Chapter 9: A Certain Day's Rentarou Love Letter (Kawaru Edition)

One day, on the usual rooftop. Under the watchful eyes of the Rentarou Family, two stood facing each other. Aijou Rentarou and Seibetsu Kawaru. Today, they were having a contest. It all started like this.

"Hey, Rentarou… now that I think about it, I was kinda curious… You’re pretty good at sweet-talking, right? Like, finding the good parts about someone and all that? I was wondering… what if it was me you were talking about? Not that I’m asking you to list things you like about me or anything… Well, actually, I do want you to say it……… Alright!"

"If you’re gonna say you like me, then! In honor of this series’ title—101 of 'em! List 101 things you like about me!"

Like. It’s a word I use often, but I don’t usually go out of my way to specify what exactly I like about someone. The Family’s a pretty special case. Well, the fact that there’s even a "Family" is weird to begin with.

"Sure, but… you really sure about this? Kawaru, you might not be able to handle it…"

"It’s fine! Even in the original love letter gag, you only listed 22 things for one girlfriend. Surely, even for you, coming up with 101 would take some time, right? If you had time, you could do it, but…"

Right. If it’s just about saying them, the current Rentarou should be able to do it. But he’d still need some time to think. Lately, Rentarou’s been growing stronger and evolving with every new girlfriend he gets… but even accounting for that evolution speed, listing 101 would still require some prep time.

"So… it’s a contest! If you can list 101 things you like about me within, say… 15 minutes, you win! If you can’t, I win!"

"You sure? With that much time, it’ll be easy."

Oh? You’re awfully confident, Rentarou. But—!

"You said it…? There’s no way you could do it nonstop at this level."

"Same to you… I don’t usually get the chance to say this stuff, so don’t expect me to hold back, okay?"

"……Bring it!"

Well? No matter if I win or lose this contest, I still get to hear him say he likes me, so it’s a win-win for me! Even if, by some miracle, he does list 101, in a way, I still win. But seriously, 101 in 15 minutes is insane…! That’s 900 seconds. Less than 9 seconds per point, and he has to keep going nonstop? There’s no way… Even the current Rentarou couldn’t pull that off, right?

…That’s what I used to think.

