SH – Chapter 19 – It’s time to say goodbye to the children

When I went to the student council room during lunch break for the first time in a while, I found Leila eating her lunch as usual, looking somewhat down.

“Ani… It seems like you’re getting hated on again. Are you okay?” (Leila)

As soon as I entered the student council room, she said that with an angry expression.

It’s true that the hate is accumulating again. It wasn’t a big surprise considering the current events.

Lately, I have been having lunch with Irina at noon and then going to the orphanage with Maria after school. 

As a result, my reputation has turned into “the annoying guy who monopolizes Maria, the convenient one who always listens to requests.” 

Taking into account the incident with Irina too, things aren’t exactly going well reputation-wise.

Irina and I have had a proper talk about this before, and she understands, but it might be a good idea to check up on her later.

However… it seems like Leila stopped worrying too much about me. Her words may be formal, but deep down, she probably thinks that I’ll be fine.

She either “trust” me or “given up hope” for me.

However, it’s true that she doesn’t have to worry, so I’ll choose to see it as trust.

It’s better for my mental well-being that way.

“Heh, you see, my sister (imouto)… Men tend to shine brighter in difficult situations.” (Louis)

“…Yeah, I still feel like worrying about you is a waste after all.” (Leila)

When I playfully said that in a proud manner, Leila shook her head in disappointment.

I continued with a cheeky grin on my face. 

“Oh come on, you weren’t really all that worried, were you?” (Louis)

“You caught me. I already knew that Ani doesn’t care about what other people think of him anymore.” (Leila)

Leila playfully stuck out her tongue in response.

As I sat across from Leila as usual, I wore a serious expression.

Seeing me like that, Leila also adopted a serious expression and continued with the topic at hand. 

“Hey, Leila… I have another favor to ask.” (Louis)

“Well, I expected as much. So, what is it?” (Leila)

As expected of my sister, it seems like she understands that I came here to discuss something.

So, I decided to be straightforward with my request.

“Yeah, that’s right. I’ll cut to the chase… Leila, would you consider trying on a nun’s outfit?” (Louis)

“Ha?” (Leila)

As I voiced my request, it felt like the room’s temperature had dropped a lot. 

Leila’s icy gaze pierced through me.

“I’ll start by asking for the reason behind this. If it’s a frivolous reason, I might just have you leave the academy.” (Leila)

Oh, this is serious. 

Her eyes genuinely convey the intention to expel me.

“…I’m sorry. Lately, I’ve been looking at Maria in her nun’s outfit and I just thought Leila might look good in it too.” (Louis)

Leila’s chest isn’t particularly large or small. Her facial features are dignified, and she leans more towards the cool type of person.

But precisely because of that, I thought that wearing a nun’s outfit might create an interesting contrast.

You know, if Leila, dressed in a nun’s outfit, were to look down on me with disdain, it might open up a whole new world

Leila had been giving me a cold stare for a while, but she suddenly sighed and loosened up.

*Phew* it seems like I’m in the clear…?

“I won’t expel you, but I’ll make sure everyone knows that Ani is a pervert.” (Leila)

“Yeah, that’s fine. It’s not like it matters at this point.” (Louis)

When I casually responded to Leila’s words, she suddenly jumped as if she had just realized something.

“I-I see… This person really doesn’t care about what others think…” (Leila)

“Hehehe, those tactics won’t work on me at all.” (Louis)

“Ugh, maybe I should just expel you after all…” (Leila)

“Hey, wait! Spare me! There are still things I need to do!” (Louis)

As I hurriedly plead, Leila sighed as if she were tired of dealing with me.

I’m sorry that I’m this kind of person.

“So… what is it that you want? What’s your real request?” (Leila)

“Oh, my real request, huh? Well, this time it’s not something too complicated…” (Louis)

And so, I made a request to Leila and left the student council room.

Yeah, I’m relieved that she agreed.

This should be a step forward in the Maria rescue operation.

But I’ve been relying on Leila a lot recently… I should definitely express my gratitude to her as well.

＋＋＋

And so, two weeks had passed since I started visiting the orphanage.

I had already gotten to know the children quite well, and it seemed like Maria, in particular, had warmed up to them quite a bit.

