CH 33

[Which bus should I take?]　

[You have to change buses at the next stop.]

[oh , thank you. It saved me. I just made it under the wire.]

[You’re welcome.]

([Author wrote these words In English with alphabet no Japanese character])

Good. My English is reasonably good.

Well, the content may be simple, but I’m glad to see that people in the real world can understand my English.

Anyway, I’m taking one of the countless city buses running through Kyoto.

But still, there are a lot of foreigners in Kyoto.

How many people are on this bus alone? I hear languages other than English that I don’t know at all.

Well, it doesn’t matter because everyone seems to be having a good time.

I also wondered about this when I came here before…

Kyoto has a lot of lanes. There are so many lanes in Kyoto. Lots of roads. Lots of traffic lights.

And many bus stops. In some places, they stop every so often at fairly close intervals.

Look, another bus stop.

But, thank God. I’m sure I got there just in time. She probably would have missed it if she hadn’t asked me. Yeah.

Wow. I haven’t seen that in a while.

[Goodbye! kind boy ! have a nice day!]

[Yes! have a nice day ! beautiful lady.]

[Oh, you flatter me.]

And then I noticed that the beautiful foreign lady who had talked to me just a few minutes ago was smiling and waving at me and getting off the bus.

It seems that she is going to Kyoto International Manga Museum.

I hope she has a good time.

By the way, this foreign castle-like building seen from the window surprised me when I first saw it. I was surprised when I first saw it.

This is the city hall. It’s amazing, no matter how many times I see it.

It’s just so grand.

”Hey, Kazama.”

What is it? Karen.

I’ve noticed the look from next to me before, but the look on her face is…

What again now?

Nothing like this happened before when I went to Kyoto with her in ‘his’ body.

So there’s nothing wrong with what I’m doing now… it shouldn’t be.

Uh, yeah. And there’s nothing wrong with the fact that I can speak English a little bit.

But really, what’s with that face? That face. What do you doubt this time? What’s bugging you?

”What is that? What. Your sloppy face. You’re being so dere-dere. Is that woman your type? Hey.”

(デレデレ, dere-dere, in this case means “lovestruck or in love”)

Hmm? What’s the matter? Are you mad at me?

She’s in a little bit of a mood. She’s even more…

W-why?

And what do you mean by “dere-dere”? 　

I’m not dere-dere…

”Hey, what do you think? Is she more your type than me? Don’t be quiet. Come on, say something.”

S-seriously, why are you talking like this…

And…

”No, it’s not like that. And where do we get off? Are we not getting off here?”

”Not yet. I’ll tell you where we’re getting off, so just stay on your seat.”

”Stay on your seat? 一Where the heck are we going? You should tell me soon.”

”Hmm. Kazama, you’re pretty good at English. That’s amazing. I didn’t know that.”

And the next thing I know, the bus we got on is leaving again.

Don’t tell me…

Well, I don’t have to worry about money because I have a one-day pass.

However, If we keep going in that direction without getting off the bus, we may get off at that place…

If I keep going in that direction without getting off the train, I may miss the meeting time with Kanna.

There is a possibility that I may not make it to the meeting place with Kanna in time…

That’s a serious problem.

”Well, I won’t make it worse. Don’t look at me like that. Hey!”

”Ahh… Uh, okay.”

Well, it’s fortunate that no other students from the same school are on this bus.

Even with that, I must avoid missing the meeting with Kanna.

What should I do?

”And? What about lunch? Huh? Anywhere you like, Kazama. I bet you like eels.”

And then there’s this smile on Karen’s face, which makes her face crumbles up.

This is the kind of smile Karen wears when she’s really happy.

Karen…

To be honest, I feel indescribable whenever I see Karen’s smile.

I used to see this look when I was her boyfriend…

Why does Karen give me that look so many times…

Well, it’s not that I can’t think about the reason either.

But there’s still something I can’t put my finger on.

I still can’t understand why…

In the first place, is she really sure that we were switched?

And if I tell her that I switched with ‘him’.

What happens after that?

First of all, she was definitely with that guy, not me.

I switched places with ‘him’ for a while.

That’s right. That’s who she fell in love with. Not me.

What the hell does she see in me now?

Why is she smiling at me for?

Sigh… 　

Well, it’s hard to say. Not yet.

Yeah. I don’t know… I think so.

Besides, Todo and I promised each other not to tell anyone about the swap.

Or rather, he made me promise that.

If I had told anyone about it, they would have thought I was crazy anyway, so I agreed.

I was not going to tell others in the first place.

Well, I didn’t think it would come to this situation…

So I won’t tell Karen about what happened.

Yep.

And speaking of unknowns, I just noticed something else.

The woman using a strange hat looks like she’s sleeping in the back seat. I’m pretty sure she’s wearing one of our uniforms…

I can’t see her face from here, so I can’t tell who she is.

Are you okay? Why are you alone?

Maybe she didn’t notice the people in the same group got off the buses, and she fell asleep and missed the station.

This is… I think we should wake her up…

”Hm? What’s wrong? Kazama.”

”No, nothing.”

But to be honest, I don’t want the students at our school to see me alone with Karen right now…

Uh-huh. I’m sorry, but I’m putting this on hold for now.

And now, what I really need to think about is…

Kanna.

I need to get off the bus somehow…

I’ll have to adjust my lunchtime too.

Also, I wonder what’s going on.

Have you been feeling strange stares from a while ago?

Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it’s not Karen, but someone else…

But as I look around the bus, I don’t see anyone I know.

Hmm?　Maybe it’s just my imagination. Maybe I imagine it…..

What is it?