51 It Seems to Be My Turn
“…Hmm.”
The sound of my phone alarm.
I set it so I wouldn’t be late for my plans with Riri-chan.
I forgot to turn it off.
Bright sunlight streamed through the curtains.
A typical lazy Sunday morning.
I didn’t feel like moving, so I stayed curled up in bed.
There’s no reason to get up since it’s a holiday.
If I don’t have to move, I’m a lazy person who avoids movement as much as possible.
“…Sigh…”
Along with waking up, I remembered yesterday’s events.
I acted strangely just from hearing Tachibana-san’s name from Riri-chan.
Riri-chan forgave me, but lately, I think I’m losing it.
I thought I was more selfish, able to maintain a calm demeanor.
But lately, when it comes to Riri-chan, my heart races, and I act impulsively.
I’m being controlled by my emotions rather than my logic.
I wonder why.
Is it because Shindo-kun and the heroines’ relationships aren’t going anywhere?
If this continues, a bad future awaits me.
Is that anxiety causing me to act strangely around Riri-chan?
No, but that would be taking it out on her…
I’m anxious, but I don’t think I’m so troubled that I’d take it out on Riri-chan.
“…I don’t know.”
I still couldn’t find the answer.
I didn’t feel like doing anything after I got home yesterday.
So I just went to bed, and my hair is a mess.
I thought about going back to sleep, but once I noticed it, I couldn’t sleep comfortably.
“…Can’t be helped, I guess I’ll get up.”
I gave up and got out of bed.
I left my room and went down the stairs to the first floor.
No one was in the living room.
Amatsuki Suzuna lives alone in this house.
Apparently, her parents are away on business.
Living alone at this impressionable age seems appealing, but it’s a pain to have to do all the housework yourself.
I’m sure Amatsuki Suzuna’s domestic skills improved thanks to this environment, but it doesn’t suit a lazy person like me.
I went to the changing room and took off my pajamas and underwear.
I took a shower.
“…I’m tired.”
After getting out, I dried myself with a bath towel and roughly dried my hair.
Amatsuki Suzuna’s hair isn’t that long, so it doesn’t take long to dry.
I returned to my room and sat down in a floor chair.
—Ping
A message notification sound from my phone.
It’s rare for my phone to make that sound.
Sadly, I don’t have any contacts besides Shindo Minato, Hinase Riri, and my parents.
I reached for my phone and checked the message.
“Suzuna, are you home?”
…It was from Riri-chan.
It was surprising to receive a message from her so soon after yesterday.
But the content of the message was unclear.
“I am.”
I read it immediately.
“Can you… see outside?”
Hmm…?
Still unclear.
Does she want me to look outside?
I opened the curtains, which had been closed, and looked outside.
“Eh…”
There was a girl standing on the street outside my house, waving both hands. She was wearing a cap, a hoodie, and denim shorts.
Or rather, it was Riri-chan.
Wait, why is she here?
“…”
While I was frozen, Riri-chan froze too.
No, you don’t have to freeze.
—Ping
My phone beeped again.
“Suzuna, you’re too sexy?!”
…Ah.
I’m still in a towel.
◇◇◇
“Wh-What’s the meaning of this?! Appearing like that… are you an exhibitionist, Suzuna?!”
That was the first thing Riri-chan said after I hurriedly dried my hair, changed into my loungewear, and let her in.
And she was breathing heavily.
I should be the one breathing heavily after rushing to get ready.
“Of course not! You told me to look outside right after I took a shower.”
“S-Seriously…?”
“It’s impossible for me to plan that.”
“Th-That’s true… Lucky.”
Riri-chan is still being cryptic.
“And why are you so calm, Suzuna? You were pretty sexy.”
“Well, even if you saw my body… it’s… worthless. I should be the one apologizing.”
Not that I wanted to show her, but it was from a distance.
Or rather, I should be the one apologizing for showing her my skinny body.
If anyone’s sexy, it’s Riri-chan… no, that’s not right.
My thoughts are going in a strange direction.
Calm down, me.
“…Should we go inside?”
Talking about me being in a towel at the entrance is the biggest waste of time.
“Is that okay?”
“No, that’s what you were planning all along, wasn’t it?”
“I was thinking it would be fine just to see your face, Suzuna.”
“…Oh.”
Riri-chan suddenly says the most unexpected things.
