【Four Beauties】side
At a table for four by the window of a family restaurant, high school girls were seated. Amidst the noisy hustle and bustle, a heavy silence hung over this particular table. The staff, overwhelmed by the unusual atmosphere, delivered a light meal and then intentionally avoided the area.
“Haa… Can you please tell us what you want to do already?”
The sound of ice clinking echoed. Reon Kitagawa, finally tired of the silence, spoke up.
“That’s right~, I have a part-time job too~”
Shuna Nanjo, with her usual fluffy smile, looked troubled.
“Please, get to the point. I only came because Saionji-san insisted,” Shino Shinonome, who hated wasting time, spoke with a sharp tone.
“Yeah… You’re right… Sorry, I’ll talk,”
I—Satsuki Saionji—opened my heavy mouth. I rummaged through my bag and placed a notebook on the table. The cover was faded, the corners were worn and softly rounded. It looked like a testament to its long journey through time.
“What is this…?”
“It’s Satoshi Iriya-kun’s Diary.”
“Who is that?”
“He’s the person who had an accident in front of us on graduation day.”
“Oh~, that person. That was unfortunate~”
The three of them showed different reactions, but none of them seemed particularly interested. Actually, I was the same. Until I saw what was inside.
On the day Satoshi Iriya had the accident, I was pushed aside by him. And because his bag was scattered when he was in the accident and taken away by the ambulance, I helped pick up his things.
That’s when I found this notebook. It was an ordinary notebook, but for some reason, I was drawn to it. I hid it in my bag. I don’t know why I did that. And after I got home, I opened this notebook, bowing my head in my heart. And then, I learned the truth.
“I don’t care where you got Iriya-kun’s Diary or anything like that. Or about privacy issues. What do you want to do by showing us this?”
“I’m glad you’re quick to understand. For now, I want you to look at the contents… I don’t understand anything anymore. Not this world, and not even myself…”
I hugged my arms and could only look at the floor. I didn’t know what was going on anymore. I couldn’t believe my own judgment was correct. That’s why I called Reon Kitagawa, Shuna Nanjo, and Shino Shinonome, who are the characters in this diary and the people involved. To compare notes.
“Understood. I don’t know what your intentions are in showing us this notebook, Saionji-san, but we just have to read it, right?”
“Yeah. Please. It’s fine if it’s just a needless worry. But if it’s true…”
“If it’s true?”
“No, it’s nothing. Just try reading it for now.”
When I said that, the four of them started reading with suspicion.
◇
〇〇〇〇 Year, 〇 Month, 〇 Day
I’ve become a high school student, so I think I’ll start a diary.
Something unbelievable happened today.
Satsuki Saionji was there.
Could it be that this world is… that kind of thing!?
She’s seriously cute! Like a doll. Which means…
Whoa! Yuto Sano is here too!
I can’t just sit here!
I have to find all the Four Beauties!
〇〇〇〇 Year, 〇 Month, 〇 Day
I found Reon Kitagawa!
I’ve found the most beautiful woman in the world…
I want to be glared at… I want to be stepped on…
But my uniform is covered in bruises from my mother hitting me.
The savior will appear in a year, so hang in there, okay?
〇〇〇〇 Year, 〇 Month, 〇 Day
I found Shuna Nanjo.
What’s with those breasts! And that warmth!
I want to be hugged.
Your uniform is still clean because you’re not poor yet…
Tough times are coming, but don’t despair, okay?
The savior is there.
〇〇〇〇 Year, 〇 Month, 〇 Day
Shino Shinonome is here too!
The word “pure” was made for this girl, she’s that beautiful. Well, she’s the most lewd of the four, so looks can be deceiving.
Still, don’t make such a desperate face…
Next year, you’ll find the man you’ve been looking for, Yuto Sano.
◇
“Ugh… That’s disgusting…”
“He’s a boy, after all~”
“Indeed~. It’s just an ordinary secret diary. Also, I’m not lewd.”
It seems this diary started when he was a first-year high school student. The first part was about us, the Four Beauties. I didn’t feel like reading the first part and thought about stopping here, but something felt off.
“…I want to ask everyone something, wasn’t it in our second year that we started being called the Four Beauties?”
They looked at me with surprised expressions.
“…That’s right. In the first place, I didn’t even know about you guys. Not until I got involved with him.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true…”
“Isn’t it that Iriya-kun started calling us the Four Beauties?”
“That’s the most likely theory.”
I had thought about that much and expected it. That’s why I had something I wanted to ask.
“Then, among us, is there anyone who knew about Satoshi Iriya-kun (・・・・・・・・)?”
“━━━”
“As I thought… No one knows about him…”
In the first place, it’s strange that he knew my name on the day of the Entrance Ceremony. I became a gravure idol in the summer of my first year of high school. There shouldn’t be anyone who knew about me before I was known to the public, except for the people from my elementary and middle school.
Judging from the faces of the other three, I think they had the same thoughts as me. And then, they all looked back at the Diary.
“Looking back, there are many strange things… Why does first-year Iriya Satoshi know that I will meet him in my second year…? No, why does he know that he is my destined person?”
“Me too~, no one should know that my father’s company’s money will be embezzled…”
“Now that you mention it, how does he know that my mother is abusing me… No one but him should know…”
The ice in the glass crumbled with a clatter. Our eyes were filled with anxiety and tension, and sweat began to bead on our foreheads.
“…This is definitely creepy.”
Kitagawa-san muttered, putting her hands together in front of her face. Our thoughts were all in agreement.
“Shall we read on…?”
Everyone nodded at my words.
A fear like opening Pandora’s Box cast a shadow over the scene. However, the light of intellectual curiosity erased that shadow, and we couldn’t stop the hand that was opening the lid.
━━━
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