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Just a Story About Miyamoto Sakura Being Cute. (Light Novel) - Volume 1, Chapter 4
Volume 1, Chapter 4
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
Continuing from the last time, Hikaru and Sakura walked side by side towards the school.
“By the way, Hikaru.”
“What is it, Sakura.”
“Do you remember...the promise we made long ago…?”
Sakura asked him timidly.
Let us explain.
Hikaru and Sakura were childhood friends, and the most typical kind at that.
Which part of it was typical, you ask?
To give you an example, please remember what Sakura said.
“I bathed all the time with Hikaru in our childhood, so I’d like you to save me from that now that I’m in high school!”
...She did say that without hesitation, but that just about says enough regarding the kind of childhood friend she was.
They were the same age, and had been neighbours since the day they were born.
They were together all the time; going to cram school, eating meals, even lying in the futon.
Their relationship was well recognized by their parents.
Rather than a typical relationship, it went so far it could be called cliche.
And it wouldn’t take a genius to guess the kind of promise ones like them would make.
“Of course I do.”
Hikaru replied with a smile.
“R-Really?” Sakura looked relieved, but at the same time, acted defensive and continued, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not urging you to do it or anything, okay? And well, it’s just a promise from our childhood, so we could leave it at that even if you don’t remember it.”
“Hmm. Is that so.”
“And also, since those sisters appeared–all of them cute too–and started living together with you, I felt a sense of crisis, and you doing lewd things with them all the time piled on top of that and I brought up that old promise - that’s definitely not what happened, okay?”
“It’s okay, Sakura.”
Hikaru gave her a nod to help her calm down.
“I am someone who keeps his promises, okay? Even if is a thing from the past.”
“T-That’s true. You are pretty frivolous all the time, but you have some surprisingly manly sides, too… I mean, I’m not really obsessed about our old promise or anything! I just suddenly remembered it so I just brought it up, that’s all!”
Sakura hurriedly made excuses.
Hikaru, on the other hand, replied in confidence.
“Speaking of our promise, if Sakamoto hit a homerun in the next match of the Yomiuri Giants, I’d treat you to some ramen, that’s what it was right?”
“Like hell it was! Why did you have to go and bring that up now?!”
“Ah, right, my bad. It was the large serving of ramen and gyoza dumplings with half fried rice set, right?”
“Just leave the matter of treating me aside already! And the large serving of ramen and gyoza dumplings and a half fried rice set is something only sports-minded guys eat, isn’t it?! Like I could ever eat that much! And wasn’t that a promise we just recently made?! I’m talking about the one we made before, like, way before that!”
“Then are you talking about that? When I promised I would be giving you Matsusaka beefsteak set as the year-end gift if you could learn speaking before I did?”
“What are you even talking about?! Actually, when did that even happen?! Is that something from when we were babies?! And that’s not something we exchanged ourselves, is it!? And don’t you think there’s practically zero change of me bringing that up in this situation?!”
Sakura retorted with all her strength, meanwhile, Hikaru analyzed her in a calm manner.
“Hey, Sakura.”
“W-What? What’s with that serious expression all of a sudden?”
“Aren’t your retorts lacking the usual sharpness? Are you feeling tired by chance?”
“And whose fault is that?! I’m busy retorting to those sex-crazed sisters as is, so my retorting energy is running on low! And if I have to start playing straight man with you too they’re going to run out in the blink of an eye!”
“I see, yeah. I can keenly feel that you are trying to forcefully overcome that somehow.”
“Whose. Fault. Do. You. Think. That. Is!?”
Sakura started to strangle him.
Ahaha, stop it that hurts, but Hikaru dealt with it quite lightly.
“Well, leaving the jokes aside,” while escaping from Sakura’s murderous neck bind, Neck Hanging Tree, Hikaru said, “By the old promise, you are talking about our promise to get married, right?”
“Urk!”
Albeit Sakura acted in a self-assured manner, she was quite weak when she was on the attacking end.
All her vigour from before disappeared to who knows where at his blunt question.
“T-That’s right. I’m talking about the marriage promise.”
She said with a snort while pretending to brush her hair, and then hurriedly resumed her halted walk on the school route.
“...I wasn’t being serious, okay?”
“Hm? About what?”
“I’m not going to make demands under the pretext of that old promise, is what I’m saying. That’s how it is, after all, isn’t it? It’s just something from our childhood.”
This was that “cliche” Promise.
Something that childhood friends that were close tended to exchange at one point in their childhood, and Sakura and Hikaru were no exceptions to this.
“Anyway! It’s fine as long as you remember it!”
Sakura started to get desperate bit by bit; her face got red and she tried to dodge the topic.
“That’s all I wanted to hear. I just wanted to confirm it. I’m not worried that you might be stolen by those sisters, or anything like that, and like I mentioned before, I’m not going to make a fuss about something from the past. So, just forget it. Or rather, please forget it....Oh god, what was I trying to do by bringing that up? I totally look like a bothersome woman now. I’m such an idiot.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Hikaru on the other hand looked puzzled.
“Hey, Sakura.”
“What.”
“I said this earlier, but I’m someone who keeps his promises.”
“Well...that’s right. You are indeed manly in the most unexpected ways.”
“So yeah, let’s get married.”
“...Hah?”
This was a route to school; A very ordinary morning in an unremarkable residential area.
An office worker was hurrying along in his suit, a granny was cleaning up the road which passed in front of the houses, and there was a young lady without her makeup, who seemed to be en-route home from a convenience store.
“...waitwaitwaitwait!”
Sakura stood there looking blankly, but suddenly her expression changed into a faint smile.
