“… 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…