The Fate of the Protagonist Who Chose the Harem Ending - Episode 5

Harem and Shizuku  

A few days when Aiba became worked up about Shizuku.

Today, Shizuku is with Ichijou.  

It’s not like Shizuku always comes to me to complain.  

She does stay at Ichijou’s place sometimes.  

I think she still has feelings for him, wanting him to notice her.  

But, right now, I’m worried about Shizuku because she’s been down lately.  

So, as much as I hate it, I’m heading to where Ichijou is.  

It seems like Ichijou and his harem are gathering in the cafeteria today.  

Despite the large crowd, I can tell because everyone’s eyes are on the harem.  

Among them, I can spot Shizuku holding two lunchboxes.  

“U-umm… Ichijou-kun, here…”  

“Oh, you’re lucky I’m in the mood for lunch today”  

He’s saying “lucky”, but that’s not lucky.  

He should be thanking her for making it.  

Ichijou seems to think that Shizuku bringing him lunch every day is just a given.  

That’s not the case.  

She wakes up earlier than usual, makes the lunch, and brings it to him.  

She’s covering for the cost of ingredients and the effort she puts into it.  

I tried making lunch once, but it was so hard that I ended up respecting my parents who make lunch every day.  

Anyway, even if Shizuku isn’t expecting anything in return,  

She still deserves to hear “thank you” for the effort she put in.  

The only relationships where it’s okay not to thank someone are parent-child relationships.  

But in the case of Shizuku and Ichijou, gratitude is a must.  

At least that’s how I feel.  

Though it’s not me who’s being ignored, I still watch the harem members chatting away. I was feeling frustrated.  

Meanwhile, Shizuku is quietly eating her lunch, not joining in the conversation.  

“Thank you for the meal!”

“Yes, it was a simple meal.”  

Ichijou says this as he hands Shizuku the empty lunchbox.  

Shizuku looks at him, seemingly waiting for feedback, but…  

“U-umm…”  

“What?”  

“…It’s nothing.”  

“? That’s weird.”

Why can’t he say something like, “It was delicious, thank you!”?  

I came here worried about Shizuku, who has been getting down lately, and this is what I see!  

Sometimes she’s neglected, and her effort and the taste of her lunch aren’t even acknowledged.  

No wonder she’s losing confidence!  

I need to pull Shizuku away from him. I have to take Shizuku away.  

That’s how I feel.  

At that moment…  

“Hey, Guardian, come to check on her because you’re worried?”  

“Don’t call me ‘Guardian,’ Gamer.”  

The person who called me “Guardian” for checking in was Adachi Yuusuke, my friend.  

I called him “Gamer” in retaliation, but Yuusuke didn’t really care.  

He doesn’t care what girls think of him, and his messy hair is a trademark.  

He usually does things alone and is one of the few people who didn’t complain about Ichijou’s harem.  

Actually, he was probably gaming. Don’t bring games to school!  

He openly admits he loves games, especially gal games.  

But he’s also someone who will interact with people if he’s interested.  

“Well, I guess I am curious. If Amamiya-san starts looking so gloomy, it’s got me worried.”  

“If *Yuusuke* is the one saying that, it must be serious.”  

Yuusuke, who usually doesn’t care about others, says this. It’s clear that Shizuku is in a bad state.  

“What do you think of Ichijou’s harem?”  

“I don’t care about it, so it doesn’t matter to me. But…”  

“But?”  

“In gal games, there’s usually an anger or frustration gauge for the girls. 

If we’re talking about something like that, maybe the others are still okay.

But Amamiya-san has already lit the fuse. 

She’s at the point where it could explode at any time.“ 

“Explosion…”  

“Yeah, explosion. Normally, someone would act to stop it. But you could also let it explode.”  

Yuusuke says that he doesn’t think Ichijou can stop the bomb now.  

Has the fuse really already been lit?  

“If that’s the case, we need to stop it…” 

“Why do *you* have to stop it? It’s Ichijou’s job to stop it.”  

“Huh, oh… right…”  

“Hmm?”  

“What’s wrong?”  

Yuusuke dodges my question with a grin.  

Well, let me ask him about his explanation earlier.  

“What makes you say the others are still okay?”  

“Huh? You won’t get mad?”  

“It depends on what you say.”  

“You’re harsh.”  

Well, it’s just my interpretation. He then explains,  

“Amamiya-san is someone who’ll always give her all, right?  

That’s why if the person she’s doing things for appreciates it, she’ll never leave.  

There’s no way she’d make a bomb out of this.  

But if they don’t notice, I don’t understand the point of doing it.  

That’s why I get frustrated quickly.  

If it were a game, I’d trigger the explosion immediately.  

Unless you’re completely devoted, the initial contact event gets delayed.  

On the other hand, the people around me have hobbies that aren’t influenced by Ichijou.  

For example, that girl with glasses, she’s reading a book, right?  

If Ichijou ignores her, she’ll just focus on her own hobbies.  

If this were a game, I’d immediately trigger the explosion if someone mocked her hobby.  

But if they don’t mock it, the explosion will take longer to set off.  

She’s the type where it’s fine to trigger the initial contact event early.”  

When I heard that explanation, I thought my evaluation of Yuusuke went up a little.  

He’s really paying attention to people.  

Maybe because he’s focused on games, he can look at people more objectively.  

I’m not sure if it’s right to use a game analogy, though.  

“I did say the explosion would happen quickly. But honestly, it hasn’t triggered yet.”  

“Is that so?”  

“If we’re talking in game terms. Is Amamiya-san the type who can’t really get angry?”  

“She says what she needs to when it’s necessary.”  

“Hmm… well, whatever, it’s noisy here. Let’s go back and play games.”  

“I’m not going to play games, but sure, let’s head back.”  

While thinking, “What’s with this guy recommending games at school?” we headed back to the classroom together.  

Along the way, Yuusuke muttered something about why the explosion hasn’t happened.  

“Could it be that you’re the reason why?”  

I pretended not to hear his words about the reason the explosion hasn’t gone off.