Thank You to s.e.kwan for Commissioning this Translation ♥
Disclaimer：I cannot guarantee the complete accuracy of this translation
倉島 律
CASE 3 Kurashima Ritsu
“Hey, that side is dangerous.”
“Huh?”
“You, stay on the sidewalk.”
I pulled at her arm and grabbed her hand.
My precious girlfriend, the only person in the world who continued to believe in me……
We were mere childhood friends, but now we’re walking hand in hand under the sunny, cloudless sky as lovers. ……Not long ago, this would have been unimaginable. Walking out in the daylight…and with her, no less.
I thought it was impossible for something that could’ve come out of a dream to come true. But the heat from our touching palms was indeed warm.
“Ritsu, is something wrong?”
“Eh, uh, n-nothing!”
I turned my head reflexively to hide my softened cheeks. And that was when I heard a chuckle from behind me.
“……What?”
“Hehe. I love you too.”
“Yo! I ain’t said a word!”
“I felt like I heard your inner voice.”
“You gotta be stupid! What are you, an idiot?!”
She giggles and says sorry.
Even with my coarse language and rough demeanor, she’s always been able to see me for what’s inside. Her and only her.
And that’s why I want to treasure her too.
I don’t want to ever hurt her. I want to keep seeing this smile. Should there be anyone or anything that could hurt her, I would crush them all.
……But well, they’re just thoughts in my head, not that I’d say them out loud.
“So, what do we do now?”
“Hmm… I’m hungry, so why don’t we head someplace and grabーー”
Just as I was about to finish, I felt something cold fall onto my cheek.
Looking up at the sky, dark rain clouds loomed, and before long, rain started coming down in torrents.
“Wah, this ain’t good.”
I tugged hard on the hand I was holding and started instinctively running. Someplace that could stave off the rain… A building…
“There, there’s one! Let’s go in there!”
“Yeah!”
We ran into what looked to be some kind of establishment and I shook off the rain from my body with my hand. Looking outside, it was raining even harder than before. It wasn’t a lot, but I doubt we’d be able to head out anytime soon.
“Haa… Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes.”
I was trying to talk to her, but for some reason, she looked away awkwardly.
……Huh? What? Did I say something strange?
Finding it odd, I peered off in the same direction as her, and there, was an LCD screen with images of a beautiful little room with a bed in it. And looking more closely at where we were, a beautiful and luxurious entrance could be seen……
Wha, what…? Don’t tell me this place is…
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence followed.
“I-It’s not what it looks like, alright? I didn’t know this was a love hotel!”
“I, I know, I know so please lower your voice a little.”
“Oh…my bad.”
“……”
We looked at each other’s faces and once again, we were at a loss for words.
Damn it… What do we do in this situation? I’m sure people would find the sight of us standing in front of a love hotel, both blushing, comical.
We have to get out of here before someone sees us.
But, the rain outside was coming down even harder, and the strong winds were even making the doors creak. It would be difficult to run home in that.
“Uh, umm……”
“Yes?”
“If you don’t mind, why don’t we go…inside?”
“……!”
She nodded silently at my words of courage. With a sigh of relief, I quickly pressed the appropriate room button, and together, we boarded the elevator.
“So this is the place…”
The room we arrived in was completely decked out in vibrant pink, and it was, quite, you know, out there.
I looked at her, wondering what to do for now when her rain-soaked shoulders shook a little.
“A…achoo!”
“Ah! Are you okay?”
“Yeah…”
We have to do something about her wet body first, otherwise, she’ll catch a cold for sure.
“Your clothes, take them off.”
“Hehh?”
“Else you’ll catch a cold. Also, it’s not like we can leave until they’re dry, right?”
“Oh, so that’s what you mean.”
I took off my jacket, which had become heavy with moisture, and threw it onto the floor.
The wetness of my shirt sticking to my skin was uncomfortable. I wanted to take a quick shower, so I hurriedly removed everything I had on top and turned the other way.
“We need to quickly dry our clothes, so come on, take yours off too.”
“Uh……”
“What’s the matter?”
