CH 5

My First Friend



TL/ED: Bogdi

And so, I made a friend.



My first friend in high school was a beautiful girl who was so out-of-this-world that I thought I’d never have a relationship with her.



“Well, don’t do it. It’s time like this if you’re crazy about chatting … It’s almost dark, and it might be very dangerous for a girl to walk alone during this time. By the way, my friend Nakayama. What do you think?”



“What do you mean, what do you think?”



“I’m asking if I should be allowed to go home alone at a time like this. Do you think Nakayama-kun, a reasonable boy who just became my friend, will leave me, a beautiful girl, go home alone?”



“I’ll walk you home …….”



I couldn’t ignore such a blatant demand for a walk home.



“But wouldn’t you hate it, if someone saw you walking alone with me?”



I thought to myself, “If I’m such a mob character, I won’t be able to balance the cute heroine, Shimotsuki.” That’s what I thought, but it doesn’t seem to matter to her.



“I don’t understand why you think I don’t want to. I don’t understand why you are so negative when all I want to do is go home with my friends. Do you want me to comfort you? Alright, good boy, why don’t you come home with me?”



Shimotsuki stands up and pats me on the head.



No, wait a minute … I don’t want that.



I mean.



This person looked like she didn’t want Ryuzaki to pat her head, but I wonder if it’s okay for her to pat me. …… No, it’s not. It’s not that she doesn’t like the act of being patted, it’s simply that she doesn’t want to be touched, because she doesn’t like Ryuzaki.



This girl seems to have a weakness for Ryuzaki.



I thought it was kind of rare to have a childhood friend heroine who rejects the popular and harem-oriented hero.



Normally, the heroine would take the initiative to become a member of the harem.



“Come on, let’s go. I’ve always wanted to go home with my friends like this. It’s so nice to be a student. …… Hey, what do you want to talk about? I have a lot of hobbies, even though I may look like this.　I like games, anime, TV, anything. Ah, but, you know, no comics and novels, okay? I’m not very good at reading and writing.”



As she leads me on her way, she continues to speak in rapid succession.



I’m not sure if this is really a conversation, but it’s interesting to hear what kind of things Shimotsuki is interested in.



Surprisingly, she likes subcultures. No, it’s not surprising. It seems that hobbies that used to be called otaku a long time ago are becoming more common nowadays.



“But first, you know what? It’s a little strange to call you “Nakayama-kun” when you’re my friend. …… It’s more convenient to have a nickname. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions, Nakayama-kun?”



And it seems that Shimotsuki is obsessed with nicknames.



For her, a friend seems to mean a person who calls someone by a particular nickname.



“Hmmm, what should we do?”



We walked out of the school gate and down the street.



Speaking of which, where does Shimotsuki live? I don’t know where she lives, but since I said I’d walk her home, I’ll have to follow her home, wherever she goes.



I’ll be alone when I get home anyway.



I don’t have to worry about the time.



“I think anything is fine.”



“It doesn’t matter what. Nakayama-kun is so unaffected. …… He’s just like me when Ryuzaki-kun is next to me. You can’t be that boring, okay? Meh.”



“…… That would mean that Shimotsuki is a boring person, is that okay with you?”



“You’re right. I’m a very boring person in front of Ryuzaki-kun, but I think it’s a little strange that he talks to me like that. What’s so good about a girl like me who’ s unsociable and doesn’t talk? Is it the face? Then why doesn’t he just thank my mom and dad for giving me those genes instead of me?”



I think you’re missing the point a little.



Maybe she has a disease that kills her if she doesn’t talk to me all the time. We talked the whole way home. It was strange because she seemed to be enjoying talking even though I was only giving her a few cues in between.



But it seems that Shimotsuki just likes to talk, not that she’ s good at it.



Since then, we’ve been going off on too many off-topic conversations and haven’t been able to talk about the main topic. In the end, we couldn’t even decide on a nickname.



“Oh? It looks like we’ ve already arrived at my house. …… It’ s so much fun to chat with friends. The always boring way home went by so fast and I think I got a little excited. Thank you for keeping me company, Nakayama-kun.”



Smiling, she shook my hand one last time.



She said she was shaking hands with me, but this girl seemed to be very close to her friends. It was unexpected and made me nervous.



“See you tomorrow.”



“Oh, yeah. See you tomorrow …”



With a final wave, she walked into the house.



The Shimotsuki family was a house like any other. I thought she might have come from a rich family because of her out-of-this-world appearance, but she seemed more normal than I thought.



“I should go back too …….”



Shimotsuki’s house was quite close to the school.



It’s only about fifteen minutes away and since it’s in the same direction as my house, I can walk straight home.



I was already used to walking home alone.



Today, thanks to Shimotsuki……, my walk was easier than usual.