CH 18

Chapter 18 – Himeka’s Outside and Inside Faces Revealed

The apology session with the Urushihara family went off without a hitch, which is a relief.

After all, it’s the school’s idol and her mother.

It would be extremely troublesome if things got messy.

At the apology session, I tried not to offend the Urushibara mother, and ended up using man-marks to keep her in a good mood.

In case you are wondering, the Urushibaras are the ones who apologize and the Moriyamas are the ones who are apologized to. Even so, we felt intimidated by the Urushibara’s mother and responded accordingly.

In fact, however, my mother’s nonchalant attitude made the Urushibaras feel overwhelmed, but by the end, everyone was smiling and chatting peacefully.

But what impressed me the most was that Urushibara-san was so beautiful. She is, after all, the idol of the school, and is usually a refined and ladylike young lady.

She only ate sushi with medium fatty tuna.

As an unrefined person, I was too afraid to touch anything but the eggs.

Finally, I exchanged contact information with Urushibara-san’s mother, and for some reason my mother and Haruko also exchanged contact information with the Urushibaras, and that was the end of the session.

But at the very last moment, Urushibara-san was about to do something again (Oioi, what are you trying to do this time!?). She said, “There was a bug that looked like a Peruvian giant centipede,” and all h**l broke loose.

I panicked and tried to call the public health center, but she stopped me and said, “It was a mistake!” Outside of school, Urushibara-san continues to be a troublemaker.

◇◆◇

From the next day onwards, we met at the park once every two or three days and enjoyed chatting, and at school we continued to make eye contact and email conversations that go unnoticed by those around us, and my school life was returning to a peaceful one.

I was relieved, but then Urushibara-san suddenly started saying “I want to eat at the emergency stairwell too,” and I am trying hard to stop her.

I’m happy to be friends with Urushibara-san outside of school because she’s fun to talk to, kind and funny. Even so, I try to maintain a certain distance, but occasionally Urushibara-san comes on to me, and I think it’s quite troublesome.

Because if Urushibara-san, who always eats lunch with the group, wasn’t in the classroom during lunch break, it would have some kind of impact on the class, wouldn’t it?

“Where have you been?” “Who were you with?” “Do you secretly have a boyfriend?” And so on.

Then someone like Haruyama-kun would say, “Mobyama, don’t you know something?” and then they’d say, “Come to think of it, Mobyama hasn’t been in lunch class lately.” And then they’d start saying, “You’re doing something sneaky behind our backs, aren’t you?” and the witch trial would begin.

No matter how much I plead my innocence, no one will listen to a loner like me…And if I had lunch with Urushibara-san on the fire escape, I would no longer be innocent, would I?

Isn’t that troublesome!?

And then, after school on that day, at the usual park…

“That’s why I refuse to have lunch with you on the emergency stairwell.”

“Muu~. Please allow me to! I’ll prepare your lunch if you want!”

“No, if you do that, then when someone finds out, I’ll be guilty of even more crimes and a witch trial won’t be enough anymore! I’ll get a curse-level disaster of causality!”

“Eh? A curse-level disaster of causality?”

“It’s a metaphor! Please ignore that. Anyway, why do you start saying such terrifying things? Think about it. If it were known that the idol of the school, Urushibara-swan, and the shady Mobyama were friends, people would say, ‘You’re so cocky for a Mobyama!’ If it was known that we ate lunch alone together, I would be hanged without question! What’s more, if they find out that Mobyama ate lunch made by Urushibara-san, I’ll be made to regret being born a human!”

“Mou~ Moriyama-kun is so quick to exaggerate.”

“No, no, no! What are you talking about, Urushibara-san? You’re so popular at school that you don’t even understand the situation of the shady loners!”

“Oh, my God, I understand. I’ll protect Moriyama-kun if anything happens. After all, I’m stronger than Moriyama-kun.”

“Urushihara-san! You really don’t understand anything! If Urushibara-san defended or protected me at school, it would be like saying that our relationship is not normal and people should be suspicious! It’s just like your mother said! Urushibara-san, you are too clumsy!”

“What? Just now, did you call me clumsy?”

Oops.

I’ve said too much.

Urushibara-san’s eyes have changed.

“No… Um… I’m sorry…”

“What are you sorry about? What are you apologizing for now?”

“Well… About the clumsy comment just now…”

“Is that all?”

“Um… Well… yes.”

I’m screwed.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a friend, but I got emotional.

“Hah~… So, tomorrow’s lunch will be on the emergency staircase, right?”

“Huh? Why is that happening?”

As soon as I said this, Urushibara-san’s eyes became even sharper.

“No… it’s nothing…”

“Well then, I’ll prepare your lunch tomorrow♪ Please look forward to it☆”.

“…Yes.”

Recently, I’ve noticed some things.

Urushibara-san’s attitude and tone of voice are completely different when she is with me outside of school than when she is at school in general.

This is just my point of view.

Urushihara-san in her usual school environment:

– A serious, honor student, and a firm person.

– Classy and ladylike. Never seen angry or grumpy.

– She is also a member of the student council.

– Her tone is always respectful and polite.

Urushibara-san when we are alone:

– She can be selfish, spoiled, and quite troublesome.

– She can be shy, clumsy, out of character, and unreliable.

– Sometimes she gets angry. And it’s scary when she does.

– Her tone may or may not be respectful.

Ah, she was like this with her mom as well.

This means that the private time she spends at home and the time she spends alone with me can be considered equally relaxing times in Urushibara-san’s mind, and I think this means that a good relationship is being established, in which we can say that we have become friends and have come to trust each other.

But I must be on my guard.

I never know when I might anger someone again or make them think I’m annoying them.