Welcome, to the Bad End Route - V4 SS 4

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Volume 4, Side Story 4: A Path Chosen Among Many Others, at a Particular Path

 

 

"Hey, Ikuto-kun. What are you going to do for Christmas~?"

"Grandpa and Mother got a bit too enthusiastic and said they were going to rent out a place to have a Christmas party."

"The Jimichi family is really amazing as always..."

"I want to invite Rei-san and Kaori-san, too. Everyone as well, you tell your parents to participate if they don't mind."

"Speaking of which, Grandma said she prepared dresses for everyone."

"Ooh~, I'd like to see everyone in that."

"No wonder Grandpa has been restless lately."

"That guy is always restless."

 

It was one day after school, some time before Christmas.

As usual, the student council room was for our private use, and we discussed about the occasion.

Since we became lovers way back during summer break, we had been enjoying our relationship thus far, much to the understanding of those around us.

 

"I'm looking forward to winter break, but summer break was fun, too~."

"Yeah, it was the best summer vacation I've ever had!"

"Just being able to spend time with someone you love made such a difference."

"I really enjoyed my last summer break in high school."

 

This relationship, considered by men to be convenient, was a harem, but everyone had been on good terms.

Occasionally, there were wars, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves, and they never said anything in particular.

Basically, everyone acted together, but sometimes, we also went out on individual dates.

 

"...By the way."

"""..."""

 

They were having such a pleasant conversation, but I noticed that they seemed a bit uncomfortable.

There was sense of foreignness in the student council room, a strange presence permeating the air, a discomfort of having someone that shouldn't be there.

It was no surprise that everyone was here because they got elected into the student council, but there was one odd person out.

 

"I'm looking forward to it~, that Christmas party!"

""""...""""

"Is to going to be one where you exchange gifts and all that?!"

""""...""""

"I bet everyone's Santa cosplays are going to be adorable."

""""...Haa.""""

 

A guy was making some noise, and the four girls ignored him.

How annoying. I hadn't invited him, but was he actually going to come?

If the girls wanted to, then it was fine...but it was obvious that they didn't.

I hurriedly contacted a certain someone.

 

"...Tendou, are you going to come as well?"

"What's wrong~? It's fine, we're friends, right?!"

 

Tendou Susumu was sitting in a corner of the student council room with an expression as if to say it was only natural.

If he just stayed put, he could still listen in on the conversation.

We were classmates at one point, but I couldn't remember us being friends.

 

"Somehow, sorry everyone..."

"Hanae isn't to blame. He's just insane."

"I want to emulate that mental strength."

"Rather, was he ever like that?"

"What, what is it?! Are you interested in my story?! I'll tell you anything!"

 

Somewhere along the way, I noticed that Tendou began acting towards us this way.

An inserting person, a joking character, a clown. There were a lot of ways to describe him, but I was confused at first.

 

"You know, Susumu-kun."

"Hmm?"

"We're lovers, and we're talking about our Holy Night."

"I know, I know~."

 

"You don't understand."

"I do understand~."

"Then, I'll make it clear. Don't come, get out of the way, disappear."

"Harsh."

 

"Tendou-senpai, you have a very hardened mentality."

"Thanks!"

"I didn't mean that as compliment...um, are you okay?"

"Stop looking so worried."

 

"How can we make you understand?"

"Like I said, I get it~."

"No, it's not that. We don't have a future with you anymore no what you do, okay?"

"No one knows what's going to happen in the future."

 

Since that day before the summer vacation, the girls decided to ignore Tendou completely at first because he was too persistent.

I guess Tendou must have thought about a lot of things. How am I going to deal with the other party, or something like that.

As a result, this was the path he chose.

A clown ―― by playing the fool, he could lessen the degree of seriousness, and if he was rejected, he felt even less impact.

 

"I want to see everyone's Santa cosplay, too!"

"No, I don't want to show you."

"Stop that, it's gross, really, really gross."

"To put it clearly, I don't really want to."

"How should I say this...poor you."

 

The girls replied half-seriously to Tendou, who ignored their retors.