…However, their treatment of me hadn’t changed even after two weeks.

“Onee-chan, aren’t you coming anymore?” (Kid)

“Please, come visit again!” (Kid)

“I don’t want you to leave.” (Kid)

I had previously informed Ruin that we would only be helping for two weeks.

So today marks the end of our time at the orphanage.

However, upon learning this, the children were crying as they clung to Maria.

“…Louis-san, are we really not going to help at the orphanage anymore?” (Maria)

Maria looked at me with a pleading expression as she said that.

She probably still wanted to continue helping at the orphanage.

But I shook my head.

“It’s getting difficult to obtain permits to leave every day, and I have already pushed my luck with the principal. I think it’s going to be tough to continue beyond this.” (Louis)

That’s one of the reasons, but it’s also not good for Maria and the children for us to keep coming here.

For now, I believe it’s better not to let her come here. I do think there will come a day when she can return, but at the very least, it should be after her own issues are resolved.

Upon hearing my words, Maria lowered her eyes with a sad expression.

The children, on the other hand, started hurling insults at me while giving me angry glares.

“Devil!” (Kid)

“Monster!” (Kid)

“Bad-tasting meat!” (Kid)

Although there was an odd one mixed in, I didn’t really want to play the role of the villain this time.

Even though the children had looked down on me, they still happily talked to me from time to time, and I would have liked to stay with them if I could.

But that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

If Maria were to continue visiting the orphanage as she is, she might start depending on the children more.

She might start devoting herself to them because they rely on her.

She might even try to build the close relationship she always wanted.

But, even though, the children rely on Maria right now, what’s going to happen when they grow up?

In this world, adulthood starts at the age of 15, so they will become adults in five more years. Then, the children will no longer have to rely on Maria as they become independent adults.

If this were to happen, she might truly break down if their relationship were to drift apart.

Even if the children continued to rely on Maria, that would also be a problem.

Maria needs to understand that “Unconditional love¹ doesn’t require her to sacrifice herself”. 

To achieve that, she needs some time apart from the children and a chance to realize that they still care about her even without her constant service.

In addition to that, I have already asked Leila for help and she has already started on her side. 

So, I’ll need to act on that plan, and once that’s in motion, we probably won’t be able to come here after school for a while.

Maria had been looking at me with a pleading expression for a while, but when she realized I wasn’t nodding in agreement, she sighed as if giving up.

“Yeah… I understand. Maybe it’s not a good idea for me to stay here any longer.” (Maria)

It seemed that Maria was slowly starting to understand herself better.

She was beginning to sense that continuing to visit this orphanage might not be in her best interest.

“Well, that’s how it is. Take care, everyone.” (Louis)

“Thank you, Louis-san, Maria-san. Thanks to you, we had a really fun time.” (Ruin)

As we were about to leave, Ruin lowered his head and said those words.

Upon hearing that, the children seemed to understand that they couldn’t keep us here any longer, so they reluctantly separated from Maria, still sobbing.

“Well then, see you later, onii-chan, onee-chan.” (Kid)

“Bye-bye…” (Kid)

“Let’s meet again one day.” (Kid)

The children all said their farewells.

Even the silent boy who didn’t say anything, smiled sadly when our eyes met.

It seemed like he wasn’t going to mock me this time.

As I turned my back to them, I spoke these words:

“Heh… Real men communicate using their back, you know. So, I won’t say anything more than this.” (Louis)

That was a pretty cool exit…

With that, Maria should be impressed by my coolness…

“Louis-san, you looked kind of uncool at the very end.” (Maria)

Oof!

As we walked through the twilight streets of the slums, Maria said that to me, and I couldn’t help but clutch my chest in response.

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TL notes:

Thanks for reading!

Yay, finally back to the plot at hand. 

Also, I think MC was trying to pull off the ‘cool guy one-liner with his back turned’ except the one-liner kinda sucked.

Btw the latest chapter is 22 so there isn’t much left until we caught up. And you may or may not know, but I’m working on a new website which is about to be finished soon. Once it’s finished, I’ll try to quickly catch up.

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Footnote:

1. Unconditional love means loving someone for who they are without considering how the relationship will benefit you, etc.