Last day of vacation at the cottage…
Since the fireworks…
—Masuko it's my turn to be with Kinari! You had it all morning!
—Let me be with darling a little longer!
I don't need to explain more, this is the ordeal I'm breathing now.
I am with the angels, confides to me Kinari in love.
But today, truce of relaxation.
The day before, Aneko suggested that we all go and do a courage test in a tunnel. The media happy that evil spirits have filled this gallery. I don't really believe in ghost stories, but this is our last activity together before going back to school, so why not.
It would probably be nice for my sister to make as many memories as possible before going back home.
Masuko joins us waving a newspaper and then shouts.
—Look, look! I found it!
We approach.
She hands us some old, dusty newsreels.
—Read it out loud, darling.
I get the article.
—This is for young people looking for adventure. Your journey will take place in the Futtsu Tunnel. Is that all?
—No, darling, look below!
I coughed, then resumed reading.
—Thirty years ago, a gang of bikers went for a ride and all ventured into this tunnel, however, they never returned. The cause of this tragedy is still unknown. For thirty years, the Futtsu Tunnel has been known for its paranormal phenomena. Spirits inhabit and haunt the souls of bikers. If you want to go there, bring a flashlight! Good luck to the thrill seekers.
Nobody can believe this mess.
I look up and notice my sister shaking.
Sis?
The rest of the group has eyes as dazzling as Chitanda Eru.*
What a pain in the ass, seriously.
—Those who want to come, raise your hand, exclaims Masuko joyfully.
Inoue and Anzu jump around us.
—We participate, they repeat unceasingly.
The boys run away from the conversation.
Masuko blocks their way, and asks them.
—Aren't you coming?
—We don't like this kind of challenge, sorry.
The girls look away from me.
—Are you scared too, Kinari?
Very good level of persuasion…
—Nah, nah, I'll go with you.
My sister and the two boys stayed at the cottage while we headed to our test of courage. The principle is simple: to cross a tunnel unfit for traffic.
—Here is the famous tunnel, it is not so scary after all!
Don't speak too quickly, Anzu.
We move forward at a snail's pace.
She may be right, nothing strange, it's quite common, at first sight. It is just very dark.
A cold wind touches our skin.
Brrr, it's creepy here!
Masuko looks at me and suggests
—You are the only boy, darling, you go first!
Damn.
Anyway, spirits only exist in movies or in manga, not in real life, right?
A stupid and scared otaku, great, sighs Kinari jaded.
Me scared? You'll see!
I launch the beginning of the test. Each step in the tunnel, I counted it.
According to the media, the gallery is five hundred metres long, so a little more than five hundred steps. I can do it! And if I don't do it for myself, I'll do it for you, Hikigaya*!
After a hundred steps, I feel the anxiety of my comrades.
Help them! Show them that you're a damn good man,' Kinari said in a rage.
—This is just a tunnel, nothing more! There's no spirit in here!
—Don't laugh like that. It's you who's scaring us.
Damn, I have no charisma.
Aneko points to one of the walls of the gallery and asks me.
—Can you shine the light over there, Kinari?
I raise the flashlight and we see that a message is written.
From here on, please go home.
I have a bad feeling about this.
The girls are waving around, and stirring the air with their arms.
—We're going to die here!' cries Anzu.
—I don't want to die darling!
What the hell am I supposed to do?
If she's giving you a hard time, I can take care of her,' Kinari whispers in annoyance, throwing stones at the ground.
Get out of here you old psycho!
Reassure them, you fool,' Kinari suggests seriously.
Good idea, four-eyes.
—Maybe some kids wrote this to scare us! Don't worry, there's no such thing as spirits!
—You … you're probably right, Kinari.
Phew, I did it.
After about fifty steps, I step on something soft, quite slimy.
Yuck, what's this disgusting thing…
At the same time, a terrifying wind spread in the tunnel and we hear screams
resonate.
It's scary as hell!
I turn to the girls with a terrified expression.
Why are they all surrounding me with these 3D waifu?
Anzu grabs my left arm, Masuko grabs the other one and Aneko sneaks up behind me and squeezes my pelvis.
My heart is beating a thousand times an hour. Damn, these three girls are tying every part of my body! What the hell!
—I'm getting scared, Kinari,' Anzu tells me.
I caress the top of her head.
I think that's what Chizu does when we watch horror movies, right?
—I want some too, darling!
—Do not forget me!
I hate this harem.
And why does she speak English, this heroine of eroge?
I touch each girl's head alternately every five seconds, then we move on.
—Light, Kinari!
Finally!
Their smiles are drawn, but are only ephemeral.
We notice two shadows entering the gallery and running in our direction.
What the hell is this again? Spirits? Ghosts? Simple joggers?
Unable to take the slightest step, we observe the two silhouettes approaching us.
—Turn back, if you value your skin!
What's this cliché sentence?
Damn, this tunnel is as scary as Goto*.
We rush back to the exit, or rather the entrance of the tunnel.
I'm sweating, my heart is beating so fucking fast.
We catch our breath.
It was terrifying, this tunnel!
My face gets tons of confetti.
—Not too scared, Big Brother?
She giggles, then explains.
—I was the one who prepared all this. I wasn't going to stand by while you made memories without me!
Fucking fate.
—The message came from me, so we took a shortcut to get it before you came in. Yamaguchi and Maeda ran after you yelling at you, you should have seen your faces, it was so funny!
Funny? Seriously, it's supposed to be…
The girls laugh out loud.
—Bravo, Chizu it was so good!
Funny?
The pressure is lowered little by little.
You really have no courage, sighs Kinari blasé.