Perhaps they had gotten used to him, but now they conversed with him while looking fed up.

Was that a character success for him? Instead of taking one step forward, it felt like he took five steps back.

Perhaps thinking that it was better than being ignored, this character had solidified its place, and it had been several months since people recognized him as Clown Tendou.

 

"Excuse me~, I'm here to fetch him..."

"Ah, thank you always for the hard work."

 

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and it was opened.

Who appeared, with an apologetic look on his face, was Togawa Umi, the caretaker of Clown Tendou.

 

"I apologize for our Tendou..."

"No, no."

"Come on, let's go! Stop being a bother..."

"I'm not bothering them! Stop, hey, let go!"

 

How many times had I seen this exact scenario? When I couldn't put my head around the situation, it was Umi-kun who helped me out because Tendou wouldn't back down even after being rejected or forced.

Umi-kun, who was pulling Tendou along forcefully, seemed to be on par with him, but...I was afraid that soon, Umi-kun was going to give up on Tendou, too.

 

"Really, you’re too much! That's enough already!"

"What's up with you! Leave me alone!"

"Do you know what everyone is saying? Tendou-fied is a term now, you know?! Don’t fall any lower!"

"Shut up, shut up! Hey! Why are you always touching my ass?! Stop it, let go of meeee ――"

 

Tendou was taken away by Umi-kun. I really was sorry for him.

He was a stubborn guy. I kept telling him to give up on this and that, but it never resonated with him.

I had to seriously come up with something at some point...but it seemed that the girls were looking at something like an amusing attraction, so I sometimes wondered if it was okay to just leave it at that.

 

"...Fufu, he's Tendou-fied."

"Kuhuhu...l-laughing is bad."

"Ahahaha!"

"H-Hanae...y-you're laughing too much...kufufu."

"...I guess this is fine."

 

――――

――

―

 

"―― And so~...che~ers!!"

""""Che~ers!!""""

 

Then, came Christmas day.

As planned, the Christmas party was held at a large, rented out place, together with a group of people that included mine, as well as their families.

Everyone knew about our relationship. As you'd expect, some parents were frowning as they came to know, so I guess we had to work on that.

 

"Everyone, thank you for coming today."

 

My mother immediately started going around to greet their parents. Grandma was next to her, so I felt assured.

Even if their daughter, who was part of the harem, said that everything was good, they still wouldn't easily understand.

Although, there were parents who were not only understanding, but also took the initiative to give out their blessings.

 

"Oh~, thank you very much Ikuto-kun for choosing Reika."

"It's because he's that kind of guy. Three or four girls would be no problem for him."

"Right. Since the girls themselves say all is well, it's not our place to say anything about this."

"I've never seen that girl so happy.  She doesn't have to worry about what the world thinks of her."

 

Ever since I formed a relationship with Hanae and Reika, their parents seemed to be very tolerant about the matter.

I would like to believe that the same would eventually be true for Airi's and Mutsuki's parents.

 

"Akane-san, are you fine with this?"

"As long as he's happy, that's all that matters to me."

"It wouldn't make a difference it's four or five people, you know?"

"Is...that so?"

 

Conversing a short distance away, was Koudzuki-san and my grandparents.

I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but my eyes made contact with Koudzuki-san's, whose cheeks were dyed red since a while ago.

Koudzuki-san only congratulated us and said nothing else.

 

It wasn't that I hadn't thought about this a few times. I wondered if something had just been a bit different, I could have had a future where Koudzuki-san was the one next to me instead.

 

 

"Okay, oka~y! I have a present for everyone today! Could you come here for a moment?"

 

A while after the party started, my mother suddenly let out a loud voice, and forcefully took the four out of the room.

They followed with questions marks floating above their heads. Mother and Grandma took the lead and they headed off somewhere.

 

And so, we waited for few dozen minutes.

While I was wondering why it took so long to just hand a gift over to the girls, but when I saw the four people that showed up, I found the reason why.

That would definitely take some time...

 

"Dress...it's a wedding dress?"

"Everyone had different designs, you know?! It's amazing~."

"Everyone looks beautiful. By the way, I did the design."

