“… I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

Desperately apologizing, I regretted that Lilia came to hate me.

“Just go somewhere else! And don’t talk to me ever again!”

“I will… sorry for disturbing.”

I’m sorry, Kashiwagi-san.

I couldn’t become friends with Lilia.

Feeling depressed, I turned my back.

However, there was something I really wanted to say before I go,

“I’ll be going back to Japan soon. Um… can I say one thing?”

“W-what?”

“I’ve read all of the volumes of “Hero’s Games” series, and it was fun! And umm… that’s it!”

“…”

As I was going back to my room, my clothes were pulled from behind me.

I turned around and saw Lilia, her face bright red, grabbing the bottom of my shirt.

“… Wait a minute. I don’t mind at least talking to you. We’ll never be friends, though.”

” —Eh?”

“I have no choice! I had to! You’re the only one here who I can talk with about mangas.”

For the first time, Lilia approached me.

I felt happy and I replied.

“Alright! Though, I’m not that much of a manga reader myself… haha.”

“Oh, really? I’m a little disappointed.”

“But I’ve read ‘Hokage Ninja,’ ‘Marching Adults,’ and ‘The Pirate King’.”

“Haah, seriously…”

Lilia let out a sigh.

” —None of them are my favorites.”

◇◇◇

“I knew that Japanese people love manga!”

Lilia gave me a big smile.

Our conversation continued smoothly, and before I knew it, the night had already turned into morning.

It seems like we talked all night.

“I’m still just a beginner. The great ones are following several series.”

“I bet you actually have one or two manga with you that I don’t know about, don’t you? Hey, show me!”

When Lilia said that to me, I broke out in a cold sweat.

I can’t let Lilia see those manga that I had in my room.

“… Iyaa, I’m afraid I didn’t bring it to the U.S.”

Lilia-chan looked suspiciously at me.

“Really? All Japanese people are ninjas, so you must be hiding something, right?”

“You’re awfully prejudiced for a manga reader… Look! It’s almost time for breakfast to be brought in, so let’s go back to our room!”

“Well, I understand. I’ll go back to the room first, and you can come back a little later. After all, we’re not that close!”

“You’re really thorough, aren’t you?”

I decided to fulfill Lilia’s request as she seems to not want to go back together.

◇◇◇

Five minutes after Lilia left the courtyard.

When I came back to my room.

—Lilia was reading a “manga” on my bed without my permission.

To be exact, she was reading a doujinshi about siblings drawn by Ajiro-senpai, with a red face…