CH 13

The next day, the sky was a little gloomy in the morning.

As Naoya waited for Koyuki at the station ticket gate, he sighed.

"I wonder if she's okay, Shirogane-san." (Naoya)

He was worried about her because of everything that had happened yesterday.

A declaration to be more honest?

Is the Shirogane Club moving in the dark for nothing?

None of that mattered at all, there was another reason.

Eventually, the train arrived, and the ticket gates started to fill up with people. When the crowd settled down... I saw an unnecessarily conspicuous silver-haired girl staggering towards me.

Naoya raised his hand and called out to her.

"Oh, Shirogane-San. Morning." (Naoya)

"Oh, ....." (小雪)

Koyuki, who is looking gloomy, looked up.

Her face had some tragic color on it, but.... she quickly made a cool smile.

"Good morning.... Sasahara-Kun" (小雪)

"O, oh." (Naoya)

Naoya's eyes blinked at such an ordinary response. I thought, "Oh, you're early again today. Are you that happy to see me? You're like a dog waiting for its owner." I expected a cute cover up of embarrassment like that from her.

(This isn't like...  she's been straightforward as she had declared, I guess she's just not feeling well.)

Naoya was sure - and then he asked Koyuki in a whisper.

"Did you read that...thing I gave you yesterday?" (Naoya)

"h.....?!" (小雪)

At that moment, Koyuki's face twisted into a grimace. Large tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.

"Uh, uh... sasaharakuun...!" (小雪 crying?)

"Geh" (Naoya)

Koyuki then jumps into Naoya's chest and starts to sob uncontrollably.

This was unexpected, indeed. She smelled so good and she was so warm and soft that I wanted to hug her tightly.

But we are in an early morning station.

"What is this, a lovers' quarrel in the morning?"

"It's good to be young..."

"Ugh..!"

The warm eyes of the salarymen pierced him, and Naoya resolutely put his hand on Koyuki's shoulder and softly let go of her body. It was a shame to leave, but it couldn't be helped.

"No, um, Shirogane-San... let's calm down... okay?" (Naoya)

"Uh, uh, there's no way I can calm down like this...!" (小雪)

Gently handing her a handkerchief, koyuki wiped away her tears and went through her bag. What she pulled out was a novel that Naoya had given her yesterday.

"Wh, why did Fran die at the end..!?　This doesn't make any sense...! How can this be..!" (小雪)

"Ah- I knew it..." (Naoya)

Naoya could not help but look up to the sky, as he was sure this would happen.

It all started yesterday.

ー

On the way home together, Koyuki said she wanted to stop by a bookstore.

There was something Naoya wanted to buy, so he agreed. We went straight to a big bookstore in front of the station... but there was a small dispute there.

"...Is that what Sasahara-kun wants to buy?" (小雪)

"Yeah, why not?" (Naoya)

Koyuki looked at the book Naoya was holding and frowned at him.

The book he wanted to buy was a new edition of a so-called light novel. On the cover, there were beautiful girls with colorful hair, holding weapons that were too big for their bodies.

The title was "To the End of Another World." The genre is otherworldly fantasy.

Koyuki stared at the cover with dazed eyes.

"My little sister reads a lot of these... but they have naughty illustrations and naughty content, don't they...?" (小雪)

"No, well, there's a lot of that, but..." (Naoya)

"Ug.....h, I can't blame him... he's a boy after all, so yeah..." (小雪)

Koyuki gave a grave answer, as if she had just given up.

It's being misunderstood at an alarming rate.

So Naoya hurriedly began to explain himself.

"It's not that erotic¹, and the story is interesting. It's also been made into a manga, and it's quite popular right now." (Naoya) 

"But, isn't she kinda naughty...?" (小雪)

"Well... sometimes there are illustrations with a lot of skin colors at..." (Naoya)

This is what we call a service for the readers.²

When Koyuki looked doubtful, Naoya decided to take a last resort. He took out the first volume of the series, which he had left in his bag, and held it out to her.

"Here, let me lend you a volume and you can read it." (Naoya)

"...If it's naughty, I'll stop reading at that point, okay?" (小雪)

"I won't mind. Just pretend you've been tricked." (Naoya)

Koyuki took the book without hesitation, but still with a suspicious look in her eyes.

Naoya patted his chest in relief.

I wish she wouldn't keep using the word "ecchi" so often, although I don't really mind...

(Ah, but there are a lot of tears in the first volume... I wonder if she's okay with that...)

With such flustered apprehension, we split up there.

ー

And then - this morning.

"Uuuu.... it was fun, but there were some naughty pictures, however, it was interesting, but...why did Fran have to die...!" (小雪)

"Wow- you're so cute and easy to understand." (Naoya)

Naoya soothed Koyuki, who continued to cry, and looked into the distance vaguely.

By the way, Fran, whom she regrets dying, is later found to be alive... but it is only human to not tell her that...