CH 200

Winter nights are cold.

Shiho would surely get sick if she was exposed to such cold air.

Come to think of it, she also missed school because of the flu,… and when he reminded me of that, he instantly started to worry about Shiho.

“For now, I think you should go somewhere warm, don’t you? You want to come over to my place?

It wasn’t that he had any other intention.

He was genuinely concerned about her, but Shiho frowned uncomfortably.

“Are you trying to hit on me even at a time like this? I’m not very fond of that kind of tactless behavior either.”

“… That’s not the case, it’s not.”

No good. Even though he was in denial, his cheeks almost relaxed.

Why is that?

He is comfortable with being rejected.

He even feels happy that she clearly refutes him.

Shiho’s words are strange.

There is no discomfort, so he is able to accept them without resistance.

“But yes…, it’s true that it’s cold, so I’d like to keep the conversation short and simple.”

“… I’m not in a hurry… I’m just trying to make this time with my childhood friend last as long as possible.”

“I wonder how many girls have been made unhappy by those words.”

“Huh? Did I just say something funny?”

“Yes. A pure girl would be mistaken if she were to receive such an overt favor from you.”

“… I see. I didn’t know.”

All of this was unconscious.

But somewhere in his mind, he felt uncomfortable with what he was saying.

He knew he wasn’t being normal.

It seems that even though he didn’t mean anything by what he said, it makes a lot of sense every time he says it. That’s why all the girls he associates with me turn strange.

It would be as if they fell in love with him.

They followed him around, they kept affirming everything he says about me, and they tried so hard to get him to like them.

He thought that was normal.

But he knew something was wrong.

Shiho finally told him what was wrong.

“It’s not fair to use words that imply favoritism when you have no idea what you’re talking about. You should take more responsibility for your words and actions.”

“Responsibility… huh?”

“Yeah. If you get along with someone and you’ve stolen their heart, you should … make a good choice whether to accept it or not. And yet you keep putting it off, and it drives these girls crazy.”

For Shiho, he would be unwilling to do that.

She’s been with him longer than anyone else.

So Shiho knew him well.

“I didn’t like that about you, Ryuzaki-kun. I only hear disgusting sounds around you,… and they are very, very creepy and eerie. I hated that very much.”

“…Sounds? What do you mean?”

What was Shiho talking about?

Creepy sounds … he wasn’t sure what she was talking about.

He tilted his head.

Shiho looked at him as if she was taken aback by this.

“After all,… I can only think of myself, so I don’t know anything about the people around me,… huh?”

After a heavy sigh, Shiho continued her speech.

“I have very good ears… How could you not know? I used to hold my ears next to you, didn’t I? That’s because I wanted to block out the sounds around me.”

When she told him, he suddenly remembered.

Certainly, Shiho often covered her ears.

He had never thought about the meaning of that action.

But, well, … Shiho had a keen sense of hearing?

So, does that mean that she was expressing her feelings through sound?

He realized that now.

“You don’t know anything about me. Even though we were childhood friends who were closer than anyone else. … That’s why you don’t understand other people. I think you should fix that kind of insensitivity.”

“Insensitive… huh?”

That’s another line he had heard from Nakayama.

He was subconsciously repulsed by that guy’s words, but when Shiho said them to him, he naturally accepted them.

Nakayama must have known me well, somehow.

Or if he had been honest enough to listen to me, the situation would not have turned out the way it did now.

He regretted such a thing even after all this time.