CH 13

That Person Who Became My Friend For the Time Being ~Aya Shimizu Perspective~

Translated by AmaLynne

I gathered my courage and managed to talk to Yoshino-kun.

He took me to the room where he always eats.

And he gave me his phone number and address, which I had longed for!

I’m so happy…!

It was the first time I was so happy to receive something……

By the way…Yoshino-kun, you always eat here, right?

Wouldn’t this be a nuisance if I came here to eat…?

At school, he told me not to talk to him…

Hm~mm, patience! I don’t want him to hate me for this…

After that, I made excuses to my friends and somehow managed to get away with it.

Then I remembered that on my way home from school.

Come to think of it, there was such a rumor.

Kanzaki-kun, the most handsome and popular guy in school, and Yoshino-kun are friends…

People wondered, They don’t match!, but I don’t think so.

Rather…Yoshino-kun is cooler and…more attractive.

But still, Yoshino-kun…doesn’t smile at all.

He looked annoyed…I guess he was still annoyed…?

But he said it was okay to text, so I’d like to think he doesn’t hate me…

I’m not sure if I’d be considered an annoying girl if I texted him today.

But on the other hand, when would it be okay?

I’ve never done anything like this before and I don’t have…anyone to talk to.

I was thinking about that, and before I knew it, I was at the station.

Dangerous, dangerous… They say there’s a lot of voyeurism these days, so I have to be careful…

I’ve heard that people are sometimes caught spying on the escalators and sometimes molested on the trains.

Of course, it seems that there is not as much trouble as in Tokyo. But still, I have to be careful.

I hurried home, being careful.

When I got home, I was greeted by my younger brother Seiya.

My cheeky but cute little brother.

He is a strong boy who never whines, even though he must miss his father.

Of course, I miss him too, but I am already a high school student.

So I have to be strong for him.

「Sister, welcome home!」

「I’m home, Seiya.」

「Hey, Mother said she’s going to be late for work!」

「Eh? I see… Umm, trouble…」

「Sister, you can’t cook, can you?」

「T-That…! Sorry…」

Ah! But I wonder if Yoshino-kun would not like a girl who can’t cook!?

…Okay! I’m not good at it, but I’ll try my best!

「Sister?」

「Seiya! Sister will make you dinner!」

「Eh―! Will that be okay? Will there be a fire or something? Mother will pay for it later, she said we should go eat somewhere…」

「…No, I’ll try! Seiya, wait for me!」

I know it’s a waste of time…

I looked at my watch.

It was now seven o’clock.

I got dragged away after school.

I don’t dare to refuse…

And if I don’t go, I feel like they’ll say bad things about me…

Of course, I didn’t ask, it was just my paranoia…

「No! I can do it now! Sistem will try her best!」

Because if we go out or something, I’ll make lunch and…kyaaa!

「I’m sorry, sister, are you okay? You look flustered, but…」

I responded to that statement and got right to work!

◆◇◆◇◆

…Yes, I’m sorry.

I was a big jerk……

I failed to get things right……

Or rather, it was a problem before that……

「Ahh geez, I told you so!」

「I’m sorry, Seiya…」

I cut my finger with a knife.

It’s pathetic…It was a problem before I cooked.

Why can’t I do it well……?

I’m going to cry…if I like this, he won’t like me.

「This, all right! Sister! I want ramen!」

Seiya, who put a bandage on me, said such a thing.

I wonder if he was concerned about me, my sweet child……

「Well, I don’t know this area very well yet. Shall we walk toward the station?」

So we waited for my blood to stop and took 10 minutes to come to the front of the station.

But there were many stores and I was lost.

Besides, I could feel the stares as usual…

Anyway, I went into a random store.

Then, surprise!

There was Yoshino-kun!

He looked surprised, too.

I wondered if he thought I was a stalker or something.

Really, it’s just a happy coincidence…

Yoshino-kun immediately became serious and served me.

As I was shown to my seat, I stared at Yoshino-kun…

……What should I do, he’s so cool.

It’s almost like when he helped me…

And his arm muscles are awesome…and his arms are floating…I like it.

「……ter! Sister!」

「Huh? Don’t make a fuss, Seiya. There are other people here.」

「They’re already gone! Sister, you keep looking at him. I’m hungry.」

Seiya was right, and it had been 20 minutes.

What? Lies! I wonder how long I’ve been staring at him…

Did he find out?

Ah! I hastily remove the bandage.

…Good, the bleeding has stopped.

I’d be so embarrassed if he found out.

「Sorry, what do you want to eat?」

「Miso ramen for me! And gyoza and fried rice!」

Gyoza…! They’re my favorite!

But garlic…I wish I was at home…

Yoshino-kun is here, so let’s just have ramen…

I hid my injured right arm and raised my left arm.

I tried to talk to him but was too embarrassed to do so. ……

We took our order, and to my surprise, Yoshino-kun started cooking!

The way he waved the frying pan, he looks so cool…

It’s amazing…I, for one, would have been a problem before that…

But Yoshino-kun told me not to worry about that…

I was so happy…because no one had ever said that to me before.

He said I don’t need to be perfect…I’m falling more and more in love with him…

「Sister! That looks delicious! And he’s so cool!」

「Yes, he is! Look’s delicious! H-He’s so cool!」

Later, a man claiming to be Tomono-san came to drop off the ramen.

「This is Touma-kun ramen. Are you Touma-kun’s girlfriend? Good, you seem like a nice girl. He’s a difficult guy, but he’s not a bad person.」

After saying that, he left.

…Girlfriend!? Did I look like that?

I hold my face with both hands……hot……

Learn more

Yoshino-kun came over, but I hope he didn’t recognize me.

After that, we happily eat together.

I have to thank that waiter.

Seiya seems to like him.

Yoshino-kun also looked at Seiya with very warm eyes.

After we finished eating, even the manager came to greet us.

And to my surprise, he decided to send me…

……I’m happy, but isn’t it annoying? I asked him.

I was disappointed when he said it was annoying, but I was happy when he said he was worried about me.

On the way home, he even lent me his hoodie…so kind…and made me feel cuddly.

And he smiled at me for the first time……

Have we grown a little closer?

Besides, thanks to Seiya? He decided to come to our house……

What should I do? I have to clean up my room!

…Calm down, it’s not like he’s coming for me.

But I’m glad……At least, he doesn’t seem to hate me……

I take a bath and go back to my room.

Then I hug the hoodie and grin.

「Fufu, today was fun. I got your phone number, I got to know where you work, and we got to go home together. I wonder if I could text you to thank you? That’s normal, right?」

After much hesitation, I gathered up my courage and sent an email.

「W-Wasn’t that weird? Perhaps I shouldn’t have said hello after all? …Maybe he might be sleeping or something? Uuu……」

I walk around the room, restless.

Then, I got a reply, albeit a curt one, but a proper one!

He even said I could say hello in the morning!

「Hehehe, I’ll have to save this one. It’s my first email.」

I grinned at the email over and over and fell asleep happy……