 

The four of them were dressed in wedding dresses, courtesy of Grandma. Mother was more excited than her, and I couldn't hide my amazement, either.

The girls seemed a bit embarrassed, perhaps waiting for an impression from me.

 

"So, um...everyone looks pretty."

"Ahaha, thanks."

"It's unusual for Ikuto to be flustered."

"It really is rare, and his cheeks are red, too."

"A bashful Ikuto, I've seen something good."

 

Maybe because of the makeup, but the prettiness of the four, looking more mature than usual, was pushed to the limit.

The dresses were tailored to each individual's personality. I unconsciously took out my phone to take some pictures, and when I took a look next to me, I saw parents snapping photos of their lovely daughters as well.

 

"Okay then~, let's start!"

"Start what?"

"There's only one thing to do in a wedding dress!"

"No, this is all too sudden..."

"Fathers~! Please go pick up your daughters!"

"Listen to me..."

 

At the command of my mother, who wasn't listening, the fathers each headed towards their own daughters.

I was wondering if a ceremony was really going to be held, but it seemed like this was just for fun.

Before I knew it, the parents seemed to be in on it.

 

"Then, Ikuto is here! Gouto-san, please play the role of a priest!"

"O-ooh! Um~...are you ready to put faith in God?"

"Not that kind of priest..."

 

And so, the playful, half-serious wedding ceremony began.

The grooms and I were dressed casually, the priest was in shorts, the mothers were just grinning, and there was no wedding atmosphere at all.

The only thing that seemed grounded was the image of them in real wedding dresses.

The girls came up to me, accompanied by their fathers. Rei-san and Haruo-san...were bawling their eyes out.

Was I really going to have a wedding with these girls someday?

 

"Ikuto. Do you swear to love and protect the girls for the rest of your life?"

"...Yes, I do."

"Do you pledge to stand by Ikuto's side and support him for the rest of your lives?"

""""Yes! I swear!""""

"Very well! Then you may proceed with kissing the brides!"

"Okay, okay, everyone~, here's your opportunity to take a photo~."

 

There was no telling what the future held.

Maybe there would never come a chance to experience another wedding ceremony with these four brides.

Of course, I was going to make every effort to not lose the smiles these four girls were showing ever so beautifully in front of me.

 

"I'm embarrassed already as you'd expect, so please cut me some slack here."

 

Even if it was a kiss of oath, I was too embarrassed to actually do that in front of their parents, so I just dropped the kiss on their cheeks.

After I was done, the girls moved. They adjusted their positions and all four kissed me at the same time.

 

"I'll be by your side for the rest of my life. I won't let you go."

"I'll follow you wherever, not leaving your side."

"From here on, I'm looking forward to our future."

"I can't help but look forward to walk the way with you."

 

Together with them, I was going to keep on going.

We didn't know how our path would be. Or rather, we would pave our road as we went.

Our destination wasn't near yet. This route of happiness was never going to end ――

 

――――

 

"Then everyone, here you go."

"What's with this box?"

"Because today your wedding night, right? But you see, it might be a lot of trouble if you don't use this."

"Ah~, so that's what you mean."

"Oh? What a subtle reaction~, were girls more understanding?"

"I mean, we are already using it."

"Hm? What, you've already been doing it?!"

"Well, we've been dating for half a year now."

 

"Kids these days are so advanced~... By the way, who took Ikuto's first time?"

""""...""""

"O-oh my? Maybe I shouldn't have asked...?"

 

"It was a fierce battle..."

"Well, the first woman is special, so..."

"Our first times are with the same guy, though."

"Ikuto-kun was also troubled at the time."

 

"I-is that so...so, the winner is...?"

"It's a secret. But we were, to a point, convinced."

"...His first kiss, then?"

 

"Ah, that's me!"

"Huh? No, it's me."

"Eh? It's me...right?"

"I feel sorry for all of you, but it's me."

 

"Ah~, I stepped on a landmine... Akane, I'll ask you to take care of the rest."

"No, I think it would be more trouble if I step in."

---

I genuinely feel for Tendou's mom...

Choose which novel you would like me to translate here!

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