Big Love from Ultra Deep Space ch5: Shining on You

Look, it's Teradate-san.

She's got some nerve showing up at school.
I wonder if [obscured]-chan's okay?
Is it true that she's a stalker?
That's what the girls in class 3 are saying.
Eh~? Holy cow.

I don't care how cool she looks. That's just plain creepy, isn't it?

But everyone was calling her a prince, right?
It must've went to her head.

I guess she got the wrong idea?

Phew...

Beyond that gaze.

I mean, that girl

stalked her classmmate in middle school.

...Eh...?
Ah, what?
That kinda joke is a little...
You're wrong!

It's no joke! It's for real!

Back in middle school, a girl in my class...

was confessed to by Teradate-san but turned her down
so she started following her around as revenge and left her scared to death...!

She stopped coming to school once word got out.
...So what is she doing here?

I can't believe you can act so...
Um.

Is that
something you have witnessed for yourself directly?

...Huh...?

N-
Not directly, but...

everybody was talking about it.
There were rumors all over the...
Geez! So it was just rumors!?

There were a lot of those going around back in middle school,
like how this one chick joked about having five boyfriends and people actually bought it.
...Oh yeah, I remember that.
It was hilarious.

...But...
I'm leaving.

Eh...?
I forgot that I have things to do back home.
I'll leave the money here.
T-Ten-sama!

I'm sorry, everyone! I need to leave too!

...I wonder how things were after that.
The mood was completely ruined
because of me...
Ah!

Teradate-san!

Ah...
Thank goodness. We're in different classes,
so finding the right timing to talk to you was tricky!

p10

Um...
About yesterday...
If you're worried about yesterday, don't be!

We're the ones who forced you to come with us in the first place.
You didn't do anything wrong, Teradate-san, so don't worry about it.

Are you okay, Ten-kun?
We believe in you, so don't worry about that.

...Sorry, Ten-kun.
If we hang around you, we'll get weird looks too...

p11

...Teradate?
No, it's nothing.
Sorry for the trouble I caused.
...I'm fine, really.

Ten-sama.
Good work with today's classes!

The thing is,
I've got a meeting with the principal after this...

p12

...Ten-sama?
Eh...?
Ah, sorry... What were you saying?
I've got a meeting with the principal,
so would it be okay if you waited for me...?

...Okay, I'll wait.
!

Thank you very much!
Well then, I won't be long!

p13

I'm sure you would understand, Lulu.

Whether it's about my past or how I'm feeling now,
I know that you're a gentle person
who would kindly lend an ear.

p14

So I should just tell you sooner rather than later.
For the gentle honesty you've shown me,
I should be honest with you in return...

...But what if

p15

you don't believe me?

Up until now, I've been fine with that.
As long as I detached myself from the world,
what people thought about me didn't matter.

But then I met you.
You looked directly at me.
It made me want to know about you.

p16

You became the only one
I wanted to understand me.

But...

just thinking about the past makes my legs freeze up.
I start to hate how much of a coward I am.

Even though it's just believing in someone and being honest with them,

p17

the thought of disappointing you,
who's kind, strong and wanted to know about me...

frightens me so much.

p18

Ten-sama!

Sorry! I saw you from the third floor
and came flying in!

p19

I couldn't find you when I returned to the classroom...
so I figured something must've happened while you were waiting!

I'm glad I found you!

...About yesterday...

I have to tell her.
I really didn't
stalk anyone...
I want to be honest with her,
even if it hurts.
But nobody
would believe me.
I want her to believe in me.

p20

It's because
I wasn't the kind of person people could trust...
Ten-sama!

p21

If it's just going to cause you pain,
then there's no need to go into great detail about everything.

Whether you tell me about your past or not,
I'll be by your side, Ten-sama.

Why...?

What if I'm really
a terrible person...?

p21

You don't even know
what kind of person I was, Lulu...!

Ah...

What am I saying?
After Lulu nestled up to me and everything.

I'm messed up...

...In that case, Ten-sama,

p22

why did you not think of me as a terrifying alien and distance yourself from me?

...A person's appearance
can change into all sorts of shapes depending on who observes them.
The form of someone you're looking at
might ultimately just be the form that you yourself want to see.
But,

p23

...even so,
you believed in me, didn't you?

You observed me
with your own eyes.

That's why I want to do the same
and believe in the you that my eyes observed.
...I want to become your hope,

p23

just like
how you became mine.

...Y-
You can't do that...

p24

You'll just
become something for my own convenience...

The size of this universe
is immeasurable.
There's plenty of things that don't go the way we expect them.

p25

So having a convenient way of being saved is a good thing as far as I'm concerned!

Kyah! Ten-sama!

Hold on. I think I have some tissues somewhere...
Oh?
Oh oh?

...Lulu.
Yes?

...I can't really
talk about my past just yet.
...But

p26

once I'm ready to talk,
you'll be the first to know.
...Okay.

I'll be waiting.

p27

Man, those tests were rough!
Same here.
I think I bombed the English one this time around.

How are we supposed to study for tests with the culture festival on our minds?
Yeah, I know that feeling!
Ahahahaha

Our culture festivals do tend to go all out.
I believe Papa Cake came to last year's one?
For real!? The Man-1 Finalist!? [tn: Referencing the M-1 Grand Prix, a contest for manzai acts (a form of stand-up comedy).]
Oh man! You've got me all excited now...

p28

!?
Ah...
S-
Sorry! You okay!?

I'm fine.
I'm sorry too.

Eeh~...
Holy cow... Who was that girl!? She's a beauty!
Eh? You don't know?

p29

She's Mitake-san from the special class.
The girl who places first in every test!
Eh!? That's amazing!
She's smart, athletic...
and really kind to boot!

Student Council Office

Sorry I'm late.
Mitake-chan! It's cool~ We were just getting started.

So... what's this emergency meeting all about?
Well~ we were thinking about doing next year's school festival as a joint venture with another school!

p30

You know about Yuukei High?

It's the school that alien enrolled in!
I'm kinda looking forward to it~!
Hey~ The meeting's starting~
Okay~

...
Indeed.

I'm looking forward to it too.

Warning