Chapter 12: Fate is a fickle mistress

IMPORTANT!!! This was NOT written by Einlion. Enjoy.

MC POV:

"...98, 99, 100! Ready or not, here I come!" I announced after finishing my countdown.

Then, I looked around while checking my surroundings for any presence, and to my surprise, someone actually tried to outsmart me and hide nearby the gathering point.

Feigning ignorance, I made it seem like I was going in the opposite direction from the person I detected. Then, when I was sure they can't see me, I made a sharp turn and circled the meeting spot. Once I got behind them, I finally got a clear view of the smartass in question. It was Yui.

With an evil smile, I approached her from behind, and when I was mere centimeters away, I exclaimed, "Boo! I got you!" causing the girl to scream and jump like a cat sprayed with water.

Unable to contain myself, I started laughing, causing the girl to pout.

"Mou!! If you knew I was there, why did you pretend like you saw nothing!?" she exclaimed, slightly upset.

"Because this was far more entertaining," I replied. "Lok at it as your punishment for trying to outsmart me. Now, I need to find the rest. See you!" I added.

Then, as a part of my revenge, I went after Saruyama, receiving, "Why do you always find me so fast!?" the moment I pretended to stumble upon him, followed by Shu, Chisaki, Rito, and Raku.

There was still one person missing, but no matter how much I searched within the boundaries we sat for the game, I couldn't find her, causing me to worry quite a bit.

"Did you guys see Chitoge? I can't find her anywhere within the limits we set." I asked after returning to the starting point of the game where everyone found stayed.

"Ho? Did the unbeatable Arthur find a worthy opponent?~" Saruyama asked with a shit-eating grin.

"If she was there, I would have found her," I replied with a deadpan. "You aren't in a position to laugh, considering I always find you first or second," I added.

"I knew you did it on purpose!!!" he exclaimed angrily, pointing a finger.

"So? Do you guys know where she is?" I asked again, ignoring Saruyama.

They looked at each other, but no one seemed to know anything.

"Let's split up and search for her. I will go alone. You guys should go in pairs." I proposed.

After forming the pairs, we went in different directions while calling out her name.

"Seriously..?" I muttered to myself after around fifteen minutes of wandering around, the reason being the presence I suddenly felt.

Deciding not to waste time, I swiftly directed my steps towards the presence. There, I found Chitoge scared and stuck on a tree while a big stray dog kept barking at her from the ground.

Seeing her shaking with closed eyes and barely holding back tears while holding the tree branch as if her life depended on it wasn't a pleasing sight.

What made me even more annoyed was what the dog was barking, as I had no problem understanding it thanks to The Orb. The animals of this world are a lot smarter than humans think. I have noticed it on many occasions. Dogs treat us as partners or masters, whereas cats think they own everything. Everyone sees that, but I get to hear them talking as well.

"Oy. Get the hell out of there," I said to the dog, my voice stone cold.

It briefly turned back to look at me and was about to bark when its survival instincts seemed to kick in. The dog lowered its ears while its tail visibly dropped. Soon after, it ran away while whimpering.

"It's alright! You can come down! The dog is gone!" I called to Chitoge, my voice now gentle and reassuring.

In response, she stopped shaking, opened her teary eyes, and while looking at me, asked, "Really..?".

"Yeah," I replied in confirmation.

She quickly went down the tree and nearly tackled me, saying, "It was so scary..."

"I know," I replied, patting her back.

After that, we went to our usual meeting place as she held my hand, refusing to let go.

***

I am not sure how my being here will influence the future, but because most of them will forget about these vacations, I have no reason to worry about becoming a part of the big mess called Raku's future love life against my will.

Kosaki has already developed a crush on Raku, and he likes her as well, so as the 'big brother' of the group, I should help them out. If the gangs try to start a war at that time, I will beat them up. I am not playing favorites since Chitoge thinks about him as a friend only, and Yui treats him like a younger brother. There is still Marika, but I never interacted with her, as Raku usually went to meet her on the days I stayed home.

To sum it up, this time, there will be only two keys and one medallion unless I get my own.

As far as I know, both Yui and Chitoge developed a crush on me so they may give me one. Chitoge focused on me since the moment we met, likely due to my appearance, as a Caucasian-looking child stands out among Japanese children like a sore thumb. However, her crush started developing only once the storm caught us on the Tenku Plateau, and it cemented when I scared that dog away.

I am not exactly sure about Yui. I guess that's because I am more mature than other kids. I also helped her out more than once, like that time with race.

While wondering about such things, I entered the secret base. Only Rito, Raku, Chitoge, Yui, Kosaki, Shu, and Saruyama knew about it at the moment, so I wasn't surprised when I saw the girls and Raku gathered around a book inside the hideout.

"What are you reading?" I inquired.

"My favorite book," Chitoge replied. "I got it from my mom," she added.

After approaching them, I asked, "Can I have a look?"

"Of course!" Chitoge replied with a smile and handed me the book.

I took a glance at the cover and all its pages, after which I handed it back to Chitoge, saying, "Here."

She looked at me confused, and asked, "You are not going to read it?"

"Oh right. This is the first time you witnessed his memorizing skills." Raku commented before I got the chance to explain.

"Memorizing skills?" Yui inquired.

"Yeah. Arthur can remember with perfect clarity everything he saw. Believe me. We checked it more than once." Raku explained.

"So, you managed to read it that fast?" Chitoge inquired.

"Yeah," I said. "I can already say that the author used "Romeo and Juliet" as their inspiration," I added.

""Romeo and Juliet"?" Raku asked a bit confused.

"It's a famous love story from Europe," I replied. "The title of this book, "Zawsze in Love", means Eternally in Love, but there seems to be a mistake as I see no reason to mix two different languages," I added.

"You are right. I couldn't understand the title, so I asked my mom what it meant. She told me that the first word is a polish word, and it means eternal." Chitoge commented.

This time it was Raku's turn to get surprised. "You even know foreign languages?" he asked.

"I just memorized a few dictionaries." I lied as easily as I breathed.

"I envy that ability of yours so much..." Raku said with a weary expression, while all three girls nodded, even Kisaki, that stayed silent so far.

After that, we talked about the book until Rito, Shu, and Saruyama came as well. Then we played for a few hours and returned to our respective homes ending yet another day of my second childhood.

***

We had a lot of fun during these holidays, but everything comes to an end sooner or later.

Today is the last day of the vacation, which means soon Chitoge and Yui will have to return to their homes, effectively splitting our group.

While Kosaki lives in the same city, she will be attending a different school from Raku, so if I do nothing, they will meet again only in high school.

I already decided to help them, so that's not a concern.

What troubles me is that Chitoge asked me to come to a place at the Tenku Plateau, so I am pretty sure I will receive the medallion from her. The inspiration for it is the book Chitoge got from her mom, as the pair in the book made a promise and sealed their love with an ornamental padlock and key set.

I don't have a problem with receiving the medallion, but I am sure Chitoge will want us to make some kind of a promise.

I already came to terms with the fact that people I will interact with and likely marry will be mentally younger than me by a lot, but I still feel uncomfortable about receiving a love confession from a five-year-old.

Right now, I can see her only as a little sister, so if she asks me to promise to marry her, I will either have to lie or make her cry. There is a good chance she will forget, but if she doesn't, I will have to follow through with it, as I hate lying.

Let's just hope she forgets...