I don’t know how to react, so I wish she wouldn’t.
“But I’ll go inside if it’s okay. Excuse me.”
Riri-chan took off her white canvas low-cut sneakers and entered the house.
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
Riri-chan tilted her head, noticing my gaze.
“Well, you seem different from yesterday.”
“Ah, ahaha, I’m usually like this. Yesterday was special.”
“…I see.”
Yesterday’s shopping trip ended awkwardly because I felt negative emotions towards Tachibana-san.
I’m really losing it.
I composed myself and led Riri-chan to the living room.
“Are your parents not home?”
“No, they’re both often away on business trips.”
Or rather, since I’m Yukitsuki Mashiro, they’re strangers to me.
“Eh, what? Same here.”
“…That’s true.”
It’s true that among the heroines, only Amatsuki Suzuna and Hinase Riri live apart from their parents.
“Hmm, hmm… that might be convenient.”
“What is?”
“Ah, nothing, it’s my own business.”
Riri-chan waved her hand dismissively.
“By the way, how do you know where I live, Riri-chan?”
She’s been near my house before, but she’s never come directly.
This is the first time.
“Eh…? I wouldn’t… secretly follow you home after school one day, would I?”
She had a mischievous look on her face.
Well, it’s fine since it’s Riri-chan.
“You could have just asked me directly.”
“Would you have told me if I did?”
“…Of course.”
I know where Riri-chan lives, so there’s no way I wouldn’t tell her.
“What if someone other than me asked for your address?”
“…I wouldn’t tell them.”
I’m not stupid enough to leak information like that.
“Fufufu, that’s good to know.”
But Riri-chan seemed pleased.
“So, what did you come all this way for, Riri-chan?”
“Ah, well. It’s already May, so we have midterms coming up, right? I really need to study, don’t I?”
Riri-chan showed me her backpack.
It probably contains textbooks and such.
“Okay, but you’re surprisingly studious, Riri-chan.”
I thought this before, but I didn’t think Hinase Riri was the type to study hard.
“It’s a perfect excuse, isn’t it?”
“…For what?”
“You wouldn’t understand, would you? That’s the kind of person you are.”
Riri-chan seemed unilaterally convinced and didn’t explain further.
Well… it’s not a big deal.
“Then I’ll go get my textbooks and stuff, so wait here.”
I have to go back to my room on the second floor to get my study materials.
“No, no, Suzuna, wait a minute.”
She stopped me dramatically.
“When you study with a friend, it’s always in their room, right?”
That’s the first time I’ve heard of that rule.
“My room is small, and the table is small. It’s much easier to study in the living room.”
I pointed at the dining table in the living room.
“No, stop prioritizing functionality! That’s a bad habit of yours, Suzuna.”
I don’t think anyone has ever told me that prioritizing functionality is a bad habit.
Anyway, Riri-chan seems to want to study in my room.
“…Well, okay.”
I don’t have a reason to refuse.
“Yay!”
“But it’s not very tidy.”
“That’s even better.”
…Riri-chan has been saying strange things ever since she arrived.
◇◇◇
I led her to my room.
“Here it is.”
I opened the door and invited Riri-chan into my room.
It felt a little strange.
“It smells like you, Suzuna.”
“…”
There’s a pervert here.
52 Facing Your Feelings
“Hmm… so this is Suzuna’s room.”
Riri-chan looked around my room curiously.
I wonder if I reacted the same way when I entered her room.
It feels a little embarrassing to have someone look at my room, like they’re peeking into my mind.
“It’s not that unusual, is it?”
“No, but it’s… heartwarming to think that you live here, Suzuna.”
She’s saying something strange.
Amatsuki Suzuna’s room lacks any sense of unity. A wooden bed, an ordinary study desk, a white low table, and a navy blue floor chair take up most of the space.
It’s not particularly stylish or personalized.
It’s not especially girly either; you could call it characterless.
“Riri-chan, sit there.”
I pointed at the floor chair in the center of the room.
“Is that okay?”
“It is.”
I can’t just have my guest sit on the floor, can I?
“What about you, Suzuna?”
“I’ll sit on a cushion.”
“I feel bad…”
Despite saying that, Riri-chan readily sat down in my floor chair.
It felt strange to see Riri-chan sitting in my usual spot.
“So this is the shape of Suzuna’s butt…”
She muttered something incomprehensible again.