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"I...! I love how Kawaru's expressions change instantly with her emotions, and how she's a bit of a crybaby who tears up easily! I love how she's actually scared of heights, so she naturally positions herself in the center when we gather on the rooftop! I love how even then, when something happens to any of us, she pushes down her fear to help! I love how she's terrified of ghosts and poltergeists! I love how she still believes in spirits and forces herself to watch those kinds of shows to learn more, even though they scare her! I love how she usually screams when playing horror games! I love how she starts humming nervously as things get scarier! I love how once she gets used to it, she invites me to play with her! I love how she acts all cool like 'Just watch me!' but eventually hits her limit and hands me the controller more and more! I love how she hides behind me, clinging to my clothes and trembling, but suddenly perks up and gets cocky once we clear the game! I love how if she gets jump-scared after the ending, she lets out the cutest scream, clings to me, and starts crying! I love how when I comfort her, she stubbornly insists she wasn't crying! I love how she's self-conscious about her small body for her age! I love how despite that, she has zero complexes about her chest! I love how she still has some leftover shyness from when she was a guy! I love how she still treats me the same regardless! I love how she's usually lazy on days off but can actually cook when it counts! I love how she adjusts the flavor little by little based on my reactions to make it just how I like it! I love how sometimes she wakes up early to make me lunch! I love how afterward, she runs out of energy and begs me to carry her on my back! I love how she smiles from the bottom of her heart when she sees me happily eating the lunch she made! I love how on days like that, she's usually in a great mood! I love how when she finds a cool stick on the way to school, she can't help but try to take it with her! I love how she hides it nearby because she doesn’t want anyone else taking it, even though it looks suspicious! I love how she gets excited when she manages to grab the stick safely on the way home! I love how in those moments, she hums while dragging the stick along the ground! I love how she gets childishly upset when the stick she hid goes missing! I love how when she realizes she just remembered the hiding spot wrong, her face turns bright red as she tries to make excuses! I love how she spends all her short breaks trying to figure out how to have the most fun, only for the break to end—but then the next day, she comes back with a whole new game plan! I love how even when things don’t go smoothly, she still gets flustered and admits she was happy just being together! I love how she slaps my back too hard to hide her embarrassment! I love how she accidentally puts too much strength into it, hurts her wrist, and holds back tears while pretending it doesn’t hurt! I love how she naturally asks to be carried piggyback when I try to take her to the nurse’s office! I love how she can move instantly when something really dangerous happens! I love how she adores everyone so much she doesn’t even think about her own safety! I love how she doesn’t just recklessly charge in but actually tries to improve and do what she can! I love how she stopped me when I made that selfish promise to protect them even if it killed me! I love how cute her way of stopping me was! I love how even though she’s not used to kissing, she goes all out when she does! I love how she runs out of breath right after! I love how she just lets gravity take over and clings to me completely! I love how even during serious talks, she stays pressed against my stomach! I love how when she’s that close, I can hear her heartbeat louder and clearer than anyone else’s! I love how with no cushion between us, the impact of my own heartbeat just keeps getting stronger! I love how sometimes, for no reason, she suddenly feels lonely and naturally drifts closer! I love how when I get rejected, she genuinely cries with me and shares my sadness! I love how over time, her attitude naturally shifts to teasing me gently! I love how even then, she tries to cheer me up by taking me out on days off! I love how since she usually lazes around at home, she doesn’t really know how to spend time outside and ends up relying on me! I love how even so, she has a blast playing together! I love how her emerald-green hair is as clear and beautiful as a famous lake! I love how she’s never cared much about her hairstyle, so it’s always a little messy! I love how her soft, sweet-smelling hair calms me down! I love how her skin stays flawless even without much care! I love how she presses her now-softer (girl’s) skin against me without hesitation! I love how she goes overboard because she doesn’t know how to reset the distance between us! I love how she still reflects properly when she does something wrong! I love how when she thinks she’s about to get scolded, her eyes tremble so obviously! I love how the way they tremble changes depending on how guilty she feels! I love how she mistakes the cheap-but-fancy-looking toys I get her for the real thing! I love how when she breaks one, her eyes shake like it’s the end of the world! I love how she pokes her fingertips together when making excuses! I love how partway through, her fingers shake so much she’s just pressing her fists together with her index fingers out! I love how when she’s trying to cover it up, an awkward 'Ahaha…' slips out! I love how she can’t take the tension and tries to play it off! I love how she still apologizes properly in the end! I love how surprisingly, she never learns her lesson! I love how she reflects on the fact that she never learns! I love how she occasionally gets lost in thought and reaches weird conclusions! I love how the result is always an unexpectedly exciting day! I love how if she spots me outside by chance, her mood skyrockets so much you can see it from afar! I love how she can’t hold back and comes running to see me! I love how once she’s there, she lets loose without restraint! I love how she usually ends up sprinting so hard that I have to carry her piggyback! I love how she’s gotten so used to being carried that she just holds out her arms and goes 'Nn'! I love how she keeps talking while I carry her so I don’t get bored! I love how sometimes she peeks at my face because she misses seeing it! I love how she sometimes falls asleep from exhaustion while clinging to me! I love how most of her sleep-talking is my name! I love how lately, there’s more 'Nyehehe…' 'Ehehe…' 'Uhehe…' mixed in! I love how since becoming my girlfriend, 90% of her sleep-talking is stuff like 'Rentarou… I love that about you…' 'I love you…' 'Rentarou’s the best…' 'Look… at my Rentarou…' 'Wait no, he’s our Rentarou, so actually, don’t look…'! I love how if I bring up her sleep-talking, she doesn’t even blush—just says she can’t help loving me too much! I love how she’ll never accept the idea of me dying! I love how she’ll easily ignore even common sense if it means stopping that! I love how when I accidentally touch her chest, she doesn’t mind at all and even teases me about how it felt! I love how she’s convinced there’s nothing there, but there’s actually just the tiniest bit! I love how her shyness means she still only picks men’s clothes! I love how when she does wear women’s clothes, she looks incredibly good in them! I love how she can pull off even the most eccentric outfits! I love how even clothes that clash with her image just make the gap more adorable! I love how her skin tone changes slightly depending on how embarrassed she is in certain outfits! I love how when she’s truly embarrassed, she quietly admits it to me later! I love how she instantly notices when something’s bothering me! I love how we can practically communicate telepathically! I love how she even uses that to mentally shout her thoughts at me! I love how strong those mental images are! I love how at first glance, she seems bright and sunny, but inside, she’s more like molten magma—warm but thick and intense! I love how she tries to hide that! I love how she once came running to me, thrilled that she was awakening a mysterious ability to see people’s souls using past-life memories! I love how when I pointed out it wasn’t very useful, she got a little sulky!

"I love every single thing about you—so, so, so, SO MUCH!!"

"……!!!!!!!!!"

This is insane… What kind of speed is this?! Fifteen minutes? He didn’t even need half that! It’s like… he’s just saying everything he’s always had in his head out loud…!?

“Gyuhn‼︎‼︎”

…Ugh!

“She’s so flustered, Kawaru’s consciousness just flew out the window!?”

“That ‘kyun…!’ sound multiplied 101 times turned into some unholy noise…!”

