CH 14

When I Returned From Another World I Was A Silver Haired Shrine Maiden: Chapter 14

Shopping (Part 3)

「Is, is something wrong…?」

I call out to Souta who muttered my name.

「… No, I just remembered that my best friend always used to place the same order as you.」

「Is, is that so…」

That’s good, it seems like he didn’t find out. There is no way I would be found out just from how I order a hamburger.

「What kind of person was your friend?」

That was a light question from me. I wonder if I’ll be able to make fun of his answer if I ever reveal my identity.

I had misunderstood the situation.

「He was my best friend since when we were children… Was. At least I thought so until that day. But, I didn’t notice his worries until it was too late… Shit, what a great friend I was.」

I was speechless at the Souta’s words that were filled with regret.

「… Heh?」

… No no, why did this happen?

This is strange. I, I didn’t have any worries!?

Certainly, I had the ordinary worries for a high schooler, like that I wasn’t popular with girls, but I talked about that with you a lot.

「I probably troubled you by suddenly saying such a thing… I’m sorry.」

Souta leaves the queue as he says so.

Hey, aren’t you going to order a hamburger…

I reach out my hand towards Souta’s back, but slowly lower it and return it to my side.

『Ikuto-san…』

I made a mistake.

Souta knew that I disappeared on the ferry a year ago — It’s common sense to think that I had died.

I received my order and went back to my seat.

Yuna had already sat down and was eating ramen.

「You were slow… Did something happen? Are you okay?」

Yuna noticed my state and gave me a worried look.

I activated my telepathy and answered.

『… I met Souta.』

『Sounii…』(TN: A mix of Souta and nii)

『Hey, Yuna. I was thinking that the whole world thinks I’m dead.』

『… That’s right.』

It was normal to think that. It would be more mysterious for someone who disappeared from a ferry to return after 1 year.

『He seems to have some serious regrets about my death. Last year’s accident was just my carelessness… Do you know anything about it, Yuna?』

『Sounii’s regrets… Last year,  after two months had passed since onii-chan disappeared, a certain rumor appeared in school. It was that onii-chan had been in love with a girl and had confessed in the middle of the school trip and been rejected, and that onii-chan jumped overboard in order to have an honorable death.』

『Hey, that’s stupid. Who would spread such a rumor…』

『The confessed girl came forward. I had heard her talk about it at the time… while she was repenting.』

It was a story I didn’t remember at all.

『She seemed to have been heavily affected by it, Sounii appeared to be very worried about her at the time. That girl seems to have become a couple with Sounii after that… Now that I think about it, I wonder if that girls goal all along was to get closer to Sounii, I don’t know about it well enough.』

『I see…』

I recalled Souta’s attitude from before.

By the way, while I listened to Yuna’s story, I didn’t recognize the name of the classmate at all. The school trip had happened 2 months after the start of school. Yet, I still didn’t know all the names and faces of my classmates at that time.

… For the time being, I decided to shelve this matter.

Aside from taking advantage of me, so long as they’re getting along I won’t worry about it.

As for Souta’s regret, knowing that he has a partner to support him makes me worry less about it.

『… Onii-chan is a good person.』

Yuna responded with that when I told her my thoughts.

『… But, did you not believe that rumor ?』

『Yeah, because that girl is very different from onii-chan’s preference. Hisuinee also didn’t seem to believe it.』(TN: Mix of Hisui and nee)

『Indeed… Wait, what is my preference?』

『A small and hard working girl, is what onii-chan likes… Is it different?』

『… it isn’t different.』

Why does she know that? My imouto is scary.

『Alicia seems to fit onii-chan’s preference just right.』

『… Uu!』

Don’t say such a thing!

「F, For the time being… The meal. Let’s eat it while it’s still warm…」

Returning my attention to the food, I realized how hungry I was.

Right as I thought that, mom came back with some udon noodles.

「Sorry to keep you waiting… Ara, have you not started yet?」

「No, there was a couple of things…」

「Well, it’s fine. Let’s eat.」

「「「Itadakimasu.」」」

Now, let’s start… First off all, the teriyaki burger.

『This… The spicy sauce has a rich and strong flavor. The slender fried food is too salty but difficult to stop eating. Because the taste of both is strong, the refreshing taste of the cola stands out even more!』

It seems that Alicia now understood the pleasure of junk food. Occasionally you just have a massive craving for it, this taste.

Well, let’s eat the rest.

… While I was enthusiastic in the moment, after eating some of the teriyaki burger my stomach felt full and I started to feel sick when I tried to eat more.

『Upu… With so little, I’m already full… 』

Like Alicia said, my stomach was already at its limit. There is still half a hamburger along with fries and cola left.

『Onii-chan, why did you get so much…』

Yuna said while slurping her noodles. It’s convenient that you can talk at such times.

『Because, I always used to eat this much before…』

『Mou, Ikutari is a girl now… It’s impossible for you to eat the same amount as before.』

Mom and Yuna both have an amazed face.

『Mama and I will help you, we’ll take the leftovers home.』

『… Sorry, thank you for helping.』

I can’t eat as much as before.

Realizing how much I’ve changed, I sighed a little.