Anyway, since Riri-chan said she came to study, let’s focus on that.
I have a history of acting strangely at Riri-chan’s house.
So I told myself to exercise self-control today.
It’s okay, Riri-chan isn’t wearing anything revealing today, so I should be safe.
◇◇◇
“Did you know? Apparently, Uemura and Endo are dating.”
Riri-chan suddenly started gossiping.
Why is she saying this, interrupting our study session?
Uemura-kun and Endo-san are classmates, a boy and a girl.
“…Is that so?”
I’m not a big fan of studying, so I wouldn’t say “Focus on studying.”
But I could only offer a minimal response to her sudden love talk.
“Isn’t that surprising? They have quite different personalities.”
“It is…”
Honestly, I don’t know them very well.
The only people I know are Riri-chan, Shindo-kun, and the other heroines.
I don’t really interact with other people, so I don’t have any information about them.
I probably wouldn’t have known if Riri-chan hadn’t told me.
“That’s a weak reaction. It’s a hot topic in class.”
“I don’t really know them.”
I’m not interested in celebrity gossip.
I tend to have an indifferent reaction to the love lives of people I don’t know.
I envy Riri-chan, who’s interested in everything.
“Hmm. You’re not interested in love talk, Suzuna?”
“Not really.”
They say a maiden in love is like a blooming flower, but if I walked past, the flowers would probably wilt.
I’m that kind of dry person.
“Then you’re not interested in my love life either?”
I realized that those words instantly changed my indifferent mood.
Riri-chan’s words easily sway my emotions.
“…I’m interested in yours, Riri-chan.”
“Oh? You’re interested in me?”
Riri-chan grinned mischievously.
She’s probably trying to get me to say something, but I can’t let my guard down because she’s a pervert.
“Of course I’m more interested in my friend than in strangers.”
“Maybe, but would you… listen to my relationship problems?”
“…Um…”
That would mean listening to her talk about the person she likes.
But imagining that made me feel… uneasy.
“Well?”
“…No.”
I don’t think I can be happy knowing that.
I felt strangely reluctant.
“Eh, that’s different from what you just said.”
“I can’t offer any advice to Miss Popular. I wouldn’t be a good listener.”
“Just listening is enough.”
“I’ll pass.”
“Then what about you, Suzuna?”
“Eh…”
Now Riri-chan was staring intently at me.
Her gaze seemed to say, “I told you mine, now it’s your turn.”
“Won’t you tell me about your love life, Suzuna?”
“…Of course not.”
“Eh, why? You can tell me.”
Because love talk presupposes that you have someone you like.
I don’t have anyone like that—
“It’s embarrassing.”
—I couldn’t say “I don’t,” and my voice trailed off.
“Suzuna, you’re such a shy person. Well, that’s what’s cute about you.”
“Don’t say such weird things.”
But I wonder what Riri-chan’s current love life is like.
Thinking about it won’t give me the answer.
“…Riri-chan, are you… in love?”
She said she has someone she likes, but what’s their relationship like?
“Aren’t we supposed to be talking about love?”
“I’m just asking.”
“Hmm? Fufu… I wonder?”
Riri-chan grinned, her most mischievous expression yet.
She seems to be enjoying my reaction.
“I’m the one asking, you know.”
“I’ll tell you if you tell me.”
…That’s not possible.
I can’t put into words emotions I don’t even understand myself.
“Just kidding. I know you’re shy, Suzuna, so let’s talk about love after you graduate from being shy.”
“…What’s that supposed to mean?”
Riri-chan sometimes plays with me like this.
This is one of those times.
“Ehehe. It would be fun to talk about that kind of stuff with you, Suzuna.”
Riri-chan smiled gently and stood up from the floor chair.
“What’s wrong?”
“Can I use the restroom?”
“Ah, it’s—”
I told her it was on the first floor, near the changing room.
“Thanks.”
Riri-chan left the room.
I heard her footsteps as she went down the stairs.
“…Someone she likes, huh?”
Well, I’m one thing, but the person Riri-chan likes…
I wonder who it is.
If that person knew, they’d probably confess to Riri-chan immediately.
She’s that charming.
But if Riri-chan gets a boyfriend, what will happen to our time together?
It’ll definitely decrease, won’t it?
That makes me feel very lonely.
I hoped the day we talk about love would never come.
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