anything?”

Komari complained as she turned around and observed the classroom under the sunset.

Influenced by her, I also turned around. The empty tables extend to the other side of the classroom.

“...I-It’s all over.”

Komari muttered.

I wanted to say something, yet nothing came out of my lips. I could only maintain the silence.

If Prez’s here, perhaps he can say something that suits the mood.

At times like this, that person will show a slightly troubled expression and search for words that are considerate of her feelings.

“Right, did Prez not come? He should be taking Tsukinoki-senpai’s school bag here.”

“H-He did and left already.”

I still missed him, after all. I tidily put the peeled papers on the table to avoid creases before glancing at the clock.

“It’s time for me to go back. I have to help move the tatami.”

Komari didn’t answer. She just stares at the stacked papers.

I feel like I can’t excuse myself from this place.

“Did you talk to Prez?”

…Why am I asking this?

My heart grew turbulent. Komari looked at me in surprise.

The silence is awkward. I quickly pieced my words together as if I was making an excuse.

“Uh, well, it’s because you don’t have many opportunities left to talk to Prez, right? So, you…”

Komari sighed and nodded.

“I-I thanked him properly.”

“I-I see. He has looked after me a lot as well. I have to express my gratitude to the senpais again afterward properly.”

“N-Nukumizu only joined the Literature Club recently, right?”

Hey, is this girl trying to put on airs with her experience?

I crossed my arms chicly.

“Actually, I’m your senpai on paper. I showed up on the first day of the visit period. It’s just that I didn’t realize I was already in the club after signing it.”

“D-Don’t forget I was the one who dug you out of the grave, you ghost member.”

“I didn’t know I was buried…”

A suspicious girl suddenly talked to me during a lesson break in July. That girl was Komari.

I feel like that happened very recently, yet it seemed so far ago.

“Komari joined the club in April, right? Did anyone else come to visit?”

“I-It was the last day of the visit when I went for the first time. I-I was the only one there.”

Komari’s eyes squinted as she looked outside the window.

The evening sky is growing darker and darker.

Komari crossed her fingers and tightly clenched them together.

“...I-I was really happy after j-joining the Literature Club. I-I really appreciated the senpais too.”

Is she mumbling to herself, or does she want me to hear her out? She continues vaguely.

“P-Prez really appreciated me as well. H-He said the Literature Club could only go so far because of me.”

“...That’s great.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Three months before I was dug out of my grave.

The time that Komari had spent with the senpais must have been peaceful and full of sunshine.

I wonder about Komari’s view of the ripples caused by our participation afterward.

However, it’s unavoidable that those two will disappear one day. If we didn’t show up-

The image of Komari sitting alone in the club room came to my mind.

“...T-The senpais are retiring too.”

“Yeah, they probably won’t visit the club room frequently, right?”

Komari slowly nodded in agreement.

“A-After the new year, they probably won’t even come to school because of the exam. The moment they have decided their f-future…is when they graduate.”

It will be November tomorrow.

The second semester will be over after the final exam. I feel lonely whenever I think of how much time we have left.

“S-Slowly, I will be seeing Prez less and less. A-As for the Prez in my heart, his image will get blurrier and blurrier. I-I don’t like that very much…”

Her voice gradually disappeared. Komari lowered her head. Her bangs covered her eyes.

-The days full of sunshine will eventually set. Her feelings for Prez will turn into a memory bit by bit.

Komari must feel lonely, right?

“...Isn’t that nice too?”

I mumbled to myself.

Komari frowned and glared at me.

“W-What…is so nice about this?”

“How should I put it? Even though I don’t like the saying that anything can be solved with time, I feel some things can only end over time.”

“Hmph, even though you aren’t rejected at all.”

Eh, …you can brag about being rejected as well?

If that’s the case, I was denied by a girl who I haven’t fallen in with love yet. I’m not planning to confess to her, either.

“I-I do understand what Nukumizu is trying to say. It’s just that-”

Komari sat on the table.

“H-Holding onto these feelings while I wait for it to be over is agonizing. I-I’m so glad that I told him how I felt slightly today.”

…? What does that mean?

Feeling lighter after displaying something she has been holding onto means…

“Wait, did you confess again?”

“Wha!? N-No way.”

Glad to hear that. Prez didn’t reject the same girl twice. I sighed in relief.

“I-I just asked whether there was a possibility of him liking me.”

Komari fiddled with her fingers in a slightly awkward manner.

“What does that mean?”

“W-Would he fall in love with me if Tsukinoki-senpai wasn’t there? That’s what I asked.”

Ha!? Is something wrong with this girl?

However, I resisted my urge to question Komari and took a deep breath.

“Then? How did Prez answer?”

“...P-Prez is really kind, so-”

After that, Komari smiled forlornly.

This smile is Komari trying her best to act tough. The sunset during the evening overwhelmed her feelings.

Whichever answer it might be, everything is already over.

No matter how much consideration or comfort she got, no matter how this ending would be called.

Prez’s kindness has slit a minuscule wound on Komari’s heart like a soft thorn-

I sat silently on the table next to Komari. Komari whispered to herself.

“W-Would it be different i-if I had never confessed?”

Komari’s red hair is swaying under the sunset.

I was attracted. I nodded vaguely.

“...Maybe.”

A different future. In that world, I wonder who will stay with Komari day and night and who will slowly grow distant from her.

Komari pondered about it for a while. She slowly squeezed her words out.

“I-Including Tsukinoki-senpai, I love the time the three of us have spent together. H-However, I-I felt I would be okay with all of these collapsing during the night of the trip. I-It’s because just l-leaving beautiful memories…isn’t something I want.

Komari came off the table. She turned away from me with her hands behind her.

Facing the disappearing sunset, Komari turned around and faced me.

“-I’m so glad that I fell in love with Prez.”

She carried a sincere smile. For some reason, I stopped breathing for a moment.

“I see.”

I finally squeezed that sentence out.

Komari nodded embarrassedly.

Suddenly, Komari seems to have realized something. She quickly started pulling the bottom of her uniform.

“W-What am I saying to Nukumizu…?”

“Well, I’m the best person you got if you want to talk to someone. I have few friends, after all.”

I jumped down from the table and looked at my watch on purpose.

“I totally forgot about senpai. I should leave.”

“M-Me too…”

I looked back at the classroom as we were about to leave. Komari followed soon. She slightly bowed before dashing through the corridor.

I lowered my head to the classroom before walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Komari.

Komari glanced at my face.

“P-Prez and Tsukinoki-senpai left the Literature Club to me because they believed me. T-That’s why I want to answer their expectations.”

“Tsuwabuki Fest only went so well thanks to Komari’s effort. I think you’ve already worked hard enough.”

Komari shook her head.

“T-This is thanks to everyone. I-I have to do that alone next time. Otherwise-”

Komari exhaled deeply. She repeated.

“Otherwise, I-I won’t be able to defend the Literature Club.”

Her appreciation for the senpais and the responsibility for being asked to protect the club.

It’s not bad that Komari wants to move forward, yet I feel a tinge of pain in my chest…

“...Sure, do your best. But we’re with you as well. So, don’t push yourself too hard.”

“T-Thank you, Nukumizu. B-But-”

Komari said that sincerely. She smiled nonchalantly.

“I’ll be fine.”

Komari’s smile is so refreshing that it hurts.

Until the end, I still don’t know how to answer her smile.