Chapter 4.2

Netoge no Yome Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 2

I was supposed to release this short part along with part one, but I took more time editing this important scene as I’ve been back to solo editing since chapter one (the editor seems busy that he wasn’t able to go through stuff except the prologue yet). You can clearly see how different it was from the anime in portraying Schwein’s character and her take on the relationships at this point. Though I won’t be spoiling much more than that, so please enjoy this next part.

Also, since I still haven’t finished with part three, that would just be released probablynext week. Also doing another call to anyone who could help with the redrawing, cleaning and typesetting for the colored illustrations. To make looking for people interested to help easier, I’m planning to making a discord channel some time in the future (or if you know of one that has Netoge no Yome as the main thing, please do let me know).

All that aside, here’s part two of chapter four.

Chapter 4

Part 2

Translation: Yamaking

I’ve finished my various preparations and was about to go home.

Right now, I have my heavy backpack on and was on the way home, but currently walking beside me was Segawa instead of Ako.

“This is the first time we’ve went home together like this huh?”

“I guess.”

Segawa said that without even looking at me. Her profile from the side, which was being illuminated by the setting sun, seemed different than it usually was as it gave off a mature feel.

“When that whole thing about the net games was completely revealed to Nanako, I figured she wasn’t the type that would spread it around but… Now that this happened, that was kind of pointless.”

“Is that so?”

“Also, there were usually times where she would take Ako into consideration you know.”

“Thanks… Should I be saying that?”

Or do I rather take that as an unnecessary consideration?

Because it was thanks to that that my daily routine of going home with Ako is now a thing of the past.

“But it’s about Ako you see.”

Just then, Segawa finally looked over here.

“I’m just thinking, you know, that there’s really no need to get so serious over this.”

“…Why is that?”

‘Hmm’, Segawa took a deep breath as she looked up at the sky.

“This is just my guess, but I don’t think Ako really believes that Nanako is taking you away from her.”

“Then?”

“It’s just that she suddenly overreacted and made such a big show of sulking. And now, it’s become a bigger deal than she expected that she just had to stick to her guns. Because of that,  things are snowballing off in the wrong direction.”

“Honestly, that’s what I think too.”

And with her exasperation as the main cause, she blurted nonsensical things like, she’ll take LA seriously from now on, or that she’s betting it all on the next life.

“Right? That’s why if you would openly talk to her, she would definitely come back. I’m sure of it.”

“…Well, whatever happens, I’ll be talking to Ako anyway.”

“I’m counting on you.”

‘Yeah’, I nodded, which caused Segawa’s expression to relax a bit.

It was something that she often wouldn’t show to the ones in the classroom. It was that really relaxed expression of hers.

The times where Segawa got really mad, the times she got really flustered, and even the times she was really happy, were all things that you could only see in the clubroom.

Usually, you wouldn’t even see those things in the classroom.

With that in mind, I went to ask Segawa something.

“Hey Segawa.”

“Hm?”

“You know, you said that if your secret of playing net games got out, it would be a huge deal right?”

“That’s already happened so don’t remind me.”

“Sorry about that.”

I’m really sorry for twisting the knife in that wound. I honestly apologize.

“But well, you had all those reasons for hiding it, but why do you still continue to play it?”

“…Eh, you’re asking about that?”

Segawa knit her eyebrows as she showed a terribly sour face.

Did I just touch up on a bad subject? I didn’t think she hated talking about it that much.

“Ah, was it bad of me to ask that?”

“No, it’s not bad… Hm, err… Hey, make sure you never tell this to anyone this ok? Not Nanako, not Master, and not even Ako.”

“Is it that big of a deal? But if you tell me not to, then of course I wouldn’t tell them.”

Segawa had this air about her that looked like she wanted to talk about it too.

A promise huh? And well, to start off that story, Segawa began talking bit by bit.

“Well you see… I’d like you to listen to this without misunderstanding anything.”

“Yeah.”

“When I first got my computer handed down to me, I started to wander into the world of the internet. During that time, I was just one of the common folk middle schoolers who was using it simply to rummage for videos of cats and dogs online.”

Well, that’s really what common folk sounds like.

Though I honestly find it strange that a female middle schooler rummaging for those videos is considered common place, but since she says so herself, I’ll just leave it alone.

“It was that time you know, that I saw an advertisement. It was the one for this game.”

“Ah, it’s those advertisements on the side of those videos right?”

