Chapter 325: Run Ino-chan, Run Renka #3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 325: Run Ino-chan, Run Renka #3
On our way out after the movie.
My arm was wrapped around Renka’s waist as we moved through the moderately sized crowd. When she kept clearing her throat, I asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“...I don’t know.”
She must have been embarrassed by the public display of affection in front of so many people.
We took the elevator down to the underground parking garage, got in the car, and I started driving toward her house.
As I drove in silence under the completely darkened sky, Renka kept shifting restlessly in the seat next to me.
I couldn't tell if she was anxious about the Ino-chan situation or if she wanted my touch.
Maybe it was both.
“Captain.”
“What.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you have fun today?”
“No.”
“If you don’t like being with me, why did you agree to meet up?”
“I thought you were asking if the movie was fun.”
“So, how was it being with me?”
“It wasn't fun. Because of that weird user you kept blabbering on about, saying she was just like me.”
Calling herself weird.
Her desperate attempt to deny it was amusing.
“‘Blabbering’? Can’t you speak nicely?”
“...It’s just annoying how you only talk about that user.”
“Good job. See? You can do it. But I only mention her because you two are really similar.”
“The way I talk?”
“That, and... her username is Ino-chan, you know?”
“...And?”
“The more I think about it, the more it seems like a shortened version of Inoo.”
“What kind of... nonsense... are you talking about... honestly...”
She was flustered. Her voice was laced with tension.
“Your surname isn’t ‘Inō,’ with a long ‘o’—it’s ‘Inoo.’ The surname Inoo is really rare, you know? You could search the whole country and find fewer than ten families with that name. And your family probably accounts for four or five of them.”
“What are you, an investigator? How would you know that? And what do you mean, fewer than ten families... there are plenty if you look...!”
“I don’t think so.”
“S-So you’re saying I’m that user, Ino-chan?! She probably just uses that nickname because her last name is Ino...! The surname Ino is common.”
“Now that you mention it, that could be true.”
“Right?”
“Yes. But why are you so flustered?”
“That’s... because you’re so fixated on me being Ino, and you’re talking as if you’re certain I’m her... I was just criticizing your narrow-minded perspective...”
But you are her.
Why is she digging her own grave like this?
The consequences are piling up, and I think it would be better for her to just admit it now... but it seems Renka still has other plans.
I had intended to just put a little pressure on her today and leave it at that, but talking to her has changed my mind.
I need to confirm it for good.
Renka may want to deny being Ino-chan with every fiber of her being, but this will be better for her in the long run.
It’s a bomb that’s going to go off eventually. If I let it end half-heartedly here, she’ll just live every day with the stress of her heart being squeezed.
It’s much better to just set it off and get it over with.
She’ll be mortified at first, but time will take care of that.
“This Ino-chan person likes anime just like you, and she talks like you... I think it’s reasonable to be suspicious. Don’t you?”
At my nonchalant words, Renka fell silent, pondering something for a moment before nodding.
“Fine... I guess you could think that.”
“But it’s not you?”
“How many times do I have to tell you no, you paranoid bastard.”
“What if, just what if.”
“What.”
“What if you are Ino-chan?”
“Ugh, seriously...!”
Renka snapped in irritation.
I patted her thigh with one hand to soothe her and said.
“It’s just a hypothetical, so hear me out.”
“Haaah...”
“If you are Ino-chan, I’m going to give you a very big punishment.”
“A big punishment...?”
“Yes.”
“...You think I’d actually care about something like that?”
Her eyes were shaking like there was an earthquake, and her hands were fidgeting. It looked like she cared a great deal.
If Renka wasn’t Ino-chan, she should have responded to my words by asking what nonsense I was spouting or simply denying it coolly.
But right now, she was far too conscious of Ino-chan.
As a result, she heard my words from Ino-chan’s perspective and answered accordingly.
As if she wasn’t afraid of being punished.
It could be evidence, but it’s a little ambiguous...
I could press her on her flustered tone, but... let’s try to guide her into slipping up unintentionally just a little more.
“So you’re not scared?”
“No. This is exhausting. You want to see my phone?”
“Why your phone?”
“You can check if I have the app installed.”
The fact that she suggested it herself must mean she deleted it.
She wouldn’t have deleted it before meeting me, so she probably did it when she went to the restroom before the movie.
