The 31st of August has arrived, and for all high school students in this country, this day has a very special meaning. Indeed, this is the last day of summer break, the final stretch before school restarts.

I think that’s how my friend Jirou-kun would explain it. Ah, apologies for the late introduction, my name is Suzutsuki Kanade. Welcome to my room, I hope you have a joyful time today.

“..Just kidding.” I let out a sigh, and fell onto my bed.

No need to introduce myself with nobody around. Normally I wouldn’t do something like that to begin with, but today I was feeling a bit bored and melancholic. Anyway, my boredom won’t go away like this, so I’ll play a game to get a change of pace, and create some self-analysis.

I was resting in my own room. In terms of the average citizen, my family is quite prestigious, and my room was fitting that image, fairly luxurious. It’s a wide open space, equipped with a dome bed, as well as several furniture imported from overseas. No matter how luxurious it may be, I’ve never thought much of it ever since I was young, and regarded it as normal. Of course, if I actually said this out loud, Jirou-kun would surely give me an earful.

Jirou-kun is my classmate. After being raised in a family with a little sister and mother who both are wrestling fanatics, his personality ended up twisted in a peculiar way. Then again, definitely not on the level of me and Usami-san. Thinking about it, a lot of events happened this summer, all including him. Most prominent of course the elopement trip I forcefully dragged him along on. That sure was fun.

Still, I didn’t expect things to become this exciting, and my daily life to change to such an extent. The reason for this was the fact that Jirou-kun found out my butler—Subaru’s secret back in April. After that incident, everything changed. Everything is just so interesting, and fun, and enjoyable. Of course, there’s me trying to create these events myself, but the fact that he always ends up getting wrapped up in trouble helps a lot.

When I’m with him, I never feel bored. For someone like me who can’t live without excitement and joy, he’s the greatest foe to my mortal enemy, namely boredom. That’s why I often find myself wanting to be with him.

“....”

If I were to confess something, this is the first time I ever felt this way towards a man. On a side note, my first love was my butler, Konoe Subaru. She was my first friend, my first irreplaceable existence. I love her even now, and that probably won’t ever change. However, what I feel towards Jirou-kun is a different kind of emotion compared to that.

Not to mention that he’s not just funny and interesting to have around. Normally he’s a chicken who gets a nosebleed simply by touching a girl, but there are times when he actually is pretty cool. For example, during last Golden Week. Even after being run over by a truck, drenched in blood, he pushed me aside to convince Subaru with all his might..Seeing that was just so..impactful and stimulating. As a result of that, I went ahead and..well, k-kissed him..

Even I myself was wondering if I might have taken it too far, but I wanted to see his shocked face, and I figured this would lead to a more interesting result.

“But, it was my one and only first kiss..”

If possible, I wanted to have it in a more romantic situation. Usami-san would definitely take that direction instead. She’s pretty girly despite her personality. Well, it’s not like I regret much despite that. After all, I feel deep gratitude towards Jirou-kun. Thanks to his efforts, Subaru and I managed to make up, and go back to how we had been before. For that, I’m very thankful, and I feel bad for his injuries back in April. That’s why that kiss was something like a token of gratitude.

But, I feel like Nagare is also partially to blame because he ignored my orders back then. When I asked him about that, apparently there was a reason he was forced to do this, but I have no way of knowing. It was probably something about him being a clingy parent. Anyway, that’s about enough self-analysis for now.

“Ah, not good.”

I forgot the most important part as to why Suzutsuki Kanade is feeling quite melancholic right now. Put frankly, it’s about my butler Konoe Subaru. Recently, she’s been acting off a lot..

“Young lady, are you still awake?”

I heard a faint knock on my room’s door, followed up by an alto voice. Hearing this, I immediately got up, and sat on my bed. And then, I flipped the switch something deep inside of me, which would turn me into the usual Suzutsuki Kanade.

“Yes, I’m awake. You can come in, Subaru.” I answered with a calm voice so as to not raise any suspicion.

Looking over at the clock in my room, I could see that the time of day had progressed towards 11pm. Since the new school term starts tomorrow, we should be heading to bed soon.

“..Excuse me, young lady.”

Subaru seemed tense about something as she entered my room. As always, she was absurdly loveable with her glittery hair, her translucent eyes, her slender stature, and her beautiful face.

“What’s wrong? It’s rare for you to stop by my room this late.” I acted like I didn’t know, but her expression and gestures told me enough.

I’m sure that tonight, all my doubts will be dispelled, even if I wanted them to or not. Tonight’s dinner was far too abrupt. It was probably meant as a means. I know Subaru better than anybody else after all, but to think she would act like this..

“The thing is..I wanted to ask you for a bit of advice..” Subaru spoke up, her legs quivering like a newborn lamb.

..Hmm, there’s no need for her to be this nervous. We’re friends, not to mention the same age. I think her plan was to make me feel delighted with the dinner, all to make it easier for her. Jirou-kun keeps calling me a wolf, but now I really feel like my relationship with Subaru is that of a wolf and lamb. Of course, I wouldn’t say this out loud.

“Of course, tell me. But, you have to uphold your promise in return.”

“Urk..”

“What’s wrong? It’s simple, isn’t it?”

“..O-Okay..Kana-chan.”

“Fufu, thanks.”

What a nostalgic name that is. I’ve always asked her to call me that way when it’s just us two, but since she’s so diligent, she won’t listen to me. If I order her like I did just now, she would obey immediately, but it still fills me with a bit of sadness inside of me.

“Subaru, what did you want to talk about?”

I could roughly guess what she wanted to talk about. My money most definitely is on Jirou-kun.

“W-Well, the thing is..” Subaru continued with an awkward tone. “Kana-chan, do you..like Jirou?”