“Yeah that. And then, see… Don’t get me wrong on what I’m about to say okay?”

“I told you I won’t. So, what is it?”

I don’t think there’s anything she can say at this point that could cause any problems. Just what was it about I wonder?

Segawa repeatedly opened and closed her mouth, looking as if she had a hard time. And then, she finally went and said it.

“You see… those two guys, you see… with that fallen dragon in the background, it was that image of them with their arms over the other’s shoulder laughing. It was upon seeing that image that my maiden’s heart suddenly experienced a wonderful shock.”

“…Ha?”

Eh, what? Does that mean, that? You know, that?

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those!? Those fujoshi—”

“You’re wrong! This is why I told you to not get me wrong!”

No, no, there’s no way I’m mistaken right? That just now was clearly a declaration of your rotten self!

“I remember that image too. It’s that pair where the one with the greatsword looked a bit like Schwein and the one with the shield is like me right! It was in the official site so I know!”

“That’s right. That’s why I made my character like that.”

“Don’t tell me, that during the times we farming, you were imaging all those sorts of things!?”

“You’re wrooooooooooooong!”

Segawa hit my back furiously.

Owww, I get you! I get you already!

“It’s not that rosy stuff that you think! It just that the relationship between that really cool looking guy and the shield guy, you know, really gives off that feeling of a true great male friendship that it just sent shivers down my spine!”

Segawa’s face was dyed completely red, but it doesn’t look like she’s lying.

Rather, the moment I found out that Segawa was Schwein, I knew that the only time she would lie to me was in the morning, during class. That’s how much I trust her.

“…Friendship, huh?”

But even if you tell me it’s about friendship, I just don’t understand.

Ako then said this straight to my face, which looked puzzled.

“It’s true. It’s also because of… that. You haven’t heard of anything like that true friendship thing between fellow girls right? And when someone from a group of girls leave their seat, the remaining members would talk about that other girl behind her back. That sort of thing happens, you know?”

Ah, I’ve definitely heard of that. It’s that kind of story that makes you think girls are really scary.

Though, I’ve never actually seen them do that.

“Is that what you guys do?”

“No way! At the very least, I don’t do that. And as for the others, they… rarely, don’t do that.”

‘Ah, so they do it sometimes too’— as I was thinking that, I just gave a nod as a response without really thinking about it. Segawa seems as if she understood me as she gave me a bitter smile.

“‘So that happens sometimes too huh?’, is what your face is telling me.”

“Oh, so you know what I’m thinking?”

“Well of course. We’ve been hanging out together for so long after all… And actually, what I meant before was moments just like this.”

“This way of talking through our thoughts you mean?”

‘Yeah’, she nodded.

“I really thought that the friendship between fellow girls was great, you know. So much that I thought it was enough to win against those boys that we make fun of. But. But, you see. I wasn’t even able to tell Nanako about me playing net games, even though I considered her as my best friend. It felt as if I didn’t trust her enough to tell her everything.“

“…Yeah.”

“I wondered if she would be weirded out if I told her things like these, or if she would look down on me for having this kind of hobby and be grossed out by that. That’s the kind of stuff I was thinking. It was then that I thought, not having someone hanging around just to be in the same rank as you, but rather someone who you could wholeheartedly hit, and that someone would wholeheartedly hit back in response… it’s that kind of friendship between males that I found kind of nice.”

“And then you went and created Schwein huh?”

“Yeah. But when I actually got to playing the game, it was actually a lot of fun, so my first reason for playing didn’t end up being the only one.”

Well, if you didn’t find the game fun, you wouldn’t be this hung up on it. You knew it would be bad if you got found out, but you just couldn’t stop playing. That’s how much you liked the game.

“But, that’s exactly why that quarreling with you is pretty fun in its own right. No matter how unreasonable the words we say are to each other, the other would certainly have a comeback for it. You would laugh and make fun of me for acting all high and mighty, while I would go and snark at you and you would go and do the same… We would be bickering our hearts out, but at the end of it all, we would still be telling each other ‘see you tomorrow’. It’s that kind of thing that I’m really happy about.”

“I don’t dislike bickering with you too, you know.”

Just behind that bad mouthed guy lies a heck of a good person. I knew that.

“If so, then I’m glad.”

Segawa blushed a little as she said that. And, as if to hide that fact, she began to rub her cheeks.

A short while after the odd silence…

My partner, who had begun to open her mouth again, mentioned my wife’s name yet again.

