CH 50

(This is Yukari’s POV)

The first story is about Yukari from the original Desuge.

The second is the story of Yukari who became friends with Mai who jumped into the pond.

This is the first episode in the two-episode update.

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[Classroom of Awe – side Yukari in Comic]

There was a scary person in the class.

Her name was Kurobe Mai. She was a girl with smooth, straight black hair that flowed down. She was also the vice president of the student council. We were in the same class, but I had never approached her. Please read this at ChocoCats.

“Make way.”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

As I tried to enter the classroom, Kurobe Mai came from the front. We had been together since elementary school, but I had never talked to her, and she had never spoken to me. But somehow, I felt like she disliked me.

I was slow to move, and when I spoke, I always ended up speaking slowly. Because of that, I often heard people saying mean things about me, saying that I was faking to look cute.

During elementary school, I always spent recess time in the classroom. I wanted to join in and play dodgeball with the class, but I wasn’t good at throwing or dodging the ball, so I became a burden. Even when they were picking teams for PE, it would become awkward if I joined in. Please read this at ChocoCats.

On the other hand, Kurobe Mai had been in the same class with me for all six years of elementary school, and for the first and second years of middle school as well. She always took charge of the class, like a queen. She was serious, straightforward, and utterly different from me. I thought she was cool, but at the same time, she was intimidating. She had a crush on her older brother, who was the student council president. I could somehow tell. She always had a cold impression, but she would smile kindly at her brother.

I entered the classroom and took my seat. However, there was no one to talk to, so I took out my smartphone and absentmindedly looked at it. The ten-minute breaks during class were tough. There was no one to talk to, and it wasn’t enjoyable.

I longed for the summer vacation. From now on, if I tried a little harder, there would be a Silver Week*, but after that, I would have to go to school from Monday to Friday until the winter break.

*T/N: Silver Week is a string of consecutive holidays in September, occurring only in certain years.

School was boring. I hated it.

With a feeling of praying for school to end quickly, I turned my gaze to the blackboard. Please read this at ChocoCats.

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[Urgent Recruitment: How to support your precious friends – side Yukari in real life]

I wondered what I should do when my friend changed.

If they had taken a really bad path, I had to stop them and tell them it was no good. If they had changed for the better, I wanted to support them! I wanted to convey “do your best” a lot and if they seemed tired, I wanted to say “good job” to them. Please read this at ChocoCats.

But…

“I placed dominoes in my brother’s room. On another side too. But I realized that dominoes aren’t impressive unless there’s a certain distance between them, and having just one colour was a bit too plain.”

If they changed in a strange way, I wonder what I should do as a friend.

“For bungee jumping, only jumping alone might have been somewhat plain. I need to think of something more flashy.”

It was clear that my friend, Mai-chan, had started harassing her older brother. With a troubled expression, she gazed at the stage in the gymnasium.

After the summer break, everyone had changed, whether it was getting a tan or cutting their hair. But Mai-chan, who didn’t seem to have changed much in appearance, had undergone a remarkable transformation.

“Oh, it’s Onii-chan.”

She said, voicing the scene as it was. But before, she would have exclaimed, “It’s Onii-chan!!” and poked me, saying, “He’s so cool!”

Regardless of our friendship, it was obvious to everyone at school that Mai-chan had a crush on her brother. However, after the summer break, it felt like it had disappeared, like a burst soap bubble. Please read this at ChocoCats.

Mai-chan used to tell me every morning, “You know, my brother always tells me that it’s too early to get married. What do you think?” But today, she didn’t mention her brother at all and instead said, “It’s hot, isn’t it, Yukari-chan? Did you enjoy your summer vacation?” She continued talking about TV shows and homework, causing a stir among our classmates.

Even now, when it came to her brother’s yearly reading session, she wore a tired look while whining “Ugh…”

“I don’t want to stay after school for reading sessions…”

“Yukari can help with illustrations, but to read out loud, that’s impossible for me…”

“Then, can I call you if I have to draw something?”

“Of course~”

I enjoy drawing illustrations. When I saw cute animals or beautiful scenery, my dominant hand naturally started moving. Come to think of it, my conversation with Mai-chan started because of illustrations. Back in elementary school, when I was shy and couldn’t fit in with the class, Mai-chan approached me and said, “Yukari-chan, you’re good at drawing.” Please read this at ChocoCats.

As we started talking more together, I would be scared that the way I spoke was too “cutesy” or “creepy”, but she would encourage me, saying, “That’s not true at all.” So I knew she was a kind person… but…

I thought it would probably not be a good idea to ring a mokugyo towards your brother. It made quite a loud sound, and even Dad gave me a stern look, saying, “If the sound could be a bit quieter, it would be better for the neighbourhood…”

“Hey, Mai-chan, I don’t think it’s nice to do mean things to your brother, you know…?”

“It’s okay, Yukari-chan. This is also necessary for the future peace.”

Mai-chan patted my shoulder gently, trying to calm me down, but I couldn’t understand her reasoning at all, and I was bewildered.

But at least, even if I didn’t understand what she wanted to do, I wanted to support her and help her when she was in trouble… That was what I thought in the gymnasium filled with the sound of cicadas. Please read this at ChocoCats.

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T/N: Hi, I’m seriously getting busy with stuff, I got new job, and now tutoring some kids, and I really really need to sort my schedules to make time to translate. So, I can’t promise you a stable update but I will try to update at least once in a week or two weeks, no later than that.

Anyway, hope you enjoy, see you in next chapter, and have a great day as always!