Until the Day Comes

(I don’t know what to say… I really wanna believe him. He has to be telling the truth. What reason would he have to lie?)

To be honest, I have no idea how his father and his grandmother haven’t figured anything out yet.

Maybe it’s because…he did so well.

The real “Renga” could do anything, and he was really smart, unlike me.

Have you ever thought about telling his family the truth and looking for the real “Renga”?

I feel like I should’ve done that, but…I thought that “Renga’s” reputation would be ruined if they found out what happened. I was sure that he’d come back on his own, so I never said anything.

The longer I waited, the harder it was to tell them… I’m so stupid, but his grandmother raised me, and his father gave me a place to stay… So I got attached…

But I don’t plan to stay like this forever. When he comes home, I’ll go back to living on the streets as “Ren.”

Huh? Are you…serious about that…?

Yeah. That’s what we promised each other.

B-But you’ve been Nishizono Renga for over ten years. You’re a celebrity and working as a ward mayor now…

Yeah, but…I just did all of that so I could keep up his reputation.

……

He’ll take over when he comes back. If he doesn’t wanna be a celebrity, he can just retire. Plus…he’d make a better mayor than me.

I wanna lead a proper life… When I give the real Renga his name back, I’d feel bad if he had to come home to an awful life because I’m not as good at things compared to him…

I know I’ve failed at a lot of things, but I have to recover from all of it. I want the Nishizono Renga name to be in good condition when I give it back to him. I wanna work hard at that.

I’ve gotten all of you involved, so I decided that I’d have to tell you guys about it just in case.

B-But I promise I’ll keep working hard until the real Renga comes back!

And I think everyone would be happy to see me swap places with “Renga” anyway. He’s a really awesome guy. He’ll be way more useful than me.

……

H-Huhhh? But since you’re my fellow pauper, I… Uwaggh, I dunno what to say…!

(Renga doesn’t need to be “useful” for me to support him. But if I say that…)

Are you sure that the real “Renga” is still alive? There’s a chance something happened to him after you swapped places.

That’s true. I’m worried about that too.

Ah, don’t worry, he’s fine! Nobody knows about this, but…we have a secret way of communicating with each other, so I’ve been checking in on him.

(Damn, he’s gonna talk about that too? Glad I finished up the job quickly. They probably wouldn’t have paid me otherwise.)

(I have no idea why he’s talking about this. It’s not like he has to. He’s honest to a fault.)

(I wonder what my former client thinks about this.)

……

…Liguang. You can prove that I’m telling the truth, right?

You…probably already knew that I’m not the real Renga. That’s why you asked me who I was when we first met.

*gasp*

We met at a party at your house when we were kids… Do you remember that?

I do. I realized from the moment I laid eyes on you that you weren’t the “Nishizono Renga” I knew.

…!

I knew it. *sigh…* I was scared that you’d find out what happened, but I feel better now that I’ve talked about it.

……

I’m…sorry. I kept getting into fights with you because I was scared. I know I’m completely in the wrong here.

(I see… Renga-kun must have antagonized Liguang-san because he was scared he’d get exposed.)

(Does that mean that Liguang-san acts coldly towards Renga-kun because he knows he’s a fake…? Ugh, I think I understand the situation, but it’s not easy to accept it.)

I won’t try to fight you anymore! When the real Renga comes back… I want you two to get along.

He told me that the two of you were best friends.

*sigh…*

He’s been missing for over a decade. I’ll make the decision whether I want to get along with him or not.

If that’s all you have to say, I’ll be returning to my room.

H-Huhhhh?! Liguang-san, you’re just gonna leave after all of that…?!

……

(Now everyone knows. His sneaky plan lost to simple honesty.)

(Well, I guess the same thing happened to me.)