“....” I found myself surprised for a moment.

Of course, on the outside I stayed calm and rational, but on the inside, my heart was racing. My expectations were quite different from this reality in front of me.

“Now, who knows.” I smiled to buy myself some more time.

—Think, Suzutsuki Kanade. What’s most important right now is to be considerate of Subaru. That’s why the choice I went with was..

“—That’s right, I like him.”

“..!”

“Don’t be so shocked. I do like him, but simply as a friend. I don’t like him as a man or anything.”

“I-I see..I was worried if that wasn’t the case.” Hearing my words, Subaru sighed in relief.

..Okay, it seems like my choice was correct. Leaving aside what is truth or lie, this is the best for now. Because, I knew what was coming after this..

“....There was a confession.”

“Eh?”

“At the summer festival before, there was a confession.”

“..Who?”

“Urk..I-I confessed to Jirou.” Subaru blushed, while declaring such.

....That chicken bastard, this isn’t what you told me. How is this ‘nothing happened’? I need to give him an earful first thing when I see him tomorrow.

“....”

But, something is off. Jirou-kun doesn’t seem like the type of person who could lie to others. At least not to a level where I wouldn’t realize..

“But..I actually failed.”

“???” I tilted my head, unable to understand what Subaru was talking about.

Seeing me like this, Subaru explained how she said that staying as just friends was impossible for her. It was a confession in the heat of the moment, but she grew scared of Jirou-kun’s reaction, terrified of being rejected. She thought that if he said no now, they might not even be able to stay friends. Right when she reached that thought, she changed her ‘confession’ to ‘I want us to be best friends’.

“..Hmmm.” Hearing my butler’s confession, I let out a sigh.

I see. That’s why Subaru started acting so awkward around and concerning Jirou-kun. More than that though, this finally confirms it. I actually had a bit of a feeling in this regard, an assumption that things might be like this.

“So basically..” For now, I decided to tease my adorable butler a bit. “You like Jirou-kun, right?”

“!”

“Am I wrong?”

“N-No, I..”

“Ah, so you don’t just like, but actually love him?”

“~~~!” Subaru’s face turned as red as an apple, and she answered with a faint voice. “..Yes.” She nodded.

..What kind of adorable living being is this. Oh no, now I want to tease her even more.

“I see. So then, whether you’re awake or asleep, all you think about is Jirou-kun, hm.”

“Urk..”

“All over him because of his charm?”

“Ugh..”

“Super mega ultra LOVE?”

“P-Please..”

“Let me guess, the advice you wanted would have played out as follows. You’d ask me ‘What should I do, Kana-chan. When I think of Jirou-kun, my body is burning up, and I can’t sleep all night..!’ followed by..”

“K-Kana-chan! That’s enough!” Finally, Subaru seemed to have reached her limit.

Out of pure embarrassment, her entire body started blushing all over, as she pouted like a small child, saying ‘Come on..you’re such a bully, Kana-chan..’. Ahhh, she’s so cute. Honestly speaking, I wanted to see even more of her adorable gestures like this, but I should probably stop. I’d just feel bad for her. And, there’s more important things to talk about.

“..Kana-chan.” Subaru spoke up with a quivering voice. “What should I do from now on..This is the first time I ever felt this way..”

“....”

“I was thinking of mustering up my courage to confess again, but..I can’t. Just looking at Jirou-kun’s face makes me..feel so embarrassed, and I become aware of my feelings for him..that I can’t even talk properly with him.”

“....”

“That’s why, I’m lost on what to do..But, I can only talk about this with you Kana-chan, so..so..!”

“..I understand, Subaru.” I gently took my butler’s hands.

“K-Kana-chan..?”

“It’s fine, Subaru. I’ll..help you. I’ll support you so that you can properly confess to Jirou-kun.”

“B-But..”

“Are you feeling guilty because you’re making your own master help you like this? You don’t need to worry about that. After all..aren’t we best friends too?” I whispered like a nursery rhyme, and embraced Subaru.

Silence followed, filling the room.

“..Thanks, Kana-chan.” Subaru gave honest words of gratitude.

..That’s right, this is fine. This is the best possible answer. After all, Subaru is an irreplaceable existence to me. As long as she’s happy, that’s all that matters. That’s Suzutsuki Kanade’s choice. Not to mention that playing cupid definitely won’t be boring. I could order her to do this and that, seeing her embarrassed side and enjoy it, and I bet Jirou-kun’s reactions would be a feast too. Well, I have to make sure they both reach a happy ending.

If there is but one irregularity in this situation..that would be Usami Masamune. I’m honestly bad at dealing with her. More than anything, I’m scared. She seems to be interested in Jirou-kun as well, so I need to be careful of her. Judging from the atmosphere between the two when I went to check them out, their relationship hasn’t progressed that far, so I shouldn’t be worried about this for now.

It’s fine. Everything will work out. After all, I am Suzutsuki Kanade.

“....”

However, a part of me, one that I wanted to hide deep inside of me, was unable to accept this result. It’s almost like I myself am trying to stop this development. I find myself hesitating and accepting that what I’m doing is right. It feels like I’m trying to kill my own feelings. I wonder why, this is the first time I’ve felt this way. This kind of result should have been fine for me. It sounds exciting, interesting, and will make Subaru happy.

My judgement should not be wrong, and yet..I wonder why, there is this feeling of discomfort filling me. Almost like I’m committing a grave mistake here.

“....”

But, I can’t keep feeling this conflicted. After all, today is the 31st of August, the final day of summer break. Starting tomorrow, the second term will begin. And then, I will have to interact with him again.

“....”

What should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do..After all. When it comes to Jirou-kun, I also..