CH 30

Childhood Friend’s Demonic Charm　



The cheating of the seat change went off without a hitch.



Thanks to this, my seat is now in the back right corner of the classroom. It was one position off from the back of the class on the hallway side. And in the far corner, Shimotsuki.



In other words, she’s sitting in the same seat I was sitting in a while ago.



“I’m so glad…… I was afraid I’d end up next to him again.”



Muttering in a small voice, Shimotsuki dropped down as if exhausted.



She put her cheek on the desk and stared at me.



“The plan worked. Thank you.”



Shimotsuki thanked me in a small voice, and I shook my head, telling her not to worry about it.



I can do anything for her. No matter how much trouble she gives me, no matter how unreasonable she is, I would gladly give my life for her if it would make her happy.



That’s the extent of Shimotsuki’s existence to me.



“Phew……”



But she looks somewhat awkward.



It seems like she has a lot to say, but when she opens her mouth, it’s only faintly audible, and she breaks off her words unusually quickly.



She usually strings together sentences as if she were rambling, so she doesn’t seem to be in the right frame of mind.



I wondered what the reason was.



I was curious, but the class started and the chatter soon ended.



The Japanese class had started, so I opened my textbook and turned my gaze toward the blackboard.



Then, Ryuzaki, who was naturally in the center of the room, came into view and …… to my surprise, our eyes met.



(What’s wrong with him!? Glaring at me so much, are you jealous of …… the mob?)



Inwardly, black emotions were swirling in my mind, but I was careful not to let them show on my face.



I made a show of pouting, as if I were some kind of optimistic mob character.



Ryuzaki clicks his tongue at me. He turned his gaze away and looked forward. You can’t keep looking behind you because you’re in class. …… Thank goodness I was in the back seat, or I would have had to keep an eye on him.



To be honest, I try to avoid talking to Shimotsuki in front of Ryuzaki.



To him, I had to be a good-natured mob character. I want to be just a stage prop, a dog in an unrequited love affair, not even a trigger for the progress of the story. It’s safer for Shimotsuki.



But now that we’re sitting next to each other in the classroom, we’ll naturally have more opportunities to chat. …… That’s a problem if Ryuzaki sees us, I thought.



Suddenly, I was offered a notebook from next to me.



(…………What’s this?)



I took it reflexively, but I was confused because I couldn’t understand why.



There was nothing to see on the plain brown notebook. There was nothing written on the cover, so I didn’t know what it was about.



I looked at the person who had given it to me, not knowing why she had given it to me.



Shimotsuki, who was right next to me, laughed mischievously and gestured for me to open the notebook.



What in the world is this?



I open the first page. On the first page, there was written the following.



“Shiho and Nakayama-kun’s Diary”



…… What? You’re in elementary school???



I didn’t expect to have to do an exchange diary when I was in high school, so I was a little suspicious that Shimotsuki wasn’t actually in elementary school.



No, well, I know that’s not possible.



Although her body is thin and small, Shimotsuki is a definite high school student.



In other words, she simply wants to have an exchange diary.



“To Nakayama-kun. In my previous life, I was a small animal with a strong sense of identity, so I can’t talk well in public. That’s why I came up with the idea ……. That’s right, if we can’t talk, why don’t we write a diary like this? I thought.”



I read through the text.



Perhaps it was because she had decided to start a diary in a serious way, but compared to her last random letter, she seemed to be trying harder to use kanji. However, the number of strokes and the fact that she didn’t seem to know any difficult kanji made it look like an elementary school composition.



However, I could feel her feelings.



She was too nervous to speak well in the presence of others, but she still wanted to communicate with me, so she came up with the idea of an exchange diary.



…… I can’t believe there are such pure girls out there.　



I thought she was like a elementary school student, but …… that’s not a bad thing.



It’s the innocence that keeps you as innocent as a child even when you’re in high school that makes men’ hearts flutter.



I am sure that Shimotsuki has never been stained with any one particular color.



She is colorless, transparent and ……, which makes you desire to dye her with your own colors.



There is a certain charm about her that makes me desire to have her heart all to myself.



I wonder if that is why Ryuzaki is also captivated by Shimotsuki.



That’s how much of a demonic charm she seems to have.



If I hadn’t been aware that I was a mob character, I would have been in danger.



I might have misunderstood and become strongly conscious of Shimotsuki as a member of the opposite sex.



That would have been unreasonable.



Just being friends is enough, but a relationship beyond that is …… aspired to, but there was also a sense of resignation that it was still impossible.



At least, I’m afraid to remain a mob character.



So I won’t be misunderstood. I picked up the mechanical pencil, eliminating all feelings except those of a friend.



“All right. Pleasure to work with you.”



I wrote a short, single sentence and returned the note to Shimotsuki.



She took it with an excited look on her face, but her lips twitched in frustration, as if she was disappointed.



Maybe she wanted me to write something longer. No, was it too plain?



…… Well, no matter. I can continue to keep the diary while trying to figure out what kind of text would satisfy Shimotsuki.



But this is good.



I thought this was a good idea, because I could communicate with Shimotsuki without worrying about Ryuzaki’s eyes…