“You know, Ako, she told me the reason why she fell in love with you.”

“Ako did?”

What are you saying all of a sudden? Is this a contest to see who could reveal the other’s most embarrassing story?

The things that Ako likes about me huh— did I ever ask her about that? I think she told me quite well about it, but there’s just too much that I can’t really remember it.

“That girl, you see, knows just how dimwitted she can be. She would space out a lot and get a lot of things wrong. She would also be slow to memorize things, and even if she did memorize it, she would soon forget it right away. It was bad enough that the people who were initially hanging out with her, gradually disappeared on her, one by one.”

“That sounds likely.”

She doesn’t have trouble remembering things she has an interest in though. She’s such a person that if you take her away from her ‘comfort zone’, she would just stand there and space out.

“But you see, when it came to you, even if you say all those things to her, you never left her side. To herself, who could only cause you trouble, you would always tell her that there would be a next time. And whenever you said that, she was sure you would always be there with her for the next time. To you, it may have just been her ingame self, but to her, it’s as if you had accepted that hopeless real self of hers that she was just so happy. In fact, she looked so happy saying that, that I thought her brain had melted.”

“I’m getting embarrassed just hearing about it.”

“It’s embarrassing for me who’s saying it too, so it’s fine.”

I don’t need you to tell me it’s fine. We’re both suffering from embarrassment right now because of that after all.

Besides, that’s just the effect of everything that’s happened so far. I just happened to show her some compassion, so she showed interest in me. And when she approached me and talked to me, we just happened to get along. That’s why she thought of wanting to play with me again.

It was through that process that we got to know each other that her being good or bad at things didn’t really matter. It was a game after all.

But it was also because it’s a game that some people place emphasis on how good or bad someone is.

“As for me, I happen to think that too.”

“Eh?”

Segawa suddenly sped up the pace she walked, as she appeared in front of me.

What face she was making, or what manner she was picking her words, were all hidden. I could only see her twintails swaying from her small back as she said this.

“When I first met you during the offline meet, I was surprised. But more than that, I was really scared. I thought that maybe you would tell everyone how I normally treat you, which would cause them to give me the cold shoulder… I was thinking, ‘Ah, is this how it’s going to end?’.”

“I’m not gonna do something like that.”

“And you really didn’t huh.”

But of course. It’s a given that I would be a bit offended but, you’re someone that I’ve played and hanged out with for a long time. I already understand the difference about your facade and how you really are on the inside.

“Afterwards, for the sake of appearances, I went and said all those mean things to you, but you didn’t even get mad. It was just like the time when I’m playing as Schwein.”

“Even you could have been exposed that time as well, but you still decided to cover for both me and Ako, didn’t you?”

That really surprised me you know. If you didn’t lend me a hand there, that situation would have never settled down.

Now that you could piece everything about it together, you could say that that situation being fixed was all thanks to Segawa.

“That’s natural. I couldn’t just leave you alone in that situation you know. …That’s right. It was just natural. So that was the kind of feeling I got that time.”

“What’s up with that? That feeling you keep talking about.”

“Everything that I’ve experienced so far was just what I was looking for. It’s this whole situation where I could just hang out with you. I think that it would be nice if I could just do that forever.”

“If the circumstances allow for it… I feel like I could hang out with you for quite a long time too.”

“Like an inseparable bad company right?”

“Though the only thing going bad here is your brain.”

“I think you mean your personality.”

Segawa suddenly turned around, as she directly flashed me a smile.

My eyes narrowed a bit as the wind let out a small breeze, but as I was quite drawn into that expression, it felt like that view was already etched into the depths of my vision. This was quite the strange sensation.

“And, that inseparable bad company also includes that recluse of a girl, and that wallet warrior. So, make sure you properly bring Ako back, you hear?”

“…Yeah, leave it to me.”

“Good. Well then— I’ll be asking you to do that in place of my bad self, you dumbass.”

“You’re the dumbass here.”

As she laughed at my comeback, Schwein— Segawa, took light steps forward and distanced herself from me.

Before I realized it, Maegasaki Station was already in sight.

As I was thinking about how we’ve loosened out some of the tension from before, it came to my mind that Segawa somehow really trusts me.

Though, I’m sorry to disappoint, but I just don’t understand what Ako’s feelings on this were.

I don’t know if could go along with what she’s hoping for— but for now, I’ll try my best.

Come tomorrow morning, I’ll be burdening myself with this heavy backpack yet again.

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