“How did you know there was an app?”
“I-It’s only natural for a big community like that to have its own app...! I knew about it already...!”
“I see. But apps are easy to delete.”
“So now you’re saying I deleted it?”
“No. I’ll stop being suspicious. I’m sorry.”
“...Fine.”
Pretending to back down, I drove in silence for a moment. Then, instead of going straight on the road to Renka’s house, I turned.
“What? Where are you going?”
Renka asked as I turned the steering wheel to the left.
Keeping my eyes on the road ahead, I relaxed my grip and answered casually.
“To buy a manga.”
“What for?”
“Volume two of Asagao-san’s Household Finances is out.”
“...You perverted bastard.”
“Speak nicely.”
“You unrecyclable piece of trash.”
“I told you to be nice, why are you being even meaner?”
“I’m just stating a fact.”
“Right. That one was fun, wasn’t it?”
“What? The Asagao one?”
“Yeah. You borrowed it from me.”
“It was okay. Too lewd, though.”
“What about Master’s Secret and Girlfriend Training Diary?”
“Those I actually liked.”
Got her.
Asagao-san’s Household Finances. It’s a training-trope manga.
It was also one Renka and I had bought together in person.
But Master’s Secret and Girlfriend Training Diary were different.
Those were manga I had recommended to Ino-chan on AniShare, ones I had never mentioned in the real world.
“Captain.”
“What.”
“You just made a mistake.”
“A mistake? What? Ah...!?”
Realizing her slip-up, Renka let out a short scream.
Just then, the light turned red, and I stopped the car and looked at her.
“Didn’t you?”
Renka must have been being careful.
She must have told herself not to accidentally mention MK, to feign ignorance about the books he recommended.
She must have resolved not to make such a common mistake.
But when I acted like I was going to let it go, her guard must have dropped slightly, and in her relief, she made a mistake.
“.....”
She was silent.
That reaction was as good as a confession of Ino-chan’s identity.
But it seemed Renka had no intention of admitting it.
“A mistake...?”
She had the gall to feign ignorance.
It’s about time she gave up. She’s really something else.
“Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“Yeah...! Go on. What mistake did I make?”
“Master’s Secret, Girlfriend Training Diary.”
“W-What about them?”
“I’m the one who recommended them to you on AniShare.”
“Ah... you did? I didn’t know.”
“If you didn’t know, why were you so surprised when I said you made a mistake?”
I could see her eyes darting around, her legs trembling palely.
I could almost feel the gears in her brain spinning at an incredible speed.
“That’s... the ones you mentioned were manga I’d read a long time ago, so when you said them, I just accepted it naturally.”
“A stream of consciousness?”
“Well... something like that...”
“Girlfriend Training Diary isn’t an old manga.”
“Anything over a year old is old...!”
“I could let this go, but if I do, wouldn’t you feel really uneasy about it?”
“What are you talking about...”
She waved a hand in front of her face as if dumbfounded, but the gesture was so stiff it just looked awkward.
I smirked and suddenly reached out, placing my hand on her upper chest.
“W-What are you...!”
Startled, her whole body froze. Her heart was pounding incredibly fast.
I leaned my upper body forward to get a closer look at her face and saw she was even breaking out in a cold sweat.
When I touched her neck, I could feel her body temperature rising rapidly.
I could even hear her teeth chattering as if a bitter cold had suddenly set in.
Her body’s reactions were so honest.
Bringing my face right up to hers, I spoke softly.
“If you’re honest right now, I’ll go easy on you.”
“...Th-There’s a limit to your bullshit...”
“You’re Run Ino-chan, aren’t you?”
“I told you, I’m not...”
“I’ll ask one last time. You’re Run Ino-chan, right?”
“.....”
Gulp.
The sound of Renka swallowing hard echoed loudly in my ears.
The life was rapidly draining from her eyes.
They had practically rolled back in her head for a second before returning.
Feeling Renka’s ragged breaths tickling my face, I opened my mouth, my voice even lower than before.
“You are.”
“That’s...”
Renka couldn’t finish her sentence. At this point, it was safe to say it was completely over.
She must have been thinking the same thing, because she wore a pitiful expression, as if she wanted to escape from this place immediately.
“Right?”
Even at my gentle prompting, she hesitated for a long time. It was only when the light turned green that she finally answered.
“D-Die...!!!”