“Impossible. That’s just not realistic. No no…”
“What do you mean by impossible.”
“I mean, you just said to get married. That’s basically a proposal, isn’t it. But thinking about it normally, I probably just misheard it, right? Am I still half-asleep, I wonder?”
“You are probably not. I mean, I did say to get married.”
“...waitwaitwaitwait!”
Sakura further hastened her pace and hurried ahead.
However, Hikaru closely kept up with her speed.
“No wait. Really. I’m lost here.”
“I think it’s quite simple, though? I’m just saying to get married.”
“Wait wait! That’s definitely not something you ‘just’ say, is it? Do you even understand what that means? We are talking about a marriage here, you know? It’s something where you submit the marriage registration, enter your name in the family register, change your surname, hold the ceremony and greet each other's parents, you know? Do you really understand that?”
“How rude, of course I do. I’m not that much of an idiot.”
“Actually, is that something you say at a place like this? It’s just a normal morning and a situation that happens everyday? When it comes to this kinda thing, you would usually, you know, make preparations beforehand or set the right mood for it and do it after that, wouldn’t you? Isn’t that how one usually proposes?”
“But wasn’t it you who suddenly brought up the old promise, Sakura?”
“Ugh… Well, yea! Yeah, but still! Or rather, it’s just impossible if you think about it! We are just 16 years old yet! We can’t even marry!”
“Even if it’s legally impossible we can still do it with our feelings, right? We could just leave it as an engagement for now, and marry when we legally can. Simply confirming each other’s feelings would be enough now. So then, Sakura, is it a yes or a no?”
“...Wait wait! waitwaitwaitwait!”
Her face became redder by the second and she continuously shook her head as she kept her quick pace.
“Wait a minute. Halt. Warte eine Minute. Don’t drag me into your own pace. It really troubles me if you bring this kind of thing up so suddenly.”
“Sorry. But well, I thought this was the best timing for it.”
“...I’m not sure what kind of world you live in if you thought this was the best timing for it…”
“So? Is it a yes or a no?”
“No, wait. This is just weird. This whole situation is just weird.”
“A boy is proposing to a girl and is waiting for the answer. I think it’s quite a common situation you can find just about anywhere in the world.”
“That general theory of yours is a bit too out of the norm at least for the present world… Or well, you know what. Let me just ask this just in case.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Hikaru, uhh, how should I say this… D-Do you really...like me?”
“How many years do you think we’ve been together,” Hikaru made a rare exasperated expression and continued, “Of course I do. I like you, Sakura.”
“Ahwa!”
Sakura became at loss for words, and leaked a strange voice.
“I naturally mean that I like you as a woman, okay? It’s not a simple respect towards you as a person, nor is it intimacy as a friend.”
“Uh...Ah... Yes. Thank you. Okay.”
“Do you not like me, Sakura? You know, I’m not an idiot here, so I think you do like me as a man.”
“Ahwa!”
She was overwhelmed. However Hikaru wasn’t actually being pushy; he was being his usual carefree self even now and was calmly talking to her, just like how he usually would. There wasn’t a hint of pushiness or coerciveness. But even so, Sakura was in a one-sided defensive battle.
“H-Hey,” Sakura kept fastening her pace and continued, “You know, this is the first time I heard about that.”
“You mean about me liking you?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“I mean, you’d usually notice that. We’ve been together for sixteen whole years already, and we live next to each other and go to school together, and you come storming with a yell in my bath if something happens. That’s the kind of relationship we have. If I didn’t like you, it wouldn’t continue like that.”
“Eh, ah, yes. Kinda sorry about that.”
“And to begin with, I did actually promise to marry you. Even if we were kids then, I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t like you, would I?”
“Yes. I can’t say anything to that. You’re right.”
“So there you have it. Now I’d be grateful if you let me hear your answer.”
“Waitwaitwaitwait.”
She turned beet red.
“Whatever’s the case, choose a better timing, will you? You need to create a proper mood for this stuff, right? Like, creating a situation where you’d be getting a definite yes.”
“...Hmm, I see. I was certain that the best timing would be when you brought up this topic. I was under the impression that I’d get a definite yes since both of us liked each other, and I was basing it on the promise, too.”
“Ugh. Sorry about this.”
“My bad, Sakura. It seems I put you on the spot.”
“No, not at all! I’m really happy! My mind is simply in a mess right now! My heart was simply not prepared for it!
Sakura desperately corrected herself, while Hikaru kept nodding.
“I mean, look. A lot has happened lately, right? Kako-neesan, Ima-san and Mirai-chan came to my house and my life changed in a big way.”
“...Well, you have a point there. No one would expect that the actual goddesses would get involved into their life… Even now, I sometimes suddenly realise just how crazy this all is…”
“I love you, Sakura, and you love me. It was something obvious to me, but unless I said it out loud, you wouldn't realise it. So I wanted make it clear.”
“I wasn’t as confident as you, you know… It’s like, you sometimes look so...I don’t know...really mature and collected.”
“Okay, then let’s do this.”
Hikaru stopped, and Sakura followed the suit.
And then, he said in a formal manner.
“Before we get married, would you please date me as a lover?”
“Ah, yes. Gladly!”
And thus, the situation concluded as such.
Incidentally,
“...Actually, why didn’t you just make that confession in the first place?!”
It was five seconds after they formally started dating when Sakura made such retort.
And incidentally again,
“Actually, Hikaru.”
“What is it, Sakura.”
“If you like me as you say, then I wish you’d stop doing lewd stuff with the goddesses.”
“Well, let’s just leave that aside.”
“It seems like we need to have a proper talk…”
The future for these two didn’t look so promising, after all.
