6 Main Heroines Who Absolutely Want to Monopolize Me - Volume 2 Chapter 3.3

The Island, His Shirt, and Her 3

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【Destiny’s Choice】

Where will we spend our time after this?

A: Kitajima

B: Minamijima

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The time limit is 30 minutes.

“Shinichi…!”

Sakiho looks up at me with her eyes brimming with tears.

To be honest, choosing an option other than Sakiho in her current state seems risky.

“Juujo-san, where are we right now?”

“We are on Kitajima.”

Glancing around, I see three cottages in the distance. Two of them are as big as a Nasu villa, and one is slightly smaller.

According to Juujo-san’s explanation on the boat, Kitajima has cottages, while Minamijima has tents.

Next, I take a look around.

The pristine white sandy beach is incredibly beautiful. There’s not a single piece of man-made debris, giving it a refined feel.

“Can we go to Minamijima?”

“Yes, if you can decide within the time limit, that’s fine.”

“I wanna go too~!♡”

We head towards Minamijima.

…But, a challenge stands—or rather, hangs—in our way.

“It’s scary, Shinichi-kun…!”

The wind howls up from below the cliff.

In front of us is a suspension bridge. And it’s in pretty bad shape.

Thick poles are planted in the ground, with thick ropes wound around them multiple times, connecting the opposite shore to ours, and planks of wood are laid as closely together as possible.

But.

“Hmm, if someone cut these ropes with a blade, it would be game over.”

“How can you stay so calm, Leona…?”

Sakiho trembles as she throws a retort at Kanda, who’s inspecting the bridge.

“This is awesome! Crossing a bridge that looks like it could fall any moment is the best!”

“Is it not frightening to die…?”

“I’d rather try crossing and die trying than live a life where I didn’t take the challenge because I was scared. That’s way cooler, right? You think the same, right, Shin?”

“Uh, yeah…”

Yu’s bizarre philosophy seems to be at play again, but I’m not in the mood for that right now.

“Shinichi, are you okay…?”

“Y-yeah…”

Sakiho, who knows everything about me, looks at me with concern.

I have a bit of a fear of heights.

“Shinichi-kun, are you scared of heights?”

“Well, kinda,”

“Shinichi isn’t exactly scared of heights, right?”

Sakiho cuts in and starts answering fluently for some reason.

“That’s common knowledge, right? He can even ride airplanes, and he’s fine with tall buildings like the Roppongi Sky Tower. It’s because he trusts civilization. But he’s not good with things like diving boards at pools. It’s more like he’s scared of the sensation of falling, I guess?”

“Sakiho-chan’s answering so well… Ah, but that’s why you released stress hormones after riding a roller coaster, huh?♡”

“Probably…”

Though roller coasters and airplanes are both rides, one is for safely transporting people and the other is for thrill-seeking attractions.

They turned out to be completely different things.

Glancing down the cliff with half-closed eyes again, it doesn’t seem too high, but it’s still scary. Plus, there might be sharks down there?

“When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you…”

Someone whispered a proverb in my ear for some reason and turn my gaze there.

“Ria, you know some difficult words.”

“When you gaze into Shinichi-kun, Shinichi-kun also gazes into you♡”

“What’s that…”

It’s more like staring from a very close distance rather than “gazing” from Meguro Ria. The force of the former idol’s gaze is too strong, almost drawing me in.

“It’s odd. How can you flirt with such words?”

“We’re not flirting.”

“Shin, if you’re scared, let’s cross together!”

“Ah…!”

Then, as if snatching me away from Ria, Yu grabs my arm.

“Why!?”

“To see if the suspension bridge effect is real!”

And she pulls me along forcefully.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, okay, okay, stop pulling! I’ll go at my own pace!”

“Please wait, Shinichi-sama, Shibuya-sama.”

Juujo-san calls out to us.

“As you can see, this suspension bridge is in quite a poor condition.”

“It’s in poor condition…”

“Therefore, only one person at a time can cross.”

Saying this, Juujo-san points to a sign next to the bridge. Indeed, it says,

-Caution! Please cross one at a time.-

It feels like a riddle from Ikkyu-san…

“Then, no one in this world has ever crossed this bridge together, huh!!”

Yu looks at me with sparkling eyes.

“I’m not doing it.”

“Still, it was so much fun! The thrill was the best!”

After crossing the suspension bridge, Yu is still as lively as ever with a big smile on her face.

“Ahaha, Hirakawa, you look worn out. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine…”

“Sorry for making you do this, Shinichi…”

“It’s odd. I don’t think Onii-chan crossed for Sakiho-san’s sake.”

Sakiho sticks close to me and wipes away the sweat, whether it’s cold sweat or just perspiration, with a handkerchief.

I was obviously scared to cross myself, but watching Yu jump and hop across the shaking bridge was even more heart-stopping.

“Anyway, it’s proven that there’s no such thing as a suspension bridge effect.”

Maon lets out a sigh of exasperation.

“Ahaha. I feel a bit different about that. But still, Hirakawa, if you were that scared, you could have just stayed and played on Kitajima. Did you really want to come to Minamijima that badly?”

“…Well, yeah”

As we talk, we finally arrive at Minamijima’s beach.

“…As expected.”

“As expected?”

This side of the beach seems to be equipped for leisure activities.

On the sandy beach, there are beach volleyball courts, cabanas, beach parasols, and so on, resembling a luxurious seaside resort. Near the tents, there seems to be a place for barbecues.

Sand beach camping… no, it’s more like sand beach glamping.

Since it’s called Minamijima, the sunlight seems to be slightly better on this side too.

So then.

“Alright, I’ve made up my mind on which one to choose.”

Saying so, I choose one of the options.

“Eh- Shinichi-kun, which one did you choose?”

“I’m not telling. It’ll be cheating, right?”

“Meanie~”

Ideally, I’d want to eliminate at least one person in each round of 【Destiny’s Choice】.

I want to be left alone with just one person in the end, and the number of 【Destiny’s Choice】 rounds is probably limited.

However,

“Ria-san, it’s useless to ask Onii-chan. …Sakiho-san, which will you choose?”

…It seems the wholesaler won’t let it go so easily.

“Me?”

“I see. So we should ask Shinagawa, not Hirakawa.”

“What do you mean?”

Yu tilts her head in confusion.

“Onii-chan values fairness. I can’t imagine him leaving Sakiho-san, who’s suffering from withdrawal symptoms. …That means, Onii-chan has chosen the option that Sakiho-san is likely to choose.”

“But, does Shinichi-kun know what Sakiho-chan will choose? Sakiho-chan is Shinichi-kun’s stalker, but Shinichi-kun isn’t Sakiho-chan’s stalker, right?”

“When you gaze into Shinichi-kun, Shinichi-kun also gazes into you, right?”

“Huh? What’s that?”

“It’s odd…! Ria-san said that herself…!?”

Maon is genuinely puzzled by Ria’s expression of confusion. Poor Maon.

“So, Sakiho-chan, which one will you choose?♡”

“That is…”

“Shinagawa?”

Sakiho hesitates to answer, and Kanda pressures her as if to emphasize his point. Just calling her name exerts so much pressure, Kanda-san…

tln : Shall we continue our journey with the 5 heroines? (lol sumire already lose in volume 1)