REIKO 75
Reiko’s Manners
Chapter 75
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*****
Tomorrow, the new semester begins. I will commute by car. Using my father's money, of course. And since I resigned as an honor student, I pay my tuition with my father's money as well. For the time being, I have decided to use as much of my father's money as possible.
On the day the new semester began, I had an exceedingly strange dream.
In front of the gates of Meisei Academy, lined up in a horizontal row just like the opening of 'G-Men '75', were Katsuragi-sama in the center, flanked by Sara-chan, Mandarouji-sama, Sou-kun, Shiroyama-sama, Dr. Ichijou, and myself.
Beethoven's 'Romance No. 2' played in the background as the title 'Academy Romance: Heaven and Hell' emerged on screen.
The scene shifted, and Katsuragi-sama bumped into someone. The appearance, voice, and even gender of the person he collided with were entirely unknown. Flustered, Katsuragi-sama called out, 「Are you alright?」 to him or her.
Afterward, three choices appeared on screen:
1. Glare aggressively at him for now and see how things play out.
2. Answer, 「I'm fine.」
3. Pick a fight shouting, 「What the hell do you think you're doing, asshole?!」
The scene changed once more. Next was Mandarouji-sama. He was reading a book with a melancholic look on his face. The book he held was obscured by a cover, making the title unknown. The mysterious figure appeared again, and choices popped up:
1. Peek over his shoulder at the book he's reading.
2. Ask him, 「Could you tell me what books you recommend?」
3. Ask whether he's team Jump, Magazine, Sunday, or Champion.
Yet again, the scene shifted. Shiroyama-sama was playing the piano. When the aforementioned mysterious Person X stood beside the piano, choices appeared:
1. Threaten him aggressively with, 「Get that pigeon off your damn head!」
2. Ask him to play a four-handed piano duet with you.
3. Intercept his practice by shouting, 「You filthy Cinderella!」
Next, Sara-chan and Sou-kun made an appearance, along with Person X and a set of choices:
1. Reveal the shocking truth: 「Actually, you two are triplets.」
2. Say, 「I really admire twins who get along so well.」
3. Pick a fight by saying, 「Always hanging out together is so gross.」
Dr. Ichijou and an injured Person X, accompanied by choices:
1. Threaten him with, 「Hey, quack doctor! Hurry up and fix this wound!」
2. Endure the treatment quietly, pretending the pain doesn't bother you.
3. Find pleasure in the pain and demand even greater agony.
Finally, myself and Person X, with choices:
1. Say, 「You have a genuinely lovely body odor.」
2. Make her cry by barking, 「Don't get cocky with me, you bitch!」
3. Challenge her to a jump-rope contest.
After various scenes and choices played out, the villainess Yuria Sakurada and her crony Miu Yuuki-san set up Person X and framed her, but Person X attempted to clear her name through action sequences on par with 'Mission: Impossible'.
Then came a succession of gorgeous CG stills. There was even a CG of Sara-chan and me holding hands with our shoulders pressed together, set against a background of white lilies.
After fading to black, Offenbach's 'Infernal Galop' began to play.
—Whom will you choose?
It's not just romance! Suspense, action, and survival await you.
Is this place heaven or hell? That is entirely up to you.
At that point, I woke up.
It was unmistakably an otome game world. Though, even for an otome game, it was far too much of a masterpiece of garbage. After all, both Sara-chan and I were capture targets. Furthermore, the BGM consisted entirely of public domain classical music whose copyrights had expired.
It was so absurd that I burst out laughing right from the morning. I felt like I hadn't laughed so heartily in a very long time.
Today marked the return to the academy. To my absolute delight, Landlady had prepared a boxed lunch for me!
「Reiko-chan, have a good day. Take care of yourself now.」
「Yes, Mother. I am off!」
The world I had longed for had become reality. A mother who prepares a boxed lunch for me. A mother who sees me off!
From inside the car, I kept watching Landlady, who had come outside in her wheelchair to see me off, until her figure vanished from sight.
I am a happy high school girl. I have finally grasped happiness—
End.
Just because one has found happiness, life does not simply stop.
「Rei-chan, it has been a long time!」
「Sara-chan, yes! Though it doesn't feel like a long time at all to me. After all, we spoke on the phone every single day.」
「That is true, isn't it? I have souvenirs I would love to give you, so could you stop by my house on your way back today?」
「Of course! I also brought you the absolute finest selection of charcoal from what I burned over the summer vacation, Sara-chan!」
「Eh? What am I supposed to use that for?」
「It serves as fuel, and it can also be used for moisture control and deodorizing!」
We chatted about silly, trivial things as we walked further onto the academy grounds. According to Sara-chan, Sou-kun had left home earlier than her because he had duties as vice president for the opening ceremony. While Sara-chan had spent her summer vacation in Nice, Sou-kun had apparently been working in America alongside Takaoka-sama.
After putting our bags in our lockers for the opening ceremony, we headed toward the auditorium.
When we reached the auditorium, all the capture targets from the otome game in my dream were there. One after another, they offered us their greetings.
Katsuragi-sama came running toward us. Running inside the auditorium is strictly forbidden! What atrocious manners for a student council president! And then, Katsuragi-sama bumped right into a girl.
「Are you alright?」
Looking at Katsuragi-sama's face, the girl turned bright red and replied:
「I'm fine.」
Offenbach's 'Infernal Galop' began to echo through my mind.
*****
Should have picked the 3rd choice to open the secret route.
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