CGBTS Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – Repented?

Novel Title: あの夏から戻れない (Can’t Go Back to That Summer)

Author：宮緒葵 (Miyao Aoi)

Illustrator：笠井あゆみ (Kasai Ayumi)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 櫛原夏生 (Kushihara Natsuo -MC) & 四辻柊 (Yotsutsuji Shuu -ML)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

֍֍֍

“…You still haven’t completely let go of your old world.”

“…That’s…”

“I’m not blaming you. …It’s only natural. Unlike me, you have a family… people who are waiting for you.”

…Shuu was right. Natsuo had told his family that he was going on his club’s summer training camp, but no such thing existed. If Natsuo stopped contacting them, they would realize that he had gone missing and would search everywhere for him. If they learned that he had disappeared at Mount Hinashi, they would surely be devastated, thinking that after Shuu, they had lost Natsuo as well.

The thought of his grieving family made his chest ache as though it were being squeezed tight. His family would never disappear from Natsuo’s heart.

But――

…I realized that I didn’t want to let go of this hand.

Natsuo gently placed his own hand over the large hand wrapped around his stomach. In Shuu’s tall body, which had grown so much that he was almost unrecognizable, Natsuo could still see the image of the young Shuu from when he was eight years old. Hiding behind Natsuo, always waiting for Natsuo to come looking for him……

“I’ll live with you. Until I can come to believe that those ten years we spent apart… no, those fifteen years were nothing but a dream.”

“…Then you won’t be able to get away from me even after you die. Twenty or thirty years won’t be nearly enough to forget all that time you spent without me by your side.”

―――Does that mean I can stay by your side even after I die?

At the heart-wrenching, almost pleading whisper, Natsuo nodded dreamily. In this village, where there were neither doctors nor hospitals, there was no telling when even a young person might die. If Shuu stayed by his side even after he became nothing but a soul, they would be together forever. If he could never return to his original world, then the one thing Natsuo didn’t want was to be separated from Shuu.

“…Ah… I love you, Natsuo…”

“Ah… ngh, ah, ……No!”

The only reason Natsuo was able to hurriedly swat away the hand moving beneath his shirt was because the smartphone in his breast pocket vibrated. Since there was absolutely no way he could afford to be late today, he had set an alarm. It was still showing no signal, as always, but since functions other than apps that required an internet connection could still be used, he carried it around with him.

……It was a good thing I put that hand-crank charger in my backpack, but I never imagined it would only be useful for something like this.

In his original world, he used to absentmindedly fiddle with his smartphone whenever he was bored, but it felt like a lie now. Whenever he was with Shuu, their gazes would immediately become entangled, leaving him unable to think about anything else…

“We have to go now, or we won’t make it in time.”

Worried that his lewd memories might come rushing back again, Natsuo slipped free from the arms wrapped around him. The fact that Shuu willingly let him go suggested that he, too, understood that being late would be a problem.

“Messenger of the Gods.”

“The Messenger of the Gods! How wonderful, how wonderful.”

When Natsuo went outside holding hands with Shuu, the villagers they passed deliberately stopped, clasping their hands together and bowing toward him. It seemed the belief that Natsuo was Odamaki-sama’s Messenger of the Gods had spread so thoroughly that there was no longer any way to correct it.

……After the trial, Kazuo came to visit him secretly just once. Although Etsuko had escaped the death penalty, she was now waiting to be married off as punishment. As the family members of a criminal, Kazuo and the rest of his family would probably be forced to live under the stigma of shame from now on.

“……Thank you so much, Big Brother Natsu.”

Even so, Kazuo bowed his head to Natsuo with a solemn expression that made his usual cheerfulness seem like a lie, and told him about Etsuko. Family visits were prohibited, but apparently they were still allowed to exchange letters.

“Big Sis deeply regrets trying to kill Big Brother Natsu, and says that if she can ever be forgiven, she wants to go and apologize to you. Also, she wants to see our parents at least once before she marries into the Kurabayashi family.”

“―――That’s an awfully selfish thing to say.”

Instead of Natsuo, who was unable to answer, it was Shuu who spat out the words. It was probably the first time Kazuo had ever been treated that way by Shuu, whom he had looked up to like an actual older brother. Although disheartened, Kazuo desperately tried to defend his sister.

“…I know that what Big Sis did is absolutely unforgivable. But… you might not believe me, but Big Sis really has changed.”

“Changed?”

“She’s apologized over and over in her letters, saying she’s sorry for causing trouble for Dad and Mom and for me too……… If it were the Big Sis from before, she never would have apologized to her family, no matter what happened. I’m sure she must have repented after being saved by Odamaki-sama’s Messenger of the Gods.”

The strangely awkward way he said ‘repented’ was probably an imitation of his parents. They seemed quite shocked that Etsuko, who had been spoiled and became completely conceited, had actually apologized.

Apparently, because of that, their parents, who were indulgent toward Etsuko, had forgotten how happy they had been simply that she had escaped with her life, and had begun saying that it was too cruel for her not to be allowed to see her family until she was married off. Kazuo, too, felt sorry for his sister, which was why he secretly went to Shuu’s house. He had hoped that with the intercession of Shu, the acting village chief, and Natsuo, Odamaki-sama’s Messenger of the Gods, perhaps Etsuko’s wish might be granted.

“Please, Big Brother Shu and Nig Brother Natsu. Just once is all I’m asking. Couldn’t you let Big Sis see Dad and Mom before she marries into the Kurabayashi family…!?”

“Of course not. Something like that is obviously impossible.”

Shuu flatly rejected Kazuo’s plea while pulling Natsuo close by the shoulder.

֍֍֍

*Translator’s Note: Sorry, but, like Shuu, I don’t believe that girl has changed. -K

Illustration Intro Cover:

☝🏻I forgot to include this before. So, here it is. I think this is the scene in the first few chapters of the story. The one where Natsuo first taste Shuu’s cooking.

Next update: 2026.11.11

֍֍֍

Would appreciate some donation. Thanks!