“Well, getting hit with 101 things someone loves about you all at once—can’t blame her for short-circuiting.”

“[A flood of words—truly a myth come to life.]”

“I listed out the 101 things like I was told, but it’s nowhere near enough… This doesn’t even come close to showing how amazing Kawaru is—how much I love her…!”

“That writing style is hard to read in novels. Even if it’s for the sake of recreating the moment, it’s so inefficient.”

“Still, it came out to 3,078 characters… As expected, it couldn’t surpass the 5,098 characters from the original work…”

“That was for nine girls! This is just for one, so it doesn’t count, it doesn’t count! Otherwise—!”

“I can’t lose… Not even to the me from the original…!”

“I love Kawaru… I…!”

“See? He’s started again…!”

“The author’s motivation won’t survive if you keep going any further—!?”

“I love… how Kawaru’s secretly been training behind the scenes for emergencies. And I love how, even though her stamina hasn’t improved at all, she’s kinda given up but still tries anyway. I love how she keeps putting in the effort because she just can’t bring herself to quit. I love how, instead of blindly pushing herself, she’s willing to go ask for advice. I love how, when she’s troubled, she usually comes to me right away. I love how she’d sacrifice her phone if it meant helping me, and I love how she secretly prepares a spare one in advance so I won’t feel bad about it. I love how she always covers the bill when she says, ‘I’ve got money anyway.’ I love how, when I ask to split it, she hands me a pre-prepared receipt with exactly half the amount. I love how, when she sees I’m clearly pushing myself too far, she insists on paying because it’s ‘her selfishness,’ and won’t let me argue. I love how she went out of her way to make a room for me in her house and keeps it nice and clean. I love how, when I stay over, she naturally makes my favorite meals for dinner. I love how, even if it’s a complicated dish, she’ll struggle through it no matter how long it takes. I love how, when she doesn’t have the energy anymore, she still teams up with me and powers through just to finish it. I love how, no matter where we are, she always says ‘itadakimasu’ in a loud voice before we eat. I love how, when we eat the food we made together, and she’s completely exhausted, she just sits there with her mouth open waiting for me to feed her without saying a word. I love how, when I bring the food close for an ‘a~n’, she holds herself back from lunging at it. I love how, even if I tease her a little, she just stares at me until I give in. I love how, unlike ‘itadakimasu,’ she says ‘gochisousama’ afterward with a calm, prayer-like sincerity. I love how she clearly draws a line in her mind when it comes to handling food. I love how, even though she’s not a fan of cruelly-made dishes like foie gras, she still eats it all respectfully, thinking of the people who raised, delivered, and prepared it, and shows even deeper gratitude than usual. I love how, no matter how pressed we are for time, she never skips saying ‘itadakimasu’ or ‘gochisousama.’ I love how, at the convenience store, she always says ‘thank you’ to the cashier. I love how, at restaurants, when she returns her dishes, she always says, ‘Thank you for the meal, it was delicious!’ to the staff. I love how she puts almost absolute trust in me for just about everything. I love how, even then, if she senses I’m about to overdo it, she jumps in to help. I love how, even when she’s at her limit while helping me, she hides it and keeps going. I love how, once the tension breaks, she suddenly becomes super clingy like a different person. I love how, when it really matters, she always tries to act cool. I love how, since she used to be a guy, we have similar tastes. I love how, when we study together, she explains things in a way that’s easy to understand. I love how she’s adorable just standing there!”

“I love Kawaru more than anyone else in the whole wide world—SO, SO, SO, SO, SO MUCH‼︎‼︎”

……………

“Dogyuhn‼︎‼︎‼︎‼︎‼︎”

“Huff… pant… I did it…! That makes… 5,101 characters…!”

“Looks like he’s finally run out of steam.”

“The author swore they’d never do this again…!”

“It’s not like I’m done—I just got a little tired from talking. There’s still so many things I love about her…”

“Kawaru can’t take any more! She’s been unconscious for a while and you’re still going in for follow-ups!?”

“Muuu… It’s not fair! Kawaru got all the love! I want you to tell us what you love about each of us too!”

“She’s right. That would be more fair. You should tell us too.”

“Wait, no—idiot! If he lets any more words of love out—!”

“I know, I know, everyone… I love all of you so, so, so, so, so much too…!”

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“The whole world’s been flooded by Rentarou’s words of love and turned pitch black—!?”

“[Is this the end of the world or what.]”

“A man who wraps the world in love…!”

“Even if you do love us that much, this is going way overboard!!”

“No way…! The usual black text can’t be used anymore!? That’s so Rentarou…!”

“This is actually a problem… All the hearts are black now, so we can’t use them either.”

“Oh! Mama! We can still use the ♡ ones!”