But for some reason, she refused to answer any of my words and laid face down with a flushed face.
I imagined the worst and ran over hastily.
“Are you okay? You, your face is bright red…… Turn this way.”
“No, I-I, I’m fine!”
“You are not okay! You might’ve caught a cold from being soaked in the rain!”
When I forcefully pulled her close and touched her foreheadーー
“I don’t have a cold!”
My body was pushed back with great force.
“It’s, it’s your fault, Ritsu!”
“What…?”
Not understanding the meaning of what she said, I stared at her blankly. And when I did, she looked up at me timidly and spoke.
“It’s my first time seeing it…”
“Seeing what?”
“Ritsu’s…uh, b-bare body.”
“Hey……”
Once the words started making sense to me, I once again realized our situation. I’m half-naked and…the white dress of my girlfriend before me was wet and see-through, revealing the color of her underwear.
“I’m, I’m sorry!!”
I quickly turned around and distanced myself. I didn’t want to make any lame excuses because of where we are, but…….
“I just thought it’d be bad if the two of us were to catch a cold.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“And we can’t go home until we take them off and let them dry.”
“Uh-huh…”
“So, so there’s no other meaning to it!”
“……”
“It’s not like I intended to do anything to you or anything!”
The more I tried to stay calm, the more I panicked and the more my mouth slipped out of control.
Argh, dammit… What do you even do in a situation like this?! At this rate, it’s going to seem like I brought her to a love hotel on purpose and am now desperately making up excuses for it. …And that’s not even the case! Ahh, damn it!
I should be looking away, but I just can’t get the sight of what I saw out of my head.
The thin, soaked fabric stuck to her porcelain skin… And clearly visible was the color of her underwear, a pale light blue that was very much her.
Wait, what the hell am I thinking!? This idiot!
I desperately tried to erase that memory from earlier and suppress myself with reason.
As I continued to keep my back turned to her, clenching my fist in an attempt to control myselfーー
Something hit my back with a thump.
“……?”
When I turned my head back a little, I could see the top of her head.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Ritsu…do you not get excited from me?”
“What?”
I couldn’t see her face clearly because she was hanging her head, but I could tell her ears were red.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Exactly what it means.”
“No, not that… I’m asking why you felt that way.”
“Because even when we’re alone together, you haven’t as much as kissed me. And I wondered if it was because I wasn’t attractive enough……”
I wrapped my arms around her waist even tighter. Her voice sounded as though she was about to break into tears from the uncertainty.
I turned around immediately, pushed her down, and pressed my lips against hers somewhat recklessly.
“Ri…tsu.”
“You, are you an idiot?”
“Eh?”
“……There’s no way I wouldn’t be excited from you.”
“B-But you haven’t kissed me much as of late… So I thought it was because I wasn’t attractive…”
I don’t understand how her thought process led to that… Obviously, I’ve been holding back because I wouldn’t be able to stop once the kissing starts. Jeez… She has no idea how I normally feel or how in conflict I am with my sense of reason.
“Haa… You are one hell of an idiot.”
“Eh!?”
“A line like that, in a situation like this? No matter how you look at it, you’re goading me.”
“Uh… Wha, what!?”
I stroked her leg gently and slowly caressed up to her thigh.
“Hyah! R-Ritsu!?”
“You’re anxious, aren’t you? That I’m not attracted to you.”
I shifted aside the shoulder of her dress and sucked vigorously on her neck.
When I removed my lips with a slight sound of a kiss, I could see a red mark in my wake, and I couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.
“Think.”
“Eh…?”
“About how I think of you every day and how much I love you.”
“Ri, Ritsu?”
“Until you say enough is enough…”
“Mph…”
“Nhh……”
I kissed her ever so deeply. Even the air spilling through the crack endeared me… I wish I could swallow it all.
“R…Ritsu… Nmhh…”
The voice that called to me belonged all to me.
――My beloved, beloved sweetheart. Although I can’t quite convey it with words… Today, I’ll show it to you with my actions.
Criy's Forgotten Memories 