You are not wrong. They must think I'm a fool for being so scared.
Stop taking care of the others, it's getting exasperating, he adds.
We head back to the cottage to spend our last evening together. On the way back, Chizu confides us.
—You have been photographed during your test of courage, do you want to see them?
Excited at the idea of examining our faces absorbed by the concern, the girls accept without even letting me say the least word. My sister shows us the pictures, among them is the one of the moments when the girls clung to me.
—Can you send us this one on LINE?
—Yes, with pleasure!
We sit on the couch and Maeda enthusiastically suggests.
—Do you want to play the King's game?
—What is the King's game?' asks our president.
—The rules are simple, you all have to draw one stick out of the seven. On the first six sticks, you will find a number between one and six. On the last one, the word 'king' is written.
He calls it simple? I don't get it.
—If you come across the king's stick then you have to say, 'such and such a number does such and such a thing'. For example, if I'm the king and I ask number one to say what he thinks of number two, knowing that Anzu is number one and Chizu is number two, then Anzu must say what she thinks of Chizu.
Perfect, I didn't understand anything.
Anzu's body is twisting on itself.
—I want to play it right now!
Am I the only one who doesn't get it? The shame…
Masuko grabs Anzu's arm and declares.
—I'm going to order you to do execrable things.
This could be interesting after all.
Maeda grabs the seven sticks, holds them out to the middle of the table, and I grab one.
Number two, bring me luck, Yumeko Jabami.
Chizu stands up.
—I am the king! Then number three has to wear this until the end of the game,' my sister shouts, waving her rabbit ears.
Where did she get such a prop?
—I'm number three,' mumbles Anzu.
Yes, it's going to be very interesting. Will she look like Mai Sakurajima?
She puts the rabbit ears on her head and whispers to me.
—Do you like it, Kinari?
—It suits you, Anzu.
I couldn't help but giggle behind her back. She's light years ahead of Mai Sakurajima.
We all pick up a stick, then Maeda stands up.
Number four.
—I'm the king this time! Let's spice up the game a bit. I'll ask number four to kiss number six hands!
Which hand are we going to kiss?' dreams Kinari in love as he falls to the ground.
—I'm number four … which hand should I kiss?
Masuko stretches her palm towards me, then closes her eyes.
Seriously?
I move towards her and kiss her fingers
Damn, what a shitty fate!
Aneko, annoyed, reveals us her stick, then cries out.
—I was number six!
Is it a joke?
I stare at Masuko and ask her.
—Why did you hold out your hand to me!
—I wanted to know the sweetness of your lips, she answers me childishly.
I hate this harem.
I grab Aneko's wrist and bring my face close to her.
Do I really have to do it? Is this what she wants? I guess so…
I kiss her fingers.
My heart palpitates, my heart beats very fast. What the hell is going on!? I panic to death!
I raise my head, and admire her cheekbones getting flushed.
She is so beautiful.
She has such soft hands, it's impressive. The smell of roses, is it her perfume? It smells so good…
I'm drowning in her pretty hazel coloured almond eyes, Kinari dream in love.
Don't overdo it, you.
We continued to play for a few hours, a few twists and turns kept us awake, but fatigue won out among the group.
Yamaguchi and Maeda get up.
—We go up, we are tired, see you tomorrow!
The girls follow them.
—We do the same on our side, see you tomorrow, Kinari. See you tomorrow, Chizu.
Phew, this evening exhausted me.
—Good night, friends, I am going to stay a little with my big brother.
You are adorable, Sis.
She's slowly making her way towards me.
You're scaring me, Sis.
She's scanning my whole body and face.
You're terrifying, Sis.
She approaches her head to five centimetres of me, and whispers to me.
—Are you in love with someone, Big Brother?
You're scaring me to death here!
—Why do you ask me that, Chizu?
—I am curious! I noticed that you have made a lot of friends lately, isn't it true?
Don't use Chitanda Eru's expressions without even knowing her, sighs Kinari otaku.
—Not really. To me, I see Masuko and Anzu as my clubmates if that's what you're worried about.
—What About Aneko?
—Aneko? Let's just say she intrigues me,' I said, shrugging my shoulders. You'll always come first, Chizu, don't worry.
—It's not that, sighs my sister. I'm afraid that because of my … illness, you have closed all your feelings. I am afraid that because of me, you are not happy!
Chizu…
—I would like that one day, I could see my big brother happy with his girlfriend. I would like you to invite me in your house that you will have bought with your girlfriend and that I prepare you a good curry!
Chizu…
The tears of my sister make me sad myself.
—You know, for you it is normal to think that tomorrow will come after today, no? That after this week will come next week, after this month will come next month and after this year will come next year.
Fucking fate, seriously.
—But I'm not so lucky. If I fall asleep today maybe I won't wake up tomorrow. The present moment is all I have. So please, Big Brother, be happy for me, be happy for me!
I hug him silently.
—Thank you, big brother.
—I am so…
—Shut up!
I feel so lame.
I release my hold and watch her go back to her room.
Will having a girlfriend make my sister happy? Would it make her happy?
No matter how hard I tried to understand. Something was blocking me.
Is love so exciting?
Yet sharing emotions seems pointless to me.
So why love, seriously?
Chitanda eru: Main character with bulging eyes when she is curious. (Hyouka.)
Hikigaya: Main character of the work Oregairu.
Goto: Character physically horrible. (Parasyte : The maxim)
Yumeko Jabami: Main character who loves board games. (Kakegurui)
Mai Sakurajima: Main character who disguises herself as a bunny girl. (Bunny girl Senpai)